Sending away the guards of Zijin Pass, Gema hurriedly recruited his subordinates and carefully studied the current movements of the Zhenjiang Army.

According to the latest news sent back by the spies, the overall advance of the Zhenjiang Army has slowed down significantly after successively capturing Rouge City, Longcolondo City and Yinghe Military Town.

Perhaps because of the large casualties in the course of the battle, or the way the attack was advancing was too consuming of combat power, the current reaction of the Zhenjiang Army is mostly to deliberately adjust the tempo and implement a short rest.

"There is also a possibility that they heard that our army came in time to intercept it, so they slowed down and were a little undecided." Girus said confidently.

Gema nodded and asked the scout officer, "Who is the enemy's commander, have you figured it out?" ”

"Report to Khan, it's all figured out!" The officer replied loudly: "The commander of the enemy army is Li Jiangyao!" There are also other leaders of the Zhenjiang Army, almost all of them. ”

Gema asked, "How do you know for sure?" ”

The officer replied with a thoughtful response: "There are more than a dozen flags of the other party, embroidered with various surnames. I specifically checked with someone, covering the commanders of all armies and battalions. ”

"Pure!" Gemar Khan muttered dissatisfiedly, "Won't they play tricks and make some fancy flags to deceive you?" ”

The officer was stunned when he heard this, and said in surprise: "Huh? No way? ”

Gema frowned and reprimanded, "How could it not?!" Haven't you heard that Li Jiangyao used a bunch of rags to deceive Durham in a mess, and it is estimated that he wants to repeat his old trick now. ”

"Khan is right, you have to go deeper and more accurate to investigate the enemy's situation, what's the use of just counting a few broken flags?" Girus also complained a few words to the other party, and then said to Gema: "You mean, the commander of the other party may not be Li Jiangyao?" What does this mean? ”

Gema glanced at him helplessly, and then explained to all the generals: "If Li Jiangyao is in the army, it probably shows that they do have the intention of attacking Zijin Pass, and then continue to advance eastward and harass the rear of the Eastern Expeditionary Army. However, if the person in charge of command is not Li Jiangyao, then it cannot be ruled out that the other party may only feint to attack Zijin Pass. In other words, most of them have other schemes. ”

The 100,000-strong army approached the strategic Zijin Pass, and military operations of this level often weighed the weight of the commander. Whether Li Jiangyao personally handled the knife can indeed reflect the combat intentions of the Zhenjiang Army from the side.

The Turkic generals agreed with this, and many of them also believed that the Zhenjiang Army was not only here for Zijin Pass, but also had other plans.

Gema said in a deep voice: "Tanma continues to do his best to investigate, and we must try to find out the enemy's high and low levels, especially whether Li Jiangyao is in the army or not, we must find out for me." The Baron Metasequoia was cunning and had to be on the lookout for trickery unless he saw it with his own eyes. ”

He paused slightly, then asked the scout officer, "How's the situation in Ikuru County?" Troops? Garrison? ”

"Tell the Khan, the garrison of the Zhenjiang Army in Ikaru County is about 3,000 to 4,500 men." The officer replied: "At the same time, they also used it as a food and grass supply station, and a large number of convoys from Metasequoia City frequently traveled between the two places every day to transport all kinds of military supplies. ”

Gema was overjoyed and asked Girus, "Where is my brother now?" ”

Girus thought for a moment: "Under normal circumstances, Duke Belen's team should have crossed the Chaikun Basin at this time and was heading towards the Chechi Kingdom. Yesterday I sent messengers and guides to guide the Duke and them to avoid the towns along the way, and in two days at most they will reach a valley not far from the county seat of Ikoru, where they will be secretly lurking. When the main force of the Zhenjiang Army arrived here and confronted us outside the Zijin Pass, he set out from the valley and took Icoru County in one fell swoop, blocking the enemy's retreat. ”

Gema asked worriedly, "You won't be discovered by enemy scouts on the way, right?" As soon as they entered the country of Chechi, they were very, very close to the territory of the Zhenjiang Army, and their eyeliner was everywhere. ”

"Please rest assured," Girus said without thinking, "The guide is very familiar with the terrain in that area, and the routes he chooses are all inaccessible areas, as long as the Duke of Belen chooses to act at night and is fast enough, he will not be easily discovered by the other party." ”

Gema bowed slightly: "Well, that's the best." Fortunately, it was Belen who led the team, he was a well-known master of running in our tribe, and he had the most experience. ”

A general couldn't help but ask: "Khan, there are more than 60,000 soldiers and horses under the command of Lord Belen, and it will be ...... to attack the small county town where three or four thousand people are stationed Too wasteful? ”

"Nothing to waste!" Gema stared at the map and pondered, "Don't look at Ikoru as a small county, but its location is of great strategic importance. Ikoru is located at the corner of the tributaries of the Ulundu River and the Gaoling Mountains, guarding the road from Metasequoia to Zijin Pass. If we take this place down, Li Jiangyao's 100,000 soldiers and horses will immediately become a big problem even to eat, let alone retreat safely. ”

Another general said in a deep voice: "Speaking of this, Khan, there is still a worry about the lowly position. If Li Jiangyao found that his back road had been cut off, would he attack Zijin Pass ruthlessly? If he commands an army of 100,000 to attack like crazy, I am worried that the two divisions of the Western Xinjiang Army will not be able to withstand it. ”

As soon as these words came out, they immediately received a response from most of the generals.

Although in terms of the strength of the two sides, there is no huge difference between 80,000 and 100,000, but the problem is that the vast majority of the more than 80,000 people in their hands are local soldiers in western Xinjiang who look good and have worrisome combat effectiveness.

Gemar Khan pondered for a moment, waved his hand, and said, "It's okay! If Li Jiangyao is really fierce and wants to fight with us, then our army will immediately withdraw into Zijin Pass and defend the city. In that case, the Zhenjiang army could not advance, and the retreat was cut off, and if they fled in other directions, they would be pursued by our cavalry, and they would definitely die! ”

Ten days later, the Turks who had been stationed in front of Zijin Pass finally waited for the Zhenjiang army.

On the southwestern horizon, a forest of flags appeared in the distance.

Hundreds of banners waving in the wind were hunting, and the flying dragons, tigers, unicorns, horses and other sacred beasts embroidered on the flags seemed to be alive, swaying and jumping violently, shining dazzlingly.

It didn't take long for a large array of forwarding flags to gradually come into view.

20,000 ironclad heavy cavalry took the lead.

Although the war horses were only slowly advancing, the movement of tens of thousands of horses' hooves smashing on the ground was still like thunder, rumbling for miles away.

The knights on the horses were all dressed in three layers of heavy armor, and they held a full iron spear in their right hand, a round steel shield in their left hand, a long sword hanging from their waists, and a cavalry horn bow and a black feather quiver on either side of the saddle.

The horses are also covered in iron armor and are not afraid of any arrows.

Suddenly, a melodious horn sounded from the flag array, and the 20,000 ironclad cavalry suddenly changed formations as if they were playing a trick, and spread out quickly and orderly to both sides, giving way to a large open area in the middle.

After the cavalry set up positions on the left and right flanks, the surging infantry group suddenly flashed out from afar, and rushed forward with a shout, while automatically forming a formation.

In the blink of an eye, the four huge phalanxes were deployed.

The spearmen stood behind the shield wall, all the spears pointing upwards, and from a distance it looked like a jungle of steel. Behind them were tens of thousands of formation-breakers, each armed with a long-handled axe or a saber, with a stout and burly figure and a murderous face.

Farther away, there were four rows of archers and crossbowmen, thousands of powerful crossbows, pointing diagonally ahead, ready to provide long-range strikes to the army.

Together with the ironclad cavalry on both sides, six phalanxes lined up in front of Gema and his men.

Gema frowned and looked at it for a long time, and her heart couldn't help but sink a little: the army of nearly 40,000 horses in front of him had only taken less than a meal from the moment he appeared to the time he finished the battle, and there was no hesitation or omission during the period.

In the process of arranging the formation, the entire regiment did not make the slightest noise, except for a few horns, and even the officers did not hear the command of the whole team.

The only thing that sticks to your ears is the sound of footsteps.

Veterans who are used to the battlefield know that this kind of army, which is as calm as water, is the truly terrifying existence.

Gema swallowed her saliva and subconsciously looked to the sides. His Turkic generals were normal, but their faces were a little solemn, but looking at the generals of Western Xinjiang, their faces were already full of fear.

Gemma sighed and was about to say a few words of encouragement, when she suddenly heard a trombone from the other side.

Everyone immediately tensed up again, including Gema, and everyone couldn't help but look further away.

An even larger and boundless team is approaching from across the horizon.

There was no noise, no scattering, just the sound of brushing footsteps. The endless queue continued to move forward, and the momentum of the slaughter was enough to change the color of heaven and earth.

The army stopped a little farther away, and divided its forces into four phalanxes, echoing the troops that had arrived earlier. At the same time, more people began to set up camp in the same place.

The movements of the Zhenjiang army were extremely fast, and it was obvious that they had practiced similar subjects countless times before, and in just half an hour, a main camp was in the center, surrounded by six small battalions, and a plum blossom-shaped barrier composed of a total of seven camps began to take shape.

In the middle of the main camp, a huge handsome flag was raised, and an eye-catching "Li" character was written on the flag.

A Turkic general couldn't help but ask, "Khan, are we just going to let the enemy camp calmly?" Do you want to send troops to attack and disturb them and dampen their spirits? ”

Gema glared at the guy like a fool: "Death side!" ”