At the fifth watch, the rebels started to eat, and the retreat began before dawn.

Of course, Xiao Huaishuo would not let them get away lightly, and immediately ordered troops to pursue.

Immediately, they encountered an interception by Li Hu's troops behind the palace arranged in advance.

The results of the initial battle did not go well - as Li Hu said, once these Mobei soldiers were armed with iron armor and horses, they were almost invincible on land. Xiao Huaishuo invested nearly twice as many troops before Zhan Zhan suppressed them. But in the end, these people broke through and failed to separate them from the main force in front of them.

After losing the first battle, the generals who went out to fight came to confess, Xiao Huaishuo only ordered to go back, "Bite tight, don't let them go away." This battle has just begun. ”

After the rebels, the army behind the palace broke through, as expected, and went straight to Shilipo.

-- They are not just queens, but they are obviously also tasked with luring the enemy.

And Xiao Huaishuo's pursuers were also as they wished, like sharks chasing blood, always patrolling behind them and not retreating, ready to bite and kill again at any time.

Yiqiē seemed to follow Li Hu's plan, but the rebel general He Za, who was in charge of the palace and luring the enemy, was not easy.

Heza was a fat soldier with a knotted beard. Sitting on a horse is like an iron tower, but at the moment his heart is not as stable and carefree as it seems.

Although the initial victory was small, the outcome was not so satisfactory - these southern soldiers showed more than expected combat strength, and he escaped with great difficulty, almost desperately trying to escape from the encirclement. Not only did he fail to achieve his goal of killing and injuring the enemy's main force, but his own loss of troops made him tremble. Once Xiao Huaishuo attacks again, with the remaining combat strength of this army, he will probably be unable to escape.

This forced him to hurry all the way, constantly urging his soldiers to hurry, hoping to catch up with the main force in front of him as best he could.

Fortunately, Xiao Huaishuo probably had some concerns, and although he bit behind him all the way, he never took the opportunity to attack again.

Walking through another short mountain plain, the road begins to wind and unfold with the mountains on all sides, and the trees can be seen in front of you. The woods grew on a narrow valley road at the intersection of two mountains. After this valley road is a gentle slope that stretches for ten miles, and the slope is flat and gentle, and the grass is thick and sparse. It is exactly what the locals call Shilipo.

-- Ten miles of slope is already in sight.

He Za suddenly rejoiced in his heart—as long as he brought the army behind him into Shilipo, he would be able to get the care of the main force, and he would be able to breathe a little.

He hurriedly gave the order again, and ordered the soldiers to hurry up.

The military order was drowned in an overwhelming drum noise.

There was a brief commotion among the rebels, and after some pushing and stampede, an officer in the rear urged the whip forward, hurriedly pushed the helmet with a horsewhip, and before he had time to wipe the blood on his face, he hurriedly reported, "General, they are killed!" ”

-- After chasing the enemy all the way without moving, he chose this moment to attack again.

Heza's heart sank.

His instinctive idea was not to engage in a battle and to flee directly into Shilipo. His task at the moment is to lure the enemy deeper, and "deceit" is also a strategy.

But then he realized it wasn't going to work. It was not only because he had won a battle before, but he was suddenly defeated and retreated without a fight, which may make Xiao Huaishuo suspicious, but also because the location was not on his side - the road at the valley road was narrow, and the speed of the army was bound to be blocked. And the rear is already engaged. Unless he abandoned most of his troops and retreated into Shilipo with only a few elites, there would be no time to escape.

But after a moment of hesitation, someone shouted again, "Kill up—kill up!" ”

He Za subconsciously looked back, and saw that the enemy's cavalry on the left and right flanks were outflanking him. The sound of the hooves rolled like thunder between the mountains, and the echoes were staggered and overwhelming—clearly trying to intercept them in front of the ten-mile slope.

And when these cavalry came here, he didn't even notice.

He Za was already lacking in confidence, and he had no intention of fighting at the moment. I can only bite the bullet and hurriedly order, "Don't engage in battle - all rush with me!" As long as we enter the ten mile slope, we win! ”

- Yes, as long as Xiao Huaishuo's main force is introduced into Shilipo, his goal will be achieved.

But after escaping from this strangulation and hurrying into the valley road with only more than 2,000 remnants, He Za couldn't help but have a thought in his heart - was he really the one who led Xiao Huaishuo here?

Ten mile slope.

Li Hu stood on a high place and personally watched the situation below.

The pursuers came much faster than he expected, and almost as soon as he had finished his deployment, he saw someone riding in at the valley at the entrance of Shilipo.

Running ahead was a sparsely dragged cavalry, barely visible from the array. If it weren't for someone at the end of the team dragging the flag diagonally, Li Hu would almost not have recognized that this was the army that he had arranged for the queen of the palace. But the moment he recognized it, he understood that this was not a fraud, but a genuine loss of armor.

He arranged for the queen of 8,000 people, nearly half of whom were the elites he brought back from Mobei back then. was beaten into this wolf bèi look, which is obviously the fault of the general. Li Hu couldn't help but be annoyed.

But this is not the time to calculate.

-- The pursuers were almost biting the tail of the line, and they were about to rush into an ambush.

The deserters under the mountain hurriedly made a code, urging Li Hu to do his best to come out and respond.

The generals and soldiers on all sides couldn't help but look at Li Hu, just waiting for him to give an order.

Li Hu's face was pale, and he ordered the commander on the side, "Don't move, let He Za resist me!" ”

Heza fled all the way into the valley, but the promised receiving force did not show up for a long time. He Za couldn't help but feel numb in his scalp, and he hated Li Hu for being cunning and ruthless. I couldn't help but suspect for a while, could it be that what Li Hu said yesterday was all a lie to them? Could it be that he has become an outcast.

But then he saw someone waving flags on the slope ahead.

He was a little relieved, and was about to say something, when he heard the man's order, "The commander ordered you to kill back." ”

He Za couldn't help but be furious, "What does this mean? ”

The man raised the flag in his hand.

The sky was dark, and the lead clouds were low.

But he saw clearly that when the flag was raised, on the slopes on both sides of him in front of him, there were dense clusters of jet-black arrows pointing at him and the remnants behind him, and the eyes of the archers shone with a cold and merciless light - he knew that Li Hu's military discipline was strict, even if the arrows were pointed at his former brothers, as long as the hand carrying the flag fell, the arrows on their strings would not be in vain.

To move forward is to die.

He Za gritted his teeth, his eyes were split, and finally turned his horse back, and ordered like a bell, "There is no way ahead, kill me back!" ”

The scattered and unorganized thousand cavalry, under the guidance of the generals who were left to die, miraculously reunited again--these people who had fled to Shilipo were the core elite of this kind of army, they were not without the strength to fight, but they did not have the heart to fight to the death before.

But at this moment, Li Hu forced them to pick up the heart of fighting again.

These people killed them in a hurry.

The pursuers who had entered Shilipo were finally stopped from advancing.

And the follow-up troops continued to pour in from the valley.

After all, Heza was a remnant of the defeated army, and they couldn't hold back this army for long.

Seeing that Hezha's formation was almost collapsing, the generals who were ambushed on all sides couldn't help but shudder, and looked in the direction of Li Hu restlessly.

And Li Hu was still calmly watching from a high place.

-- He was waiting for the opportunity, waiting for Xiao Huaishuo's main force to enter Shilipo. Rushing to kill too early will only startle the snake.

Almost at the moment when He Za was defeated again, Li Hu's pupils shrank sharply - the young man in white robe and silver armor appeared in the midst of the army. On the swallowtail modified by the jade feather, there is a "Xiao" word in the light. The flag was arrogant and arrogant, but it was as unshakable as the needle of the sea god.

- Xiao Huaishuo actually chased after him in person, and he was already in his circle.

Li Hu finally gave the order to attack.

The ambushes all over the mountains roared like a black tide.

The arrows of both sides flew into the opponent's formation. After the first wave of arrows reaped a single human life, the two armies finally met in close combat.

The battle lasted until noon, and Xiao Huaishuo's military flag did not move a single step from beginning to end.

He was like a live target there, and he didn't even have to predict the goals and movements of the rebels - Li Hu promised a heavy reward for obtaining his head, and countless rebels went forward to kill him one after another. The war horse penetrated the spear and landed on foot. The front one falls, and the one behind fills in. The corpse filled a clear path, blood flowing from the heights, almost soaking the vamp.

-- It is true that the northerners and southerners are better at cavalry warfare, but the cavalry is not invincible. The Son of Heaven once received a monk from Fanbang, and from that monk he learned the methods of the foreigners to restrain the cavalry. He equipped the infantry with spears and large shields specifically for the cavalry, and the spear-wielding infantry formed a dense phalanx sufficient to hold back most of the cavalry. After Ruyi took over the quartermaster, he also specially equipped his archers with powerful armor-piercing crossbows, which were far more powerful than the longbows of the rebels.

What's more, this army had just wiped out Heza's cavalry, and its morale was strong, and it was not afraid of the ambushes swarming in front of them. Even if you fight, you won't be left behind.

But as the war progressed, the inconsistencies of this situation gradually became apparent.

Some generals in Li Hu's army soon noticed it.

-- As the party that took the initiative to pursue, Xiao Huaishuo was too thoughtful in his response to the ambush and put too much thought into defense.

What's more, in their projections, Xiao Huaishuo's strength should be at least two to three times the current one. Since he personally dispatched, he should not have retained any strength.

The current situation will appear, and the most reasonable explanation is about to come out - Xiao Huaishuo had expected an ambush, and he came prepared.

Finally, someone made a suggestion to Li Hu, persuading him to retreat as much as possible - since Xiao Huaishuo had already anticipated Li Hu's plan, he must have a backup to deal with it.

Li Hu knocked the man to the ground with his slashing hand, and said angrily, "The thief is in front of you, kill him and win!" Now is the best time - if you dare to disturb the morale of our army, I will cut you. He strode forward, snatched the drumstick from the drummer's hand, personally beat the drum to cheer, and ordered, "Those who take Xiao Huaishuo's head will be rewarded with 100,000 gold." ”

What others can perceive, how can Li Hu not perceive it?

He had even guessed Xiao Huaishuo's backhand - I am afraid that he had really divided his troops, and the other army must have detoured back to their flank or rear, and calculated the time, and maybe it would be there soon.

But since the army hadn't arrived yet, he still had a chance to break them all. Now is the best time for him to kill Xiao Huaishuo.

But Li Hu obviously didn't grasp this opportunity - almost at the same time as his military order came out, the scout came to report, "Someone from the north slope has been killed!" ”

They were outflanked.

The person who was kicked to the ground by him climbed up again and hugged Li Hu's leg, "Dashuai, give the order quickly, if you don't leave, it's too late!" ”

And Li Hu's eyes were red, and he kicked him away. The general sent troops and said, "Ling Henuo will wait for 5,000 people to go north to snipe." The rest—" he said, whipping up his horse, turning on his horse, "follow me and go out!" ”

The beacon fire in the north was ignited, and a column of wolf smoke went straight into the sky. Xiao Huaishuo then knew that the army that had come to converge had finally arrived.

But the pressure on him has increased.

-- The rebels marched out and crushed madly in his direction. Li Hu obviously didn't give up, and wanted to seize the last opportunity to fight hard and kill him.

The commander beside him was shocked by this momentum, and couldn't help but shrink back, and hurriedly persuaded Xiao Huaishuo, "Your Highness should take a step back for the time being, avoid its edge, and wait for General Lu to rush over——"

The rest of the crowd echoed suit.

Xiao Huaishuo said, "Lonely and don't retreat!" He was clearly annoyed, and raised his hand to wave away the strategists who were trying to make him retreat, and said, "This is the best time to kill the traitors. Don't retreat, don't retreat! Hold it all up for me, let the spears stand up, and the crossbowmen prepare—"

The sudden onslaught caused Xiao Huaishuo's defense to loosen for a short time, but the crossbowmen made up for a wave of powerful shots in time to save the damage.

The intersection of the fronts of the two armies was like a huge meat grinder. It devoured the bodies involved in it, turning them into corpses and splatters of flesh.

In the valley where the wind and water gather, the air is stagnant and does not flow, and the smell of flesh and blood does not disperse. The mist is stained with blood, and it adheres to the skin of the person's hair, making it sticky and heavy. It was as if the person was caught in a maze of murderous crochet, his reason collapsed and dissipated, and his body was driven by a crazy and mechanical killing intent.

The heavens and the earth are dim and yellow.

Behind Li Hu, the chasing soldiers harvested his combat power one by one, and in front of Xiao Huaishuo, the defense line was also broken through one after another.

It was a close killing.

All that can be done has already been done, and it is courage and strength that govern the situation at hand, and perhaps some luck.

Xiao Huaishuo kept mobilizing the troops in his hands - but one less, no matter how much he racked his brains, he always had one less army in his hands for him to send. It's like a game of chess, you only need one more piece to reverse the game. Obviously, as long as there are five hundred, no, as long as there are three hundred people, he can cut off Li Hu's momentum and lock this tiger firmly into the cage, but there are only three hundred fewer people.

He could already hear Li Hu's soldier at the forefront asking, "Which one is Xiao Huaishuo-"

At this time, an arrow came from the west, and one of them pierced the soldier's neck.

Then there was a rain of arrows like flying locusts, and the cavalry that rushed over fell to the ground as if they had been knocked to the ground by the waves.

The western sky seemed to have a dark cloud breaking, and the bright daylight moved with the clouds, gradually illuminating the earth like a wind passing through the grassland. Another group of cavalry came from the gap in the light, like the sharp blade of a long knife splitting the bamboo joint, and against the trend, Li Hu's cavalry team was divided into two.

At the forefront was a young girl, dressed in a short-sleeved riding outfit, with jet-black hair ponytail on top of her head. Running beside her was the flag bearer who was holding the flag for him, and the swallowtail fluttering Rong flag had a silver hook on the calligraphy and iron with the word "Xiao". When passing by Xiao Huaishuo, she turned her head briefly, and her eyes, which were as dark as the night, flashed with gentle and bright light like a meteor.

-- In addition to Xiao Huaishuo's calculations, another reinforcement army arrived.