Under night.
The sound of killing and the sound of galloping horse hooves shattered the tranquility.
The people of Licheng County woke up from their sleep one after another. They all looked panicked and subconsciously wanted to run out.
At this moment, groups of government officials were walking through the streets and alleys, banging their clappers and shouting at the top of their lungs: "Folks, don't panic, the prefect has already prepared countermeasures. Stay home and don't go out!"
ah?
The people in the city were stunned.
Although they were still panic-stricken, the vast majority of people ultimately chose to stay at home.
This is Zhang Shuye's method.
In less than a year after taking office, he has already established his authority and won the hearts of the people.
For the cavalry, the distance of more than three hundred meters was only a moment.
In the blink of an eye, eight hundred cavalrymen rushed to the city gate.
Suddenly, a bandit who was in the city staggered out and shouted: "Master, there is an ambush in the city...ah!"
Before he finished speaking, several crossbow arrows struck from behind and penetrated the bandit's body.
There is an ambush!
The expressions of the cavalrymen changed, and their charging momentum faltered.
However, Li Heihu's expression remained unchanged and his eyes were firm as he rushed into the county along the wide city gate.
As soon as they entered the city, they were greeted by hundreds of Xingde troops who were waiting in full formation.
Behind the broad shield, hundreds of powerful crossbows were facing the direction of the city gate.
At the same time, the defenders who had already been ambushing on the city wall all showed up, pointing their crossbows downwards.
not good!
This formation shocked the cavalrymen.
"Come into battle with me!"
Li Heihu shouted again.
How thoughtful she was, she figured out in a flash that there must be an ambush outside the city.
If you want to survive, you can only break up the defenders in the city.
It has to be said that Zhang Shuye is indeed a man of both civil and military skills, and the defense forces in the city are arranged very cleverly.
Although the number was small, they were stuck at the city gate.
It is impossible for all the opposing cavalry to rush in at once.
Coupled with powerful crossbows and spear formations, they can completely block the first wave of cavalry attack from Black Mountain Village.
At the same time, he will lead another 10,000 Xingde troops to fight out from outside the city. Under attack from both front and rear, they will be able to annihilate them in one fell swoop.
Seeing more than sixty cavalry rushing in from the city gate, Commander Pang Bin of the Xingde Army waved his hand.
"Fire the arrow!"
Uh-huh!
A hail of arrows flew toward him.
Puff puff puff!
The sound of arrows hitting flesh kept ringing in my ears.
These soldiers were all wearing iron armor, but their horses were unprotected.
In an instant, more than a dozen war horses fell to the ground seriously injured, and the soldiers on the horses also fell heavily to the ground.
For a time, people fell on their backs and wailed.
"Put it back!"
Pang Bin ordered again.
The first group of crossbowmen immediately retreated, and the second group of crossbowmen stepped forward and pulled the trigger.
Another round of arrow rain struck, and Li Heihu felt a sharp pain in his heart, as if he had been punched hard.
You don't need to look to know that there's an arrow in the chest.
However, it is protected by iron armor, and the crossbow arrows cannot penetrate it.
The only powerful crossbow that can penetrate iron armor is the God Arm Crossbow.
It is a pity that weapons such as divine arm crossbows, like synchronized human armor, cannot appear in the local state capital's imperial army or Xiang army.
Only the Forbidden Army and the border army in Kaifeng Prefecture are equipped.
After this round of arrows, more than twenty war horses fell to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, of the more than sixty cavalrymen who rushed into the city with her, less than twenty were left.
Li Heihu's face was as cold as frost, and his pair of phoenix eyes stared at Pang Bin, flashing with crazy killing intent. The sword in his hand flashed with cold light under the reflection of the torch.
At this time, she was less than twenty meters away from the defenders.
Pang Bin was startled, his hands and feet felt cold, as if he was being stared at by a female leopard.
He sneered and ordered loudly: "The Chinese army disperses!"
Wow!
The shield soldiers in the center immediately spread to both sides, revealing a two-person wide passage.
Li Heihu's pupils suddenly shrank, and a cold chill ran down his tailbone and rushed straight to his brain.
Ballista!
Also called the three-bow bed crossbow, it was a major killing weapon in the Song army.
During the Battle of Tanzhou, the Song army used ballistae to kill Liao general Xiao Talin in one fell swoop.
Without any hesitation, Li Heihu abandoned his horse and jumped.
The moment she jumped, a Xingde soldier held a wooden hammer and hit the trigger of the crossbow hard.
boom!
The spear-shaped arrows, with the sound of whistling wind, exploded the horse's head in an instant, and then, without losing any force, shot through the bodies of three cavalrymen in a row, and then nailed them heavily to the city wall.
Li Heihu rolled several times on the spot. After removing his strength, he advanced instead of retreating and rushed towards the officers and soldiers with knives in both hands.
Several spears came immediately.
She blocked the incoming spear with her sword, and ran into the formation head-on with great arrogance.
Without waiting for the officers and soldiers to react, Li Heihu clenched his saber with both hands and placed it across his waist.
Then the whole person twisted, his arms suddenly exerted force, and with the help of the twisting force at the waist, the long and narrow sword slashed an arc in the formation of officers and soldiers.
Those crossbowmen were all wearing leather armor, so there was no way they could stop the sword.
Several people were cut into two pieces!
"ah!!!"
The shrill screams stimulated the nerves of the officers and soldiers.
At this moment, Li Heihu was like a wolf among sheep, slashing left and right with his saber, disrupting the entire military formation with one person's power.
hiss!
Pang Bin took a breath and looked horrified.
The most important thing is that the other party is constantly getting closer to me.
When he thought of the murderous look in his eyes, Pang Bin felt his scalp tingle, and he shouted loudly: "Quick, shoot her with an arrow!"
The crossbowmen looked at each other in confusion.
Let’s not mention whether the crossbow arrow can penetrate the opponent wearing iron armor.
At this moment, the opponent entered the formation, and a hail of arrows passed by, fearing that all of them would die.
"Kill!"
Seeing how brave the leader was, the remaining Black Mountain bandits immediately became excited. Taking advantage of the chaos among the officers and soldiers, they mounted their horses and rushed into the formation.
At this time, the suppression of frontal crossbows was lost, and relying solely on the crossbowmen on the city was not enough.
Outside the city gate, cavalry kept rushing in and charging into the formation.
With just one charge, the army was defeated.
"Run!"
The officers and soldiers threw away their shields and spears and ran away.
As for Pang Bin, seeing that the situation was not good, he had already run away.
Li Heihu was covered in blood, standing with a knife, and ordered in a cold tone: "Kill them all!"
Without the military formation, the infantry are like lambs to be slaughtered in front of the cavalry.
…
In a mountain depression two miles outside the city, Xing Wanli had just returned from Changqing County with 500 cavalry and 2,000 elite soldiers.
Even wearing light paper armor, these soldiers were still exhausted after driving nearly sixty miles in a row.
After giving the order to rest, the soldiers immediately slumped to the ground in a state of confusion.
The cavalrymen took out bean cakes and other refined grains to feed their horses.
Xing Wanli took a gulp of water and took out a cloth bag from his arms.
After opening it, there were several pieces of cooking cakes in the cloth bag. In such a hot weather and being stuffed in my arms for a long time, the cooking cakes gave off a faint smell of rancidity.
But he didn't care, picked up a pancake and took a big bite.
While eating, Xing Wanli's movements froze.
There was a slight vibration under the feet, and the faint sound of galloping horse hooves could be heard.
cavalry!
"not good!"
Xing Wanli's expression changed, he threw away the cooking cake in his hand, stood up and shouted: "The enemy is attacking, unite the army to meet the enemy!"
He couldn't understand why the cavalry from Black Mountain Village arrived so quickly.
According to this, Heishan Village is more than two hundred miles away. Even if one person and two horses run non-stop, it will take at least three or four hours.
But at this moment, he had no time to think. After getting on his horse, he led the army towards the county town.
…
In the city, the shouts of killing gradually subsided.
Hundreds of officers and soldiers were slaughtered by the cavalry that rushed into the city, leaving only the archers on the city wall still barely resisting.
Li Heihu held a knife in one hand and held Pang Bin's head in the other. He was about to give an order when he heard a cry of killing coming from outside the city.
There is indeed an ambush outside the city!
"Come five hundred cavalry and follow me out of the city to meet the enemy. The rest will guard the city."
Li Heihu called a cavalryman and asked him to dismount, then he got on his horse and led 500 cavalrymen out of the city.
Outside the city, Xingde's army and three thousand infantry had already surrendered.
The Xingde Army is a forbidden army, and during this year, Zhang Shuye trained the entire army and reissued military pay, which was quite effective.
In terms of combat power alone, the two sides are evenly matched.
It's just that the Xingde army came at a gallop and didn't have time to rest. The soldiers were out of strength and their hands and feet were weak, while the Montenegrin bandits were recuperating on the boat for a long time.
For a time, two thousand officers and soldiers were beaten and retreated.
If Xing Wanli hadn't commanded five hundred cavalry to rush left and right, Xingde's army would have been defeated in just one encounter.
Behind the military formation, Xing Wanli was shocked and frightened.
What was shocking was that these three thousand bandits, who were clearly foot soldiers, suddenly appeared outside the county. Could it be that Heishan Village had some magic that could shrink the ground to an inch?
Moreover, the shouts of killing gradually subsided in the city, and I was afraid that the defenders in the city had been defeated.
In desperation, Xing Wanli looked up to the sky and shouted: "If we don't take action yet, when will we wait?"
This endless shouting was soon drowned in the shouts of killing.
"Hahaha!"
In the battlefield, the fifth master was riding on a horse, holding a big sword, slashing and slashing from left to right, as if he was in a deserted place.
The officers and soldiers' spears and knives slashed at the iron armor, but they were soft and weak, as if they were scratching an itch.
As the killing sprung up, the voice of the Fourth Master Lei Han suddenly came from beside him: "Fifth Brother, I'm here to help you!"
"Fourth brother doesn't need to...ah!!!"
The fifth master subconsciously wanted to refuse, and a slender armor-piercing awl pierced the iron armor and came out.
"Lei Han, you little guy turned into a traitor and surrendered to the officers and soldiers!"
When Master Qi saw this scene, his eyes were filled with anger.
Lei Han pulled out the armor-piercing awl and shouted: "Brothers, Li Heihu is dead, follow me to quell the Black Mountain rebels!"
Most of the five to six hundred brothers under his command were breathing, and they immediately turned their swords and slashed at the Black Mountain bandits.
The boss is dead?
All the bandits were shocked and confused, and suddenly panicked.
In addition, Lei Han led five or six hundred people to suddenly rebel, and the Black Mountain bandits were suddenly in chaos. The officers and soldiers who were about to be defeated became more energetic.
"I'll kill you traitor!"
Master Jiu is about to rush in when he hits the horse.
Just at this moment, I heard Lei Han shout loudly again: "King Li Tian, why don't you do it?"
King Li Tian also voted for his officers and soldiers?
For a moment, many bandits turned their heads and looked at King Li with disbelief.
King Li Tianwang looked struggling, and he raised his heart and said loudly: "Black Tiger is dead, please put down your weapons and accept the surrender!"
After all, he is King Li Tianwang on the surface. At this moment, even he has surrendered to the officers and soldiers, which has completely wiped out the fighting power of all the Black Mountain bandits.
The officers and soldiers didn't care that there were so many, they seized this opportunity and fought desperately.
In the blink of an eye, the offense and defense changed.
"Kill the enemy!"
At this moment, with a soft shout, a cavalry group rushed out of the city.
The cold voice was not loud, but it lifted the spirits of the Black Mountain bandits.
The boss is not dead!
After having a backbone, the bandits immediately roared and raised their weapons.
Li Heihu took the lead, his face was cold, and the murderous intent in his eyes was boiling to the extreme.
She knew that there were spies for the officers and soldiers in the village, but she never expected that her husband would also join the officers and soldiers!
Xing Wanli immediately commanded the cavalry to meet Li Heihu.
The two cavalrymen collided and strangled.
The beleaguered officers and cavalry could not stop the furious Li Heihu. After one charge, the officers and soldiers were defeated.
"Let me kill these two traitors!"
Li Heihu ignored the fleeing cavalry and went straight to King Li Tian.
King Li Tian was so frightened that his liver and gallbladder split apart. He was about to mount his horse and escape, but was surrounded by a group of angry Black Mountain bandits.
Seeing Li Heihu galloping in front of him, Li Tianwang hurriedly begged for mercy.
"lady……"
Before he finished speaking, a sword that cut off a horse came towards him.
Taking advantage of the impact of the horse's galloping, even if the iron armor protected his neck, it was of no avail.
The huge head flew high into the air!
After killing King Li Tian with one blow, Li Heihu's anger remained unabated and he rushed towards Lei Han again.
The officers and soldiers can leave it alone, but these two traitors must die!
Seeing that the situation was not good, Lei Han had already fled to the officer Xing Wanli.
"kill!"
Under the leadership of Li Heihu, the Black Mountain bandits were extremely fierce.
Especially when meeting the traitors under Lei Han, each of them felt like they had been given blood.
Even bandits hate traitors the most.
"Run!"
One of the officers and soldiers broke down, turned around and ran away.
With the first deserter, there is the second...
In an instant, the army collapsed.
Seeing this scene, Lei Han was extremely horrified and hurriedly advised: "Xing joins the army. The bandits are fierce and invincible. Let's leave quickly!"
Xing Wanli looked struggling, looked deeply at Licheng County, gritted his teeth and said: "Withdraw the troops!"
Under the escort of the remaining three hundred cavalry, Xing Wanli turned around and ran away.
However, Li Heihu didn't want to let them go like this, and led the Black Mountain bandits to pursue them.
"I surrender, I surrender!"
"Don't kill me!"
"..."
Seeing Xing Wanli fleeing, the officers and soldiers threw away their weapons and knelt down to accept the surrender.
"Kill them all, leaving no one behind!"
Saying this with a cold tone, Li Heihu led the five hundred cavalry to continue the pursuit.
…
In the night.
At this moment, Xing Wanli felt that his whole body was about to fall apart.
Fortunately, the pursuers behind him finally stopped.
However, he did not dare to stop, and after another quarter of an hour of riding, he gradually slowed down.
Looking back, there were only about twenty cavalrymen and Lei Han left.
The remaining cavalry either got separated while escaping or were overtaken and killed by bandits.
Two thousand paper-armored infantry, plus five hundred cavalry, are the elite of the Xingde Army.
All gone!
More importantly, Licheng County was lost.
Thinking of this, Xing Wanli felt dazed for a while.
…
At dawn, Zhang Shu woke up at night.
He almost didn't sleep last night, he kept tossing and turning, feeling uneasy.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise outside the tent.
"Why the noise?"
Zhang Shuye frowned slightly and scolded loudly.
A soldier's reply immediately sounded outside the tent: "Prefect, Xing Canjun is back and has something important to report!"
Xing Wanli is back?
Zhang Shuye suddenly had a bad premonition in his heart and hurriedly opened the curtain and walked out of the military tent.
Outside the military camp, Xing Wanli looked haggard and led only more than 20 cavalry behind him.
"What happened?"
Uncle Zhang asked in a trembling voice.
Xing Wanli turned over and dismounted, knelt on the ground with a thud, and said bitterly: "Prefect, Licheng County has been taken away!"
boom!
These words were like thunder, exploding in his ears.
Zhang Shuye felt his blood surge, his vision went dark, and he fainted.
(End of chapter)
