It is said that the name of the token mountain came from the fact that after the founding of the People's Republic of China in Yingqiu, Jiang Taigong issued orders here during the eastward expedition against Lai Yi.
The Qin-Han Straight Road at the foot of this mountain is the only way to enter Donglai County from the west.
When Gou Xi learned from the prisoners that Liu Yu had led 5,000 Donglai troops to Tongle Mountain, he felt very happy.
The token mountain controls the traffic artery, and the Donglai Army must want to build a fort in advance by relying on the mountain.
Although an upward attack on a narrow mountainous area would cause a large number of casualties, Gou Xi, after interrogating the prisoners of the Donglai Army, felt that Liu Yu and the Donglai Army were just desperate bandits.
When the time comes, if I take more lives, the Donglai Army will definitely be defeated.
After all, even if more people die, most of them are powerful soldiers from various families. The more people die, the less restrictive forces there are.
Moreover, Gou Xi had just received news that the refugees in Dunqiu, Yanzhou, had become huge, and someone from the Luoyang court had proposed that Wang Jun, the governor of Youzhou, send troops to encircle and suppress them.
Although it was temporarily suppressed by Sima Yue, who was afraid of Wang Jun, Yanzhou was too close to the center of Luoyang, and it was inevitable that the refugees could not continue to wreak havoc.
If he cannot return to Yanzhou quickly by then, I am afraid that the Luoyang court will have to let Wang Jun send troops south. By then, his idea of regaining control of Yanzhou will come to nothing.
Therefore, Gou Xi was eager to win a quick victory against Liu Yu of Donglai this time.
He was previously afraid that Liu Yujian would clear the country and retreat into the city. By then, it would probably take a lot of time, and he might even be forced to withdraw due to the bad snowy weather in Donglai County.
At this time, it seemed that Liu Yu dared to resist him in a field battle with only 5,000 men and horses, which was a complete end to his death.
But Gou Xi's expected battle to attack Token Mountain did not happen, because when he led the vanguard to arrive, he found that the Donglai army here had withdrawn eastward, leaving only an empty camp.
Gou Xi immediately sent out cavalry to pursue and investigate, and found that the Donglai army had retreated ten miles to the east and was about to retreat to Luxiang City. .
Gou Xi immediately led two thousand cavalry in light pursuit, and finally caught up with part of the Donglai Army's rear army. A brief but fierce battle broke out between the two sides. Finally, before other Donglai Army came to support, Gou Xi led the cavalry to retreat. This battle Gou Xi's Yajun cavalry killed more than 200 Donglai troops at the cost of less than 20 casualties.
Gou Xi felt that although the gains in this battle were not many, it greatly damaged the morale of the Donglai Army. Until Gou Xi's rear army arrived, some of the Donglai Army in the city dared to go out of the city to harass.
By Youshi, Gou Xi's troops, numbering more than 40,000, had surrounded Luxiang City on three sides, leaving only the east side empty to give the illusion that Donglai's army in the city could escape at any time.
In fact, as long as the Donglai army in the city abandoned the city and fled eastward, Gou Xi's two thousand cavalry could easily catch up with the fleeing infantry and inflict devastating damage.
In Luxiang City.
Dong Ping, who was responsible for commanding the rear during the withdrawal, was lying on the couch with a pale face, and a bloody wound appeared on his bare shoulder.
"Okay, cleaning is done. Remember to use this alcohol to scrub before changing the cloth."
After Liu Yu wrapped Dong Ping's medicine cloth with his own hands, he said to Dong Ping's personal steps.
"Ji Xing, this Gou Xi cavalry is really sharp. What a pity for those brothers who lost their lives."
Dong Ping said with an annoyed look on his face.
"Victory and defeat are common matters for military strategists, so don't worry about them."
"I don't know if those powerful Linzi men will succeed in assassinating Gou Xi tonight."
"Just wait and see what happens."
According to Xue Qi, Qingzhou's powerful forces will falsely claim that there is a sneak attack by the Donglai Army tonight, and then cause signs of commotion in the camp. At that time, Gou Xi, who is strict in military management, will lead his army to suppress it, and Qingzhou's powerful forces will send people to approach in the dark. , use sophisticated archers to snipe Gou Xi, and the chance of success is very high. Even if it fails, the Donglai army in the city can take advantage of the chaos and raid Gou Xi's camp.
Although Liu Yu agreed to this plan, no matter whether these powerful men succeeded in assassinating Gou Xi, he would not lead his troops out of the city to raid now.
Because the strength of Gou Xi's troops has exceeded the expectations of the Donglai army, without the advantage of defending the city, it may be difficult to defeat Gou Xi's troops who are twice as many as his own in a field battle.
At the second watch, Gou Xi, who had just fallen asleep, was suddenly awakened by a burst of noise.
"Come here, what happened?"
Gou Xi turned over, and the armor she had not taken off made a squeaking sound.
"My lord, the fire came from the direction of the North Camp and the South Camp. My subordinates have sent people to check."
A personal guard immediately reported outside the tent.
Gou Xi immediately put on a thick cloak, took his sword and walked out of the camp to check.
On the north and south sides of the camp where Gou Xi was located, large fires flashed out from the military camps at the same time, and bursts of loud noises came from the night sky.
Soon, the soldiers who went to check came back and reported that the North and South Battalions had been attacked by a small group of Donglai Army in the city. Although the losses were not large, there was a riot in the camp, and the suppression has not been completed yet.
Gou Xi heard that although a sneak attack by a small group of enemies would not cause much damage, soldiers who had marched for more than 20 miles and continuously built camps were extremely prone to camp roars during such night attacks. If not handled properly, It may even cause tens of thousands of soldiers to collapse without a fight.
The two battalions in the north and south were all powerful men from Qingzhou. These people had little war experience. Gou Xi did not dare to be careless, so he cleanly led hundreds of his cavalry to command and suppress the riots.
After a while, Gou Xi led his army to the north camp. The camp was noisy. Many people were running back and forth. Some were going to carry water to put out the burning tents, some were searching for the horses that had run away, and some were just panicking. Wandering around pointlessly.
Under the leadership of Beiying Yadu, Gou Xi's guards began to line up in order to suppress the rioting crowd. Just when everyone was calming down because of the arrival of the general.
Suddenly, a scream sounded from beside Gou Xi.
A guard next to Gou Xi was hit in the face by an arrow and fell to the ground screaming in pain.
"There's an assassin!"
"Protect the lord!"
"General, be careful!"
"Lord, be careful!"
The guards around Gou Xi immediately sounded a warning sound, but it was too late. At least five feather arrows hit Gou Xi from different directions.
The soldiers swarmed up and surrounded Gou Xi in the center. The other soldiers who had originally suppressed the riot had to surround him immediately after hearing the shouts.
A group of guards protected Gou Xi, whose body was already limp, and retreated towards the Chinese army's camp.
"Why don't you give the order to intercept and kill!"
One person hiding in the shadow said to another person.
"I saw clearly just now that Gou Xi was hit by five arrows, two of which hit his face. He will definitely not survive. And if we lead our troops to intercept and kill Gou Xi's guards, if we cannot wipe out all these elite soldiers, we will all be exposed. . In this case, it can be said to be a sneak attack by Donglai bandits."
The man continued, "Besides, haven't you noticed? We have already raised fire as a signal. Why haven't the Donglai Army in the city left the city to attack?"
"you mean?"
"Do you think Gou Xi is the only one who wants our lives? If we fight openly with Gou Xi himself, I'm afraid the Donglai bandits in this city will benefit from it."
"Now what?"
"Closing the camp and holding on, news of Gou Xi's death will soon spread."
