Generally speaking, the belligerents will often send their own scout outposts during the war to get as close as possible to or infiltrate the opponent's camp and reconnoiter military intelligence, so as to find out the reality of the opponent and provide their own commanders to command the battle.

Scout outposts on both sides are usually hidden in the shadows of the battlefield, and their respective positions and travel routes are intertwined, so it is natural that encounters will sometimes occur.

In the midst of a major battle, there are countless small-scale scout encounters. But no matter how big or small the losses are, the warring sides will treat them as ordinary things and do not take them seriously.

There is only one exception.

That is, when a side is about to launch a large-scale military operation, or before it is ready to carry out some secret deployment, it often adopts the practice of clearing the warning range.

Specifically, it is to dispatch a large number of armed scouts, or a large number of main forces, to carry out a carpet sweep within a certain range around themselves, and simply eliminate or expel the enemy scout sentry posts.

There is only one purpose in this - to cover the other party's ears and eyes for a short time.

Once the clearance operation begins, the enemy scouts who have been cleared will be left with only two options: either flee for their lives or stay where they are and die.

It can be said that no matter how confident a scout is, it is impossible to insist on staying and completing his mission in this situation. If a large area of space is to be blocked for a long time, it is impossible for any army to do it, and there will inevitably be loopholes to exploit after a long time. But if you want to sweep and clear in a short period of time, there is no problem at all. One side concentrated superior forces, while the other side was scattered outposts, and the results of the battle were of course self-evident.

Therefore, in the face of the fierce and roaring white-robed army, the scouts of the Western Xinjiang Coalition Army did not hesitate, and almost all of them turned around and left.

In less than an hour, there was no longer a single coalition spy within a radius of twenty miles near Metasequoia City. The soldiers of the Zhenjiang Army are stationed at the commanding heights everywhere, vigilantly monitoring everything around them.

The Silk Road Avenue from Metasequoia City to the Pansong Ferry of the Ulundu River was also controlled by the white-robed cavalry at this time, and every observation point with excellent views on the left and right sides of the road was temporarily in the hands of the Zhenjiang army.

And the scouts of the Western Xinjiang Coalition Army could only squat pitifully farther away, stretching their necks, staring wide-eyed, and using their strength to watch the movement from afar.

After the entire battlefield area was cleared, Metasequoia City suddenly began to become full of people and noisy horses. Soon after, one after another, troops and horses marched out of the city and marched along the main road towards the Ulundu River.

The scale of the whole team is very amazing, it took a full hour to leave the city, spread on the Silk Road, and it stretched for several miles, and the momentum was magnificent. In particular, the hundreds of flags fluttering above the team, waving in the wind and hunting, looked like the main force of tens of thousands of people from a distance.

However, due to the distance is too far, the scout outposts of the Western Xinjiang Coalition Army can only barely see an astonishing number of military flags, but they have not been able to find it in time, in that large area of majestic flag forest, in addition to dozens of real Zhenjiang military flags, most of them are the signature flags of Metasequoia City business buyers, "Hetian Zhai Jade Carving Big Reward", "Ma Ji Silk Embroidery Workshop 20% discount", "Wang family old wine buy one get one free", flowery branches, difficult to say.

Du Jianma was in the woodland on the hill, looking at the teams walking in front of him, and couldn't help frowning: "My lord, do you say that you can really frighten the enemy by relying only on these rags?" ”

Lin Feng next to him was also worried, and then Du Jian's words said: "General Xu, they took away a large army, and we only have more than 10,000 soldiers and horses left. Is it too risky to provoke the Western Xinjiang Middle Route Army in such a blatant way? ”

"How can you do it without taking some risks?" Li Jiangyao sat on horseback, plucked his ears with a straw stick, and said in a relaxed tone: "At this time, only by putting on a scene of soldiers pressing the border can we lure Durham and Alekjiang to return to the division with a roar, so as to raid the rear road of our lone army leaving the city......"

Du Jian couldn't help but interrupt: "Well, the truth is like this, but ......"

Li Jiangyao turned his head: "But what?" ”

Du Jian muttered quietly: "But it's too hasty now." You don't think 10,000 regular troops are enough, and you have to take a group of ordinary people who have never been on the battlefield with you, and let them hold hundreds of broken flags, and dare to pretend to be the main army to provoke the enemy. What if the other party takes it seriously and sends troops out to meet the battle? ”

Li Jiangyao shrugged: "What else can I do?" Pull out your legs and run. ”

Lin Feng knew that he was joking, and couldn't help frowning slightly: "My lord, how can the two armies fight in a child's play?" Although it is common for soldiers to confuse the enemy and lure the enemy, it is rare to be so absurd. ”

Li Jiangyao smiled dumbly: "Hey, I said Xiaolin, it seems a little inappropriate for you to use the word ridiculous to evaluate the coach, right?" ”

It's good that he didn't say that, but when he said this, it really teased the temper of the upright guy Lin Feng. Lin Feng has followed Li Jiangyao for the longest time, usually gentle and soft-spoken, typical Jiangnan people's style, coupled with his handsome appearance, often gives people a feeling of getting along very well. But in fact, Lin Feng is quite a person, and whenever he encounters something unfair or taboo, he dares to stand up and speak out. Even if it is his own top boss, he does not leave any affection.

At this time, I saw Lin Feng's sword eyebrows raised slightly, and he said in a straight voice: "My lord's words are wrong. As your military staff, it is entirely your duty to question and admonish the commander's decision-making. Your current deployment is extremely risky, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is ridiculous. If you feel offended, then please punish you! ”

Li Jiangyao was stunned by Lin Fengding, and he didn't know how to answer for a long time, Du Jian saw this and hurriedly relieved the siege: "I said Xiaolin...... Ah no, Deputy Commander Lin, what are you angry about? Don't you know the methods of our leader? It's always been about planning that or something, and winning the ...... Win thousands of miles away. Even if you want to speak out, you have to be measured. ”

Li Jiangyao grabbed ahead of Lin Feng, took the steps of Du Jiandi, and scolded with a smile: "your eggs, it's still thousands of miles away?" That's in the midst of strategizing, winning thousands of miles away! Usually ask you to read, but you don't read, and your mouth will show timidity. ”

Du Jian scratched his head and smiled embarrassedly.

Lin Feng also felt that what he said just now was indeed a bit too much, and now seeing that Li Jiangyao deliberately amused Du Jian, he did not dwell on his rudeness, he felt a little apologetic, and said warmly: "My lord, I have just lost my words, please forgive me......"

Li Jiangyao interrupted him with a smile: "Hey, what are you talking about?" Didn't we always look like this when we were in Pegasus Scout Camp? Who doesn't know anyone. Your fears are indeed justified. To be honest, I don't have a lot of confidence in my own heart about the current action, but we have too few chips in our hands, so we have to take a risk. If there was a better alternative, do you think I'd be willing to do something stupid? ”

Hearing this, Lin Feng and Du Jian nodded in unison, although neither of them spoke, but there was a trace of complicated feelings in their eyes.

The young coach in front of him is indeed too difficult.

It has been nearly three years since the fall of the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang, and the king of the imperial court is nowhere to be seen, and there are strong enemies like wolves and tigers everywhere. In the territory of thousands of miles, only their lone army is struggling to support, and they are in danger of overturning at any time.

As the commander-in-chief, how heavy the burden is on Li Jiangyao's shoulders and how much pressure he has in his heart, I'm afraid no one is qualified to make an evaluation.

Take this large-scale crusade of the Western Xinjiang Coalition Army as an example, the total strength of the enemy is several times that of the Metasequoia Army, and there are even more powerful Turks watching and waiting for an opportunity to move. Li Jiangyao has very little combat power in his hands, and he must desperately cherish and protect it, and try his best to use good steel on the blade.

If you don't take a bold risk with the mentality of risking everything, how can you win?

"Hey, I said you two, don't be in a daze!" Li Jiangyao smiled and said with disgust: "The vanguard of the army will soon arrive at the place, you should take a step ahead, rush over to organize the manpower, set up camp as soon as possible, and make the movement as big as possible!" This time, Lao Tzu himself was used as bait, but he must not be sloppy! ”

-

Durham, Duolun, and Alekjiang stood on the watchtower of the barracks, watching the actions of the Zhenjiang army in the distance, and their faces showed a look of astonishment and inexplicability.

An hour ago, they received news from the spies in front of them that the Zhenjiang army in Metasequoia City had suddenly begun a large-scale drive to clear the coalition scouts, and they were afraid that something big would happen.

Then, not long after, the report of the main force of the Zhenjiang Army pouring out of the nest came back immediately.

The information reported by several scout spies is a bit vague. But whether it is the Western Xinjiang scouts or the Turkic spies, they describe a scene in unison:

Army! An absolute army!

There are four or five hundred battle flags alone!

Duolun couldn't help but ask Alekjiang: "Your Highness, you used to deal with the Shengtang army a lot, what does it mean that you have so many flags?" ”

Alekjiang looked puzzled, and said with a puff of teeth: "Tsk, what about this...... Don't hide it from the two of you, I still have a certain understanding of the Shengtang military system. Not to mention the soldiers of the Central Plains, the capital of the town and Xinjiang alone protects the government, which is a system of ten dings and one Jia, that is to say, ten people form a group and set up a chief; A group of 50 people, with a team leader; Then there were three teams and a battalion, and the highest commander of the battalion was the captain...... That's right, that Li Jiangyao was originally the captain of the Zhenjiang Metropolitan Protectorate, with seven or eight hundred people under his command. Above the battalion is the brigade, above the brigade is the flag, and above the flag is the army. An army of the Imperial Palace, usually 12,500 to 20,000 men, was mostly a mixed group of infantry and cavalry, led by a general of Sanhao. Two or three corps are organized into a corps, with the deputy commander or deputy commander serving as the commander. At that time, when the Zhenjiang Protectorate was at its peak, there were two legions with a total of five armies, and there were 100,000 elite soldiers and horses. ”

Hearing this, Duolun nodded, and continued the question just now: "Then what kind of establishment does the military flag represent?" ”

"If I'm not mistaken...... "Alekjan pondered, "there are rules for the banner of the Holy Don. Only units above the battalion level will have flags in place for identification. The military flags of each army are usually divided into three types, a battle flag indicating the number of the unit, a general flag representing the surname and official position of the commander of the whole army, and a flag of the capital protection government of the same style. ”

Duolun couldn't help but gasp: "According to what you say, each battalion of the Holy Tang Army has three flags, and five hundred flags means at least one hundred battalions. Excluding the higher-level banners with overlapping formations, there are 8 to 100,000 troops, to say the least?! ”

Durham shouted from the sidelines, "How is this possible?!" Didn't you say before that the remnants of the Holy Tang entrenched in Metasequoia City were no more than fifty or sixty thousand people? ”

Alekjiang's face was solemn, and he sighed faintly: "My Hou Ye, thinking about everything that happened before, what else is impossible for Metasequoia? ”