Chapter 24: The First Blood
Henan Province is located in the plain, the terrain is open and flat, the whole army of Qianniuwei is one hundred and seven horsemen, fully armed, galloping, two hours to Guochang Town.
The winter days are short, at dusk, the sky is already dark, Quan Ce led the horse through the town, the Han women looked at them, the hostility was strong, the countryside was full of Wubao Zhai, all gathered to defend themselves, the gate of the village was closed, and they did not deal with the officials and soldiers.
Guochang Town is the birthplace of the Vortex River, the lakes and streams are vertical and horizontal, the official road bypasses from the north of the town, leads to Junyi County, the north is parallel to the wide river, the south is a dense forest, no matter the north and south, the long road has to travel hundreds of miles, Li Gui's army has been traveling for several days and nights, morale is crumbling, and he will not make such a choice.
Quan Ce thought about how to deploy the defense, and a few old men came trembling and panting, followed by a few middle-aged men, who had no pot pulp in their hands, only crutches.
"Dare to ask the general, why are you here?" The old man had gray hair, only two front teeth remained, and his breath was not peaceful and aggressive.
"The old man is polite, the rebels are about to attack the locality, and I will be ordered to garrison" Quan Ce arched his hand on the horse and responded politely.
"Garrison? We don't need anyone to garrison here, you are all broom stars, get out of here quickly, go, go" The old man scolded sharply, and the crutches whined.
"We are the official army of the Tang Dynasty, the land of the Tang Dynasty here, the general is responsible for defending the land, and it is difficult to obey the fate" Quan Ce was a little annoyed, the soldiers were fierce and dangerous, they were on the official road, several miles away from the town, without the slightest disturbance, and it was too domineering.
"Officers and soldiers, bullshit officers and soldiers, you are more brutal than mountain bandits...... several old men scolded in unison.
There was a sound of horses' hooves ahead, it sounded like about two horses, it should be a sentry.
Quan Ce waved his hand, Lu Jiong rolled the saddle and dismounted, rushed into the dense forest with two reserves, and rushed forward.
"Whoosh......" Lu Jiong knelt on one knee and shot in a standard kneeling position.
The two horses neighed and fell to the ground, and the two sentinels were thrown out and fell to the ground, and the two guards tied them up and carried them back.
"Say, where is Li Gui, how many soldiers and horses are there?" Lu Jiong stepped on their kneecaps, where he had just fallen into a bloody blur, and he screamed in pain, and his iron bones were strong, but he didn't say it.
Lu Jiong was furious, the soles of his feet were hard, his bones were clicking, and the two sentinels were in pain, but they refused to speak.
solemnly opened his mouth on the side, "Ask these two people in turn, the first one asked, if you don't say it, you will die, and if you say it, the other person will die, only one person will live, and there is no trouble."
Lu Jiong agreed, his fingers poked and poked between the two, and there were words in his mouth, locking on one of them, "You, do you want to say it?" After asking, he drew his horizontal knife and gestured at his neck.
No one wants to die, with differential treatment, it is not a heart, the selected person pours beans in a bamboo tube, "I, I said, only the squad of soldiers and horses is making a big fanfare, and the county brigade has a thousand people and horses, camping in the valley of Qixian County, recuperating and recuperating"
Lu Jiong nodded with satisfaction, waved his hand and slashed off the head of another sentry, blood flew wildly, not a drop fell on his body, untied him, kicked him back into the dense forest, dead or alive, see if he has been created.
"Heh" Quan Ce chuckled, hiding from the sky and the sea, Li Gui has some ability, the river valley is low-lying, full of pebbles, the cavalry can't go on a rampage, now that he knows the news, how to control the enemy?
Quan Ce thought about it a few times, and his mind was settled, and he turned back to the grumpy old man to comfort, "This old man, we are the Tang Dynasty officials and soldiers, the army of the king, and we will never hurt civilians for no reason,"
With his legs between the horse's belly, he shouted loudly and led the army to roar away.
The sky is getting dark, the four fields are quiet, in the valley of Qixian County, the black pressure of people and horses stretches for two miles, although the weather is cold and the ground is freezing, they have no tents, the soldiers who have traveled for several days and nights are extremely sleepy, a group of people snuggle together to keep warm, sleep is in full swing, the soldiers in the middle of the valley are dense, there are more than a dozen horses tied to the crooked neck tree on the slope, a young general slightly closed his eyes, did not fall asleep, he is Li Gui, Li Zhen's fifth son, the younger brother of Li Chong, the king of Langya.
Quan Ce left the brigade and horses on the official road, and personally led twenty people to walk to the bank slope of the river valley, overlooking the shadows below and more than a thousand black shadows.
"General, the haystack is ready" Zheng Zheng led people to collect dozens of wet haystacks, tied them tightly at both ends, and stuffed some hot flints with sparks into them.
"Disperse, let it go" Quan Ce waved his hand and ordered, turning around and returning to the official road.
Preparing to march in the dark, every twenty paces, he threw down a pile of smoking hay and rolled down the bank slope into the valley, the smoke getting thicker and the smell more and more pungent.
Stepping on the horse, Quan Ce withdrew the horizontal knife, "lit the torch" and lit the pine branch torch in reserve, a team stood in the woodland on the side of the official road, a team rode across the middle of the official road, two fire dragons meandered, a team of more than 100 people, the formation was amazing, he was waiting on the road to Junyi County, as long as they did not come here, they could have both of them.
"Uh, ahem, ahem"
"On fire, on fire"
"There are enemy troops, there are enemy troops on the shore"
"Ah...... Kill."
"Commander, the cavalry of the enemy brigade has caught up"
There was a mess in the valley, the soldiers woke up, there was smoke all around, they couldn't see their fingers in the night, they were panicked, they were scurrying like flies, and there were those who were in a hurry, brandishing their swords and slashing and slashing their comrades, and they were besieged, and they killed each other, and they were all together.
"County Prince, retreat quickly, retreat quickly" Li Gui's personal guards escorted him out of the valley along the bank slope, and helped him get on his horse, and more than a dozen horses left in a hurry.
"General, do you want to pursue?" Lai Chong licked his lips, very excited, at this time the enemy army was frightened, and it was a tired division, and it was easy to kill.
"Don't chase, wait for the enemy" Quan Ce sat firmly on the horse, calm as constant, and came to retreat.
"Don't be frightened, the valley is full of your own people, kill the enemy with me, and kill where there is fire" The sound of horses' hooves sounded, and a loud roar resounded through the night sky.
"Kill, kill where there's fire," the guards shouted.
Sure enough, it's back.
Quan Ce's eyes narrowed, and he shouted, "Alert, bow and crossbow ready"
The enemy cavalry charged ahead, followed by the soldiers who had climbed out of the valley with difficulty, and Quan Ce could already see the faces of the people who came, "flanking the arrows and coming out in front of them"
"Whoosh" three crossbows, arrows rained down, people shouted horses neighing, the road was full of corpses, and the soldiers who followed were overwhelmed.
"Shoot arrows from the front, get on the flanks" is methodical, training with his subordinates, he understands their desires, at this time, they don't want to shoot people from afar, they want to charge.
On the side and front, after the two rounds of crossbow arrows were released, there were no cavalry on the opposite side of Qianniuwei.
"Rush, kill" is the leader of the young general, who is not afraid of death.
"Charge" Quan Ce took out the Mo knife from under the horse's belly, held it with one hand, kicked the horse fiercely, the horse's hooves left the ground, galloped wildly, jumped ten steps, the Mo knife was sharp, the blade was forward, slightly drooping, with the power of the horse, wiped between the throats of the enemy, and rushed to the front of the young general, he was neatly beheaded.
Just a round of charge, Quan Cemo's knife swept away, killing and injuring more than a dozen people, and he was stabbed in the leg.
The drama of the leading soldier was sung, and he solemnly and decisively took over the command, and led the army to plow over and over again in the enemy thicket.
"Say, is Li Gui dead? Where did he go? Lai Chong's beastly nature was not dispersed, and he waved a horizontal knife and slashed left and right on the prisoner's body.
"Princess, dead, dead, there," the captive cried.
Quan Ce glanced at the dead general's head on the ground, and his eyes turned black.