The road was too difficult to travel. After a whole day, these horse bandits had only traveled less than twenty miles, which was not even as far as the first day. This was mainly because they had encountered several obstacles that even horses could not pass through. Unloading, lifting, and loading the chests all took a lot of time. Naturally, it was impossible for them to travel fast.
However, the soldiers and soldiers arrived at the Lu River Valley in only one day, which was much faster than the Horse Gang. The speed of carrying the luggage on foot was much faster than that of the Horse Gang.
Before dark, Li An and Lao Guo arrived at the Lushui River Valley in the Yinzhou Province with a large group of soldiers and horses, and camped in a hidden camp.
The logistics soldiers who had arrived earlier had already prepared food. In addition, they had also specially boiled enough hot water for a thousand soldiers to wash up. Taking a bath in the middle of winter was extremely comfortable.
"We came too early. The Horse Gang moved slowly. According to the report of the scouts, the Horse Gang could only move 20 miles a day at most. At this speed, it will take them three to five days to get here. I really hope they can move faster."
Lao Guo said.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Only three to five days. The scenery around the valley is nice. It's not bad to have a tour here. I heard there are many places of interest and historical interest."
"What are the interesting places?"
Lao Guo asked curiously.
Ang Lee replied, "There are at least five or six places worth visiting within 20 miles. For example, there is a Cold Well in the south, Huayun Temple, Jade Emperor Temple, Fotang Temple further away, Zhongxing Tower not far away in the north, and the abandoned Great Wall. Qingyun Temple in the west, which we passed by just now, but we didn't go in because we were in a hurry. Tiantai Mountain in the east, and the surging Yellow River further away."
Lao Guo was stunned and exclaimed, "There are so many interesting places. What does this Cold Well mean? Is the water in the well cold in winter?"
Li An nodded and said, "Right, this well is very interesting. Regardless of whether it's spring, summer, autumn, or winter, the temperature is always close to the freezing point. Winter is too cold, so you might not be able to feel the coolness of the well water. But in summer, you can feel the coolness of the well water."
"It's a pity that it's winter now, so it's useless to keep the water cool. We can just find a well and put it outside. However, with such a good well, there must be a lot of people around, or at least a small village."
Lao Guo said.
Ang Lee nodded and agreed, "That's right. The Cold Well is indeed a village, but it's not big. There are only dozens of families, all of whom are ordinary farmers. If we go there, we can't bring too many people, or we will frighten them..."
Lao Guo nodded and agreed................... Let's take a rest......................................
...........
. "Ang Lee answered.
A thousand men and horses were stationed in a secluded valley. There were soldiers standing guard all around the valley. The interior of the valley was also covered with trees. The tents and other things had also been camouflaged. This was to ensure that the army would not be discovered to the greatest extent. Even the nearby commoners might not be able to discover them. This was because there were not many villages in the surrounding area. The nearest village was more than ten li away. Usually, no one would come to this secluded valley. There was nothing fun in the wilderness.
The logistics soldiers boiled a large amount of hot water, which was enough for more than a thousand soldiers to take a bath together. However, they would not supply them one by one. Instead, they would dig a pit and build a large bathhouse for hundreds of people to take a bath together. In this way, the hot water would be enough, and it would be easier for them to take a bath. If they took a bath one by one, the amount of hot water would not be enough.
However, a senior official like Ang Lee would not take a bath together with a large group of soldiers. There must be a special supply of hot water, and it could only be more, not less.
It felt good to take a bath alone in the tent. However, such a scene made Ang Lee miss the time when he took a bath in his own home. At home, he was always accompanied by his wife and maids, and someone would help him scrub. But now, Ang Lee was taking a bath alone, and there was no one to scrub his back. There were guards outside, but Ang Lee was not used to having guards scrub his back. It was too embarrassing for a man to scrub his back.
Sounds of fighting could be heard coming from the large bathtub not far away. These young and strong soldiers were particularly energetic. Each and every one of them was particularly hot-tempered. If there was no war to fight, they would have to train more. Otherwise, they would be stifled to death.
Providing women to the soldiers to relieve their anger was also a method, but it was easy to get addicted to it. Once they could not control themselves well, it would cause their bodies to collapse. There were too many heroes who were cursed by beauty. It was a matter of minutes for people to be sucked dry. A troop that was greedy for women did not have much combat power. Therefore, even though he knew that the soldiers were angry, he could not let them enjoy it. Only by holding it in could they have higher combat power.
It was not much fun to take a bath alone. It was too boring without a girl, and there was no point in wasting time. Therefore, Ang Lee stopped after taking a bath for a while.
The dinner was very sumptuous. The soldiers in charge of logistics had already served delicious food. All the soldiers could eat the most delicious food. Moreover, it was a table of ten people. The food was particularly sumptuous, and the treatment was particularly good.
On the other hand, the situation was completely different for the horse bandits. These horse bandits, who had been tired for a day, were not rewarded with delicious food. They were already under a lot of pressure to carry treasures. Naturally, they could not afford to carry too much food, especially fresh food that was not easy to carry. This would greatly reduce their quality of life.
After camping, the horse bandits could only gnaw on dry steamed buns, some salted vegetables, and dried meat. In addition, someone would boil water and share it with each of them. In this way, they could make do with dinner.
Therefore, the horse bandits' quality of life was very poor. Compared with the soldiers of the Tang dynasty, the difference was too great. Naturally, this made them complain.
Fatty was very tired after a day of work. When he ate, he was very listless. He was already tired from working, and now he could not even eat good food. There were only dry steamed buns and salted vegetables. The supply of dried meat was very limited. If he ate too much, he would not be able to eat for the rest of the day. Therefore, he could only eat two slices of dried meat per meal.
"I'm tired after a day of eating this. Sigh!"
Fatty said with dissatisfaction.
When Foal heard that, he quickly took out his dried meat and said, "Fatty, I still have a lot of meat here. Give me a few pieces."
As they knew that the soldiers would ambush them halfway, they would not be able to reach Hedong. Therefore, Foal did not skimp on the meat. Moreover, before they set off, he used his position to enjoy the benefits of being in a favorable position. He prepared a few portions of dried meat for himself. This was secretly prepared, and no one knew about it.
"Brother Ma, why do you have so much meat? Where did you get it?"
Fatty's eyes widened when he saw the meat. He was very excited, as if he had never eaten meat in his life.
Foal smiled faintly and said, "We're the ones in charge of distributing the dried meat. It's a piece of cake to secretly get more for yourself. Fatty, don't tell anyone. Hurry up and eat!"
After he finished speaking, he placed a large piece of meat into Fatty's bowl and urged him to eat quickly.
Fatty said gratefully, "Don't worry! Brother Ma, of course I won't tell anyone. Why didn't I think of preparing more for myself? Look at me. "
Seeing the look of regret on the fatty's face, the colt smiled faintly. It also took out a large piece of meat and placed it in its bowl. After walking for an entire day, it was very tired. If it didn't eat something good, it would be letting itself down. Besides, only by eating and drinking well would it be able to recover its strength and prepare for the next day.
Right now, Little Foal's biggest problem was that he didn't know where the soldiers were lying in ambush. He didn't know when he would meet the soldiers, and he didn't know what would happen. If the soldiers suddenly fired arrows from somewhere, wouldn't he be dead for sure?
Therefore, Foal had to eat well to recover all his strength. Only when he was full of energy could he avoid danger in time and save his own life.
"Brother Ma, I want to eat roast chicken."
Fatty said with his mouth full of oil. He ate the meat in his mouth and immediately thought of the delicious taste of roast chicken.
The foal was both angry and amused at the same time when it saw Fatty's insatiable look. Look at the situation now, and this guy is still thinking about eating.
"Fatty, don't be greedy! You've eaten so much meat and you're still thinking about roast chicken? Why are you so greedy? Of all our brothers, you're the only one who's greedy. "
Foal said.
"Brother Ma, I really want to eat. Why don't we walk around the campsite after we finish eating? Maybe we'll meet some wild chickens."
Fatty said.
"Where are we going to find wild chickens in the middle of the night? Aren't you tired? "
Foal said helplessly.
"Tired! Very tired. "
Fatty said.
"If you're tired, then rest well. Why are you catching wild chickens? Hurry up and eat. Then go to bed early."
Foal said reproachfully.
In the middle road, the other group of horse bandits was about to reach the ambush site. The soldiers in charge of the ambush were the elite troops that Old Chen brought from the Capital.
Although not many of these soldiers had fought in battle, their equipment was very advanced. With these powerful equipment, even if the soldiers did not have any battle experience, their combat strength would not be affected. This was the great effect of equipment.
Old Chen and his troops had been preparing for an entire day in the mountain path. They set off first. Although they took a detour, they still arrived at the valley a day earlier than the horse bandits. This valley was the only way for the horse bandits in the middle road. The horse bandits would definitely pass through here.
After the army set up the ambush, Old Chen personally went to the front line to inspect. He repeatedly speculated and tried to modify the battle plan flawlessly so that the horse bandits would be almost defenseless.
"General, the horse bandits are not far away. The fire dragon ahead is the horse bandits who are marching. They will arrive at the valley soon."
A soldier reported.
"These horse bandits are in a hurry! It's already dark and they're still marching. Nothing to say. Destroy them. "
Old Chen said domineeringly.
"General, when the battle starts, should we persuade them to surrender first or after we destroy some of the horse bandits?"
A lieutenant asked.
Old Chen thought for a moment and said, "There can't be any casualties this time. Otherwise, Assistant Minister Li will laugh at me. Let's attack a few rounds first and make the horse bandits defenseless before we persuade them to surrender."
As a general, Old Chen was actually a person who loved his soldiers. He naturally hoped that all his soldiers could survive. For this, he was willing to lose a little military merit. Even if he could not capture a single horse bandit, he did not care. He only needed to destroy the horse bandits and ensure that his soldiers did not suffer any casualties. That was enough.
"General, the horse bandits are very close. The battle is about to start. General, you'd better retreat first! For your safety. "
The lieutenant said.
"Retreat? When I was fighting in the front line, you weren't there yet. How can these lowly bandits hurt me? "
Old Chen took advantage of his seniority. He wanted to see the destruction of the horse bandits with his own eyes.
The horse bandits led by Shou Hou moved very quickly. They did not bring too much luggage. In addition to the small amount of rations they had to bring, they also brought a dozen tents for camping and some rations for the horses. After all, it was winter now and there was not much horse grass to supply along the way. Therefore, they had to carry a lot of supplies. In order to reach the east of the river as soon as possible, they marched day and night and only rested for three to four hours a day. Moreover, they did not have a fixed time to rest at night. On the contrary, they preferred to use the cover of the night to march quickly.
"Brothers, hurry up. After we cross the valley in front, let's camp. Hurry up."
Shou Hou shouted loudly and asked his brothers to move faster. According to their speed, it would only take them 15 minutes to cross the valley in front. In other words, they would be able to camp soon. However, they did not expect that there would be a troop of soldiers lying in ambush on both sides of the valley in the middle of the night. They had been waiting for them for a long time.
"Haha! The horse bandits have already entered the ambush circle. None of them can escape. "
Old Chen said excitedly. He waved his hand and ordered his soldiers to attack immediately.
There was no suspense in the soldiers' attack. In a very short period of time, more than a hundred mounted bandits who were marching were beaten senseless. At least half of the mounted bandits fell from their horses. Some of them were shot by the crossbows, while some of their horses were shot by the crossbows. In short, the mounted bandits fell into a state of chaos. They even lost the ability to organize a resistance.
"Horse bandits, listen up. Surrender and you'll be spared. Surrender and you'll be spared."
The soldiers still wanted to capture some prisoners. Therefore, after the first round of attack, they began to persuade them to surrender.
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