Zhang Xuan led 2,500 soldiers after two days of rapid marching, and finally arrived in the area of Mingtang Mountain, east of Luxiang County.

Mingtang Mountain is a lonely mountain, with a radius of more than 30 miles, the mountain is high and dense, the ravines are vertical and horizontal, it is the second largest mountain in Donglai County after the Squatting Dog Mountain, but there are no bandits on this mountain, its depth is too small, it is not conducive to hiding the army.

Jang Hyun had found a hidden valley for the soldiers to rest, and he had sent a messenger to contact Jang Sutuo, and news should come soon.

A marching tent was set up in the valley, Zhang Xuan was discussing the next move with Pei Xingyan, Wei Chigong and others, there was a detailed map on the table, Zhang Xuan pointed to Wadangkou and said: "The garrison of the big marshal is here, about fifty miles away from us, and the camp of the thief army is confronting the big marshal a few miles away." ”

Zhang Xuan pointed to a big mountain with a red mark in the distance, "This is Zuo Xiaoyou's old nest squatting dog mountain, although the name is vulgar, but it is a strategic place with rich products and can accommodate a million troops. ”

Wei Chigong smiled: "Is it because of Zuo Yunshan's instigation?" ”

Zhang Xuan shook his head, "I think Zuo Yunshan will persuade him not to go down the mountain, lest he interfere with our annihilation of Meng Rang's army, it should be Zuo Xiaoyou's ambition to take the opportunity to destroy us and occupy the entire Qingzhou." ”

Pei Xingyan next to him sneered, "This person has always been self-defeating, obviously his martial arts are sparse and ordinary, he has to boast that he is the first fierce general in Shandong, he will die sooner or later on top of his arrogance." ”

Wei Chigong grinned, "Xiao Pei, don't be angry, maybe you heard it wrong, he just said that he was the first fierce general of the squatting dog." ”

Wei Chigong's humor made Zhang Xuan couldn't help laughing. Pei Xingyan frowned, he didn't like Wei Chigong to call himself Xiao Pei, but he was not good at acting in front of the main general, so he had to glare at Wei Chigong dissatisfied.

At this time, someone outside the account reported it. "General, the messenger is back."

Zhang Xuan was overjoyed, "Let him come in!" ”

As soon as the curtain was lifted, the messenger who came back from Zhang Xutuo walked in quickly, knelt down on one knee and said: "I have seen the handsome man in my humble position, and I am fortunate not to be dishonored!" ”

"Good work. Is there an order from the commander? Jang Hyun asked anxiously.

"Yes!"

The messenger took out a letter and presented it to Zhang Xuan, Zhang Xuan opened the letter and read it, and smiled at Pei Xingyan and Wei Chigong who stretched out their necks: "The marshal said that this bandit is not a big disaster to Donglai County. Let's do as little killing as possible and force them to surrender as much as possible. ”

"Do you have any specific requirements for us?" Pei Xingyan asked.

Zhang Xuan shook his head, "Da Shuai just asked us to be a surprise soldier and harass the enemy army on the periphery. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Xuan's eyes fell on the map, the enemy camp at Wadangkou was about a hundred miles away from Squaogou Mountain, how should their logistics be guaranteed?

Zuo Xiaoyou built the camp in Wadangkou because Wadangkou is the intersection of the two official roads in the north and south and the east and west. The geographical location is very important, especially a straight official road leads directly to the squatting dog mountain, and the avenue is wide and flat. Conducive to the logistical transportation of the army.

For Zuo Xiaoyou, the most important thing is the transportation of military rations, he has an army of 50,000, and the daily food consumption is huge, and he is preparing to attack Beihai County with light troops and obtain military food supplies in Beihai County. So he barely carried any baggage.

However, the attack on Beihai County failed, and he retreated back to Dongnae County. Stationed in Wadangkou, the demand for military rations is also extremely urgent.

This morning. On the official road, about 50 miles away from Wadangkou, a cart of oxen loaded with grain was slowly moving along the official road.

There are hundreds of ox carts, lined up in a long column on the official road, dozens of bags of grain are neatly stacked on each ox cart, and there are more than 1,000 soldiers on both sides to escort them, this is Zuo Xiaoyou's grain convoy, they are responsible for the logistics support of 50,000 soldiers, one trip back and forth every day, and a steady stream of grain is transported from the squatting dog mountain to the camp hundreds of miles away.

In order to prevent the Sui army from outflanking his grain team, Zuo Xiaoyou sent hundreds of scouts to monitor around the Sui army camp, once the Sui army moved, he would immediately send troops to intercept it, not only that, Zuo Xiaoyou also sent 3,000 troops to deploy along the way, set up six sentry camps, responsible for receiving the grain team, the guard is very tight, it can be said that it is foolproof.

But all of Zuo Xiaoyou's defenses were aimed at Zhang Xutuo's Sui army camp, and he never imagined that another Sui army would quietly kill from Gaomi County and rush straight behind him.

Zhang Xuan led thousands of soldiers to hide on a hill about forty-five miles from Wadangkou, which was located between two outposts and only five miles away from the nearest one.

The leaves of the large woods on the hill have withered, and the whole forest presents a grayish-black depression.

Two thousand soldiers patiently lay in ambush in the woods about fifty paces from the official road, their silhouettes obscured by thick foliage and undulating mounds of earth.

At this time, the quacking of crows came from the top of a big tree, and at this time, the signal of the arrival of the grain team, all the soldiers became excited, grabbed the bow and crossbow in their hands, and Zhang Xuan ordered in a deep voice: "I repeat, you are not allowed to shoot cattle, you are not allowed to shoot coachmen, you are only allowed to shoot escort soldiers!" ”

The order was quickly passed down, and at this time, Zhang Xuan glanced at a valley in the distance, and his three hundred cavalry were lying in ambush in the valley, waiting for the order to attack.

The ox convoy finally appeared in their sight, this ox cart of 500 vehicles, carrying grain during the day, returning empty at night, resting for a day, and then transporting grain on the third day, only in this way can the food consumption of 50,000 soldiers be guaranteed.

In fact, another important reason why Zuo Xiaoyou was reluctant to fight the Sui army at Squagou Mountain was that it was the season to sow winter wheat, and tens of thousands of old people and women were working in the fields.

The winter wheat planted will be his army ration next year, and Zuo Xiaoyou is worried that the Sui army's killing will affect the sowing of winter wheat, so that his army will fall into famine next year.

After all, Zuo Xiaoyou was born in Sui and was a native of Donglai County, and his harm to Donglai County was far less brutal than Zhang Jincheng and Xu Yuanlang, but Zhang Xutuo would not let him go because of this, his existence seriously threatened the safety of the Sui army in Qi County, once Zhang Xutuo led the army to beg for thieves elsewhere, Zuo Xiaoyou would definitely take advantage of the situation.

Moreover, he was only a little nicer to Donglai County, once he entered Qi County, he would also burn and loot, and the wealth and population of Qi County made all the bandits salivate.

The grain convoy had entered the ambush area of the Sui army, they did not find any abnormality on the hill, the two groups of soldiers were on the side of the ox cart, marching in line, just when the middle of the ox cart appeared on the official road, Zhang Xuan shouted, "Shoot!" ”

The crisp sound of bangzi suddenly sounded, and two thousand soldiers fired crossbows and arrows at the same time, and the arrows rained down on the guards, and in an instant the screams were loud, and the five hundred guards were shot to the ground one after another, and there was chaos on the official road, several ox carts overturned in the chaos, and grain bales were scattered all over the ground.

With only one round of arrows, two thousand soldiers leaped up from the ambush and rushed to the official road dozens of paces away with spears in hand.

Most of the soldiers on the hilly side of the road were killed and wounded, while the soldiers on the other side were basically not lost, they were at a loss, they did not know whether to resist or flee, and several soldiers sounded the horn for help, and the horn sounded continuously, calling for help from the outpost camp five miles ahead.

Although the rebel soldiers were eager to be rescued by the outposts, they soon discovered that it was just an unrealistic fantasy.

The Sui army rushed into the convoy like a storm, they spared the ox cart and the coachman, and the target was clearly directed at the soldiers guarding the grain convoy, Wei Chi Gong and Pei Xingyan each led a thousand people, blocking the retreat of the thieves from the north and south.

The Sui army's offensive was fierce, and in just a moment, more than half of the remaining five or six hundred thieves were killed and wounded, and the remaining more than 100 people were killed, turned around and rushed down the ramp, and rushed wildly into the wilderness to the west.

At this moment, there was a sudden sound of a horn from the south, 'Woo-' as if in response to the cry for help.

Zhang Xuan turned his head and looked at the south of the official road, he faintly saw a group of black shadows rushing towards this side, Zhang Xuan couldn't help sneering, a group of guys who don't know whether they are alive or dead.

At this moment, a large group of cavalry rushed out of the valley like a strong wind, and killed the hundreds of sentries of the thief army who came to support the grain team, and hundreds of sentries were stationed five miles away, they heard the sound of the horn for help, and killed the grain team under the leadership of a general.

But there were still two miles to the grain caravan, when an ambushed cavalry suddenly struck, and hundreds of thieves were suddenly swept down in large areas, and they were terrified, and one by one they screamed, stumbling and running back, and the cavalry did not show mercy, and pursued all the way, and ran past him like a violent wind, and the spears and battles mercilessly stabbed them to death.

Zhang Xuan didn't want to delay any longer, and immediately ordered: "Urge them to come back!" ”

The sound of the Sui army's antlers sounded, extremely low, and the three hundred cavalry reined in their horses one after another, no longer pursuing the fleeing enemy, Chen Xu gave an order, and the cavalry turned around and rushed towards the grain convoy.

Zhang Xuan had already prepared, and he pointed his sword to the north, "Turn around and leave from the path!" ”

The coachmen got into the wagons with trepidation, the two overturned wagons were righted, the bodies on the road were quickly cleared, and the oxen wagons turned around and headed for a small road to the north, along which they went around the hills and off the official road

That night, Zhang Xuan led the Sui army from the south to press the grain convoy to the Sui army camp, Zhang Xutuo personally led the generals out to greet him, Zhang Xuan Shili smiled and said: "The humble post is here to send food to the marshal!" ”

Zhang Xutuo laughed, hugged Zhang Xuan heavily, and joked to everyone: "General Zhang actually sent us thousands of stones of grain, hard work, we must first thank General Zhang for his thoughtfulness, and secondly, thank General Zuo for his generosity, and actually save rations for us." ”

Everyone laughed together, and the soldiers of the battalion came out one after another to transport the grain carts into the camp, at this time, Zhang Xutuo pulled Zhang Xuan aside and said in a low voice: "Zuo Xiaoyou should have known that the grain truck was intercepted at this time, plus they were defeated last night, and the army's morale must be unstable, I think they are going to withdraw to Squatling Dog Mountain, you can take the first step and directly take his lair, so that he has no way to retreat!" ”

"Obey!"

Zhang Xuan saluted, turned over and shouted, "Brother of the sixth battalion follow me!" ”

He led 2,500 of his men to quickly leave the camp and hurried to the squatting dog mountain on a small road

(To be continued)