On the other hand, the pursuit of the Mongol army gradually slowed down, and they were not fools, and the birds and sparrows that rose from time to time in the sky over the Nine Posts had long been a fixed concept imprinted in the hearts of the soldiers who had been training on the steppe for many years.

There were reinforcements from the Southerners there. After a moment's hesitation, Qi Du immediately ordered the brigade to stop advancing, and dozens of cavalrymen who were skilled in reconnaissance rode out to search for any traces of other southern troops nearby, and later ordered five red soldiers accompanying the army to go to the direction of Jiuchongyi to find out the true number of enemy reinforcements.

He took a few of his men and rode them to a high slope with a wide view to look up, and he couldn't help but praise it in his heart, although it was a foolish idea for the Song people to want to fight his bald flower iron horseman here. But if he were to find a place in this area to fight the Bald Flowers, he would definitely choose the Nine Posts as well.

The capital of the Sui and Tang dynasties was Chang'an Luoyang, and there were many horses. Because of the prosperity of the post station in the world, unprecedented in ancient times, in the Kaiyuan period, there are more than 1,300 post stations in the world, all of which are equipped with sufficient officials, store money and grain, and breed many horses for express delivery. It was during this period that the Jiuzhong Post was established, and on the road from Xiangyang to Chang'an, Dengzhou was an extremely important transit point, or there was no Meridian Road or Fu Luo Road as crowded here, but if you wanted the tribute from Hunan and Hubei to reach Chang'an in time, this is the place that must be passed.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the towns were divided, Henan and Xiangfan became important battlefields, and the Jiuzhongyi, which was once prosperous in the Kaiyuan period, was also burned down by the war, and during the Five Dynasties period, it was the border area bordering the Jingnan Secession Territory and the Central Plains regime, bandits were rampant, and the situation was turbulent. When the post station was rebuilt, the state and county officials considered that the post station was likely to be attacked by thieves, so they abandoned the original site near the main road and away from the Tang River, and especially rebuilt the post station at its current address.

Qi Du looked at the abandoned post station from a distance, the post station was built on a raised hillside, and the territory of Dengzhou was mountainous, but they were all small hills with little undulations, and the cavalry could climb up. The same is true for this hillside, but if the cavalry rushes up the hill, the advantage in speed is not realized at all, and they can only get caught up in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.

On the right side of the hillside was a slowly flowing river, and he didn't know that the Ludao Bai River directly flowed into the Han River, but he felt that this river added a perfect flank barrier to the Nine Posts.

Behind the slopes are two adjoining hills, and the hills are full of flourishing trees, and there is no problem in hiding thousands of soldiers in them. On the left and front, there is an open field with no line of sight, which from the attacker's point of view means that the entire impact is exposed to the enemy's rain of arrows. The advantage, of course, was that the cavalry could rush directly to the foot of the hill as fast as possible.

Qi Du's eyesight has always been good, even from a distance he can see that the Song army they are pursuing is struggling to climb up the hillside, hoping to meet the friendly troops on the hillside, to his slight surprise, although the distance is too far and the vision is a little blurred, he can still recognize that these soldiers who are marching in a hurry are still in good formation. This is rare enough, the most lax troops in this world are the majority, and the troops that can maintain their formation under the pursuit of the enemy cavalry are a minority of the few. In the country of Jin, only the most elite troops can barely do this. No, he had also heard the Mongolian generals who participated in the Battle of Sanfeng Mountain mentioned that the Flower Hat Army, which was second to none in the fighting power of the Jin State, was also scattered in formation under the attack and pursuit of the Mongolian army at the moment of the final decisive battle, and fought separately.

This must be a rare elite division in the Song Dynasty. Qi Du began to regret that he didn't catch up with them earlier and completely annihilate them in the wilderness, although the battle would be more brutal and bloody than expected, but as long as it was eliminated, it would be of great help to the fourth prince's strategy of Xiangyang in the future. The Song Dynasty did not have many elite troops that could fight, and if one more person was eliminated, the certainty of victory would be a few points.

Now let them flee up the hillside, and they are also with the rescuers, and attack head-on with the bald flower cavalry, I don't know how many casualties will be added to the road. Each of them is the son of a tribal elder, and the loss of any of them is a disservice to the Empire.

Qi Du stood on the hill and pondered for a while, then turned his horse back to the front of his team.

The Tanma Red Army, which sent Lu to spy on the Sentinels, had returned, but it was the five horsemen who sent Lu out, and only the Ten Commanders had returned. His armor was crooked, his bow, his sword, his spear, and his shield were gone, and he looked terrible. A large handful of the beard under the jaw has been cut off, and the short one looks very funny.

Qi Du's face was suddenly difficult to look at, the people of Mobei have always taken the beard as a symbol of men, and this custom was even brought to the west by the Turks, from the steppe outside the Guan, all the way to the distant Herat, if you dare to touch the man's beard, it is a great offense.

Qi Du snorted coldly and said, "Caught by the southerners? Did the opponent leave a name? ”

The Tenth Master of Tanma Chi gritted his teeth and said, "That Sinan Si is very strong, and he claims to be Qin Wu. ”

There was a small exclamation from the Vulture team. Qi Du keenly caught it, he raised his head and asked, "Who knows this person?" Where did this man come from? ”

A slightly stiff Mongolian voice in the team replied: "Na Yan, this person used to be a subordinate of the monk Wanyan Chen, who had made war exploits in Weizhou and Huihui Valley, and was nicknamed Tietou in the Han army, which means to charge to the death and fight to the death." ”

"Sinan Siren still has such a good man." Qi Du laughed and said: "Since the enemy is so brave, we will definitely suffer a loss if we attack on the back, so it is better to collect our troops and go back, and when the army of the king of Qu arrives, we can go south to attack Xiangyang." ”

His words were simple, but they sounded like thunder in the ranks. The indignation of the generals and soldiers was overflowing.

An officer in a brocade robe over his armor shouted: "I waited for the south to come in order to engage such an opponent!" Since Nayan followed the Great Khan in battle, he had never shouted a single word of cowardice. Why is it that today, like a sheep, retreats when it sees a strong enemy? ”

Qi Du said: "It's not that I'm afraid of death, according to my temperament, even if I rush up and hit with my fists and feet, bite with my teeth, I have to see a victory with that Qin Wu." But you are all the sons and nephews of the patriarch under the command of the Great Khan, and any loss of any one will directly hurt the blood of the nobles. Now Sinan Si people are entrenched in a high place, attacking head-on, and the losses are bound to be heavy. Our army has always used the raw mouth of the captives as a precursor, and used the lives of the people of the enemy country to break through the enemy's strong defenses, but at the moment there are no residents in all directions, and we can only rely on ourselves to attack the fortifications. Buried the lives of all the bald flowers in vain in this southern land, and he is really not a general who can fight. ”

Another voice in the team shouted, "Don't say such things!" In those years, when the capital was attacked, the city of Heishui was attacked, the jade dragon Chijie was attacked, and the attack on Samarkand, how many Mongolian soldiers stained the enemy's city with blood. We're not just going to hide behind the enemy people and attack the city! Even the sons and sons of Ögedei Khan were killed under the city of Samarkand. Is our status worthy of the dignity of the Golden Family? Are we as close as Genghis Khan's children and grandchildren? If you want to fight, don't use such unwarranted excuses! ”

Qi Du was slammed into him fiercely, and he was not angry, but asked: "The enemy is fortified at a high place, and there are many antlers and obstacles, we are all cavalry, how can we climb high and attack?" Tell me about it! ”

Immediately, several different voices replied loudly: "What's so difficult!" I'll only be able to fight if I wait! Dismount and line up, rush forward, cut down the antlers, split the fence, and kill them to annihilate the southerners! ”

Another voice shouted: "When the Naiman was broken, the Naiman Sun Khan set up the palace tent halfway up the mountain, how could our army break the enemy?" It was the Great Khan who led the generals to dismount and fight on foot, led the generals to advance with iron chariots in their hands, and broke the condescending attack of the barbarian soldiers, this kind of arrogance is the spirit of the Mongols! How could a few thousand southern soldiers defend such a small hill and stop the footsteps of the Mongolian athletes! ”

Qi Du laughed, raised his voice and shouted, "Are you really not afraid of death? ”

The neat bald soldiers standing in the line drew their scimitars at their waists, and the blades were illuminated by the autumn sun, emitting a terrifying light.

"I'd rather break my bones and blood on the battlefield, crush the black rock for the Great Khan, cross the bad waters, and dig up people's hearts!"

"Good!" Qi Du raised the horsewhip in his hand amid the earth-shattering shouts: "Let's have a good fight with the southerners on this small hillside!" ”

Although he said this, Qi Du personally led a few guards to a place more than a mile away from the Jiuzhong Station, galloped back and forth, and looked towards the hillside, only to find that the soldiers on the mountain were coming and going, and the banners were strict, and it was obvious that Qin Wu, the general stationed here, was not an easy role to dismiss as the legend suggested.

Qin Wu stood on the lookout of the inn, his eyes staring at the Mongolian cavalry galloping back and forth in the distance, and it should be that the commander of this cavalry team came to visit the enemy in person.

If due to Qin Wu's temperament, although the enemy is far away from here, but with his archery skills may not be unable to shoot, many famous generals are accustomed to suddenly shoot the opponent's leader or important officers with bows and arrows at a distance that the enemy can't guess, this is not just to get rid of the leader of the enemy's army, so that the enemy can feel the wide range of their bow and arrows, which can greatly limit the enemy's play at the tactical level, and add more flexibility to the formulation of their own tactics.

However, before leaving for the battle, Zheng Yunming gave a death order, and he was never allowed to open his bow at will to expose the range of his army before the battle really began. Although Qin Wu didn't quite understand the meaning of this, he could only barely hold back the itching of his hands for a while before the other party actually launched an attack.