Li Zhi, don't be a coward

Chapter 1097: Meeting the Enemy Head-on
There are only 500 people in the Modao Camp, and they don't have much actual combat experience. They are currently semi-finished products.

Five hundred Mo Daomen, plus more than 4000 ordinary soldiers, are all the strength Li Qinzai can use now.

Fortunately, he no longer had any worries. Li Ji was forcibly taken away, and Xiao Baga and the goddess doctor had to leave with him. At this moment, there were only five thousand soldiers and horses left in the camp except for some food and supplies.

Outside the camp, scouts kept coming and going.

After one scout team died in battle, Li Qinzai sent out several more scout teams to report the enemy's movements every once in a while.

As the enemy's intelligence increased, Li Qinzai's heart became heavier and heavier.

The 2-strong enemy army was actually all cavalry. After the scouts got closer to observe, they reported that the cavalry was only wearing simple leather armor, and the weapons were also varied and not uniform.

Judging by their hairstyle and skin color, it seems that they are not Goguryeo people, but more like herdsmen tribes who came from the north to the south, such as Mohe tribe, Sumo tribe, Shiwei tribe, Xi people and so on.

Long before the Eastern Expedition, Datang collected a lot of information on Goguryeo, including Goguryeo's possible allies.

Unfortunately, these tribes in the north are all connected with Goguryeo. When Li Ji led the main force to confront the Goguryeo army on the west bank of the Liaoshui River, there were allies of various northern nomadic tribes in the Goguryeo army.

Later, they attacked Xincheng and Liaodong City, and all the tribes in the north participated. They formed allies with Goguryeo and jointly resisted the Tang army.

It was only later that the Tang army won several battles, not only the Goguryeo army was maimed and scattered, but also the allied troops of the northern tribes were also maimed.

At that time, after Li Ji made a judgment, he thought that the remaining remnant soldiers would flee in all directions. It would undoubtedly take time and effort to pursue them, and it would delay the opportunity of the battle, so he ordered the Tang army to withdraw.

Li Qinzai did not expect that these tribes actually had soldiers and horses, and they were complete cavalry.

Nomadic tribes have been good at fighting since ancient times, especially cavalry. Li Qinzai's [-] soldiers had to face [-] nomadic cavalry.

It's going to be a tough fight.

"Leave the camp and set out, and line up to meet the enemy in the northeast." Li Qinzai ordered.

In fact, he could choose to retreat, but this option was ruled out by Li Qinzai.

Li Ji is still on the way to retreat, if the five thousand soldiers under Li Qinzai's command withdraw, it will undoubtedly bring huge troubles to Li Ji.

More importantly, the main force of the Tang army was marching towards the city of Hunyi. If the [-] cavalry were to catch up, Qibi Heli was bound to fall into a desperate situation, and the battle of the Eastern Expedition might end in failure again.

So Li Qinzai had to choose to fight the enemy head-on.

He and the [-] soldiers under his command are a barrier to protect the safety of Li Ji and Qibi Heli's army.

This enemy army must stay here, and they cannot be allowed to go one step further.

After counting the number of people, Li Qinzai called two generals, Liu Renyuan and Pei Zhengqing.

At a critical juncture, these two are the only ones who can use it smoothly.

With [-] enemy troops approaching, how to defend against them is a big problem.

An ambush is not feasible. The Tang army originally set up a large camp near the water plain, and the surrounding terrain is a rare plain area in Koguryo, which is not suitable for an ambush.

A frontal formation is also not enough, the firearms of the Tang army are no longer a secret, the defenders of Bobo City can make thicker shields, and this enemy army is also possible.

"How many landmines are left in the rear of the camp?" Li Qinzai asked.

Liu Renyuan said: "General Qibi took most of them away, and now there are only hundreds of mines left in the camp."

Li Qinzai sighed. A few hundred landmines may seem like a lot, but it is really not enough in front of thousands of troops.

"Arrange five miles to the northeast, and bury all the mines before the enemy arrives."

Liu Ren is willing to take the order and go.

Li Qinzai looked at Pei Zhengqing with complicated eyes, and sighed: "General Pei, the Modao camp is going to be used today."

Pei Zhengqing grinned: "It's been a long time of military training, and the soldiers are eagerly waiting for a battle."

Li Qinzai smiled wryly. The original intention of establishing the Modao Camp in the Wa Kingdom was to buy an insurance policy for the entire army. At the critical moment of life and death, the Modao Camp was the last trump card.

Today is finally the time to use the hole card.

But everyone knows very well that once the Modao camp is used, the casualties of the Modao camp must be very heavy, five hundred to twenty thousand, this is a life for a life.

Pei Zhengqing smiled innocently, as if he hadn't thought about the fate that Modaoying might face next.

Li Qinzai was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "...we can't let the [-] enemy troops pass by."

Pei Zhengqing nodded: "The last general understands that since the last general of the Modao camp, he will fight to the death to protect the back of our main force."

Li Qinzai also smiled: "I will also fight to the death with you, without retreating a single step."

The situation is very grim, but fortunately the soldiers under his command are all loyal and brave people who can trust their backs to them.

"The whole army leaves the camp and sets off!"

…………

The sky is already light, and the east is already pale.

Five thousand soldiers left the camp and marched hurriedly to the northeast five miles away.

Hundreds of soldiers have arrived ahead of schedule and are sweating profusely digging pits and laying mines.

Li Qinzai looked around and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Most of Goguryeo is mountainous, but it happened that he encountered this plain.

The plain area is more suitable for the enemy's cavalry to charge, but as the Tang army, most of which are infantry, they can only choose to form a frontal formation to meet the enemy.

The enemy came so suddenly that Li Qinzai had no time to find another battlefield, so he could only choose to fight on the plain in a hurry.

Li Qinzai always feels that he has been plagued by bad luck recently, otherwise he would not be so unlucky, and the right time, place and people will not take advantage of it.

After measuring the distance to lay the mines, Li Qinzai ordered [-] soldiers to line up [-] steps away from the mines.

The Modao Battalion stayed in the rear. Once the enemy broke through the front phalanx, the Modao Battalion was the last line of defense.

Teams of scouts flying horses shuttled between the Tang army formations, reporting the latest movements of the enemy troops.

The air was filled with a tense and dignified atmosphere, and as the enemy army got closer, this tense and dignified atmosphere became more and more intense.

"Order the whole army to prepare knives and halberds in addition to firearms. If firearms are not available, use knives and halberds to kill the enemy. I hope the soldiers will not lose their ability to kill the enemy with knives and halberds."

Half an hour later, Li Qinzai suddenly felt the ground tremble slightly, and the scouts flew to report that [-] enemy troops had arrived, and the enemy's forward was less than three miles away.

Li Qinzai looked at Liu Renyuan: "Leave the job of arranging troops to you, and I will not interfere."

Liu Renyuan solemnly embraced his orders.

Soon, some sparse figures appeared at the end of the plain, and then there were more and more figures, denser and denser.

Banners appeared in Li Qinzai's sight, with weird totems embroidered on them.

Around the banner, there were cavalrymen wearing simple leather armor and holding various weapons, which looked disorganized.

But Li Qinzai did not dare to underestimate this seemingly mob cavalry. He knew very well that this enemy army was terrible.

(End of this chapter)