Cangzhou beacon fire

Chapter 7
In Baishui City, the inner hall in the city was set as the account of the Chinese army of Yuejun.

On the sand table in the center of the hall is the topographic map of Jinxi, and Zhong Lin and a group of generals are standing around the topographic map.

Zhong Lin spoke first: "Sanyuan Qisheng has led [-] soldiers and horses to the west of Jinxi. Xia Houyin, tell me about the terrain."

"If Baishui City and Yushui City lead to the interior of Jinxi, there are three ways to enter." Qilian General Xia Houyin nodded. He is fat and bearded. He is about forty years old. The land is quite familiar.

Xia Houyin held a wooden baton and pointed to the place where the two high mountains stood in the middle of the topographic map: "This is the middle road, between the twin peaks. The road is flat and suitable for cavalry, but this road is narrow at both ends, and it is easy to be blocked." Xia Houyin After speaking, he moved the wooden stick westward to a place where the blue flag was placed and continued: "After passing the Twin Peaks, you can go directly to Fengshui City, which is where the food and equipment in Sanyuan Tunnel are stored."

Xia Houyin's baton moved northward: "Yushui City goes northwest to Enshui City, and you need to cross the Hong River, but Qingqi reported that the only Hongyang Bridge across the river has been burned by the enemy."

Then the baton moved to the south of the sand table: "The southern passage is a plain, leading directly to the city of Weishui, but the west side of this place is high, and the terrain is not good for our army."

All the generals looked at Zhong Lin after listening, waiting for the general to make a decision.

Zhong Lin didn't speak, and walked around the sand table silently. After a long time, he opened his mouth and said, "Three roads are difficult to enter. What's your strategy?"

The other generals were not familiar with the terrain of Jinxi, they looked at each other in blank dismay and did not speak. Zhong Lin turned his attention to Xia Houyin at this time.

"What do you think of General Xiahou?"

Xia Houyin put away the wooden stick and said: "Although the Honghe River is not deep, the river is too wide. Without boats, it is basically impossible to cross it by force. With the narrow mouth of Twin Peaks, the enemy only needs a small amount of troops to block our army. In the end, the general thinks that taking the south road is the best plan to take the water city first."

Zhong Lin shook his head: "The terrain has a fatal impact on the cavalry and archers, and the enemy will inevitably deploy heavy troops here, and a strong attack will inevitably cause heavy losses."

When everyone was silent, Zhong Lin noticed that someone was missing, glanced around and asked, "Where's Li Tong?"

Xia Houyin rubbed his head in embarrassment and said: "After the capture of this city, he was nowhere to be seen. His personal soldiers said they went to investigate the enemy's situation, but they never came back."

"This Li Tong is like this all day." Zhong Lin felt a little dissatisfied. Li Tong was one of Zhong Lin's most respected young generals. Something confusing.

"Send someone to get him back, and don't have any accidents."

At this time, a person ran into the hall quickly. The person who came was wet and unarmored. It was Li Tong, the general.

Zhong Lin was about to question him, but he saw a smile on the man's slender face and said, "General, are you looking for Li Tong?"

Looking at the dark-skinned and soaked young man in front of him, Zhong Lin suppressed his anger and said, "Why have you been there these few days?"

"Hey, I've been soaking in the bath for a few days."

Many days later, Qi Sheng led [-] main troops to station at the Sanyuan camp on the front line of Weishui City. There were [-] defenders at the narrow entrance of the Twin Peaks on the middle road, and [-] defenders at Enshui City on the northern line, because the Hongyang Bridge had been burned. Therefore, it is impossible for the Yue army to forcefully cross the Honghe River.

Sure enough, as Qi Sheng expected, at noon that day, about ten miles to the east of the main camp of the Sanyuan Army, smoke could be seen everywhere.

In the tent, Qi Sheng was pacing anxiously while stroking his belly, while the other generals stood aside and waited silently.

"Report!" There was an urgent order from outside the camp, and Qi Sheng waved his hand to signal the light soldiers to enter the account.

"How is it, how many troops?" Qi Sheng asked impatiently as soon as the light soldiers entered.

The light soldiers knelt down and saluted, "[-] troops are stationed ten miles away to cook with fire."

"Fifty thousand? Are you sure?"

Qing Bing nodded and replied affirmatively: "Based on the size of the camp and the atmosphere of the fireworks, [-] is not wrong."

"You go down." Qi Sheng took a long breath, feeling a little relieved, the Sanyuan Army has an absolute advantage on the terrain here on the southern line.

When the light soldiers retreated, Qi Sheng's deputy general Wei Bo said, "General, is there any deceit?"

Qi Sheng shook his head: "Don't worry, the north and middle roads are stuck, and the Yue army can only attack on the south road."

Then Qi Sheng sternly said: "All the generals should mobilize well and never let Yue Jun go west!"

"The last will obey!"

When Yemao, Enshui City.

The sky was already dark and gray. On the bank of the Hong River outside Enshui City, a Sanyuan Army patrol team of about 15 people came slowly holding torches. , You can go back to sleep.

"Be careful, if there is any abnormality, fire a rocket to call the police immediately." The patrol captain who was originally stationed handed over a black arrow in his hand to the person who changed defense, and urged.

The bulging wrapping in the middle of the black arrow body is made of saltpeter and black powder. Once fired at high speed, it will rub against and catch fire, producing a flame.

The Sanyuan soldier who took the black arrow said casually: "I see, didn't you hear what the soldiers over there said? The main force of the Yue army has gone to the South Road."

After the change of defense was over, some of these soldiers abandoned their guns and sat down, and some whispered to each other. After all, the enemy is in the south, so there is no movement here.

At this time, there were silent ripples on the surface of the pitch-black river, and men in black came out quietly one by one. They held short knives and wooden bows on their backs, touched the bank from the side, and then slowly circled around these three-yuan sentinels.

The Sanyuan patrol team was still chatting about where to drink flowers and wine tomorrow, which house had the most beautiful singer, burst into laughter from time to time, and did not realize that the danger was approaching.

A group of men in black approached tiptoely, each selected a target, then covered their mouths, cut their necks, and let them go lightly, all in one go.

The fifteen patrolling soldiers were killed on the spot before they could react, without even making a noise, and the man in black took over the torches they were holding, because the other three-yuan patrols nearby would be suspicious because the fire suddenly disappeared.

Li Tong found the black arrow on one of the corpses, and the other men in black gathered around and gestured that there was no problem.

Li Tong covered his mouth with both hands, imitated a few frog calls, and then the frog calls echoed on both sides.

Li Tong closed his eyes and listened quietly, counting the cries of frogs echoing around him, with a look of joy on his face.

"The other teams have also succeeded. You go and collect the black arrows, and then let them retreat to the other side of the river."

However, at this moment, a flaming black arrow suddenly whizzed up, drawing a long and bright flame in the dark sky.

Li Tong looked up, startled.

"Okay, one group failed."

At this time, another rocket pierced the sky, and there was still a group that failed to succeed. Li Tongxin struggled again, sure enough, the plan couldn't keep up with the change.

However, there wasn't much time for Li Tong to think at this time. He looked at the black arrow in his hand, gritted his teeth, and the black arrow bowed upwards and shot towards the sky. Before the two bright flames disappeared, another one appeared.

After shooting, Li Tong whispered to the other men in black: "Send a signal to let the other teams shoot the signal arrows! Hurry up!" The men in black nodded, covered their mouths with their hands and let out a frog cry.

In a short time, one rocket, two rockets, three and four shot into the air one after another, like a black canvas being painted with rays of light.

Li Tong grabbed one of the men in black and said, "Hurry back and tell General Zhong that their plan is ahead of schedule!"

In Enshui City, the drowsy defenders were awakened by the first flames. Li An, the commander of the city, rushed to the tower in disheveled clothes. He saw the second flames, and then the third and fourth flames that filled the sky one after another. rise.

"What's the situation? Yue Jun is here??" Li An asked in surprise.

The defender looked bewildered and shook his head vigorously.

"Trash! Hurry up and send emergency troops to General Qi, let him come to support, hurry up!" Li An shouted at the defenders, and then pushed him away heavily.

The defender hurriedly got up from the ground and ran down the city.

Li An didn't hesitate, and decisively sounded the alarm bell. The camp in the city was originally pitch black, but fires began to light up.

After knocking, Li An's eyes were fixed on the Honghe River outside the city, it was pitch black, except for the fading fires in mid-air, he couldn't see anything.

At this time, the old city gate on the west side of Enshui City opened slowly with a creaking sound, and three fast horses galloped out. They were light cavalry scouts who were going to Wai Shui City for help.

The flames in the sky had disappeared, but the Honghe River outside the city returned to calm strangely. Li An frowned, something was wrong.

Immediately, he quickly rushed down the tower: "There is something wrong! The cavalry company is leaving the city with me!"

When Li An and the cavalry company came to the river with torches in hand, there was nothing along the river except for the corpses of their own patrol soldiers.

"It's a trick! Send another wave of scouts, and we must chase back the first batch of scouts who asked for help!" Li An broke out in a cold sweat. After speaking, he roared and ran towards the city.

Not long after Li An entered the city, the old gate to the west of the city slowly opened again, and three riders flew out again, this speed was faster and more urgent than the first wave.

The clattering of horseshoes resounded through the night, startling the night birds and worms to silence them.

When the second batch of light cavalry scouts rushed a mile outside the city, Li Tong and a group of men in black suddenly stood up in the grass on the side of the road, pointing their bows and arrows at the three-yuan light cavalry scouts.

"Let go!" Li Tong said softly, he shot an arrow first, and a light cavalry scout fell down.

Then another cavalryman was also hit by arrows and fell to the ground.

When seeing the two accomplices fell down, the only remaining light cavalry scout endured several arrow wounds on his body, gritted his teeth, clamped his legs hard, and rushed past.

"Still running! General, I missed one!" Hearing the sound of horseshoes, the man in black reminded Li Tongdao.

Li Tong walked quickly to the road, pulled out an arrow from a dead cavalryman, and drew the bow string.

He slowly closed his eyes, his ears moved slightly, and the clattering of horseshoes seemed to be louder in the dark night.

When the "whoosh" sounded, the hearts of the men in black rose to their throats, and then a muffled hum sounded from a distance, followed by the sound of cavalrymen falling to the ground.

If it wasn't near the enemy city at this time, all the men in black might have cheered and roared.

Li Tong put down his bow, pulled out a few more arrows from the corpse, and said to the men in black, "Stay here for another hour to prevent the enemy from sending out any more scouts."

(End of this chapter)