At this time, Zhao Min also looked in Song Qingshu's direction. Obviously, she had the same idea as Song Qingshu, and also had doubts about Yelu Yixin. But now that they were on the way to escape, even if they had doubts, they could not do anything for the time being.
Not long after, the group arrived at the horse farm. The guards of the farm were not prepared for the sudden appearance of the people and had no time to organize a resistance. Soon, the farm was occupied by Song Qingshu and the others.
After getting the warhorses, Song Qingshu took the people and the horses back to the place where they had just separated. Fortunately, Yelu Qi and his clansmen were all good at training horses. Otherwise, Song Qingshu really did not know what to do with so many horses suddenly.
Removing the hoof prints left when there were fewer horses, and then leaving the hoof prints left when there were more horses, all the way to the north. Looking at many people in the team with serious faces and eyes full of confusion and fear, Song Qingshu knew that they could not simply escape like this, or it would be easy for them to be chased to the north. At that time, the morale of the army would be broken and it would become a rout.
In his previous life, Taizu was able to lead the army to cross the Chishui River four times under the siege of hundreds of thousands of enemies without collapsing because of the implementation of the political commissar system. The army had spiritual beliefs, and the cohesion was far greater than that of ordinary troops. But now, this temporary team obviously did not have that condition.
There was no condition to create conditions. It just so happened that the scouts behind found that the vanguard of the pursuing army was approaching, so Song Qingshu ordered the army to ambush in a valley a few miles away.
Hearing that they had to stop, many people in the team did not understand and thought that they should seize the time to escape. But Song Qingshu was not moved, and anxiety and suspicion gradually spread in the team.
Fortunately, the pursuers quickly caught up. It was a 500-man light cavalry unit. After all, it took time for the main force to assemble, so they first sent a small team to chase after them. Their assigned task was to constantly harass and bite Yelu Qi's group to slow down and buy time for the main force behind them.
They chased all the way for fear of wasting any time, but they did not expect that the hunters would become the prey. When stones and logs fell from the sky, the whole team suffered heavy losses.
Following that, Song QingShu led the cavalry that was lying in ambush and charged down. The pursuers were already terrified, thinking that the three thousand people who had escaped were all lying in ambush here. None of them had any thoughts of resisting and ran with all their might. In the end, the more they ran, the more chaotic their formation became. There was no way for them to organize an effective counterattack. In less than an hour, the five hundred cavalry was completely annihilated.
Song QingShu had Yelu Qi gather the horses and arrows of the pursuers and once again set out on the journey north. Previously, Yelu Qi and Xiao Banhe's clansmen were still suspicious of him, but after the battle just now, the group of people looked at him with respect and fear.
Just now, there were countless steel swords floating around Song Qingshu, and his whole body was like a meat grinder as he rushed into the enemy camp. Wherever he went, there was no one who could stand up to him. Anyone who saw it would be terrified.
Not to mention the ordinary soldiers, even Yelu Qi and Xiao Banhe were shocked. Yelu Qi was fine, but Xiao Banhe had once thought of Song QingShu as an imaginary enemy. He had thought that with his Primordial Chaos Art, even if he couldn't defeat Song QingShu, he should be able to escape with his life. But after seeing Song QingShu's attack, he was extremely glad that they had turned from enemies to friends.
Even Xiao Zhonghui was dumbfounded. She quietly asked Yuan Chengzhi beside her, "Is he a human or an immortal?"
Yuan Chengzhi also sighed, "Half human and half immortal." His tone was full of melancholy. It was obvious that he was also shocked.
"You were quite handsome just now," Zhao Min came to Song Qingshu's side and smilingly stretched out a finger to poke him.
Song Qingshu lightly replied, "I've actually always been quite handsome."
"Shameless!" Zhao Min snorted, but the slight smile on her face showed that she was in a good mood.
When Xiao Feng led the main force to the place where Song Qingshu had split up, he saw the hoof prints heading north. He couldn't help but feel suspicious, "Yi, it's understandable that they went east to the south, but why did they go north?"
Although Xiao Feng looked like a tall and sturdy man, he was actually extremely meticulous. He hadn't been the Beggar Sect Leader for so many years for nothing. Here, he could immediately see that something was wrong. Just as he was about to send people to the east to continue chasing, he suddenly saw a few defeated soldiers fleeing from the north, their faces full of panic.
Recognizing their clothing, Xiao Feng hurriedly sent people to capture them. After questioning them, he found out that the vanguard had been ambushed and the enemy was running north. After receiving the confirmed news, Xiao Feng immediately led his troops to chase north. Because of this interruption, he momentarily forgot to send troops to investigate the situation in the east. Otherwise, he would have found the main force by running east for more than ten miles.
For the next few days, Xiao Feng led his troops to chase after them. The more he chased, the more suspicious he became, "Why did they run north?"
A deputy general next to him said, "Could it be that they plan to seek refuge with the Mongolians, so they went all the way north to get out of the fortress through Yanmen Pass?"
Xiao Feng's expression changed, "Yanmen Pass is the northern barrier of our Great Liao. If it is broken through, the enemy will be able to move south, and the northern side of Shangjing will be defenseless."
Another deputy general said, "Yanmen Pass is heavily guarded. I'm afraid that Yelu Qi's men won't be able to break through."
Xiao Feng shook his head, "Under normal circumstances, of course they won't be able to break through. But don't forget that Yelu Qi still has the reputation of the Imperial Palace. Now that this happened so suddenly, the entire country doesn't know what happened in the capital. If he finds a loophole, it'll be over."
"We've already sent pigeons to various places. Looking at the time, everyone should have received the news by now," the deputy general said hesitantly.
"Pigeons don't always arrive," Xiao Feng said with a frown, "And as far as I know, Yelu Qi has tamed a few green sea turtles, which are specially used to hunt enemy pigeons."
When the deputy generals heard this, they were all stunned. If the information didn't reach the place, it was possible that Yelu Qi would be able to break through.
"But I'm more curious about why we haven't caught up with them after chasing for so long?" Xiao Feng had traveled lightly this time. Other than some dry rations, he didn't bring any other supplies. His supplies were completely provided by the counties along the way. Moreover, he had brought the most elite cavalry. There was no reason that he couldn't catch up with Yelu Qi and the others who were dragging their families after so long.
"I heard that they had plundered a horse farm before. It's probably because they can change horses without stopping," a deputy general replied.
"Maybe," Xiao Feng frowned slightly. He still had some doubts in his heart, "Forget it, everything will be revealed when the encirclement is formed." Along the way, not only did he chase after them, but he also constantly deployed troops to form an encirclement. He would be able to draw in the net within a day at most.
However, just as he had this thought, a horse suddenly came to report that Yelu Qi's troops had suddenly turned west, in the direction of Ning Wu Pass.
"Ning Wu Pass? Are they going to seek refuge with Western Xia? " Xiao Feng was a little confused. He really couldn't figure out what Yelu Qi and the others were planning.
Liao's current territory was roughly the future Shanxi Province and some places in the eastern part of Shaanxi. Shanxi Province was surrounded by the Taihang Mountains to the east, the Luliang Mountains to the west, the Heng Mountains to the north, and the Yellow River to the south. There were a few small basins in the middle, which was a typical example of a place that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. There was Yanmen Pass to the north, and Ning Wu Pass to the west. They blocked the main traffic routes in the north and west. After passing through Ning Wu Pass, they would enter the Loess Plateau, and it wouldn't be long before they reached the Western Xia's sphere of influence.
However, it was obvious that Yelu Qi's group was closer to Yanmen Pass than Ning Wu Pass, so Xiao Feng's previous arrangement had been based on the premise that the other party would go straight to Yanmen Pass. The other party suddenly turned west and instantly got out of the encirclement he had arranged.
Xiao Feng had no choice but to turn northwest and chase after them. At the same time, he sent someone to order the previous troops to change direction to the west, and to prevent the other party from changing direction again to go north to Yanmen Pass.
Meanwhile, Song Qingshu's group was resting at the foot of a mountain. After days of rushing, everyone was exhausted. Even Zhao Min, who had always been delicate and beautiful, had a haggard look on her face at this time. She was no longer as gorgeous as she usually was.
"Are we really going to take a detour through Western Xia?" Yelu Qi asked in puzzlement. After all, the road to Ning Wu Pass was not a flat plain, and they still needed to cross the Cloud Mountain. Although this could slow down the pursuers, their speed would also be slowed down. Moreover, by the time they arrived at Ning Wu Pass, most of the guards there would have already received the news. Their small number of people wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between their teeth.
"Of course not. We'll turn around and head east, go out of Pingxing Pass, and leave through Flying Fox Star," Song Qingshu replied.
"My God!" Yelu Qi exclaimed, "At this time, the pursuers are gradually closing in on us. If we turn around and head east, won't we be walking right into a trap?"
There was a long and narrow corridor from east to west between Mount Heng and Mount Wutai in the northeast of Shanxi. Going all the way east was Pingxing Pass, which had shown extraordinary splendor during the Anti-Japanese War, and further east was Flying Fox Star.
Although the Taihang Mountains were a natural moat, there were also eight exits that were similar to choke points. They were the Eight Xing Xing of the Taihang Mountains. From north to south, they were Jundu Xing, Puyin Xing, Feihu Xing, Jingxing, Fukou Xing, Baixing, Taihang Xing, and Lianguan Xing.
Hearing Yelu Qi's exclamation, even Zhao Min felt the same way. Although she was smart and witty, she didn't have enough resources and information. Faced with such a situation, she was helpless.
"The reason why we went north, west, and east was to mobilize the troops in the northern part of Liao. Otherwise, it would not be so easy for us to pass through the choke points. But now that these garrisons have moved, there will inevitably be a gap. As long as we can seize the gap caused by the poor coordination between the troops, we will be able to escape smoothly," Song Qingshu explained.
One had to know that marching and fighting a war was not a simple matter. Even a school organizing a spring outing would have a lot of trouble. With so many troops chasing after them, with the speed of information transmission in ancient times, it was impossible to achieve perfect coordination. There would definitely be a lot of gaps between the troops.
One had to know that there were countless times in history when a few troops attacked the enemy. In the end, the other troops were completely annihilated, and the remaining troops did not even know what happened.
"There will indeed be gaps, but gaps in the battlefield are fleeting. How can it be so easy to coincidentally pass through the gaps between the troops?" Yelu Qi raised an objection. Although he was young, he was considered a veteran general in the army. All the generals knew this, but it was easier said than done to seize the gaps between the troops. After all, no one could stand from the perspective of God and look at the whole situation.
"Others may not be able to, but I am an exception," Song Qingshu replied calmly. There was an unparalleled confidence in his tone.
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