I Xiaoxiong

Chapter 165 Tianzhu Mountain

From Huoshan County, through Xiaohuoshan, and then to Tianzhu Mountain, it is less than a hundred miles.

But for many people, the journey of dozens of miles feels like a lifetime.

In the deep mountains, the cliffs hang high, and the wind howls.

Tianzhu Mountain Yeren Village, also known as Gukou, is the gateway to Tianzhu Mountain. This is the dangerous pass chosen by Pang Zhigu to block the imperial army.

"Coming from Xiaohuo Mountain, although the road is all mountain roads, none of them can be regarded as high cliffs and valleys. Even if there are some dangerous places, they cannot rely on them to resist the army for a long time. So this place is our last barrier."

The mouth of the valley was only a few feet wide, and there were cliffs on both sides. A group of bandit leaders from the Red Lotus Taoism stood here, and they were naturally discussing who would be the one to break it.

"Aye, you lead your army to join your uncle in Huangzhou, and I will stay here to resist the pursuit of the officers and soldiers."

Fang Dingnan was the first to stand up and suggest.

He is Fang Jiao's eldest son, in his early twenties, his height is similar to that of his father, he also has a bearded face, and a resolute face.

There are six thousand soldiers in the Red Lotus Road, which are divided into six divisions, and Fang Dingnan is the leader of one division.Everyone in the Red Lotus Road called him the Young Marshal.

Fang Dingnan volunteered to stay, and the other commanders were naturally not far behind. Fang Jiao's younger brother Fang Hu laughed loudly and said, "Nephew, you and your marshal will retreat first, and let the old man do this kind of work."

"Hahaha, General Tiger, this empress must be your surname Fang? Can't I, Chen Tai?"

Fang Hu, who is only seven feet tall, is extremely stout and extremely brave. Honglian Dao calls him General Tiger.

Chen Tai, one of the six commanders, the guardian of the Red Lotus Dao, is also a veteran of the Red Lotus Dao.

Seeing that everyone was arguing to stay behind, Fang Jiao laughed heartily and said, "Hahahaha, what nonsense are you all talking about? After breaking up, yeah, I still need you? Get out of here. Every one of you Draw out a centurion, make up 600 people, let the centurion draw lots, resign to fate, and break up with Lao Tzu."

"But Aye." Fang Dingnan wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Fang Jiao.

"That's it. After I personally decide, Dingnan you take people to Qizhou, don't stay, go straight to Huangzhou to find your uncle. Don't worry about me, they can't stop me if I want to leave."

"I listened to Pang Junshi all the way!"

"Okay, that's it for this matter. After the lottery is drawn, hurry up and leave. Don't dawdle."

Then Fang Jiao looked at Pang Zhigu, "Mr. Pang, I leave everything to you."

Pang Zhigu said: "The marshal ordered people to set up fences here, line up shields to form a wall, and use spearmen behind to resist the enemy."

Fang Jiao nodded when he heard the other party's advice, "Well, good. I see."

"Marshal, take care."

After finishing speaking, Pang Zhigu took a deep look, then turned and left.

Everyone clasped their fists together and said, "Marshal, take care."

"Hahahaha, it's like a farewell to life and death. I'm just cutting off my back. It's alright, it's alright, let's go quickly."

After seeing the crowd leave, Fang Jiao shouted: "Boys, cheer up and let the officers and soldiers know how powerful we are!"

"Red lotus karma fire, descend into the world and burn demons!"

"Red lotus karma fire, descend into the world and burn demons!"

The [-] troops left behind by Fang Jiao were all equipped with the best equipment.

It is rare that everyone has a serious weapon in their hands, whether it is a spear or a sword, and even a small half of them are wearing captured official army armor.

The army of the imperial court did not come fast, but it was definitely not slow either.

He Baxu raised his eyes and saw that the Tianzhu Mountain in front of him was the remnant of the Dabie Mountains. To the south, the Dabie Mountains extended from the southwest. They converged in this vast Jianghuai Plain, forming countless undulating peaks and hills.

After seeing Taniguchi in front of him, he also took a deep breath.Pointing to the front, he asked, "General Lei, is it possible to bypass this place?"

Lei Bo shook his head and said: "General He Ba, this is the mouth of the valley, also called Savage Village, you can't go around it, there is a platform at the back where you can station troops, and there are cliffs on both sides, this valley road is wide in front of you, the narrowest place It can only accommodate two or three riders in parallel."

Zhang Chaozong, who was on the side, saw the terrain here, and understood that there was no room for cavalry to display it here, and looking at the extremely narrow valley mouth, he couldn't help frowning.

After hearing this, He Baxu was speechless for a while. There was no trickery at all in this kind of place, he could only bite the bullet and attack upwards.

But for the elite who have been fighting in the frontier for many years, what dangerous battles have not been fought?

"Let the light soldiers clear the way first. The heavy steps only wear two crotches and prepare to fight to the death."

"promise."

All the generals under his command answered in unison.

As soon as the military order was issued, many figures appeared among the rocks and forests as far as the eye could see.

The so-called light soldiers don't mean they don't wear armor. They still have at least one piece of leather armor on their bodies.Most of them held knives and shields and covered each other with crossbowmen. They marched slowly along the mountain road as a team. Many of them carried cloth bags filled with soil and filled up the rough places along the way to clear obstacles for the follow-up troops.

Immediately, a large piece of wood and stone rolled down from the top of the mountain road, slamming into the queue, and there were also bandit archers shooting arrows.

The officers and soldiers also fired their bows and crossbows, and the other soldiers did not stop advancing. Relying on their superiority in numbers, they rolled up the mountain road like a black wave and crossed several temporarily dug ditches. Then fill it with soil.

Then the infantry of the official army started to rush along the mountain road directly with shields in hand, colliding with the shields of the bandits' bows and arrows, and then there was a hand-to-hand melee fight.

Soon He Baxu realized that the bandits in front of him were different from those in Lujiang, Shucheng.

Equipment, courage, and tenacity are already at the level of elites, and there is even some ruthlessness that is not common in Jianghuai land.

"Adding four teams."

"promise."

A team of 50 people, four teams of 200 people.

These armored soldiers were originally heavy infantry, but now they took off their shoulders and skirt armor one after another, and began to join the battle group wearing two crotch armor.

The violent attack of the officers and soldiers caused the bandits to retreat steadily.

But at the same time, the officers and soldiers also paid a lot of casualties, and although the rebels did not retreat, they always maintained the shield wall in front of them.

And suddenly, there was a gap in the shield wall, and a big man in black entered the formation of the army. This big man was wearing only a single shirt in winter, holding a big knife, and with a single blow, he killed a sharp soldier in front of him. Diagonally split into two pieces.

The armor and shields of the officers and soldiers were like paper paste under this big knife, and dozens of soldiers of the officers and soldiers turned into a pile of minced meat in a short while.

Faced with such extraordinary force, even the elite officers and soldiers can only retreat to avoid the edge.

Then the crossbowmen behind immediately shot arrows at the big man, but the big man didn't dodge. He swung a broadsword weighing tens of catties with one hand, not to mention arrows, and it seemed that the water couldn't get in.

With such a narrow terrain, there is such a peerless master, which is definitely a headache for the officers and soldiers.

Lei Bo looked at the big man wielding a knife, "Looking at this man's appearance, isn't he handsome, Fang Jiao?"

As not one of the top ten masters, but his skills are definitely at the level of a great master, Fang Jiao, the Marshal of the Red Lotus Dao, is also well-known in the rivers, lakes and green forests.

After hearing this, He Baxu and Zhang Chaozong looked at this person's skills, and they were almost certain that this person was Fang Jiao.

And Fang Jiao laughed after being shot in front for a while, "The elite of the army? That's all."

After speaking, he laughed and jumped up, falling directly behind his own army formation.

It is not that there are no strong generals in the official army, but similar to this kind of peerless master, there is no one among the ten thousand army.

While He Baxu was hesitating, the sound of horseshoes suddenly sounded behind him.

Looking back, it was the general's flag of the governor.

As the chief general, Fu Jinchuan was originally in the Chinese army, but only a few miles away from the front army. He heard that the front line was blocked by the enemy at Taniguchi, and the army was delayed and unable to advance, so he came to the front army to watch the battle.

"Captain."

He Baxu, Lei Bo, and Zhang Chaozong all came over to salute with fists in their hands.

Fu Jinchuan nodded slightly as a salute, then raised his whip and pointed at Taniguchi, "Is it possible to bypass here?"

"Going back to the governor, I can't go around. It's hundreds of miles to go around."

Lei Bo, who is quite familiar with the terrain, replied.

"The whole army is repaired on the spot, and the ballistas of the supply battalion are brought up, and then recruited from the Jingnan army who can climb mountains, can my tens of thousands of troops be blocked by this valley?"

"promise."

After listening to Fu Jinchuan's order, Hu Lanqing behind him was relieved. He was really afraid that the Marquis would lead his troops to attack on impulse.

He was also at Xuandemen when he went to Yuanye, and he had witnessed Fang Jiao's martial power as a grand master.

But in the current army, Master Hou's skill is very good, and he has stepped on the threshold of a third-rank martial artist, plus Ma Shanbao, Chen Xing, and him, three third-rank masters, and those relatives in Hou Ye's personal guards Wei is a good player, and the strength of everyone can barely resist this great master.

But this kind of terrain is obviously not suitable for
In fact, Fu Jinchuan was also making this calculation, and he came to the same conclusion. In this kind of mountain gorge, everyone can't work together, and the cavalry can't give full play to their advantages. They can only go up one by one. If the great master wants to leave, they No one can stop it.
At this time, there was another rush of horseshoes behind him, "Report".

A messenger rushed over and stopped outside the guard circle of the guards, "report, the governor, Yangzhou urgent report." The guards around him hurriedly handed over the letter. Fu Jinchuan took it and saw that it was the prince Your Highness has already crossed the Huai River.

He was asked to return to Yangzhou to participate in the military meeting.

(End of this chapter)