Under the afterglow of the setting sun, two thousand warriors were waiting in formation, like wolves and tigers.
Shence Cavalry Lang General Yan Yue looked at a valley ahead with his eyes like daggers.
Everything was as expected by the Shence Army, and the Pengcheng defenders were also unable to withstand the Shence Army's offensive.
Under the cover of the cavalry, the Shence Army immediately launched a fierce offensive after arriving in Pengcheng.
The battle lasted from dusk to noon the next day, and it took less than twelve hours for Pengcheng to be captured. The Shence Army immediately took control of Pengcheng and completely eradicated the two strongholds to the west of Xuzhou City.
Less than two days after capturing Pengcheng, Yan Yue received news that someone had discovered traces of the Xuzhou cavalry.
Tantai Xuanye also sent a military order, Yan Yue's two thousand cavalry must kill Qin Xiao as soon as possible.
Tantai Xuanye naturally regarded Qin Xiao as a thorn in his side.
And putting aside personal grudges, Tantai Xuanye also knew that if he could really annihilate the cavalry led by Qin Xiao, or even kill Qin Xiao, then attacking Xuzhou City would be more effective with half the effort.
The eldest grandson Yuanxin is dead. If Qin Xiao is killed again, there will be almost no general under She Yue who can take charge alone.
Therefore, chasing Qin Xiao became the most important part of the Battle of Xuzhou.
Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men.
Tantai Xuanye sent a large number of rangers to not only search for traces of Qin Xiao, but also let people in many places in Pengcheng and Taishan know that as long as they could provide clues to Qin Xiao's cavalry, they would receive heavy rewards.
People may not know Qin Xiao, but as long as they see a large group of cavalry, it must be a clue.
After all, the Tang Dynasty had very strict control over horses. Except for the military, it was almost impossible for civilians to have large groups of cavalry.
now
The cavalry units that appeared on the border between Xuzhou and Yuzhou, except for the Shence Army, could only belong to Qin Xiao.
Tantai Xuanye's rangers were still wandering around, and in addition to the cavalry led by Yan Yue, the Shence Army formed a pursuit team with the remaining cavalry in Taishan City. The two groups of cavalry were like two evil wolves.
Looking for the lone army that chased Qin Xiao.
The strength of these two groups of cavalry is superior to the Xuzhou cavalry, and their combat effectiveness is naturally superior to that of the Xuzhou cavalry. Therefore, if Qin Xiao is discovered by either of these two groups of cavalry, he will face an extremely dangerous situation.
Yan Yue received accurate information and found traces of Xuzhou's uprising in this mountain forest.
It was indeed local people who provided the information. The rangers who received the information immediately reported the whereabouts of the Xuzhou Cavalry to Yan Yue. After Yan Yue got the news, he rushed over without any hesitation.
The scouts sent earlier also reported back, but found hundreds of Xuzhou cavalry appearing in this area, and quickly hid in the valley.
Yan Yue immediately arrived with his troops, but instead of charging into the valley easily, he sent detective horses to investigate the enemy's intelligence.
He has guarded the border in Wuchuan Town for many years and has rich experience in leading troops.
Now he has two thousand elite cavalry under his command. As long as he kills Qin Xiao, he will not let him escape from his grasp no matter what.
After a while, only two cavalry were seen galloping from the direction of the valley.
"Report, General, there is no one in the valley." The scout reported: "However, we found horse hoof prints on the ground. We followed the horse hoof prints and found that there are two exits on the other side of the valley, and there are horse hoof prints at each exit.
If they appear, the enemy troops should be dividing their forces and fleeing."
Yan Yue's face darkened and he said
: "Don't let them escape." He patted his horse and left. The cavalry behind him had already been waiting in full formation, and they immediately patted their horses to follow.
Entering the valley, it was indeed deserted.
Among these cavalry, there were many experienced men. They first scanned the valley, and then dismounted to check. Then someone said to Yan Yue: "General Lang, Qin Xiao's main cavalry should not be here. The horse hoof prints left in the valley indicate that the enemy troops
There was only a small group of people and horses, only hundreds of people riding up and down, and it didn’t look like the traces of thousands of cavalry passing by.”
Yan Yue frowned and said: "Qin Xiao only has a thousand cavalry at most. With such a small number of men and horses, he still dares to divide his troops?"
"It is true that there are only hundreds of cavalry." Someone said: "General Lang, the traces they left cannot be faked."
"It doesn't matter how many there are, kill as many as you want, don't let any of them go." Yan Yue sneered, "Now that we've bitten them, they can't fly."
At that moment, the leader continued to advance and reached the bifurcated road. After checking, he found that the enemy cavalry had indeed divided their troops at the forked road. He also ordered: "Xia Hong, lead five hundred men and horses to chase over there. If you encounter the main force of the enemy's army, you must not fight."
, just bite them."
Yan Yue personally led the remaining soldiers and horses to chase him out of another branch of the road, straight out of the valley, and followed the horse's hoof prints for more than ten miles, but he never saw the enemy.
Yan Yue's face looked rather ugly.
He knew that if there were a large number of enemy troops, it would be inconvenient to move and it would be easy to capture them.
However, the enemy troops he was chasing were only a few dozen cavalry. As a result, the enemy troops would move faster and more conveniently, and their whereabouts would be erratic.
In this way, instead of biting the enemy, you will be led by the enemy's nose.
He is faint
Realizing that this might be Qin Xiao's trick again.
After chasing for several miles, they found that the enemy's horse hoofprints were completely dispersed, and the dozens of people seemed to be divided into several teams again. If they continued to pursue, they could only continue to divide their troops.
Of course it is impossible for Yan Yue to divide his troops again.
If this was a maze formed by Qin Xiao deliberately to induce the Shence cavalry to split up, then after the two thousand men and horses were dispersed, Qin Xiao's main force might suddenly attack at any time and defeat them one by one.
In this case, it is taboo to divide the troops.
Yan Yue clenched his fists.
He suddenly realized that if he encountered such a situation, Xia Hong's cavalry would probably encounter the same situation after the division of troops.
If the enemy cavalry pursued by Xia Hou also dispersed, and Xia Hong continued to divide his troops to pursue the enemy cavalry, he would probably fall into Qin Xiao's trap.
Realizing that the situation was serious, he immediately sent his rangers to quickly find Xia Hong, and ordered Xia Hong to return immediately to join him.
The sky has darkened, and there is darkness between heaven and earth.
Yan Yue has been at the border for decades and has rich combat experience, but facing the current situation, he really doesn't know how to deal with it for a while.
Qin Xiao led his troops to attack Fang Hui at night, which made Yan Yue realize that Qin Xiao was not only bold, but also obviously very good at night attack tactics.
Although he had thousands of elite cavalry under his command, looking around under the dark night, he felt a little uneasy in his heart.
Thinking that Xia Hong's current situation is even more serious than his own, Yan Yue knew that it was probably a huge mistake for him to let Xia Hong divide his troops before. Although he sent the rangers to find Xia Hong and asked him to come and join him, but thinking about it carefully
I thought, let's give up the pursuit, but turn south and take the initiative to find Xia Hong.
department.
After walking south for a long time, he heard the sound of horse hoofbeats from the other side. Yan Yue's heart trembled, fearing that Qin Xiao's troops might appear. Fortunately, he soon discovered that it was Xia Hong who was leading the troops.
When he saw Xia Hong bringing back the five hundred cavalry intact, he let out a sigh of relief and felt a stone fall in his heart.
But at this moment, he felt very strange.
It is clear that the Shence cavalry is chasing Qin Xiao, but now they have not been able to catch any of the enemy's soldiers. They are happy just because their troops are safe and sound. Does this mean that they have developed a fear of Qin Xiao?
"General Lang, we chased for dozens of miles, and the enemy cavalry divided their forces continuously. My subordinates were worried that Qin Xiao had used a trick to lure troops, so they did not divide their troops to pursue easily." Xia Hong said with some annoyance: "My subordinates lost the pursuit of the enemy.
ride."
"You did the right thing." Yan Yue said: "This must be a trap set by Qin Xiao." His eyes were cold and he said: "Qin Xiao can be so cunning and use such tricks. This is something I didn't expect. However,
Since he has sent out bait, it proves that his main force is around here, and we are very close to them. Don't worry, they can't escape."
Xia Hong said: "General Lang, what should we do next?"
"Don't worry." Yan Yue said: "Qin Xiao must have many locals in Pengcheng, and they are far more familiar with the terrain and environment here than we are. We don't have to look for them at night, wait." He ordered: "Send the order, it turns out that
Rest on the ground, and send rangers to patrol around and be on guard. Remember, everyone rests at the feet of their own horses, never leaves their hands with their swords, and opens one eye even when they fall asleep."
This night, Yan Yue himself kept his eyes open
Eyes, don't dare to slack off in the slightest.
When the sky was dark, Yan Yue squinted for a while, but was soon woken up.
"General Lang, he is an envoy sent by the great general!" Yan Yue opened his eyes and saw that Xia Hong had already brought someone over.
The man had already cupped his hands and said: "General Yan Lang, the general asked the younger one to come over and tell him that Qin Xiao's soldiers and horses appeared in Taishan County. They bought food in several villages in Taishan County. The villagers over there said they saw it.
Many Xuzhou cavalry passed by."
"Taishan County?" Yan Yue opened his eyes wide and said in surprise: "How is it possible? Qin Xiao's main force is nearby. Could it be that they have wings and flew to Mount Tai?"
Xia Hong also frowned and said: "General Lang, since the general sent an inducement to inform, there should be nothing wrong. Qin Xiao's main force may have really moved to Taishan County, and what we pursued yesterday was probably just what Qin Xiao left behind.
Bait, deliberately used to lure us and drag us here."
"Then will the general send people to pursue Qin Xiao?"
"General He personally led his troops to encircle and suppress him." The envoy said, "But I don't know whether we can catch him or not."
"Then the general wants us to go back to Mount Tai?"
"Qin Xiao's main force appeared in the Mengwan area of Taishan County." The envoy said: "General He led the troops from east to west to Mengwan. The general had orders, and General Lang led his troops to march from south to north.
Divide the troops into two groups, one group will guard the southern part of Meng Bay, the other will detour to the west of Meng Bay, and attack the Meng Bay area from three sides."
Yan Yue nodded, and after the envoy retreated, he looked at Xia Hong and asked, "Do you really think Qin Xiao is in Mengwan?"
"I can't be sure." Xia Hong smiled bitterly: "I thought our army was chasing Qin Xiao.
, is a cheetah chasing its prey, but after last night, my subordinates suddenly felt that our noses seemed to be held by Qin Xiao!"
Yan Yue was startled, and then sighed: "You are right, I feel the same way. I have heard before that Qin Xiao is very skillful. With his own efforts, he can turn the tide in the south of the Yangtze River, and even control the situation in the northeast that has been entrenched for a hundred years.
The long-standing Liaodong Army was wiped out in one fell swoop. I always thought that was an exaggeration, but now it turns out that this person’s methods are indeed cunning. I thought he led thousands of cavalry to break into the rear of our army, and it was a nail. If it was just a nail, pull it out and it would be
Okay. Now I understand that it is not a nail, but a swarm of wasps. A nail is easy to pull out, but the wasps are hard to kill!"