Li Jiangyao, dressed in armor and uniform, immediately stood on top of the high post, looking at the ambush battlefield in front of him from a distance.

The main force of the Ghost-faced White-robed Army had basically ended the frontal battlefield at this time, and was ready to divide its troops to pursue the remnants of the enemy who had escaped by chance.

Two days ago, he personally led these 17,000 elite soldiers and horses, under the cover of the Kunpeng warship, secretly crossed the river overnight, and covertly arrived near Shijiu Lake.

At the same time as Li Jiangyao gave Xu Youchang an order, he had already judged that the rebels would inevitably take a shortcut and rush to Jinling for reinforcements.

As it turned out, the situation was exactly as he expected, and the strategy of attacking the enemy and saving him caught a big fish: Feng Tuo and his 40,000 main forces ran non-stop and panting to send them to death.

Since the elimination of the Turkic iron cavalry and the advance into the Central Plains to quell the rebellion, the opportunities for the white-robed army to participate in the war have been very few. As soon as the enemy entered the ambush position, the white-robed soldiers immediately launched a tidal charge, beating Feng Tuo and them without the power to fight back.

After an hour of fierce fighting, more than half of the 40,000 people were killed or wounded, and the rest either burrowed into the dense forest or jumped into the lake, just to save their lives.

Li Jiangyao ordered the lieutenant officers, ignore the guys who had escaped, gather the troops back as soon as possible, and rush to the next battlefield.

The white-robed army was well-trained and disciplined, and as soon as they received orders, they quickly regrouped. After counting the number of people, each department found that after a big battle, their own casualties were less than 2,000, which can be described as a complete victory.

Li Jiangyao rode his horse to the front of the formation, gave some encouragement and mobilization to the officers and men of the whole army, and then set off with Shuai Qi, leading the whole road of soldiers and horses straight to Dangtu County, which was fifty miles away.

That place is the key node of Chidao, and it is also the only way to go from Xuancheng to Jinling.

If Ye Rongcheng wanted to lead his troops to copy Xu Youchang's river-crossing troops from behind, he would inevitably pass by Dangtu.

The sound of hooves roared, and tens of thousands of white-robed soldiers let go of their speed and galloped between the mountains and jungles, as if a white whirlwind was whistling by. Fifty miles away, they galloped at full speed, and arrived easily before dawn.

At this time, when Tu County had been conquered by the Sixth Army, Jigriz left 3,000 troops here to defend in order to prepare for the rear of the vigilance army. The soldiers defending the city suddenly saw the handsome banner and the white-robed army and horse team of the capital guards appear outside the city, and they were immediately surprised and happy, and hurriedly went out of the city to greet them.

Li Jiangyao instructed them not to continue to stay in the city, but to set off quickly to catch up with the large forces of the Sixth Army, and there would be a new task next.

The captain who led the team hurriedly agreed, and then excitedly gathered the team and hurriedly marched to the northeast.

When the garrison of the Sixth Army left, Li Jiangyao did not let the white-robed army enter the city, but ordered them to plant flags all over the city, including the mountains and forests on the north and south sides of the city.

The main force of the whole army lined up outside the city, sitting on their horses and eating dry food and resting, while waiting for the enemy to arrive.

It was almost noon, and at the end of the gallop in the distance, there was a faint army of Sen Ran, which was Ye Rongcheng's soldiers and horses. At this time, Ye Rongcheng had also heard the bad news that Feng Tuo's troops were attacked near Shijiu Lake last night and almost all the troops were wiped out.

However, he still has not figured out which force can eat 40,000 rebels overnight. Xu Youchang? Or Du Jian?

It wasn't until he saw the great military array outside Dangtu County that Ye Rongcheng reacted in great surprise: Oh my God! Li Jiangyao also crossed the river?!

Although he had never fought against the ghost-faced white-robed army, the other party's prestige had already spread all over the country. How can an ace powerhouse that can defeat the Turkic iron cavalry one after another, and even the Great Khan and Blood Guards dare not despise it, can it be easy?

The layman looks at the bustle, and the insider looks at the doorway.

Ye Rongcheng saw the formation and momentum of the white-robed army from a distance, and his heart suddenly cooled for most of the time. Although the opponent only has more than 10,000 troops, it is like a deep mountain, which is enough for any battle-hardened general not to dare to ignore it.

Looking at the head of Dangtu City and the nearby mountains, there are banners everywhere, and I am afraid that there are more than 100,000 troops in a rough calculation. This just corresponds to Li Jiangyao's identity: the commander of the Zhenjiang Army came over with his main force!

The intention of the Zhenjiang army was very obvious: Xu Youchang led his troops to attack Jinling, while Li Jiangyao personally sat in Dangtu to block the rebels in the direction of Xuancheng to go for reinforcements.

In other words, if Ye Rongcheng wants to save Jinling, he must first pass the pass of Li Jiangyao and the white-robed army.

But the question is, can he pass this level?

This time, in order to outflank Xu Youchang's back road, Ye Rongcheng led an army of 180,000 and chased after him along the gallop road. Originally, he thought that his side had a military advantage and a strategic advantage, so he should be able to win safely.

However, Li Jiangyao's sudden appearance instantly shattered his confidence.

Most of the Zhenjiang Army has used countless victories to make it clear to the world an iron-clad view: if you don't want to live, you can challenge it!

Ye Rongcheng still wanted to live, so he did not rush to take any offensive action, but ordered all troops to set up defensive formations on the spot, with the gallop road as the main axis, and gradually spread out to the north and south, with a high degree of vigilance from afar.

The cautious appearance of the rebels fell in Li Jiangyao's eyes, and it also made him gradually relax his mind. To tell the truth, there are only more than 10,000 white-robed troops in their hands now, and although they are all strong warriors, it is unimaginable to really stop the all-round impact of more than 100,000 enemies.

The only thing that can be used is the empty city plan.

Scaring Ye Rongcheng on the other side in order to buy Xu Youchang more time is the key to this operation.

Thinking of this, Li Jiangyao said in a deep voice: "Pass the military order, and all of you will advance five hundred steps!" ”

With the whining of the military horn, more than 15,000 white-robed soldiers urged their horses and slowly walked forward, and the momentum of the entire array was like a rainbow.

"General, the enemy has moved! The grimace and white robe are closing in on us! ”

Ye Rongcheng heard the reminder of his subordinates, and hurriedly put his hands in his eyes and looked into the distance. Sure enough, the Zhenjiang army on the opposite side moved forward without slowness, and was gradually closing the distance between them and the rebels.

"Alert!" Ye Rongcheng shouted: "Let all the archers be on alert, once the enemy enters the firing range, there is no need to ask for instructions, shoot immediately!" ”

With his words, a dozen herald horses galloped away. It didn't take long for the six large phalanxes of bows and arrows in the far east to roar, and nearly 20,000 archers were simultaneously bending their bows and arrows, pointing diagonally at the sky, ready to go to war at any time.

However, as soon as they started their stance, the white-robed army on that side stopped moving.

The distance of five hundred steps has been reached, and the order is forbidden.

The transformation of the soldiers and horses in Zhenjiang is simple, clear, efficient and neat, and it also shows a calm bearing that has been experienced in a hundred battles. The whole formation came to a standstill, and the whole army still maintained a perfect state of both offense and defense, making it difficult for the enemy to judge their next thoughts and goals for a while.

Ye Rongcheng squinted his eyes and observed the old man for a long time, and suddenly muttered, "It's not right! They're trying to lure me into attacking! ”

Hearing this, an adjutant general next to him also nodded and said, "What the general said is right. The white-robed army first advanced slowly, and then came to an abrupt halt, which was indeed the combat rhythm of luring the opponent to attack first in the art of war. However, any troops with slightly inferior concentration and experience will usually take the initiative to send troops to meet the battle at this time. ”

Ye Rongcheng sneered: "Li Jiangyao underestimated us too much. When the Xuanjia Legion dominated the world, he was still a hairy boy in the imperial capital Yanwutang. Want to mess with me? Dream! ”

He turned his head and shouted: "Pass my order, the forward position is firmly guarded, and the archers are on full alert." All departments stick to their positions, and no one is allowed to fight! ”

Another general couldn't help but wonder: "General, the enemy deliberately displayed the banner in the mountains and forests, without the slightest intention of hiding his combat power, could it be a suspicious formation and a bluff?" ”

Ye Rongcheng shook his head: "You think too much." The more Li Jiangyao does the opposite, the more it shows that he is not well-intentioned! Since the other party can eat Feng Tuo's 40,000 horses overnight, then the number of troops will never be less. At the moment, I only put out 10,000 people to show me, where will the rest be? Of course, it is hidden in the city and the mountain forest! Li Jiangyao deliberately showed his banner, hoping that I would suspect that he was playing tricks, and then waved his army to attack, but he happened to fall for his trick to lure the enemy deeper! ”

Hearing the general's analysis, his subordinates nodded yes one after another, saying that now that they have left the Xuancheng defense line, the whole army lacks support and cover, and it is indeed better to be cautious.

In this way, the 180,000 suspicious rebels stood firm in front of more than 10,000 white-robed soldiers, motionless. There is a posture of stubbornly defending the old world.

In contrast, the generals and lieutenants of the main rebel forces still unanimously and unequivocally believe that their own safety is more important than anything else. In the absence of a clear understanding of Li Jiangyao's intentions, it is most prudent and wise for the whole army to stand still.

As for Jinling, which is about to be attacked in the lower reaches of the river, then they can only ask for more blessings.

However, the Jinling defenders, who looked confused, were still confused at this time.

They did not see the Zhenjiang army mentioned in the Xuancheng Kuaima report. The city guards sent out dozens of scout teams in a row, and when they came back, they all said that within a radius of fifty miles from Jinling, not even Xu Youchang found a single hair. More than 100,000 imposing troops crossing the river didn't seem to have entered their defense area at all!

The rebel scouts were not negligent in their investigations, let alone deliberately lying.

Xu Youchang, the deputy marshal of Zhenjiang, did not enter the boundary of Jinling. At this moment, he was leading the soldiers of the First, Second and Sixth Armies under his command, rushing wildly.

And the road they took was the place where Li Jiangyao beat Feng Tuo last night - the dense forest mountain road near Shijiu Lake!

More than 100,000 soldiers of the Zhenjiang Army marched through the ambush battlefield in a terrible situation, and countless soldiers and horses hurriedly swept past the corpses of the rebels who were complacent, and rushed straight to the Xuanzhou defense line located hundreds of miles away.

The task assigned to them by the Dadu Protector is that they must launch a general attack on the enemy's base camp Xuancheng before dawn tomorrow!