Yingzui Cliff is in the southwest of Jiezhou, and is the only way from the capital to the hinterland of the two roads. There are mountains on the left and right, so the official road can only take advantage of the situation and choose to go through the valley as much as possible to reduce the manpower consumption of digging.
The grain transport team moved forward slowly, and arrived at Yingzui Cliff two days later. The team drove into the canyon under the cliff. Everyone was amazed. The bottom of the valley under the cliff was wide and flat, and the ground was covered with hardened fine sand. It must have been the flow of rain for many years.
Here, the gravel is deposited and hardened, and the horses' hooves leave only shallow traces on the sand without sinking at all. The entire Yingzui Cliff valley bottom is like a huge square. If it weren't for some trees scattered here and there, the valley would be like a square.
It is curved in an eagle's beak shape, and you can almost see through the end at a glance.
Di Qing kept a low profile these past two days. He asked Su Jin for three sets of military uniforms of the Ma Jun guards. The two Dutou who came with him pretended to be Ma Jun followers and were among the troops. They also painted their faces with charcoal ash to cover up.
With the whale scar on his face, if Su Jin hadn't asked, he would have tried not to speak.
Su Jin secretly admired him. He was indeed a veteran who had been dealing with the Western Thieves for several years. Di Qing tried his best to cover up his whereabouts. The Western Thieves were too familiar with Di Qing and were also afraid of Di Qing, even though the team was exactly the same.
However, there may be people around him. Once someone recognizes Di Qing, his intentions will be exposed, and the whole thing will be ruined.
After the large group of people entered Yingzui Cliff, the scouts sent out to explore the horses quickly reported back. There seemed to be something strange fifteen miles ahead of the official road, and there was a roar of smoke and dust.
Su Jin and Di Qing looked at each other and were both frightened. The Western thieves came so quickly. They had already arrived here within six days after receiving the news. Yingzui Cliff is considered to be a hinterland more than two hundred miles away from the border.
, the Western thieves came so quickly, it can almost be concluded that they immediately raised troops after receiving the message, without any hesitation. On the one hand, it shows that the Western thieves are familiar with the road and did not pay attention to the Song Dynasty's defense line. On the other hand,
It also shows that they are extremely interested in robbing supplies.
Xixia adheres to the principle of fighting to support war. Since Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi reached a consensus and implemented the strategy of solid walls and clearing the country for solid defense, the vast land has been almost deserted except for the city walls, leaving the Western thieves to plunder without a trace. They can no longer bear it.
Di Qing personally rode out and acted as a scout to verify. According to his experience, the flying dust was a sign of the arrival of a large group of cavalry. Moreover, he dismounted and listened to the ground, which was also shaking endlessly. There was no doubt about it.
That night, Su Jin quietly issued an order and made some arrangements, arranging for agile people to go up to the top of the cliff to look at the jingjing. This was not to warn of the movements of the Western Thief Cavalry, but to frighten the possible entourage on the mountains on both sides of Yingzui Cliff.
To be careful, the arrangements for the evening must not be known to them. Once the information is leaked, all the efforts will be wasted.
What Su Jin is most concerned about is the location of Fan Zhongyan's army. Now that he has encountered the enemy, everything is ready and all he needs is Dongfeng. Fan Zhongyan's troops and horses are Dongfeng. Only by knowing his specific location can Su Jin proceed to the next step.
plan.
When asked about Di Qing, Di Qing said confidently: "There will be news tonight, Master Su can rest assured."
Su Jin said: "How did the news get in? The outside of the valley entrance must have been monitored by bandit scouts. I'm afraid it won't be easy to get in."
Di Qing smiled and said: "How can we not make careful preparations when dealing with the Western thieves? There are dozens of military pigeons in Yanzhou. What is happening now cannot be done without military pigeons delivering messages. Tonight, there will be military pigeons delivering messages. To tell you the truth,
He said, Feng Dutou, who is traveling with me, is the captain of the military pigeon team deployed by my Yanzhou capital. The carrier pigeons have been released today for questioning, and the military pigeons will definitely return in the evening."
Su Jin clapped his hands and laughed and said, "It's so awesome, I'm glad you guys thought of it."
Di Qing laughed and said: "This is not something I came up with because of my humble position. Flying pigeons have already been used to deliver messages in the Sui and Tang dynasties. In fact, they are not very useful. The Western thieves are very tricky, and there are also falcons in the army that are specially designed to capture our troops."
Carrier pigeons are used to obtain information, so important military information can no longer be conveyed by carrier pigeons. However, this time it is a night-flying pigeon to convey messages. Only the spiritual pigeon "Black Feather" carried by Feng Dutou can do the job. This black
Yu is extremely alert and Feng Dutou regards it as a treasure. I hope it will live up to expectations this time."
Su Jin was stunned. After arguing for a long time, he still couldn't get it right. Are wars these days just based on guesswork? No one could be sure. It was really depressing.
Su Jin's depression didn't last long. In the middle of the night, footsteps shook outside the tent. Di Qing and Feng Dutou barged in without warning, saying in a loud voice: "Master Su, the news has arrived, the news has arrived."
Su Jin was already lying in his clothes. After hearing this, he got up and let Di Qing and Feng Dutou into the tent. Feng Dutou was holding a carrier pigeon that was completely covered in pitch black. There was a bamboo tube tied to the pigeon's leg.
.
Su Jin was overjoyed and said: "This beast is indeed a divine steed. I will mark it with merit in the future and serve it with good rice and good grain."
Feng Dutou said sadly: "Master Su, I'm afraid it's not necessary, hey..."
Su Jin said: "What's wrong? Why are you looking so sad?"
Feng Du lowered his head and held the pigeon under the light with both hands. Su Jin took a closer look and saw that the pigeon's back was wet and reflective. He stretched out his hand and wiped it gently. His fingers were covered with blood. It turned out that the pigeon was injured.
"The spirit pigeon lived up to its mission. Needless to say, it encountered an enemy falcon on the way. It must have fought tooth and nail to escape from the falcon's capture, and finally escaped to complete its mission. It is truly a good soldier who fulfilled his duty." Di Qing sighed.
Su Jin was in awe of this pigeon. A small pigeon is much stronger than many people in the world. In the world of pigeons, completing its mission and flying back to its master is its only belief. But in the world of humans,
, betrayal, greed, suspicion, humility and other emotions will become dominant when encountering a strong enemy. It may be a bit extreme to say that people are inferior to this flat-haired beast, but it cannot be said to be unreasonable.
As he spoke, the pigeon tilted its head and bled to death. Feng Dutou's face was filled with tears, and he howled like a child.
Di Qing shouted: "Why are you crying? I have told you before that when you go out to fight, you must always be prepared to sacrifice your life. If you die in a hundred battles on the yellow sand, you will return wrapped in horse leather. If you can die on the battlefield, we are soldiers.
Glory; this pigeon died fighting hard, why should we behave like children when we die in the right place? If he and I, Di Qing, died on the battlefield, and if you cried and shed a drop of tear, we would not be brothers when we meet in the underworld."
Feng Du hurriedly wiped away his tears, raised his chest and said yes.
Listening to Di Qing's words, Su Jin's heart agitated. After all, the world is not full of corrupt officials. People like Di Qing who serve the country and the people are the mainstream. Only in this way can the building be stable and prevent it from overturning.
There was no time to express his feelings, so Su Jin untied the bamboo tube and unfolded the note in the bamboo tube under the light. There were a few words on it that read: "Five thousand troops will be stationed in Liutun Village forty miles behind the enemy. When the war begins, the beacon will be on."
Call us and help will be dispatched within an hour."
Su Jin said: "Is this the calligraphy of Mr. Fan?"
Di Qing picked up the note and baked it on the candlelight. The signature appeared immediately, and the two characters "Zhu Shuo" in small regular letters appeared under the blank space.
"There is no doubt that it is Master Fan's handwriting." Di Qing said.
Su Jin hurriedly asked: "Who signed this signature?"
Di Qing said with a smile: "Fan Gong remarried with his mother to Zhu Wenhan of Zizhou Prefecture in Shandong Province when he was young. He was named Zhu Shuo. After passing the imperial examination, he restored his father's surname. How did the Western thieves know this name, so you can rest assured."
Su Jin said: "That's it. It's only forty miles behind the enemy, but it's fifty or sixty miles away from us. This is too far."
Di Qing said: "The reason for staying forty miles behind the enemy's rear is that we are afraid that the enemy's scouts will know about it. The scope of the search by the cavalry scouts is huge. Fan Gong's consideration is not unreasonable."
Su Jin nodded and said: "That is to say, once the war starts, we need to hold on for at least an hour. This requires more arrangements."
Di Qing nodded and said: "It's quite difficult. I looked at the weapon configuration of the more than a thousand people among us. We only have 500 bows and not many arrows. We need to make a careful calculation."
Su Jin looked solemn and immediately proposed to convene a meeting of generals for discussion, so everyone was called into the tent. After a short discussion, a plan was made, and each of them started to take action with their men in full swing.
…
At dawn, in a dense forest ten miles northwest of Yingzui Cliff, three thousand Xixia cavalry were ready. These three thousand Xixia cavalry belonged to the Jianing Army Division of Youzhou in the Zuoxiang.
The main offensive force of the East Road Xia Army on the state front line.
The leading general was a young man in his twenties. He was riding on a horse, holding a whip in hand and staring at the official road to the south. His face showed a maturity and coldness that was incompatible with his age.
This person's identity is not trivial. He is Li Ningming, the eldest son of the founding emperor of the Great Xia Kingdom, Li Yuanhao, and the newly established prince of the Great Xia Kingdom. Li Yuanhao had many heirs, and Xixia followed the rule of establishing virtuous people rather than senior officials, so even though he was the prince, Li Ningming
But it is not easy at all. He must achieve something to stabilize his position so that his younger brothers will never have the chance to get involved in the crown prince's position.
Because of this, Li Ningming came to the Yanzhou front line last autumn and became an army supervisor under his uncle Li Jiqian, who was in charge of the Jianing Army. Naturally, Li Jiqian did not dare to actually send him to the front line to fight.
, just arrange for him to do some logistical and military work, which is actually not a big deal. However, although the safety is guaranteed, there is no achievement.
After the Song army pursued the strategy of strengthening the walls and clearing the country, the Xia army looted less and less supplies. The annual battles seriously depleted Daxia's national power. The people could no longer afford it. The wild tribes in the north rebelled not long ago. Li Yuanhao
Li Ningming was so furious that he saw all this.
What made him even more intolerable was that at this time, his brother Li Ningling, who accompanied the Baoshou Army on the West Road, led 4,000 cavalry to level a military stronghold of the Song Army, and captured the people's mules, horses, and food.
Numerous, the news made Li Ningming feel on pins and needles.
Fortunately, a good opportunity came from heaven. News came from the bribers in the Song Dynasty that a group of Song troops escorting grain, grass, weapons and other supplies were heading north along the official road. Li Jiqian only told the news, and Li Ningming immediately stepped forward to lead the troops.
Come to plunder.
Li Jiqian was very hesitant. As Li Ningming was the prince, he was definitely not qualified for such a dangerous matter. Although Li Ningming was also very smart and eager to learn, and had read a lot of military books, he seemed to be somewhat of a Confucian general when talking about it.
He has great spirit, but he has never commanded a battle, so there is no way to consider it in actual combat.
But Li Ningming insisted on leading troops, and Li Jiqian also understood his situation. Considering that the enemy troops were now huddled in the walled city and not going out to fight, and that he had led a large army to wander around the Song Dynasty, the Song army had no chance of going out to fight.
, maybe it wasn’t too dangerous, so he arranged for two mature and steady lieutenants to follow and assist, and carefully told Li Ningming to act with caution and know how to give up, and never put himself in danger for these supplies. Li Ningming agreed one by one.
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Li Ning was not a fool. Although he was eager to make meritorious deeds, he was not a reckless person. Since entering the Song Dynasty, he had spread scouts everywhere to inquire about the Song army's camps. He made up his mind to give up immediately if there was any change. He would never
He was joking with his life; there was no movement in the villages of the Song Army, which greatly increased his confidence. When he arrived outside Yingzui Cliff yesterday evening, the scouts reported that the Song Army's team escorting supplies was camped in the valley. Li Ningming was excited. He knew
This big piece of fat is about to reach your mouth.