Goguryeo's 20,000 main force had Zhou Xing's vanguard army clearing the way in front, and no unusual military information was reported from the front, so they marched with confidence. General Dong Jun saw that half of the sun had not entered the distant mountains, so he ordered to speed up the march. According to their current speed, the two armies will be able to meet at the boundary of Songshugou City as promised soon after dark.
Dong Jun knew that Zhou Xing was dissatisfied and unhappy with him in every possible way, but he was not worried about whether his colleagues would rest as ordered. Because they were all northern sects who obeyed Yuan Ziyou's orders, "Young Master" Yuan Taizuo was worried that the disagreement between the generals would affect the entire war situation before he divided his troops, so he specially called the generals above the commander of a thousand to give a lecture: He ordered the generals at all levels to You must obey the orders of the general and your immediate superiors; if you dare to disobey, you will be killed without mercy; if you mess up a major event, the Yi tribe will be killed.
At this military mobilization meeting, Zhou Xing became a model of negative teaching material and was severely criticized and warned by Yuan Taizuo.
It was because of Yuan Taizuo's warning and the severity of the punishment that Dong Jun felt more at ease with Zhou Xing, but the accident happened as expected.
Just as Dong Jun was thinking about how to defeat the enemy, a burst of commotion and noise suddenly came from the front, and the horseman riding fast in front slowly stopped. He put his thoughts back and immediately led his soldiers to urge the horse forward. He shouted sternly: "Why did you stop without permission? What happened?"
The general in front ordered the soldiers to separate a road and brought over a group of soldiers who were in a state of embarrassment and covered in blood. He saluted from a distance and said, "General, something happened to our front line!"
"What?" Dong Jun was shocked and immediately rushed forward. He saw that the soldiers were disheveled and some even lost their swords for close combat. He felt a chill in his heart and roared: "Tell me what happened. What's the matter?"
A middle-aged officer wearing centurion uniform bravely stepped forward. He bowed deeply to Dong Jun and said, "General, the vanguard arrived at the junction of Licheng and Songshugou more than an hour ago. However, our army was unprepared. Without any precautions, he was ambushed by the Sui army.
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"How many enemy soldiers are there? Where is Zhou Xing? Where did he die?" Dong Jun almost vomited blood when he heard this, and his face became more and more gloomy. According to the time mentioned by the centurion, damn Zhou Xingzhong was lying in the ambush. Previously, we were at least more than seventy miles away from the main force; if we hadn't marched hard all the way, we wouldn't have been able to throw the main force so far away. From this, it can be seen that the forward composed of 10,000 elite soldiers was stunned by him and became a tired army. How is the enemy's opponent?
[In view of the general environment,
Although the centurion didn't want to lie to the general, when he thought that his two sons were detained by the Sui army, he secretly gritted his teeth and respectfully followed the Sui general's instructions and said: "Although the enemy soldiers have seized the machine, but The actual strength of the army was only about 4,000. Our army did suffer relatively large casualties at first. However, our army was an elite army after all, and seeing that there were not many enemy troops, it quickly stabilized. General Zhou believed that this enemy army was left behind. The soldiers in the city ordered their subordinates to come and tell the general, asking the general to speed up and annihilate this army together before recapturing Songshugou City."
Dong Jun felt a little more at ease after hearing this. Zhou Xing was a man with great ambition and talent but was greedy for success. If he had the ability to annihilate the Sui army and capture Songshugou City, he would never send anyone for help. Judging from the words of this centurion, the forward must have suffered huge casualties at the beginning of the ambush, which made it impossible for the tired forward to defeat the Sui army and capture Songshugou City. Therefore, Zhou Xing had to ask him to send troops to assist as soon as possible. .
When he saw that the defeated soldiers who came to report were looking at him uneasily, and that all of them were injured, he gave up the idea of "treating him as deserters" and ordered: "You should retreat first and go back to Yingcheng to recover from your injuries."
"I obey my command!" The centurion suddenly felt relieved. Fortunately, they slashed each other a few times, otherwise they would have been dead. He did not dare to stay any longer, and retreated to the side of the army with the soldiers who also had their fathers, brothers, and sons falling into the hands of the enemy. , but he didn’t dare to go far, let alone leave immediately. Instead, he waited on the roadside for relief.
Several generals stepped forward and asked Dong Jun: "General, what should we do now?"
Dong Jun thought for a while, then asked without answering: "Is there any news about the Sui army going north?"
"It's estimated that it won't be available until an hour later." A general replied.
"The whole army is moving forward at full speed to rescue the front army!" Dong Jun can care about Zhou Xing's life or death, but the soldiers must save him.
A general was worried and said: "General, the Sui army is full of tricks. We may be ambushed by the Sui army again. Why don't we wait for news from the scouts first?"
Dong Jun looked at the sky and said resolutely: "It's too late, and this journey is only about forty or fifty miles. Let three thousand fine cavalry be the vanguard and advance at full speed. The rest will follow me."
Following his order, 20,000 fine cavalry immediately rushed forward.
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The area around Licheng and Songshugou City is a hilly area in Liaodong. The raised hills are covered with lush forests. The official road winds around the hills. On both sides of the road are patches of farmland and wheat fields abandoned by the war. . The path taken by the Goguryeo army generally showed an open curved bow.
Dong Junjun galloped all the way. They all rode and marched quickly. In less than half an hour, the team had reached the middle of "Bending Bow", with dense forests on both sides. The team immediately slowed down and looked at both sides with vigilance.
However, the Sui army did not appear, and the scouts also said that there were no ambushes on the left and right. Dong Jun was relieved after hearing this. This section of the road is the most "precarious" part of the official road. Since the Sui army did not appear here, it can be seen that the Sui army in Songshugou City All the available troops were dragged on the battlefield, leaving no extra troops. The main force that left the city yesterday should have been ambushed in the Xiaoci Mountain area at this moment.
With this in mind, he once again ordered the army to speed up their march.
"Xilulu!" After about ten miles of galloping, the thunderous forwards turned their horses on their backs without any warning. The knights on the horses rolled to the ground, leaving only the rear cavalry who continued to gallop and trampled over Pao Ze's body. .
This caused another wave of people to flip over, and the sound of screams echoed through the sky.
The sudden turn of events caused Dong Jun, who had rarely been on the battlefield, to panic and subconsciously gave the order to stop advancing.
However, when the cavalry is running at high speed, even if they want to stop marching, it will take a while. If such an order is issued rashly, the result will be absolutely catastrophic for the Goguryeo army; at the same time, it will also make the aggressive The army fell into chaos for an instant. Although it did not cause greater casualties, it caused chaos in the front army, the middle army, and the rear army. The soldiers were crowded with people and horses on the official road.
"What happened?" Dong Jun was shocked and angry.
"General, the ground is full of dense holes. Because they were covered with a layer of grass and leaves, the soldiers fell into them."
"Prepare for war!" Dong Jun's expression changed drastically. He quickly understood the origin of these holes. They were clearly dug by the Sui army to target the cavalry. However, it was too late to realize this.
As soon as he finished speaking, thousands of arrows suddenly shot out from the jungles on both sides. The dense rain of arrows rose into the sky and rained down heavily towards the huddled Goguryeo soldiers. In an instant, there were even louder screams and the neighing of war horses. .
In an instant, nearly a thousand people were hit by arrows and fell down.
The horse that had been hit by the arrow screamed and ran around, making the scene completely chaotic, and panic swept the entire army.
"Buzz!" The dense sound of bow strings rebounding joined together to form a rapid sound, and the crossbow arrows continued to shoot at the Goguryeo cavalry in the middle of the official road like raindrops, with astonishing speed and efficiency.
A "field" of crossbow arrows, as dense as a rainstorm, pierced into the chaos of the Goguryeo army. In an instant, a large number of them fell. Groups of Goguryeo soldiers fell to the ground and howled, making the long and narrow official road more than a hundred paces wide seem like It became like Shura's purgatory, with screams one after another, and soldiers who were hit by arrows fell to the ground.
"Break out of the siege." Dong Jun waved his horse to make sure the arrows missed. He had also come to his senses at this time. He knew that retreating would only make the army more chaotic and more difficult to move. The only way to survive was to take advantage of the enemy's not completely blocking the enemy. An opportunity to carve a bloody path ahead. As for whether there is still a trap ahead, it is no longer under consideration.
However, the former soldiers and horses who fell in front became the biggest obstacle to their progress, making the Goguryeo army's progress difficult every step of the way. However, the crossbow arrows on the left and right sides continued to fire, which made the Goguryeo army look like a
The first tiger was trapped in this long and narrow area. No matter how many of them there were and no matter how crazy they shouted, it was of no avail and was useless.
What is even more infuriating and desperate is that the Sui army lurking on the side did not even give the Goguryeo army a chance to engage in hand-to-hand combat. They only used arrows to throw them into a more chaotic situation, allowing them to collide and trample each other in the chaos.
The entire official road was filled with corpses under the setting sun, and the gurgling blood dyed the road red. The scene was extremely tragic. The miserable screams kept coming and going.
Wei Yunqi on the hill was indifferent to everything in front of him. Not only did his heroic face show no signs of discomfort, but there was a trace of excitement on his face, as if he was enjoying this killing feast.
Previously, Wei Yunqi fought a wonderful ambush battle more than 20 miles ahead. In order to prevent the news from leaking, he specially ordered two thousand Xiaoguojing to ride behind Zhou Xingjun to hunt down deserters, so that the deserters could not convey military information to Dong Jun. As for the soldiers who escaped, he actually used their relatives as hostages and ordered them to act according to his orders.
A perfect forward for ambush, Wei Yunqi only left the wounded soldiers to guard the prisoners, and then he non-stop set up ambushes in flat areas and dug simple horse traps.
Compared with the previous ambush battle that needed to cover up the news, this one focused on annihilating the enemy's vital forces. In addition, Dong Junjun had no troops behind him, so Wei Yunqi didn't care whether any deserters from the Goguryeo army successfully escaped, let alone It took a lot of effort to divide the troops to intercept the deserters in the rear; and the different combat nature and combat requirements not only made the current battle simpler and easier, but also gave Wei Yunqi more soldiers to use.
"Attack the cavalry and kill all the enemy troops." Seeing that the Goguryeo army was in complete chaos, Wei Yunqi finally gave a vicious order to kill them.
"Woooooooo!" The Sui army cavalry distributed on both sides of the battlefield were already eager to attack. As the order to attack came, the soldiers, led by generals at all levels, roared into the enemy's thicket and defeated the enemy. The army was cut into several sections.
Thunderous sounds of horse hooves also came from the north, but a Sui army with thousands of fine cavalry came from behind to cover up the massacre, killing the large-scale deserters in the rear one by one.
At the same time, the crossbow soldiers also put away their crossbows and shouted to kill into the official road.
A one-sided and tragic massacre began.
Dong Jun, who was guarded by hundreds of Chinese soldiers, saw that he was unable to do anything, and the crossbow arrows stopped coming. He suddenly said sadly: "Abandon your horse and escape into the mountains and forests." With that, he dismounted and headed towards a Sui Jun soldier. There were fewer soldiers to break out of the gap.
Looking back at the battlefield and then at the "infantry", which numbered less than four to five hundred people, Dong Jun felt like crying.
His 20,000 fine cavalry were defeated and destroyed by the Sui army so neatly; if you add in the forwards who were bound to lose, it would be 30,000!
"General, there are more than three or four thousand Sui soldiers. These are not the defenders of Songshugou City at all." A centurion looked pale as he looked at the mighty Sui soldiers who were chasing the defeated troops. Said to the general.
"You're right, this is clearly the main force of the Sui army, not the defenders. The Sui army commander saw through General Yuan's plan to lure the enemy, so he used a trick on us. If the hateful Zhou Xing had been a little more careful, he wouldn't have As for us being reduced to this." Dong Jun sighed and said with a sad smile: "Oh, fortunately we have full confidence in General Yuan's plan to lure the enemy, but we have forgotten that the people of the Central Plains are the ancestors of the art of war."
"General, it's not a good time to stay here for a long time, let alone lament. We should leave as soon as possible." Another centurion finished speaking and asked hurriedly: "General, what should we do now? Where to go?"
Dong Jun felt that if he returned to Yingcheng, he would most likely be killed by Yuan Taizuo, so he said: "General Yuan has his own notice of desertion, so there is no need for us to report it; let's go to Xiaoci Mountain to find General Wu Ning."
The few remaining generals had the same thoughts as Dong Jun. They were also worried that they would be killed by Yuan Taizuo to vent their hatred. When they heard the general say this, their heartstrings suddenly relaxed: "General, I obey!"
"Let's go!" Dong Jun said and walked towards the mountains and forests.
"Here!" Everyone hurriedly followed.
…
With the departure of the general, the next battle has been over.
There was no doubt that the Goguryeo army's 20,000 elite cavalry troops were easily swallowed up by the Sui army.
"General, should we go back to the city to rest and wait for the king, or should we continue the pursuit?" Dugu Kaiyuan, covered in blood, rode his horse to Wei Yunqi's side and asked excitedly.
Dugu Kaiming is the fourth son of Dugu Luo. He is only 24 years old this year. When his father was alive, because he was the eldest son of Dugu Xin's ex-wife Ru Luo and had the right to inherit his father's title, he was favored by Dugu Xin's second wife Guo for a long time. His sons excluded, humiliated, and plotted against him; if Dugu Jialuo hadn't paid special attention to his very loyal eldest brother, he wouldn't even have a chance to inherit Dugu Xin's title. But Dugu Luo Yifang also broke with Dugu Shun, Dugu Tuo, Dugu Zheng and others because he inherited the title of Dugu Xin.
As Duguluo and Dugujialu passed away successively, Dugushun and others treated Duguluo even more excessively. In addition, they were particularly capable, so they were treated coldly by Yang Jian and Yang Guang, who did not like them in the first place; However, Dugu Kaiyuan and his four brothers were appreciated by Yang Jian and Yang Guang because of their break with their uncles.
In anger, he announced his own business. The eldest brother Dugu Zuan inherited the title of Duke of Zhao, the second brother Dugu Wudu was granted the title of Guzang County Duke, the third brother Dugu Kaiyuan was granted the title of Xiping County Duke, and the fifth brother Dugu Kaiche was granted the title of Xihai County Duke. However, Dugu Kaiming He has the title of Duke of Dunhuang.
The titles of the uncles were only county princes.
Wei Yunqi also considered this question asked by Dugu Kaiming. He said: "After we defeated this army, the threat from the west has disappeared, and Yuan Taizuo has many soldiers who are unable to fight, and because of this battle But the morale of the army is shaken, and 90% of the time he will not dare to attack again, which also means that the city defense is worry-free. Our next focus will be on the Goguryeo army in the east."
"Should we use offense instead of defense?" Dugu Kaiming asked again.
"Of course!" Wei Yunqi said with a smile, "Our army's advantage lies in fighting in the wild. If we are trapped in an isolated city, our army's advantages cannot be used at all. Outside the city, we can use them to our fullest."
"As for the army in the east, I don't want to annihilate them all, but no matter what, I have to kill some of them ruthlessly on the way."
