Another day passed, and in the morning of the next day, the rapid cry of eagles suddenly came from the sky. Guo Song saw Mengzi hovering in the sky on the other side of the river, and he immediately ordered: "Send all soldiers to get in position, the enemy is coming!"
Four thousand Tang troops were deployed on the south bank of the Yellow River, within a range of about 300 steps along the Yellow River. This is also the current width of the shallow water bank of the North Yellow River, which is usually one mile wide. However, it is the flood season now, and the range that can cross the river has been reduced by half.
This will undoubtedly have a huge impact on Xue Yantuo's army that is about to cross the river.
Xueyantuo's army was also aware of this risk, so the vanguard army appeared. Two thousand Xueyantuo cavalry went to Fengzhou first to ensure the safety of the main army crossing the river. Unexpectedly, they were gathered together by the Tang army and annihilated.
A quarter of an hour later, the vanguard of the 20,000-strong army appeared on the other side of the Yellow River, followed behind by thousands of carriages carrying food, grass and baggage.
This army was personally led by Xue Mantou. He immediately looked far away on the north bank of the Yellow River. There was a slight fog on the river, and the situation on the other bank could not be seen clearly.
"Shoot rocket tips!"
Xue Mantou gave the order, and soldiers immediately fired three rockets into the sky. The rockets shot into the sky and drew three bright flames over the river. For a long time, there was no movement on the other side.
"Report to Khan, there is no response from the other side!"
Xue Mantou frowned, what's going on? Did something happen to Xue Chake's army?
He muttered the order and said: "Send the order for the first battalion to cross the river!"
Xue Yantuo's army was divided into ten battalions, each battalion had 2,000 men and was led by a captain of ten thousand men.
Two thousand cavalrymen took off their armor, shoes and socks, bundled their armor, shoes and socks, and tied them to the backs of their horses. They pulled the horses slowly into the cold and biting Yellow River. An unusually strong captain held a long sword in his hand.
The hammer walked at the front, breaking the ice blocks on both sides one by one, and slowly walked towards the other side.
On the south bank, 4,000 Tang troops were ready. Except for the 1,000 soldiers who surrendered to the city of Xihou, who used bows and arrows, the other 3,000 soldiers used crossbows, which were very powerful. For enemy soldiers without leather armor, they could reach them within 250 steps.
Can shoot.
A thousand soldiers from the surrender city of Xihou were responsible for shooting at close range. Even if they escaped the intensive shooting of military crossbows, they could not escape the final arrows of a thousand soldiers.
"Your Majesty, the other party seems to have only sent some soldiers into the water. They should be trying to cross the river!"
Guo Song said lightly: "Unless they retreat without a fight, sooner or later they will cross the river with all their strength. They have no choice. If they cross the river in sections, we will only defeat them one by one, which is not wise!"
The two thousand cavalrymen turned into countless small black dots in the river and were slowly walking towards the south bank. About a quarter of an hour later, the two thousand soldiers gradually entered the shooting range.
However, Guo Song did not give the order to shoot, and none of the soldiers fired their crossbows.
Two hundred steps...one hundred and fifty steps...one hundred and twenty steps...one hundred steps.
When the enemy troops came within a hundred steps, Guo Song sternly ordered: "Shoot!"
The sound of bangs suddenly sounded, and four thousand soldiers fired crossbows and arrows at the same time. The dense crossbow bolts and arrows were fired at the enemy troops in the river. The arrows were like rain. The soldiers in the river suddenly fell on their backs, killing hundreds of people in an instant. The leader of the ten thousand captains dodged.
Unable to catch up, he was hit by dozens of arrows, shooting like a hedgehog, and died tragically on the spot.
The rest of the soldiers were horrified and turned around to run away to the other side. Unfortunately, they moved too slowly in the water. They only took a dozen steps when the Tang army's second round of crossbow bolts and arrows came at them. Hundreds more people were hit by arrows in the back and fell headlong into the water.
In the Yellow River......
In just two rounds of shooting, the number of men and horses on the river was reduced by half. The three thousand Tang Army crossbowmen and one thousand archers showed no mercy. They drew arrows, cocked them, aimed, and shot in one go. Arrows and crossbow bolts were always shooting like raindrops.
Toward the Yellow River.
On the other side of the Yellow River, Khan Xue Man was so angry that he stamped his feet, but he was helpless and watched as groups of soldiers disappeared from the river.
The Tang army finally stopped shooting, and 2,000 cavalry and war horses crossed the river. However, less than 500 people escaped, and more than 1,500 people were shot dead. The captain of ten thousand men was also shot dead in the Yellow River at the first time. This tragic incident
The price was really hard for Xue Manzi to accept.
At this time, a captain of ten thousand men suggested: "Khan, this is not the way to cross the river. I suggest cutting down trees to cross the river and use the trees as cover. The soldiers hide behind the trees, and the trees are natural shields."
This method was very good, and Xue Mantou immediately adopted it. He ordered: "Go and cut down five hundred big trees!"
There was a pine forest not far from the north bank. The soldiers rushed to cut down the trees. The big trees were cut down one after another without removing the branches. They were dragged directly to the north bank of the Yellow River. In just two hours, the trees were piled up on the north bank of the Yellow River.
Hundreds of big trees.
"Pass my order, the second to sixth battalions go into the water and support the big tree before walking!"
Hundreds of big trees were thrown into the water. Four thousand soldiers supported more than 300 big trees and walked slowly in front, followed by six thousand cavalry.
The huge tree crowns were connected together and floated on the river. The tree crowns faced south, forming tree walls. Four thousand infantrymen holding spears hid behind the big trees and pushed the big trees slowly.
Guo Song secretly nodded. Who said that the Xueyantuo people had no experience in crossing the river? This was an extremely clever plan for crossing the river. It was blocked by dense tree canopies and bows, arrows and crossbows were useless to them. If they came ashore, the cavalry behind them would attack the Tang army.
pose a huge threat.
Guo Song immediately ordered: "The entire army withdraws to Jiuyuan City!"
Four thousand soldiers of the Tang Army mounted their horses one after another, followed Guo Song, and ran towards Jiuyuan City at lightning speed.
........
In Lingzhou, Shuofang Army Jiedu Mansion, Li Huaiguang read the letter asking for help written by Guo Song with a blank expression.
Li Huaiguang was about fifty years old, with dark and rough skin, like orange peel, a hooked nose, slender eyes, sharp and cunning.
He pondered for a long time and said to the soldier who delivered the message: "Go back and tell your envoy that I will consider the rescue. If the time comes, I will naturally send troops to rescue Fengzhou. Let him try his best to resist first!"
After a pause, he said to the soldier who delivered the message: "I have expressed my attitude in the pigeon letter to him before. Please tell Ambassador Guo that my attitude has not changed. I support him in resisting Xue Yantuo's army, and will also consider sending troops to support him.
"
After saying that, he ordered his left and right: "Give him ten taels of silver and send him back!"
Several soldiers took the messenger soldiers down. Han Yu, Li Huaiguang's aide, who was sitting aside, said, "Could it be that you really intend to send troops?"
Li Huaiguang sneered and said: "Why don't I send troops? Sending troops does not mean that I want to support him. In the autumn of the year before last, Duan Xiushi took advantage at the last moment. If there is an advantage, why can't I take it?"
Han Yu whispered: "Actually, I feel that Xue Yantuo's lair must be empty at this time, so it would be an opportunity to go directly to their lair."
Li Huaiguang glanced at Han Yu coldly, and said with dissatisfaction in his tone: "Do you want me to besiege Wei and rescue Zhao, and relieve the siege of Fengzhou?"
Han Yu looked embarrassed and quickly explained: "Being humble has no such meaning. Being humble means that when the crane and the clam fight, the fisherman will benefit."
Li Huaiguang knew that he just made a mistake and had no intention of helping Guo Song, so his expression softened a little, and he said: "That's what I meant, let them beat them to the point, I will take advantage again to prevent Guo Song from complaining to the court about my lack of support."
Support him."
"Make you wise!"
Li Huaiguang chuckled. He suddenly remembered something and asked, "Have you confirmed what Chang Xiangguo wants?"
"Reporting to the envoy, it is basically clear that Guo Song did reach an agreement with the Sijie tribe without authorization last autumn, and Sijie sent troops to put pressure on Xue Yantuo. He did not go through the imperial court or report to the imperial court. He acted without authorization.
"
Li Huaiguang sneered and said: "This Guo Song is also stupid. He would not offend others, but he wants to offend the Zhang family. I don't believe that he doesn't know the relationship between the Zhang family and Chang Xiangguo?"
"What Shijun means is that Chang Xiangguo collected evidence against Guo Song for the sake of the Zhang family."
"What do you think! The Zhang family is the natal family of Chang Xiangguo's mother. Guo Song has skinned the Zhang family. How can Chang Xiangguo, who is always known for protecting his shortcomings, let it go?"
Han Yu nodded, "Chang Xiangguo started to collect clues about Guo Song, and it seems that he is going to deal with him. This is a good thing for the envoy!"
Although Li Huaiguang was happy to see Chang Gun deal with Guo Song, he didn't think it was a good thing for him. He raised his eyebrows and said: "My principle in life is that it is a good thing when the meat reaches your mouth. Otherwise, you will spend a long time and end up with nothing."
If someone else makes the wedding dress, then the gain outweighs the loss."