In the drizzle that already showed signs of plum rain, in a forest on the north bank of Suishui River, the battle suddenly started.

To be fair, although Dou Xiaoniang is extremely talented and has rich life experience, her pure military experience is still somewhat lacking, especially her lack of serious battlefield leadership experience. Therefore, she was suddenly ambushed and saw someone being killed directly in front of her.

The crossbow bolt fell from his horse, and the young patrol captain couldn't help but be horrified. He just repeatedly called for dozens of riders in his team to take the wounded and evacuate, but he personally fought back with a long sword and cut off the rear.

This move had a miraculous effect... The ambushing Imperial Guards thought she was a young girl, and she was in the woods. They seemed to think that she could be captured alive, so they gave up their crossbows for the second round and tried to fight in hand-to-hand combat.

However, these people not only underestimated this young lady's equestrian martial arts, but also underestimated the other party's cultivation. Dou Xiaoniang waved the long sword on the horse, and seven or eight feet of Lihuo Zhenqi rose along the blade, just like the real thing.

The opponent's armored armies clashed with each other, and the flames kept escaping and burning the opponent's mouth and nose. They were actually one against many and did not lose at all, so these forbidden troops quickly lost their momentum.

Immediately, Dou Xiaoniang just saw a flaw, jumped on her horse, flew over a large tree stump, turned a few turns in the woods, and successfully escaped.

But after he escaped from the woods and met his subordinates waiting for him outside, he couldn't help but ask: "Xun joined the army, did anyone die in the battle? How many were injured? Where are the horses?"

"Reply to the general!" The deputy who joined the army reined in his horse and faced each other in the rain, and immediately replied. "Shen Erlang and Brother Li died on the spot, Feng Shiwulang's horse was injured, and the others lost some supplies.

The equipment, as well as Zhao Qilang and several others fell off their horses due to the slippery road, but overall it should be fine... and the rest will be fine."

"No more?" Dou Xiaoniang, whose hair was soaked by the rain, was obviously stunned.

"It's true that there is no more." Joining the Army tried his best to correct it. "Except for the matter of Shen Erlang and Brother Li, the Forbidden Army is not as powerful as the rain in Huaibei!"

Dou Xiaoniang still can't understand, if the Forbidden Army is useless, how can they plan such a successful siege and successfully complete the crossbow shooting? If they are not, why did they cause such casualties? Moreover, it doesn't matter that two teammates died on the spot.

Isn’t it okay to just pretend that there are no other casualties?

In fact, if the two people, including Shen Erlang, the preparation general, had not been killed on the spot, Dou Xiaoniang would not have been so panicked.

However, the soldier obviously had some concerns at this time, and immediately made a guess: "Commander, we looked at it together and thought it might be a problem with the crossbow."

"Crossbow?"

"Yes, their crossbows probably got wet." Joining the Army explained. "It's not that everyone missed the crossbow arrows, but according to everyone's opinions, most of them missed the target, and then their armor slipped when they encountered wet armor; there were a few others.

One was hung on the coir raincoat, and we checked it with our own eyes. It seemed that it had lost some strength, and even the coir raincoat couldn't be penetrated... But Shen Erlang and Brother Li were just unlucky, and they hit the mark... Shen Erlang was the throat, and Brother Li was the throat.

It's the armpit."

This explanation seems feasible, but Dou Xiaoniang is still puzzled: "Crossbows can also be affected by moisture?"

"The opportunity for wooden crossbows is booming." Joining the Army further added.

Dou Xiaoniang was stunned in the rain, and she wiped her face for a long time: "The Forbidden Army also uses wooden crossbows?"

"Otherwise, how could it be like this?" This time, joining the army was just a matter of showing off.

The young lady reined in her horse and turned around. Thinking of the new order she had received this time when she went south, she immediately ordered: "Send someone to take this matter back to Shilipu behind you! The king of heaven and Li Longtou are there! The rest will leave the body behind for the time being."

Come on, follow me back, and be sure to grab a few crossbows!"

This time it was Jiang Jun's turn and he was a little confused, but he quickly gave the order. About two or three cavalrymen set out one after another and headed towards Shilipu.

After these messengers left, the others had re-equipped and sorted out their equipment. Before setting off, Dou Xiaoniang looked at the non-stop rain above her head, but added another order: "Everyone put on raincoats, and then go in and search."

The patrols naturally followed orders.

Facts have proved that Li Ding, who had just arrived on the north bank of Suishui River, paid more attention to this information than imagined. He set off from Shilipu where he had just settled almost immediately, and only brought a dozen riders with him, leaving Xiong Bonan with only

Ride a horse and don’t show off.

Shilipu is not named because it is ten miles away from a certain city, but ten miles away from a shoal in Suishui River, so the distance is actually quite close. Regardless of the risk of horsepower and rainy weather, it is only half an hour away from the previous ambush battle.

The two people with the highest status on the front line of the gang rode with their entourage through the rain to the outskirts of this small forest.

Then, Xiong Bonan immediately noticed the movement in the woods and took action.

"King of Heaven, don't move." Li Ding immediately stopped the other party. "We don't need support from others, we will wait here."

Xiong Bonan was puzzled for a moment: "What does Li Longtou mean? Don't you want to see the crossbow machine?"

"Crossbows can't run, people can." Li Ding said expressionlessly. "Since they are here and they haven't run away, why not take a look at the combat effectiveness of this group of forbidden troops and their morale? Just let them fight with this patrol team.

It's a matter of life and death, let's not interfere, just look at the results."

While Xiong Bonan came to his senses, he couldn't help but frown on the spot...Some things are like this. Logically speaking, this is a normal behavior for the military commander to test the combat strength of both sides, find out the flaws and establish tactics, and it belongs to tactical reconnaissance.

Part of it is that the so-called kindness does not control the army. But even though I have already come here, I still let my brothers in the gang use their lives to prove it. If it is not profitable, it is not profitable.

And when King Xiongtian looked at the expressionless Li Longtou anxiously, his heart moved slightly, because he had just thought of Chief Zhang Xingzhang... Li Ding regarded human life as a matter of victory or defeat, and he

If you think brothers are more important and can't do this kind of thing, what about Chief Zhang?

The answer is very simple. Chief Zhang will definitely never do such a thing unless it is absolutely necessary. If he has to do it, he must explain it clearly to his superiors and explain the necessity of doing such a thing. However, Chief Zhang saw here

If Li Ding did this, I'm afraid he wouldn't stop him. He just wanted to explain for Li Ding and appease people like him.

Thinking about it carefully, Chief Zhang ignored the emotions of the brothers below and insisted on placing Li Ding in this position. Many people talked about the previous friendship between Li Longtou and Chief Zhang, but he was probably inferior...

There is friendship, but if we talk about friendship, why is it that Qin Bao is only the helmsman and leader? You know, before Jia Runshi was released, he acted as a leader. At that age, Jia Runshi could be because of

If you want to take care of the descendants of the Jishui River and give them to a leader, why can't Qin Bao do it?

Therefore, in the characteristic continuous rain in early summer in Huaibei, Xiong Bonan, whose beard was not even touched by water, squinted slightly, and an idea came to his mind - Chief Zhang knew that this was the right thing to do, but the gang members, including himself,

They were not willing to do this, so I invited this person over and put him in this position.

Just ask this person to do this thing.

But so what?

Chen Bin and Xie Minghe were like this back then, but why are they not gang members in Gancheng now? Even if they were members of the gang back then, wouldn't there be a similar statement?

Once you enter the gang, it is like the continuous rain that will eventually merge into the river.

Li Ding didn't know Xiong Bonan's random thoughts, nor did he know that Xiong Bonan could always confidently rely on the strength of the gang. He just reined in his horse and waited outside the woods, and inside the woods, the battle was indeed fierce - it turns out that the Forbidden Army

It is true that most of the crossbows are made of wood, and only a few are still the previous fine steel crossbows. This makes their biggest weapon against cavalry in the woods useless, and eventually it evolved into hand-to-hand combat.

But once hand-to-hand combat begins, both sides actually have their own strengths and weaknesses.

The patrol has horses, even if the advantage of maneuvering in the woods and in the rain is greatly weakened, it still has the advantage of height, and Dou Xiaoniang is a strong point; the imperial army is simpler, but there are many people, they have more than a hundred people, this is

There is a serious team of people, but the patrol cavalry only has a few dozen people because it is a cavalry.

However, the battle in the woods ended quickly.

The reason is very simple, this is north of Suishui River.

Suishui is not wide. Before the summer rains have accumulated, there are many floating bridges and shoals, making it very easy to travel. However, the frequent small-scale battles that have lasted for three or four days have still vaguely created a tacit understanding between the two sides.

The dividing line is this Suishui River.

Therefore, those who dare to cross the Sui River to provoke battle are naturally heroes and heroes. But on the other hand, the other side of the Sui River is still too dangerous for our side.

As a result, the Forbidden Army, which was unable to ambush and then was counterattacked in the woods, continued to fight fiercely for more than half an hour, and after paying the price of about four or five lives and seven or eight wounded...

It's not that we can't continue the fight. In fact, they also killed two or three of the cavalry on the opposite side. If we continue the fight, it's not necessarily who will win, but the problem is that if we continue to fight, it will be exhausted until dark, or other reinforcements will come to help.

, then there is no way to return to the other side.

This group of forbidden troops didn't know that there was a mentally ill gang leader outside who would not allow reinforcements to come.

Li Ding stood on his horse and watched the Forbidden Army troops withdrawing from the woods in an orderly manner and headed towards Suishui. He reined in his horse and followed slowly, without looking back, and ordered: "Don't move now. Let's wait and see if the pursuit is pursued."

The effect depends on whether they cross the river quickly, and then intercept them after they reach the other side of the river."

After giving the order, he realized that his tone was wrong, because the order was directed to Xiong Bonan, and according to King Xiong Tian's status and prestige in the gang, he was not under his leadership.

So, the person wanted to turn around to calm down, but as soon as he turned around, he saw the other party nodding calmly, but he was too lazy to speak, and quickly returned his attention to the battle ahead.

Outside the woods, the entire Forbidden Army escaped. There were about a hundred or so people in the front, but they maintained a rough formation. They used a few donkeys to carry their wounded and placed them in the middle. The archers and crossbowmen and short soldiers surrounded them first, and the rear were divided.

Two groups of people, each with about twenty people, each armed with long soldiers and shields, took turns to respond and break up the rear.

The military cavalry chased them out, and because of the fighting, they got mixed up with the opponent's rearguard and had no intention of bypassing and flanking the weak phalanx in front.

With such a huge gap in tactical literacy, not to mention Li Ding, even Xiong Bonan frowned and rarely spoke proactively: "No wonder we have lost more than we have won so far."

"After all, they are Dongdu Xiaorui who have gathered the best from all over the world." Li Ding just sighed. "It's to be expected... Otherwise, if we fight in a small group and there is that girl in the patrol, we should have won by now."

minus."

Xiong Bonan glanced at Dou Xiaoniang, who was wielding her true energy more and more fiercely, and immediately nodded... In a battle of this level, as long as this young lady with a high level of cultivation is desperate to kill a few people quickly, the opponent will immediately retreat...

Up to now, it has been enough to explain the problem.

but……

"That's... Dou Longtou's daughter?" Xiong Bonan suddenly recognized the little girl.

"I don't know." Li Ding frowned. "Is Dou Longtou's daughter so handsome?"

"Indeed." Xiong Bonan sighed. "The identity of the patrol captain matches... I didn't say it before, so I thought it was another patrol team."

"If that's the case, King Xiongtian still needs to take care of him and don't let anyone get into trouble." Li Ding still frowned.

"I thought Li Longtou was still selfless..." Xiong Bonan couldn't help but laugh.

"It's not that I want to be private, but if someone dies for this matter, it will cause instability behind me and ruin the situation." Li Ding also took the initiative to explain a little.

While the two were talking, the battle situation ahead gradually changed.

You must know that although the tactics are superior, in the end it is the imperial army that is retreating and the military patrols that are chasing. The latter relies on the superiority of the cavalry in the plains and never lets go, while the former, after the two groups of rear guards alternate two or three times in a row,
To be continued...