The night is getting darker, at two o'clock in the morning.
Thirty miles away from the main battlefield in Hehuang, a large army was marching at night in the river valley.
Their strength was only four thousand, but they rode or led nearly ten thousand donkeys and mules, forming an eight-way column, squeezing the wide official road in the Hehuang Valley that could accommodate four carriages parallel to each other.
The lightly-armed Tang soldiers leading the war horses were ten steps apart and stood beside the team, holding up fires for lighting. The night wind raised dust and made the torches flicker. Amidst the dull sound of hoofs and feet moving like thunder, one team after another quickly passed by him. .
The torches illuminated expressionless faces. They had their eyes closed on the backs of donkeys and mules. No one could tell whether they were awake or asleep.
All I know is that the bodies of these warriors were very relaxed, undulating and swaying with the backs of donkeys and mules, sometimes moving forward, sometimes backward, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right. Whenever they thought they were about to fall off the donkey's back, they slowly straightened back up.
Three rows of donkeys and mules, and twelve people passed by, and finally someone with his eyes open, in the light of the Tang soldier raising a fire, tore the dried meat in his hands, mixed it with fried noodles, poured it into his mouth, chewed it, and carried it on the donkey's back as he passed. The water bag bowed slightly to Tang Bing and passed silently.
When hundreds of columns riding on donkeys and mules passed by, followed by a column leading donkeys and mules, the soldiers walking quickly had their eyes open, but most of them looked like they had their eyes closed, their pupils dull in the light of the fire. When you are awake, your brain has actually rested, but your body is still walking mechanically.
However, this state cannot last for long. If you step on a pebble on the road or bump into someone, you will suddenly wake up. Seeing that the team has not swayed and you have not fallen into the ditch, you will continue to move forward in a daze. Repeat the process after a while.
It wasn't until they were very far away that the officer gave an order, and the infantry and cavalry sergeants all woke up. Those on foot mounted their donkeys, and those on donkeys turned over and walked, and continued marching in silence.
Wang Wenxiu rode his horse and stood on the slope outside the official road, watching the army pass by silently. Under the light of the guards raising fires, he lowered his head to read the letter sent by the Tang soldiers. After a while, he handed the letter to the guard and took the paper. He wrote a short message and gave it to Tang Qi: "Tell the commander-in-chief that the Buying will arrive at the front line in Chenshi and charge into the battle upon arrival."
Then, he reined in his horse and moved forward, saying: "Chuanqian Headquarters, move forward quickly, and take a rest after fifteen miles."
The letter was sent by Liu Chengzong. It was nothing special. It just informed the situation on the front line and expressed condolences for the fatigue of the infantry training camp marching all night.
This kind of march was nothing special for Wang Wenxiu. He received the transfer order eighty miles away from the front line. Although the march was at night, it was not a day and night march. They walked very loosely during the day.
In the two days after Lintao's general Wang Chengen was defeated, there were still sporadic fighting in the west of the river valley, but those stragglers who fled in all directions no longer needed infantry camps to deal with them.
Especially after Dai Daozi led the Mongolian cavalry to complete the encirclement, 3,000 Mongolian soldiers joined in. Cooperating with Zhong Hu's cavalry to eliminate and surrender the remaining enemies, it was very efficient. In the end, no ropes were even needed. The defeated soldiers in Lintao Town found them. surrender.
What should I say about broken troops? Sometimes they disperse and form bandits, which has a great impact on local security, but sometimes there are accidents.
For example, in Hehuang today, the defeated soldiers who have lost their organization have become a truly vulnerable group.
To the west of them was Liu Chengyun who wanted to collect the defeated army; to the east was Dai Daozi who was leading the Mongolian cavalry to bind the prisoners.
In the mountainous areas on the north and south sides, there were people trying to kill them.
A defeated army is like a river. When there are too many people, it becomes a flood, and the people will be drowned by the overflowing floods. But Dayu could control the water, and the simple people can also fish in the river.
The broken soldiers carrying armor had enough items on their bodies for the common people to sell for a year's rations.
At this moment in Hehuang, compared to the common people who are full of entrepreneurial enthusiasm, the fierce Zhong Hu seems amiable.
Wang Wenxiu did not need to hunt down or guard the defeated army, so the infantry battalion sergeants were in good condition.
And because many donkeys used to resist cannons and cannons died on the battlefield, their food level in the past two days has also been greatly improved compared to usual. Everyone's morale is very high and they are ready to go into the next battle.
On the front line on the other side of the river valley, in the square formation surrounded by dim firelight, He Huchen, who had stayed up all night, walked back and forth in the formation, comforting the soldiers in each small formation and boosting their morale.
But He Huchen didn't know how effective this level of encouragement could be.
Throughout the first half of the night, the enemy's artillery seemed to be out of control. There was no pattern at all. In four hours, nearly two hundred blindly fired artillery shells fell in the formation, causing him and Yang Qi to lose a hundred soldiers, including a hundred commanders. Thirty-seven soldiers and one horse were included.
When a burst of artillery shells hit the formation, the soldiers wanted to take a nap between the shells. Just as they closed their eyes, another burst of shelling had already come; but when they widened their eyes and wanted to wait for the next burst of shelling, a full half of them appeared again. There was no sound of gunfire for an hour.
The process of war is waiting.
Waiting for the next bombardment, waiting for the next attack.
During the long wait, the morale of the soldiers was slowly weakened, but Liu Chengzong at least did He Huchen a favor.
The horse that was killed by the shell made the soldiers drink a bowl of minced meat soup, which was better than nothing. Fortunately, the Huanghuang Valley was full of ditches and the Huanghe River was close at hand. But even so, He Huchen knew that his men It won't be long.
He never knew that the Han people, the Mongols and the Xifan people would make such a strange combination.
Throughout the night, apart from the shelling, the most breathtaking thing was that the military formation was in all directions. At any time, from a corner, the strange overtones of the Mongolians, the bizarre prayers of the Xifan people, and the terrifying suona sounds of the Han soldiers and the chariots rolling across the earth would be heard. sound.
When their soldiers panicked and picked up their weapons to prepare for the attack, the drums and drums outside were silent again.
After finally waiting for people to relax, there was a crackling sound, and a particularly large lead bullet may or may not hit someone.
But whether they were hit or not, it was very annoying, because the sergeants who were shot at reported that whenever they fired back, they never heard the sound of the enemy being hit.
The big lead bullet was fired from at least 150 steps away.
It's just killing me.
He Huchen walked around the army, returned to the center army on the right, and praised his son He: "We can't wait until morning, the morale is not enough to hold on, we have to find a way to break out."
He Zan took his servants to watch the night for his father the night before, and he slept for an hour yesterday morning. By now he was so sleepy that he was delirious. When he heard He Huchen speak, he responded instinctively in a daze: "That's what father said. "
When he reacted, he suddenly woke up and said, "What did father say, breakout?"
Now there are enemies on all sides. This is not a breakout situation!
Even if you don't look at the front, you can see from a distance that Liu Chengzong's frontal line is to the west, making it very difficult to break through; even if it stands out to the east, there is still the cavalry attacking their camp, which means they have to break through twice.
Both the north and the south are unfamiliar mountains. Even during the day, it is difficult to break through the mountains. If you burrow into the mountains at night, this army will not need an enemy at dawn. It will either hang on a tree or fall off a cliff, and you will be dead.
In such a situation, He Zan asked: "Where can we break out?"
In fact, He Huchen didn't know where to break out. His determination and self-confidence had been exhausted by repeated mistakes, and now was the time to be indecisive.
When He Zan asked this, he doubted himself again.
Suddenly, another burst of artillery sound echoed in the river valley. Several artillery shells fell in the formation. One artillery shell was only a few steps away from He Huchen and He Zan who were talking. The clod of soil raised by the impact on the ground even hit the two of them in the face. superior.
Before they could recover from their sudden shock, a shrill scream came from the camp. Someone had been shot, and he was still alive.
Being hit by a musket and not dying is definitely good luck, but being hit by a cannonball but not dying, no one knows whether this is good luck or bad luck.
If you are lucky, you will suffer for a long time and eventually become disabled; if you are unlucky, you will work in vain for several days and eventually die.
The father and son of the He family didn't care to say anything else. They ran over to follow the sound and found many sergeants gathered near the wounded soldiers. It was a drummer in the army.
His snare drum was smashed by the cannonball and his hip bone was also smashed through. He Huchen had just stepped forward and before he could think of what to say, the drummer saw him and suddenly became full of strength as if he was possessed by a god. He twisted on the ground and crawled over. , tightly grasped the hem of his armor skirt, and twitched while saying: "Handsome, handsome master, take me back, back to the central defender!"
He Huchen crouched down quickly: "Go back, go back to the central guard."
The drummer hugged the drummer with a difficult smile, and slowly let go of his hand.
Before He Huchen could say anything else, the low overtones of the Mongolian soldiers suddenly came from the northwest corner of the military formation. Accompanied by the high-pitched suona sound, a volley of gunshots rang out in the night, interrupting people's comfort for the wounded soldier who could not be saved.
Immediately, a short battle began, and people fired their artillery at the place where the fire was fired in the darkness. There was a flurry of shotguns and muskets in response. He Huchen also hurriedly returned to the central army, fearing that this was the harbinger of a large-scale enemy attack.
But this was another feint attack. After a short while, the outside returned to silence.
When He Huchen went to look for the wounded soldier, he found that the soldiers were all standing there. Even when they saw him, they didn't even salute. They just called him handsome man in a low tone.
By the time he walked through the crowd and walked into the middle, the soldier had already expired.
Although the drummer was brought back to the Ningxia central defender like a flashback, he couldn't bear the pain and finally tried his best to wipe his neck with a wrist knife.
He Huchen was in a low mood and said nothing. He returned to the central army and waved to the guards beside him to extinguish the torches. His whole body was hidden in the shadows. Although he was still standing, his spine collapsed.
Take him back to halfback.
He was the thirty-eighth soldier who died in this early morning, and all they had was a bloody horsehide.
Even if He Huchen searched the entire army, he couldn't find a second mat used to wrap the body. How could he bring this drummer back to the central defender!
He was not terribly sad, just despairing of his own inability.
They can't go back to the central defender if they hug the drummer.
It's just that the war situation will not give him the slightest chance to show his emotions. People in war are not worthy of emotions. Only a quarter of an hour later, another shelling struck again.
This time two shells fell accurately into the trench, killing one person and wounding five soldiers.
More deaths and more haze shrouded the hearts of everyone in the formation until the sky turned white.
Before the sun rose, the general stationed at the rear suddenly ran over, his face full of surprise and joy. He turned back and pointed to the east and said he saw the light of the torch.
He Huchen hurried over. In the distance to the east, it was indeed as his subordinates said. Under the dark blue light of the morning, the hazy firelight in the large shadows was slowly spreading towards this side.
His face showed a look of ecstasy for a moment, and then he restrained himself. He hurriedly sent people over. Seeing the Mongolian soldiers wandering in groups in the east, he hurriedly asked two cavalrymen to lead six horses and rush over to take a look. Did You Shilu lead his army?
But as soon as the two cavalrymen ran out, He Huchen's heart sank to the bottom... The Mongolian cavalry turned a blind eye to the two cavalrymen and had no idea of stopping them.
The hazy shadow stayed in the distance until a long time later, two men and six horses came back, and only one dejected soldier came back. He prostrated himself in front of He Huchen and said with despair on his face: "Commander, there are no reinforcements, they are the enemy. The enemy general said that he was General Yang Yao of the Marshal's Mansion, You Shuai... You Shuai ran away and ran back to Lanzhou."
As early in the morning approached, under the light blue sky, the visibility in the river valley was very poor. Yang Yao, who looked tired, was riding on his horse and led the team to slowly press the bridle. From yesterday evening to this morning, this night was more difficult for him. He Huchen still has a long way to go.
Too unlucky.
Yang Yao attacked eastward, but achieved almost no results and failed to capture any general's head.
He knew that there was He Renlong in Yansui Town. On the Tubao City, Liu Chengzong used a telescope to let him see what He Renlong looked like from a distance.
But he never thought that He Renlong could run so well.
He was not the one who started the fire in the official camp. As soon as he got close to the official camp, the fire started, and the officers and soldiers left behind in the camp ran eastward like a gust of wind.
Yang Yao entered the mountain platform and jumped into the air, leaving Qian Commander Yang Chengzu to rescue him. He led his army to pursue the retreating officers and soldiers. After traveling for forty miles, he only caught up with two local commanders and could not catch up with the main force of the enemy who fled. .
Recently, he could even see a man leading six horses, dragging He Renlong away with You Shilu, but he couldn't catch up.
Even after chasing him to the mouth of the river, he saw He Yong, an old acquaintance from the Lion Camp, riding his horse to the hillside and shouting loudly: "General, stop chasing me, thank you general for not killing!"
When Yang Yao sent a cavalry to chase He Yong, the leader of the family could run as well as the general.
Fortunately, when he came back, Yang Chengzu, a former bandit, did a good job of putting out the fire in the camp. Instead of using water to put out the fire, he first asked his two men to get into the river, and then rushed up the mountain to put out the fire in the military tent. , cotton-padded jackets were put aside, and more than two thousand stones of food and grass were rescued.
This food almost made Yang Yao angry to death. The fire was severe, but less than one tenth of the food was turned into charcoal. In other words, the army camp only had enough food to last ten days. This was the only food left. Do the officers and soldiers dare to fight?
However, a lot of soldiers, armor, equipment, horses, donkeys and mules were captured.
For this small amount of food, Yang Yao led his army without resting at the earthen fort on the way west. He took down the prisoner soldiers and asked them to carry the food and go west. On the way, he met Zhong Bao who was recruiting the wounded soldiers from the earthen fort, so he simply let them The prisoners had a good meal and told them that if they followed the commander, they would not starve in the future.
After walking another twenty miles, there was not even a troublemaker among the more than 4,000 prisoners.
When the three armies completed their assembly in the early morning and formed a large formation of officers and soldiers on three sides, Yang Yao rode his horse and ran to Liu Chengzong's side, shook his head and said: "Commander, stop fighting. Let's set up a pot and start dinner outside. Tell them to surrender!"
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Good evening!
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