Water Margin people

Chapter 1508: One Slow and One Fast

Star Gorge.

A dangerous pass.

"Great Khan, the mountains here are steep and easy to defend but difficult to attack. Those people from the Central Plains will definitely not be able to get up here!"

A general looked at Ibrahim, the king of the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate and spoke.

This time, the task of defending Xingxing Gorge was assigned to Ibrahim by Yelu Dashi. At first, Ibrahim was unwilling to accept this task. He did not want to be a pioneer, and even more unwilling to face the Qi army directly.

But when Ibrahim saw the dangerous terrain of Xingxing Gorge, he changed his mind. It was too easy to defend such a strategic pass. Even if his army of 100,000 were stationed here, even a million would have no chance of getting through.

Therefore, Ibrahim passed the message as soon as he arrived at Xingxing Gorge, fearing that Qi State did not know that his 100,000 troops were guarding in Xingxing Gorge. His purpose was to make Qi State's army retreat and take a detour to other places.

"Don't be careless. The Qi Kingdom in the east was able to defeat the Liao, Song, and Jin Kingdoms. Their fighting power is definitely not bad. Everyone, be alert."

Although Ibrahim was very happy in his heart, he still reminded the soldiers to be careful.

"Report! Great Khan, 50,000 troops from Qi are heading towards us!"

A soldier came on horseback to report.

"What? The Qi army is coming to Xingxing Gorge?"

Ibrahim couldn't believe his ears. He looked at the surrounding terrain again. He didn't believe that the people of Qi would be so stupid. The Qi army could avoid Xingxing Gorge by just detouring a few hundred miles. How could the enemy possibly come to fight under such circumstances?

"The entire army is on alert!"

Although Ibrahim was frightened, he was a veteran after all and reacted immediately.

"Qi has only 50,000 troops, and I have 100,000 troops here. They can't break through! Maybe they will just try and leave."

Ibrahim comforted himself in his heart and soon became convinced that his 100,000-strong army guarding the pass would be foolproof.

Above Xingxing Gorge, flags of various colors were raised, and the flags fluttering in the wind instantly made Xingxing Gorge look murderous.

The Qi army marched slowly, and Yue Fei rode his horse at the front at a leisurely pace.

"Brother Lin Chong, is my plan okay?"

Yue Fei looked at Lin Chong standing beside him and asked with a smile.

"This slow march strategy is indeed a good one. It can not only ensure the army's physical strength, but also wear down the enemy's morale!"

Lin Chong smiled and said that Yue Fei did not adopt the method of forced march and surprise attack. In this wasteland, there was not even a large forest. The 50,000-strong army had no way to hide and would be discovered by the enemy as soon as they left Yumen Pass.

"What a waste! My axe is still waiting for someone to redeem it. If I walk this slowly, it will take eight or nine days to get there!"

Li Kui was very dissatisfied. He had already sharpened his axe, but it would rust again after waiting for eight or nine days.

"What do you know, Iron Ox! It's 400 miles to Xingxing Gorge. It will take at least four days to reach there by a forced march. By then, the army will be exhausted. How can we fight?"

"And the more impatient we are, the calmer the enemy will be. How can we have an advantage if we wait for them to tire themselves out? Xingxing Gorge is easy to defend but difficult to attack. When the time comes, will you just take your axe and split the mountain apart?"

Yue Fei looked at Li Kui with dissatisfaction. This outsider actually dared to question his strategy.

"I can't split it, but I can explode it!"

  Li Kui is not stupid either. Even though he is born with brute strength, he dare not say that he can split mountains and rivers. But they have gunpowder and artillery shells. They can just use artillery to bombard the ground. What can't be broken?

"Tie Niu, this is unlike you! Didn't you always use an axe to clear the way before? Do you become smarter after shaving your beard?"

Everyone looked at Li Kui in surprise. This dull-headed guy actually came to his senses!

"You guys just know how to make fun of me! This hard nut must be smashed with a hammer!"

Li Kui looked at everyone with contempt. These guys actually thought he was the same Tie Niu as before. Although he could not learn knowledge from books, he always learned something from what he saw and heard.

"That's not how you think about war. Cannons can only be used as surprise weapons. If you use them right at the start, the enemy will be prepared and the gunpowder will lose its power."

Yue Fei shook his head and said that they only brought light artillery this time. Those heavy artillery could not be pulled so far by cattle and horses. Yue Fei had already figured out how to use the artillery. The artillery had a short range and low power. It could only deter the enemy and could not play a role in attacking the enemy.

Star Gorge.

Ibrahim waited for several days, and the soldiers at the pass became a little impatient and guarded the pass strictly for several days, but in the end, there was not even a single person in sight.

"Khan, where are the enemies? The soldiers can't hold back any longer!"

A general looked at Ibrahim and asked, "The weather is getting hot now, and it's not comfortable for them to be guarding the mountain pass in the wind and sun."

"Where's the scout?"

Ibrahim was also a little annoyed. He had been waiting impatiently for the past few days.

A team of scouts hurried back.

"Khan, the enemy's marching speed is very slow, only fifty miles a day. I'm afraid it will take another five or six days to arrive."

The scout looked at Ibrahim and said.

"Five or six more days?"

  Ibrahim's face looked very ugly. He was ready to start the war today, but he was told that it would take a few more days. What was the point of these few days of strict defense?

"Pass the order down, take a few days off!"

Ibrahim gave orders to the soldiers, saying that it was not a good idea to keep guarding with such full concentration, as it would exhaust the soldiers mentally and would damage their combat effectiveness.

Yue Fei, who was on the march, also received the news from the scouts.

"Haha, the enemy really has been fooled and has now let down their guard!"

Yue Fei burst into laughter.

"Haha, it looks like we can speed up the march. There are only two hundred miles left. The light cavalry can get there in two days."

Wang Jin laughed.

"Speed ​​up the march?"

Everyone was stunned. Didn't they agree to march slowly to wear down the enemy's morale? Why did they suddenly speed up?

"If the enemy had been concentrating on guarding, we could have marched slowly and worn them down! But now that the enemy has relaxed, we naturally cannot let them rest well. Pass the order down, 10,000 light cavalry will march quickly and reach Xingxing Gorge within two days!"

Yue Fei gave orders to the army.

After receiving the order, Lu Fang and Guo Sheng immediately charged out with light cavalry, heading towards Xingxing Gorge with smoke and dust rolling.

"Shit, what should I do?"

Li Kui could only stare blankly at the light cavalry going away. He was a heavy infantryman, and although his equipment had been much lighter now, his marching speed was certainly not comparable to that of the light cavalry.

"Don't worry, they are just there to disrupt the enemy. The attack still depends on us!"

Bao Xu looked at Li Kui and said that light cavalry could only harass and not attack. In the terrain of Xingxing Gorge, where the enemy was guarding the pass, the light cavalry had no way to deal with it.

"You can't fall behind!"

Li Kui lowered his head and led his army on the journey.

Star Gorge.

Ibrahim was lying in the tent to avoid the scorching sun, drinking delicious wine and enjoying the tranquility before the war.

"Report, King Khan, the enemy's light cavalry is speeding up and is expected to arrive in the afternoon!"

A scout ran into the tent and said hurriedly.