Chapter 177: Chu Feng (Medium)

Five thousand elite soldiers of the Great Sui Right Xiaowei passed through the Wolf Milk Mountain Canyon, and after leaving the canyon, they broke west for five miles and stopped, lined up in a defensive formation, and quickly arranged the antlers in the outermost part of the horse, and the archers moved forward in an orderly manner, standing in a dense formation inside the antlers.

The seven or eight cavalrymen of the Mandu Banner used their lives to buy time for their companions to retreat, and Li Xiaozong only had two hundred cavalry, which was extremely precious. He did not order the cavalry to continue to pursue the three fleeing Mengyuan cavalry, the army could not hide it from Qingxia, if it was because of the pursuit of the three scouts and the loss of dozens of cavalry, the gain would outweigh the loss.

Even if the three scouts were not spared, the rangers of the Mandu Banner would soon discover the Great Sui army.

The 5,000 Great Sui infantry, in a fan-shaped formation, lined up in multiple columns, formed a solid barrier. Their task was to defend the west entrance of the Wolf Milk Mountain Canyon for the follow-up brigade, which was a vital passage connecting the East and the West, and must not be recaptured by the Mengyuan people. Once Mandu Latu mobilizes heavy troops to defend the canyon, even if there are 700,000 Great Sui elite soldiers on the east side of the Wolf Milk Mountain, it will not be so easy to rush over.

Yuntai City, the city governed by Mandu Banner, is not less than 1,500 miles away from the Wolf Milk Mountain Range, and even if Mandu Latu learns the news of the gathering of heavy troops in the Great Sui, it is not a matter of time and a half to mobilize people and horses to rush to Qingxia. And in Nirvana City, there are only two thousand Mandu Banner cavalry. If the defender of Nirvana, Mandu Wolf, is smart enough, the only thing he can do is to hold the city and wait for reinforcements from Mandu Ratu.

So, it doesn't seem like Lee Hyojong's task is daunting.

The well-trained right guards formed a formation in the shortest possible time, and thirty crossbow carts were arranged in front of the archers. The heavy crossbow built by the Seiko of the Great Sui Martial Arts Workshop can easily send the giant crossbow arrow out of 600 steps, and can shoot through the armored war horse 300 steps away, and within 200 steps, it can tear people and horses into two pieces, and within 100 steps, if you want to make the heavy crossbow stop, unless you wear six or seven corpses like a string of sugar gourds.

For this war, the Tianyou Emperor of the Great Sui was preparing from the beginning of his accession to the throne. For more than eleven years, the workshops of the Great Sui have been secretly rushing to produce weapons and equipment for war. These equipment were transported by the cargo through the world and hidden in several palaces in the northwest. So, when the emperor made up his mind to go to war, the armor and equipment enough to equip an army of a million were already lying in the storehouse.

According to the Great Sui military system, every fifty people are a team, and the leader is called the team. For every hundred people are a brigade, and the leader is called the brigade rate. For every 300 people, the leader is called the captain. Every 1,200 people were in the camp, and the leader was the tooth general. Twelve thousand men were an army, and the leader was a general. Forty-eight thousand men were one guard, and the leader was a general.

Li Xiaozong was only a general, and he was ordered to command the strength of the four folding battalions. The commanders of the four folding battalions were on the same rank as him, but under his control.

The tooth general Pan Mei was ordered to supervise the soldiers to arrange the defense, this was the first time he participated in a foreign war, so it was inevitable that he was a little excited, and after arranging the defense, he turned around and went to Li Xiaozong to return his life. Looking at the general in front of him who was as young as himself, although he was a little unconvinced, the serious military discipline of the Great Sui still made him choose to obey and maintain a certain respect for his superiors.

"General!"

Pan Mei shouted, hugged her fists and said: "The archers have been arranged, as long as the men and horses of the Mandu wolf dare to come, they will definitely not be able to rush to the arrow array." ”

"Don't be arrogant"

Li Xiaozong shook his head: "You haven't fought with the cavalry of the Mengyuan people, I don't know how fast their light cavalry is. Let me ask you, according to the practice of your training in the past, how many arrows can an archer shoot from the time the infantry enters the range of the archer to the time it rushes to the front? ”

"A qualified archer can shoot at least eight arrows. If it is elite, it can shoot ten arrows. ”

Pan Mei was a little uncomfortable with Li Xiaozong's tone, but she still gave an answer seriously.

Li Xiaozong nodded: "Then, let me tell you...... If the enemy was Meng Yuan's light cavalry, from the time they entered the firing range to the time they rushed to the front of the formation, even the elite archers could barely shoot four arrows. And also to allow time for the archers to quickly retreat behind the spear, that is...... Elite archers can shoot up to three arrows, and they must immediately turn and retreat. ”

Pan Mei's face changed, and she couldn't help asking, "Did the general fight with Meng Yuanren?" ”

"Nope"

Li Xiaozong shook his head and said seriously: "But it took me ten years to get acquainted with the Mengyuan cavalry, before entering the Martial Arts Academy, I used to pretend to be a merchant's child and secretly go out of the customs to walk around the edge of the prairie. Although he did not go deep into the land of Mengyuan, he had seen their cavalry with his own eyes. During my three years in Fan Guwei, I sent people to reconnoiter the movements of the Mandu Banner cavalry countless times, and in order to accumulate more knowledge of the enemy, I lost more than fifteen of my best scouts. ”

"There is no need to talk about the regular cavalry of the Mengyuan people, only their herdsmen. At the age of four, the boy dared to climb on horseback, and at the age of six or seven, he could already gallop on horseback. A child of twelve or thirteen years old can be very skilled in the bow and horse, and can shoot a hare thirty paces away on a galloping horse! Even the women of Mengyuan, they climbed on horseback and picked up scimitars, they were also warriors! ”

Pan Mei was a little dissatisfied: "General, what you say seems to be a big morale." ”

"No"

Li Xiaozong said: "It is the most basic understanding of the enemy, and our soldiers of the Great Sui have never been defeated, so they are proud...... But pride is not the same as arrogance. ”

Another general, Zhao Sen, saw that there was something wrong with the words between the two, and hurriedly came over to ease the atmosphere: "Actually, these are just the general's preparations, if the Mandu wolf is not stupid, he should honestly shrink in Nirvana City, instead of attacking with two thousand cavalry." ”

"Who knows?"

Li Xiaozong sighed slightly, was silent for a while and asked, "If it were you, even if you knew that the enemy was far more numerous than your own army, but the enemy had already stepped into the house, would you come out to fight?" ”

"Of course I will!"

Pan Mei said proudly: "But doesn't the general think that the Mengyuan people are as bloody as our Sui people?" ”

Before he could finish speaking, suddenly a warning horn sounded in the distance.

"Enemy attack!"

……

……

Pan Mei's face flushed slightly, and she couldn't help but glance at Li Xiaozong. He found that Li Xiaozong's attention was all on the enemy, so he quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He looked down on the Mengyuan people and regarded them as barbarians. He thought that the Mengyuan people would not dare to leave Nirvana City, but he was wrong, the Mandu wolf not only went out of the city, but also brought all the horses.

Two thousand cavalry.

"They actually gave up Nirvana City?"

Zhao Sen was puzzled: "If they had such courage, why didn't they just station the men and horses at the west entrance of Qingxia in the first place?" In this case, we are only afraid that we are still in the midst of a bloody battle, and we may not be able to rush over. Although the canyon is not too narrow, if it is blocked by 2,000 men and horses, it will not be a matter of time and a half to break through.

"That's right."

Pan Mei was also puzzled: "Why?" ”

"Because he wants to eat us."

Li Xiaozong said in a solemn tone: "I said before that our Sui people are proud, and Mengyuan people are also proud. I know what kind of man the Mandu wolf is, he deliberately let us go through the canyon. He is waiting for this first battle, and then take his cavalry to defeat us, and use the first battle to boost the morale of the Mengyuan people. ”

"That's arrogance!"

Pan Mei said angrily: "The Mandu wolf, who has no one in his eyes, thinks that he can win against our five thousand elite soldiers by relying on those two thousand cavalry? ”

Li Xiaozong shook his head slowly, his eyes full of worry: "Something is wrong...... After the order was given, all the two hundred cavalry were sent out, and they went back and forth for five miles until the mouth of the Qinggu Valley, and once they found that there were enemy horses, they would immediately send a message! ”

"The general is worried that the Meng Yuan people will copy our back road?"

Zhao Sen asked.

Li Xiaozong snorted, then took a deep breath and said, "No matter what, this is the first battle, and we can't lose the face of Da Sui and His Majesty." Even if you fight to the last soldier, you must hold the canyon. Pan Mei, you take a Zhechong battalion to retreat immediately and return to the valley mouth to garrison. In order to leave a place for the army to set up the formation, we went out of the canyon for five miles, and these five miles are our biggest flaw. ”

"Before the war started, the general asked me to retreat?"

Pan Mei said dissatisfiedly: "I haven't fought before, and the general sent troops to retreat, which has already fallen the prestige of our Great Sui soldiers." I thought ......"

"You don't have to think!"

Li Xiaozong turned his head to look at Pan Mei's eyes and said coldly: "Do you still remember the military law of the Great Sui, I am the main general, and you have no choice but to obey my orders!" ”

"I ......"

Pan Mei was stunned, and then hugged her fists in annoyance and said, "Subordinates obey orders!" ”

Zhao Sen pulled him from behind and gave him a look, telling him not to argue. Pan Mei stomped her foot fiercely and turned her head to order the centaurs.

"It's inevitable to be young and vigorous."

Zhao Sen smiled at Li Xiaozong and said, "Don't worry about the general, it's always right to be cautious." The battle was crucial, and there was nothing wrong with the general's decision. ”

"Here's the problem."

Li Xiaozong sighed slightly: "Many people regard war as too simple. ”

At this time, a group of about a dozen horsemen and horses suddenly broke out from Meng Yuan's cavalry team on the opposite side, galloping towards this side, and Li Xiaozong ordered the archers not to release arrows, but to let those cavalry come over. After a short time, the Mandu Banner cavalry stopped about thirty meters in front of the formation, and the ten-captain led by him shouted loudly in the language of the Han people: "Which one is the general who leads the troops, my Mandu wolf lord wants to talk to you!" ”

"Bold!"

The Great Sui Brigade in front of the battle said angrily: "If you don't retreat, you won't be forgiven!" ”

Li Xiaozong urged the horse forward, reined in the war horse in front of the battle, signaled his soldiers not to move, he raised his head and said to the Mandu Banner cavalry not far away: "I am Li Xiaozong, the general of the Great Sui Dynasty, call the Mandu wolf out." ”

As soon as he finished saying this, the dozen or so horsemen parted, and a knight in iron armor walked out slowly from behind. Mengyuan was rich in war horses but almost no minerals, so iron tools were very precious. Only high-ranking generals can wear iron armor. Even if he is a thousand-commander, he can only wear leather armor.

The man urged the horse to the front, and hugged his fist at Li Xiaozong with the etiquette of the Great Sui and said: "I am the wolf of Mandu, the guard of Nirvana City, and I have long admired the name of General Li. ”

"General Mandu"

Li Xiaozong also returned the salute with his fists.

"General Li, do you want to give me a reason to suddenly lead troops to break into my Mengyuan territory?"

Mandu Wolf asked.

Li Xiaozong said loudly: "Why does the general ask knowingly? Just a year ago, your Mengyuan cavalry attacked Fan Gu at night and slaughtered thousands of my people, and this blood debt always has to be repaid. Today, Li led his troops to come just to ask General Mandu to repay my debt. If the general is willing to take out 3,000 heads, Li will immediately withdraw from the army. ”

"It is said that the Sui people are shameless, and it is true."

Around thirty years old, the bearded, burly Mandu wolf sneered: "I, the people of Mengyuan, abide by the covenant made by the Great Khan and your emperor, and no soldier has crossed the border. You say that our people have washed Fan Gu in blood, but is there any evidence? If you lie to children, don't say it. If I say that you Sui people slaughtered my Nirvana City, can I also lead my troops across the Qingxia Gorge and directly approach Fan Gu? ”

"Absolutely."

Li Xiaozong smiled: "But now I'm here to collect the debt." ”

"Even if there is going to be a war, shouldn't you Sui people make a war letter first!"

Mandu Wolf said loudly: "You Sui people are known as the state of etiquette, can you only sneak attack?" ”

"War book?"

Li Xiaozong shook his head and said, "I'm just here to collect debts, why do I need any war letters?" ”

Mandu Wolf sneered: "You Sui people always say that you want to be famous, and if you want to be famous, if you want to go to war at will, will the people of your country agree?" You must know that this time you are not facing a weak and small country like the Shang Kingdom, but the most powerful Mengyuan Empire in the world! If you don't have a reasonable excuse, I'm afraid your people won't agree. ”

"I've already said why."

Li Xiaozong said: "You killed my Fan Gu 3,000 people's soldiers, and my Majesty the Great Sui Emperor has already announced it to the world." You guess...... What will happen to the people? ”

Mandu Wolf sighed: "It turns out ...... Your lie was not told to me, but to your people. If you start a war because of lies, you will lose. ”

Li Xiaozong smiled: "It's not up to you to decide whether you win or lose. ”

After he finished saying this, he turned his head to Zhao Sen and said, "Quickly send someone to tell Pan Mei that the Mandu wolf must have many schemes to delay time here, let him defend the canyon!" ”

At this moment, behind the military formation, there was a faint shout of killing in the direction of the canyon, which made everyone's hearts beat faster.

"Surprised?"

Mandu wolf laughed and said: "They all say that you Sui people are scheming, and I think you are all arrogant and arrogant idiots!" Your back road has been broken, surrender...... I'm not going to let you go. ”