Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 255: Yanchuan's Defeat
"Cuckoo..."

In the cold wind, 1,500 elite cavalry led by General Lai Chong ambushed at the mouth of the Shuo River where the Shuo River flows into the Yellow River.

The biting cold wind blew on their faces, making them curse with coldness.

"Why haven't these rebels arrived here yet?!"

"Damn it, I'm almost frozen!"

"Sorry..."

A noisy sound was heard among the reeds. Even though I was wrapped in felt, I could not stop the cold wind from blowing in.

From afternoon to dusk, and then to now night, even though General Lai Chong had never fought any tough battles, he gradually reacted.

"Damn it, are these rebels setting up camp in the north?"

Lai Chong looked ordinary, so while he had some guesses in his mind, he couldn't help but prepare to send Tangqi to investigate.

But before he could open his mouth, a flash of fire gradually appeared in the valley to the north.

"I'm coming!"

"Shut up and wait for the whistle!"

The elite cavalry from the three towns shut up and waited for the right time to launch an attack.

"This is Tangqi, no rush..."

Lai Chong squinted his eyes to judge, and the fire was flickering on the official road more than a hundred steps away from them.

When they passed through the reeds, Lai Chong looked at the flags in the team and gradually felt that something was wrong.

Felt hat, fur coat, brown shirt, long boots, brown armor...

"wrong!"

Lai Chong looked at the other person's exotic outfit and immediately felt something was wrong.

"Send someone to ask, and the rest of you prepare."

"If they are the enemy, attack them immediately upon hearing the whistle!"

Lai Chong was still cautious, and an armored soldier immediately walked out from the reeds.

"who!!"

As the sound of armored soldiers walking out of the reeds rang out, the dozen or so foreign cavalrymen immediately drew their bows and arrows and aimed at the reeds.

Their language was different from Mandarin. The armored soldiers who came out saw this and asked in Mandarin: "Are you the Tianping Army?"

"Tianping Army? We are from the Pingxia tribe!"

A heavily accented official voice sounded, and the soldier was stunned. He quickly asked loudly: "You said you are from the Pingxia tribe? Where is the Tianping army?"

"We are looking for them. Are you the government troops from the south?"

The armored soldiers shouted loudly on purpose, so that Lai Chong and the others could learn the other party's identity.

"What the hell, what's going on?!"

Lai Chong stood up and walked out. Seeing this, the other elite riders picked up their horses that had been lying down for a while and walked out of the reeds in a large number.

The elite cavalry of the Pingxia tribe became alert when they saw this, until the armored soldier explained: "We are soldiers from the three towns of Fengxiang, setting up an ambush here."

"What about the rebels?"

After learning each other's identities, both sides asked in unison, both asking about the whereabouts of the rebels.

Seeing this, Lai Chong hurriedly mounted his horse and rode up to the Pingxia cavalry: "What's going on? Aren't you following them southward?"

"We were following them for thirty miles, but when we were ten miles behind them, we found that they had disappeared."

The elite cavalry of the Pingxia tribe explained, and Lai Chong was stunned after hearing it, and then reacted: "Isn't the official road to Pingcheng County ten miles ahead?"

"Damn it! These rebels are heading to Pingcheng County!"

Lai Chong looked at the elite cavalry of the Pingxia tribe and said, "Go and ask your leader to come over. Forget it... We will go over!"

When Lai Chong learned that the Tianping Army was marching towards Pingcheng, he immediately thought of the government troops gathering at Yanshui.

While signaling to head to the main garrison of the Pingxia tribe, he turned back and ordered the general beside him: "Send out light cavalry, cross the Shuoshui River and head south to the Yanshui River, and tell the lord that the rebels have changed their route to Pingcheng!"

"Yes!"

More than a dozen light cavalrymen began to try to cross the Shuoshui River at night, while Lai Chong led more than 1,400 elite cavalrymen to gather with the elite cavalry of the Pingxia tribe ten miles away.

The two armies met in less than two quarters of an hour. Although the elite cavalry of the Pingxia tribe still had the characteristics of the Dangxiang people in their clothes, they had long learned to tie their hair like the Han people, and their appearance was not much different from that of the Han people.

The Pingxia tribe had three thousand elite cavalrymen marching south to join the war. The general leading this army was Tuoba Sigong, the young leader of the Pingxia tribe, who was only sixteen years old.

Although Tuoba Sigong was not yet an adult among the Han people, he had a sturdy figure and looked like he was in his early twenties, with dark skin.

When the two met, Lai Chong did not put on airs, but pointed his whip in the direction of Pingcheng and said:
"The rebels must have changed their route and crossed the river to Pingcheng. We must cross the river immediately!"

"Okay..." Tuoba Sigong went south this time mainly to work for the court and earn fame and an official position.

Upon learning that Lai Chong was the commander of the left wing of Fengxiang Town, he immediately took Lai Chong as the leader, turned around and gave a few instructions in the Tangut language, then led his elite cavalry across the river together with Lai Chong's elite cavalry.

While they were crossing the river, Xiahou Zi led the cavalry and infantry of the three towns to Yanchuan County.

Yanchuan County is located in a valley where several rivers converge, but the valley here is not wide, only a hundred steps from east to west and only two miles from north to south.

After more than 18,500 soldiers from the three towns arrived here, they immediately occupied all the open space outside the city.

Even so, it is still not enough for camping.

In this regard, Xiahou Zi had to order his men to build a pontoon bridge overnight, cross the more than ten-foot-wide Yanchuan River, and reach the east bank to continue camping.

The 18,500 soldiers were divided into two by the river, and the only thing supporting the army's movement was a ten-foot-wide floating bridge.

The troops from Jingyuan and Fengxiang towns were camped on the west bank, and more than 5,000 troops from Bining town were camped on the east bank.

Xiahou Zi, Jiang Xi, Lu Dan, Zheng Zhu, Ma Mingguang and others moved into the Yanchuan County Yayin Hotel.

Yanchuan is more than 40 miles away from Yanshui, but the road is not easy to travel on. Even if the soldiers from the three towns ride in horse-drawn carriages, ox carts and mule carts, it will take a whole day to reach Yanshui County.

After arriving at Yanshui County, they will be able to block the Yellow River with Yonghe Pass in the river.

Thinking of this, Xiahou Zi thought that the rebellion would not be far from being put down.

Just as he was thinking this, a voice came from outside the courtyard asking for a meeting: "Sir, General Ma wants to see you."

Hearing this, Xiahou Zi frowned slightly, thinking that he was indeed a little annoyed that someone had to bother him after traveling all day.

"Please let the military inspector Ma come in."

Xiahou Zi walked out of the bedroom, thinking that it was a good thing that he didn't change his clothes.

After he sat in the main seat, Ma Mingguang also walked into the courtyard led by armored soldiers.

Seeing Xiahou Zi, Ma Mingguang took the initiative to bow and said, "Sir, there has been no news from Lai Chong in the north, so the plan may have changed."

"No news?" Xiahou Zi couldn't sit still after hearing this. He frowned and said:

"No news from Yanshui County?"

"No..." Ma Mingguang shook his head. Seeing this, Xiahou Zi asked again, "What about Pingcheng County?"

"No……"

Ma Mingguang's words instantly sobered Xiahou Zi up. He looked at the armored soldiers and said, "Go and invite some envoys to come!"

The soldiers bowed in response and immediately left the courtyard and went to the nearby courtyard to invite the envoys from the three towns.

Several people from Jiang's faction had already gone to bed and were suddenly woken up, so they naturally looked unhappy.

However, when Xiahou Zi told them that there was no news from the north, the three of them couldn't help but frown.

As they frowned, Xiahou Zi spoke:
"There are only a few official roads to cross the Yellow River. Even if they take a detour, with the three thousand elite cavalry under the command of Tuoba Sigong of the Pingxia tribe, we will definitely be able to capture them."

"However, just in case, the military camp outside the city should be on alert, so I would like to ask an envoy to stay outside the city."

Xiahou Zi was somewhat alert, but the three people from Jiang's faction groaned in their hearts when they heard what he said.

In this bitterly cold season, we cannot rest in our houses but have to go to the tents outside the city to warm ourselves by the bonfire, which is quite a torture.

However, since Xiahou Zi had brought it up, they naturally did not dare to refute it.

"I am willing to leave the city and take charge!"

Fengxiang Jiedushi Jiang Xi took the initiative to bow and salute. Seeing this, Xiahou Zi breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay, then I'll have to trouble Envoy Jiang!"

As he said this, the Jiang faction took the initiative to leave the yard, and Lu Dan, Zheng Zhu and Ma Mingguang followed closely and left the yard.

After making all the arrangements, Xiahou Zi was finally able to rest.

After a simple wash, he fell asleep in his bedroom.

Time passed, from the hour of Hai (21 o'clock) to the hour of Yin (3 o'clock), the military camp outside the city ushered in the second change of guard.

Xiahou Zi slept until 4 o'clock in the morning, then gradually woke up and asked someone to boil hot water for washing.

At the same time, the elite cavalry sent by Lai Chong also went south along the Yellow River and arrived at Yanshui County at the same time.

When the general of Yanshui County learned the news, he immediately changed his horse and sent him to Yanchuan to report on the military situation.

However, the 40-li road from Yanshui to Yanchuan is not easy to travel. Even if you travel light and fast, it will take two and a half hours to arrive.

The daybreaks in the north gradually become later after the onset of winter, but even so, when the time comes to Chenshi (7 o'clock), the sky gradually begins to brighten.

Xiahou Zi ordered the three armies to break camp. The order spread to both sides of the Yanchuan River two quarters of an hour later. The three armies began to pack up the camp fences and tents, which made the situation outside Yanchuan County visible at a glance.

As they were breaking camp, a group of soldiers on a hill five or six miles to the north saw their actions and immediately walked four or five miles north along the ridge, then slowly retreated down the mountain.

In the dense forest at the foot of the mountain, the horses of this group of soldiers were hiding.

They mounted their horses and galloped northward. In just two quarters of an hour they had traveled six or seven miles.

After they crossed the Yenchuan River and reached the east bank, they saw two valley paths leading to two valleys.

After walking two or three miles along the valley road in the south, we saw thousands of armored soldiers wrapped in felt and covered with tent cloth, sleeping on the ground.

In the distance there were thousands of military horses, riding horses and thousands of horse-drawn carriages.

"how?"

They were brought before several generals, who turned out to be Wang Shouwen and Wu Wei, who were still in Pingcheng County last night.

The whites of their eyes were now bloodshot and they looked listless.

"General, they just broke camp an hour ago. The army was split into two sides by the Yanchuan River. They are probably still crossing the river."

"Their Tang cavalry was deployed five miles to the north. I guess they don't have enough light cavalry in the army, so they can only deploy it this far."

The team leader handed over the map. Wang Shouwen took it and looked at it. He took a breath and said:

"How many soldiers and horses have you recruited to encircle and suppress us, you damned imperial court?" "Humph!" Wu Wei snorted coldly, his tone full of anger:

"No matter how many troops he has, we can catch him off guard while he's crossing the river!"

"Okay!" Wang Shouwen closed the map and said in a cold voice:

"Leave 200 brothers to guard the carriage and armor, and the rest of the brothers will mount their horses and cross the river, ready to head south to deal with these idiot soldiers!"

With his order, the Tianping soldiers who were still resting were awakened one by one, and everyone mounted their horses with anger.

Soon, more than 2,800 mounted Tianping soldiers turned into elite cavalry, left the valley, crossed the Yanchuan River, and galloped towards the south.

At 9 o'clock, more than officers and soldiers from Bining Town on the east bank of Yanchuan County began to move south with civilians.

The troops and 10,000 civilians from Jingyuan Town on the west bank were the first to cross the river, but most of the troops were still on the west bank.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and more than 10,000 civilians were still waiting to cross the river, so they cooked on the spot and prepared to have a hot meal before heading to Yanshui County.

Xiahou Zi, Jiang Xi, Zheng Zhu and Ma Mingguang walked back and forth at the Fengxiang Town base outside the city, feeling a little worried.

At the same time, a group of light cavalry from the east bank galloped in the opposite direction, seized the pontoon bridge and crossed the river, causing the soldiers of Jingyuan Town to curse.

"Damn it, you're in such a hurry!"

"Which town are you from?"

"The country boy is blind..."

"Military situation is urgent! Who dares to scold me again?!"

After the Qingqi finished speaking, the soldiers of Jingyuan Town dared not curse anymore, but obediently made way for them to cross the river.

After they crossed the Yanchuan River, they headed straight towards the big flag.

Soon, they stopped their horses near Xiahouzi and others.

"Master!"

The captain dismounted in a hurry and trotted over, bowing to Xiahou Zi three or five steps away:
"The envoy and the elite cavalry of the Pingxia tribe were unable to encircle the rebels. The rebels crossed the Shuo River and changed their route to Pingcheng County."

"really……"

Hearing this, Xiahou Zi, Zheng Zhu, Jiang Xi and others showed solemn expressions. Xiahou Zi was about to say something when he suddenly heard a shrill whistle.

"Beep--"

The whistle came from far away, blowing very quickly several times between breaths.

"Enemy attack!"

"Pierce armor! Brothers from Jingyuan Town, pierce armor!"

“Fengxiang Town Armor Piercing!!”

The military commanders and generals of the two towns were the first to react and started shouting loudly.

Upon learning of the enemy attack, the soldiers of Fengxiang Town and Jingyuan Town hurriedly began to put on armor, while the civilians were in a panic and fled in all directions.

"Damn it! Anyone who dares to run around again will be killed!"

The fleeing civilians were hacked to death by the officers and soldiers with their swords, and Xiahou Zi and others who reacted quickly looked at each other.

"The civilians will cross the river to the east bank first to avoid running into our army!"

"There is a formation of horse-drawn chariots in the north. The rebels are all elite cavalry and cannot cross the chariot formation."

"Tear down the floating bridge built in the north last night, immediately!"

"Buzz rumbling..."

Before Xiahou Zi finished his instructions, the dull sound of horse hooves could be heard in the valley.

The sound of horse hooves echoed in the valley, as threatening as thunder. All the officers, soldiers and civilians turned pale.

The officers and soldiers on the north side of the west bank were still trying to penetrate the armor, but they saw dust rising in the north, and elite cavalry emerged from the dust, rushing along the wooden bridge built by the soldiers of the three towns to cross the river yesterday.

"kill!!!"

The shouts of killing echoed in the valley. At this moment, the officers and soldiers in the north no longer cared about wearing armor and fled to the western ridge.

Those who couldn't escape fled to the east bank, jumped into the freezing cold water of Yeoncheon, and tried to swim to the east bank.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Generals such as Wang Shouwen and Wu Wei took the lead, leading nearly 3,000 elite cavalry of the Tianping Army from south to north, and penetrated into the camps of the three towns that had already been disbanded like arrows.

"Escape to the mountains!!"

"Armor-piercing! Armor-piercing!"

"Don't lose your balance! Armor Piercing!!"

The officers and soldiers were already in chaos. Even though the military commanders, lieutenant generals and generals kept calling on them to pierce their armor, the elite cavalry of the Tianping Army had already rushed to them, and they had no chance to pierce their armor at all.

The elite cavalry rushed into the officers and soldiers like a torrent. Countless officers and soldiers fled to the mountain ridges, and some jumped into the water of Yanchuan.

Wang Shouwen, Wu Wei and others led the Tianping Army and killed their way towards Yanchuan County.

"Protect my husband!"

"Husband, cross the river quickly!"

"No, let's go back to Yanchuan County first!"

The officers and soldiers surrounding Xiahou Zi were also in chaos, each with their own opinions.

Although Xiahou Zi's face turned pale, he knew that he could not delay any longer. He also knew that Yanchuan County was a dead end, so he made a prompt decision:
"Cross the river! To the east bank!"

As soon as he spoke, hundreds of armored officers and soldiers surrounded him and headed to the east bank with Jiang's faction, Zheng Zhu, Ma Mingguang and others.

The floating bridge was crowded with laborers and horse-drawn carriages. Seeing this, the armored soldiers swung their swords to kill the laborers, pushed the horse-drawn carriages into the water of Yanchuan, and urgently escorted Xiahou Zi to the east bank.

After arriving at the east coast, they could see more directly the massacre of officers and soldiers by the Tianping Army.

The Yanchuan River was crowded with officers and soldiers, but some of them were not good swimmers and the water was icy cold. Before they could swim to the shore, they were washed away by the river due to hypothermia.

For a time, countless people drowned in the river.

On the shore, many officers and soldiers tried to escape by climbing the mountain, but the Tianping Army was still fierce and fought all the way south, only a few miles away from where Xiahou Zi's flag had been raised.

Seeing this, Xiahou Zi felt a chill on his neck. Before he could lament that he had almost suffered, he saw Ma Mingguang hurriedly speak:
"Cut the pontoon bridge, cut the pontoon bridge quickly!"

"You can't cut it down. Our town's officers and soldiers are still on the west bank!"

Jiang Xi and Zheng Zhu hurried to stop them, and Xiahou Zi looked towards the west bank, only to see that the officers and soldiers who had escaped were putting on armor, and the officers and soldiers in the south were also putting on armor and preparing to go north to provide assistance.

"No need to cut off the armor, gather the armored soldiers here to support the officers and soldiers crossing the river!"

Xiahou Zi was relatively calm, so Jiang Xi and Zheng Zhu hurriedly gathered the armored soldiers together and formed a battle line on the east bank of the bridge.

In the chaos, Wang Shouwen saw the big flag moving to the east bank, but he did not rush to attack Xiahou Zi, but continued to kill the fleeing soldiers on the east bank.

The Tianping soldiers on horseback put to full use the archery and horse riding skills they had learned in Liangzhou.

"Uh-huh!!"

"Save me... save me..."

"I surrender! We surrender!"

Uh...

Thousands of officers and soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians were either hacked to death or shot to death, while countless others fled into the mountains and forests or drowned in the water.

Even if there were those who surrendered, most of them were trampled by the Tianping Army's horses or had their heads smashed by blunt weapons.

Xiahou Zi was so frightened by the bloody scene that his face turned pale. Jiang's faction and Zheng Zhu could barely hold together thousands of officers and soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians on the east coast.

They lined up on the east bank of the bridge and watched as most of the officers and soldiers in the town were slaughtered.

Not only them, but even the military commanders and generals in the town turned pale.

Since the rise of Liu Jilian, the six or seven years of peace had caused the officers and soldiers in Jingyuan, Fengxiang and other towns to lose their bravery.

In the past, no matter how despicable they were, they would not be slaughtered like pigs and dogs by the Tianping Army.

In less than half an hour, there were only a handful of officers and soldiers still standing on the west bank, while Wang Shouwen, Wu Wei and others rode their horses to the other side of the bridge.

Upon seeing this, officers and soldiers from Fengxiang, Jingyuan and other towns formed their battle lines. The armored soldiers in the back row took their longbows and put arrows on them, ready to counterattack at any time.

Upon seeing this, Wang Shouwen and Wu Wei stepped back more than twenty steps and looked at the deployment of officers and soldiers on the east bank.

About two thousand officers and soldiers gathered on the east bank, and they only dared to line up for defense and did not dare to cross the river to rescue the officers and soldiers.

Wang Shouwen glanced at his own side and did not see many casualties among the Tianping army.

Seeing this, he felt a surge of heroic spirit in his heart, and suddenly felt that the officers and soldiers were just so-so, and were not as powerful as the Uygurs, Huihus and other barbarians in Hexi.

"The one opposite is Xiahou Zi!"

Wang Shouwen bravely stepped forward, rode his horse and shouted to the east bank:

"You are just a bunch of idiots in the imperial court. You have forced my brothers to guard the border in Liangzhou for six years in just a few words."

"We just want to go home, but you guys are planning to ambush us."

"I will now surprise you and kill several thousand of you, so that you will know how powerful my brothers in the Tianping Army are."

"The towns of Fengxiang and Jingyuan are no better than pigs and dogs. How can they defeat tigers like us?!"

"I advise you to keep quiet and abide by the law. Please recommend us two to be the governors of Yunzhou and Puzhou, and we will not make enemies with you."

"If you still want to frame us, I will slaughter you all and use your flesh and blood to drink!"

Wang Shouwen's voice echoed in the valley, and Xiahou Zi, Jiang Xi and others blushed.

Without waiting for their response, Wang Shouwen turned his horse around and led his elite cavalry to retreat northward.

Before the two elite riders left, they inserted a wooden sign on the west bank of the bridge.

After they galloped away, Xiahou Zi sent the armored soldiers to fetch the wooden sign with a gloomy face.

"What does the sign say?"

"This this……"

The wooden sign was brought to Xiahou Zi, and the officers and soldiers who took it hesitated.

Seeing this, Xiahou Zi angrily stepped forward and pulled the wooden sign, but saw four words on the sign...

[Free for officers and soldiers]

(End of this chapter)