Meng Jisi led 10,000 troops to march quickly on a rugged official road. Meng Jisi, like He Quan, was Ma Sui's right-hand man. They had followed Ma Sui for decades. Compared with He Quan's selfishness, Meng Jisi was slightly more selfish.
Si was more loyal to Ma Sui and more self-disciplined, and there was never any scandal.
Meng Jisi is also a veteran general. He is almost sixty years old. He wields a fifty-pound sword and rides on a horse with majesty. He becomes stronger with age.
The south bank of the Yangtze River is not easy to walk on. It is hilly, densely forested, and sparsely populated. The so-called official road is just a path covered with weeds. The ground is uneven and there are many potholes along the way, making it extremely difficult to walk.
Ten thousand troops walked for a whole day, and the soldiers were exhausted. They came to an open area. In front of them was a shallow river with crystal clear water. On both sides were undulating fields. The field of vision was very broad. It was more than ten miles away.
There is a forest outside. Fortunately, the grass in the wilderness is not high, just like a soft blanket.
It was indeed a good place to camp. Meng Jisi immediately ordered to camp on the spot, and the soldiers cheered and ran into the wilderness.
The 10,000-strong army made rice in pots and had enough to eat and drink. The soldiers spread out blankets and looked at the sky full of stars and the moonlight like silver. Soon, the exhausted 10,000 soldiers fell asleep soundly.
The night was getting deeper and deeper, and at two o'clock, a huge cavalry force, numbering 20,000, appeared beside the forest more than ten miles away to the west. The commanders were Pei Xin and Yang Xuanying.
This place is about 150 miles away from Jiangling, and 20,000 cavalry arrived here one day earlier than the enemy. The reason why the blocking area was placed here was because Pei Xin took a fancy to the open space here, which was very suitable for cavalry operations.
The starlight and moonlight tonight are very good, covering the earth with a layer of silver light, and the situation in the distance is clearly visible. This is also God's beauty, giving the Jin army a good opportunity to launch a night attack.
"It's more than ten miles from here. It's too far. Killing it will give the opponent enough time to form a team to prepare for battle!" Yang Xuanying reminded in a low voice.
Pei Xin nodded, and looked around again. There was also a forest more than ten miles long to the north. It was only about three miles away from the enemy camp. He pointed to the woods to the north and said, "Take 10,000 enemy troops and go around to the woods to the north."
, launching an attack from the northeast, the enemy troops will inevitably flee to the west, and I will intercept them from the west."
"I understand."
Yang Xuanying waved her hand, "First Army, follow me!"
He led ten thousand cavalry to the north, went around to the woods several miles away, and then turned east.
In less than half an hour, Yang Xuanying led 10,000 cavalry in place. They were located in the northeast of the enemy's camp, only three miles away from the enemy's camp.
Pei Xin did not stipulate the time for the attack. Everything was decided by Yang Xuanying himself. In fact, Pei Xin gave him a chance to become a general and lead his army to attack the enemy.
Yang Xuanying was really nervous and his heart was pounding, but he knew that there was no need to assassinate the patrol at this time, even if the patrol found them, it would be too late.
Yang Xuanying was heartbroken and shouted sternly: "He took the lead and rushed towards the enemy with his gun. Ten thousand cavalry followed him and launched. The sound of horse hooves suddenly rose up, like a muffled thunder rolling across the horizon.
Ten thousand cavalry rushed toward the enemy camp three miles away like a flood, but they only ran less than a mile before they were discovered by patrol soldiers. The patrol soldiers blew the emergency horns one after another, saying, 'Woo--woo!
Woo!"
Meng Jisi, who had just fallen asleep, was awakened. He immediately felt the earth shaking and bursts of thunder coming from the northeast.
"not good!"
Meng Jisi, who had been fighting in the north and south for many years, immediately realized that this was an enemy cavalry attack. He shouted: "The whole army rises up and forms a formation!"
The soldiers were also awakened by the trembling of the earth. They hurriedly got up and were at a loss. The general rushed and shouted, "Line up to fight!"
At this time, the cavalry was already a hundred steps away like a surging tide. It was too late to form a formation, let alone deploy archers, spear troops and other formations. The soldiers in the north were frightened by the terrifying momentum of the Jin cavalry and were frightened.
Back up.
"Don't retreat, come forward to fight!" Meng Jisi shouted sternly.
Ma Sui's army far surpassed Liu Pi's army in terms of morale and training. Even when attacked by Jin cavalry at night, they were still able to rush to the battle and did not collapse without a fight. This was also a bit surprising to Yang Xuanying and Pei
Letter of expectation.
"Boom!" With a loud noise, the cavalry group rushed into the enemy's ranks. The horses neighed and the soldiers screamed wildly. They galloped on horseback in the open space and stabbed the enemy with their spears.
In the case of equal forces, if there is no infantry formation with spears, the infantry is basically no match for the cavalry. This is the natural difference in strength and speed. If the morale of the infantry is any lower, it will be a one-sided massacre.
After the initial panic, Ma Sui's army quickly began to gather and counterattack. But at this moment, another cavalry force of 10,000 people came from the west. The attack of 20,000 cavalry finally made Ma Sui's army unable to withstand it.
A rout began.
At this critical moment, as long as a handful of soldiers fled, it would trigger a full-scale avalanche. One word spread to ten, ten spread to hundreds, hundreds spread to thousands, and the 10,000-strong army finally collapsed. They rushed across the shallow river and fled southward.
The cavalry pursued them all the way, shouting: "Those who surrender will not be killed! Those who surrender will not be killed!"
The soldiers knelt down and surrendered one after another. Yang Xuanying had been looking for the enemy commander. He led a cavalry team to run for three miles, but was blocked by a group of more than a hundred enemy infantry.
A veteran horseman on the other side is the enemy's commander-in-chief, Meng Jisi. Both of them are looking for each other. Meng Jisi's only hope is to kill the enemy's commander. Maybe they have a chance to turn defeat into victory.
"Ignorant child, give me your life!"
Meng Jisi shouted, spurred his horse to gallop forward, and slashed at Yang Xuanying with his sword as fast as lightning.
Yang Xuanying felt a cold light hit his neck, and he sneered, "Well done!"
He leaned forward to let go of the knife, and the spear stabbed directly into the opponent's lower abdomen. Meng Jisi quickly put away his knife to block, and the two fought together. Meng Jisi had exquisite sword skills and rich experience, while Yang Xuanying was the master of marksmanship inherited from the Yang family of Hongnong and was known as
The best shot in the world, even Pei Xin has to learn marksmanship from Yang Xuanying.
The two fought fiercely for twenty rounds. Meng Jisi, who was already over sixty years old, was weak and could no longer resist.
However, Yang Xuanying became more and more courageous as he fought, and his speed became faster and faster. At this time, Meng Jisi slashed the air with his sword and almost fell off his horse. He secretly screamed something bad, but Yang Xuanying seized the opportunity and grabbed the silk ribbon around his waist.
He dragged him off the horse and ordered: "Tie him up!"
Several soldiers rushed forward, pushed Meng Jisi to the ground, and tied him up tightly. Meng Jisi sighed and stopped struggling, allowing the enemy soldiers to push him away.
Yang Xuanying saw that the opponent's weapons and horses were good, so he ordered the soldiers to accept them as his trophies.
The capture of the general made Ma Sui's army completely lose their will to fight, and the exits in all directions were blocked by the opponent's cavalry. Ma Sui's soldiers had no way to escape, so they had to put down their weapons and kneel down to surrender.
It was getting daylight, and groups of prisoners of war were being escorted westward listlessly, with three thousand cavalry escorting them on both sides.
For this southern expedition, Guo Song had planned in advance to capture as many enemy troops as possible. These young and strong men were valuable human assets and could not be killed indiscriminately.
In this night attack on the enemy, the 10,000 enemy troops suffered casualties of nearly 2,000, including 1,000 killed and more than 700 injured, while the Jin cavalry suffered nearly 400 casualties.
In order to prevent unnecessary prisoner-of-war riots, Pei Xin has publicly told more than 8,000 prisoners-of-war that they are all citizens of the Tang Dynasty and will not embarrass them. After the war, all prisoners-of-war will be released directly home. This will undoubtedly make the prisoners of war suffer.
Get reassurance.
The prisoners of war will be escorted to Gong'an County, forty miles away, where a temporary prisoner of war camp has been established.
Pei Xin only left 3,000 cavalry to escort the prisoners of war, while he led the rest of the army southward along the outskirts of Dongting Lake, and together with the 20,000 troops of Jin King Guo Song, surrounded the 10,000 troops led by Ma Sui.
After Ma Sui led an army of 10,000 people to march northwest for three days, they crossed Zishui and arrived at Yiyang County. They replenished supplies in Yiyang, and Ma Sui allowed the army to rest for another half day.
Yiyang was not Ma Sui's territory, but Liu Pi's territory. Ma Sui did not disturb the people, ordered the army to rest outside the city, and asked the quartermaster to go to the city to purchase a batch of medicinal materials.
In a rather small marching tent, Ma Sui stood alone in front of the map and meditated. He also had a trace of worry in his heart. This worry came from the fact that he did not know the details of the Jin army. How many Jin army soldiers attacked Jiangling County? Jiangling County is now
How is the situation? What is the situation of Meng Jisi?
In war, it is important to know oneself and the enemy, but he now knows nothing about the situation of the Jin army, and the letter Liu Pi sent him for help was unclear.
This kind of unknown was not in line with Ma Sui's style and made him a little hesitant. This was why he asked the soldiers to rest for half a day. He needed to straighten out his thoughts.
At this time, a soldier outside the tent reported: "Old General, Wen Canjun has something urgent to see you."
Wen Canjun was the quartermaster sent by Ma Sui to buy medicinal materials in the city. Ma Sui couldn't help but be startled. What emergency could there be? Did Wen Canjun get any important news in the city?