The Great Zhou's First Army of 100,000 soldiers marched majestically on the road. Beside the road, in a temporary military tent, the General of the Left Eagle Guard, Cao Renshi, the General of the Right Golden Guard, Zhang Xuanyu, the Junior Minister of Agriculture, Ma Renjie, and a few other generals were discussing the military situation in front of a map on the table.
Cao Renshi said, "We have just received intelligence that after the Khitan rebel army failed to attack Huan Prefecture, they fled east and attacked Ping Prefecture. There are not many soldiers in Ping Prefecture, so they did not dare to go out of the city to fight, so they defended the city to the death. The Khitans don't have enough siege equipment, so their attack on Pingzhou has been blocked. Now they are moving toward Lulong! "
The Junior Minister of Agriculture, Ma Renjie, did not know much about military affairs. He was mainly in charge of logistics and military achievements. He asked, "Where is our army now?"
Zhang Xuanyu pointed at the map and said, "Our army has just arrived at Horse City. If we continue forward and pass through the Yellow Deer Valley, we will be able to reach Lulong and solve the crisis in Lulong and Pingzhou!"
Ma Renjie looked at the map and muttered, "So that's how it is. To the east of Lulong is a vast ocean. The Khitan rebel army will not escape in that direction. We must prevent them from escaping to the west again!"
Cao Renshi smiled slightly and said, "What Ma Shaoqing said is correct. Therefore, I intend to dispatch an eight-hundred-li fast horse to urgently transfer troops from Danzhou, Xianzhou, Guishun and Jizhou to the direction of Shicheng. Together with our army, we will form a joint attack against the Khitan rebel army. We must wipe them out inside Lulong territory."
Zhang Xuanyu said, "Once the Khitans are defeated, they won't be able to head east. Our army will intercept them in the west. As for our side, if they want to fight, it will be no different from hitting a rock with an egg. In that case, they will flee north into the Xi Tribe's territory."
Cao Renshi thought about it and said, "I think that we can send another messenger to contact King Xi and order him to send troops to defend the area around Lulong Fortress. We must not let a single Khitan soldier enter Xi Clan's territory! The Xi Clan is a vassal state of our dynasty. Although they often agree in public but oppose in private, in front of the lion of the court, how would they dare to openly protect these rebels and traitors? "
Ma Renjie clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Then there's no room for error. The main force of the Khitan army can be wiped out in this battle!"
All the generals smiled and said nothing. To them, it was a piece of cake to use the court's 100,000 elite troops to attack the Khitans, who claimed to have 100,000 troops but were actually only 60,000 to 70,000 strong.
The Yellow Deer Valley was a shortcut for the imperial court's army to reach Lulong. If they did not pass through this valley, then the imperial court's army would have to take a detour through the mountains, which would delay them for more than ten days. This long period of time was enough for the Khitans to hear the news and flee. Therefore, having made up his mind, Cao Renshi immediately dispatched a group of cavalry to rush ahead of the main army toward the Yellow Deer Valley and occupy this strategic location.
Who would have thought that there was already a Khitan troop stationed at the entrance of the Yellow Deer Valley? When the imperial court's vanguard arrived at the Yellow Deer Valley without stopping, they saw from a distance a tattered Grey Wolf flag fluttering on the top of the mountain. The vanguard troops could not help but be shocked; they immediately set up camp on the spot and urgently sent someone to report to the central army.
Cao Renshi heard that the Khitan people had stationed troops and horses in the Yellow Deer Valley. While ordering the army to speed up, he also sent an order to the vanguard to attack the Yellow Deer Valley first, to probe the Khitan people's strength. Once Vanguard Lieutenant General Wu Chengzhao received the order, he immediately ordered Brigade Commander Maqiao to lead his troops in an exploratory attack.
It was Maqiao's first time going on an expedition to war, he was very excited along the way, but when the order was issued, he became nervous for no reason. Although the entire army had a disdainful attitude toward the Khitan people, as if once the army arrived, they could annihilate the Khitan people with a snap of their fingers, but it was, after all, his first time on the battlefield.
Maqiao was very cautious; he first did a reconnaissance of the Yellow Deer Valley and found that there was a valley road in the middle of the valley. Although it was not very narrow, it was completely within the range of the crossbows. Therefore, other than eliminating the enemy troops on both sides, it would be difficult for the army to pass through. On one side of the valley, the mountain peaks were steep, the walls were as straight as a mirror, easy to defend and difficult to attack. On the other side, the hillside was not steep, but the number of Khitan troops guarding it had increased correspondingly.
This hillside could not be considered steep, the cavalry could charge up, but unfortunately, the hillside that was not considered steep was full of loose gravel, even walking would not be easy, let alone charging on horseback. His cavalry was completely useless here, they had to abandon their horses and fight on foot.
It was Maqiao's first time leading troops into battle, so he was very cautious. Following the art of war he learned from the army, he first carefully surveyed the terrain, understood the target to attack, and then began to deploy his troops.
The troops under Maqiao's command were all cavalry. He ordered all the cavalry to dismount and hand the horses over to a small number of soldiers to watch over. He then divided the soldiers into three teams; the first team was made up of sword and shield bearers, the second team was made up of crossbowmen, and the third team was made up of spears and crossbowmen.
The first team was made up of sword and shield bearers as the main attacking force, the second team was made up of crossbowmen to assist the sword and shield bearers in battle, acting as a long-range attacking force to suppress the Khitan archers. The third team was made up of spears and crossbowmen, acting as a reserve force.
If the attack was successful, the third team would enter the battle and quickly consolidate the occupied position. If the attacking force did not make any progress, then the purpose of scouting the defending force's strength had been achieved. If they first occupied the enemy's position and then were suppressed by the enemy's counterattack, then the third team would be responsible for covering the retreat of their comrades to avoid heavy casualties during the retreat.
As for the other side of the steep cliff, Maqiao decided to ignore it for now. There was a valley in the middle, and most of the arrows shot from the opposite cliff had lost their lethality, so it was better to take one side first, and then attack the other side of the hill after they had gained a firm foothold. Maqiao's arrangement conformed to the rules, and everything had been arranged. He immediately ordered his men to beat the war drums and launched an attack on the hill.
This hillside was not steep enough, and the Khitan people on the hill could not use rolling logs and stones to resist the Tang army, so they could only rely on bows and arrows to stop the enemy. Maqiao's troops were cavalry, but the soldiers of the Tang dynasty, no matter what kind of troops they were, all had a warbow, and there was no shortage of bows and crossbows. As the elite cavalry of the imperial army, they were also equipped with cavalry shields, sabers, long spears, and even javelins. With many kinds of troops in one body, they were completely competent for the combat tasks arranged by Maqiao.
In the sound of the war drums, Maqiao gave an order, and the saber and shield bearers used the cavalry shields to protect their vital parts, held the sabers in their hands, and stepped on the loose gravel that seriously hindered their movement, and approached the hillside step by step. The crossbowmen followed closely behind, using the saber and shield bearers as a barrier, ready to suppress the enemy from afar.
As the reserve team, the spear bearers and crossbowmen also followed and stopped halfway up the hill, ready to decide according to the situation of the battlefield whether to attack or cover the retreat of their comrades.
As soon as the two sides entered the shooting range of the other side's crossbow, sharp arrows began to shoot at each other. With a shield in one hand and a saber in the other, Maqiao personally led the saber and shield bearers to charge at the very front. They bent their waists and used the cavalry shields to protect their vital parts. Under the cover of the crossbowmen behind them, they approached the hilltop.
The arrows on the hilltop were not concentrated and were completely suppressed by the arrows of the imperial court's troops. Although the Khitan's arrows were quite accurate, they were seriously lacking in strength. A few arrows hit Maqiao's shield, but with a shake of his shield, some of the arrows fell off. Maqiao couldn't help but be surprised. "Didn't they say that the Khitan people were nomadic and hunted, and that they were most proficient with crossbows? With such weak strength, even if they hit their bodies, it would probably be very difficult to kill them!"
At first, Maqiao was worried that the Khitan people's crossbows were formidable, but now that he saw that the Khitan people's archery was only so-so, his courage increased. He immediately ordered them to increase the speed of their attack. When they were about to charge up the hillside, the sparse arrows on the hillside stopped altogether. Maqiao immediately increased his speed and was the first to charge into the Khitan people's defensive line. Brandishing his saber, he began to kill.
When he charged into the enemy's group, he discovered that there were only several hundred people defending the hilltop. The weapons they used were a mess of old and shabby weapons, such as long sabers, manure forks, wooden sticks, and so on and so forth. Each and every one of the enemy's clothes was ragged and their faces were emaciated. When they moved, they were limp and had almost no strength to fight back.
Maqiao's saber technique could be considered a first-rate expert in the army. Seeing that the enemy's combat strength was not strong, he simply abandoned his cavalry and shield and brandished his saber with both hands, charging forward. His body was as swift as a tiger and his saber was as fast as the wind. He did not tangle with the enemy and only tried to create as much chaos as possible to create the conditions for his men to charge up the hillside.
Very soon, all the saber and shield bearers had charged up the hillside. Following that, the archers also drew their sabers and joined the battle. When the reserve troops guarding halfway up the hillside saw this situation, they immediately followed their original plan and charged up the hillside. However, before they could join the battle, the Khitan soldiers on the hillside who looked like beggars broke down. "Stop fighting, we surrender! We surrender! "
When one of them shouted surrender, all the resistance on the hillside immediately vanished. Other than a few people who wanted to escape into the dense forest, they were shot by the Zhou army's arrows. The rest of the Khitan people knelt on the ground and raised their weapons with both hands, surrendering to the Zhou army.
Wu Chengzhao was a distant relative of the Wu family. He had relied on his family's connections to become a brigade commander in the army. When he received the order to attack tentatively, his heart was pounding. That was why he had ordered Maqiao to attack while he did not move and was prepared to escape at any time. He did not expect Maqiao to smoothly charge up the hillside with a brigade.
When the Zhou army waved the war flag and gestured to the foot of the hill, Wu Chengzhao was dumbfounded. Then, he was extremely vexed. If he had known that the Khitan people were so useless, he should have snatched this battle credit himself.
With so many people watching, it was impossible for him to snatch this credit openly. He could only hope that Maqiao would be sensible and focus on mentioning him, the vanguard commander, in the battle report.
On the hillside, Maqiao could not close his mouth from grinning.
This was the first time he had commanded a battle, and it was the first time he had charged and participated in a battle.
The moment he received the order, although he looked calm on the surface, he was extremely nervous in his heart. His heart was pounding like a drum. He felt the nervousness and fear of participating in a battle for the first time, as well as the lack of confidence in commanding an entire army alone. But when he rushed up the mountain and killed the second person, all of this uneasiness, all of this fear, was thrown out of his mind.
Warriors had to experience the baptism of the battlefield to mature. After this battle, Maqiao quickly possessed the psychological qualities that a general should have. And the battle record of killing seven people with his own hands also made it so that the first time he killed an enemy, when blood sprayed on his face, he would immediately jump up in panic and forget to dodge, almost getting slashed by another enemy.
"What should I do now? Yes, yes, yes, I remember … "
Grinning foolishly for a while, Maqiao finally remembered some common sense that the old generals in the army had taught him. Right now, he should immediately inspect the enemy's equipment, understand the enemy's situation, and interrogate the captives about the enemy's situation so that the commander-in-chief could use it as a reference for his next move.
Wu Chengzhao waited for another half a day. After confirming that there were no ambushes on the mountain, he led his army up the mountain and occupied this commanding position. When Wu Chengzhao ascended the hillside with a smile that was difficult to describe as happy, he only had time to participate in Maqiao's interrogation. Through the interrogation, they quickly figured out the enemy's situation.
The Khitan rebel army had a total of 67,000 people. After failing to attack Danzhou, they fled all the way to the east. When they reached the city of Pingzhou, they suffered another setback and were forced to turn to Lulong. Because of the long-distance attack, they were unable to receive supplies. Their rations and fodder had been used up, and their arrows were also about to run out. When Maqiao attacked the mountain, he encountered sparse counterattacks because the Khitans only had less than five arrows left on average.
The Khitans did not know that the imperial court had sent a large army. Otherwise, they would not have only sent so few people to guard the Yellow Deer Valley. However, their main force was attacking Lulong, and the Yellow Deer Valley was the only passage behind them. They were worried that the imperial court's troops would suddenly attack from behind, so they sent a group of people to guard this place just in case.
However, when the soldiers arrived, they had already sent someone back to report.
The reason why they were powerless to fight and shoot arrows was very simple: they had no strength.
On the mountain where they were stationed, Maqiao did not find a single grain of food. When Maqiao and his troops arrived at the foot of the mountain, they were cooking and had not had time to eat. After hearing this, Maqiao personally went to check their uncooked pot of rice. Inside, there were two rats, a wild cat, and a pot of wild vegetables.
Wu Chengzhao scoffed at this. In his view, there was no need to check. Just by looking at the Khitans' pale faces and their unsteady footing, he believed that these people had long run out of food.
Wu Chengzhao was very dissatisfied that Maqiao had snatched the first credit in the first battle. He decided to personally fight the second battle and attack the other side of the mountain. Both mountains were the Khitans' first forward positions. As long as he took the other mountain, he could mix the two battles into one, and the first credit would be his.
As a result, Wu Chengzhao quickly reported the information he had obtained from the interrogation back to the central army. At the same time, he prepared to personally take the other dangerous mountain that was said to be guarded by fifty people.
At this time, the ignorant Maqiao suggested to him that they should first summon the Khitans on the mountain to surrender. "General, since the Khitans are hungry and don't have enough arrows, I'm afraid they don't have the confidence to defend that mountain, especially since we have already occupied this place. In my opinion, why don't we send someone up the mountain to summon them to surrender? If we can win without using weapons, wouldn't that be even better?"
After hearing this, Wu Chengzhao's expression became even more unsightly. However, if they could summon them to surrender, of course there was no need to use force. Although there were not many enemies on that mountain, it was a strategic location. Although the Khitans were so hungry that their chests were sticking to their backs, they still had the strength to push rocks. Just throwing rocks down from the mountain would kill many people. He couldn't let others think that he did not care about the lives of his soldiers.
A fierce, cold light flashed in Wu Chengzhao's eyes. He coldly ordered, "Fine! I will send you up the mountain to persuade them to surrender. Go tell them that I will let bygones be bygones for those who surrender. Otherwise, I will attack the mountain and kill them all, not sparing even the chickens and dogs! Don't say that I did not warn you! "
Maqiao did not expect that Wu Chengzhao would actually send him up the mountain to summon the Khitans to surrender. He was the one who came up with the idea. Now that the general had given the order, Maqiao could only brace himself and pull a very old Khitan over to explain to him the imperial court's good intentions in recruiting them.
When the Khitan heard this, he repeatedly nodded his head and agreed to go up the mountain with him to summon the Khitans to surrender. Maqiao then waved a white flag and climbed up the steep mountain path with the Khitan man toward the opposite mountain.
Wu Chengzhao stood on the mountain with his hand on his long saber. Watching Maqiao's back gradually disappear on the opposite mountain, he coldly thought, "The Khitans are just a bunch of uncivilized barbarians. Why would they abide by the rule of not killing envoys when two armies fight? If they are willing to surrender, then so be it. If they don't, based on my order to massacre the mountain, I can chop off your dog head first!"
Wu Chengzhao thought to himself. An evil, cold smile curled up the corners of his lips. When he raised his head again, he saw a white flag waving at him from the opposite mountain …
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