Chapter 83: The storm rises again (Sixth)

Shi Gaojin was a little pessimistic when he saw the house. He smiled and said, "The Great Zhou army has not been so serious. After all, these are two small-scale battles and cannot represent the true strength of both sides. The cruel war to determine the victory and loss has not begun."

Fangdangzhijin's left arm was injured, and blood flowed like a stream and dripped on the ground, and soon condensed into a large dark red piece. Fangdangzhijin raised his chest and tried hard to maintain his dignity.

Fang Dangbai Ge didn't blame Fang Dangzhijin too much. Seeing that he was bleeding profusely, he said, "You go down and bandage the wound, give you a task, and think carefully about how the Black Eagle Army fought. What are its weaknesses?" Then the person in the reconciliation waved and said, "You all go out."

After all the people in the tent left, Fang Dang Bai Ge said to Shi Gao Jin with a solemn expression: "If we want the Yanzhou army and the Fuzhou army to go south, or even the Lingzhou army to go south, we must beat the Great Zhou army. Now the troops of several towns near Jingzhou are concentrated in Jingzhou. The fastest ones are the Fengxiang army and the Black Eagle Army. Regardless of the Black Eagle Army for the time being, the original plan remains unchanged, and we still have to ambush the Fengxiang army."

Without outsiders, the gentle and elegant teacher Gao Jin's eyes became Lingli. He tossed and turned around and stroked the pale yellow jade pendant for a while, and then said: "Our strength is not enough to compete with the Great Zhou. If we want to seize Lingzhou, we must be surprised. The Jiedushi's plan to attack the east and the west is in line with the strength of our Fangdang clan."

Tuoba Sigong, the leader of the Tuoba tribe of Dangxiang, was named the governor of Dingnan during the Tang Dynasty. Since then, the Tuoba tribe has firmly controlled the four prefectures of Yin, Xia, Sui and You. Now, the leader of the Tuoba tribe, Li Yiyin, was still the governor of Dingnan in name, but in fact, it is a local regime centered on Xiazhou. After the strength of the Dangxiang Fangdang tribe on the Qingshui River increased, Fang Dangming proclaimed himself the governor of Jingyuan. His biggest dream was to seize the fertile land of Lingzhou, Yanzhou and Qingzhou, establish a local regime similar to the Tuoba tribe, and strive for a larger and better living environment for the Dangxiang Fangdang tribe.

Shi Gaojin said again: "But judging from these two small-scale battles, we seem to underestimate the combat effectiveness of the Great Zhou army. The newly rising Black Eagle Army poses great threat to us. We must defeat each of them before the Black Eagle Army arrives."

Fang Dang Bai Ge kept walking in the tent, and finally made up his mind. He said, "Get another 4,000 people and go to Xiaokuang Pass urgently. Be sure to annihilate the reinforcements of Fengxiang's army at Xiaokuang Pass."

Hearing this decision, Shi Gaojin was a little surprised and said, "We have only more than 20,000 troops in total. Wu Liuguan has 3,000 people, and another 10,000 people are transferred to ambush Fengxiang's army. Now we have only 7,000 people in our hands. The number of troops in the Bangzhou army is similar to that in Qiaojiabao, if we draw another 4,000 people, the strength of the troops in Jingzhou will be too small. This time, I suffered a loss in Qiaojiabao. The main reason is that the lack of troops is to be taken advantage of by the enemy."

Fang Dang Bai Ge looked very determined and said, "The Hei Diao Army in the southwest of Jingzhou, the Yongxing Army and the Tongzhou Army to the east of the Fengzhou Army, and the Yanzhou Army in the north, both of which are concentrated in Jingzhou. However, it will take some time for them to arrive at Qiaojiabao. This period is very precious to us. Only by concentrating our troops to annihilate the Fengxiang Army, cutting off a finger of the Great Zhou Army, making him unable to pinch his fist, can we win. If we win this battle, the Fangdang clan will have a century-long foundation."

Speaking of this, Fang Dang Bai Ge stretched out his hands to the West and begged: "The God of Qingshui will always bless us Fangdang clan!"

Shi Gaojin was persuaded by Fang Den Bai Ge and nodded, "Bai Ge's opinion is correct. We must take the initiative to attack, eliminate one or two Great Zhou troops, and attract all the Great Zhou troops in the northwest to Jingzhou, so that the conditions for the Jiedushi to seize Lingzhou." He punched the table with great courage and said, "Okuraguan is the key to victory. I suggest Bai Ge personally command and fight this battle well. I am willing to lead the three thousand Dangxiang men and deal with the Baozhou army to the end."

Although Shi Gaojin was just a strategist before Fangdang Baige's tent, he was the son of the former leader of the Dangxiang Pochao clan. After the former leader was killed, he came to Fangdang clan and changed his famous teacher Gaojin. Fangdang Baige knew that Shi Gaojin had many potential supporters in the Pochao clan, and did not regard him as an ordinary strategist. He always discussed matters with him on an equal footing. After setbacks, Shi Gaojin traveled around the world and was well-informed. In order to repay Fangdang clan's grace, he tried his best to make suggestions for Fangdang clan.

Fang Dang Bai Ge said happily after hearing this, and said, "Brothers are in Jingzhou, that's best, but there are more and more Zhou troops who arrive in Jingzhou, and there are a few more and more people. However, as long as I can hold up the Great Zhou army in Jingzhou, I will immediately return to Jingzhou after I defeat the Fengxiang army."

Shi Gaojin said: "Some time ago, the head coach of the Bangzhou Army was a mature and polite person. He could not figure out the reality of our army and would not take risks easily."

Fang Dang Bai Ge shouted outside the tent: "Get wine."

After Fang Dang Bai Ge and Shi Gao Jin touched three bowls in a row, Fang Dang Bai Ge threw the bowl to the ground and said, "Time is tight, I will lead the troops to Okuraguan immediately. Yuan Gaobu and Rendabu will leave it to you."

Shi Gaojin's face turned slightly red. He looked at Fangdang Bai Ge leaving the tent, sat for a while, stood up suddenly, and walked towards his tent.

Dangxiang Army was mobilized urgently in the dark. In order not to make too loud noises, Dangxiang Army quietly came out of the camp and carefully wrapped the horse's hooves with cloth strips, led the war horses, and advanced towards Xiaocangguan. After walking slowly for five or six miles, Dangxiang Army all boarded their horses and ran southwest.

Just when the Dangxiang Army secretly left the camp, the tent of the military general of the Qiaojiabao, Guang Zituo, was filled with wine. Guang Zituo was generous and invited a banquet for the Hei Diao Army on behalf of the Jiedushi. As the master, he clinked glasses with Tiechuanyuan, the captain of the Hei Diao Army's lion camp, and the team-master Wu Jiaqiang, Liu Heigou and others.

The performance of the Black Eagle Army's vanguard battalion is obvious to all. The people in the army value the heroes and strength. Therefore, the Black Eagle Army entering Qiaojiabao was warmly received by the Banzhou Army. Li Hui also really likes the energetic Black Eagle Army Captain Tie Chuanyuan. In him, Li Hui seemed to have found a trace of his youth. However, Tie Chuanyuan's official position is pitifully small compared to the governor. Li Hui praised Tie Chuanyuan greatly, but did not attend the banquet welcoming the Black Eagle Army, but instead asked the Ya Jiang Guang Zitu and the Observer Judge Xing Peisheng to fully represent it.

Zhou Qing, the Black Eagle Army Lion Camp team, did not attend the banquet. He led five lion camp scouts, hiding in the darkness. He observed the movements of the Dangxiang Army's military camp. A few days ago, the Dangxiang Army had to challenge in front of Qiaojiabao every day. Zhou Qingmin noticed that the number of Dangxiang troops had been decreasing. The Black Eagle Army's Lion Camp was based on Zhou Qing's observation and conjectured the rules of the Dangxiang Army's dispatch, and successfully raided the Dangxiang Army in Qiaojiabao Lion Camp.

"There are so many soldiers in the Dangxiang army. Why aren't there many people going to Qiaojiabao to challenge? What is this? Does the Dangxiang people have any purpose?" Zhou Qing always had this question in his mind. When night fell, he had no intention of attending the banquet, so he took five soldiers from the Lion Camp to slide out from the wall of the Qiaojiabao village, sneaked into the small hill near the Dangxiang army camp, lying in the grass, observing the movement of the Lion Camp from a high place.

Zhou Qing and five lion camp soldiers had a lot of experience lurking. The hiding position and observation field were very good. The Dangxiang military search team walked past them several times. A Dangxiang soldier stabbed Zhou Qing's hiding place with a waist knife, but he did not find them. Zhou Qing endured the invasion of various mountain and wild insects and stared at the Dangxiang military camp. His efforts were not in vain. In the middle of the night, teams of Dangxiang troops set out from the military camp silently and ran towards the southwest. The Dangxiang army walked out from the side door of the military camp. The side door was not wide, and four soldiers leading horses could be walked side by side. Zhou Qing counted roughly and walked out of the side door.

"About 4,000 soldiers left the barracks, but they didn't hear the sound of horse hooves. They probably went southwest." Zhou Qing calmly preached to the governor Li Hui.

When it was hazy, Zhou Qing lay on the observation point. After carefully checking the situation of the Dangxiang Army camp, there were no shortage of tents at all, which made Zhou Qing even more alert. He felt that the situation in the Dangxiang Army was a little abnormal. He took advantage of the opportunity that the sky was not bright and quickly returned to Qiaojiabao and reported to Tiechuanyuan the Dangxiang Army's mobilization in the middle of the night. Tiechuanyuan realized the importance of this information. He immediately took Zhou Qing and reported the matter to the Baozhou Army.

Li Hui looked at the map and said to Xing Peisheng: "The southwest direction of Qiaojiabao is Fengxiang Prefecture. The nearest is Fengzhou, and the west is Qinzhou. Why did the Dangxiang Army suddenly divide its troops? In this way, the strength of the Dangxiang Army will be weakened. Moreover, 4,000 people will definitely not take advantage of the attack on the Fengxiang Army. It is unreasonable for the Dangxiang Army to use troops like this."

Li Hui asked Zhou Qing again: "Does the Dangxiang Army have 4,000 people, and is it in the southwest direction?"

Zhou Qing said confidently: "I can see clearly that the Dangxiang Army came out of the side gate, four to three people in each row. After about one thousand rows, there must be four thousand people. As for the direction, you will be clear after reconnaissance along the southwest direction. There are so many horses, there will always be horse manure along the way."

Li Hui said with appreciation: "Captain Zhou is very careful and really a piece of good material."

At this moment, a soldier ran over from outside and reported, "The Dangxiang Army is coming." Li Hui, Xing Peisheng, Tie Chuanyuan, Zhou Qing and others all went out of the camp and went to the village wall.

This time, the Dangxiang Army came to perform significantly more than yesterday, with nearly 2,000 people. They were moving in front of the fortress as usual, but they didn't dare to get close to the wall of Qiaojia Fort.

Li Hui looked at the Dangxiang cavalry galloping in front of the fort and was a little hesitant. During this period, he also noticed that the number of Dangxiang cavalry provoked in front of the fort was decreasing. Last night, another 4,000 people left the barracks. "What exactly should the Dangxiang people do?" Li Hui could not answer this question.

After yesterday's war, the observer Xing Peisheng felt that the combat effectiveness of the Dangxiang cavalry was not as terrible as the legend. Two hundred Black Eagle soldiers could eliminate the 300 Dangxiang army cleanly under his nose. Even if the combat effectiveness of the Bangxiang army is not as good as the Black Eagle army, it should not be too much. From this, it is inferred that when the number of people is equal, the Bangzhou army and the Dangxiang army will fight, and it is really hard to say who will win or lose. Xing Peisheng had this idea and could not help but feel itchy when watching the 2,000 Dangxiang army act outside the fort, and he suggested to Li Hui: "The Black Eagle army fought with the Dangxiang army yesterday. I think the Dangxiang cavalry is just like this. It would be better to let the Bangzhou army leave the fort and eat up this Dangxiang army."

Li Hui flatly denied Xing Peisheng's proposal. He shook his head and said, "The enemy situation is unknown, so don't attack rashly. As long as the Fengxiang Army can defend Qiaojiabao, when the Fengxiang Army, the Black Eagle Army, the Yongxing Army and the Yanzhou Army gather together in Jingzhou, the Dangxiang Army will be defeated without fighting. I will be Sima Yi now and guard Qiaojiabao to the death to see what tricks the Dangxiang people can play."

Xing Peisheng did not dare to argue with Li Hui, but just looked at the Xiang army outside the fort with disappointment.

Li Hui looked at Xing Peisheng with disappointment and suddenly remembered what Zhou Qing said. He said to Xing Peisheng: "Just just now, Zhou Qing always leaves horse manure when he passes by a brigade of cavalry. It makes sense. Send a few scouts to see where these thousands of party-xiang troops have gone."

The Dangxiang Army returned to the barracks just like the previous few days.

The Black Eagle Army Lion Camp replenished food in Qiaojiabao, filled it with skins, left several seriously injured people in Qiaojiabao, and then left Qiaojiabao overnight. As the vanguard battalion, the Lion Camp has basically completed its reconnaissance mission. After Tiechuanyuan was about to turn around Jingzhou, he turned west and returned to the bank of Jinghe River west of Jingzhou to meet the main force of the Black Eagle Army.

An extremely narrow official road connected Fengzhou and Jingzhou, and the official road winded through the overlapping mountains. Eight thousand Fengzhou troops advanced rapidly along the official road towards Jingzhou.

Fengxiang Jiedushi Wang Jing rode on the war horse and walked to the middle of the team. He looked at the team that was in a long snake formation anxiously, and said to Wang Huan, the deputy general behind him: "You go to the front team and let the soldiers go faster. If there are enemies lying on the mountain, we will have to be beaten up."

Wang Huan lifted the reins of the horse. He crossed the infantry soldiers who were marching quickly and rushed forward.

After Chai Rong became emperor, he issued several edicts to address the problem that Hu cavalry was often invaded by the border. He strictly ordered the towns on the border to support each other when encountering Hu cavalry invasion. If they sat down and watched the neighboring towns were broken by Hu cavalry and did not send troops to rescue them, they would be punished as a matter of collusion with the enemy. With this edict, after the Jingzhou army was defeated by the Dangxiang army, Jiezhen, which was similar to Jingzhou, did not dare to stand by and rescue them. The Fengxiang army was mainly infantry, dispatched troops and concentrated on preparing food and grass, which took about four days. When the eight thousand Fengxiang army set off, the Black Diao Army's Lion Camp had arrived at Wuliu Pass, and the main force of the Black Diao Army had also assembled in Qinzhou.

Wang Jing knew that the road from Fengzhou to Jingzhou was extremely steep, and there were many dangerous places in the middle of "one man is at the pass, ten thousand men cannot open" land. Therefore, in order to ensure the safety of the Fengxiang Army, Wang Jing carefully sent a vanguard battalion composed of 500 soldiers, and the vanguard battalion was full of cavalry. The vanguard battalion was extremely fast. They were always thirty miles ahead of the main force. After every thirty miles of walking, the vanguard battalion would stop and send liaison officers to report to the army. After the army received all the news of safety, they advanced forward.

The Fengxiang Army moved forward carefully and on the fourth day, the Qianfeng Camp saw Xiaocang Pass from afar. Xiaocang Pass was called Guan, but it was not a military gate like Wuliuguan, but a passage between two mountains. The passage was more than one mile long and about 16 or 7 meters wide. From the terrain, although the two mountains in Xiaocang Pass were high, there were no trees, only some short and sparse shrubs and weeds. A thick layer of loess on the mountain deeply covered the rocks. If the enemy was ambushed on it, there would be no things to smash down. Because the mountain was high and steep, people could not rush down. Therefore, from a military perspective, Xiaocang Pass was not the most dangerous gate from Fengzhou to Jingzhou. However, Xiaocang Pass was the only way from Fengzhou to Jingzhou. If Xiaocang Pass did not go to Xiaocang Pass, the army would have to detour for more than 400 miles.

Wu Shen, the captain of the Forward Battalion, stopped in front of Xiaocang Pass with 500 soldiers. Wu Shen went from Fengzhou to Jingzhou many times. He knew that after passing Xiaocang Pass, there was no dangerous pass in front. Wu Shen rode a horse and stood at the pass, and always had a bad premonition in his heart. This feeling rarely appeared. Therefore, Wu Shen ordered the Forward Battalion to stop moving forward.

"Captain Hong, you can take fifty people to pass the test first. If you have any abnormalities, please withdraw quickly."

"Li Guzheng, take fifty people up the mountain and take a look."

After searching the two teams, no abnormalities were found. Wu Shen was still worried and ordered the two teams to search again, but no abnormalities were found.

At this time, Wu Shen was a little relieved and thought to himself: "The Dangxiang Army confronted the Fengzhou Army in Jingzhou. If you have the strength to come here to ambush us, why did my courage become so small?" After all the Fengxiang Army's vanguard battalions passed through Xiaocang Pass, they sent liaison officers to report to the rear. Wu Shen led the vanguard battalion to camp about two miles north of Xiaocang Pass, waiting for the arrival of the army.

The every move of the Fengxiang Army's vanguard battalion was clearly seen by the four scouts of the Dangxiang Army hiding on the mountain. They prepared some wolf dung. As long as most of the main forces of the Fengxiang Army entered Xiaocang Pass, they would raise wolf smoke on the mountain.

Fang Dang Baige led 4,000 troops to march towards Xiaokuraguan in the night. The four thousand Dangxiang was all cavalry. The section from Jingzhou to Xiaokuraguan was relatively smooth, which was conducive to the movement of the cavalry. Fang Dang Baige rushed to Xiaokuraguan the next afternoon. After the two Dangxiang troops met, the force reached 14,000. With such a strong force, Fang Dang Baige was full of confidence in the ambush of the Kokuraguan.

Fang Dang Bai Ge carefully investigated the terrain of Xiaocang Pass. He believed that the Fengxiang Army would definitely send a vanguard battalion to explore the way. If the Dangxiang Fu Army ambushed at the Xiaocang Pass, it would be very likely to be discovered by the Fengxiang Army's vanguard battalion. So he ordered the main force to retreat 10,000 people to set up an ambush about five miles north of Xiaocang Pass. At the same time, in a valley about four miles south of Xiaocang Pass, 4,000 people were ambushed. After Xiaocang Pass fought, the 4,000 people were responsible for cutting off the Fengxiang Army's retreat. Fang Dang Bai Ge wanted to use the force of hard to wipe out the reinforcements of Fengxiang Army with a thunderous force, and focused the Zhou army's attention on Jingzhou to create conditions for the Dangxiang Army led by his elder brother Fang Dangming to attack Lingzhou.

After receiving the safe and sound report from the Forward Battalion, the main force of the Fengxiang Army slowly entered the large pocket set by Bai Ge.

Wang Jing is located in the middle of Fengxiang Army. When he walked out of Xiaocang Pass, he breathed a long sigh of relief. After passing Xiaocang Pass, there was no dangerous place ahead. No accident, after tonight, the Fengxiang Army could reach the boundary of Fengzhou.

Suddenly, the troops in front of them shouted nervously, and then they saw the black smoke floating in the wind on the mountain.

When Wang Jing saw the black smoke, his expression changed. It was wolf smoke. The Hu people used it to call the police. Although he was panicked, he ordered: "The front army becomes the rear army, cut off the rear army, and the rear army becomes the front army, and charge." The personal guards behind him immediately sounded the horn for the battle. At the same time, several commanders rushed towards the front and rear teams.

After the Fengxiang Army's vanguard camp set up camp, the soldiers fed horses, boiled water or slept in the camp. The sergeant first felt the vibration of the earth. They were as if they were whipped by someone and jumped up from the ground, shouting: "Cabin, brigade of cavalry." Wu Chan ordered several sergeants from the Forward Battalion to report back, and then ordered the Forward Battalion to face the gang of cavalry suddenly appeared. The sergeant of the Forward Battalion was the elite of Fengxiang's army. They looked at the Dangxiang cavalry that was surging like a mountain torrent. None of them retreated, waved their shiny long swords and rushed towards the Dangxiang cavalry.

The brave actions of the vanguard army soldiers only caused a little trouble for the Dangxiang people. Soon, the vanguard battalion was destroyed under the impact of the Dangxiang army's iron hooves. After the lieutenant Wu Shen chopped and killed a Dangxiang soldier, he was hit hard on the head by a thick mace. His brain burst on the spot. After Wu Shen was caught, he was stepped on by the squatter of the iron hooves that swarmed in.

When the soldiers who reported the news from the Forward Battalion rushed to the front of Fengxiang Army, the front team had heard the sound of horse hooves and shouts of killing. Wang Jingzhi's army was extremely strict. The front team of Fengxiang Army was two thousand infantry, and no one dared to retreat without orders. Deputy General Wang Huan ordered anxiously: "Use shields to form two round formations on the left and right, and the crossbow archers are prepared." The front team's infantry was well trained. After hearing the order, the two thousand infantry were divided into two groups. Each group was two hundred shield players in front of each group. The shield hands held a square shield. The square shield was one meter high and two spikes below, which could be inserted into the ground. Behind were spearmen and crossbow archers.

At this time, the front team had already left Xiaocang Pass, and the wider terrain was extremely beneficial to the cavalry's raid. After the Dangxiang cavalry flooded the vanguard battalion, they rushed to the front infantry of the Fengxiang army. Hundreds of iron arrows were shot out densely from behind the shield, and the Dangxiang cavalry was densely formed. After this round of arrow rain, hundreds of Dangxiang riders were caught in the horses, and they also did not escape the fate of being trampled by the war horses behind.

The two circular formations in front of the Fengxiang Army are like two isolated islands in a surging flood. No matter how fierce the flood is, they still insist on standing in the middle of the water.
Chapter completed!