Now that the route of the Horse Gang's departure had been obtained, they could naturally deploy their troops immediately. They could deploy their troops to the places where the Horse Gang would definitely pass through and wait for the Horse Gang to enter the ambush. Then, they could easily surround them and leave them no chance to resist.
Both Senior Chen and Senior Guo chose the most favorable valley, where they could set up an ambush, which would make it easier for them to attack the enemy, and at the same time, they would suffer little loss.
Li An also felt that they had chosen a good terrain. In addition, they should leave some soldiers and horses near the Horse Gang's new nest. This way, after the Horse Gang left, when the caravans in the city came to collect food, they could take them down in one fell swoop. This would save a lot of trouble.
"There are too many people in the daytime, so I plan to set out after dark and arrive at the valley in the west of the Yinzhou Province in one day and one night. After setting up an ambush there, we will wait for the Horse Gang's arrival."
Senior Chen said.
Senior Guo said with a smile, "There is a valley in the west of the Lu River in the north of the Yinzhou Province. I've been there before, and it's a good place to set up an ambush. But it's a long way to go, and we may not be able to arrive there in one day and one night. But as long as we set out immediately, we'll definitely arrive earlier than the Horse Gang. "
"The most important thing for this expedition is to keep the Horse Gang in the dark. We can't be discovered by their scouts. In my opinion, we should not only march at night, but also march in batches. In this way, even if the Horse Gang sees something, they won't be suspicious. Maybe they'll think we're patrolling."
Ang Lee said.
"I'll take 500 troops, 100 in a team, and we'll set out in five batches. We'll be far away from the Qiwu Mountain in one night, and the Horse Gang won't find us."
Senior Chen said.
Senior Guo looked at Ang Lee and said, "There are more Horse Gang on our way, so we need to take more troops. I think 1,000 troops will be enough. We'll divide them into 10 teams and leave the Qiwu Mountain by two different routes. In this way, we'll have more than 2,000 troops left in the Qiwu Mountain to patrol day and night, which will completely confuse the Horse Gang and prevent them from finding anything unusual."
"In that case, let's arrange the troops at once. Let the soldiers have a good meal and rest. We'll set out at once after dark."
Ang Lee said.
More than 1,000 troops were quickly selected. After the meal, the soldiers went back to their rooms to rest, so that they could have strength for the operation at night.
Naturally, Li An also rested after lunch. This time, Li An did not intend to let Li Hanlu follow him to the encirclement of the horse bandits. He let her stay in the camp to recuperate.
"It's only two days at most. It's not that tiring. Why won't my husband let me go? I want to go. "
"It's just Horse Gang. There's no need for Madam to go out in person. Madam, you'd better stay here and be responsible for commanding the troops here to take down the Horse Gang caravan from Summer State City."
Ang Lee said.
"Fine. If that's the case, then I won't go. "
Li Hanlu answered him.....
In the new lair of the Horse Gang, the leader of the Horse Gang was holding a banquet. They had already planned to set out in batches the next morning. Skinny Monkey-Like's men didn't have much pressure, but the leader and One-eyed had to carry a lot of treasures.
Among them, the most important task of carrying treasures was the responsibility of One-eyed. The leader was only responsible for carrying the most valuable treasures. Moreover, One-eyed had to lead more than 100 men in front, while the leader's men followed behind. They were about five miles apart. In this way, they could take care of each other and avoid being too big of a target if they gathered together.
The Horse Gang Leader looked at the Horse Gang around him and said, "Brothers, we will set off for Hedong tomorrow morning. It will be a tough journey. I hope you can overcome the difficulties and arrive at Hedong as soon as possible. Tonight, let's relax and eat as much as we can and drink as much as we can. I'm afraid we won't be able to eat so much good food on the way. But brothers, don't worry. When we arrive at Hutu Mountain, we will be able to eat and drink again."
"Yes, we'll always listen to you. Come on, let's drink."
One-eyed said loyally.
Skinny Monkey-Like drank a cup of wine and said, "Brother, don't worry. We won't embarrass you. Isn't it just crossing mountains? It's a piece of cake. We can endure any hardship. We'll definitely reach Hedong's Fox Mountain in half a month. "
"Skinny Monkey-Like, your men are light. They'll definitely reach Fox Mountain before us. Once we reach Fox Mountain, you must find a good place to set up camp and send half of your men to meet us."
The leader said.
"Brother, don't worry. I know what to do."
Skinny Monkey-Like said.
At the table near the corner, Pony and Fatty were gobbling down meat. Although they had already eaten half a pheasant each, the pheasant was not big. After removing the feathers and innards, half a pheasant weighed less than half a catty. Moreover, this was only lunch. Now that it was dinner, their stomachs were naturally hungry. Gobbling down the meat was not a problem.
Fatty's mouth was covered in grease, and he was in a good mood. Pony, on the other hand, was in a more perturbed mood. He was the traitor of the group, so his heart was naturally different from the others. He didn't have much of an appetite, but in order to not expose his identity, he had to be like the others, eating meat and drinking wine in big mouthfuls.
"Brother Ma, I still think the pheasant you hunted is better. This meat is not bad, but it's not as good as the pheasant."
Fatty said as he ate.
"Oh, is that so? If there's a chance in the future, I'll hunt pheasants for you every day. "
Foal said casually.
Fatty nodded and said, "That would be best. When we reach Fox Rising Mountain, we'll go hunting every day and eat pheasant meat every day. However, it would be even better if we could catch them alive. This way, we can breed pheasants and eat as much as we want. It would be even better if we could steal a woman from the foot of the mountain."
"You still want a woman? Are you crazy? Don't you know what you do for a living? "
Foal reprimanded him.
Fatty suddenly sighed and said, "Sigh! Eating and drinking with my brothers on the mountain is really good. The only bad thing is that we don't have a woman. There's not a single woman in the entire village. Some people who can go to the county and state capital can go to the brothels. But people like us who chop wood and feed horses can only live alone on the mountain! "
"Fatty, are you thinking of leaving the village and getting a woman from the foot of the mountain so that you can live the rest of your life peacefully?"
Foal asked softly.
Fatty was stunned and quickly shook his head and said, "No, no, no, why would I do such a thing? No matter how good a woman is, she can't be compared to my brothers! In order to be with my brothers, I don't need a woman! "
Foal said softly, "Fatty, don't be nervous. We're brothers! Even if you have such thoughts, I will never betray you. We're all men. It's normal to want a woman. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. At least, if there's a chance, let's go to a big city like the state capital and find a woman to play with. "
Fatty's eyes were full of admiration when he heard this. He said excitedly, "Brothers will always be brothers. I'll follow you for the rest of my life. Brother Ma will always be my brother."
Foal patted Fatty's back and told him to eat more so that he wouldn't get hungry easily on the journey.
The journey was long and would take about a month. Therefore, they had to bring enough rations. These rations mainly consisted of sun-dried flour, dried meat and salted vegetables. These foods wouldn't rot easily and could be kept for a long time. Moreover, they didn't need to start a fire to cook. They could just put it in their mouths and eat it.
According to the ration of one jin of dry rations per person per day, each horse bandit needed to carry fifteen jin of dry rations. These dry rations could only satisfy their consumption for half a month. In the remaining half a month, they could eat rice and fresh horse meat. The horse bandits could not eat dry rations every day. They could cook some porridge every other day and kill a horse to make fresh meat to improve their diet. This way, the horse bandits could eat better, in case they ate dry rations every day and got sick.
The horse bandits all knew that they would have to travel the next morning. They would have to sleep in the open and eat simple food along the way, so there was no chance for them to drink. Therefore, in this banquet, all the horse bandits drank and ate meat to their heart's content. They were especially enthusiastic about drinking. They wouldn't be able to drink for a month, which was a very intolerable thing for the horse bandits who were addicted to alcohol.
The banquet didn't end until midnight. The horse bandits who had eaten and drunk enough went back to their rooms to rest. They fell asleep as soon as they hit the pillow, looking very relaxed. A few horse bandits who didn't drink had to keep watch for the horse bandits to prevent them from being attacked by the soldiers.
However, the soldiers didn't know that the horse bandits were all drunk. Lao Guo, Lao Chen and Ang Lee were leading more than a thousand soldiers and horses to rush forward in batches. They had to arrive at a suitable ambush position ahead of the horse bandits and wait for them to deliver a fatal blow. It would be best if they could capture all the horse bandits.
Lao Chen had set out ahead of them, while Ang Lee and Lao Guo set out an hour later. In this way, they could take care of each other and have a good discussion together.
The night in Mount Qiwu was very beautiful. Marching at night wasn't cool, but it was quite cold. However, the soldiers didn't care about that. The opportunity to make a contribution was right in front of them. As excellent soldiers of the Tang Empire, they could certainly overcome these difficulties. A little cold was nothing to an excellent soldier.
Many batches of soldiers and horses were marching at the fastest speed. Almost every once in a while, a team of 100 soldiers would leave Mount Qiwu and head for the ambush place in Yinzhou.
"Lao Guo, the night is so beautiful tonight! With the moonlight, we don't even need to light torches. "
Ang Lee said.
"The night is beautiful. We've taken such a long detour. I don't think we'll startle the horse bandits!"
Lao Guo said.
Ang Lee said, "I wonder what the horse bandits are doing now. Are they sleeping?"
"It's so late. Most of the horse bandits should be sleeping! In order to reduce the casualties, we have to suffer as well! If we had listened to Lao Chen, the horse bandits would have been taken down by now. Haha! "
Lao Guo said.
"That's right! As long as we besiege the horse bandits' lair and bring some cannons here, we can wipe them all out. However, it's impossible to capture the horse bandits without causing any casualties to our army. I really don't want the soldiers to lose their lives! This time, in the battle at Old White City, two of our soldiers died from serious injuries, and dozens of others were seriously injured. This makes my heart ache a lot! I want to take away as many soldiers as I bring with me. The death of any soldier is a great loss to our army. "
Ang Lee said.
Lao Guo sighed, "In the whole Tang Empire, I'm afraid we can't find another person who loves his soldiers as much as Assistant Minister Li does. The soldiers are really lucky to be able to follow you!"
"Why can't we find another person like you? Lao Guo, aren't you also a person who loves your soldiers as much as your children? If you didn't love your soldiers as much as your children and try your best to reduce casualties, we would have flattened Qiwu Mountain several months ago. "
Ang Lee flattered him.
Lao Guo shook his head, "No, no. Even if we don't consider casualties, we should find the horse bandits' lair first! We haven't found it yet, have we? "
Modesty was Lao Guo's specialty. He had always been modest and would never forget it under any circumstances. Moreover, Lao Guo would never sacrifice a large number of his soldiers for meritorious service.
That was why Lao Guo's reputation had always been so low. In history, Geshu Han and An Lushan, who were not as capable as him, had both become Border-governors, while Lao Guo had always been a deputy. Though his official position was not low, a deputy would always be a deputy, and he had no real power in the army. Only when he became the chief could he have more real power.
Before the An Lushan Rebellion broke out, the Shuofang Provincial Governor was An Lushan. But An Sishun was the cousin of the traitor An Lushan, which made the emperor very worried. Plus, Geshu Han framed An Sishun, so An Sishun was unjustly killed.
Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, two deputies, were An Sishun's subordinates. They soon became the main force of the Tang Empire to quell the rebellion. Since then, Lao Guo, as the real Shuofang Provincial Governor, began to step onto the stage of history with a name and became the mainstay of the Tang Empire.
"Lao Guo! You're too modest. If we can capture all the horse bandits this time, at least half of the credit will be given to you. Don't refuse! "
Ang Lee said.
"I'm an old man. It's meaningless to take so many credits. Assistant Minister Li is so young. It's always good to get more credits."
Lao Guo said.
Ang Lee said without hesitation, "Lao Guo! My contributions now are much more than yours! My credits are so high that they can shock the emperor. It can't be higher. Now that I've made a contribution, His Majesty doesn't know what to reward me with. "
This was self-praise, a very proud kind of self-praise. Only Li An could shamelessly praise himself. However, what he said was the truth. Li An had indeed made a lot of contributions, so much so that Li An couldn't even remember how many he had done.
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