Chapter 214: Five hundred cavalry and twenty thousand wolf soldiers
Chapter 214 Five hundred cavalry and twenty thousand wolf soldiers
There seemed to be a small group of Turkic spies ahead. Pei Changshi led the Xizhou soldiers to **** the grain truck first, and General Su led the Tang Army cavalry to detour to the front to meet them!
Su Dingfang’s order quickly spread throughout the convoy.
Two quarters of an hour later, the five hundred war horses were all fed with beans and fodder. In addition to weapons, each saddle only had a water bladder and a small grain bag hung on it. Five hundred cavalry stood quietly on the roadside like stone statues, with only the military robes under their leather armor being blown by the mountain wind from time to time. It wasn't until the two-mile-long line of grain trucks slowly disappeared at the bend of the mountain road ahead that they reined in their horses and retreated toward the road they came from. Except for the sound of horse hooves, there was no more unnecessary sound.
Qu Chongyu looked back uneasily for a few times, but Su Dingfang's calm voice came from the side, "Your Majesty, please don't worry, I will lead the three hundred soldiers of the palace as promised, and my own soldiers will definitely not teach others." There’s too much damage.”
Thinking of the ferocious aura that those usually somewhat undisciplined soldiers suddenly exuded after receiving orders, Qu Chongyu couldn't help but nodded. He underestimated them. These people seemed to be born for the battlefield. They could only smell the smoke of beacons. Only then will the shocking side be revealed. Just thinking about the three hundred carts of grain and grass that almost emptied most of the military warehouse, my heart still felt a little heavy.
Pei Xingjian is right. Now the food and grass can no longer be sent. With the speed of the Turkic cavalry, if they are not delayed, they will form a flanking attack with Helu before noon tomorrow at the latest. For the Tang army, which is in a stalemate with 20,000 Helu cavalry, it is slightly under-prepared. A single blow would be fatal. And even if the Tang army could withstand it for a while, there would be a series of Turkic military camps between the people delivering food and the Tang army headquarters. These food trucks would not be able to deliver them anyway... But even so, there is no need to send all three hundred food trucks. Send it to the Turks? Now is the time of autumn harvest. Wouldn't it be more powerful for the Turks to have more food and grass? And why are Su Dingfang and Pei Xingjian not worried at all about what will happen to them if they lose their food and grass?
Taking a deep breath, Qu Chongyu lowered his voice as calmly as possible, "General Su, I still don't understand. Even if you want to delay the Turks, you can send fast horses to report the news to the army, and at the same time send a small number of troops. Just move to the front and harass them along the way, so why use all the grain trucks as bait?”
Su Dingfang laughed and looked up at the sky, "Only by sending out all the grain carts can we keep all the 20,000 cavalry in the mountain road today!"
so what? If he had 5,000 elite soldiers, he would dare to stage an ambush, but now with these 500 men at hand, each of them can equal one to ten. Is it possible that he can still get a good deal among the 20,000 Turkic army?
Qu Chongyu was full of doubts. He just looked at Su Dingfang's calm and determined face, but he couldn't ask any more questions.
The team had walked back less than three miles when the large forest they had passed before appeared on the roadside. Following the orders of "enter the forest" and "keep quiet", the five hundred cavalrymen dismounted their horses, reined their horses and quietly entered the depths of the forest without even startling the birds too much.
The passage of time suddenly became extremely slow. Through the branches that were not densely packed above the head, one could see the autumn sun hanging quietly in the western sky. However, after a long while, the position did not seem to have changed at all. . Qu Chongyu watched several times, and accidentally swept his eyes across the forest, only to realize that these cavalrymen seemed to have turned into black wooden stakes with war horses tied to their roots. Their postures were calm and relaxed, as if they could wait silently for thousands of years.
Qu Chongyu's hand holding the horse's rein became wet and then dry, and then dry and wet again. After an unknown amount of time, the color of the sun finally gradually turned a little golden-red. There seemed to be the sound of horses neighing and people shouting in the distance, and he couldn't help but clenched his fists fiercely. The jade lion also scratched its hooves uneasily, but received a few warning glances in return. Qu Chongyu felt a fever on his face, took a long breath, and slowly released his palms.
On the mountain road more than ten miles away from the woods, a long line of 300 grain trucks had turned around in panic. The driver's whip shook the mountain, and he desperately drove the mules and horses to run towards the road: Sure enough, they encountered Turkic soldiers!
Just a quarter of an hour ago, the scouts sent by the grain truck team to explore the road unexpectedly encountered the Turkic scouts. Several Turkic cavalry chased them along the mountain road. They cheered when they saw the convoy. The Tang army who responded to the scouts shot several He was a Turk, but someone managed to escape. According to the news from the scouts, the originally thought small group of Turkic soldiers and horses was actually followed by a large group of people. I think if the news comes back, those Turkic people who are like wolves and tigers will kill them soon!
These coachmen were all experienced drivers, but it took a long time to turn around on the mountain road. A few panicked coachmen broke their axles, and the carts had to be pushed aside to make way for them. Fortunately, Pei Xingjian, who was running back and forth in the convoy, remained very calm. Every few tens of meters he walked, he directed the drivers to merge the last few grain trucks together, and then cut off the reins to form a temporary roadblock blocking the road. The rapid attack of the cavalry.
Even so, the grain truck team only retreated four or five miles. The vibrating hoofs of the Turkic cavalry and the roaring of wolves sounded behind the team, and it was obviously getting closer and closer.
When the sound of long arrows piercing the air was heard behind them, and several arrow feathers were nailed to the grain cart with "duh" and "duh" sounds, the coachmen in the rear team could not bear it at first, and with a shout, they jumped out of the carriage and headed towards The hills on both sides climbed up with hands and feet, and the faces of the Xizhou soldiers also changed somewhat. Most of these soldiers had never been on the battlefield with real swords and guns, but the blood and bravery of the Han people in the six counties were still there. After shouting a few times, they also drew their bows and fired back.
The Turks who were chasing after the arrows were somewhat at a disadvantage, and their pursuit had to stop for a while.
The dozens of Tang soldiers behind were the most calm. While steadily drawing their bows to fight back, they quickly built roadblocks with grain trucks. Someone simply lit a fire fold. The sacks and wooden compartments of the grain trucks were flammable. After a while, The fire started igniting.
The shouts of the Turkic cavalry chasing after them became more and more urgent. Although the horses were afraid of fire, some people took the risk of lifting their horses up the mountain and bypassing the fire to rush down. Constantly drawing bows and shooting arrows, it is necessary to prevent the Tang army from burning the grain carts that are obviously in their pockets. The Tang army used grain trucks as cover and kept firing back. During the stalemate, the sound of horseshoes vibrating in the valley became louder and louder. Apparently, a large group of cavalry arrived soon after. The Tang army behind them saw that the situation was not right, they pushed over dozens of grain carts at random, lit a few fires, and then galloped away.
By the time thousands of Turkic cavalry put out the fire and overtook the last grain truck, the Tang army riding on their fine Turkic horses had long since disappeared, not even a single wounded person was left behind. The mountain road was empty, and it was unclear whether they had escaped far away. , or hid in the paths and jungles on both sides of the mountain road. A group of Turkic cavalry chased for several miles. Seeing that the sky was getting dark and the enemy was nowhere to be seen, they had to give up. When they turned back to the grain cart, the scout team from Sou Shan had already arrested several cart drivers and interrogated them one by one. Only then did they find out that this grain team was transporting grain from the Tang Dynasty Army Warehouse dozens of miles away. Most of the food and grass are already here, and the people escorting the food and grass are indeed only seven or eight hundred Tang troops. Everyone immediately felt relieved and looked at the fully loaded carriages. The carriages were filled with bags of golden corn. The army had not yet engaged in battle, but they had made such a windfall. When the order that everyone gets a reward was passed down, the cheers on the mountain road suddenly became loud and long-lasting.
Because the Turkic army arrived in time, only more than 20 of the 300 grain carts were burned, but half of the carriages had some problems. Fortunately, this Turkic army also brought a lot of baggage. The cavalry dismounted to clear the road. Dozens of craftsmen accompanying the army were mobilized to repair the grain carts. Many carriages were also emptied and rushed over to carry grain and grass. Everything was ready. When everything was properly arranged and the convoy was able to move normally, it was already high in the moonlight.
The Turkic baggage team, which mobilized a lot of manpower and carriages, naturally had to stop. Twenty thousand cavalry stretched for several miles on the mountain road. It was already past the third watch. After a celebration, the people and horses were exhausted. If you want to With these provisions and baggage, we had to drive more than ten miles out of the mountainous area, fearing that it would be dawn. The military orders to close up the formation and rest on the spot were passed on one after another. The cavalry gathered some, camped on the spot beside the mountain road, deployed their horses, and sent out sentries. The noisy mountain road gradually became quiet, and only countless flags were still there. There was a hunting sound in the night wind.
Deep in the woods, as the three hundred soldiers retreated into the forest one by one and night slowly fell, Su Dingfang gave an order, and all five hundred Tang soldiers changed to a sitting posture on the ground, each leaning against the trees with their eyes closed to rest.
After bringing the Xizhou soldiers deeper and placing them properly, Pei Xingjian sat down only two feet away from Su Dingfang. His robe that had been burnt by the flames still seemed to exude a faint smell of burnt and blood, but his whole body was completely different. Like other Tang troops, they were silent and calm. From time to time, scouts flashed in front of Su Dingfang like ghosts, reporting lowly on the Turks' every move five or six miles ahead. There were also Turkic cavalry scouts who arrived outside the forest with their horses, but they just turned around casually and then turned away.
Qu Chongyu was sitting not far behind Su Dingfang and vaguely heard, "The Turkic army has set up camp on the spot." I couldn't help but feel a little relieved: I left hundreds of grain trucks behind and finally held back the Turkic army for a night! At this moment, the Datang military camp is afraid that the news has been received, and they will not be caught off guard until tomorrow.
Su Dingfang also let out a long breath, was silent for a moment, and issued a military order in a low voice: All soldiers, use up the dry food and water they brought and rest on the spot for an hour.
As if the feeling of hunger had awakened with this order, Qu Chongyu then remembered that the last meal he had was just after entering the forest, and it had been several hours now. He casually touched the dry food bag that had been taken off the saddle. There were two small pieces of bread in the bag. He took out one and just took a bite. Suddenly his fingers stiffened and he quickly touched the dry food bag again - indeed it was just a piece of bread. There is only one piece of bread left. After this meal, there is no more dry food available!
There seemed to be a light flashing through his heart. He looked up blankly at the small black figure not far away. He could not believe that this Tang Army general who was over sixty years old would come up with such a crazy idea.
The forest was still quiet, and only the low sounds of chewing and drinking could be heard. It seemed that no one noticed anything unusual about the dry food bag. Qu Chongyu almost wanted to throw the noodles aside and stand up to question, but for some reason he didn't dare to make a mistake. He just ate the dry food silently like the others and drank a few sips of water.
The moonlight shone in through the gaps in the leaves, outlining each of the more silent figures. Pei Xingjian stood up quietly and walked deeper into the woods. Qu Chongyu hesitated for a moment, moved forward, sat down next to Su Dingfang, and whispered, "General Su, you don't intend to..."
Su Dingfang’s voice was flat, without a trace of emotion or anger, “Prince Qu expected it to be good.”
Qu Chongyu choked back everything he said. He was in disbelief and dumbfounded. Not only did he not know what to say, he couldn't even tell what he was feeling in his heart. .
Pei Xingjian came back quietly at some point and sat down next to Qu Chongyu. His low voice was as soothing as usual, "Prince Qu, in half an hour, the Tang army will leave the forest. You might as well go to Houshan and Xizhou Mansion." If the soldiers join together and act together, as long as they are a little careful, there will not be much risk. "
The faint smell of burnt and blood floated over, and the anger that had been simmering in Qu Chongyu's chest ignited. After a long silence, he finally said coldly, "I will fight with the Tang army!"
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(End of this chapter)