When the remaining 1,300 people rushed to Yangwu City, they brought Zhao Junsheng's letter to Bai Jinguang, Bai Jinguang immediately ordered to make preparations after reading the letter, and the troops he could command counted more than 1,300 people leading the army, sharing 2,500 people, leaving 500 people to guard Yangwu, and the remaining 2,000 cavalry to march eastward.

When Bai Jinguang led the army to leave Yangwu, Zhao Junsheng and Hua Mulan arrived near Baitan with soldiers and horses.

Chang Kun, who came to the outpost first, had already figured out Bai Tan's current situation and found the traces of Yao Zhao's army.

"General Bai Tan, sure enough, Yao Zhao's army was breached, the city was looted, and the grain and grass materials hoarded by our army here were almost emptied by Yao Zhao's army! According to the confessions of nearby villagers, Yao Zhao's army took a small road to the east and entered the mountain, and his subordinates had sent people to chase after them, and the Yan army's journey was faster than ours by a day! ”

Zhao Junsheng gasped after listening to Chang Kun's report, "They have such a fast speed? In other words, they didn't stop at all in Baisandalwood? ”

Chang Kun nodded: "Yes!" ”

Zhao Junsheng said calmly: "It seems that we have to speed up the march, otherwise it is impossible to catch up with Yao Zhao!" Someone has told me to order the army to move forward at full speed! ”

The army did not enter Baitan without stopping for a moment, and went directly from outside Baitan City to the east.

After entering the mountain, Zhao Junsheng realized that he could speed up not if he wanted to speed up, there were too many horses in the army, and there were many materials to be carried, and the mountain roads were winding, and the terrain in some places was steep, and if he was not careful, he would slide down the valley and fall to pieces.

Zhao Junsheng and Hua Mulan's team had never walked this kind of mountain road, which was much more tiring than riding horses on the plains for several days and nights.

In desperation, Zhao Junsheng could only order the whole army to rest in place for an hour and feed the war horses with bean feed.

After explaining the relevant matters to the generals and colonies of the various ministries, Zhao Junsheng walked to Hua Mulan with a water bag, sat down, poured a sip of water, and said: "We are in big trouble this time, the generals and war horses have not walked this kind of mountain road, they are very uncomfortable, and we are exhausted in less than half a day, I suspect that we will not be able to catch up with Yao Zhao's army at all!" ”

What Zhao Junsheng said was true, and Hua Mulan believed that Yao Zhao and his 4,000 cavalry must have marched faster than this speed, because they were local soldiers and generals, who had grown up walking this kind of mountain road since childhood.

Hua Mulan sighed: "Do your best and obey your orders!" ”

The temperature in late August was frighteningly high, marching through the mountains was like staying in a stuffy jar, without a cool breeze, everyone was so hot and sweating that the horses were panting, sweating profusely, sweating profusely, sweating down their hair, shiny.

On the morning of the second day of the march, Zhao Junsheng and Hua Mulan, who were at the forefront of the army, saw a few people standing on the hillside of the mountain road in front of them.

"General!" Chang Kun greeted him and arched his hand.

Zhao Junsheng asked, "What?" What was found? ”

Chang Kun pointed to the cliff next to him: "General, please look!" ”

Zhao Junsheng turned his head to look at the cliff, only to see that under the cliff that was not very deep, baggage was discarded everywhere, and even some marching camp tents were discarded.

"I didn't expect Yao Zhao to order some baggage to be discarded, it seems that they want to speed up the march with this, this is a ruthless person, there is a ruthless energy!" Chang Kun said.

Zhao Junsheng's worries in his heart were getting bigger and bigger, he was worried that King Chang Shan would not be aware of it, and once he was successfully attacked from behind by Yao Zhao, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Hua Mulan led the horse and walked up, and saw the abandoned baggage under the cliff, and her center of gravity became even more urgent: "Brother Junsheng, it seems that we have to speed up further, otherwise according to this way, Yao Zhao's men and horses will throw us farther and farther away!" ”

Zhao Junsheng turned his head and looked at it and sighed: "This is already our fastest marching speed, no matter how fast you want to, you can't get up fast, the soldiers only have this ability, if you forcibly order them to increase the marching speed again, I'm afraid it will backfire!" ”

Hua Mulan was a little anxious: "But if we don't speed up, how can we catch up with Yao Zhao's army?" If Yao Zhao succeeds, King Changshan and the 20,000 soldiers and horses led by him are only afraid that they will be in danger of annihilation! ”

Zhao Junsheng understood Mulan's mood very well, among the more than 20,000 horses, there were also more than 6,000 soldiers and horses in Mulan's right wing, although there was no Youzhou army among the 20,000 horses, but after all, they were friendly troops, he couldn't watch them annihilate, if something went wrong, it would cause the overall strength of the Eastern Expedition army to plummet.

Zhao Junsheng said to Mulan: "Mulan, I know you're worried, why shouldn't I?" But in a hurry, we can't force the soldiers to overload the march, our purpose is indeed to rescue the main army of King Changshan, but there must be a premise, that is, to ensure our own safety first, if we ourselves collapse first, how can we save them? ”

"It's the first time for the soldiers to take this kind of mountain road, it's already very good that they can have this kind of performance, if you don't care about the life and death of the soldiers, something big will happen, and when the time comes, not only will you not be able to save those 20,000 people, but even we will be finished!"

Mulan pursed her lips, she knew she was too anxious, took a few deep breaths to ease her suppressed and anxious emotions.

Zhao Junsheng patted Mulan's shoulder: "Listen to me, don't worry, you can't do it in a hurry!" ”

Mulan nodded.

Zhao Junsheng then gave the order to march at this speed, Yao Zhao abandoned the baggage was going to make a desperate bet, but he couldn't do it, if he abandoned the baggage, once he arrived, he found that the 20,000 people were finished, and Yao Zhao retreated to the White Wolf City with his men and horses, what should he do with the thousands of soldiers and horses under him and Mulan? What to eat and drink? Waiting to starve to death?

Hua Mulan led the horse and followed Zhao Junsheng and said: "I heard that this Yao Zhao went to Youzhou with Zhang Xing a few months ago, why didn't he have such cunning and ruthlessness at that time?" Why don't you see him so difficult to deal with? ”

Zhao Junsheng said: "The abilities that people can show in different positions and environments are also different! When he fought Youzhou, Yao Zhao was just a deputy general who was not very valued, and it was not him who could call the shots, plus he was in an unfamiliar environment at that time, he didn't know much about the terrain and the situation in Youzhou, and it was normal for him to lack confidence and not be able to show his talents! But here it is different, he grew up in his homeland, this time it is his native combat, he is familiar with the terrain, and he has many ears and eyes to provide information, this time it is his own decision-making, there is no constraint, there is no restraint and suppression, his talent is displayed! ”

Hua Mulan knew that Zhao Junsheng's analysis was reasonable, and she said worriedly: "Brother Junsheng, what if you ······ If Yao Zhao succeeded in raiding King Changshan's back, what would be the most terrifying result? ”

Zhao Junsheng shook his head: "I don't know, the most terrible result is nothing more than the annihilation of the whole army, which may sound a little terrible, but it is possible, if Yao Zhao chooses the right time, and restricts the transfer of troops by King Changshan, it is not impossible to wipe out the whole army!" ”

The army walked between the mountains and forests for three days in a row, and saw the baggage abandoned by Yao Zhaojun on the way three times in a row, Zhao Junsheng felt that the chill in his heart was getting bigger and bigger, this Yao Zhao was really crazy, did he really plan to make a desperate bet and break the boat, and if he didn't succeed, he would become a benevolent?

In the afternoon of this day, Zhao Junsheng and Hua Mulan were leading the army over a mountain, and as soon as they climbed the top of the mountain, Chang Kun took two scouts to greet him.

"General······ Chang Kun couldn't say it anymore.

Zhao Junsheng looked at Chang Kun's expression, and suddenly felt bad in his heart, and calmed down and said, "Did you find something?" ”

Chang Kun swallowed his saliva, clenched his fists and said in a deep voice: "King Changshan's 20,000 army is over, the battlefield is four miles ahead, and when you get off the mountain, you can see that when your subordinates bring people over, they are still cleaning up the corpses and cleaning the battlefield, and their guard post has discovered that we Yao Zhao are now gathering people!" ”

Zhao Junsheng had actually prepared in his heart for a long time, but he didn't expect that the 20,000 horses would be all over like this, at least he would have to escape a little, but he looked down the mountain and understood that this battlefield was surrounded by mountains, and the people of the king of Changshan were attacked by surprise, and there was nowhere to run.

Zhao Junsheng took a deep breath and forcibly calmed himself down, turned his head and said to Hua Mulan who came over: "Mulan, you also heard that we are not sad now, Yao Zhao's people have discovered that we are now assembling under such terrain restrictions, we can't retreat if we want to, sooner or later we will be caught up by Yao Zhao's men and horses, for now we can only fight to the death with them!" ”

Hua Mulan nodded with a cold face, her face was full of frost and coldness, and the hand holding the knife couldn't help but increase her strength a little.

Zhao Junsheng turned his head and instructed Li Bao: "Pass the order, everyone discard their baggage and change horses, and prepare for battle!" ”

"Yes!" Li Bao agreed, turned around and shouted to the back: "The general has ordered everyone to abandon their baggage and change horses and prepare for battle!" ”

"Let's go!" Zhao Junsheng led the horse and led the way down the mountain, and the people behind discarded their baggage and replaced it with a horse, leaving the other horse in place.

Zhao Junsheng and Hua Mulan led their horses to the slightly flat place on the hillside, and each turned over on their horses, although it is still towering and wooded, the terrain is much flatter than before, and the field of vision is relatively wide, and they can clearly see that the Yan army on the opposite side is lining up to arrange the military formation.

Hua Mulan observed it for a while and said to Zhao Junsheng: "There are about 5,000 people, this situation is not right, Yao Zhao himself only has 4,000 cavalry, after a big battle, not only did not reduce the number of troops, but fought more and more, how is this possible?" Could it be that he dared to use the surrender of troops? Not afraid of defection? ”

Zhao Junsheng looked at it and shook his head and said, "No, those extra men and horses are not surrendering the army, they should be sent from White Wolf City to block the Yan army of King Changshan!" After Yao Zhao raided King Changshan's men and horses, the Yan army sent by White Wolf City should have joined them! ”

Chang Kun said on the side: "General, we are only more than 3,000 people, and there are 5,000 people on the other side, and we have been marching for several days, and the soldiers have been seriously consumed mentally and physically, this battle is not easy to fight!" ”