So that’s it

At the intersection of the dusky grassland and the blue sky, several thick black wolf smoke pierced straight into the sky.

A bloody sunset was reflected in the long sparkling river. Thousands of war horses crowded in the shallows of the river to drink water. A little further on the bank, groups of soldiers gathered around bonfires to keep warm.

In mid-September of the 21st year of Yongde, eight thousand Xiliang cavalry led by Xiao Zhuo penetrated deep into the hinterland of Xirong and stopped to rest by the Uulun River.

General Meng Yue reined in his horse in front of Xiao Zhuo, jumped down neatly, and threw the reins to the sergeant next to him.

After days of fighting, his armor was covered with dust.

"Lord, the nearest Xirong army is to the southwest of us, two days' journey away from us," Meng Yue rubbed his shoulders that were numb from whiplash, "They have been frightened by us and do not dare to send cavalry to pursue them alone.

"

After hearing this, Xiao Zhuo put his hands behind his back, looked at Song Zhen who was standing next to him, and said, "Put a stone here."

Song Zhen bent down and picked up a stone from the ground, placing it on the boulder in front of him.

On the boulder, a single red stone is located alone in the center. To the south of it, four stones surround it in a fan shape. The stone Song Zhen just put down is the closest to the red stone.

"Lord, although the enemy moves slowly, the positions they hold are very critical." Song Zhen pointed to the layout of the stones. "We don't know the terrain as well as they do. If we risk passing between the two Xirong armies, we will definitely be attacked.

Pincer attack."

"The opponent is attacking steadily and seems to want to push us all the way to the north," Xiao Zhuo said thoughtfully, "King Doma gave up the siege of Leshan. Someone should be giving him advice..."

Meng Yue was holding a water bag to drink water. Hearing this, he put down the water bag, wiped his mouth with his sleeve and said: "According to the prisoners, it was a centurion named Xiumuye who gave the idea to King Doma. King Doma also said

He was promoted and now he is a captain of thousands."

"Xiu Muye?" Xiao Zhuo raised his eyebrows, "It turns out he went to King Doma."

Song Zhen looked at Xiao Zhuo: "Master, do you know this person?"

"We had some dealings with him," Xiao Zhuo lowered his eyes and said, "This man's son once led troops to plunder Xiaogang Village, but I killed him."

"Kill these beasts like Xirong, just kill them," Meng Yue said nonchalantly, "Master, we have now lifted the siege of Leshan. The King of Xiliang... well, he will not send troops to help us."

He originally wanted to say that the King of Xiliang was a coward, but considering that he was surrounded by Xiliang cavalry, he held back.

Xirong's 100,000-strong army came out to surround them. The lord Xiao Zhuoben had already decided on a tactic of flanking the Xiliang King, waiting for the Xiliang King to send troops.

As a result, King Meicheng of Xiliang was probably frightened. Instead of sending troops to attack the enemy's rear, he led his troops to flee all the way back to Yongwei County and stayed behind closed doors.

This wave of operations is speechless.

The friendly forces rescued him and attracted the attention of all the enemy forces. But instead of helping the friendly forces, he actually escaped first.

"It doesn't matter, I have promised Maipu to help him break the siege of Leshan." Xiao Zhuo waved his hand to signal Meng Yue to stop talking, "Now we just need to find a way to break away from the enemy and return to the territory of Dayan."

Song Zhen picked up the fan with only a few feathers left and fanned it twice, and said: "My lord, given the current situation, I think the only way to go north along the river is to wait for the enemy to show a weakness."

"Still continuing to go north?" Meng Yue interjected, "If we continue to go north, those barbarian kings from Xirong will definitely encircle us when they see an opportunity. By then we will be unable to fly."

Xiao Zhuo said: "What General Meng said is absolutely true. We cannot continue to go north. We must first raise military supplies and then look for a breakthrough."

Seeing that Xiao Zhuo had come to a conclusion, Song Zhen stopped insisting and pointed with his fan to the north of the red stones on the boulder:

"My lord, there is a Xirong village thirty miles north of us. It is of decent size. We can go there and plunder it to get a few days of food and grass."

The weather has entered late autumn, and the grass on the grassland has begun to wither in large areas. Although the war horses can still find food, the eight thousand cavalry under Xiao Zhuo still need to eat.

Fortunately, the scout had already scouted the surrounding terrain for hundreds of miles, and he could make a judgment based on the scout's intelligence.

Meng Yue agreed very much and said: "Lord, let's set off now."

In his opinion, given his lord's character, he would definitely adopt the military advisor's idea.

When he first conquered Beidi, the lord often led his cavalry deep into the hinterland of Beidi. The cavalry was valuable in mobility and could not carry a large amount of food. They would plunder nearby Beidi villages to supply themselves. Only in this way can the combat effectiveness of the army be guaranteed.

The Lord relied on this kind of flexible tactics to win many battles, which made Beidi frightened. Everything now is just a reappearance of Beidi's side.

He was already familiar with all this.

"Is there any other way?" Xiao Zhuo did not agree, but asked Song Zhen.

Song Zhen was stunned for a moment, as if he did not expect Xiao Zhuo to ask such a question. He hesitated for a moment and said: "If my lord does not want to plunder that village, there is another way, but it is a bit dangerous."

Xiao Zhuo's expression remained unchanged and he said calmly: "What can we do?"

"Leave the village and continue fifty miles northeast. Xirong has a large grain storage camp there. It's unclear how many troops are stationed there." Song Zhen picked up a stone and placed it northeast of the red stone.

"Let's go there to grab grain." Xiao Zhuo pointed to the location of the grain storage camp.

Meng Yue was taken aback and said to Xiao Zhuo: "Master, you can't be like this."

The villages are close together, and they are all villagers. Even if they are plundering, they will not encounter much resistance. If you attack the enemy camp from afar, you will definitely lose your troops. They currently only have 8,000 troops, no reinforcements, and no food and grass. They can avoid fighting.

You should avoid fighting.

What happened to the Lord? Instead of doing the easy and pleasant looting, he actually took the initiative to fight the enemy.

Xiao Zhuo said in a deep voice: "Act according to my military orders."

Meng Yue helplessly cupped his fists and raised his hands: "I obey."

As he turned around, he wondered, the lord seemed to have changed. The previous lord didn't need to be reminded by the military advisor, and he did this naturally. Could it be that Shen Yuexi influenced him?

Speaking of my lord's wife, she is also an incredible person, able to make such a powerful weapon as a repeating crossbow. But her character is not ruthless enough.

Just as Meng Yue was about to order his sergeants to give orders to the troops, a horse galloped in the distance and reined in the horse. The war horse let out a long neigh, lifted its front hooves off the ground, and breathed heavily.

A scout jumped off his horse, ran to Xiao Zhuo, and knelt down on one knee:

"My lord, I have just received the news. Among the four troops of Xirong, the 50,000-strong army led by King Doma is divided into 20,000 troops and goes south. The leader is Sumonai, the general of 10,000 troops, who has been raising troops for a day."

Meng Yue and Song Zhen looked at each other, neither of them understood the point.

Isn't their goal to capture the lord? Why did they suddenly detach an army and go south?

Xiao Zhuo trembled, waved his hand and said, "Let's explore again."

"I have the order." The scout stood up and was about to mount his horse, when another horse came from afar.

The visitor rolled his saddle and dismounted, rushed to Xiao Zhuo and said:

"My lord, we have found out clearly. King Doma divided his troops into 20,000 troops, led by General Sumonai and Deputy General Xiumuye. They launched their troops yesterday and aimed at Langya Pass."

Xiao Zhuo raised his palm and slapped it heavily on the boulder:

"I see!"
Chapter completed!