In the dark night, four thousand cavalrymen dismounted and walked silently.
It is true that their military skills may not be very outstanding, and they may not be able to gain the upper hand when facing warriors who specialize in killing people. But they are obedient, obedient, and patient, which is an advantage that cannot be ignored.
In the barbarian tribes, slavery was very popular. Even though most of the warriors brought out to fight were no longer slaves, the respect for the nobles was still deeply rooted in the bones and passed down from generation to generation.
Unless they are recruited to the "Datang Fanzhen Military Academy" to communicate with those warriors who are very rebellious, their obedience is really good. If the problems of organization, equipment and equipment, and off-the-job training are solved, then it will be
It's a pity that a powerful force capable of conquering and fighting can't solve these three problems most of the time in the grassland.
By midnight, four thousand people arrived at the ancient city of Hongdong.
This place had been abandoned for a long time, and now it has become a rural market town. After the market was over, it was a mess. After only a few people were controlled, the entire army rested here, waiting for the remaining troops behind to arrive with their horses.
Just to travel more miles and save more horsepower, thousands of people have achieved this. The ability to endure hardships and stand hard work is indeed good.
On April 16, the army continued its march north.
After passing Zhaocheng County, they robbed some horses and food at Yichang Post. The post's soldiers were almost dumbfounded when they saw the large group of soldiers and horses falling from the sky.
This made Qi Bizhang feel determined. Now it was time to seize time. The faster he moved, the harder it would be for the enemy who had been at peace for many years to react, and the smaller his own casualties would be.
The whole army rested at the post station for two hours, mainly because the horses needed to rest.
At Shenshi, we continued to set off and arrived near Huoyi County after nightfall.
Qibizhang allocated some of his men and asked them to take the path on the mountain. If the rebels were unprepared, they would go around to the north of Huoyi.
He led four thousand men to the south, seizing the time to rest, while quietly cutting down trees and making some simple equipment.
…
After nightfall, the city gate is closed.
Qi Erlang had nothing to do, so he watched people gambling in the city gate.
Gambling in the military has a long history. Today's warriors eat, drink, whore, gamble, and rebel at every turn. Logically speaking, such an army should collapse at the first touch and cannot be fought at all, but things in the world are strange.
During the reign of Emperor Zhuangzong of the later Tang Dynasty, Wei Bo's sergeant Huangfu Hui was stationed in Beizhou. He lost all his money because he was too unlucky and "couldn't win the night game". He then borrowed money from his fellow soldiers to recover his losses, but he couldn't borrow the money and became angry.
Then he rebelled.
It happened that at that time, Wei Bo's army had not returned from garrison for a long time. It first fought with the Khitans in the north, and after returning, it actually wanted to go to Beizhou to farm.
Grow your mother's fields! Do you think I know how to farm?
The sergeants who had been grudged for a long time responded one after another. They first recommended Yang Renzhu, the commander-in-chief, as their commander, and asked him to lead the group back to Weizhou.
Yang Renzhu didn't dare and was killed. If he pushed another person, he didn't dare either and was killed again.
The sergeants captured Zhao Zaili, the commander of Pian Pi. Zhao Zaili did not dare to refuse, but asked the sergeants to obey orders, and everyone agreed.
So he gathered his troops, distributed equipment, and went back with a neat appearance, and captured Weizhou.
Li Cunxu sent Yuan Xingqin to lead the army to quell the rebellion. They went to Weizhou and returned with a great defeat.
Li Cunxu was extremely surprised that his founding elite soldiers could not defeat Sergeant Wei Bo, who had been killed several times, so he sent Li Siyuan to lead the army to put down the rebellion. As a result, Li Siyuan and Zhao Zaili joined forces and also rebelled...
Can you say that the vassal soldiers cannot be beaten? Li Cunxu was able to beat the shit out of Yelu Abaoji's founding elite soldiers, and even his sons were captured. Only 20,000 of the 100,000 people returned, but they were defeated by Wei Bo's rebellious soldiers, which is simply unbelievable.
It goes without saying that all the soldiers in the feudal town are very good at martial arts. Just like the Hedong Army that Shao Shude encountered in his early years, they made trouble before the war, but after they went into battle, military discipline was so strict that no one dared to make trouble. Everyone was like
Relatives and friends have strong cohesion, they are very proficient in the flag and golden drum military formation, and their fighting skills are also excellent, which are the foundation for winning the war.
Therefore, it all depends on whether they want to fight hard. Once they fight seriously, Zhu Wen frowns, Li Keyong sighs, Abaoji flees, and Li Cunxu dies. It is so magical.
Qi Erlang watched in the city gate for a long time, his hands were itchy, but he was short of money and had no money to participate in the gambling. Just as he was as anxious as a monkey, someone from the city tower suddenly shouted: "There are broken troops coming from the north."
"Where did the defeated troops come from?" Qi Erlang, the leader of the team, was shocked at first when he heard this, and then yelled: "There is Fenshui Pass in the north, is it possible that the suppressing army was routed?"
"The accent of Hezhong Prefecture should be that the defenders of Fenshui Pass were defeated."
"I don't believe it!" Qi Erlang kicked the bet over and said, "Get up and still bet. Li Da, go and inform the county magistrate."
There are only a thousand sergeants in the city, and it is common for the county magistrate to also serve as a suppressor and a military attache to take up civilian posts.
Qi Erlang led his men to the tower.
It was dark at night and it was hard to see clearly, but he was wearing Hezhong military uniform and his accent was from Hezhong Prefecture, so he seemed fine.
Moreover, recently there was news from the north that the Jin soldiers and reconnaissance cavalry from Hsidian Pass were out in all directions, and even entered the boundaries of Hezhong Prefecture to investigate, which was very unfriendly. It would be reasonable if they raided Fenshui Pass.
But I don’t believe it! Qi Erlang thinks there is something wrong with this, so it’s better to wait until dawn before making any fuss. As for whether those defeated troops are dead or alive, it’s none of my business!
"The deputy general is here!" a sergeant shouted from the tower.
Qi Erlang turned around and saw deputy general Xue Li leading dozens of sergeants onto the tower.
"General Xue!" Everyone saluted.
"I already know this." Xue Li waved his hand, walked to the female wall, and carefully observed the outside of the city.
But I saw that the post road on the edge of the cliff was full of people.
Some people were scolding, some were crying, and some were shooting arrows at the tower, but they couldn't reach it at all.
Behind them, there was the faint sound of horse hooves.
Every time the sound of horse hooves approaches, it can cause a cry of surprise, and some people are even almost pushed off the cliff.
"Could it be that the generals in Fenshuiguan Town are causing trouble and want to establish themselves as the queen? Don't open the door!" Xue Li ordered.
He was the envoy to suppress the troops, so others naturally responded without hesitation.
"Shout all the soldiers in the camp, and Nancheng will dispatch some people to reinforce them to prevent them from leaping over the wall to attack the city. We will screen them one by one after dawn." Xue Li issued another order.
"As you command!"
Xue Li's eyes carefully scanned the soldiers beside him.
Everyone looked at him very unnaturally. Although they felt itchy after hearing the news and wanted to cause trouble, everyone was not stupid, so there was no chance of success.
"Keep an eye on these people outside and don't slack off!"
…
"Do it!" Qibi Zhang issued the order outside the south gate of Huoyi County.
The sergeants carried the simple ladders they had built, left their hiding place, and rushed towards the southern city wall of Huoyi County in the dark.
Under nightfall in Huoyi County, the people were sleeping soundly, and the soldiers were worried. Outside the city, four thousand people rushed like wolves and tigers, risking their lives to fight for a better life for their families.
The ladder clicked against the city wall, and the first warriors climbed up silently. It felt quite like the Bian army's night attack on Huazhou City back then.
Halfway up the climb, the city leader realized something was wrong and immediately shouted loudly.
The first warriors moved faster. Several people climbed over the last distance, jumped up, and slashed down with the swords in their hands, and screams came one after another.
There were not many people on the tower, and no one realized that enemies would appear in the rear. More and more warriors climbed onto the tower.
They gathered together, rushed down the horse path, and soon reached the city gate.
The battle suddenly became fierce.
"Shoot!" The warriors who came after them were condescending and fired arrows like rain. The Huoyi defenders screamed and hid in the city gate.
"Kill!" More than a hundred people who had descended from the city wall pursued him and rushed into the doorway.
In the narrow city gate, there were bloody close combats everywhere.
Neither side is in a row, what they are competing for is a spirit of blood and courage.
The defenders were cut off from their return route, and they became ferocious. There were a few old soldiers, with swords and spears in their hands that were as light as weight, and they killed a prairie warrior who rushed over in a few or two strokes. There was also the warrior in heavy armor, with a handful of them.
The mace hits you so hard that it's hard to get close to anyone. Qiu Ba, who just a moment ago was eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, looks unreliable, but when fighting desperately, he can use his skillful skills to beat you to tears.
Why does the army need to assess various skills such as spearmanship, archery, swordsmanship, etc.? Isn’t it just a matter of recruiting a group of honest farmers and miners and making them disciplined to make a strong army? In fact, I tell you that this is far from enough!
At the critical moment, you are often just one breath away. Skilled combat skills coupled with the fighting will to fight desperately are the harvesters of life. The grassland warriors who are advancing one after another fall at the feet of this group of seemingly incoherent defenders, who are about to take them.
Before leaving the city gate, several arrows were suddenly shot from behind. In the darkness, he cleverly found the target and killed him with one blow.
The military academy wielding the mace fell to the ground, and several old soldiers who were eager to kill also fell to the ground.
The morale of the prairie warriors was greatly boosted. Taking advantage of the large number of people, they rushed in without fear of death. They stabbed each other with spears and slashed with swords. Both sides exchanged injuries for injuries. They completely ignored defense, just to knock the enemy to the ground.
"Ah..." The last defender stabbed his spear into his opponent's abdomen in desperation, and received seven or eight blows on his body. His sword, bone, and spear all came up, almost turning into a gourd of blood.
The prairie warriors covered in blood stumbled to the winch and lowered the suspension bridge.
Someone fell to the ground silently while they were busy, with a pool of bright red blood at their feet.
The city gate was also opened.
The cavalry, who had been impatient for a long time, roared loudly and roared into the city.
Reinforcements of the defenders came on the street. They fired arrows first, and the cavalry in front were almost shot into sieves.
But the distance was too close. Even if the arrow had been hit, the men and horses still rushed into the scattered array of defenders due to inertia.
More cavalry rushed in, wave after wave, almost blocking the streets and alleys.
The defenders were directly dispersed. Some turned around and fled, some spontaneously stabbed the knights on the horses with their spears, and some shouted loudly for Pao Ze to come closer and form a formation to meet the enemy.
"Xue Li is dead!" In the darkness, a general suddenly arrived and threw a bloody human head on the ground.
"Xue Li is dead!" Someone had an idea and shouted in unison.
"Xue Li is dead! Xue Li is dead!" More and more people chanted.
When the fighting soldiers heard this, their morale plummeted. They turned around to look, but they couldn't see clearly in the darkness!
"Fart! I'm still alive!" Xue Li turned over and mounted a horse, raised the torch, and stabilized the morale of the army.
"Whoosh!" A cold arrow suddenly struck.
When Xue Li heard the sound of breaking through the sky, he shrank his neck in fright, his helmet was shot away, and he also fell off his horse.
"Xue Lizhen is dead!" someone shouted again.
Now the defenders saw it clearly, and immediately lost their desire to fight, turned around and fled.
"Fart, I'm sorry." Xue Li got up from the ground. Just as he was about to speak, he was squeezed down again by the surging crowd, and he soon lost his voice.
In the darkness, Qi Binzhang put down his bow and won the battle with great danger.
