Bao Yuchun sat in his handsome tent, staring at the map and was silent.

The location he is in now is Yazi Lake in the southeast of Nanzhao County, where 70,000 Xuanjia elites and 30,000 light soldiers of the Navy are hiding.

Ten days ago, the main force of the Zhenjiang Army led by Li Jiangyao arrived in Luanchuan County. As planned by Bao Yuchun, the rebels' initiative to retreat and the complex terrain of Luanchuan's Nanzhao line successfully frightened Li Jiangyao.

The 300,000-strong army stopped at Luanchuan and did not dare to move forward easily.

At the same time, Ma Hongjie's troops left Yichuan and headed straight for Ruzhou. Bao Yuchun also played a strategy to lure the enemy into depth, leading the Vermilion Bird Legion to advance quickly.

Two lure enemies deeper, one true and one false. The fake one is used to make Li Jiang suspicious, but the real one is specially prepared for Ma Hongjie.

Once the Suzaku Legion was fooled and the troops crossed Ruzhou and entered the Jiufeng Mountain area further south, then Bao Yuchun's 100,000-strong army would immediately move north from Yazi Lake to divide and surround Ma Hongjie's vanguard and fight them in a perfect ambush.

However, seeing that the war was about to begin, Bao Yuchun suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart.

It's a pure intuition, for no reason, for no reason, just a sudden inspiration for the general.

Am I missing something?

With this question, Bao Yuchun sat in front of the map for a day and a night, and he was already very tired at this time, but he still didn't dare to relax, and he fought hard and ordered his subordinates to call the deputy general of the scout.

"Is there a new report sent back on the Western Front? What happened to the Zhenjiang Army? ”

The adjutant general replied: "Tell the marshal, after Li Jiangyao's men and horses were stationed in Luanchuan, he sent many scouts to search Laojun Mountain, Baiyun Mountain and Erlong Mountain, and also conducted several reconnaissances on the flow of the Baihe River. Other than that, there is no action. ”

Bao Yuchun nodded, and asked again: "Do you keep an eye on their army?" Is there a shortage of flags in each army? ”

"Our scouts lurked in the city early and watched in groups." The adjutant general said: "So far, the six armies in Zhenjiang are here, and none of them have left alone. ”

"Not necessarily." Bao Yuchun snorted coldly: "As long as you pay attention to precautions, the enemy will also use tricks to adjust and camouflage the formations of various troops." Our people are not familiar with the Zhenjiang Army, and they will inevitably be deceived. ”

Hearing this, the deputy general of the scout hurriedly said: "The inferior post understands, and immediately reminds his subordinates to carefully verify the number of the other party again and estimate the number of each department." ”

Bao Yuchun thought for a while, and suddenly asked: "Is there eyeliner staring at the path to the south of Laojun Mountain?" ”

The adjutant general replied: "From Laojun Mountain to the south, all the way to Xixia County, there are our army's guard posts along the way, as long as the enemy makes a detour from there, we will definitely be able to find it in advance." ”

Seeing that his subordinates were very well prepared, Bao Yuchun finally put his mind at ease. Running around the rear is a habitual means of warfare, which is even more familiar to the Zhenjiang army that has experienced a hundred battles, so he can't help but guard against it.

However, in order to reach their own flanks and rear, especially the Xixia, Dengzhou, and even the Xiangcheng line, the enemy had to trek through the vast western mountains, which was a nightmare for the cavalry.

Of course, Li Jiangyao could also change the infantry to cross the mountains, but in that case, after the troops left the mountains, they would not be able to carry out a rapid attack.

It is convenient to master the river fleet by yourself, and if you find that the opposing infantry is circling, you have enough time to intercept or rush to help.

Thinking of this, Bao Yuchun took a long breath and said to himself: "Okay, maybe I'm too worried." In the final analysis, he is just a child soldier in the martial arts, and he is still a classmate and friend with that stupid Murong Xue, so the two must be not much different. ”

The commander of the Chinese army beside him stepped forward to help Bao Yuchun get up and asked, "Marshal, shall we go?" ”

"Let's go!" Bao Yuchun waved his hand: "All the departments set off as planned, set up an ambush at the northern foot of Jiufeng Mountain, and waited for Ma Hongjie's vanguard to come and die!" ”

At the sound of an order, the 100,000 rebels hiding around Duck Lake took action. Some people sailed up the White River in warships, while others went into the hills not far away, taking advantage of the cover of the mountains to head north.

Their destination was Jiufeng Mountain, located 70 miles to the north, the only way from Ruzhou to Nanzhao.

The army marched secretly in the darkness of night, and arrived at the predetermined ambush battlefield before dawn. The battalions and teams were divided into three directions, lined up in layers in the dense forest at the northern foot of Jiufeng Mountain, quietly waiting for the prey to take the bait.

The decoy troops, who were responsible for attracting the other side, set off one step ahead of the other side and engaged in a fierce battle with the vanguard of the Suzaku Legion, which had just occupied Ruzhou.

The bait soldiers and horses who were ordered to "only allow defeat and not victory" finally showed signs of rout after three rounds of fierce attacks, turned around and fled south. Seeing this, the Suzaku Army chased after them without hesitation, with a posture of being sure to annihilate the rebels.

Bao Yuchun stood on the top of Jiufeng Mountain, looking at the dust raised on the plain in the distance, and couldn't help but secretly rejoice in his heart: Ma Hongjie's vanguard team has a strength of about 30,000, if it can be swallowed by himself today, the other party will not only lose his strength, but also will definitely be angry and confused, and then it will be easier to lead them by the nose.

However, what Bao Yuchun didn't expect was that just as his bait troops rushed into Jiufeng Mountain as if they were fleeing for their lives, the Suzaku Army, which was closely chasing behind, suddenly stopped, as if they knew that there was an ambush hidden in the opposite mountain forest.

In this situation, Bao Yuchun couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.

It stands to reason that the terrain at the northern foot of Jiufeng Mountain is relatively flat, and it is not an excellent location that is very suitable for ambush warfare, so the opponent should not suddenly become highly alert to this place when he is struggling to pursue.

Unless...... They had known there would be an ambush here.

But that's not right, right?

Bao Yuchun thought secretly: In order to prevent the operation from being exposed, I also deliberately pressed the time of the operation backward, and did not lead the soldiers and horses into Jiufeng Mountain until a few hours before the ambush began.

For this problem, Bao Yuchun was puzzled. But either way, today's ambush battle must have come to naught.

To fight an ambush, the emphasis is on hiding in the rush and taking it by surprise. The other party suddenly became vigilant, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses could not be completely invisible in the mountains and forests, and the Suzaku Legion only needed to send a dozen scouts to easily find the traces of the ambush.

At this time, Bao Yuchun finally sensed that the situation was not good, and hurriedly notified all his subordinates to immediately retreat in batches and return to Duck Lake along the same road.

When he returned to the secret camp with the last of his soldiers and horses, the bad news of the southern front also came.

The Ninth Army of Zhenjiang suddenly appeared in Xixia County, attacking the city all the way, killing more than 1,800 people of the Xuanjia Army, and is currently rushing forward and heading straight for Dengzhou!

Hearing the news, Bao Yuchun couldn't help but be furious, and repeatedly asked his subordinates, how did the Zhenjiang Army run behind him? !

The adjutant general was also frightened at this time, and hurriedly explained, saying that the Ninth Army of Zhenjiang had made a detour to the West Gorge from Shangyu Mountain, and completely threw off the surveillance network of the scouts, so they could not discover their whereabouts early.

Bao Yuchun frowned when he heard this: Merchant in the mountains? It was too high and densely forested to make it unsuitable for cavalry to pass through, so how could it be detoured from there?

However, not being suitable for cavalry to pass does not mean that it is absolutely impossible to pass. As long as you are bold enough and strong-willed, you can indeed approach Xixia County from the depths of the mountains that are almost no man's land.

There is no point in dwelling on these issues at the moment, what matters is how to deal with them.

Bao Yuchun said in a deep voice: "How many people are on the other side, have you figured it out?" ”

"Look at the banner, it should be the Ninth Army of Zhenjiang, about 46,000 to 50,000 people." The lieutenant general of the scout replied: "All pure cavalry, extremely fast. ”

Bao Yuchun pondered as he muttered, "Pure cavalry? It must be all light cavalry, and although 50,000 people is a lot, it will not make a fuss. Come on, let the fifth, sixth, and tenth flags of Xuanjia board the ship immediately and go south along the White River! The fifth flag assisted in the defense of Nanyang, the sixth flag went west from Nanyang and was deployed in Zhenping County, and the tenth flag went south from Nanyang to defend Dengzhou. Within two days, be sure to be in place! ”

The commander of the Chinese army immediately responded loudly, turned around and rushed out to deliver the order.

Bao Yuchun unfolded the map, studied it carefully for a while, and said: "The enemy army has carried out a large-scale detour, and it must be in order to cooperate with the actions of the main force in the front, and next, we must keep an eye on Li Jiangyao's side!" ”

Who knows, before he finished speaking, a general ran in and reported: "Great commander, Ma Hongjie's Vermilion Bird Legion has occupied Jiufeng Mountain, and the vanguard troops have arrived close to Shahe!" ”

Bao Yuchun couldn't help but be slightly stunned: "So fast? We had just withdrawn, and they chased them to the Sand River? ”

Another general hurriedly said: "After crossing the Shahe River, it is Nanzhao County, and there are less than 8,000 defenders in the city, what should I do?" Why don't we go for reinforcements right away? Duck Lake is only thirty or forty miles away from Nanzhao, and it can be reached in a blink of an eye. ”

Bao Yuchun shook his head: "Intelligence shows that Li Jiangyao and Ma Hongjie plan to meet in Nanzhao County, if we go to defend there now, once we are bitten by the Vermilion Bird Army, the Zhenjiang Army will soon be overwhelmed, completely cutting off the survival of our army." ”

The generals nodded repeatedly: "That's true." We only have about 100,000 people, and now we have transferred three banners of men and horses, and there are less than 80,000 troops left, and we may not be able to withstand the Suzaku Army, let alone those western barbarians in Zhenjiang. ”

Bao Yuchun waved his hand: "There's no need to hesitate!" The whole army was fully equipped, marched south together, and retreated to Nanyang first. It is backed by the Baihe River and not far from Xiangcheng, so you can attack and retreat and defend, and you can also deal with Li Jiangyao and Ma Hongjie. ”

The boss spoke, and all his subordinates immediately stood up and agreed in unison, and then left the tent quickly. This time, it was no longer just the troop movement of the three banners, but the rapid transfer of the entire army.

All of a sudden, the calm Duck Lake suddenly boiled, countless sails were stretched out by the sailors, and the huge fleet sailed south in the afterglow of the setting sun.