Emperor Ming Fengyunlu

Volume VIII Troubled Times

Chapter 2 The soldiers are divided into two routes

Section 4: Fighting the Fragrance Sect Again (1)

In the middle of the night, after losing 10,000 horses, the 70,000 Wenxiangjiao rebels finally stopped their attack, and the whole army withdrew, and the Wenxiangjiao soldiers retreated to the rebel camp outside the city like a tide. And the officers and soldiers who held Yanzhou City also breathed a sigh of relief, and they were glad in their hearts that they had finally survived, and under the almost crazy onslaught of the Wenxiang Sect rebels, what a happy thing it was to survive!

At this time, Li Kangming, the prefect of Yanzhou, stood on the north city wall, observing the movements of the rebels by the light of more than a dozen bonfires outside the city, and was extremely worried: "This Xu Dynasty is so frenzied, regardless of the casualties, the overseers attacked for a day and a night before retreating, is there something that makes the Xu Dynasty can't wait to take Yanzhou City as soon as possible?" ”

Thinking of this, Li Kangming had some confidence in his heart: "Maybe the imperial army is about to arrive, then Xu Chao is a dog jumping off the wall in a hurry!" But ......"

Li Kangming looked at the staggered officers and soldiers around him again, and saw that the morale of the soldiers was very low under the fierce blows of the Wenxiang Sect rebels, and many people's eyes were full of fear; And the most fatal problem is that the strength of Yanzhou City is seriously insufficient, after 10,000 soldiers defending the city after a fierce battle, there are only more than 7,000 people left, and if it continues to be consumed like this, I am afraid that Yanzhou City will not be able to hold out for a few days.

"I hope the imperial army will arrive soon, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable!" Li Kangming prayed secretly in his heart.

Just when Li Kangming was worried, Xu Chao's mood was also very bad, he led an army of 70,000 to attack Yanzhou City for a day and a night, originally thought that the city was just a few guards and remnants of the defeated generals, Yanzhou City could go down in one go, but in addition to killing and injuring two or three thousand officers and soldiers, there was no other gain, but 10,000 horses were put in, and it was angry to think about it!

Especially the news that the scouts came back at night, which made Xu Chao tremble and couldn't calm down for a long time: "It is reported that the 50,000 officers and soldiers who entered the territory of Jinan Prefecture a few days ago have been divided into troops and moved south, and an official army of 20,000 or 30,000 horses is heading towards Yuncheng, and the speed of this official army is extremely fast, and it is expected to arrive at the city of Yuncheng in two days; The remaining reinforcements of officers and soldiers suddenly disappeared in the southern area of Jinan Province and disappeared! ”

"If the Holy City of Yuncheng is defeated by the official army, then there will be no need to fight this battle, and the morale of the army will definitely collapse! But if I withdraw the army to rescue Yuncheng, this incident will be useless, and the imperial court reinforcements will definitely come in a steady stream, if I can't take Yanzhou City in a period of time, completely open up the situation, and sweep the whole Shandong, then it will be a matter of time before I am defeated and killed! ”

Thinking of this, Xu Chao made a difficult decision, so he sent someone to call Yan Xu, a powerful general under his command.

That Yan Xu is not very old, only about thirty years old, but he was born very burly, with a pair of eagle eyes that are extremely sharp, he is not a good kind at first glance, he is the first subordinate to follow the Xu Dynasty, and he can be said to be loyal to the Xu Dynasty.

"My subordinates have seen the sect master!"

"Get up!" Xu Chao thought for a moment and said, "This sect leader has received an urgent report, an army of about 30,000 people is marching rapidly in the direction of Yuncheng, this sect leader is worried about the loss of the holy city, so I want you to lead an army of 20,000 to rescue Yuncheng." ”

Yan Xu was taken aback when he heard this, thought for a while, and said: "But Sect Master, if his subordinates take away 20,000 troops, there will only be more than 40,000 horses left here, and the next siege battle will be even more difficult to fight." ”

Xu Chao sighed and said: "There is no way, the war is difficult, and this sect leader can only move forward, I hope that the heroic souls of the past sect masters can protect me and others!" ”

Yan Xu thought for a while and said: "Sect Master, if it really doesn't work, my subordinates will bring 10,000 troops to rescue Yuncheng, plus the original 10,000 troops in Yuncheng, there will be 20,000 troops in the hands of my subordinates, and if they are used to hold the city, the 30,000 horses of the official army will not be able to defeat Yuncheng no matter what." After the sect leader has conquered Yanzhou City here, he can lead the main army back to help. ”

Xu Chao thought about it seriously for a moment, then shook his head and said firmly: "No! Yuncheng is the holy city of my religion, and there must be no mistakes. You can rest assured that you can lead the 20,000 army to set off, the sect leader is okay here, the sect leader has decided to transfer all the garrisons of Dongping Prefecture, Tai'an Prefecture, Xinwen, and Mengyin to participate in the battle, and the army will attack Yanzhou City with all its might! ”

Yan Xu was taken aback when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "Sect Master, you must not, Dongping Prefecture, Tai'an Prefecture, Xinwen, and Mengyin are all fought down by the soldiers, our Holy Sect has just gained a little territory, we must not give up so easily!" ”

Xu Chao's face was not very good-looking, and he said with a hideous face: "It's okay! It's better to fight one Yanzhou city than ten inconsequential cities! As long as Yanzhou City is beaten down by us, then the whole Shandong will tremble! When the time comes, the Holy Sect will be an invincible banner, and we can take advantage of the situation to sweep the whole of Shandong! What are these four cities? The leader of this sect doesn't care, the main thing of this sect is the world! ”

When Yan Xu heard this, he only felt that the blood in his whole body was boiling, and he admired Xu Chao even more, and immediately said that he would definitely swear allegiance to Xu Chao, and he would definitely be born and die for the Holy Sect, without ambiguity!

Xu Chao was also very satisfied when he saw this, thought about it for a while, and then instructed again: "You must remember!" You must move quickly, you must rush to Yuncheng in front of that official army, and you must not let the Holy City make any mistakes! By the way, according to the scout's report: there is still an official army that is missing, you must also be more careful, don't fall into the ambush of the official army! ”

"The subordinates understand, please rest assured!"

The next day, forty miles west of Yanzhou City, Shushan Lake.

Gao Hongguang lay very leisurely on a pile of dry reeds, a covered umbrella woven with reeds completely covered the scorching sun, and the shade under the umbrella cover made Gao Hongguang feel extremely comfortable.

Liang Hu, Liang Bao, Zhao Kang, Liu Sanming, Qi Sheng, and Yan Shouli who were sitting around the Yingyang camp were a little restless, and everyone looked at Gao Hongguang as if he had come to Shushan Lake for an outing, and they all looked like they wanted to speak and stopped.

After a while, the two brothers, Liang Hu and Liang Bao, finally couldn't help it, so they stepped forward together and said, "General, when are we leaving?" According to the return of not collecting at night, the Xu Dynasty has already divided 20,000 troops and marched in the direction of Yuncheng! ”

Gao Hongguang opened his eyes and looked at the two brothers, Liang Hu and Liang Bao, as if he was a little blamed for disturbing his rest, and said angrily: "What's the hurry?" It's just the two of you! The 20,000 rebels who supported Yuncheng had just passed through Jining Prefecture, and there were still more than ten miles away from Shushan Lake, so what was there to urge? ”

Seeing that Liang Hu and Liang Bao were up, the rest of Zhao Kang, Liu Sanming, Qi Sheng, and Yan Shouli all stepped forward one after another, and kept urging Gao Hongguang to send troops as soon as possible, after all, the big war is imminent, and few people can be as leisurely as Gao Hongguang.

"Oops! Come on! Come on! ”

Gao Hongguang was upset by everyone, looked up at the sun and saw that the time was almost up, so he said to everyone: "Liu Sanming will lead the soldiers of the cavalry battalion to continue to stay here, and when the 20,000 Wenxiang Sect rebels are about to enter the ambush site, then lead the army to set off!" ”

Liu Sanming was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately clasped his fists and said, "Don't worry, general!" ”

Gao Hongguang continued: "Everyone else, set off with me immediately, let's go to the front and wait for the 20,000 Smelling Fragrance Sect rebels!" ”

Half a day later, Yan Xu led an army of 20,000 to the southwest of Shushan Lake, ten miles southwest, seeing that it was noon, Yan Xu ordered the army to rest for a while, and then continue to advance after lunch.

The 20,000 troops began to bury the pot in the same place, and although the 20,000 Wenxiangjiao soldiers were ruthless in battle, they had not received strict training, and their equipment was not very good; At this time, when the army was resting, those Wenxiang Sect rebels only had a roughly aligned formation, and there were no fences or defenses around the army.

After a while, after Yan Xu had eaten and drunk enough, he wiped a handful of sweat beads from his forehead, and secretly cursed the ghost weather in his heart, so he ordered the army to start assembling and continue to hurry. The 20,000 army had just begun to gather, and before the formation of the army had taken shape, there was a thunderous roar from behind, getting closer and closer!

Yan Xu looked behind him in extreme horror, secretly entangled in his heart, and suddenly shouted loudly: "The rear army will immediately defend on the spot!" The Chinese army and the front army are gathering at me and set off immediately! ”

At this time, even those Smelling Fragrance Sect rebels lacked rigorous training, and they all understood what the roar meant: it was the elite iron cavalry of the official army!

In the face of Yan Xu's general order, the soldiers of the Wenxiang Sect were extremely reluctant to form a formation on the spot, some soldiers had even begun to escape, and the generals at all levels tried their best to suppress them, at this moment, two flags suddenly appeared on the horizon in the distance, one was the battle flag of the Great Bright Sun and Moon Jintao, and the other was the battle flag of the eagle with wings spread; The Iron Cavalry of the Eagle Yang Battalion has been killed!

Yan Xu looked at the iron cavalry army that was getting closer and closer in despair, looked at the rear soldiers who were still in chaos, and shouted hoarsely at the soldiers of the Chinese army and the front army to leave the battlefield immediately and immediately retreat in the direction of Yuncheng.

But it's too late!

The front army of the Wenxiang Sect suddenly erupted into a desperate shout, Yan Xu hurriedly looked, only to see that in the woods in front of him, a huge battle formation composed of 20,000 people opened out, the fine armor, sharp blades, and neat battle formations all showed the elite degree of this army.

At this time, Yan Xu had only one thought in his heart: "It's all over!" ”