When it was dark, a loose queue of torches passed through the mountains and forests on the northern slope of Qingliu Pass. Pang Yu stared at the backs of the soldiers in front with his eyes wide open. The weak light of the torches could only provide limited illumination, and the team moved very slowly.
,Ling
The sound of chaotic footsteps spread far in the quiet night mountains. In the surrounding dark mountain forest, there were several squawking sounds of birds and the sound of broken branches. From further away, the low roars of wild beasts could be heard.
Yu subconsciously turned his head and took a look. Under the dark sky, he could also see the high altitudes on both sides.
Towering mountains. If given the choice, Pang Yu would never want to cross Guanshan Mountain at night. After crossing the Xijian River from Yedu Bridge, the infantry marched for thirty miles and finally arrived at Qingliu Pass shortly after dark. According to Pang Yu's original plan
, Qingliuguan is the most suitable
The overnight camp has ready-made houses and walls for protection. During this whole day of combat operations, the army was in high tension from the beginning of the camp. Many people did not even have the opportunity to eat dry food. By the time they arrived at Qingliu Pass, it was already
At the end of the battle, even Pang Yu wanted to lie down and sleep. Looking at the state of the army, he was powerless.
If the pursuit continues, despite the best efforts of the garrison battalion, the gap in mobility with the cavalry cannot be made up by willpower.
But not long after setting up camp, the sentries in front sent back news that the rogue horse soldiers were defeated at Zhulong Bridge. King Chen Yu and Chen Rulie only had thirty men in total and were unable to clean the battlefield. They asked Pang Yu to bring infantry reinforcements. This is a
Surprised by the unexpected, Pang Yu did not hesitate and immediately selected the men who could still move. The infantry at Qingliu Pass included the first division and the ninth division. Excluding the casualties, those who were separated and those who were left behind in the pursuit, there were only 220 people who arrived at Qingliu Pass.
, the first division has the largest proportion of armored soldiers, and their physical strength has been exhausted. The ninth bureau, which belongs to the third division, has a very low proportion of armored soldiers because the number is too late, so in the morning, most of the iron frame support was given to the seventh bureau guarding the ferry.
, arrived almost completely at Qingliuguan
.
Leaving Yao Dongshan to guard Qingliu Pass, Pang Yu set off with the Ninth Bureau. After a whole day of fierce fighting, General Pang, who had more than a thousand infantry and cavalry, could only lead the last 100 light infantry to Zhulong Bridge.
Seven miles from Qingliu Pass to Zhulong Bridge, it is also an official road paved with stone slabs. The road condition is very good, but Pang Yu has lost all his luggage, including the torches, and only found more than 20 torches in Qingliu Pass, so he can barely provide this.
Lighting for a small army
. Corpses of men and horses appeared from time to time on the roadside. They should have been killed by King Chen Yu and others during the pursuit. Pang Yu made a rough estimate. There were hundreds of them on the mountain road for several miles. In the harassment like yesterday, hundreds of horse soldiers could
The garrison camp was beaten into disgrace, but
However, they were easily killed in the retreat. The ruts under their feet were easy to distinguish. Pang Yu stepped on the edge and walked along the ruts. Although it was a night road, he did not feel scared due to the large number of people. He walked for seven miles.
After half an hour, the scouts in front finally reported back, saying that the Zhulong Bridge was approaching.
After contacting Chen Rulie, there was a pile of fire ahead. Several cavalrymen were burning something on the roadside. The fire quickly started, illuminating the surrounding corpses of men and horses, which were stacked along the official road and extended into the darkness ahead.
In the middle, there are several torches further away
It was shaking, and it was difficult to see clearly from too far away. The team stopped, and Pang Yu walked forward from the side. He has fought several battles now and is no longer as anxious as before. In such a dark night, if he rashly kills all the soldiers,
If it is released, it will be almost impossible to regroup, and this is already
His last troops.
A moment later, he met Chen Rulie. There was a wound on his face and blood dried on his cheek.
"Your Majesty, I know that my subordinates and Chen Shoubei are pursuing us here. The bandits are crossing the bridge. We only rushed once. These bandits fought for the road, and I don't know how many people died."
"Where are Chen Shou Bei's people?"
"He led his troops to pursue Dingyuan, and asked the general to stay here to assist you."
Pang Yu said in surprise, "How many more people did he bring to chase?"
"We selected cavalry with acceptable horsepower, and there were only ten of them. Chen Shoubei said that the farther the cavalry chases the defeated troops, the better." Pang Yu nodded thoughtfully. He also knew about pursuing the defeated troops, but he did not expect to achieve such success at Zhulong Bridge.
This battle further demonstrated the importance of cavalry. Given the vastness of China's hinterland, without strong cavalry, it would be difficult to gain a strategic advantage.
There was a low neighing sound from the horses nearby. Pang Yu looked around and saw many horses tied to the trees on the roadside. They should have been captured by Chen Rulie and the others. Although he was extremely tired, Pang Yu suddenly became energetic and walked away.
Go back and forth to the nearest horse
look.
Chen Rulie whispered, "My subordinates only had time to catch the horses on the south bank. Thirty or forty horses have been tied up. It's really difficult to catch them after dark."
Pang Yu looked at it for a moment and said, "How long is the road with the corpse?"
"The south bank is about a mile and a half, the bridge deck reaches the middle of the river, and the north bank is less than a mile."
Pang Yu turned to Mr. Bai in the ninth round and said, "Send three teams to clean up the south bank first. Each bandit on the ground will stab the spear twice, regardless of life or death. Send another three teams behind the front team to collect gold and silver jewelry.
.”
"Those grains and cloth on the ground..."
"We'll talk about that later. After cleaning up the south bank, report back to the officer. The remaining three teams and archers are handed over to Guo Fengyou and go to the north bank to clean up. You need all those bags, bags and the like. You have to clean up at night without sleeping. We can catch the horses after dawn.
.”
Chen Rulie whispered, "Do you still want to chase the bandit?"
Pang Yu shook his head, "After passing the Zhulong Bridge, there is no more pass. No matter how much you chase, you can't kill more than a few stray thieves. The cavalry must leave some seeds. They will kill more than just these enemies in the future. This battle ends here, and the next step is to obtain the results.
when."
…
At about six o'clock the next day, the sky briefly cleared, and the sun cast down from the clouds, shining on Chuzhou after the fierce battle. Pang Yu stood at the north end of the Zhulong Bridge, and the clear river was filled with layers of corpses, including those dead horses.
The soldiers were covered with a layer of frost at night, like sculptures of various kinds of ice and snow. There was a thin layer of red ice on the stone slabs of the bridge, like a 20-foot-3-meter strip of ice.
feet of red carpet.
The soldiers of the first division who had just arrived were cleaning the bridge deck. The frozen bodies fell to the river bed and collided with the bodies below, sputtering out pieces of powdery ice that refracted the sunlight like morning mist.
Hundreds of Liao cavalry were passing through the Zhulong Bridge, led by a guerrilla flag with the Chinese character "ancestor" written on it. Pang Yu carefully observed the passing cavalry at the door of a wine shop on the roadside. According to King Chen Yu, the Liao army was far away.
Yesterday was a good learning opportunity to defeat the inland cavalry, but the Wuliqiao battlefield was too chaotic. I only saw some fragments of the Liao army's battles. The most impressive thing was their tactics of driving away the infantry. There were divisions and combinations.
After retreating and advancing, Pang Yu suddenly gained a lot of understanding of cavalry tactics. Most of the gold, silver and horses near Zhulong Bridge had been collected. Pang Yu estimated that Lu Xiangsheng had also come from Qingliu Pass, so at dawn he ordered the ninth
The two flag teams of the bureau took the horses away, and a small number of remaining horses were still rounding up. These war horses
It is very important to Pang Yu. If Anqing has a strong cavalry, the combat options will be much more selective. If you train the cavalry, you must refer to the elites you can see now. Looking carefully at this time, there are about two leading troops.
About half of the soldiers of the Hundred Cavalry were wearing chainmail armor, with a piece of cotton armor inside, and 30% of the soldiers were carrying two horses. This kind of maneuverability has reached the level of the old camp of rogue bandits, but it is just a heavy load.
More. They continued to pursue, and the threat to the old camp of the bandits was far greater than that of the garrison camp. Pang Yu could also see that these cavalrymen were veterans and had a fierce flavor. Although they were on a battlefield full of dead bodies, they were still calm and disciplined.
The atmosphere was very ordinary. There were many people chatting and laughing. From time to time, small groups of cavalry would leave the queue and give chase.
During this short period of time, there were many conflicts with the infantrymen of the garrison camp. The two sides yelled and cursed loudly, but neither could understand what they were saying.
"Sir, look at the Tatar soldiers in Liao Town." Guo Fengyou next to him reminded him in a low voice. Pang Yu turned around to look. There was a group of more than ten riders in the team. They were wearing leather hats with some pigtails hanging from the brim.
, most of them carry two or three arrows, and their appearance is slightly different from that of China. Pang Yu also heard that Chen
King Yu said that there were a large number of Mongolians recruited in the border towns, especially the cavalry, which was very common in the north, but for these soldiers in the Jiangbei area, it was indeed a rare thing.
The soldiers of the Ninth Bureau who were watching the excitement were also giving instructions, and some were joking. A Tatar soldier in the queue suddenly rode out and hit a soldier from the garrison camp on the roadside with his riding whip.
The soldier hurriedly raised his hand to block the attack, and with a crack of his riding crop he opened his sleeves, and the white cotton inside splashed out.
The scene suddenly became chaotic. The cavalrymen all drew their swords. The soldiers of the garrison were cleaning the battlefield. Seeing this, they all went to find their own weapons. Both sides yelled at each other on the road.
Those Liao Town cavalry were arrogant, and some kept charging forward, trying to drive back the garrison soldiers. The garrison infantrymen who came from around them were shaking their spears to scare away the horses.
Pang Yu sat in the wine shop and did not move, letting go to make noise outside. Guo Fengyou drew his sword and stood guard at the door. He kept looking back, as if he was a little confused about Pang Yu's indifference.
There was the sound of horse hooves outside, and a general came from the front, shouting and cursing in a northern accent along the way. Pang Yu then got up, walked out of the door of the wine shop, and walked to the place of conflict.
The soldiers in the garrison gave way to the roadside one after another. The people in Liao Town also knew that it was the generals here, so they all moved their horses back a little.
Pang Yu guessed that this was the Zu guerrilla, so he politely said to the general, "It turns out to be General Zu. I'm guarding Pang Yu in Anqing." The Liao army general looked slightly surprised when he saw that Pang Yu was so young.
But his expression was still very arrogant, and he did not return the greeting, but said directly to Pang Yu, "If it hadn't been for our Liao army to assist in the suppression of the pass, Gao Scar would have turned Jiangbei into a white land. You should be considerate.
I'm grateful, why do you still say bad things?" Pang Yu put away his smile, "When I was not in the army, my family had to pay a sum of money every year, called Liao's pay. Later I found out that it was sent to Liaodong. If I, the people in Jiangbei, hadn't sent the money out of customs,
, Jiannu had long since turned western Liaoning into a wasteland. I also came to Chuzhou to join forces.
We suppressed them, but I didn’t dare to ask for gratitude. The soldiers received the money from the imperial court. It is my duty to go wherever the emperor and your lords go."
The expression on the Liao Army general's face changed and he looked at Pang Yu fiercely. Although Pang Yu knew that the other party was a guerrilla, it was not a modern military system at this time. The guerrillas in Liao Town could not control him, so he was not afraid of this guerrilla at all. Think about it
Then he put on a smile and said, "It was just a conflict between the sergeants because they couldn't understand each other, so I won't delay."
We can't afford to leave the general in pursuit of the bandits, lest he miss the important military and national affairs of the imperial court."
The Zu Guerrilla looked at Pang Yu coldly for a moment. Since he entered the customs, most of the officers and soldiers he had seen were miserable. The combat power of the Liao army's cavalry was outstanding, which made him feel that he was indeed superior to others.
At this time, Pang Yu didn't give him any face. Zu Youyi didn't want Pang Yu to have an easy time. He took a look around the Zhulong Bridge and saw that there were many horses abandoned by the bandits, and the soldiers from the garrison camp were rounding them up.
He turned to the cavalry and shouted, "Hold all the horses, and I'll beat anyone who stops you."
The cavalry howled and immediately scattered out to snatch the empty horses. Zu Youyi smiled coldly at Pang Yu, turned around and walked towards his mount.
Guo Fengyou whispered, "Sir, do we want to fight them?" Pang Yu looked at the back of the guerrillas and nodded, "It just so happens that I don't want to follow them to chase the bandits, so fight."