In Changqiao Town, Liang County, Ruzhou, a large group of cavalry was galloping south under the spring sun.

The cavalrymen were tired and tired from the days of traveling, but their footsteps did not stop for a moment. The tall man on the horse at the front of the team looked anxious, and the whip in his hand kept whipping the mount, and the buttocks of the mount under his crotch had been beaten by him. Well-trained horses are not working livestock, they don't need to use whips and spurs to force them to run most of the time, most of the time the whip is just a symbolic thing, waving in the air, and the horse knows that it is going to gallop desperately. It really reached the extent of driving the war horse to run by whipping the horse, one is because the man on the horse is too anxious to hurry, and the other is that the war horse is too tired. At the moment, it is a combination of both.

A few days ago, Ma Bin persuaded Sun Wanyong to return to the Luoyan army and send troops to Funiu Mountain to fight together. After Sun Wanchun arranged for the infantry to return to the northwest to sit in the town, he led 30,000 cavalry to follow Ma Bin all the way south to aid Fangcheng Pass.

Taiyuan Mansion is too far away from Fangcheng Mountain Pass, when Bai Bing arrived in Funiu Mountain, Gao Muqing led the Luoyan Army to arrive at Fangcheng Mountain Pass to prepare for battle, Ma Bin and Sun Wanchun led 30,000 cavalry had just gone south to cross the Taihang Pass. It is still nearly two hundred miles away from the pass of Fangcheng Mountain.

Under normal circumstances, a road of two hundred miles was not too far for a cavalry. The cavalry could easily travel 100 miles a day in a hurry, but when crossing the territory of Henan Province from Huaizhou to the south, they encountered many troubles. First, a landslide was encountered in Shenwei Mountain in Gong County, Henan Province, and the already narrow official road was blocked, and it took several hours to open the road. After that, when crossing Songshan Mountain, the mountain road was blocked again, and it was delayed for half a day. The tossing people came out of Henan Mansion after they were sleepy, and two days had passed since they arrived in Ruzhou.

For Ma Bin, this delay naturally made him anxious. He calculated his life and knew that the blocking battle of Fangcheng Mountain should have begun. There were only 30,000 Luoyan troops left behind, and only 40,000 soldiers and horses trained by the reserve regiment, and there was a lack of firearms in their hands and all kinds of combat materials. The Jurchen army of 70,000 is coming, and it must be a bloody battle. If they break through the pass and attack the Funiu Mountain, then everything will be over. If Luoyan Valley was occupied because of his late rescue, how could he explain to Lin Jue. Hundreds of thousands of people in the mountains were slaughtered, and Lord Lin's wife, children, and family members, as well as the families and relatives of the brothers of the Luoyan Army, could not escape death, and he became a sinner for the ages. He could think of no way to forgive his sins except to die.

Therefore, after arriving in Ruzhou, Ma Bin demanded that the day and night march should not stop. Sun Wanchun also knew the seriousness of the problem, and he also understood Ma Bin's anxiety. However, for Ma Bin's too anxious state, Sun Wanchun believes that it needs to be appropriately relieved. After all, soldiers and horses are not made of iron, and they can't be desperate because they are anxious.

"Master Ma, Master Ma, let's stop and rest. It's past noon, and we've been on the road from early morning to now. Take a break, the brothers take a breath, let the horses eat something and feed some water, you are so anxious, people and horses can't stand it. Sun Wanchun, who was galloping beside Ma Bin, finally shouted.

"Rest? How can we rest now? It's been the fifth day since we set off from Taiyuan Mansion, and we've been delayed for too much time. I can't stay for a moment. Sun Jiang

Jun, I'm anxious at the moment. I'm worried that the Fangcheng Mountain Pass can't be resisted, and we must arrive tonight. Ma Bin shouted.

Sun Wanchun shouted: "Master Ma, I understand your feelings, but don't be so impatient. Look at your mount, the horse's rump has been beaten to shreds by you, and the horse's mouth is full of white foam, and it is obvious that it is about to lose its strength. We are going to fight, and if the horses are dead and the brothers are exhausted, can we still fight? ”

Only then did Ma Bin notice that the white foam in his horse's mouth was dripping down, and the mottled blood marks on his buttocks. He scolded angrily: "Damn, beasts are useless." ”

Sun Wanchun was speechless and could only smile bitterly.

Ma Bin said this, but he also knew in his heart that Sun Wanchun was right, if he continued like this, even if he rushed to the pass of Fangcheng Mountain, he was afraid that he would be sleepy and unable to fight.

"This place is less than thirty miles away from Ye County, let's take a rest, and we will be able to arrive before the end of the day. We will be on the battlefield tonight. Just take advantage of the darkness to touch in and attack the back of the Jurchens. What does Master Ma think? Sun Wanchun said.

Ma Bin finally nodded and relaxed the reins. Sun Wanchun hurriedly ordered the whole army and horses to rest on the spot. When the cavalry of the Northwest Army heard this, they hurriedly reined in their horses and dismounted to rest. They were so tired that they had marched beyond their limits for days, and the men and horses could not bear it. As soon as he got off the horse, he collapsed on the ground, sighing and complaining one by one.

Ma Bin frowned and looked at the appearance of these soldiers, and was very dissatisfied in his heart. If it is a wild goose army, no matter how tired and sleepy it is, it will not look like this. Although the Northwest Army is a relatively strong soldier in the Great Zhou Army, it is still too far behind the Luoyan Army. The gap is clearly visible at this moment. Ma Bin knew in his heart that this was why Lin Jue's harsh day-to-day training of the Falling Wild Goose Army over the years showed the gap, no matter in terms of physical endurance and mental will, the quality of the Falling Wild Goose Army was incomparable to any other soldier and horse. This is also one of the reasons why since the Luoyan Army came out of the mountain, with 100,000 people, it has competed with hundreds of thousands of Jurchens and Lu Zhongtian's army with ease.

The soldiers and horses were resting, but Ma Bin was not idle, he took out the map to discuss the attack strategy with Sun Wanchun. No matter how the battle at Fangcheng Mountain progressed, the battle had to be fought. Even if the rescue is not in time, even if the other party defeats the Luoyan army and invades Funiu Mountain, he can't just leave, he still wants to attack and take back the Yangu Valley and fight to the death with the Jurchens.

Half an hour later, at Ma Bin's urging, the cavalry of the Northwest Army mounted their horses one after another and continued to pull out. Ma Bin was no longer so anxious, because he had already agreed on the strategy of touching the pass of Fangcheng Mountain from the official road in the dark, and it was absolutely too late in time. So the speed of the soldiers and horses slowed down, but also to save some physical strength for the next battle.

In the early days, the army entered the official road from the northwest of Yexian and advanced along the official road to the undulating mountains. Twenty miles later, as it approached Shen Shizhong, it was getting late, and the sunset was already hanging on the top of the small hills in the west. At this moment, Ma Bin, Sun Wanchun and others found something unusual.

Today was a sunny spring day, and the sky was cloudless, but at this moment, some unknown black dust was floating in the air. It's not too dense, but it's visible to the naked eye. Ma Bin stretched out his hand to catch one, twisted it with his fingertips, and found that it was the fly ash from the burning plants and trees, and couldn't help but be a little surprised.

"Why is there dust in the sky? It's weird. Ma Bin said.

Sun Wanchun also took a few, and after looking at it carefully, he said in a deep voice: "This seems to be burning and flying into the sky."

Dust. It may have been somewhere where a fire broke out and the ashes flew into the sky and then scattered and fell in all directions. This fire must be not small. ”

Sun Wanchun lived in Western Xia, where there were large pastures, and when the grass and trees were dead in autumn and winter, wildfires often burned large areas of grassland on the grassland. Fly ash will fill the sky, affecting a radius of tens of miles. Sun Wanchun made such a guess.

Speculation was quickly confirmed, and the scouts approached the edge of the hill, where they spotted a self-burning fire with smoke billowing from the depths of the mountain. Although it was more than ten miles away and there were hills to block it, the red light and smoke from the fire were very conspicuous under the evening sky. So it was quickly discovered by the scouts.

Hearing the news, Ma Bin and Sun Wanchun were both surprised and delighted. If there is a fire in the mountains, it is very likely that the war is underway. That is, the Jurchens have not yet captured the Chengshan Pass below, and the two sides are still entangled in the pass. In the case of a fire, it may be that the war is hot, and such drastic means as setting fire to the mountain are useful.

"Master Ma, it seems that we are not late. We're here at the right time. Sun Wanchun laughed.

Ma Bin nodded heavily and said in a deep voice: "I hope so, if the war is really in full swing, it will be the right time for us to come." The tall village master is really a heroine among women, she actually did it. ”

The army hastened and moved forward less than a few miles before the scout in front came again to report that some unidentified people had been found outside the woods on the northern hills, wearing armor and carrying blades, and their movements were extremely suspicious. This news made Ma Bin and Sun Wanchun even more stunned. The two decided to go and check it out in person, so they ordered the soldiers and horses to stand by, and the two took a small number of soldiers and horses to look forward. After traveling for several miles, above a mound, Ma Bin and Sun Wanchun spotted the suspicious soldiers and horses reported by the scouts.

The setting sun had been blocked by the mountains, and under the dim skylight, between the hills a few miles ahead, countless black figures were slowly pouring out from the hillsides and valleys, and the number of people was amazing. Although it was extremely far away, with the assistance of the clairvoyant mirror, Ma Bin still recognized the outfits and blades of those people, and those were actually Jurchen soldiers.

"What's going on? What the hell is going on? What are the Jurchens doing? How did you come out of the mountains? What about their horses? How did they all become infantry? Seeing this situation, Sun Wanchun was full of doubts and asked Ma Bin in surprise.

With a smile on the corner of his mouth, Ma Bin shook his head and said, "Brother Sun, you ask me, who will I ask?" I guess they couldn't get out of the pass, can you believe it? Our luck is really good, the Jurchens have no cavalry, hahahaha, their horses are gone, can you believe it? We're cavalry, they're infantry. Brother Sun, the time has come for the cavalry of the Northwest Army to exalt their prestige in the world, and the opportunity to avenge the bloody battle outside the capital has arrived. Brother Sun, what are we waiting for? ”

Sun Wanchun was stunned, his eyes lit up, and he laughed loudly: "Exactly, exactly." Can a Jurchen cavalry without horses still be considered a cavalry? It's really a big fat meat that comes to your door. This is called the dragon trapped in the shallows and the shrimp play, and the tiger falling in Pingyang being bullied by dogs. Hahaha, they also have today. ”

Ma Bin smiled bitterly: "Brother Sun, your analogy is not right, what kind of dragon and tiger are they?" Jackals at best. ”

Sun Wanchun laughed and said: "Yes, yes, yes, my analogy is worse, but that's what it means." Master Ma, what are we waiting for? Greet the brothers to fuck it. ”