As expected, the sound of the trumpet carried far away. I don't know whether it was Lou Shiming's eagerness to save his brother or some other reason. In the end, there were still some cars and horses that could not enter the city, and his troops were already only two miles away from Longyang Gang.
Li Dan immediately ordered the Second Company to go forward to Longyang Gang to block the enemy's approach. The remaining engineering platoon and projection platoon covered the civilians and abandoned some vehicles to build roadblocks. Those who were close to the city gate entered the city to escape, and those who were close to Shangban Fort returned to the west bank toward Song. Retreat toward the ridge.
"Not bad, at least this kid is kind enough to know to use the horn to notify him from a long way away." Li Dan thought of this and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
He raised his binoculars and looked across, thought for a moment, looked back at the Second Company assembled at the bottom of the slope, and suddenly came up with a plan. He called Gao Can to whisper with him and asked, "Can it be done?"
Gao Can rolled his eyelids: "What's wrong with this? Just look at me!"
Lou Shiming's pioneer is Bai Tiaosu. Now that it’s included, it’s natural to use it! Lou Shiming sent his own people with nearly a thousand troops to the camp outside the north gate to receive them, and ordered Bai Tiaosu to bring a thousand people out to "exchange his merits."
The three generals were lost. How could a former subordinate have the nerve to sit in the camp and watch others save his own commander?
It should be noted that the new master was famous for his strict military management. Bai Tiaosu had no choice but to lead his troops to join him. Once he arrived, he was appointed as the vanguard, leading 600 people at the forefront.
Seeing that Longyang Hill was two hundred steps away, the surroundings were quiet, with no birds chirping or frogs chirping, and only a blue flag standing on the top of the hill.
Bai Tiaosu tilted his head and thought, unable to figure out what this meant, so he simply ignored it and ordered his men to go up and occupy it immediately, and pull down the flag before talking!
Immediately there was a bold little leader who climbed up with dozens of people. Suddenly there was a loud "rumbling" sound, and the earth shook, scaring everyone to the point where they all fell to the ground.
Before the smoke cleared, the people above ran back in despair. Many people's clothes were torn, and some were dancing with their empty hands in the air, as if they had seen ghosts and gods.
Bai Tiaosu couldn't stand upright on his horse, so he held on to the frightened and retreating horse to prevent him from falling. He shouted angrily: "What is this, what's going on?" At this time, the people running down had already bumped into the team, and the whole team was in chaos, and it was somewhat untenable.
Suddenly, Bai Tiaosu felt the ground shaking. He looked up and saw many cavalrymen pouring out from behind the smoke in front. Someone shouted: "We have fallen into a trap, the army has surrounded us!" The team immediately exploded.
Bai Tiaosu also wanted to run, but this time the damn horse was spinning in circles and couldn't move away.
In desperation, he rolled to the ground and ran after his team, but he forgot that he was still wearing heavy armor, and he was out of breath before running a few dozen steps.
Gao Can, who was chasing after him quickly, identified this guy as Guan'er, went up and knocked him over with a shot, and continued his attack.
His company was said to be mounted infantry, holding javelins on horseback, but Bai Tiaosu's people didn't know that. They only knew that their three generals had just been captured here, and they saw many corpses on the way here!
Therefore, fear took the first place in their hearts. As a result, many people had their backs pierced by javelins, and some were knocked away or trampled to death.
It wasn't until he saw Lou Shiming's main force from a distance that Gao Can sounded the gong and retreated his troops. In the blink of an eye, this group of cavalry disappeared without a trace, leaving only casualties everywhere and the green flag still flying on the hill.
Lou Shiming came to Bai Tiaosu's body and knelt down to look at it, spat, and then continued forward alone. He looked up at the flag, smelled the smell in the air, and looked at the smoke and dust behind the hillock that was obviously deliberately raised, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Li Dan, Li Sanlang, if you have the guts, come forward and speak!"
He shouted three times, and then he saw Li Dan slowly riding his horse out from behind the hillock. He stopped the horse thirty or forty steps away with a smile and said, "Hey, isn't this the Second Heavenly King? So big Angry, I thought it was the Third General!"
"Stop smiling so playfully, where is my brother?"
"He's fine, don't worry! Why, are you here to redeem someone?"
"Nonsense!" Lou Shiming said unhappily: "You are a dishonest kid. We never said we were going to arrest my brother."
"I didn't expect him to come in person, let alone be caught by Monk Gao so easily. It was an accident, really!" Li Dan said sincerely: "But don't worry, the news has not been leaked, Shangrao doesn't know , only a few of us here know it.”
"What do you want to do?"
"Let him walk with us for a while. Once we get out of your Lou family's territory, I will put him back."
"But my father is very worried about his safety."
"Don't worry about this, I'm not that stupid." Li Dan placed Changshan across the saddle and said:
"You can follow behind, as long as you don't get too close, we will camp at least two miles apart at night.
Once he leaves the realm of Shangrao, I will naturally let him go and keep his word. If you stay too close, if your brothers are killed or injured, you won't be charged to me! "
"What about the others? As usual?"
"Business as usual!"
"Okay." Lou Shiming looked at the team behind him and nodded: "I agree, but be nice to him and don't make it the same as last time!"
"Definitely, definitely!" After Li Dan finished speaking, he shouted loudly: "It's useless to talk more!
A certain person has arranged a goldfish tail-wagging formation behind this mountain. If you have the ability, come and break the formation. Otherwise, leave early to avoid the loss of life and regrets! "After he finished speaking like a song, he turned his horse's head and trotted back to the hillside.
Lou Shiming was stunned for a moment after hearing this. He hadn't tasted the taste yet, so he had to turn around and return to his side. Qianzhong asked: "Second Young Master, how are you doing?"
"The person is indeed in his hands. It's basically the same as you guessed. Let's follow him. He promised to release the person once he leaves Shangrao." Lou Shiming finished speaking in a low voice and frowned: "It's just the last few words he said. what does it mean?"
"He seems to have set up some kind of formation behind the hill?" Qianzhong prompted.
"Goldfish tail wagging formation, sir, have you ever heard of it?"
"No."
"Which one of you has heard of this goldfish tail-wagging formation?" Lou Shiming asked loudly, and all his subordinates looked at each other.
"Second General, why don't we go up that hill and have a look?" someone suggested.
"It makes sense, but who will go? The corpses of Bai Tiaosu and his two hundred men are still there!" Another person sneered.
"I think we don't need to send so many people. Just send one. Under the heavy reward, there must be brave men. Just one will be fine."
After hearing this, Lou Shiming thought it was reasonable, and offered a reward: whoever could climb to the top of Longyang Gang, see what was behind, and then come back to report it, would be rewarded with two taels of silver.
Sure enough, two brave men stepped forward to apply. Then everyone held their breath and watched them move forward and cautiously go up the mountain... After a long time, the two finally came back.
"How? Say it quickly, say it quickly!" After paying the reward, everyone rushed to hear the result.
"Second General, there is nothing."
"What do you mean 'nothing'?"
"It's just 'nothing'. It's just a clearing. There are some broken branches, horse hoof prints, and nothing else."
"Oops!" Qianzhong shouted. Seeing Lou Shiming looking at him, Qianzhong told him in a dumbfounded voice: "The goldfish swung its tail, and it has already run away. That's the so-called escape!"
"Hey, you little bastard!" Lou Shiming couldn't help but yell.
Li Dan teased the Second Heavenly King with a "goldfish tail wagging", buying time for all the officers, soldiers and civilians to retreat. When Lou Shiming rushed to the city, he only picked up some scattered food packages and vehicles. The loss was only about 200 shi, but he never saw a single person.
He ordered to leave 800 people to guard Longyang Gang and 400 people to guard Shangban Fort. Then he divided the team that had crossed the river into two and asked Qianzhong to lead people to Guangxin, while he took 600 or 700 elites to continue along the river. Car ruts and horse hoof prints followed north.
While Li Dan was playing the role of the Second Heavenly King, Long Hui's cavalry made rafts out of wood and began to carry the team across the river. If the catapults were here at this time, they would be sure to hit them accurately. Unfortunately, everyone could only watch helplessly.
However, the snagging ropes, traps, animal traps and the like set up on the road still had some effect. After suffering several losses, the cavalry became cautious and sent five men to clear the way in front.
But the speed was ugly. The cavalry patiently advanced for half a mile at a speed that was slower than the infantry. Suddenly they found that there seemed to be no more designs in front of them, and they cheered immediately.
It seems that the enemy did not have time to block the entire road. Long Hui quickly asked everyone to get on their horses and rush through this section of the road.
However, as soon as the team arrived at the foot of the northern foot of the barren mountain, right at the place where Lou Shiming was blocked last time, after a whistle, a large number of logs flew down from the mountain, knocking down dozens of cavalrymen at once.
The sudden casualties made Long Hui angry, and he also concluded that using such tactics meant that the number of opponents was very limited.
He ordered the logs to be removed, leaving a group of men to tend to the wounded while the others moved on. A quarter of an hour later, he arrived at the end of Luoqiao Slope, when suddenly there was a roar in front of him, which frightened the livestock.
After finally controlling the whole team, Long Hui took a few people and rushed to the front of the team to take a look. He saw that two of the five cavalrymen walking in the front were dead, one was seriously injured, and the last two looked at the broken corpses on the ground. Almost petrified.
At this time, there was another noise at the back of the team. It turned out that someone came to report that the team that stayed behind to take care of the wounded was under attack. The opponents were not many in number but had superb martial arts skills. Only one person was left to report the message, and the rest were all killed. Then the opponent also destroyed Raft!
Long Hui had no choice but to look at the dejected team and ordered them to retreat and go to the ferry to reorganize the team. At the same time, he sent out detective horses to ask the locals if there was a way around them.
He didn't know that when he retreated to Dayuan Ferry to rest, the pursuers led by Lou Shiming encountered almost the same situation. They were smashed by logs rolling down the mountain, and even Lou Shiming himself was injured on the head. .
Taking advantage of the two groups of pursuers being blocked, the auxiliary soldiers finally transported the last supplies across Lianjiatang and over the ridge. The command company and Li Dan's second company, which were stuck behind, also began to cross the mountain pass.
"Tell Pei Tianhu that he has done a good job and can evacuate!" Li Dan instructed the communication soldiers: "Let them protect themselves behind them. After the team crosses the Yinma River, it will regroup at Qigongtan. He can follow up in time. .”
With great difficulty, Lou Shiming carefully crossed the Pine Ridge and reached the northern foot of the barren mountain. The men sent by Detective Ma and Long Hui met each other, and only then did they know that the other existed.
After the two sides joined forces, they gained some numbers and gained a lot of confidence. Although Lou Shiming's men were all selected elites, they only had two hundred cavalry.
Hearing that three hundred cavalrymen had already gone north along the river to explore the road, they quickly asked Long Hui to pull them back:
"Li Dan would never take that road. It's too easy to walk along the river and too easy to catch up. He must have climbed over the ridge from Lianjiatang. If you take the river, you will have to walk an unnecessary four hours. ." After thinking about it, he decided to leave the infantry to guard Luo Bridge.
"What should we do?"
"We have a thousand cavalry on both sides, which is enough. Let the infantry stay in Luoqiao as a support. We will only take the cavalry and go over the ridge and follow their tracks."
Long Hui agreed. The two men then led the cavalry to chase them down, and they were indeed very fast. However, we encountered several obstacles set up by Fourth Brother Pei on the road, but fortunately they had little impact. It was almost evening when we crossed the Chu River and saw Li Dan leaving the village at Tongjialing from a distance.
"Mother, these thieves are walking too fast! Let me hurry up!" Long Hui had already taken off his helmet, and the gray cloth turban wrapped around his head was soaked with sweat.
"Let's go to the village to rest." Lou Shiming asked him to gather the team and take a few people to explore to see if Lou Shifan was really in this team. "Don't chase me for a long time, that's a joke!" he said.
The guard post noticed the movement on the other side and immediately reported to Li Dan. Li Dan mounted his horse and led Lu Jiu and Mao Xiulu to greet him.
"I have to see if the third child is really in your hands. Are you trying to trick me?" Lou Shiming said.
Li Dan looked at him in surprise, pointed and asked, "What's wrong with your head?"
"Didn't I fall into your trap?" Lou Shiming supported him with his hand and said with a bared tooth: "I have fought in so many battles without getting hurt. Who would have thought that I was plotted by you?"
"Hey, slow down, slow down, what my men do cannot be blamed on me. To be honest, I really don't know what kind of trap they have set." Li Dan laughed tremblingly, turned around and asked Mao Xiulu to take Lou Shifan away. Bring it out.
Lou Shiming became even more angry: "Your people are not following your orders. If they don't do things on your behalf, who will do it on your head?"
"I mean what I say. Did I give you Guangxin City as well? But I never said I wouldn't set a trap for you during the retreat, so I can only blame you for being careless!"
"Don't be such a talker." Lou Shiming waved his hand: "Look, I keep my word and that's what I did when I went to the village from a distance. Can we set up another restraint on each other?
Don't try to trick me again, and I won't plot against you. It is my goal to catch the third child. You must promise to return him to me with all his beard and tail, otherwise I will never be done with you! "
"Okay, that's the condition? It's easy to say! I'll let him go tomorrow, and you have to endure it for one more night." Li Dan was also very happy.
"Second brother, help me!" The two of them looked at the sound and saw Mao Xiulu coming back. The lance knight behind him was leading another horse. On top of it sat Lou Shifan with his hands tied. They were about fifty steps away. Stopped.
"Why are you like this again? Who told you to go down the mountain on your own initiative?" Lou Shiming said with a serious face: "When you get back, you can ask for forgiveness yourself, brother!"
"You, you're not here to save me now?"
"I would like to, but Li Sanlang only agrees to tomorrow. Now you are a hostage, and they will not let you go until they leave Shangrao safely. Do you understand? Since he said this, he will not harm you. Just bear with him for one night."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard the "swish" sound of the wind.
Lu Jiu shouted: "Sir, be careful of hidden arrows!" After saying this, he was already on horseback. As soon as he raised the shield in his hand, he heard the sound of "Duo, Duo", and five or six arrows were already inserted into the shield. Feather arrows.
Li Dan himself also dialed two. When Mao Xiulu saw this, he drew his sword and put it on Lou Shifan's shoulder, making him scream in fright.
"Stop, everyone, stop!" Lou Shiming was shocked. He had already seen twenty or thirty riders running from the side. He immediately urged his horse to stand in front of Li Dan and shouted: "General Long, please don't be rude. Are you going to kill our brother?"
After hearing this, the cavalrymen stopped and gradually formed a line. Long Hui was a little discouraged when he saw that he failed to hit the target with one blow. He bit his lower lip and replied loudly: "Second Young Master, if you have anything to say to them, just take them away." Isn’t it okay to come back?”
"You are confused! What if you can't take it back? Are you going to risk my brother's life? Can your father touch your head and say 'well done'?"
After Lou Shiming finished speaking, his eyes jumped and he saw some green and black knight figures emerging from the hillside behind Long Hui.
"Li Sanlang, tell them not to do anything!" He yelled in fright. Lou Shiming has never felt so close to death in his life. This time he was really scared.
The number of opponents was more than twice that of his own, and he had already heard the sharp calls of police whistles in Li Dan's camp and felt the vibrations from the ground.
It is only two hundred steps away from the opponent's camp, but two miles away from our own people. If we really take action, all of these people will probably fall before reinforcements arrive!
"We won't do such dirty things." Li Dan replied. He looked back at the first company of cavalry emerging from behind the bamboo fence of his camp. He slowly raised his right hand and the cavalry divided into left and right groups to surround them, forming a formation with Li Dan A circle with Dan as its core.
"Long Hui, you bastard, put your weapons down!" Lou Shiming shouted, watching his subordinates carry out the order, he turned his horse's head, cupped his fists and said: "It's just a misunderstanding. The family is eager to save people. If you do something unwise, please look to Haihan! "
"Second General, you have seen him, and he is fine at the moment. Please come back, please. If this or that misunderstanding happens again, the safety of the Third General can only be counted on God!"
After speaking, Li Dan waved to Zhou Tu, who was pointing his bow and arrow at Lou Shiming: "Zhou Tu, let them go, go back and discipline your subordinates!"
Zhou Tu put down his bow and shouted: "Put away the crossbow and let them pass!"
A two-foot-long opening was opened in the encirclement. Lou Shiming, who was full of shame, gave Long Hui a hard look, then looked at his brother, and shouted: "Let's go!" and led his men out of the opening one by one.
"Are you okay?" Zhou Tu came over and asked.
Li Dan looked at Lu Jiu and saw that he was struggling to pull out an arrow from his leg armor: "What's going on? Are you hit by an arrow?"
"It's okay, there are two guys who are just bad at shooting." Lu Jiu grinned. Only then did everyone realize that there was an arrow hanging diagonally on his waist.
Everyone was surprised and looked carefully, and found that the arrow was not a penetrating awl and failed to penetrate the inside. The other party probably took the wrong arrow in a panic.
It got stuck between the nail lobes and scratched the skin, but it failed to enter the body and cause more damage.
After everyone took out the arrow and called the medical soldiers, they put the reluctant Lu Jiu on a stretcher and asked the military doctor to treat the wound. It was considered a near miss.
"This guy saved my life today!" Li Dan sighed.
"It seems that eating a portion for two people is quite worthwhile!" Pei Tianhu, who came down from the mountain, made a not-so-clever joke.
Li Dan shook his head: "If he can protect me and remain unharmed, I will be happy to feed ten people every day!"
After speaking, he said to Zhou Tu: "Tell Gao Yingzheng to set up double posts tonight. We really can't worry about these bandits being on the side." Then he turned to Pei Tianhu: "Fourth brother, you have been exposed, leaving one or two groups behind. Echo outside, others should withdraw."
After saying that, he followed the large group of people back to the camp and told the guard sergeant to be careful!
Some people died, but not completely...
