There is a mountain forest in the northwest of Shuning City, called Xixia Mountain. It is less than twenty miles away from Shuning City. Although Xixia Mountain is not high, it is quite steep.
In the middle of the mountain is a narrow canyon, which looks like it was split in half by a giant axe.
There are lush forests on the mountain, and there is a small lake at the foot of the mountain, called Linshan Lake.
At this moment, there are crowds of people at the foot of Xixia Mountain.
Liu Tu Deer found a high slope, looked over from a distance, and couldn't help but take a breath of air-conditioning.
Densely packed soldiers and horses have already set up camp at the foot of the mountain, and some people have cut down trees from the mountain and are quickly building fences. It seems that they are going to set up camp near the mountain.
He could even see that the armored cavalry team that attacked the camp at night was also among the crowd, helping to set up camp.
Liu Tuzhang's face was extremely pale.
He never expected that the Taihu Pirates from far away in Taihu Lake would appear out of thin air.
"Xingjiang, they are Taihu pirates!" someone beside him said softly.
Naturally, Liu Tuzhang had already seen that a flag had been erected in the camp over there. The flag was blue, but embroidered with the word "Taihu" in blood red. This was the flag of the Taihu pirates.
Of course he knew that the Taihu Pirates were a very powerful force in Jiangnan. The Jiangnan family regarded the Taihu Pirates as a thorn in their flesh. But even so, with the strength of the seven surnames in Jiangnan, they could not do anything to the Taihu Pirates. They watched helplessly as the Taihu Pirates invaded the hinterland of Jiangnan.
Live and work in peace and contentment, and grow stronger day by day.
The Jiangnan family has always regarded the Taihu pirates as a serious threat.
Since the Neiku Cavalry is with the Taihu Pirates, it proves that the Taihu Pirates are enemies rather than friends.
Liu Tuzhi only felt his scalp numb.
It is said that there are tens of thousands of people in Taihu Lake. It is said that there are tens of thousands of men, women, old and young, young and old, and there should be thousands of trained people among them.
Taihu left some young men to defend Taihu. These thousands of people mobilized are of course Taihu's capable soldiers.
Now, the worry has become a reality.
"There are at least two to three thousand of them." Someone behind him said: "General Xing, it seems that the Taihu Pirates have really sent their elite troops to reinforce the officers and soldiers."
The rebels had six thousand soldiers and horses, four thousand outside the north city, and two thousand outside the south city. The most terrifying scene had already appeared in Liu Tuzhang's mind. Once the Taihu bandit army at the foot of the Xixia Mountain was dispatched to attack his
On the flanks, the defenders in the city also took the opportunity to rush out, and when the time came, their own soldiers and horses would be unable to stop them.
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he turned around and said: "Immediately order the entire army to retreat to Funiu Mountain." He then ordered another person: "Take two people and set off for Suzhou City immediately and tell them that the Taihu bandits are in full force.
We have already reached Shuning County." He did not dare to stay for a long time, so he hurried back to the camp with his men and issued an order to retreat northward.
Although the rebels besieging Shuning City numbered 6,000, and their strength was far greater than that of the Taihu bandits, if the defenders in Shuning City and the Taihu bandits were added together, there might not be much difference in strength with the rebels.
The terrible thing is that except for a very small number of rebels who have been secretly trained, the rest are almost all untrained civilians. Compared with the well-trained Taihu pirates, there is obviously a big gap in individual combat capabilities.
he even
Fortunately, the Taihu pirates did not attack immediately, giving themselves time to retreat. Otherwise, if they were to attack suddenly, the consequences would be disastrous.
Thirty miles north of Shuning City is Funiu Mountain, and the lumberyard for manufacturing siege weapons is at the foot of Funiu Mountain.
Taihu's thief god soldiers descended from the sky. Liu Tuzhang knew that something serious was going on and did not dare to delay at all.
The food shortage problem was finally stabilized temporarily. If the soldiers knew that a large number of Taihu soldiers and horses appeared on the flanks, it would definitely cause panic.
Although they don’t know why they suddenly retreated, the military orders were overwhelming. Before dark, the rebels left a mess and quickly withdrew to Funiu Mountain.
However, he also understood that the Taihu pirates must have been tired on the way from Taihu and did not attack immediately. They should have recuperated their energy and waited until they had rested before taking action.
He did not dare to tell the soldiers about the reinforcements from Taihu Pirates, for fear of causing panic.
The movement of the rebels withdrawing from outside the city naturally alarmed Qin Xiao at the top of the city.
Beginning at dusk, we saw the rebels evacuating northward rapidly, which seemed very hasty. Before dark, thousands of people and horses had left completely, leaving nothing but chicken feathers everywhere.
The situation was urgent, so Liu Tuzhang sent people to Suzhou City to report urgently, and also arranged spies to keep an eye on the pirate camp in Taihu Lake to monitor the movements there.
The woodyard was still building a ladder, but at this time, he didn't care and immediately built a fence to prevent the enemy from overcoming the mountain.
Qin Xiao felt that something was fishy and ordered: "Don't take it lightly, let everyone not be negligent."
"Master Qin, Master Qin...!" A soldier hurried over and pointed to the northwest: "The younger one is guarding the northwest corner. I saw there seemed to be fire on the Xixia Mountain in the northwest."
Qin Xiaoshang didn't know that Taihu soldiers and horses had arrived, so he was surprised. The defenders were also stunned.
"Is there no food, so we have to retreat?" Chen Xi was very confident in the fire set that night. He knew that the fire almost burned the rebels' food and grass, and with the food cut off, it was very possible for the rebels to withdraw.
Qin Xiao looked to the northwest and vaguely saw looming stars on the mountain, like the light of fireflies, but he knew that it was impossible to see the light of fireflies from such a distance.
Those little bits of starlight can only prove that there are people on Xixia Mountain, and there are quite a few of them.
"Xixia Mountain?"
"Xixia Mountain is less than twenty miles northwest of Shuning City." The soldier said, "Sir, look over there. There is fire on the mountain."
"Have the reinforcements from Hangzhou arrived?" Chen Xi thought of something and became more energetic: "According to the time, the Hangzhou camp has already received the news from here. They traveled day and night from Hangzhou, so they can arrive by this time.
."
Qin Xiao raised his eyebrows and said: "The rebels noticed that reinforcements were arriving and were worried about being attacked on the flanks, so they quickly retreated...!" When he said this, he thought of something and shook his head and said: "No, if it's from Hangzhou
The reinforcements have arrived. They should be coming from the south. Why do they appear in the northwest? With the strength of the Hangzhou camp, there is no need to play tricks and they can directly attack the enemy formation outside the south city...!"
"There seems to be someone on the mountain." Chen Xi, a fifth-grade expert with eyesight no less than Qin Xiao, said, "The fire is flashing, Mr. Qin, what kind of signal does that seem to be?"
Qin Xiao thought of something and moved his eyes to the north, saying: "The rebels suddenly evacuated in a hurry just now, and now there are fires over Xixia Mountain. The two must be connected."
Remembered someone!"
"Who?" Chen Xi was startled. Before Qin Xiao could speak, he had already thought: "You mean Linghu Xuan?"
"If it wasn't the Hangzhou camp, who could have scared the rebels into retreating?" Chen Xi thought thoughtfully: "There is no way the reinforcements from Kyoto could arrive so quickly."
Qin Xiao thought for a moment, his brows suddenly opened, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "You forgot
Qin Xiaodao: "The rebels outside the city have retreated. It's useless for us to guess which troops are on the other side of Xixia Mountain." He looked at Chen Xi and said, "Young Master, you stay here.
Guarding Beicheng, I went there at night to see what was going on."
"No." Chen Xi said immediately: "Master Qin, now that you are the general of Beicheng, how can you take risks easily? If something goes wrong and the princess is punished, I can't afford it." He added: "In this way, I will bring two men with me.
I'll go over there and see what's going on."
Qin Xiao nodded and said: "Not bad."
"Although Linghu Xuan and the Jiangnan family are at loggerheads, Linghu Xuan may not be involved at this time." Chen Xi was not sure: "And Linghu Xuan's subordinates are all navy troops, and they fight on the water. Naturally,
It is difficult to have an opponent, but if we go ashore to fight, our strength will be greatly reduced. And it will take at least three or four days to go from Taihu Lake to Shuning County, how could the Queen Mother not notice it?"
"It doesn't matter." Qin Xiao said with a smile: "Xie Daxia's healing methods are very clever. Although he has not recovered yet, he is recovering very quickly and there is nothing serious."
Xie Jinong also participated in the battle to defend the city. He was not far behind Qin Xiao. Hearing Qin Xiao's praise, he suddenly smiled.
Qin Xiao shook his head and said: "You have no friendship with the Taihu bandits. I know Tu Kuohai, the wine general of Taihu. If there are really Taihu bandits over there, I should be able to talk to them when I mention Tu Kuohai. The fire on Xixia Mountain flashed,
It should be sending a signal to us. You don’t have to worry too much. The rebels failed to attack the city, their food and fodder were destroyed, and now they are frightened into retreating. They are already frightened and would not have thought that I would leave the city at this time."
Chen Xi frowned and said, "How is your injury?"
There were still two miles away from Xixia Mountain. Qin Xiao stopped his horse, dismounted, and looked from a distance. He saw a fire under the mountain, a series of tents, and indeed a lot of soldiers and horses, but he was not sure whether it was Taihu Lake.
The soldiers and horses signaled the two guards to follow him and approach quietly.
Under the moonlight, I saw that the camp at the foot of the mountain had been surrounded by a wooden fence, and there were actually horse-repelling stakes outside the fence, showing a defensive attitude.
Qin Xiao did not delay, Chen Xi sent the two princess guards who followed him into the city to accompany him for protection. In addition to the Lu brothers, these two guards were also very skilled. Not only were they good at martial arts, they were also good at riding and shooting.
The people organized themselves, quietly opened the city gate, and rode out of the city. There was an empty space outside the city, and the rebels had long disappeared.
The three riders galloped straight towards Xixia Mountain, but the journey was smooth.
The flag was flying in the camp, but by the light of the fire, he could see clearly that the word "Taihu" was written on the flag. Qin Xiao became energetic and thought that the soldiers and horses from Taihu had indeed arrived.
"Sir, they are Taihu bandits." A guard said: "I will go over and ask about the situation. If something is wrong, you should leave quickly." Just as he was about to get up, Qin Xiao held down and whispered: "Wait a moment." But he looked at it.
I saw a few people from the camp walking towards the camp gate, talking about this as they walked.
At this time, the distance was not too far. Qin Xiao's eyesight was very good, but he had already recognized that the person walking in the front was the tall Tu Kuohai. Beside him, Jiang Xiaochun, Fei Xin and Fat Fish were among them. Qin Xiao
Unable to suppress the joy in his heart, Jiang Xiaochun pointed in the direction of Shuning City and then said something. The few people seemed to be discussing something.
Qin Xiao did not hesitate, stood up and walked quickly towards the camp gate. Seeing this, the two guards did not hesitate and followed closely behind.