The night was dark and moonless, making it difficult to distinguish people from a dozen paces away. It was perfect for an ambush.
The five thousand and five hundred Khitan horsemen stealthily hid by the banks of the Setting Sun River. The men did not dare to speak and the horses also tightened their throats to prevent them from suddenly raising their heads to the sky and neighing.
Five thousand five hundred people and five thousand five hundred horses. Even if the sounds of their breathing were gathered together, it was still an unconcealable sound wave. However, the sound of the river water covered it very well. If the Zhou army only discovered them when they got close, it would already be too late.
The Khitans had already tasted many benefits from ambushes by the Zhou army. They had too few people and could not afford to fight the Zhou army, so this kind of tactic was the most suitable. So they habitually wanted to use the ambush method to destroy the Zhou army in Thousand Gold Smelting City.
A commander stealthily approached the commander of the ambush army, Luo Wuzhen, and whispered, "Boss, there's still no movement from the Zhou army. Could it be that they don't dare to send troops?"
Luo Wuzhen was a little annoyed that Zhou Jun hadn't arrived yet. He said, "It's already the third watch, and there's no sign of them at all. I think it's unlikely that they'll come. Damn it, could it be that I've sent too many men to Horse City and scared them off? I only sent ten thousand men. They shouldn't be afraid to send troops, right? "
Ever since Sun Wanrong led the Khitan army to defeat the Zhou army in East Gorge Stone Valley, their entire strategy began to change. Previously, they had always been scattered and fought on the move without any long-term plans. To put it bluntly, they were a group of bandits without roots. Even if they could obtain some temporary victories, they could easily collapse at a setback.
Ever since Sun Wanrong defeated the Zhou army in East Gorge Stone Valley and even killed Wang Xiaojie, they began to establish a strategy. Externally, they continued to ally with the Xi people and began to prepare for an alliance with the Turks. Internally, they began to establish their own base.
They had not yet sent anyone to the Turks to negotiate an alliance. The Turks were a powerful race and would become a powerful ally, but they were also a dangerous ally. The Turks were fickle and only cared about profit. Compared to the Khitans, they cared even less about contracts and oaths. They needed to first arrange everything and establish their own territory before they could negotiate an alliance with the Turks.
Therefore, the occupation of Horse City and Thousand Gold Smelting City became the key step for them to establish their strongholds. They had attacked Lulong several times, and the Zhou army had always sent troops from this direction to relieve the siege. Although the rescue operations had failed one after another, which gave them a great advantage, it also ruined their plan to occupy Lulong.
Now, the only way to deal with Lulong was to conquer these two cities first. Because of the importance of this matter, Sun Wanrong had sent his right-hand man, Luo Wuzhen, to personally take charge of this matter.
Luo Wuzhen chewed on a piece of hay and paced around twice before making a decision: "Let's wait a little longer. If the Zhou army really refuses to come out, then we will turn around and attack the northern part of Horse City. We will attack from the north and south, and take this city first. Only then will we be able to obtain Thousand Gold Smelting City."
Just as Luo Wuzhen finished speaking, the soldiers suddenly became restless. Luo Wuzhen flew into a rage and bellowed: "Anyone who dares to speak nonsense will be killed! Who dares to disobey a military order? "
"Great Commander, look! Look over there! "
The soldiers under him ignored his threat and rushed in front of him, pointing in a direction for him to look. Luo Wuzhen quickly turned around and saw the flickering of fire in the distance. In the darkness of the night, because the fire was far away, he could not see how powerful it was, but because it was far away, he could see how big the fire was.
Luo Wuzhen exclaimed: "Ping Ao! Something has happened at Ping Ao! "
The commander beside him said in amazement: "The Zhou army is very capable. How did they know where our rations and supplies are stored?"
Luo Wuzhen said: "This is Wu Zhou's territory, there must be a villager who reported to the Zhou army that we have stored rations at Ping Ao!"
The commander said anxiously: "Great Chieftain, what should we do? If the rations are burned, our tens of thousands of soldiers will have nowhere to hide. "
Luo Wuzhen looked up to the sky and laughed: "Hahahaha, you think you can defeat me by attacking my granary? I left three thousand elite soldiers at Ping Ao. With the dangerous terrain of the ao, no matter how many troops they have, they can forget about taking it down in a short time! When I sent my troops to Horse City, I instructed the troops to set fire to warn if they were attacked by the enemy. This must be a sneak attack by the Zhou army and they released the warning signal! "
Luo Wuzhen said excitedly: "Pass down the order, everyone get on the horses and rush to Ping Ao. We must stop this group of Zhou army that attacked our rear camp and capture them all in one fell swoop!"
Under Luo Wuzhen's order, the Khitan knights untied their horses and removed the soft cloth wrapped around their hooves. In a short moment, they were in order. The sentries in front led the way and the entire army lit up their torches. Under the starry sky, they charged towards Ping Ao as fast as lightning.
"Quick! Quick! Faster! "
Luo Wuzhen whipped his horse and loudly urged his soldiers to move.
Riding a horse at night, they couldn't go much faster even if they wanted to. Fortunately, there were sentries in front to lead the way and the entire army lit up their torches, illuminating the entire road. Only then could the warhorses advance at sixty percent of their usual speed. Traveling at this speed for more than ten li was actually a huge drain on the horses. However, Luo Wuzhen didn't dare to delay. He was afraid that once the fire alarm sounded, the Zhou army's sneak attack would be obstructed, so he decisively retreated. In order to prevent the Zhou army from escaping, he even took a detour and took a shortcut from the Zhou army's rear.
"Crack …"
As the army advanced, the trees on both sides of the road suddenly fell down one by one, smashing the huge umbrella-like treetops towards the countless knights in the middle of the road. Following that, the sounds of killing rang out and countless sharp arrows shot out from the night.
The torches were the best targets. Even if the accuracy of the arrows was not that good, it would still be enough to cause a lot of damage if they were to be shot down in such a manner.
"Not good, there's an ambush! Quick, disperse to the side of the road! "
Luo Wuzhen unsheathed his saber and shouted sternly.
Before he said a word, a tall and strong steed appeared from the darkness. It was like a ghost that had leaped out of the night, but the aura it exuded was unparalleled. It was like a roaring beast. Maqiao sat upright on the horse, holding a snow-white saber in his hand. He slashed left and right and killed his way into the chaotic crowd.
"Kill! Kill! "
Countless knights swarmed over from both sides of the road. Other than the cavalry, there were also many infantry. They either held shields in one hand or sabers in the other, and they specialized in stabbing the horses' abdomens. Some wielded long spears and took advantage of the chaos, preventing the Khitan cavalry from displaying their advantage in speed. Under the cover of the darkness, they stabbed the sharp tips of their spears into the Khitan soldiers' chests.
Many people in the Zhou army had injuries of one sort or another. Some of their injuries hadn't healed yet, but once they charged into the enemy's ranks, their blood boiled and they forgot everything. They only remembered to brandish the weapons in their hands with all their might, listening to the sounds of sharp weapons stabbing into people's bodies and hearing the screams of the enemy. They killed even more fiercely.
They were all survivors of the battle in the Yellow Deer Valley. They did not forget how they escaped from death, nor did they forget their fallen comrades. Some of them were neighbors who joined the army together, some were relatives and friends who were related to each other, and some were comrades who slept in the same big tent and ate the same rice pot.
They had all lost their lives in Yellow Deer Valley, and this moment was the time for revenge!
The Zhou army that came out of the darkness were like vengeful demons. They didn't forget to stab the Khitan soldiers who hadn't stopped breathing. They charged at the Khitan soldiers who tried to escape without regard for the danger and used their warhorses to knock them over. Those who didn't ride on horses would throw themselves under the horses' abdomens, chopping the horses' legs and stabbing the horses' abdomens. In short … everyone had to stay. No one was allowed to leave!
Tonight was the night to settle their grudges!
…
The Khitan general, Xing Kaier, stood on the mountain and looked into the distance. He listened carefully for a while. The fire that had suddenly started was gradually extinguished. Separated by a mountain, he could no longer see clearly. But the sounds of battle could be clearly heard in the silent night. Even with a mountain between them, he could still hear them clearly.
"What's going on? What's going on? "
Xing Kaier was so anxious that he was spinning around. Although he had sent out scouts, they were separated by a mountain. Although it looked close, it wasn't easy to climb down the mountain. He hadn't received any reports yet. However, he had vaguely guessed something in his heart, but he just didn't want to believe it.
They had been ambushed by the Zhou army.
That night, Xing Kaier was patrolling the sentry posts when he suddenly found that there was a fire in front of him.
Xing Kaier wasn't worried at first. He thought that it was just a sudden mountain fire, and the fire couldn't burn all the way here. They chose a place to store food, so they naturally wouldn't choose a place with dense trees.
The mountains in the north weren't completely covered by forests, especially the mountains in this area. Not to mention winter, even in spring or summer, the mountain slope in front of him was covered with large black rocks. There were only a few small trees and weeds, so the fire couldn't burn all the way here.
But he immediately felt that something was wrong. Because Chief Luo had once ordered that if the Zhou army attacked the mountain, he had to light the fire as a warning. He knew that Chief Luo was setting up an ambush tonight to catch the Zhou army off guard. If Chief Luo saw the fire and thought that it was Xing Kaier who was warning them, wouldn't that ruin Chief Luo's plan?
Xing Kaier immediately sent people to the ambush to report the situation. At the same time, he sent people to climb up the mountain slope to see what was going on. In the end … he didn't know if the people he sent to investigate the situation in front of him had arrived or not. At this moment, there were continuous shouts of killing. Wasn't the situation obvious?
A few of the leaders were so anxious that they rubbed their palms together and asked for battle. "Chief Xing, this must be a trap set up by the Zhou army. Our reinforcements were ambushed. Chief Xing should immediately gather troops and rush over to help. The Zhou army only has one unit from Thousand Gold Smelting City, so there shouldn't be too many of them. Three thousand of us will be of great help!"
Xing Kaier was still hesitating. "Chief Luo ordered me to guard the food. This is the foundation of our army. If something goes wrong …"
Chief Luo's brother-in-law couldn't take it anymore. He stood up and cursed loudly.
"Go wrong my ass! There are cliffs on both sides. Can the Zhou army climb up? If only three to five people come up, it's useless! And if the Zhou army wants to attack this valley, they have to pass through the mountain in front first. There is a fierce battle in front. Can the Zhou army pass through? You only need to leave three to five hundred people to take care of it. Why can't the others go and help! The one surnamed Xing, are you afraid of death? "
Xing Kaier was so angry that his face turned red. He shouted, "Yang Mei, don't you think you can be rude to me just because of Chief Luo's reputation. I, Xing Kaier, am in charge here! "
When the leaders saw this, they all came forward to persuade him. But from their words, they still felt that they should rush to the front of the mountain to help. Xing Kaier had no choice but to order, "Leave four hundred people to guard the food. I will lead the others to the front of the mountain immediately to help!"
When Xing Kaier gave the order, the three thousand Khitan soldiers immediately got to work.
At this time, Yang Fan had just climbed to the cliffs of the Ping family. The mountain wind howled, making his clothes flutter!
…
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