Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 94 Parting ways
"Dongben, enemy troops have been spotted in the north. Protector Zhebu sent someone to report that they are Han slaves in the west."

"At present, Protector Zhebu has led the Jialin Army and the Guzang Army to the north. Order our army to march immediately and serve as the rear guard of the main army."

At 7 o'clock, the light cavalry sent by Zhe Buluo went south for twenty miles and arrived at the camp of Fanhe Army.

Inside the tent, Mo Li, who was in his fifties, heard Xiaojie'er's words and said in dissatisfaction:
"This Zhe Buluo is just a powerful man in Houjing, but he can actually command me."

"Tell the army to prepare food and set out in an hour. Let Zhe Buluo scout the way for us."

"Yes!" Xiaojieer agreed, and at the same time asked tentatively: "Should we send our Tangqi farther away?"

Seeing that Mo Li was not angry, he explained, "Zhe Bu Du Hu and his men have already set out, and our Tangqi are ten miles away from them."

"If we set out again in an hour, the distance will probably be no less than twenty miles."

"This……"

Xiaojie wanted to say more, but Moli scolded him, "It's not your turn to decide on the matter!"

"I deserve to die!" Xiaojieer knelt down quickly and saluted.

Seeing him like this, Mo Li slowly said, "How many soldiers and horses can the Han slaves in the west have?"

"Since Zhe Bu Luo said that the Han Nu are in the north, then our army only needs to strengthen its defense against the Yanzhi Mountain in the west. It will be enough to send the Tangqi in other directions ten miles away."

After that, he waved his hand and said, "Get out!"

"Yes..." Xiaojie quickly stood up and left the tent.

Soon, smoke began to rise from the camp.

Large plumes of smoke rose up, and could be seen even from twenty miles away.

As the smoke rose, a figure slowly raised his hand.

"Mount!"

When Liu Jilian's voice rang out on the Liangzhou grassland, more than a thousand elite cavalrymen behind him mounted their horses.

Chen Jingchong and Shang Duoluo stepped forward and said, "Guo Yi, the foreign soldiers from Sanquanyanzi have been attracted north by Director Zheng. Can Jiujuyan take action now?"

"Let Jiu Juyan do it, but don't kill all the people this time. Bring the single men in the tribe back to Shandan."

Liu Jilong responded in a deep voice, then looked towards the smoke in the distance: "Take advantage of his escape to kill him!"

"Order the entire army, no foreign soldier shall be spared!"

"Yes!" Chen Jingchong and Shang Duoluo bowed in response.

Soon, with the sound of horses' rustling, more than a thousand elite cavalrymen launched an attack towards the wolf smoke.

The direction of their attack was from the west, which meant they were coming from the east.

They were still in the north yesterday, but when the Shandan Tangqi and Liangzhou Tangqi discovered each other, Liu Jilian expected that the Liangzhou army would be stationed in Sanquanyanzi.

He learned about the situation in Liangzhou from the people who were rescued last time, and naturally knew that Sanquanyanzi had clean and abundant water, making it an excellent place to station.

The Liangzhou army thought that Liangzhou was their home ground, so they would naturally station at Sanquanyanzi.

Therefore, Liu Jilong ordered Zheng Chu to escort the rescued slaves and herds to retreat westward, and asked Zheng Chu to actively lure the Liangzhou foreign troops at Sanquanyanzi after dawn.

As for him, after the rain stopped last night, he led 1,300 elite cavalrymen from the east along the Macheng River all the way south.

His original intention was to plunder the seven tribes that tried to retreat, and then have the main force go around to the rear of the Liangzhou foreign army and attack from behind.

Unexpectedly, Fanhe's army did not camp at Sanquanyanzi, and was twenty miles away from Sanquanyanzi's army.

The distance was neither long nor short, so Liu Jilong quickly thought of how to deal with this group of people.

He left Jiujuyan with 300 cavalrymen to attack the seven tribes halfway, while he himself led 1,000 elite cavalrymen to bypass the seven tribes and move closer to the Fanhe army in the south.

Originally he thought he would run into the Tangqi of the Fanhe Army, but he didn't expect that the Tangqi of the Fanhe Army in the east had only been released for more than ten miles.

Now, the thousand of them were only fifteen or sixteen miles away from the camp of the Fanhe army.

The Shandan military horses could run thirty miles in one breath, and then they needed to rest for fifteen minutes or even half an hour.

The distance of fifteen or sixteen miles was enough for them to launch a surprise attack and then fight.

"set off!"

Liu Jilian gave an order in a deep voice, and a thousand elite cavalrymen began to march towards the Fanhe military camp following the flags behind him.

Once the rumbling sound of horse hooves is heard, it will tell the enemy the position of our side.

But the sound of horse hooves could only be transmitted to a limited extent, and they were located in the east, in the direction of Guzang.

Therefore, when the Fanhe Juntang cavalry heard the sound of horse hooves, they not only did not retreat immediately, but instead rode their horses closer to them.

"It's the Han slaves in the west!"

"Why are they rushing over from the direction of Guzang!"

"withdraw!"

"Beep--"

When the two sides got closer, the Tang cavalry of the Fanhe army immediately realized something was wrong. They blew their whistles and began to retreat.

On the way of retreat, they continuously shot arrows similar to whistling arrows to warn of being attacked.

However, the sound of the whistling arrows could not travel too far, so it was not until more than a hundred Tang cavalrymen in the east gathered together and shot the whistling arrows that the sound was gradually heard by the foreign troops in the camp.

"what sound?"

Inside the camp, a foreign soldier who was eating bran porridge moved his ears and asked subconsciously.

Everyone sitting around the campfire listened attentively when they heard this, and their faces changed suddenly the next second.

"The sound of arrows!"

"Enemy attack!!!"

When the foreign soldiers beside the campfire said the sound of arrows, a hoarse howl was heard from the east.

The first to discover the Shandan elite cavalry were the foreign soldiers outside the east tent. They shouted loudly that they were attacked by the enemy and rushed back into the tent to try to put on armor.

"Armor-piercing!"

"Put on armor quickly!!"

For a moment, the sound of calling for armor-piercing spread in the camp.

"Dong Ben, the enemy is coming from the east, put on your armor!"

The curtain of the tent was lifted, and a lieutenant led several armored soldiers from the tent to wake up Moli and hurriedly put on armor for him.

"Why are they coming from the east? Didn't that bastard Zhe Buluo release the Tangqi?"

At the same time as the armor was pierced, Moli also reacted, but he subconsciously thought that Zhe Bu Luo had deliberately let this enemy army come.

With the help of the soldiers, Moli quickly put on his armor.

However, the armored soldiers who had no one to help them in the camp had no one to serve them. Before they could put on their armor, the elite cavalry of Shandan had already arrived at the east side of the camp.

"kill!!"

Liu Jilong was the first to rush into the camp. He shot over the campfire with one shot, and the burning wood flew out.

Despite a light rain the previous night, the wood still caught fire on quite a few tents.

In the team, the elite cavalry on the left and right wings used long spears and blunt weapons to stab the fleeing foreign soldiers, while the elite cavalry inside took out torches on the way to charge and bent down to get fire from some bonfires.

They threw torches towards the tents. Not many were ignited at first, but as the fire grew bigger, some wet tents began to slowly ignite.

The fire evaporated the water vapor from the tents around, and after the water evaporated, it was quickly spread to the fire and ignited.

"kill!"

"Don't panic, hold it with your spear!"

Inside the camp, the armored soldiers who did not have time to put on their armor were killed by the elite cavalry, while the experienced foreign soldiers began to take up their spears and form a battle formation.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong led his troops and rode towards them.

"withstand!"

A centurion shouted, and the group of soldiers with long spears who were gathered together immediately stuck the tips of their spears into the ground.

They were extremely nervous, as if they saw the scene of the horse Liu Jilian was riding being stabbed to death.

However, before they could react, Liu Jilong rode forward on his horse, leaned forward, and swung the spear in his hand.

In a flash, the foreign soldiers didn't even have time to react before they saw the spears in their hands being smashed away.

The camp road was only about ten feet wide, and only three or five people could stand side by side.

After the spears of the first two rows of soldiers were broken and flew away, the soldiers in the third row immediately thrust out their spears.

In an instant, four or five holes were pierced on the horse under Liu Jilian's crotch.

The army horses neighed but did not fall down. Liu Jilong turned his back and swung his spear, breaking the spears in the hands of the last row of foreign soldiers and sending them flying.

The foreign soldiers' spear formation only lasted for a few breaths before it was broken by Liu Jilian alone.

The foreign soldiers at the back didn't even have time to form a battle formation before they were overwhelmed by the elite cavalry led by Liu Jilian.

The centurion wanted to reorganize the formation, but Liu Jilong rushed in alone, knocked him away with a spear, and smashed him heavily next to the burning tent.

“Leave no one alive!!”

Liu Jilong wielded his gun to kill the bandits, and did not forget to give instructions to the soldiers.

Seeing the entire camp in chaos, Xiaojie, who had protected Mo Li as he walked out of the tent, immediately helped him onto his horse: "Dongben, retreat!!"

"Retreat!" Mo Li was not a stubborn person. Seeing that the camp was in chaos, he immediately signaled to retreat.

"Retreat to the north, there are people to support us from the north!"

As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen Shandan elite cavalry found them and chased after them. "Dong Ben of the Fanhe Army is here, kill him!!"

The official language of the Tang Dynasty was heard in the camp, attracting all the Shandan elite cavalry to look in that direction.

Chen Jingchong was not far from Mo Li and the others. When he heard the sound, he immediately turned his horse's head and shouted, "Brothers of the Third Regiment, follow me to kill the bandits!!"

In an instant, dozens of people responded and surrounded him and rushed towards Moli.

There were only more than thirty armored soldiers around Mo Li. After he got on his horse, he immediately broke through under the cover of Xiaojie'er. The remaining armored soldiers broke through on horseback, but had no horses to cover their retreat.

Even so, there were still more than a hundred elite cavalrymen who followed Chen Jingchong to bypass them and chase after Moli.

"Sorry..."

“Help, save me!!”

"I surrender, don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

"Pfft..."

The war horses whimpered, the wounded soldiers wailed, and the soldiers who failed to break out shouted at the top of their lungs, but in the end they could not escape the fate of having weapons pierced into their flesh.

In just a quarter of an hour, the camp of Fanhe Army had turned into a sea of fire.

As the fire grew bigger, the Shandan elite cavalry retreated one after another, killing the foreign soldiers who tried to escape outside the camp.

In their eyes, the foreign soldiers who were on fire kept wailing for help.

Gradually, fewer and fewer foreign soldiers were able to escape from the camp, while large numbers of foreign soldiers who were trying to break out had already fallen outside the camp.

In the team, Liu Jilong dismounted, broke off an arrow that was stuck in his armor, and calmly gave orders to his left and right.

The warhorse under his crotch was covered with wounds and panting like a cow.

Seeing Liu Jilong dismounting, it could no longer hold on and fell to its knees on the grass.

Blood foam continued to flow out of its mouth and nose with its heavy breathing. Seeing this, Liu Jilong squatted down, reached out his hand to comfort it, then reluctantly pulled out the sword and stabbed it into its heart.

After just a few simple twitches, its eyes dimmed.

Liu Jilong never gave it a name, but it is his brother who has accompanied him in battles from Jiuquan to the present.

"Record, the army and horses were lost in the Black Wind Formation in Liangzhou..."

After seeing too many soldiers die, even Liu Jilong became a little numb.

He gave an order to Hu Shiguang behind him, then stood up and looked at the battlefield.

The fire in the camp gradually became smaller, and Shang Duoluo led his men to clean up the battlefield.

Many pieces of armor were torn to pieces by the fire, but they were still collected, packed in bags and placed on the horses' backs.

Although the armor plates were burned black, after simple processing, they could be put on ropes and made into armor again, which was much easier than making a set of armor.

Half an hour later, the fire in the camp was finally extinguished, and the wounded soldiers were secured on their horses.

"Huo Siguang, you lead fifty elite cavalrymen to escort the wounded soldiers, armor, and horses and retreat in the direction of Yanzhi Mountain first."

"Yes!"

Following Liu Jilian's order, Huke Siguang immediately led fifty elite cavalrymen and began to retreat with more than twenty wounded soldiers.

The horses that had escaped from the camp were also gathered together and led by them to retreat.

"Where's Chen Jingchong?"

Liu Jilong frowned and looked at Shang Duoluo who was walking over. Shang Duoluo explained, "He went to chase the leader of this foreign army."

"Take a break for a quarter of an hour to regain your strength."

Hearing this, Liu Jilong could only order a rest and wait for Chen Jingchong and others to return.

After the military order was issued, the elite cavalry dismounted, dried the hair of their horses, cleaned their hooves, and waited for further military orders from Liu Jilong.

Soon, more than a hundred elite cavalry appeared in the north and marched south, holding high the Three Stars Flag.

When they returned to the formation, some soldiers' riding skills were not very good, and they almost caused their horses to slip while reining in their horses.

Fortunately, they finally stopped safely, and Chen Jingchong rode out from the front of the battle and bowed to Liu Jilong: "Guo Yi, let that guy run away!"

"We had a fight with the Tangqi in the north. There were not many foreign soldiers gathered in Sanquanyanzi. When they saw us, they surrounded the bandit leader and ran away."

Hearing this, Liu Jilong turned to look at the remaining 900 soldiers and said, "All troops, mount your horses!"

With his order, the soldiers immediately mounted their horses and moved towards the flag behind Liu Jilian.

Shaking the reins of his horse, he did not retreat to the west or east, but instead went deeper into the south.

"drive!!"

Less than two hours after Liu Jilian led his elite cavalry to retreat southward, a large group of cavalry came pouring in from the north.

When they saw the burned camp and the dead bodies all over the ground, they all looked in the direction of the banner.

"Where are they?!"

Under the big banner, Moli was shouting crazily. He was in a very miserable state at this moment, and there were more than 20 equally miserable armored cavalrymen following him.

"General Mang Luo, send the Tang cavalry to search to the west and south!"

Zhe Buluo noticed a large group of horse hoof prints on the ground heading west and south, and hurriedly ordered General Mangluo to send out the Tang cavalry.

General Mang Luo had just sent out several hundred Tang cavalrymen to investigate. When he turned around, he saw Mo Li glaring at them: "You are to my north, did you let them in on purpose?"

"Shut your stinky mouth!" General Mang Luo shouted angrily, and Zhe Buluo also said with an ugly face:

"They must have come from Macheng River. If they came from the north, our Tangqi would definitely catch them."

"Besides, before you were attacked, we had just fought against their Tang cavalry in the north..."

As he spoke, Zhe Buluo tightened his grip on the reins and said, "This bastard Hannu, he set up a false front in the north to lure us into the trap, and then led his elite cavalry to attack you by surprise."

"Where are your Tangqi!" Zhe Buluo reacted and realized that even if the Tangqi of their two units were attracted by the enemy's suspicious troops, there should be Tangqi around Moli's camp.

"I...I...when my Tangqi reported back, they were less than five miles away from the camp. There was no time to put on armor." Moli stammered.

Seeing him like this, Zhe Bu Luo understood that this guy must have seen that he and General Mang Luo were leading the main force in the north, and thought that there was no need to worry if they stationed in the south, so he only sent out the Tang cavalry for more than ten miles.

If this wasn't the reason, he couldn't think of any other reason.

Before the troops of their three cities were combined, 30% of them were taken away by this group of Han slaves. Moreover, according to Moli, the troops led by these Han slaves were all elite cavalry. How could they fight this battle?
"Look at how many people died. It's impossible for them to kill all the people you brought with them in such a short time."

"Send out the cavalry to the surrounding areas to search for the lost soldiers and horses!"

Zhe Bu Luo raised his hand and gave an order, and the two thousand light cavalry following the one thousand elite cavalry immediately began to search around.

An hour later, the soldiers who had fled in all directions were gathered together, but their number was no more than a hundred.

Looking at them, Mo Li was so angry that he almost vomited blood.

When he set out the day before yesterday, he led 300 elite cavalry and 700 light cavalry northward, looking so high-spirited.

But now, there are only a hundred soldiers left out of the thousand. How can he let it go?

"I'm going back to Fanhe and bring my army to chop off the head of this dog Hannu!!"

Moli was indignant, but Zhe Buluo was only concerned about who had fooled them around: "Did you see their flag clearly?"

"Liu!" Mo Li responded angrily, and Zhe Buluo frowned after hearing this:

"There aren't many powerful people with the surname Liu in the west. Are you mistaken?"

"Impossible!!" Mo Li almost broke his voice.

"I can't be wrong. They are the elite cavalrymen with the banner with the word Liu on it!"

Hearing this, Zhe Bu Luo did not ask any more questions, but waited for Tangqi's report.

Another half hour passed. The light cavalry in the south had not reported back yet, but the light cavalry in the west returned to the camp first.

"Protector General, that group of Han slaves entered Yanzhi Mountain. Judging from the horse hoof prints, there are at least six or seven hundred of them."

"Six or seven hundred?" Zhe Bu Luo frowned, then looked at General Mang Luo: "Why haven't the light cavalry in the south reported back yet?"

"It will probably be soon." General Mang Luo was not sure either and could only speak vaguely.

Seeing them like this, Mo Li said with red eyes: "They must have retreated through Yanzhi Mountain!"

Hearing this, Zhe Bu Luo frowned and said, "The situation in Yanzhi Mountain is complicated. Although we are familiar with it, if we have a herdsman to guide us, we will be in danger of being ambushed."

"What else is there to say!" Moli turned his horse around and was about to leave.

Seeing this, Zhe Bu Luo did not stop him and watched him lead a team of less than 200 people back to Fanhe City.

Less than a quarter of an hour after he left, the light cavalry from the south also rode back and brought back the news from the south.

"Protector General, they are heading to Fanhe. Judging from the horse hoof prints, there should be eight or nine hundred people."

The Qingqi reported the military situation. Upon hearing this, Zhe Buluo immediately looked at Xiaojieer beside him and said, "Send someone to catch up with Moli and tell him this military situation. Don't let him get ambushed."

"Yes!" Xiaojie rode away on his horse, and General Mang Luo immediately distanced himself from the matter upon hearing this:

"Their attack on Fan has nothing to do with me. Don't forget that our seven tribes were attacked in the east. It's still not too late to chase them now."

Seeing his short-sightedness, Zhe Bu Luo was also furious: "If something happens to Mo Li and Fan He gets into trouble, your Jialin City will be in danger."

"Hmph! Let's wait until they take over Fanhe City!" After saying that, General Mang Luo turned his horse around and was about to leave.

Seeing that he would not listen to the advice, Zhe Bu Luo hesitated for a while before making a decision.

He parted ways with General Mang Luo and personally led the Guzang army south to prepare to escort Moli back to Fanhe City safely.

As for General Mang Luo, he led the Jialin Army to march northeast, trying to recapture the herds of the seven tribes...

(End of this chapter)