Hu Song was originally a branch of the Hu family, and he was the uncle of Hu Yan and Hu Ziyan, so when Yongjia was in turmoil, half of the Hu family moved to Qinzhou with him, and even went north to Liangzhou, and half went south to avoid trouble. The head of the Hu family sent his son Hu Yan to meet Pei Gai, who also had the intention of making a multi-party bet on the three holes of the cunning rabbit, but he deliberately did not inform Hu Song of this matter.

Hu Song used to follow Sima Mo, the king of Nanyang, and after Sima Mo was killed, he was given Sima Bao in Shangqi. However, although his reputation is high, he is not trusted by Sima Bao, and Sima Bao's most trusted people are Zhang Chun and Yang Ci - both of them are old generals in the town at the beginning of that year - Hu Song and cannot be ranked.

For this reason, he was always relentless, and wanted to make meritorious contributions to Sima Bao. This time, he was ordered to guard Kuaicheng, and when he arrived at the place, most of the soldiers and horses followed Zhang Chun back - after all, Qinzhou couldn't afford to raise so many soldiers for a long time - there were only seven or eight thousand people left. Even so, when he heard that Chen Cang's army was coming to disturb, Hu Song still gathered 5,000 soldiers and horses to go out of the city to fight, hoping to break the widowhood and win a big victory for a while, so that he could go back to Sima Bao to ask for credit, and take advantage of the shame of Zhang Chun.

Not far out of the city, I went to Malay to report that Chen Cangbing had retreated the way he came. All the generals suggested returning to the city, but Hu Song shook his head: "If you can't drive them out of the country, I will never withdraw my troops!" "I finally came out for a trip, so I have to catch Chen Cang's soldiers back to Weibei, and maybe I can chase it faster, and I can still win a big battle and gain something."

But looking at the approach, it was suddenly reported that Chen Cangbing did not cross Weishui to the north, but turned south and went up the mountain.

Hu Song couldn't help frowning when he heard the news - what does this mean?

Kuaicheng is almost the westernmost part of the Weishui River Valley. About 100 miles between Kuaicheng and Qishan, Weibei is a flat river, but Weinan is narrow and rugged - Weishui in the north, Nanshan in the south, and the widest place in the middle is only more than ten miles, just like a road.

Hu Song originally thought that since Chen Cangbing had retreated, he would inevitably cross Wei and return to the territory of Fufeng Country, but he didn't expect them to go up to Nanshan. What does this mean? Do you want to stand by the mountain and fight with me? The enemy is condescending, but we are on the ground, and the situation is quite unfavorable...... Although it is five times the enemy, it is very difficult to attack from the back, and there is little chance of victory. Why don't you just get invited by the generals, and I will return to Kuaicheng? But if our army retreats, but the other side is flat, how to deal with it?

This is really a toad jumping on the feet, it's really greasy!

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Xiong Yizhi led his troops not to cross Weishui in the north and returned to Chencang, but turned to Nanshan, which was really out of helplessness.

Because he was on the way to retreat, he suddenly got a report that Pei Kai, the prime minister of Shiping State, led his troops to respond. Xiong Yizhi was blindsided on the spot - I didn't greet him when I sent troops, I was going to go on a cruise, and I would inform Pei Kai when I went back, why did he come to pick him up?

In fact, Pei Kai didn't mean to answer Xiong Yizhi, he just sent out the playing to Wei Zhan and the letter to Xiong Yizhi, the more he thought about it, the more angry he became, so he personally led 500 soldiers and horses out of Huaili and inspected all the way to the west. The original intention was to survey the situation of the mountains and rivers, appease the people in the territory, and plan how to establish a defense line east of Kuaicheng to prevent the Qinzhou soldiers from plundering again.

Pei Kai immediately rode a horse to meet Xiong Yizhi, and asked: "Xiong Du really sent troops to report the disturbance of Qinzhou, what I said in the letter the day before yesterday was very disrespectful, and I apologized for it." But I don't know if I can get anything? "Are you winning the battle and returning, or are you just showing off your strength?

- Because he saw that Chen Cangbing was clean and neat, it really didn't look like he had just seen a battle.

Xiong Yizhi couldn't make up nonsense in a hurry, so he had to answer honestly: "I really haven't met with the thieves, because they went out of the city to rebel, and their momentum is very great, so I temporarily retreated to ......."

Pei Kai turned his face up on the spot: "I am still a fearless general when I am 'there is a bear in Xuzhou', I don't want to meet the enemy without fighting, so I will retreat - Qing used to be by the ditch water, isn't the Hu Kou he met powerful?" Dare to use 3,000 people to oppose tens of thousands of Hu, is it possible that even the Qinzhou soldiers are afraid today? He looked Xiong Yizhi up and down, and sneered: "Xiong Du, I haven't seen you for a few months, but I am seeing abundance day by day." ”

Xiong Yizhi quibbled: "Am I afraid of the Qinzhou soldiers? However, the enemy was outnumbered, and the frontal resistance was not in line with the art of war, so he retreated slightly in order to find favorable terrain and facilitate the ...... of the attack."

Pei Kai continued to sneer: "We came from the east, and we know that from this to the martial arts, within one hundred and fifty miles, the terrain is the same as here. Could it be that Xiong Du plans to retreat to martial arts so that he can defend himself? Then he raised his whip and pointed at it: "The danger is beside you, why retreat?" ”

You retreat all the way east, and you can't find a favorable terrain; But the most favorable terrain is around, is the South Mountain on the right, why haven't you thought about using it?

Xiong Yizhi's brain couldn't turn around for a while, and he really didn't dare to offend Pei Kai, so he had to follow the other party's words and say: "I have this intention, but I am looking for a way up the mountain......" Turn your face and take a look-"Here." ”

So he was purely forced by Pei Kai, and in desperation, he went to Nanshan and defended against the danger. To tell the truth, this move is also not in line with the art of war - Pei Kai has not actually led the troops to fight after all, since he surrendered, he has been staying in the Chinese army tent as a staff officer - if the passage down the mountain is blocked by the Qinzhou soldiers, it will be difficult to break through for a while, I am afraid that these thousand Chen Cang soldiers plus five hundred Huaili soldiers will all die of thirst and starvation on the mountain.

Xiong Yi panicked for a while, and was forced to follow Pei Kai's baton, and when he figured this out, the whole army had already gone up the mountain one after another, and the banner of "Town Army General Hu" could already be seen in the distance on the road below the mountain......

Hu Song naturally didn't know that Xiong Yizhi was forced to go up the mountain, and went to the bottom of the mountain to look, the enemy soldiers were in the south, Weishui was in the north, and Weibei was Chencang City...... If Chen Cang sends troops to attack me again, I will be forced to defend against the enemy on both sides in a narrow area of only ten miles from north to south, and the situation will be very dangerous—this is the place of death!

I see, the enemy general has set a trap in advance, waiting for me to come and drill!

Hu Songxin said that if I knew this was the case, I should have heard that the other party had gone up the mountain, and immediately went back to the city...... However, there is nowhere to dig out the regret medicine, and if we retreat in a hurry, and the enemy condescendingly rushes down to kill them, our army will inevitably suffer heavy losses, and at the same time, it will also damage the prestige of our General Hu. So he was forced to divide 1,000 men to guard the ferry, in case Chen Cang sent troops to attack, Hu Song personally led the main force to the village to block the foothills - no matter what, you have to survive this day, and then slowly withdraw at night, the enemy will not dare to chase.

Xiong Yizhi saw the Qinzhou soldiers standing in formation on the mountain, and couldn't help but secretly scream bitterly. I heard Pei Kai next to him ask: "I look at today's situation, but it seems that Ma Tan is in the street pavilion, giving up the water and going uphill, and is surrounded by Zhang He - how should I deal with it?" ”

Xiong Yizhi almost spurted out a mouthful of old blood, and said in his heart, Didn't you ask me to come up the mountain, why didn't you expect to fall into the desperate situation of the day? At this point, they asked me "how to deal with it", how could I possibly know!

In fact, when Pei Kai thought about it, I said going up the mountain, just to make a suggestion, didn't you say "I have this intention"? You are the general of Xuzhou, since you said that it is beneficial to go up the mountain, there must be a reason, so how can you avoid the general situation of Ma Tan, you must have a plan - what is the clever plan? I'm listening.

Xiong Yizhi turned around twice in place, stomped his feet fiercely, and said in his heart, that's it, for today's plan, only desperate! I hope I'm not as unlucky as Ma Yan, the key is that Hu Song is not as good as Zhang He. Then I have to find a reason for myself in a fake way - "Ma Jian once talked about the art of war, saying 'put it in the place of death and then live, and in the place of death and then survive', it was originally reasonable, but the Wei soldiers were several times as many as it...... "Thinking about it again, the Qinzhou soldiers are also several times their own...... No matter - "block the mountain road on all sides, so that it cannot be leveled, and even lost...... It's his fault for not being good at controlling. Now that the morale of our army is at its peak, we can fight bravely and break everything! ”

Pei Kai was confused when he heard it, and he couldn't figure out the other party's logic at all, but he had to pretend to nod: "I see, Xiong Du is really good at fighting." ”

Immediately, Xiong Yizhi asked: "I have to sit on the mountain and plan the overall situation, I don't know if Pei Fujun is willing to attack the enemy first?" "Even if I die today, I will pull you on my back first, and I want you to die before me!

Pei Kai frowned and said, "I shouldn't have resigned, but ...... The Huaili soldiers I led have not been in the army for a long time, and if they neglect training, I am afraid that it will be difficult to take on important tasks. ”

He recruited young men to serve in the army in Huaili, and he was trained according to the regulations of the old Xuzhou army, but on the one hand, Pei Gai had not seen it with his own eyes in the era of building an army from scratch in Xuzhou. In addition, it is not like Pei Gai who can use land and family to firmly hold the heart of the army, and in addition, he often patrols the army, preaching reason and boosting morale, so the effect is not good. Pei Kai himself knew that the actual quality of the Huaili army was too far worse than the old Xuzhou army - I am afraid that no matter how long the training time is, it will be useless, and it can only be used as a pawn for the local garrison, not the main force - so he has no confidence and has to resign.

Xiong Yizhi said: "It's okay, I will die in Fujun Keye with three hundred efforts." "In short, if you have nothing to push, you have nothing to say, and you have to act as cannon fodder first.

Pei Kai had no choice but to obey. So the soldiers of the "Wulin Right Battalion" and his own Huaili soldiers were mixed, arranged the formation, and then gave an order, sharpened the banner, and rushed down towards the Qinzhou barracks that had not yet been established at the foot of the mountain.

His charge frightened Hu Song a lot, and he said in his heart that I am a widow, and there is no army from the north to respond, you really dare to come down the mountain. Ordered the soldiers: "But let go of the arrows, don't engage them." ”

Arrows immediately fired at the foot of the mountain, and although Pei Kai did not take the lead, he was almost shot in the shoulder by an arrow, which scared him into a cold sweat. However, this is also expected - although Pei Kai lacks experience in facing the enemy, if he can't even think of this, then he is far inferior to Ma Jian - the early soldiers are in front of the shield, and the rest of the soldiers are short to follow, so although this round of arrows knocked down more than a dozen people on the spot, it was not able to completely stop them from descending the mountain.

The two sides are less than a hundred paces apart, in fact, they will rush over with more strength, so there is the so-called "only three arrows in battle" - of course, if there are strong crossbows in the enemy army, and then shoot in batches, the attacking troops will not only encounter three rounds of arrows, the problem is that there are no crossbows in the Qinzhou army, and the number is not enough to support too dense arrow rain - but Pei Kai did not dare to rush again, and ordered the whole army to stop, and the archers hid behind the shield and shot at the hostile.

The Huaili soldiers he brought with him, the proportion of archers is not small. Although the training of a qualified archer requires more skill and equipment than that of hand-to-hand combat, the courage required to shoot the enemy from a distance and kill the enemy head-on is very different after all, so the local defenders mostly train archers. Pei Kai sits in Huaili, with his identity, it is very easy to get more bows and arrows from the arsenal, and the guards in Huaili do not have the urgency to go into battle immediately, so he has a lot of time to practice arrows slowly.

Originally, he planned to let these archers cover the three hundred strong soldiers of the "Wulin Right Battalion" to rush into the enemy formation, but Pei Kai temporarily changed his mind and asked the strong soldiers to protect the archers and shoot at the enemy. At this time, the distance between the two sides in a straight line is less than 100 paces, and the difference in height can be two or three zhang - the north slope of the south mountain is quite gentle - so the area covered by archery on the mountain is much larger than that covered by archery under the mountain.

As a result, the quality of the two armies was immediately superior.

Most of the arrows on the mountain were the Xuzhou veterans who rushed to the front, and more than a dozen people were killed and wounded without blinking at all - if the Huaili soldiers were replaced, it was estimated that they would take the initiative to stop without waiting for Pei Kai's order, and even turn around and flee for their lives.

And those who are hit by arrows at the bottom of the mountain, because the arrows cover a wide area, almost all echelons of soldiers have them. The archers in front were mentally prepared, and they were just fine, and the hand-to-hand fighters in the back thought that they would hardly do their own thing, but they were shot down by enemy arrows, and the arrow-hit ones rolled and screamed, and the companions beside them were so frightened that they dodged left and right, and the formation was instantly chaotic.

Pei Kai is still ordering to continue firing - anyway, I brought out a lot of arrows - but Xiong Yizhi stomped his feet again and again - it's like this, you still shoot a fart, hurry up and charge!

In terms of the experience of life and death battles, Xiong Yizhi not only far surpasses Pei Kai, but even surpasses Hu Song. Although Hu Song may have seen more battles than Xiong Yizhi has eaten more salt, but only when the weak can win, and when the strong - mainly in the face of Hu Bing - most of them were defeated, and they never had to be supported by hardship, until they ushered in the experience of dawn. Therefore, Xiong Yi's courage was put aside for the time being, and the enemy's vision was still quite keen, and when he saw that Pei Kai couldn't help Adou, he immediately waved the banner and ordered the whole army to rush down the mountain together.

If this opportunity is lost, then I really have no way to live!

Hu Song also found that the situation was not good at the foot of the mountain, the key was that he was in charge of the army at the beginning, and for these soldiers brought out by Zhang Chun, there was a lack of running-in in command, and he couldn't do it at all. Qin Zhoubing is like a hemiplegic, his brain wants to get up, but his waist and legs can't move, only his hands tremble......

Xiong Yizhi carried his own flag, ran behind Pei Kai in one breath, and stroked his back: "Fujun, it's okay." Stop shooting, charge! Pei Kai was still at a loss, just subconsciously waved his hand, and then shouted: "Charge ahead, and the archers will shoot the last round." ”

In fact, there was no need to wait for him to speak, the strong soldiers of the "Wulin Right Battalion" in the front suddenly found that the companions who had stayed behind had rushed forward, and couldn't help but say to themselves: Okay, we started first, why did you come to grab the credit? Without waiting for the commander's order, they all took up their shields, braved the rain of arrows from the mountain—a drizzle, far worse than the gutter of the day—and galloped away.

Seeing this, the archers at the foot of the mountain hurriedly retreated, but the hand-to-hand combat soldiers behind them were in disarray, but few of them responded to the order, and they were blocked in a mass until the enemy was killed......