Dark clouds drifted in, covering up the few stars.
A drizzle began to fall in the sky again, and under this thick and unbreakable night, a one-sided killing was coming to an end.
The Nanzhao soldiers were preparing to take a rest after dinner, but were temporarily sent north by Shangguan, bringing carriages, horses and tools to cut down trees and build fences.
There is no doubt that everyone is full of grievances, and they were already complaining on the way. After arriving at the destination, before they had time to eat some water and regain their strength, they were ordered by the officers to cut down trees, which made the grievances even more intense.
Three thousand soldiers and two thousand tribesmen started working in this difficult and dangerous place on the mountain.
During this period, they encountered a group of troops who were heading south. They heard that they were coming from Changben Pass, and wanted to take them in to work together. Unexpectedly, the person leading the group was very arrogant and did not buy it at all. He broke through the obstruction and disappeared under the night.
This simply made them angry.
But there is nothing you can do. They are relatives of Yang Qianzhen, the governor of Dongchuan. There is really nothing you can do against them.
After the defeated soldiers fled, they continued to work. Because they were angry and their hands and feet were not quick, the officers and leaders started whipping them with whips, creating a chaotic scene in the camp.
At this moment, more than 3,000 cavalrymen led by Li Lin rushed directly in front of the stunned people like divine soldiers descending from the sky.
Resistance is impossible.
The people were scattered everywhere, the organization was chaotic, there were very few people wearing armor and weapons, and their physical strength was greatly lacking. They had no advantage over the Xia people who traveled all night.
Hence, the defeat was inevitable.
The four hundred cavalry commanded by Li Lin had retreated far away, and the infantry became the protagonist of the killing.
The Nanzhao soldiers panicked and fled directly down the hillside where they had cut down the trees. But in the dark night and in panic, how could it be so easy to go? Coupled with the pushing and crowding, countless people fell into the deep valley, miserable.
The screams are endless.
Someone rolled onto a tree trunk or stone, and his vision went dark.
Someone fell directly off the cliff, and the screams echoed endlessly in the empty valley.
Someone fell into the rapid river, floated for a while, and then disappeared without a trace.
Night rout battles can be so terrifying sometimes.
If it were a night rout in a mountainous area with complex terrain, only God knows what the rout will suffer - not many Indians were killed on the spot, but there were many who fell into valleys and rivers, and everyone knows what their fate will be, and those who can be taken prisoner
They are all the lucky ones.
Li Lin watched from the side and was secretly shocked.
In this kind of terrain, if one's own side is attacked at night and the whole army is in chaos, the outcome will not be much better than that of the enemy.
I recall the time when Li Cheng, Qu Huan, defeated Tibet, and summoned the coalition forces. There were more than 100,000 thieves, but only seven or eight thousand were actually killed face to face. However, he trapped the enemy in the valley and forced them to break out. In panic, they froze to death.
Tens of thousands of people starved to death and fell to death.
The mountainous areas in the southwest are different from the great plains in the north.
The environment is different, and the form of war is also different.
Li Cheng led the Shence Army, and Qu Huan led the Youzhou soldiers. They came from the north, quickly adapted to the southwest terrain, and won consecutive victories. There are only a few strokes in the history books, but this super adaptability has
In the eyes of an expert like Li Lin, this is really remarkable - not only is the commander-in-chief great, but the level of the military academies below is also extraordinary.
The battle ended quickly.
The sergeants drove the prisoners to one place and counted them, and found that there were only about six or seven hundred of them.
Li Lin's eyes flashed fiercely for a moment, but after thinking about it, she decided to forget it.
He asked people to find ropes, tied up the prisoners, and took custody on the spot. Then he found the food and water carried by the Nanzhao soldiers and invited everyone to eat and drink. Of course, the scouts had to spread out at a distance to keep a watchful eye.
Everyone had just won a big victory, with no less than a thousand heads killed, and their morale was at high levels. The ground was full of mud, but everyone didn't mind it. They all sat on the ground and started eating and drinking.
"Continue to pursue the pursuit later." Li Lin found several generals and said.
"Yu Hou..." Yang Shigui hesitated for a moment and said: "The men fought a big battle during the day and chased the enemy all night long. Although they had horses to travel, their physical strength was greatly reduced. If the thieves defended firmly, it would be difficult to win."
After all, you are a human being with a mortal body. No matter how good your skills are and how strong your fighting power is, if you are not physically strong, you will not be able to show your strength.
Li Lin nodded silently and said: "Of course I know, you don't need to say more. But in war, sometimes it depends on courage, speed, and surprise. Does the Nanman know that we are coming so quickly?"
Yang Shigui shook his head.
"Isn't that enough?" Li Lin said: "We just have to bite them hard and chase them to the ends of the earth so that they don't dare to look back or resist. The Southern Barbarians are newly defeated. Now is the time when people are panicked. Let's suddenly rush in and kill them.
, does the puppet emperor Zheng Renmin know how many of us have come? He doesn’t know! He only knows that Yang Qianzhen was defeated. He was defeated miserably and lost tens of thousands of people. He only knew that the defenders of Changbin Pass dispersed in a hurry and did not even resist.
Dare. He only knew that the thousands of men and horses sent out to block the road would collapse at the first touch, resulting in heavy casualties."
"Zheng Renmin is only in his twenties. He has been well-fed and well-fed since he was a child. He knows how to play court tricks and palace intrigues. He has never commanded an army in battle and doesn't know what the battlefield is like. If he is facing a veteran general who has been on the battlefield for a long time,
, he naturally knows that the main force of our army will not come so soon, and he also has the authority to rectify the turbulent people, boost low morale, and then organize resistance."
"But I don't think Zheng Renmin understands this. He is just a son of a wealthy family who suddenly became the emperor under the influence of his father. There were many such people in Chang'an of the former Tang Dynasty. They hung around brothels and bars all day long and had their bodies taken out before they were thirty years old.
If you have nothing, you will find someone to bake the golden elixir when you are forty, in an attempt to extend your life. This kind of person panics when encountering problems, has no independent opinion, and believes whatever people around him say."
"We just want to create panic and let them get into trouble and kill themselves."
Having said this, he pointed to the deep valley next to him and said: "If you were to chop down more than five thousand thieves with your swords, how long would it take? Now they will jump down, fall to death, drown, run over, and starve to death."
How easy would it be to die?"
Everyone laughed after hearing this, and some worries disappeared.
"Most of the world is at peace, and there are very few opportunities to perform meritorious service on the battlefield." Li Lin continued: "Warriors work hard to gain wealth. This has been the case for more than a hundred years. Some wealth is not easy to obtain, such as the one who fought hard with Zhu Quanzhong.
In seven or eight years, was it difficult? How many fathers died and their sons were succeeded, and died in battle, but they did not even touch the threshold of wealth. Is it difficult to beat Zhu Xuan, Zhu Jin, and Wang Rong? It was not easy! Even beating them
It's not easy to decide. They persisted until the last moment. How many people died during this period? But now there is an opportunity to gain great wealth, and it is not difficult..."
Having said this, he paused and successfully whetted everyone's appetite.
"Today is the day when I will be granted the title of wife's shadow." Li Lin stood up, patted the muddy water on her body, and said with a smile.
"Seal your wife as your shadow." There was hope in everyone's eyes.
This is the biggest dream and greatest pursuit of warriors. If they can't get this, they don't know the point of continuing to fight.
Thinking of the glorious appearance of others after their military exploits, everyone's blood surged, and their physical fatigue seemed to be gone.
Li Lin carefully observed everyone's expressions. Seeing that the mobilization was effective, he smiled with satisfaction and said: "Actually, I just thought about it, and things are not as terrible as you think. When you rush to the vicinity of the enemy camp, if the enemy
They are sparse and flat and easy to deal with, so don't be polite and go up and chop them into pieces. If you encounter firm resistance, you won't attack them forcefully. We can put up more flags and beat drums in the mountains and forests to let them go.
It is difficult for the Southern Barbarians to tell how many people our army has arrived, so there may be a chance at that time."
"Yu Hou is so considerate, I am impressed." Yang Shigui said sincerely.
We have considered every situation and have not acted recklessly. With such a general, what else is there to say?
After the ideological mobilization, Li Lin asked the military schools to be divided into various departments to briefly mobilize the soldiers.
Now there is such an opportunity to make a big difference with a small amount, and the superiors do not require them to risk their lives. The only thing they need to overcome is the fatigue on their bodies, so everyone is still willing to give it a try.
******
After resting, everyone continued on their way.
They gathered together the draft horses and a few war horses brought by the Nanzhao people to replace the old horses that could no longer move after the long-distance attack, so they still maintained considerable mobility.
At three o'clock in the morning, they encountered a group of fleeing soldiers on the road. After a fierce attack, the thieves cried for their fathers and mothers, and either died or left.
Later, they encountered broken soldiers in twos and threes on the road. Everyone was too lazy to waste their energy to deal with them, and went directly south, turning a blind eye, which made the frightened Nanman cry with joy as he hid in the grass on the roadside.
At nine o'clock, they encountered more than two thousand broken soldiers lying on the roadside panting.
The ruthless killing began immediately. The defeated soldiers never expected that they would encounter Xia soldiers here. They were so frightened that they had no intention of resisting and ran around all over the mountains and fields.
Li Lin ordered to stop the pursuit and continue moving forward.
At a quarter past two o'clock, a little white fish belly appeared on the horizon in the east. The panting people climbed up a gentle slope and looked down at the front.
Good guy! Inside the mountain col, there are densely packed camps and tents everywhere. There are so many that they fill the entire valley. They can’t even fit in, because behind a mountain ridge, you can see more tents through the gap.
.
There must be tens of thousands of people here, right?!
Li Lin's eyes quickly wandered around, but he didn't see such an obvious landmark as the yellow umbrella cover. Obviously, Zheng Renmin was not in this valley. He had too many soldiers and horses, and the terrain was too broken.
It cannot be colonized.
He was slightly disappointed. If he could go straight to the puppet emperor's camp at this time, he might be able to create a lot of chaos. But if you think about it with your toes, you know that as the chief minister and Guo Piaoxin, Zheng Renmin must be in the position of the middle army.
What I saw was probably just former soldiers. You can’t be too greedy!
"General Yang, please lead your people to climb up immediately, lay out flags and drums, and listen to my orders." Li Lin ordered.
"As ordered." Yang Shigui immediately ordered all the people, divided them into several groups, and headed in various directions.
Li Lin carefully observed the location of the thieves' patrol and planned the route for the attack.
After doing this, he asked his surroundings: "Did Wang Jiao mention reinforcements yesterday?"
"I mentioned it. But I don't know when it will arrive."
"The only ones who can keep up with us are the thousand cavalrymen under Hedron. Take off the harness of the draft horses and hurry up. Maybe we can catch up in time."
"The Flying Bear Army has many more horses than people, so they can come."
Everyone said one after another.
Li Lin calmed down for a moment, then looked around and said, "Why should we give up our great achievements to others? Let's charge for a while first, and if it doesn't work, then we can argue."
"As ordered." Everyone's emotions have been ignited, commonly known as the superiors. They have come, don't give a fight, and test the enemy's strength. Is it reasonable?