At four o'clock, the weather urged each other, and the wind brought heat overnight.

After entering the beginning of summer, the weather in Chuzhou gradually became cloudy and sunny, and the marching speed of the officers and troops from all walks of life slowed down a lot. After spending five or six days, the soldiers and horses of the five counties of Nanping Mansion were finally assembled in the county seat.

Nanping Mansion already had three brigades of soldiers, and after the soldiers and horses of the five counties under its jurisdiction arrived, there were eight brigades in the city at once.

According to the military system of the Xia State, there were originally only three to four battalions of county soldiers in each county under the prefecture. However, because of the arrival of the Western Thieves, the imperial court has allowed the counties of Chuzhou to expand their troops into brigades, and in addition to the county guards, a special brigade general has been set up to control the battalions.

The western thief has not yet sat down, and if the situation is serious, the imperial court may let the capital city add generals, and the state city has a special marshal.

The opening is imminent, and the county brigades will deliberately let their soldiers relax and relax, so the song house wine shops in various parts of the city are overcrowded for a while. Everywhere there were sergeants who ate, drank, lodging, prostitutes, and gathered crowds to make trouble.

Just when the secretary of the government was worried about these Qiu Ba, the order to leave the division finally came from the state.

The three prefectures of Chuzhou are Nanping Mansion, Dongning Mansion and Bei'an Mansion.

In terms of geographical location, Dongning Province borders Nanping Province in the southwest, and Bei'an Province in the northeast, while Jingyang County, where the West Thieves are entrenched, is located in the middle of Dongning Province, not far from the Fucheng.

According to the marching plan formulated by the general of Zhoucheng, the 8th Brigade of Nanping Mansion should quickly rush to Dongning Fucheng to join the Dongning army, and the general himself will also lead a group of soldiers and horses to arrive as soon as possible. After the Nanping Army, the State Army and the Dongning Army turned, they began to attack Jingyang. As for the army of Bei'anfu, General Zhoucheng meant to let them go down from the north as a partial division and cooperate with the main force to attack from the north and south.

Everything seems to be in order.

…

Ten days later, Dongning Mansion City.

The armies of the two provinces have already met. Due to the fatigue of men and horses after several days of travel, the general of Zhoucheng ordered all armies to recuperate first, and then began to attack the city when news came from the Bei'an army.

The general of Zhoucheng is surnamed Feng Mingshi, he is about forty years old, and his ancestors have been hereditary generals for several generations. According to the system, hereditary generals have to change states every other generation, and when it comes to Feng Shi's generation, they happen to be assigned to Chuzhou.

Feng Shi is about six feet tall. Although he was born in Jiangmen, he has been pampered since he was a child and has not suffered much. He never rides a horse on weekdays, but rides in a sedan chair. As a result, he has a fat head and a round body, and looks a little clumsy.

Planning and arranging troops, commanding behind the scenes, Feng Shi still has some strategy. As for killing the enemy immediately and charging into battle, that was something that only a reckless man did, and Feng Shi regarded himself as a man of man, and he had never thought about this. So his martial arts are almost none.

The army was stationed in Dongning Province for three days, and the grain and grass were consumed amazingly, but no news was received that the Bei'an army was heading south.

Feng Shi estimated that the Bei'an army was already on the way here, and after discussing with the generals, he thought that he could not wait any longer.

So the army hurriedly swore an oath after a little preparation and drove towards Jingyang.

100,000 officers and soldiers, full of fighting spirit, overwhelming the world, slaughtered the territory of Jingyang with great momentum, and recovered several counties one after another in just a few days. Along the way, except for the occasional encounter with 100 thieves who came out to investigate, the officers and men hardly fought.

Such a smooth progress has given rise to the mentality of underestimating the enemy in the majority of officers and men. However, Feng Shi, as the commander of the whole army, became more and more vigilant - he always had the feeling of hitting the cotton with a heavy fist.

Maybe it's the ancestral character, the more no one along the way, the more cautious Feng Shi becomes. During the march, he kept his troops in his hands and left no one behind. When camping at night, he specially sent night vigil officers and soldiers, holding golden watches, to patrol around to prevent thieves from sneaking up.

After traveling for more than ten days, everyone saw that they were about to go to Jingyang City. Feng Shi relaxed slightly, he thought that the thieves should have gathered all the soldiers and horses in the city, waiting for the officers and soldiers to attack.

…

Xiaoman is coming.

The weather, which had been cloudy and uncertain, suddenly cleared up today. Over the heads of 100,000 officers and soldiers was the sun blazing with fire.

The army immediately arrived in Jingyang, and all the generals were gearing up and eager to try.

Under Feng Shi's tent, the generals gathered together to discuss the military situation.

"General, the young general, please lead a brigade of soldiers and horses to act as a vanguard and explore the way for the general."

A long-faced brigade will recommend himself. This person is a brigade general from Zhoucheng, named Ma Li, who has been by Feng Shi's side for many years.

Another black-faced man grinned, "General, you can't favor your own people. Our soldiers and horses in Changshan are not vegetarians, and a certain family is willing to open a bloody road for the general. ”

The black-faced man is called Li Kui, a native of Changshan County, Nanping Prefecture. This gentleman is a fierce man, the western thief crossed Nanping, wreaked havoc on the counties, but Li Kui guarded Changshan County for a long time could not be attacked, so he abandoned Changshan County and transferred to Dongning Mansion.

Feng Shi didn't want to enter lightly, but the generals were enthusiastic, and he couldn't dampen everyone's morale.

After thinking about it, he decided to send Li Kui as the front army.

"Brigade General Li, I have heard of your Changshan Li Laohu's name in the state city. Good! Since you have asked for Changying, the general will ask you to bring up the men and horses of the headquarters to open the way for the 100,000 army. ”

Li Kui was overjoyed and ordered to retreat.

…

After lunch, Li Kui led his 5,000 men and horses to leave the barracks and run along the path towards Jingyang City. Because Li Kui's first brigade was a front-line army, Feng Shi specially distributed a small number of horses to them.

And they walked on the road in peace for two hours. Li Kui was riding on a tall horse and looked majestic.

"Lord Qiyu Brigade, visit the Malay report, and find a pine forest ahead, I am afraid that there are thieves in ambush." A herald came to report.

Li Kui said: "Tanma is afraid of death, and since he suspects that there is a thief, why don't you send a few people in to investigate." What are you doing in a hurry to come back? ”

It was early afternoon, the weather was hot, and the cicadas were singing and the birds were chirping. Li Kui untied the water bladder, took a few sips, and then ordered: "Order the officers and soldiers of the first battalion to act as the front army, and then explore."

A battalion of officers and soldiers cautiously searched the forest, but did not see the shadow of the thief.

When Li Kui learned about it, he said angrily: "These horses are a waste of the time of the brigade generals for no reason, and when I get down the barracks, I have to beat them with military sticks!"

Later, 5,000 officers and soldiers successively passed through two buckwheat fields that were waist-high, and they were all the same.

Li Kui raised his eyes to the sky, saw that the sun had set to the west, and was worried that the army would not be able to reach Jingyang City before dark, so he ordered to advance at full speed and did not send forwards to investigate.

At this time, there is a bamboo forest.

Thousands of heavily armed Western Thief soldiers lay on the ground without saying a word, all covered in bamboo leaves. If you don't get closer, no one will be able to spot them.

"Wei Ye, the brothers in front saw a large group of Xia soldiers on horseback coming."

A messenger whispered to a big man. This big man is Han Wei, the general of the Western Thief.

Han Wei slapped him on the head and scolded, "How much is the brigade?"

The pawn said fearfully: "The brother in front said that it was similar to us."

Han Wei instructed: "I want the brothers not to startle the snake."

Han Wei was a little annoyed in his heart, Sun Fu actually asked him to come here to ambush the officers and soldiers. No matter how he Han Wei said, he was also one of the best figures in the Ascension Sect, and he should fight in the field with officers and soldiers in a dignified manner. How could he be allowed to do such an insidious thing as an ambush?

But Sun Fu thought that there was no more suitable person than him, and Han Wei couldn't, so he could only agree.

He calculated in his heart: Now he has more than 4,000 brothers, all of whom are experienced in a hundred battles, and the number of them is about the same as that of officers and soldiers.

After thinking about it, he calmed down and quietly waited for the officers and soldiers to enter the net.

Li Kui on the other side had no idea that he was about to step into the trap of the Western Thief.