Jiuxi

Chapter 192 Chapter 191 [The mantis stalks the cicada]

On the tenth day of August, the autumn air is crisp and clear.

The bright sunshine pours into the world, just like a gurgling stream flowing between the mountains and fields.

Above the valley, thousands of Yan troops were waiting in formation, looking at the Qixing Gang mountain stronghold built between two mountains to the north.

Du Min, the former military supervisor and vanguard general, was wearing armor and his stern gaze took in all the defense facilities of the village from left to right.

It was slightly stronger than the earthen walls and wooden fences he had imagined. The existence of wall stacks and arrow towers also showed that the Seven Star Gang was by no means an ordinary bandit. They already had a certain level of strength. If they were allowed to develop like this, they might indeed become Yan's bandits. A stubborn disease in the heart of the country.

Behind the wall stacks, there were vaguely visible defenders holding guns and bows, numbering around four to five hundred.

Du Min held the knife in his right hand, strode to the front of the formation, and said loudly: "Soldiers, I will take credit for taking this stronghold!"

"Yes!"

Thousands of people held out their chests and abdomen, and spoke in high tones.

Du Min said again: "One head is rewarded with two taels of silver, and I use my right ear as proof. Can you hear it clearly?!"

"Listen clearly!"

The sound shook the sky, mixed with eager greed.

For the vast majority of ordinary soldiers, fighting as a soldier is similar to digging for food in the fields. The difference is that the former carries greater risks, and there is a possibility of losing one's head at any time. Therefore, if there are not generous enough rewards, morale will inevitably be depressed.

Du Min knew this very well. At this moment, he was a little curious. Why did these bandits on the opposite side forge military morale?
General Manager Xu described Nan Qi Lu Chen as if he were a god, as if this person only needed a few words to turn thousands of bandits in the mountains into veterans of countless battles who were ready to die. It was really ridiculous.

Okay, let me, Du, test this person's quality today.

When he thought of this, Du Min took a deep breath, pointed the knife in front of him: "Kill!"

"kill!"

Thousands of Yan army soldiers shouted in response.

The mountain village opposite is not a big city in the world, and it is not even comparable to the size of ordinary county towns. It is only more than a hundred feet wide from east to west. Even though there are some auxiliary defense facilities, in the eyes of a warrior like Du Min, it is better than nothing.

The Yan army surged forward like a tide.

The Seven-Star Army on the wall of the village became visibly nervous. More than a dozen archers fired arrows at the hundreds of Yan troops rushing to the front. However, these scattered arrows could not cause effective damage at all, but instead further encouraged Yan. The arrogance of the army.

If it weren't for the tense and solemn battlefield, the Yan army at the forefront would definitely burst into laughter. Even so, many people showed ridicule.

In the sunlight that was speckled like broken gold, the two sides of the noisy battlefield presented completely different scenes.

On one side was the Yan army charging towards the wall with three arrows. They could still barely maintain an orderly formation while running, sprinting according to their respective affiliations.Even if the counterattack from the opposite side was too weak, the Yan army did not become disorganized. On the contrary, the momentum became more and more powerful.

On the other side of the wall was the Seven Star Army, who were so nervous that their faces turned pale. Even though they had received the most rigorous training in the past two months, they were facing the surging Yan Army at this moment. Many people swallowed their saliva involuntarily due to the oppressive feeling, and their hands holding weapons trembled slightly.

Not to mention the gap in equipment between the two sides. Although the Yan army is not as good as the old soldiers of Jing Chao, they are still elites transferred from Dongyang Road, especially the [-] vanguards who have considerable combat power.Their weapons shone with a cold light, and they basically wore light leather armor, which allowed them to completely ignore the sporadic arrows fired from the opposite side.

Although the Seven-Star Army is basically equipped with sharp weapons, there are very few people who are qualified to wear armor. This makes a huge difference on the battlefield.

Regardless of military strength, military appearance, morale or battlefield experience, the two sides are not on the same level.

More than ten simple ladders were set up on the wall of the village, and the Yan army climbed up quickly like ants in full force.

Hand-to-hand combat began immediately.

Above the valley, Du Min squinted his eyes and looked ahead, the blood in his heart was gradually ignited, and he shouted angrily: "Follow me and take this village!"

Hundreds of people around him responded loudly.

The progress of the war went more smoothly than Du Min expected. This kind of cottage could not withstand the impact of the regular army. The bandits were forced to retreat after just one encounter, and the gate of the cottage was immediately opened.

"kill!"

The Yan army pushed forward crazily.

A thirty-year-old man in the Seven-Star Army formation yelled hastily: "Withdraw!"

After the fighting lasted for less than a quarter of an hour, the Seven-Star Army fled north like headless flies.The houses in the cottage are connected from front to back and left to right, which is not in line with the neatness that a military city should have. It was originally very disadvantageous for the organization and mobilization of the defenders, but now it gave them space to retreat.

The Yan army officers and soldiers were forced to disperse and pursue forward from the road between the houses.

"Report! General, this stronghold has been captured, and the enemy is fleeing north!" A team member quickly came to Du Min and reported happily, but at the same time there was a bit of regret in his tone.

The Seven-Star Army ran too fast, and the Yan Army captured very little, only a dozen heads in total.

Although this first battle was fought cleanly and beautifully, most of the Yan army felt unhappy. Since they came to the battlefield, they definitely hoped to make achievements.

Du Min raised his head and glanced at the expressions of the people around him, and said with a leisurely smile: "Herald, send the battle report to General Manager Xu and ask him to send troops to take over this place. All the soldiers will follow me to continue the pursuit, and be sure to kill all the hundreds of people who dare to Resisting gangsters.”

All the generals were overjoyed and hurriedly bowed and said: "Obey the order!"

Continuing north from this mountain stronghold, one enters the belly of the Baotai Mountains. There are several roads ahead. The Seven Star Army's defeated troops fled along the northeastern road in embarrassment.

The Yan army was in pursuit, and Du Min personally directed his subordinates to close the distance between them and the enemy.

"General, could this be a trick by the other party to lure the enemy?" On the way to pursuit, a general reminded him carefully.

Du Min sneered and said: "From the very beginning, Manager Xu overestimated the strength of the Seven Star Gang and was even more afraid of Lu Chen from Southern Qi. I don't know why he was so cowardly. Maybe it was because of the war last year. His courage was broken, and his legs trembled when he heard the name Lu Chen."

He glanced at the Seven Star Gang defenders in front who had been defeated and were about to be overtaken by his own soldiers, and said sarcastically: "Today's battle has proved that these bandits are just a ragtag group of people who cannot stand up to the wall. I know that they will be defeated so simply and surely. There is something fishy, ​​but even if the opponent has an ambush, there are only a few thousand people at best. Our army has four thousand elite vanguards. Can't we defeat an enemy with a close number?"

Everyone is awe-inspiring.

Du Minhan said in a cold voice: "It's better to have an ambush. Today we defeated the enemy's main force in one fell swoop. This battle merit belongs to each of us. We don't have to share it with those behind. Send an order to the whole army to bite the enemy. Be sure to Victory will be determined in one battle!”

Everyone was excited and said enthusiastically: "Follow the order!"

When Du Min led the vanguard army of four thousand elites in hot pursuit, the herald also came to the main tent of the Yan army's central army and said quickly: "Report to General Manager Xu, Du Dujian led the army to capture the Seven Star Gang without any effort. The enemy immediately collapsed at the stronghold and fled north. Du Dujian led his troops to continue the pursuit north, please ask the general manager to send troops to garrison the stronghold!"

When he finished his first sentence, Xu Cun and the other generals in the tent looked happy. However, after he finished speaking, Xu Cun's expression suddenly changed. He stood up and said: "This idiot! When will I allow him to lead the army?" Military pursuit?"

The herald was stunned.

Xu Cun said angrily: "This general made it very clear that we only need to capture the stronghold in this battle!"

The other generals were also experienced in the battlefield and naturally understood the dangers that Du Min's reckless move might bring, so they all frowned.

Xu Cun looked aside and said in a deep voice: "Wen Dujian, you immediately lead your subordinates to the north, bring Du Min, this reckless man, back to me, and tell him that you should not pursue poor enemies!"

Wen Xiguang immediately stood up and responded: "General, I will obey your order!"

Then he strode out of the handsome tent.

Xu Cun looked at his back with a heavy look of irritation between his eyebrows.

Du Min, who was dozens of miles away in the north, naturally didn't know about Xu Cun's anger, and even if he knew, he wouldn't take it too seriously.

In his opinion, nearly [-] elite troops are advancing into the mountains, and a mere cottage is not easy to capture. The most important thing is that he is not satisfied with just capturing the cottage in this battle.

For the Seven Star Gang, the mountains are vast and there is no harm in losing a cottage. Anyway, these people are like animals in the mountains and have strong survivability, and they must have living supplies hidden all over the mountains.

Therefore, their vitality must be annihilated. Every time one more person is killed, the Seven Star Gang will continue to bleed until they are completely dead.

"These bandits run really fast."

One of the generals cursed bitterly.

Du Min said: "Mr. Xu is right when he says that these people in the green forest and grass have good martial arts. Even if they are vulnerable on the frontal battlefield, their physical strength is far better than that of ordinary people, and they can run faster when escaping for their lives. If you can If these people surrender and train rigorously, they can build an elite army."

The general looked forward and said with some worry: "Captain, why do you think these defeated soldiers are deliberately trying to hang our troops? If they flee for their lives in the mountains and forests, we may not be able to catch up."

Du Min narrowed his eyes slightly and said indifferently: "It seems that these bandits really want to lure us. Send the order, and the ministries will maintain their formation and pursue forward, and be ready to meet the enemy at any time. Let the scouts stay along the road and wait, Mr. Xu They will definitely send troops to meet us. Now I hope the other party has an ambush to avoid long nights and dreams."

"Follow the order!"

The two armies marched rapidly through the mountains and fields, one behind the other, getting farther and farther away from the first branch village in the south.

On a mountain to the east, dozens of people were hiding in the forest. Although they were blocked by the branches and leaves of the trees and would not reveal their bodies, they still hid extremely carefully for fear of being noticed.

The Yan army vanguard continued to pursue northward from the west road and gradually disappeared from their sight.

There was silence in the forest. About a stick of incense later, a figure stepped on the grass. After quickly approaching, he said softly: "Captain Lu, the brothers in the south sent a signal. Another Yan army is passing through the stronghold and heading north! "

Among the crowd, Lu Chen, who had been closing his eyes to rest his mind, suddenly opened his eyes, and a sharp light flashed past.

(End of this chapter)