There is no rain today, the weather is clear and the sun is shining, making people feel extremely comfortable.
Outside the Weishan camp, Bian soldiers were on routine patrol.
The location of the village is very critical. After passing here, the road divides into two parts, one turns to the southeast, passes through the Luoshui River Valley, and goes to Luoyang; the other goes east, passes through Mianchi, and reaches Xin'an, Badou Mountain, and Luoyang.
This is a hub. Once there is an alarm, beacons will be raised immediately. If there are reinforcements nearby, they should come as quickly as possible.
Last year, the Xia bandits marched eastward in large numbers, with more than 30,000 cavalry on foot. Ge Congzhou led 7,000 people to set up a stronghold here, which firmly restrained the large number of Xia bandits' troops and horses, preventing them from being unscrupulous and preventing their retreat from being cut off. .
This spring, the king of Dongping County marched to Zheng, and the Hua soldiers rebuilt the old stronghold that had been burned down by the Xia thieves here, and set up an army at Xiao Town, also with 7,000 cavalry, to frighten the thieves.
To be honest, the army had different opinions on General Liu Kangyi's initiative to attack the Xia bandit's vanguard, win the first battle, and demoralize the enemy.
This is obviously a lesson from Ge Congzhou!
However, Ge Congzhou was not completely successful. He was able to kill hundreds of thieves with silver spears, but failed to ambush their main force.
Liu Kangyi changed his approach. Instead of setting up an ambush in Xiaoshan, he planned to cooperate with the Qianhao Zhen army inside and outside, and suddenly break out when the Xia thieves failed to attack the city and were tired from the long battle. The idea was actually the same: take advantage!
Some mature and prudent generals felt that this move was too risky. What if it failed? It would be a waste of troops and generals, and the defensive pressure on the village would be greatly increased. It was really unwise.
But Liu Kangyi is the commander-in-chief, he decides to attack, and others can only follow.
Furthermore, this is the current trend in the army. Defeat Shi Pu, Er Zhu, and Luo Hongxin. This kind of proactive spirit has achieved many extraordinary achievements.
If you always think of a sure-fire strategy and keep everything in check, how many opportunities will you waste?
Five thousand troops have been down the mountain for several days. According to the latest news, everything is safe.
The Xia thieves are also besieging Qianhao Village, no matter the cost, they attack very quickly, and they seem to want to eat it in one bite.
The strength of the Xia thieves has now been roughly estimated. There are about 10,000 people, and they should be the vanguard. Their main force has not yet appeared. I don't know if they haven't found it yet, or they haven't arrived yet.
After the patrol team carefully checked their defense area, they found no suspicious signs, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief unconsciously.
As long as we hold on for a few more days, when Commander Hu in Huazhou arrives with his army, the place will be completely safe.
"Team leader, what is that?" A sergeant suddenly pointed to somewhere down the mountain and asked.
The leader of the team looked in the direction of his finger, and his expression gradually became serious.
He first wiped the sweat from his palms on his military uniform, then took off his armor and quickly climbed up a big tree.
A large group of infantry marching quickly appeared in the field of vision, with flags standing everywhere and smoke filling the sky.
Afraid of making a mistake, he climbed up a little further, and now he could see more clearly.
Four to five hundred riders led the way, holding high the flag.
Behind these cavalry, there were thousands of infantry, marching in column formation.
It was hard to see clearly how many people were behind these thousands of people. The smoke was too heavy and I could only vaguely see many flags. According to the Xia bandit's military system, I'm afraid there were still thousands of infantry!
Moreover, the number of cavalry is still increasing. In addition to the few hundred cavalry leading the way, there are cavalry advancing rapidly on both sides. It is estimated that there are thousands of cavalry.
Based on this composition, the Xia thieves came with at least one thousand cavalry and five thousand infantry.
This is the minimum estimate, but in fact it is probably far more! Because many flags appeared in the mountains and forests on both sides, the total number of infantry should be more than 8,000.
More than ten miles away! Nearly ten thousand paces!
The leader of the team slid down the tree with a pale face and said angrily: "Why are you still standing there? Go back and report!"
The news quickly spread back to the camp.
The ten generals who stayed behind didn't believe it, so they went out to conduct some reconnaissance in person, and then came in with a blank face.
"The Xia thieves are making a sneak attack. It's urgent. Raise the beacon!" he ordered.
The beacon tower was built outside the camp. The beacon tower was very high. As the saying goes, "There are few pedestrians outside Liangzhou City, and the top of the hundred-foot peak looks at the dust." Although the beacon tower on Xiaoshan Mountain is not as exaggerated as the hundred-foot high, it is still very eye-catching.
There is a sheep and horse wall outside the beacon, with two hundred troops stationed inside, including a beacon commander and a deputy commander. There is also a temporary post station next to it, with more than ten fast horses just purchased from Chengde Town.
Marshal Feng was already waiting in person, and he also discovered the "thief affair". However, when the matter came to a close, he was still a little nervous and asked: "General Li, how many beacons can you raise?"
According to the rules, if you see thieves coming from afar, if there are few, raise two beacons; if there are many, raise three beacons; if they are serious, raise four beacons.
"There are only two thousand old and weak people in the stronghold, and there are more than ten thousand thieves, both on foot and on horseback. It is already a strong force. We raise four beacons and beg all the troops for help." The ten generals said without hesitation.
"Follow your orders." Feng Shuai stopped talking nonsense and immediately gave Feng Zi an order to light the firewood he had prepared as a warning!
Soon, a line of smoke slowly rose, which was extremely eye-catching when viewed from a distance.
Then comes the second, third, and fourth.
…
Liu Kangyi just woke up.
He is a very motivated person and has a lot of energy in his chest.
In the past few days, I have often been out day and night to reconnoiter the enemy's situation.
Xia Thief's ferocious attack surprised him.
Shihaozhai was captured in one day, and then non-stop, Qianhaozhai was surrounded from three directions: west, south and north.
There were more than ten thousand soldiers and horses, and the master had twice as many. They besieged them day and night. On the first day, they filled up the Huangqian, killed through the sheep and horse wall, and pushed it to the bottom of the city.
However, the Qianhao town army was well prepared, had sufficient equipment, and had the support of the Shenquetai camp, which was easy to defend but difficult to attack, so there was no danger of a response in a short while.
I just hope that they can resist for a longer time, consume more of Xia Thief's energy, and create opportunities for his new force.
As for the 20,000 soldiers accompanying the army, these people are the easiest to panic. And if they escape, they will inevitably shake the morale of the Xia thieves and even disrupt their formation. This is an opportunity!
It's not the right time yet, you have to wait.
After getting up and eating two pieces of hard biscuits, Liu Kangyi inspected the camp.
"How many years have you been in the army?" He randomly talked to a sergeant.
"For eight years, I have been following Qin Zongquan, and later I voted for Prince Dongping."
Turns out to be "Cai Thief"!
"Since you have surrendered to Bianzhou, as long as you fight bravely against the enemy, the commander-in-chief will not hesitate to reward you."
"The commander-in-chief has rewarded everyone with the silk he got from Wei Bo. I shall die as a result."
Liu Kangyi smiled slightly, showing his military spirit.
"Are you from Henan Prefecture?" He grabbed another person and asked.
"I have been serving under Zhang Shuai, and the Eighteen Tun generals will be here soon."
"Hate the Xia thieves? They robbed your relatives."
"My relatives are all in Luoyang."
The smile on Liu Kangyi's face was a little stiff, but he concealed it well.
"Are you a Yunzhou soldier?"
"Back to the general, a certain person used to be a soldier in Caozhou."
"Zhu Xuan is shameless. He lured me, Sergeant Xuanwu, and the king of Dongping County raised troops to attack him. This thief still stubbornly resisted, which is extremely hateful. From now on, I will kill this thief. By then, the three states of Yun, Pu, and Cao will be reunited, and the people will be safe and happy.
Military disaster."
"..." Caozhou Zhenbing.
After completing his inspection tour, Liu Kangyi returned to his tent and carefully wiped his weapons. He was indeed very energetic.
"General, the beacons of the Koshan camp have been raised four times in a row!" Suddenly, the soldiers came in a hurry to report.
With a "swipe" sound, Liu Kangyi sheathed his sword, strode out of the tent, and looked east.
You can directly see Mount Laoshan from here, and the four lines of smoke on the beacon are extremely clear under the clear sky.
"Where did the thieves come from?" Liu Kangyi asked angrily after kicking a stone away.
If a large band of thieves really invaded the village, it would be really troublesome.
"General, should we return for reinforcements? There are only two thousand people in the camp." Everyone looked at him.
Of the 7,000-strong army, 5,000 were taken away, but they were still strong and strong. It can be said that the camp was empty.
"The rebels may not know what is true in my camp." Liu Kangyi walked around irritably, unable to make up his mind.
Wo Village is difficult and dangerous, easy to defend but difficult to attack. Before leaving, he made another arrangement. There were no shortage of flags and golden drums in the camp, just as they were before the army left.
When the bandit army first arrived, he knew how many people were in the camp? Moreover, with the stronghold wall and the favorable geographical location, it was not impossible for 2,000 men to defend the camp. Is it necessary to rush back?
"General, the village is in a critical situation, so we should quickly return reinforcements. All our supplies and supplies are in the village. If we lose anything, how many days can we hold on?"
"Military envoy, Commander Hu did not ask us to attack. He only said that we should stick to the stronghold."
"General, it's better to go back. I think Qianhao Village can still hold on for a while. We will wait for the rebels to be defeated and then we can make long-term plans."
"The force of the attack must have exceeded 10,000 people. Defending with only 2,000 weak soldiers is a bit daunting."
All the generals were talking and making comments one after another.
Liu Kangyi stopped, his expression changed, and it was really difficult to make up his mind.
Everyone fell silent and waited for him to make a decision.
"That's it!" At the end, Liu Kangyi stamped his feet, sighed, and said: "I am impatient. The village is the foundation and there is no room for failure. Give the order and set off immediately to return to the army for rescue!"
"As you command!"
After giving the order, the soldiers of Bian Army, who were eager to return home, packed up at a very fast speed, then left the valley in batches and rushed towards the Weishan camp.
It had been some time since Jufeng, and they didn't know what the situation was. Everyone was anxious and their steps speeded up unconsciously.
But the mountain road is narrow and difficult to navigate. Even if you want to go fast, how can you get faster?
By the end, the entire team had been stretched into a long, swaying queue.
Liu Kangyi glanced at it, and saw that the queue was in a mess, some were panting, some were running crookedly, some were putting equipment on the backs of donkeys and mules...
Alas, all the trouble was in vain!
He no longer looked at these troublesome things, and planned to walk through this narrow road and go to a valley ahead to organize his formation, otherwise everyone would probably scatter.
At this moment, countless arrows suddenly flew out from the mountains and forests on both sides, completely covering the narrow valley.
Naturally, it was impossible for the Bian soldiers who were on the road to still be wearing armor. They would be suddenly hit by a hail of arrows. It could be said that they had no resistance and were knocked down on the spot.
War drums beat, and shouts of killing rang out from both sides, echoing throughout the valley.
A large group of soldiers in brown military uniforms jumped up from the mountain forest, marched down the gentle slope in teams, and charged bravely.
He was ambushed! Liu Kangyi felt that the world was spinning and his vision went dark.
The soldiers hurriedly helped him up, found a few empty horses, and bravely broke through the encirclement.