Fangcheng Mountain has been famous since ancient times.

Guo Chao Du pre-annotated "Zuo Biography": "Fangcheng Mountain is in the south of Nanyang Ye County. ”

Nanyang here refers to the entire Nanyang Basin, not Nanyang County or Nanyang Kingdom, just as Hedong sometimes refers to the entire annexed state (opposite Hexi), not Hedong County.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Chu regarded Tongbai, Barberry and many mountains in between, as the northern frontier.

In the middle of this natural line of defense, there is a gap: the Fangcheng Pass.

Therefore, the people of Chu began to build a city north of Fangcheng Mountain, so that the prince could build a residence in it to pass through the north.

Today, nearly a thousand years have passed, and Fangcheng Mountain is still the most important traffic pass between Nanyang and Luoyang, or the only dangerous place.

On the ninth day of October, on both sides of Fangcheng Mountain, the army gathered, and the murderous atmosphere was awe-inspiring.

To the north of Fangcheng Mountain belongs to Ye County, and to the south belongs to Duyang—both of which are counties under the Nanyang State of Jingzhou.

Yexian was occupied by the Yamen Army in September.

After Li Chong broke Li Hong in Wuyang and Yexian, he went all the way to the south and set up the camp above the Fangcheng Pass, overlooking the entire Nanyang Basin.

Such a critical place was occupied by the official army, and Hou Tuo, who was stationed in Wancheng, suddenly felt like a man on his back, and he was very uncomfortable.

But he didn't have the energy to take care of this place at first, and there were still many remnants of officers and soldiers in Nanyang, which needed to be cleaned up one by one.

In addition, it took time to negotiate with the local nobles, so it was delayed, but Li Hong was strictly ordered to lead the remnants of the army to counterattack the pass of Fangcheng and try to capture it.

Li Hong had already broken his courage, and his strength had been greatly damaged, so naturally there was no result.

It wasn't until almost after he was done, as Li Hong complained again and again, and the intention of the official army to move south became more and more obvious, Hou Tuo finally left Wancheng, led the main force to Duyang, and camped in the south of Fangcheng Mountain.

Actually, he didn't want to fight Shao Xun. But when people wanted to beat him, he had no choice.

Shao Taibai's reputation is still very big, Hou Tuo did not dare to slack off, and the elite soldiers under his account were exhausted, and he was determined to fight to determine life and death.

Today's sky is a little gloomy, the dew is also a little heavy, outside the official army camp on Fangcheng Mountain, the flag is chirping, and there is a weak hanging.

A good omen, perhaps? Hou Tuo thought secretly.

Suddenly, the drums of war in the mountains sounded, and more than 200 horsemen galloped out of the camp, down the gentle slope of the pass, and galloped in the wilderness.

The first person is dressed in gold armor and is majestic.

He was followed by a general, holding a gun in his left hand and a few reins in his right hand.

Hou Tuo watched silently.

He knew that the main general generally rode the most divine horses, and the soldiers around him would also bring a few extra horses running empty for them to change and drive in the formation.

The most outrageous thing is that some generals who were born as scholars brought twenty empty horses when they went into battle, and I don't know why they were afraid of being like this - twenty horses, that is not for the purpose of fighting and changing horses, most of them are used for escape.

The gold-armored general in front of him seems to be a serious martial artist. Looking at the way he rode a horse, the route he planned when he was traveling, and the places he stopped to observe in the middle of the way, all of them were choices made by experts.

Hou Tuo continued to watch.

In the large camp, there were already horsemen rushing out with men.

Hundreds of cavalry divided into two routes, outflanked in a roundabout way, and the momentum was menacing.

On the camp wall, there were even people beating drums and cheering and shouting loudly.

Hou Tuo felt that the blood was coming up all over his body.

This is the battlefield, the place where men fight and shed their blood.

The Golden Armor General immediately gathered his troops and retreated.

Seeing this, their cavalry shouted loudly and quickened their horses forward.

The golden armor general was unhurried, made a slight half-circle, and then began to slow down and turn the horse's head.

More than 300 horsemen outflanked from the right flank pursued and pursued, but was blocked by a small forest, and 200 or 300 horsemen on the left flank continued the pursuit without stopping.

Hou took off subconsciously felt a little bad.

Sure enough, after the Jinjia general led his troops to turn the horse's head, he went directly around the outside, and the bowstring in his hand rang continuously.

The soldiers who followed him also fired one after another.

They don't shoot people, they shoot horses, and their archery skills are very accurate, apparently practiced all year round.

The battlefield was full of people on their backs, and slightly obstructed the route of the follow-up cavalry charge, and the formation was slightly chaotic.

The golden armor general put away his riding bow, waved his big hand, and more than two hundred horsemen sped up and rushed head-on.

Like a sharp knife, it instantly sliced open the soft abdomen, making it dripping with blood.

Bloody in the physical sense!

Hou Tuo looked around, only to see the other party's cavalry soldiers in a set of bright light armor, most of them holding a thick horse lance in their hands, after rushing over, the big lance or sweep or pick, almost no enemy.

A man on the left is tall and as strong as an ox. Against the backdrop of his exaggerated figure, the war horse, which is not short, is like a donkey, which makes people laugh.

But those who faced him couldn't laugh.

This man's lance was thicker than the average person, and it was wielded with a rapid cracking sound, and each blow swept down one or two people.

And the cavalry that he swept off his horse, many of them had bleeding from their noses and noses, and they were obviously hit hard.

The horse lance played the effect of a wooden canopy, and it could only be a natural divine power.

A person on the right, with angry eyes, roared like thunder when he charged, and it was heart-wrenching.

Someone was stunned in front of him, and was directly picked up by the horse lance and thrown off the mud.

Led by these two men, the opposing cavalry was simply unstoppable, and in an instant they broke their own left flank, and then went around the rear of the right flank, and rushed again.

Hou Tuo's face was ugly and he was going to die.

It is not easy to train cavalry.

Most of the hundreds of horsemen under him were Guanzhong Zahu who followed them to Nanyang to beg for food, and their foundation was not bad, but they were washed away in one face, what should he say?

Of course, he could see it. The reason for this result is not only the gap in the combat power of the two sides, but also the feeling that the opposing commander's general is too good on the battlefield, as if he naturally knows how to choose the place of engagement, seize the opportunity of the engagement, and use reasonable tactics.

He was a natural cavalry general, perhaps from a family of forbidden army generals.

Hou Tuo suddenly wanted to kill him. But when he saw his cavalry retreating, he sighed again and gave up this unrealistic view.

"Hold the barracks, and there will be no more fighting today." Hou gave the order with a snort.

"Yes." The generals responded one after another.

The morale has suffered a small setback, and it is really not appropriate to fight again today, so we have to adjust it a little and talk about it after the morale is restored.

On the other side, the golden-armored general hadn't left yet.

Sometimes riding a horse and galloping, sometimes dismounting to observe, and pointing at the people around him, very arrogant.

The crowd should not have seen it, and they should not be out of sight and out of mind.

This battle is indeed not easy to fight. The gang of people in front of him seems to be much more difficult to deal with than the Jingzhou army.

******

After Shao Xun returned to the camp, Li Chong and others immediately surrounded him.

"Send men to attack the thief camp in the afternoon." Shao Xun threw away the horse whip and said, "Xiangcheng Ding Zhuang went first, the auxiliary soldiers then rushed, and the Yamen army attacked last." ”

"Prince, there are no less than 10,000 thieves, and although there is a small setback in morale, it is not a problem to stick to the camp. With such a fierce charge, I am afraid that the casualties will not be small. Li reprimanded.

Jin Zheng glanced at him, and there was a slight mockery in his eyes.

How can there be immortals in war? Ding Zhuang, auxiliary soldiers and the like, their combat strength is weak, and they don't feel distressed when they die.

Li Chong is such a mother-in-law and mother, what kind of battle is he fighting?

"It's not the first time you've been a general." Shao Xun said earnestly: "Not everyone is willing to fight with you in the field, sooner or later they will encounter something that gnaws hard bones." Li Hong suffered two losses at your hands, and Hou Tuo was frightened in his heart, and he would inevitably act cautiously. Let's fight a dozen first and see what the thieves' fighting intentions are. ”

"No." Li Zhong immediately sent someone to prepare.

Shao Xun sat down and looked at everyone.

The generals under him basically came from the bottom.

Limited by qualifications and talents, some people will not be promoted to a certain level, and they will slowly fall behind.

Some people are not bad at learning and have good talent, so they can follow and not fall behind. But they are not used to being generals, and they are not used to looking at soldiers' lives as numbers.

Usually love soldiers like children, and when they really fight, they are ruthless, and they are qualified to do this.

I don't want numbers, I just want xx, this is the true portrayal of war.

"I just received news that two days ago, Shan Jian sent troops to the north and was defeated by Wang Ru in the territory of Yiyang. Yan Wei took advantage of the situation to lead his troops to advance, and Shan Jilun was afraid and had given up Xiangyang and Nantun Xiakou. This guy ran very fast, but he abandoned all the Han and Chu lands, and let Wang Ru take them captive. Shao Xun said.

Tang Jian had already hung a map on the wall.

Shao Xun pointed to the map and said: "The Xiongnu may go south at any time, and the top priority is to quickly quell the turmoil in Jingzhou and return the division to the north." ”

All eyes fell on the map.

Nanyang has been occupied by Hou Tuo.

Only the county seat remains in Shunyang.

Yiyang is in Wang Ru's hands.

Now Xiangyang is occupied by Wang Ru and Yan Wei. Looking at the decline of Shanjian and Wang Cheng, Nanjun and Jiangxia may not be able to withstand it, and the turmoil in Jingzhou has a tendency to expand.

At present, there are already barbarians who are ready to move, as if they want to respond to the Kansai refugees, rebel again, and capture the city, just like the Zhang Chang uprising.

"Since Hou Tuo is the king's lord, he must have asked him for help. Whether Wang Ru will go north or not, no one can say. Shao Xun said: "If it is delayed for a long time, as soon as the Xiongnu army arrives, it will inevitably send troops to attack Yuzhou, echoing Wang Ru." In this way, I will suffer from the enemy on my back, and I am afraid that it will not be beautiful. ”

"I don't want to waste too much time in Nanyang, and a quick victory is the key to this battle. Li Zhong! ”

"The end will be."

"In the afternoon, you personally supervise the battle, and if there is anyone who does not advance, there will be no forgiveness."

"Yes."

"Tang Jian."

"The end will be."

"You find a few people with dexterous legs, take the Lejia guide, go to Nanyang and Shuyang, and deliver this letter to Le Kai."

"Yes."

"Kim Jong."

"The end will be."

"In the afternoon, you lead six silver spear armies and line up outside the thief village to prevent the thief army from killing."

"Yes."

"After receiving the order, prepare your own way, don't let me down." Shao Xun waved his hand and said.

The generals dispersed.

The prince made it very clear that the longer it dragged on, the more complicated the situation became.

This time the southern expedition to quell the chaos, they only benefited from a quick battle, not a long-term last.

It's a pity that the Jingzhou army, if they can still fight, go north from Xiangyang, and advance north and south with our army, it will be easy to wipe out the thieves. But they first lost Wancheng, and then abandoned Xiangyang, and the land of Han was completely lost, which was a big disappointment.

This battle can only be fought by them alone.