The terrain of the inverted ditch is special, one side is a cliff, one side is a gentle slope, and there is a river flowing through this place, so it is a good place to camp and set up, Ma Huaiyuan led Jizhou thousands of horsemen to the north to raid the Khitan, and rested here for a day.

Not long ago, the Khitan rangers suddenly attacked the Jizhou border military forts, bringing devastating disasters to these military forts, and the pouring ditch was one of them. The corpses of the inverted ditch sergeants who died that day, Zhou Leaking Feng and Heiniu and others, have been collected and buried by Ma Huaiyuan and others last time, and the graves are next to the remnants of the military fort.

Because when Ma Huaiyuan saw Zhou Chuanfeng and others that day, their corpses were already scorched, and they did not argue with their faces, because of this, the tomb next to the military fort did not have a single plaque, only a general tablet was set up in front of the grave, and the number "Fifteen Heroes and Martyrs in the Pouring Water Ditch" was written on it.

Ma Huaiyuan and Ma Xiaodao accompanied Zhou Xiaoquan to pay tribute in front of the tombs.

The mountain is high and the clouds are light, the military fort is on the top of the mountain, overlooking the Zhou Mountain, the earth, the north of this mountain, as far as the eye can see, the land of a hundred miles, the hills are low, and the grassland is hazy.

After being silent for a long time, Ma Xiaodao was silent in front of the tomb, but Zhou Xiaoquan, who had a fierce gaze, said: "The dead are gone." Now we have hunted down and killed nearly a thousand barbarian rangers and expelled them all, and the revenge of the Zhou team and the soldiers has also been avenged, and they will also be relieved in the spirit of heaven. Xiaoquan, you don't have to think too much. ”

The poured ditch was not the first military fort that everyone went north to recover, not even the first few. Because Ma Huaiyuan arrived in time before, he killed all the Khitan barbarians who were entrenched under the ditch, and was able to bury the dozen sergeants in the ditch on the spot. However, the military forts in other places were different, and under the circumstances at that time, Ma Huaiyuan could not recover them one by one.

This time, when Ma Huaiyuan regained other military forts, he saw the corpses of the border soldiers who were exposed and even tortured and killed by the Khitan rangers to vent their anger, the bodies of the border soldiers were lost all over the place, the severed limbs and wreckage were everywhere, the human heads hanging on the forts, the human skins hanging from the tree trunks, and the eyes of hatred that widened red with blood stained a lifeless wilderness.

When he and everyone gathered the corpses of these comrades, sorted out their mutilated or even unable corpses, and buried them in the soil one by one, whether it was Ma Huaiyuan, Ma Xiaodao, or Zhou Xiaoquan, their eyes were not only full of tears, but also full of anger. After seeing such a scene, now that he has returned to the ditch, the anger in Zhou Xiaoquan's chest has not only not subsided, but has become heavier.

The young man clenched his fists, raised his head, and did not let the tears overflow his eyes, he gritted his teeth and said: "We are a family of five, and the enmity with the barbarians in this life will never die." As soon as there are barbarians on the border, this revenge will not be over for a day. ”

Ma Xiaodao patted Zhou Xiaoquan's shoulder and sighed, not knowing what to say.

Ma Huaiyuan stood aside with his hands in his hands, silent for a long time. As the defense envoy of Jizhou, what died in front of him now is his border army in Jizhou, his troops, in the face of the Khitan barbarians, his military order has not been issued, and the soldiers have been defeated, and his heart is like a needle prick.

"If you want revenge, you must first give yourself the strength to take revenge." Ma Huaiyuan glanced at Zhou Xiaoquan, turned around and left, and ordered the whole army to retreat.

Zhou Xiaoquan turned around, his face was calm, the hatred and unwillingness in his heart made him forget his awe, and he shouted at Ma Huaiyuan: "Why do you want to retreat, why don't you step forward to fight!" The Khitan barbarians are right in front of them, only 3,000 people, are we still afraid of them?! ”

"This is a military order." Ma Huaiyuan didn't give Zhou Xiaoquan a chance to speak more, and after these words came out, the person was already on horseback.

Zhou Xiaoquan was full of anger and grief, he pointed to the tombs of the inverted ditch sergeants behind him, and shouted: "The soldiers of the border army, suffering from the poor land, eat the simplest food, sleep on the hardest bed, take the most dangerous road, and do not see others for more than a year, all they do all day is to patrol the border, patrol the border, patrol the border!" Death can happen at every moment. Nine out of ten border troops were killed! They complained, they were dissatisfied, they scolded their mothers, and they cursed the sky, but none of them chose to give up and become deserters! ”

"Now, they are dead, they are dead! But you don't even have the courage to give them revenge! ”

Ma Huaiyuan's eyes were cold, "Let him shut up!" ”

Ma Xiaodao appeared behind Zhou Xiaoquan, and a palm landed on the back of the opponent's neck, and Zhou Xiaoquan fell down without snorting.

Holding Zhou Xiaoquan, Ma Xiaodao said: "He just touched the scene." ”

Ma Huaiyuan nodded, led the Jizhou army with thousands of cavalry, and retreated dozens of miles south before the Khitan army arrived.

Ma Huaiyuan's retreat to the south was certainly incomprehensible to Zhou Xiaoquan, but at the same time, their actions also made the three thousand Khitan elite horsemen who came to pursue them incomprehensible. Ma Huaiyuan's retreat was too decisive, and he retreated south without a trace before they met, which is not in line with common sense. Not to mention that since the north, Ma Huaiyuan led the thousands of horsemen to have a positive attitude and brilliant results, which is the northern border of Jizhou that Ma Huaiyuan has re-entered the bag, which is also of great significance. Now that Ma Huaiyuan has resolutely retreated south and handed over the results he has obtained, then his previous battle can be said to have become meaningless, at least he has lost the actual results. Such an act made the northern border of Jizhou fall into the hands of the Khitan again, which is simply incredible.

led 3,000 cavalry to the south, intending to engage Ma Huaiyuan, while attacking the 1,000 cavalry led by Ma Huaiyuan, Yelu Gemeng, who also excavated Li Congjing's follow-up battle intentions, fell into a dilemma at this time.

Ma Huaiyuan retreated south, so will Yelu Gemeng chase or not?

If he doesn't chase it, the task of his trip is obviously not completed, the strategic purpose has not been achieved, and he just let Ma Huai go away, which is unreasonable and unreasonable; But if he chased, Yelu Gemeng didn't dare to chase and went deep into Jizhou, Yelu Gemeng was also afraid of Ma Huaiyuan, or Li Congjing really had an ambush behind him.

Fortunately, Yelu Gemeng was not far from Yannan, and he reported this matter to Yelu Xiangyin, so that Yelu Xiangyin could give instructions.

Yelu wanted to hide when he received Yelu Gemeng's military report, and he was surprised to learn that Ma Huaiyuan had retreated without a fight, and Yelu Gemeng had recaptured the Jizhou border without much effort. Such an accident made him fall into deep thought.

At that time, in the face of a large number of reinforcements from His Royal Highness Yelubei and Yelu's enemy, Li Congjing also retreated without a fight, giving up the Yingzhou that was finally recovered. This time, Ma Huaiyuan suddenly raided the northern border of Jizhou, and after he succeeded, he retreated in a battle, which was quite the style of Li Congjing's conquest back then. In my opinion, such a handwriting will not come from Ma Huaiyuan, but should come from Li Congjing. And the counsellor beside him said to him.

Yelu said with a deep groan: "This battle, although the war has been a small-scale battle so far, but it is actually a prelude to the big war, this is something that Li Congjing and I both know, my fight with Li Congjing, since I attacked the military fort in the north of Jizhou. Ma Huaiyuan's retreat to the south was undoubtedly dispatched by Li Congjing, but what was Li Congjing's purpose in doing this? ”

The staff said: "Why don't you go further and explore the depth of Li Congjing?" ”

Yelu Yuyin frowned and asked, "You mean, I should let Yelu Gemeng pursue Ma Huaiyuan?" ”

"Otherwise, how can we know Li Congjing's next plan? As for Li Congjing's possible ambush halfway, he only needs to remind Yelu Gemeng that even if there is an accident and he loses some soldiers and horses, he can find out Li Congjing's intentions, and a little sacrifice is acceptable. The staff continued.

Yelu nodded faintly, "This is reasonable. ”

In fact, the reason why Yelu Xiangyin sent Yelu Gemeng to pursue Ma Huaiyuan was to treat them as pawns to explore the path, but when the task of pathfinding was not completed, Yelu Xiangyin categorically would not withdraw them. At present, although the control of the northern border of Jizhou is important, it is still incomparable compared with the overall situation of this battle.

At this point, Yelu wanted to hide and immediately ordered Yelu Gemeng to continue the pursuit. At the same time, he ordered the Khitan elite cavalry in Yannan to assemble and be ready to set off at any time, and sent an army of 10,000 cavalry to follow behind Yelu Gemeng to deal with all kinds of situations at any time.

How to explain the purpose of such an arrangement, Yelu wanted to hide: "If Yelu Gemeng did not encounter an ambush, it would be good for him to come to the city of Jizhou, and then he could plunder the territory of Jizhou, or destroy the farmland of Jizhou, which can be chosen; If Yelu Gemeng really encounters an ambush, hmph, I have 10,000 elite cavalry behind, enough to deal with all unexpected situations, even if Li Congjing comes in person, I have a large army ready to go, and I can go to fight with it! ”

"The handsome man is wise, in this way, Li Congjing is really dragged by the handsome in Jizhou and can't get out!" The staff was convinced.

Yelu wanted to laugh out loud, looked at his henchmen with deep meaning, and said: "The emperor did ask me to drag Li Congjing and make him unable to reinforce the Bohai Kingdom, but how could I really do this?" He flicked his sleeves and said highly: "Now that I have come to Jizhou, I will not defeat Li Congjing, which is not worthy of my reputation!" ”

Ma Huaiyuan took the initiative to retreat south, leaving a lot of rangers along the road to grasp the whereabouts of the Khitan army. The news that the Khitan 3,000 horsemen led by Yelu Gemeng followed was not long after Ma Huaiyuan learned about it.

When he heard the news, Ma Huaiyuan's eyes showed excitement, and Ma Xiaodao was already overjoyed, he looked at Ma Huaiyuan expectantly, and said, "General, Yelu wants to hide this is obviously using these three thousand horses as bait!" ”

Ma Huaiyuan sneered: "If it wasn't used as bait, how could Yelu want to hide it with only three thousand rides?" Three thousand horsemen, a lot, to deal with my thousand horsemen is enough, but look deeper, in order to prepare for this big battle, my Jizhou army, like other feudal town army, has expanded a lot, and his three thousand horsemen are brought to his mouth, but it is not impossible to eat them. It was to let me see this possibility and lure me into action. ”

"This is still the view that the Jizhou army is the main force, if we wait for the army sent by the commander behind, then the three thousand horsemen who rushed forward will have to eat it!" Ma Xiaodao laughed.

"Yelu wants to hide this is a stone throwing to ask for directions, and the intention is obvious." Ma Huaiyuan's eyes shone brightly, "He wants to use these three thousand horses to talk about the depth of the pool of water in Jizhou, and even the depth of the military commander's plan." ”

Ma Xiaodao smiled, "Since the bait has appeared, shall I eat this bait or not?" ”

Ma Huaiyuan glanced at Ma Xiaodao, "The military marshal's plan has been given, and you and I have already prepared, how can you let the bait go in front and not move your mouth now?" The so-called bait is meant to be bitten, and if you and I eat it, won't we live up to Yelu's good intentions? ”

"Exactly." Ma Xiaodao smiled brightly.

"Pass the order down and bring these three thousand Khitan elite horses into the ambush circle." Ma Huaiyuan waved his hand and ordered.

Thirty miles further south, the terrain gradually opens up, and the so-called open is not completely open flat land, and the surrounding terrain is hilly. Such terrain can engage in battles, but there are restrictions on engagement. Where there is a limit, there must be a place for it.

Here, Ma Huaiyuan ambushed almost all the Jizhou army foot soldiers, totaling about 4,000 people.

This time out of Jizhou, Ma Huaiyuan almost poured out, because Jizhou is an important border town, so there were more troops, this time in order to deal with the war with the Khitan, although Li Congjing was inconvenient to recruit troops in Youzhou, but let Danzhou, Jizhou, Pingzhou, each increase some soldiers as appropriate. More than 5,000 Jizhou troops, except for less than 1,000 people left to guard Jizhou City, all the other soldiers have left Jizhou City.

This ambush location was also selected by Ma Huaiyuan in advance. After arriving here, he asked Qianqi to continue to pretend to move forward, attracting the pursuit of the Khitan army, and climbed the hills on the side to direct the battle.

Ascending high and looking into the distance, there is no Khitan army in sight, Ma Huaiyuan said calmly: "When the Khitan army arrives, let it enter the pocket, when its tail formation is completely into the pocket, listen to my order, He Huan's military department seals the pocket, cut off the Khitan retreat, and the ambushes on both sides of the mountain road are killed at the same time, rushing the Khitan formation, the thousand horsemen in front, and then turn back to kill back." ”

This is a tight pocket formation, with sufficient troops to defend each part, and once the Khitan army enters the ambush circle, it can launch a battle.

Except for the thousands of horsemen who were taken to the north by Ma Huaiyuan to experience the battle, the rest of the Jizhou army were all infantry troops. However, in the hilly area, the cavalry could not be used, which was conducive to the infantry to give full play to its advantages. Before leaving, Ma Huaiyuan took out all the spears and spears in the treasury of Jizhou Prefecture and equipped them to the generals and soldiers in the army, just to deal with the Khitan cavalry.

Soon after everything was ready, the shadow of the three thousand Khitan troops appeared on the road.

From appearing outside the pocket, to the front formation into the pocket, then the main formation into the pocket, and then into the back formation, this time lasts not short, and the distance of several miles before and after is not a very short trip. During this period, Ma Huaiyuan held his breath and did not move, until the Khitan army completely entered the ambush circle, he picked up the drumstick and beat the war drum vigorously.

For a time, the drums in the hills were agitated, the horns were swirling, and countless Jizhou troops came out from all directions to meet the Khitan army in the road.

The news that Yelu Gemeng was really ambushed by Ma Huaiyuan and fell into the position he had arranged, and passively faced the battle, soon reached Yelu Xiangyin's ears. It's not that the speed of the ranger is high, but that Yelu Yuyin has left the Khitan army camp in Yannan at this time, and he personally led 10,000 horsemen on the road to meet Yelu Gemeng.

Hearing this, although Yelu Gemeng was a little surprised, instead of being anxious, he laughed heartily. He said to the staff around him: "Ma Huaiyuan bit me bait!" ”

The staff happily congratulated Yelu Xiangyin and said: "Since Ma Huaiyuan has taken the bait, his death is just around the corner!" ”

Yelu wanted to give an order, let the ten thousand cavalry speed up, gallop to the aid of Yelu Gemeng, "internal and external attack, in order to defeat Ma Huaiyuan with one blow!" ”

Yelu wanted to hide that he didn't think that Li Congjing might also have a backhand, but although he couldn't say everything about the movements in Jizhou, he at least knew that there was no Tang Army around him, so even if Li Congjing really had a backhand, he could only come from the front. Fighting head-on, that's exactly what Jerod couldn't hide.

In addition, if the Jizhou army can be defeated, then the Khitan can take advantage of the situation to control the territory of Jizhou.

This means that the Khitan army broke through to Lulongnei. How to fight in the future, the initiative and choice are much greater.

Therefore, Jerod's desire to hide is inevitably excited.

When Yelu wanted to hide and be excited, Ma Huaiyuan was fighting fiercely with the three thousand horsemen led by Yelu Gemeng. Because Yelu Gemeng knew that Yelu wanted to hide and come to save him, even if he was under siege, he dealt with it in an orderly manner. He first let the front line desperately resist the return rifle of the Jizhou army's thousand cavalry, and then made the main formation consolidate itself and did his best to reduce casualties.

Yelu Gemeng glanced at the sky, the time had already passed noon, and he said to the left and right: "As long as you hold on until sunset, the reinforcements of the marshal will arrive, and then we will be able to defeat Ma Huaiyuan in one fell swoop with superior forces!" ”

He continued: "The key to this victory and defeat lies in our ability to bite Ma Huaiyuan's Jizhou army, only in this way can we achieve results when the commander arrives." You and I must fight hard, we can't let Ma Huaiyuan run away! ”

The left and right voices were echoed, and Yeluge Meng then asked his tribesmen to charge into the front line to boost the morale of the entire army.

Ma Huaiyuan looked at the battle in front of him, his brows furrowed slightly. The tenacity of these three thousand horsemen was somewhat unexpected to him, and they were still fighting desperately and with excellent resilience in a desperate situation. He also glanced up at the sky, which was still an hour or two before sunset, and it would not be easy to end the battle before sunset, given the current situation of the battle.

Ma Huaiyuan did not charge into the battle in person, but Ma Xiaodao fought on the front line, and he experienced the stubborn resistance of the Khitan army more profoundly. In the middle of the fierce battle, Ma Xiaodao withdrew from the battlefield and hurriedly said to Ma Huaiyuan: "General, this group of Khitan barbarians is very difficult, and it is difficult for our army to defeat them for a while!" ”

Ma Huaiyuan, who had a serious face, said to Ma Xiaodao: "Fight again, don't break the formation, don't return!" ”

Seeing Ma Huaiyuan's resolute attitude, Ma Xiaodao didn't say anything more and entered the battlefield again.

In the second battle, the Jizhou army was ruthless, and steadily gained the upper hand, and after a long time, the Khitan army was finally in chaos.

On the eve of sunset, the Jizhou army began to turn into a stage of crazy slaughter, seeing that the Khitan army could no longer support it.

At this moment, Ma Huaiyuan's eyelids jumped, and he saw that countless Khitan elite horsemen came from behind and entered the battlefield.

This steady stream of Khitan elite cavalry entered the battle and immediately turned the tide of the battle.

The Jizhou army was defeated.