In the darkness of the invisible object, those translucent torches became the best targets for the crossbowmen on the camp wall. Hundreds of arrows were densely packed and roared into the bodies of the pursuing Zhao soldiers, and the sound of popping arrows into the flesh kept coming, and after a short period of confusion, those Zhao soldiers immediately realized the origin of those arrows, and shouted and raised their shields to the side of the camp. A few wise men threw torches on the ground and trampled them out. However, the second wave of arrows was already roaring.

These Zhao soldiers rushed into the firing range, and Zhou Xing did not give the order to release the arrows at the first time, just to bring them closer. In a hurry, these enemy foot soldiers could not attack the barracks. These crossbowmen will be able to fire a steady stream of arrows at their heads until they come to their senses and turn around and escape from the range of the Shura field.

Under the rapid attack of the rain of arrows, the enemy foot soldiers on the opposite side had given up the pursuit of the fleeing Liangzhou soldiers. They turned back, raising their shields, looking for cover, or turning and running backwards, just trying to get out of the rain of arrows as quickly as possible. However, under Zhou Xing's careful calculation, where is this area so easy to escape? The Zhao army, which had more than 1,000 foot soldiers, was already in chaos under this circumstance at this time. Many people rushed back to Luffy, who had come, while the rest of them, under the command of the leading general, launched a tentative assault on the camp.

Those Liangzhou soldiers were desperate to survive, and at this moment they escaped the clutches of the Zhao army, and then looked at the camp standing on the riverside, but it looked so tall and majestic. They cheered one after another, and many of them wept with joy, clutching the sleeves of their robes beside them, and weeping silently.

Li Yanzhi, who was standing on the watchtower, had a full view of what had just happened. When I always heard the generals of Liangzhou talk about the people of Diqiang, they looked disdainful and disapproving. Although he followed the concept of not taking enemies lightly, he also paid attention to these enemies. However, what he saw and heard on the battlefield reminded him all the time that the combat effectiveness of these Qiang people was worrying.

Just like today. But any well-trained army, in the face of such a rain of arrows, even if it can't deal with it completely correctly, will definitely not be like these Qiang people are like headless flies at the moment. At this time, seeing that the leading generals of those foot soldiers actually ordered them to come and try to attack their own camp, it was simply stupid! Not to mention that they now do not have a ladder for siege, how to climb the camp wall. The trench that he had dug was half a foot deep and half a foot wide and one foot wide alone was enough for them to fill in a lot of lives.

The first attack of the Zhao army's infantry was launched in a haphazard manner. The group of Qiang foot soldiers, each holding his shield, shouted and rushed straight towards the camp. The crossbowmen on the camp wall were once again wound and fired their crossbow arrows in unison. The power of the crossbow bolts is now much less effective than the first few rounds. However, it can still cause some damage to these scattered rabble.

By the light of the torches still sporadically held by the Zhao army's foot soldiers, Li Yanzhi collectively hesitated when he saw them rushing to the side of the trench. However, as the order came from the generals behind him, the soldiers in the front row still hesitated to jump into the trench. This undoubtedly slowed down the pace of the footmen greatly. Under Zhou Xing's order, the crossbowmen on the camp wall aimed their crossbow machines at the edges of both sides of the trench. As a result, jumping down and climbing up, the two links that seriously retarded the speed, brought huge casualties to those Zhao soldiers.

The crossbowmen on the camp wall barely had to aim, but pulled the well-wound crossbow machine and fired the crossbow arrows, and the enemy soldiers fell on both sides of the trench immediately. As time passed, the casualties of the Qiang infantry on both sides of the trench became heavier. The generals who commanded this foot soldier were also becoming more and more unwilling in their hearts. However, looking at the high camp wall, and the crossbow arrows that were still being fired from the camp wall, and the terrible roar of the crossbow arrows piercing the air, all gradually destroyed his mental defense.

As the generals of the Zhao army, whose heart defense collapsed, shouted the order to retreat, the uninvited guests who came in the middle of the night turned around one after another and fled back to the way they came. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the crossbowmen on the camp wall unceremoniously collected a wave of heads.

The night returned to calm. However, Zhou Xing on the camp wall looked at the sky that was already a little bright with a wry smile, and then ordered the old battalion soldiers to go outside the camp to clean up the battlefield, cut off the enemy's head as a military achievement, bury the enemy's corpse, and recover the arrows. After all, logistics are difficult these days. If there is a condition to recycle those arrows that are fired, they still have to be reused.

Li Yanzhi sent several cavalry soldiers to guide the remnants of the Liangzhou army who were stranded on the river beach to watch the battle to cross the river and continue to retreat north. These people escaped with their lives, so they seemed to have forgotten the embarrassment of being chased and killed, and they stood on the river beach to watch the big show, and from time to time shouted and cheered for the battalion sergeants, and when they heard Li Yanzhi's ears, they all felt ridiculous. However, the purpose of his coming here is precisely to cover their safe withdrawal. He had no choice but to send his horsemen out of the country.

After cleaning up the battlefield and taking a short rest, Li Yanzhi summoned the generals to discuss and made various analyses of the current situation. Judging from the feedback of the sentinels who returned early in the morning, more than 20 miles away from the camp, many of the Zhao army had already given up the pursuit of the remnants of the Liangzhou army and gathered their troops instead.

At this time, the Zhao army gathered troops at this sensitive location, and Li Yanzhi thought that there were nothing more than two plans, or attack the camp and pull out this thorn in their eyes. Or capture the Golden City as a base for their advance. Today's Jincheng is far from the Jincheng it was in the eleventh year of Jianxing. Today, there are only about 2,000 remnants of the city in the city. And Hebei does not have the big camp that has been there for eleven years.

However, if the golden city falls, the fortress they have built will become a lonely place of death. With the big river at his back, if he is besieged by the Zhao army with several times the strength, no matter how strong and capable the soldiers under his command are, it will be a matter of time before they collapse.

Intelligence remains flawed. Li Yanzhi had no better way to do this, so he could only send another cavalry to reconnoiter the deployment of the assembled Zhao army twenty miles away. He first wanted to determine the number and strength of the enemy army before he could make an accurate decision about his next strategy.

After the military discussion was over, the sentry sent to Jincheng to contact him at dusk yesterday finally returned to the camp. After listening to the report of this sentry rider, Li Yanzhi's heart sank again. The situation is less optimistic than I expected. When Zhang Lang returned to Jincheng, his subordinates were chased and killed by the captive cavalry. More than half of the loss. Today, there are less than 2,000 troops in Jincheng County. Although the city is high and deep, but under the lack of troops, in the face of the powerful attack of the captives, it is only a matter of time before it falls.

At noon, the sentinels sent to reconnoiter the movements of the enemy troops south of the city also returned one after another. Judging from the information they provided, the number of enemy troops assembled more than twenty miles south of the city has reached 4,000, and it is still growing. The leading general did not know who it was, but the sentinels noticed that there were no less than a thousand Hun cavalry in this enemy army.

Li Yanzhi took out the map, and while looking at the map that had been corrected, he recalled the big sand table he made in the camp. It's a pity that the sand table can't withstand the bumps along the way, otherwise if you can move here, the things you see will undoubtedly be much more intuitive. Under repeated recollections, Li Yanzhi's fingers tapped repeatedly on the map, but he was a little hesitant.

Zhou Xing and Tao Heng approached Li Yanzhi, but saw Li Yanzhi pointing his finger at a mountain pass heading southeast from Jincheng. More than ten miles to the south of the mountain pass, it is the gathering place of the Zhao army of the sentinel horseman. And this mountain pass is also the only place where you can take advantage of the location to stop the Zhao army.

What made Li Yanzhi hesitate was that on the side of this place, there was a mountain valley road that could bypass the mountain pass. He was worried that if the other side sent a surprise army to bypass this valley road and raid his camp, it would inevitably cause his own retreat. One bad thing is a complete defeat. It will even be worse than the fate of those Liangzhou elites who suffered defeat in Woganling.

It's not that Li Yanzhi is not hungry for victory. But he couldn't take such a risk. In the position of a general, any decision made by oneself is no longer just about one's honor and disgrace, one's life and death. If you make a wrong decision, thousands of soldiers will die because of your wrong decision. And after this, how will he face the parents and relatives of these soldiers who died?

"What is Sima worried about?" Tao Heng, who was standing on the side, approached Li Yanzhi and asked.

"Tao Bairen is long, isn't there a mountain valley here, which can bypass the mountain passes on both sides? I originally wanted to take advantage of the geographical advantage between the two mountain passes here to stop the Zhao army, but I thought of this, so I hesitated. ”

Sima didn't know that although the valley here could be detoured, the road was quite far, no less than twenty miles. And the road is dangerous and difficult to do. I humbly thought that we could send more than 100 soldiers to seal the mouth of the valley here with mountains and rocks and giant trees, and then sprinkle thistles all over the way. If the enemy comes here, you will know that there is an ambush. It is not difficult for more than 100 soldiers to occupy the danger of the mountains and hold the valley mouth for half a day and a day. ”

"Where will Tao Bairen come?" Li Yanzhi propped his head and said suspiciously.

"A few days ago, I retreated west with General Feng to surrender to Liang, and in order to avoid being chased by thieves, I took this road."

"Good! Ordered the whole army, bring a day's dry food, and set out immediately! ”

With Li Yanzhi's order, all the troops in the camp were busy. Due to the inconvenience of transporting the baggage, it was left on the north shore. At this time, all the departments went out one after another, crossed the river from the pontoon bridge, and then went to the baggage place to receive a day's dry rations from the various departments. Li Yanzhi was not worried that the camp was empty, so he still left two veterans of the hundred-man team to guard the camp. Then he ordered the crossbowmen and auxiliaries to send out a team of 100 people, ready to go to Taniguchi to arrange according to Tao Heng's words. After this division of troops, the number of troops directly under Li Yanzhi was only more than 1,500 people.

Rao is like this, and Li Yanzhi has no choice. Staying in the camp for people to besiege is undoubtedly the next policy. If he takes the initiative to defeat the enemy, he may be able to fight for a glimmer of life for his troops and those Liangzhou soldiers who are still desperately running north.

After all, human psychology is like that. If you retreat and seek perfection. The other party will definitely think that you are not strong enough. He can then confidently and boldly bet on all the lines. And if you take the initiative to defeat the enemy's edge, even if you have less strength, the other side will habitually think that you have something to rely on, so you will undoubtedly be much more cautious when launching offensive actions against you.

After the divisions were divided into generals, they left the camp separately. The 1,500 people led by Li Yanzhi are already the largest share. At this time, the more than 200 sharp soldiers in the team were already wearing iron armor, carrying long knives, and marching majestically at the head of the team. The strict and almost brutal drills on weekdays have laid a good physical foundation for them. Now, even though their burdens are several times heavier than the auxiliary soldiers of the rear team, they are still walking like flying. The group of auxiliaries were stunned.

At the end of the afternoon, the force reached the valley mouth marked on the map. Between the two mountains here, the width is about 500 steps, and the mountains on both sides are also cliffs, and it is difficult to walk up. After making some arrangements at the mouth of the valley, the sentinels in front had sent a message back, and the Zhao army was less than ten miles away from here.

The auxiliaries went to the side of the mountain forest to cut some timber, and hurriedly made a batch of rejecting horses, which were placed horizontally in front of the army formation. In front of the horse, a huge amount of thistle terrestris was also sprinkled. Li Yanzhi used almost everything he could think of on this battle array. After all, the strength is limited now, and the field not only has to kill the soldiers, but also has to be counted.

In this exhaustive calculation, Li Yanzhi never realized that his own overall planning and control, and even his strategy, were constantly rising. The battle of swords and swords on the battlefield is still a battle of wits between generals and commanders. Famous generals usually learn from the war, learn from the blood and failures of their predecessors, and improve their own plans, relying on their keen sense of smell of the battlefield situation to make accurate judgments, so as to lead their soldiers to fight for victory.

Li Yanzhi was wearing iron armor and holding a long knife, and stood in the front row with the more than 200 ironclad soldiers. The first row is a row of auxiliary soldiers crouching with shields, and the second row is a row of ironclad soldiers with long knives in their hands. In the center behind them, hundreds of crossbows stood with crossbows in hand. On either side are spear-wielding auxiliaries.

After all, there were few precedents in this era for two-handed infantry to resist cavalry charges with flesh and blood. Although this elite army has undergone rigorous training, it has never experienced real combat. Whether the courage of the foot soldiers will be able to hold out until the enemy army collapses is still unknown. It was the first time that he had led a solo army to fight abroad, and Li Yanzhi only had an unusual sense of nervousness in his heart.

Perhaps he had exhausted all means he could to boost morale. However, in the battle that took place at this dusk, he had to lead by example, standing on the front line with a sword and an ordinary soldier in the army. This may not be a wise move for a general, but it is also the best way to boost morale.

After waiting for more than half an hour, the banner of Zhao Jun gradually appeared in front of him. Immediately, the sentinel cavalry reported the location of the enemy army, and after a while, the Zhao soldiers who lined up in several parallel columns in the valley, saw the large array in front of them, and slowly dispersed, forming a close parallel phalanx, advancing to a distance of one and a half arrows, and slowly stood still with the order of the opposite general. The two soldiers glared at each other, and in a quarter of an hour they would fight to the death in a land that was alien to them.

Li Yanzhi stood in the front row and slowly buckled his iron mask. The soldiers beside him also wore masks. In this unknown battle, their main general has already stood on the front line. This means that they themselves have no reason to retreat.

The foot soldiers of the Zhao army slowly stood still, and the Hun cavalry soldiers in the Zhao army were not far away and not close to the rear of the foot square. And the foot soldiers, who were the targets of surveillance, were just staring at the Liangzhou soldiers who had completed the formation. They don't know who their real enemies are. [.]