As the night deepened, the thick clouds obscured the stars and the moon, causing the earth below to fall into complete darkness. Although the Liao army garrison that stretched out for several miles was lit with bonfires, it still only illuminated the temporary military camp in obscurity, so that the soldiers on duty at night could only see an area that was not too big in front of them.

It has been two days since Xiao Sixun and the others came to meet and report the changes in Zhuozhou. In two days, the Liao army accelerated its advance, and it had rushed more than 100 miles, and in another two days, it would almost reach Zhuozhou. In order to be able to attack under the city of Zhuozhou, preserving the army's physical strength has become an extremely important part, so the rest at night has become especially important.

Before it was dark, the Liao army was stationed in this relatively flat wilderness, and after hastily using the dry food they had brought with them, except for a few hundred soldiers who were keeping vigil, the others had already gone into the tents and fell asleep. Of course, in addition to these night watchmen, there are hundreds of prisoners who are tied to the flagpole who cannot be accounted for, and it is Xiao Sixun and other losers.

As early as the day before yesterday, when they were stationed in the camp, all the dozens of military sticks they sent were also implemented, and all of them were beaten to the point that their skin was open and bloody, but after using some wound medicine at random, their lives were finally saved. But even so, the punishment of them continued, and the next thing was to be tied to the flagpole for public display, and it was very pitiful that they could not be relaxed at night. But this is a military order issued by King Xi, and no one in the army dares to speak and plead for them, at most, someone will give them some food and drink, so that they will not lose their lives because of this.

Xiao Sixun, who was dying, leaned against the flagpole in a half-coma, and he couldn't care about the pain in his back, looking up at the sky with blank eyes, and his heart was full of regret. Knowing that this was the result, he might as well stay in Zhuozhou and give it a go, so that if he died, he could also be praised by the imperial court, instead of losing half his life as he did today, not to mention that he had become a guilty body, and I am afraid that he would never be able to raise his head again. And if you stay in Zhuozhou, there may be a chance of success.

After thinking about it for a long time, he suddenly remembered that the Song envoy named Sun Tu was so clever that he really faced it head-on, and he was afraid that he would have no chance of winning. But I don't know who is better against King Xi and him?

"What am I thinking? King Xi led my Daliao elite to come, how could he not be able to deal with the tens of thousands of internal and external troubles, the military rations have been unable to help, and the army's morale has been in turmoil? I'm afraid that at this moment, Chang Shengjun is so frightened that he can't sleep at night, and some people are even going to run away early......" His chaotic thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a fierce whining horn, which made Xiao Sixun stunned at first, and then looked at the edge of the black forest in front of him in disbelief, but he didn't see anything clearly.

The same reaction was also made by the guards of the night vigil in the battalion, and in an instant, hundreds of people raised their swords and guns at the same time, put on a defensive posture, and shouted loudly: "There is an enemy attacking, there is an enemy attacking!" But for a moment he didn't dare to really go out of the camp.

Soon, the entire Liao army camp, which had been peaceful, was boiling, and countless soldiers hurriedly came out of their tents, not only chaotic, but also very embarrassed. Most of them were not fully armoured, half of them were shirtless, and a few of them were not even armed, so they ran out of the tent in a hurry.

The officers were shouting at the whole team, but for a while, so many people were mixed together, how could it be possible to prepare the formation of the team. So the whole Liao army camp was like a huge vegetable market, full of people, shouting everywhere, and no one knew what to do.

This chaotic scene lasted for more than half an hour, and the situation finally improved after Xiao Gan, who was blue-faced, kicked over several guards who stopped beside him, and killed two soldiers scurrying around in a row.

It was only at this time that the Liao army, which had calmed down, realized that the situation was wrong, and after the horn sounded, there was no enemy to kill. And at this time, when I looked around, I couldn't see any trace of the enemy. You must know that judging from the chaotic situation in the Liao army's camp just now, if there is really a sudden sneak attack by the enemy, it can really bring them great damage. But as a result, the enemy did not seize such a good opportunity.

"It's just a feint, why are you all panicking?" After confirming the situation, Xiao Gan was so angry that his nose was crooked, and he swept over these subordinates with hatred, and at the same time, he was also vigilant in his heart. If it weren't for a feint attack this time, only one sneak attack would cause great damage to the army.

"Pass my order, and leave three thousand men to guard the surrounding area, and the rest of them will return to camp to rest." After a moment of silence, he made the most appropriate arrangement.

As a result, after this arrangement, the outside returned to calm, and after the whole night, there was no movement. It's just that after this trouble, the Liao army has a share of their hearts, how can they sleep peacefully this night, and until dawn the next day, everyone looks unrefreshed.

The rapid march was an individual effort, and since his whereabouts had been exposed, Xiao Gan did not dare to advance too much, so after dawn, he could only suppress the anxiety in his heart and slow down the advance of the army. On this day, they had marched less than forty miles, and they were almost half as small as they had been on the previous two days. But even so, by the evening when the camp was stationed, the whole army was still exhausted, and many of them quickly settled in their tents and rested as soon as they had settled down in the camp.

After learning the lesson of the previous night, the defense inside and outside the barracks was much tighter this night, and Xiao Gan even sent people to search the mountains and forests on both sides, but the result was empty-handed.

However, when the time came to about the third watch, and everyone was asleep, the change arose again. This time, it was no longer the sound of drums and trumpets harassing the Liao army, but suddenly hundreds of cavalry galloped from the front, and when they rushed to the Liao army camp and there was still an arrow away, they suddenly stopped their horses and released their arrows, and after three rounds of arrows, thousands of rockets fell to the Liao army camp, and killed all the Liao army by surprise.

Naturally, the garrison on the march road could not be as well-defended as when the two armies were facing each other, not to mention the walled wall that could resist the onslaught of the enemy army, and even the gate could not be erected in a short time, so it was only surrounded by a few logs. Now, the front camp has been hit by rockets, and a nearby tent has been ignited by a fire, and the fire has spread rapidly when the wind blows.

Fortunately, the Liao army was prepared this time, and in the screams, they were no longer as chaotic as the night before, and the firefighters also arrived quickly to extinguish the fire that had not yet risen on a large scale. At the same time, another army horse quickly pursued out of the camp, wanting to fight the enemy who attacked the camp.

But as a result, they were still a step slower. Because just after these rounds of rockets were fired, the hundreds of horsemen had quickly withdrawn without any nostalgia. So when the Liao army went out, they couldn't even catch their shadows......

When Xiao Gan knew this result again, he was not as angry as he was last night: "They are very smart, they actually expected that we would arrange soldiers and horses on both sides of the camp early in the morning, so this time they launched an attack from the front, and killed us by surprise." Moreover, compared to yesterday's simple harassment, today's offensive is much more fierce. ”

"King Xi, this can't be done, our army has been attacked and disturbed by them for two consecutive nights, I'm afraid that the army's morale is in turmoil, and it will be difficult to rush as before." One of his subordinates said worriedly.

"Yes, King Xi, I can't imagine that the Changsheng Army still has the courage to take the initiative to attack, we must no longer underestimate the enemy as before."

Hearing what several subordinates said, Xiao Gan's expression became more and more solemn: "On the surface, it is indeed as you said, but I always feel that this matter is still a little strange, which is completely different from the previous combat methods of the Changsheng Army, as if it has changed its opponent." By the way, some of their arrows are left, so show them to me. ”

After a while, a few arrows that were only half cut were sent to Xiao Gan, and after he carefully looked at these arrows, he smiled meaningfully: "Sure enough, what we are about to face is no longer just the Chang Shengjun all the way, there are still Song people behind them. It seems that the situation in Zhuozhou City has indeed changed greatly, and that Song man Sun Tu has gained power. ”

"Why did the prince make such an inference?"

"It's just that these arrows are not owned by the Changsheng army, but used by the Song army's standard bows and crossbows." After throwing a few arrows to the ground, Xiao Gan's brows furrowed slightly: "But what is the purpose of his doing this?" Such petty fights can certainly exhaust our army, but it is absolutely unrealistic to try to drag us down. Unless...... Chang Sheng's army has fallen to the Song State, if it were me, I should have immediately sent troops and horses to help Chang Sheng's army hold Zhuozhou, whether it is taking the opportunity to take this key city, I always have to pinch it in my hands before the enemy. ”

After muttering a few words, Xiao Gan finally understood the other party's intentions, and Huo Di stood up: "I understand, they don't do this because they can cause us much damage, they just want to slow down our pace to Zhuozhou." Obviously, the Song army's backup is still far from Zhuozhou, and they need time! ”

Xi Wang Xiao Gan is worthy of being a rare famous general in Liao today, and in just two days, he has already seen through Sun Tu's true intentions! This also made two glints appear in his eyes: "Sun Tu is a good opponent." But you're too quick to expose your weaknesses, and since you want to stall, I can't let you do it. Isn't it just some tactics of night raiding and harassment, and you really want to stop my army with this trick? ”