An hour later, Cheng Pu and Han Dang who were sent out have returned one after another. They have found Li Hu and Xi Shen's troops, and both of them have been stationed in place.
But after waiting for another long time, Zhang Chong still didn't wait for Ma Chao's team to return, and he didn't even know whether they had caught up with Xu Huang and the others.
Zhang Chong, who usually has a mild temper, couldn't help but curse at this moment:
"This Ma Chao is really a kid, he can handle such things."
None of the other generals dared to say a word, but they were silently worried about Ma Chao.
At this time, several of the gangsters led by Ma Chao ran back, sweating profusely.
One of the young generals with a hairless mouth quickly dismounted his horse, quickly ran towards Zhang Chong under Huang, and landed on one knee:
"Report to the King, General Shi led us along the horse's hoof prints to search for Colonel Xu, but Captain Xu's pursuit was too fast, and the brothers couldn't find them at all. Later, we chased them beyond the mountains, and the traces were lost.
Okay. General Shi ordered us to return and report the situation to the king, and then General Shi went into the mountain himself and said he wanted to find Captain Xu and the others."
Zhang Chong was silent now. He thought for a while, then looked at the young general and asked:
"What's your name? It looks strange to me."
The young general was actually quite excited, but still tried to calmly reply:
"The last general's name is Ma Dai, and he is currently the deputy commander of Zuoquyoutun of the Hengchang Division."
Zhang Chong looked at Ma Dai, whose face was somewhat similar to Ma Chao's, and suddenly blurted out:
"Oh, you are Ma Teng's son! It seems that your father gave birth to a good son!"
Ma Dai's mind was relatively calm and delicate. He didn't know whether his words were good or bad, so he could only lower his head and remain silent.
At this time, Tian Chou on the side asked Ma Dai:
"Do you know where the location you pursued is?"
Ma Dai shook his head.
It’s not that he is unprofessional, but that he is a native from the northwest who has just come to Hebei to join his father for less than half a year. Later, he was recommended to the horizontal team for training. He usually either trains or studies. Not to mention he has an understanding of the scenery beyond the Great Wall.
Know the layout of Yecheng.
But Ma Dai quickly added:
"We walked straight through the end of this flat hill, then passed through a mountain road and entered a small flat land. Not long after that, we saw a big pool, which branched off into a large river to the northeast."
Tian Chou listened carefully, combined with the landforms in his impression, and then said to Zhang Chong:
"Your Majesty, from Deputy Marsh's description, Ma Chao and the others should have found the Yu River before, and a little further north is where Liucheng is. And Xu Xiaowei's troops may have pursued Liucheng."
Zhang Chong has been thinking.
Suddenly, he asked Cheng Pu and Han Dang who were waiting beside him:
"Where did Li Hu and Xi Shen stop?"
Cheng Pu prefaces:
"Captain Li and his Feilong Army are stationed twenty miles northeast of us."
Han Dang took over:
"When the general found Colonel Xi, he was leading the Flying Leopard Army to pursue the Wuhuan people in our southeast direction, which was probably about twenty miles away."
Zhang Chong smiled suddenly, and then said to his left and right:
"It seems like one of them is in the north and one is in the south, but it's me, the middle army, who has become the front army."
Then, Zhang Chong ordered Han Dang and Cheng Pu again:
"You two should go back the same way you came, and give orders to the Feilong and Feibao armies to pursue them to the east, look for my traces, and be my successors."
Han Dang and Cheng Pu understood. After clasping their fists, they hurriedly led their team back the same way.
After doing this, Zhang Chong said to Ma Dai:
"In a moment, you will be the leader of the entire army and lead us to find that place. We will annihilate the Wuhuan people."
Ma Dai didn't understand why the king looked so happy even though his brother had not found Captain Xu and Captain Xu himself had gone deep alone.
It seems that Ma Dai still has a lot to learn.
So, he hurriedly took a few of his subordinates, flew on his horse, shouted and marched in front of the whole army.
As the horsemen flew around, the cavalry who had originally stayed here mounted their horses again and ran towards the gap in the mountain road to the east.
As a civil servant, Jushou's equestrian skills are already very good.
But even so, running on horseback for a long time still made the sides of his buttocks feel hot.
At this moment, he leaned on the horse and said loudly to Zhang Chong:
"Your Majesty, I didn't expect that this battle would turn out to be a mistake. I just don't know whether Xu Huang has meritorious deeds or faults.
Zhang Chong burst out laughing, unable to hold back his excitement any longer, and said:
"Of course Xu Huang has merit, or a great merit. Without his lone army to go deep, how could those Wuhuan people stay? If they didn't stay, how would they have created opportunities for our army to encircle and annihilate them?"
It can be said that the current situation is neither a small good nor an average good, but a great one.
Originally, what was Zhang Chong most worried about?
That is, the raiders in front fought too fiercely, and the Wuhuan people were so frightened by the killing that they did not even dare to defend their home base of Liucheng, so they retreated into the Xianbei mountains.
That would be difficult.
Therefore, Zhang Chongcai ordered all ministries to stop the pursuit, reduce the pressure on the Wuhuan people, and not ask them to take the initiative to counterattack, at least let them have the courage to defend Liucheng.
But now, due to Xu Huang's unlucky and lone force, a more favorable situation has been created.
When Taton and others on the opposite side suddenly find that a lone Taishan Cavalry army, whose number is far smaller than theirs, has penetrated nearby, what will they do?
Not to mention someone as ambitious as Taton, anyone with any dignity would turn around and go back to fight.
On the one hand, this can also boost the morale of the Wuhuan people, and on the other hand, it can eat part of the Taishan army first, which may create a turning defeat into victory later.
Under such temptation, how could the Wuhuan people not be tempted?
Therefore, it can be seen that it is almost inevitable for the Wuhuan people to besiege Xu Huang's tribe.
But the Wuhuan people wanted to eat Xu Huang, but they also created an opportunity for themselves to surround and annihilate them.
Now let's see if Xu Huang can withstand him and bring reinforcements.
At this point, Zhang Chong has full confidence in Xu Huang, because his name is Xu Huang.
After reading this, Zhang Chong could not help shouting:
"Gentlemen, let's hurry up and let those Wuhuan rats see who will rule this vast land in the future!"
All the knights sang:
"Here!"
As a result, Qianqi kicked up thousands of feet of dust and swept it with the new wind towards Liucheng.
…
In Banla Mountain, less than twenty miles southeast of Liucheng, Xu Huang and 600 horsemen were surrounded here.
At this time, looking at the endless stream of Wuhuan people down the mountain and the Hu tribe coming from the direction of Liucheng, Xu Huang was both happy and regretful.
Fortunately for him, thanks to his timely reaction, when he rushed to this area, he saw the tents scattered all over, and knew that he had broken into the habitat of the Wuhuan people, and maybe this was where Liucheng was located.
So, just when his subordinates were about to continue the pursuit and killing, Xu Huang quickly asked them to stop the pursuit, and then found this mountain wall as a defensive fortification.
Xu Huang didn't know that the place he found would be called Banla Mountain in the future, and that the famous Hongshan Cultural Site had been discovered here. He just felt that this was their way of survival from a purely military perspective.
Xu Huang's choice was right. Banla Mountain was located in a place that was easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Its mountain is not high, but it is high enough to command a commanding view. It is surrounded by mountains on its east, north, and west sides, and on its south side, the Daling River flows from west to east.
In other words, if the Wuhuan people wanted to attack Xu Huang and others, they could only mass their attack on the very narrow beach between the north of Daling River and the south of Banla Mountain.
This is very beneficial to Xu Huang's defense, which is at an absolute numerical disadvantage.
This is good news, but the bad news is also disappointing.
First of all, because Xu Huang's pursuit was too fast, a large number of spare horses and supplies were left behind. There were no equipment that could be used to defend from a high position, such as crossbows, and there were not many arrows left. Fortunately, the brothers still had all their armor.
of.
Looking at the number of people, there are only 600 knights accompanying Xu Huang now, and the others have scattered on the road.
What about the other side?
According to Xu Huang's rough estimate, these Wuhuan people must have at least seven or eight thousand riders, which is ten times the number of his own side.
Xu Huang's prediction was correct. There were really so many Wuhuan people who dared to come here.
The Wuhuan people in western Liaoning are a large alliance of more than 5,000 people, with a population of nearly 50,000. If all people, including men and women, are recruited together, the Wuhuan people here in Guangliu City can gather 20,000 to 30,000 troops.
Coupled with the Wuhuan people's plunder of the Han Dynasty, the number of household registrations was close to tens of thousands, and tens of thousands of packers could be recruited.
Finally, the Wuhuan people can also recruit other nearby tribes, such as the Murong tribe, which can gather thousands more cavalry.
It can be said that the war potential of the Wuhuan people in Liucheng is very strong.
That is to say, Taton felt that the Taishan Cavalry Commander who was chasing Liucheng now, so he only mobilized the tribes near Liucheng to besiege, otherwise the foot of Banla Mountain would have been crowded with people.
Therefore, both Taton and Xu Huang himself felt that the outcome this time was already determined.
This is also the reason why Xu Huang regrets.
Doesn't he regret why he pursued so deeply? Is this wrong? Those who kill my people will have their heads even if they flee to the ends of the earth.
What Xu Huang regretted was that he could not lead his troops to fight these Wuhuan people in an upright manner. But now, he wanted to discredit the military power of the Taishan Army.
This is what Xu Huang regrets. Even if his number is doubled, let alone three thousand, he will still have the confidence to defend this place.
But now..., hey.
Just when Xu Huang was thinking about it, Xu Shang came over with excitement:
"Captain, what do you think this is?"
As he spoke, Xu Shang raised a dragon-shaped jade object.
Xu Huang's mind was still struggling with the battle ahead, and he didn't turn around for a while.
Then Xu Shang began to talk endlessly:
"Colonel Lieutenant, our brothers were digging underground water, and then we found an altar. Next to it were this dragon-shaped jade object and a stone ax with an animal head. I thought those things were useless, so I brought this jade object over.
"
Looking at the dragon-shaped jade in Xu Shang's hand, and seeing the endless Wuhuan enemy troops below, a bold idea gradually emerged from Xu Huang's mind.