Li Yan and the others led their troops southward unhurriedly, and there were not many villages with people on the road, but there were still some survivors. "These villages are built with tall walls, and most of the cost of building the walls is paid by the rich families in the village, while the poorer ones go up to the wall to guard, and everyone survives together.

However, their life is also difficult, no matter how big the village is, it can only live for people, and the fields are still outside the village. As long as the thieves are still wreaking havoc outside, they won't have much to harvest. Therefore, some villages, in order to survive, those poor people take the initiative to open the gate of the village and let the thieves in, and they also join the thieves and go outside to loot and live.

In a big forest, Yuan Laoshan, Yuan Shizhong, and Shi Qian were all nervously looking at the road. And "Zhang Cripple" was also standing next to him, if he couldn't see Li Yan coming, he would take his subordinates to lure him. After he returned, he counted the number of people, and in just half an hour and a few rounds of artillery fire, his number of people was less than 300 people. Fortunately, most of them were new thieves, and only about thirty of his old subordinates died.

"It's coming, it's coming." Shi Qian said happily.

They saw two scouts of the officers and soldiers carefully inspecting the edge of the forest. After that, I went to an abandoned village not far away.

"You came in from behind, didn't you?" Yuan Laoshan asked without replying.

"Zhang Cripple" immediately replied: "I led the team through the forest for a while, and then came in from behind, and they will never find out that we are here." ”

They also don't have a sense of confidentiality, and the attribution is varied, and they can't keep it secret. They had the impression that the officials and soldiers directly cut off their heads to repay the thieves, and they did not think about the leakage of secrets from the prisoners. So they still believed at this time that as long as they were well hidden, Li Yan would not find out about their ambush.

"Not good!" Shi Qian suddenly said, "Are they looking for water?" ”

This area used to be Yuan Laoshan's activity area, so he asked his subordinates: "Is there a well in that village?" ”

The subordinate nodded and said, "Yes, we also get our water from there." ”

"When they leave, occupy the village, don't let them enter the village, and start in advance." Shi Qian said immediately.

Yuan Laoshan frowned and said, "No, when they come to the forest, there shouldn't be any problem." ”

Yuan Shizhong said: "Let's go, there is one left, we will be found in the past." ”

"!" Yuan Laoshan scolded: "This Li Yan's soldiers are really ghosts, standing from a distance and watching, they can't catch up if they want to." ”

It turned out that one of the scouts left by Li Yan also withdrew from the village and watched from afar. Just got off the horse and fed the horse a little food. If someone were to attack, he would have plenty of time to react and escape. Their duty is to spy on the enemy for the army outpost, and if they can't run back, isn't it useless?

As Li Yan's personal soldiers, they usually train and learn a lot of things. So the guard position chosen at this time is also very tricky, so that the thieves in the forest scratch their heads.

At this time, Li Yan also received the news that there was a well in the village, so he ordered the troops to continue to advance. The village was more than a mile from the woods, and could be used as a stronghold to guard it. They had enough ammunition and arrows to last the next battle, enough food to last six days, and he felt that the thieves did not have six days to waste.

But he wouldn't really stay here for six days, three or four days is the limit. He also had to go back to Ningling or Guide City, and the villages along the way did not have the capacity to supply their nearly 1,000 soldiers.

Yuan Laoshan in the woods, they finally made a decision. Because he and Shi Qian both knew that if Li Yan was allowed to enter the village, even if it was an abandoned village, they would not have the confidence to attack it.

And they all live by looting, there are so many people to feed, and there are no days of food to store. More critical is the water source. There was only a well in the abandoned village in the area, and without water, they would not be able to last a day.

Once the decision was made, Yuan Laoshan and they acted immediately. They poured out of the hidden woods and rushed quickly towards the village. The cavalry, on the other hand, did not slow down, they crossed the village and rushed directly in the direction of Li Yanlai, intending to give Li Yanlai a surprise attack.

And Liang Zhenfang, who stayed in the village to monitor, also ran back as fast as he could, buying Li Yan half an hour.

Li Yan hurriedly ordered: "Array, hollow phalanx!" Put the rejection horse out! ”

Li Mu nervously reminded: "They have twenty or thirty thousand horses, if they are entangled, we will not be able to leave." ”

"Can you still retreat now?!" Li Yan roared: "Their thousands of cavalry are coming soon!" ”

Li Mu immediately explained: "I'll rush with the cavalry, you quickly retreat with the troops, isn't there a fortress five miles behind, you just need to go in and stay there." ”

"Ninety cavalry, how much of a role?!" Li Yan immediately vetoed: "Just guard here, I'll see how many of them come to die!" ”

Li Mu was helpless, and then quickly began to help arrange defense. In fact, he meant to let Li Yan escape first, and as for him and those infantrymen, they should be regarded as outcasts. But Li Yan rejected the offer, and Li Yan had no intention of giving up on him, nor did he intend to give up his soldiers.

In fact, Li Yan also understood what Li Mu meant, but if he abandoned the army and fled before the war started, then the morale of his team would collapse immediately, and he didn't know how much effort he had to make to gather the morale of the army again. He won't do this kind of thing that doesn't outweigh the losses. And he doesn't think that the thieves can break through his formation, if he wants to break his formation, he can't do it without tens of thousands of casualties, he doesn't think that the thieves will make such a bloody investment.

He immediately ordered: "Send someone to Guide City, report to Su Jing, and ask him to send troops to support immediately." ”

"Send a letter to Qixian too." Sun Sifu proposed.

Li Yan thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "No, it's not that dangerous." Send someone right now. As he spoke, he immediately wrote two lines on a piece of paper and stamped it with an official seal.

Sun Sifu took the letter, and immediately handed it to Liang Zhenfang, who had just returned. Liang Zhenfang has a flexible mind, and it is just right to send it out.

As soon as Liang Zhenfang rode away, the cavalry of the thieves was not far away, and the rumbling hooves of the horses became louder and louder.

Li Yan ordered: "Artillery preparation!" Use grape bombs, give them a dismount first! ”

The artillerymen replaced the prepared solid shells, loaded them with grape shells, and waited for the moment to open fire. After all, the speed of the cavalry is much faster, and it is not easy to master the timing of the launch.

...