Li Jiangyao thought for a moment and asked, "What time is it now?"
"Sir, it's almost three quarters past three o'clock. Because it's cloudy and foggy today, it's not very bright yet," the officer responded.
"Where's Holia?" Li Jiangyao's tone was tight: "Call her over."
The officer hesitated for a moment and said: "My lord, the princess led the soldiers to repair and strengthen the riverside fortifications overnight. It seems that she has just finished her work and then entered the camp to rest. Will you summon her to the commander's tent now?"
Li Jiangyao slapped the table without any doubt: "Stop talking nonsense! Find Huo Liya quickly, there is something big going on!"
-
Durham immediately stood on the west bank of the Ulundu River, overlooking the Zhenjiang Army camp shrouded in mist. The leader of the Western Xinjiang Alliance, Ali Kejiang, was beside him. Further behind, there were hundreds of soldiers. Jin Jiajun and Loulan Guards.
Alikejiang shook his cloak, touched his mustache, and said with a ferocious smile: "Master Marquis, you see, Shengtang Barbarian has indeed noticed something."
Durham smiled triumphantly and hummed: "The Shengtang people have always been cunning, so they will naturally notice our actions the night before and see through the arrangements under the water. They have erected so many obstacles to prevent horses overnight, I guess. I’m almost exhausted, haha.”
"Our son-in-law has worked so hard, so it's time for them to get tired." Alekjiang said with a flattering look on his face.
Durham stopped smiling and asked, "Brother Alekjiang, what are the movements of the camp opposite? Have you found out yet?"
Hearing this, Alike Jiang did not answer immediately, but waved behind him. A Loulan officer rushed forward and loudly reported: "Your Majesty, Your Highness. The brothers lurking on the other side have been identified. At midnight yesterday, the Metasequoia The main force of the remnant bandits suddenly assembled, numbering about 40,000 people, a mixture of infantry and cavalry, and headed northeast."
"Hahaha, okay!" Durham said with a smile, stroking his hands: "It seems that Li Jiangyao really fell into my cousin's trick!"
Alike Jiang also felt particularly relaxed at this time: "Yes, Lord Marquis, His Highness the Prince is so clever and clever that he is worthy of being an invincible commander in the world! If the old man just hooks his little finger, Li Jiangyao will be obedient and slip into the condom. . However, I don’t know if General Duolun can successfully hold back the main force of the 40,000 enemy troops.”
Durham waved his hand: "Don't worry! I still know Duolun's abilities. When it comes to flexibility and cunning, Duolun is not bad. He must have a way!"
Alek Jiang nodded slightly: "What the Marquis said makes sense. If that's the case, then we should also be prepared. The show is about to begin."
"Don't worry!" Durham looked up at the sky: "According to the battle plan of the Temple Prince, we should not receive an attack signal before the sun sets today. There is still nearly a day, so why not Let the sons and daughters have a good meal and rest, so that they can have enough energy to kill happily!"
-
When Huoliya came to the coach's tent, Li Jiangyao was sitting in front of the desk, looking at the map in a daze.
Seeing that Li Jiangyao ignored her, Holia stretched herself and said with a little dissatisfaction: "My lord general, why do you always want to find me? I don't know, when you were sleeping soundly last night, my princess But I have been waiting by the river digging soil and moving bricks."
"Oh? Princess, are you here?" Li Jiangyao noticed Huo Liya's arrival and hurriedly said: "Come here, sit here."
Holia sat cross-legged across from Li Jiangyao, separated from him by a desk, tilted her head and looked at her: "Huh? Looking at you, it seems like you haven't slept much either?"
Li Jiangyao rubbed his face vigorously and responded: "Well, I almost squinted for a while, so I couldn't sleep well."
Seeing this, Horiyah couldn't help but show a distressed look. She changed from her usual fierceness and said softly: "Sir, you have been under too much pressure recently, and the burden on your shoulders is heavier than ours... Oh, let's not talk about this. Since I can't sleep , just in time to report to you on the deployment situation..."
Li Jiangyao raised his hand to interrupt Holia's words, and said to himself: "Why did Xu Youchang and the others move so fast? Did they leave the camp in the middle of the night?"
"You're not confused, are you?" Holia said slightly puzzled: "Didn't we discuss it last night? Most of the Western Xinjiang Left Route Army is infantry. If they want to cooperate with the Alek River to attack us, they should not choose rugged terrain. It is difficult to go through the Gomil Mountain Forest, but take the Feixing Gorge and make a detour from that side. In order to catch the opponent off guard, General Xu and the others set off first, pushing to the northeast and trying to get as close to them as possible."
Li Jiangyao listened to Holia's words quietly and said nothing for a while. During the second half of last night's meeting, he was basically in a state of confusion, and the combat plans were almost all discussed by his generals. Now that he heard Princess Nanhua explain the whole story, he realized that there was still such an impression in his mind.
Horiyah continued: "There is another reason why we set out in the middle of the night, which is to hide our whereabouts as much as possible so that the enemy on the opposite side cannot detect our intentions. Even the addition of the horse-rejection formation has to be done quietly by me."
Li Jiangyao nodded, then shook his head.
Horiyah couldn't help but pouted and asked curiously: "What do you mean? I saw you were a little abnormal last night, and now you are acting like this. Nodding and shaking your head, it's confusing."
"Did we miss something?" Li Jiangyao suddenly said to himself.
Holia was stunned when she heard this and didn't understand what Li Jiangyao meant: "What did you miss? Do you mean the enemy has any other conspiracies?"
Li Jiangyao frowned, and while thinking, he stepped aside and said, "I can't explain clearly, but I just feel that something is not quite right. Well, something is very wrong!"
"What's wrong?" Holia moved her body forward, rested her elbows on the table, stared at Li Jiangyao with bright eyes and asked, "Don't be anxious first, think carefully, and then speak slowly."
Li Jiangyao and Huo Liya looked at each other for a moment and said slowly: "Okay, don't worry, let's analyze it slowly. Let's talk about the sand and gravel bags hidden under the water first. This trick seems very simple, but it is actually very clever. It’s easy to achieve unexpected results on offense.”
Holia nodded seriously, agreeing with his statement.
Li Jiangyao continued his analysis: "However, if this move is implemented, the most critical issue is not how to smuggle the sand and gravel bags, but how to make the entire operation flawless."
"No flaws?" Horiyah couldn't help but wonder: "Then what should we do?"
Li Jiangyao seemed very patient: "I don't have a mature idea of what to do specifically now, but at least it won't be like what the enemy did the night before. It was just a very abrupt infantry attack, without any confusing tactical intentions at all. Cooperation, it is clear that we are not afraid that we will become suspicious, detect something unusual, and then send people to find out."
"Could it be that...you mean," Horiyah said in disbelief, "the enemy deliberately let us know that the river was shallowed by them?"
Li Jiangyao said: "This possibility exists. Think about it, how could someone who could figure out the idea of laying sand and gravel bags under the water not think of using some means to hide this secret? We discovered it so easily There are clues, don’t you see the harm before you see the benefits?”
Horiyah's face was full of confusion and she couldn't help but said: "No, no, no, no, you must be overthinking. You have too many twists and turns in your stomach, and you ended up winding yourself into a ditch. "
-
At dawn, a small mountain village located at the junction of Metasequoia City and Ilu County suddenly welcomed a group of mysterious uninvited guests.
The men, women, and children in the village were dragged out of their sleep, with sharp knives held against their necks, and all were taken to the grain drying field at the east end of the village. The biting cold wind in the early morning whistled across the empty grain field, making the people wearing only thin shirts shiver.
However, no one dared to protest. Even the baby in the mother's arms seemed to be shocked by the surrounding atmosphere and forgot the usual crying.
The villagers were surrounded by densely packed cavalry, with animal hair tassels floating on their helmets and huge wolf head symbols embroidered on their swords and flags.
A cavalryman who looked like a leader rode up to the general's banner and reported in a low voice: "General, we have searched everything. All eighty-seven people in the village are here. No one has escaped the net."
Sitting on the horse opposite him was a stern-faced general. After listening to his report, the general did not speak, but stretched out his left hand and made a virtual chop in the air.
"Drink! Gasulu!" The meaning of this Turkic phrase is very simple - "Kill them all"! For a moment, shouts resounded like muffled thunder all around. The cavalrymen raised their spears, drew their sabers, and pounced on the unarmed villagers like wolves.
In the blink of an eye, eighty-seven men, women, and children lay dead on the ground, and the spurting blood instantly dyed the entire grain drying field red.
The general who gave the order to massacre did not even look at the corpses. He said to the surrounding soldiers: "We are ordered by His Highness to clear the way for the army and must conceal our whereabouts. Now that we have entered the territory of the Metasequoia Army, we don't have to do what we did before. Let’s go through the mountain trails like that, and from now on, we’ll switch to the main road and run. Everyone who sees us, just like these people, will leave no one alive! Listen to my order, aim for Pansong Ferry, and set off!”
After hearing this, all the cavalrymen raised their whips and galloped towards the northwest, and they were all gone in the blink of an eye.
Less than half an hour later, the sound of horse hooves sounded more densely in the distant mountains and forests, and the cavalry army, like mountains and seas, suddenly appeared in the morning mist, as if they were evil spirits coming from hell.
They didn't stop at all and ran along the marks left by the previous group of murderers who massacred the village.
