Jiuxi

Chapter 203 Chapter 202 [Armor-piercing Arrow]

The canyon south of the Seven Star Gang's headquarters is like an inverted gourd mouth.

The entrance is quite narrow, only more than five feet, and gradually extends to the north. The width of the exit is about sixty or seventy feet.

This canyon is a passage connecting the main village with the vast area to the south. The mountains on both sides block the way for birds to cross, giving people a sense of the magic of nature.

If you want to bypass this canyon to reach the main village, you can go east or west. The distance is slightly different, but it will take at least half a month.

As early as more than 30 years ago, when the first gang leader Jiang Zhi chose the location of the headquarters, he saw at a glance the large flat land at the southern foot of the main peak of Zhongbaotai Mountain. The terrain here can be described as extremely dangerous.

Except for the canyon guarding the mountain gate in the south, only mountain paths can pass through in the west and north, dense mountain forests in the east, and rivers passing through in the northeast.If this place were not in the mountains, but on the wilderness, or in a relatively wealthy place, it would inevitably become a battleground for military strategists, just like Panlong Pass in Huaizhou in the Southern Qi Dynasty.

At that time, the Daqi army advanced from three directions, and it was always difficult to advance in the west and north directions. In the end, Chen Jingtang led his elite men to forcefully break through the canyon in the south, forcing tens of thousands of people from the Seven Star Gang to escape into the deep mountains and forests in the east. They struggled for more than half a year. , and finally the Qi army burned the main stronghold to the ground before withdrawing.

More than ten years later, the main village was re-established and became more prosperous than before. Lin Jie even led his gang to cultivate a large number of fields in the northeast. No one wanted to destroy the home they had worked so hard for.

Therefore, the rebellion by Jiang Houming and others did not cause much trouble, and Lin Jie received the loyal support of most people.

In the past few months, Lu Chen surveyed the terrain in the mountains while training his troops, and finally decided to make a fuss about this canyon in the south. He built an extremely tight and complicated position, like a sword ready to go, waiting quietly. With the arrival of Yan Jun.

In the harsh situation where the right-wing army led by Shang Zhirong was almost completely wiped out and the food and grass were burned, Pusan ​​Si'en finally defied all opinions and decided on a desperate strategy of attacking the main stronghold of the Seven Star Gang with the entire army.

The army went all the way north, and after occupying Shuiyun Village, which had become an empty village and couldn't find even a grain of food, they continued northward without hesitation for a moment, and arrived at the south of the canyon two days later.

During the four-day march, Pusan ​​Si'en extremely hoped that Lu Chen would lead the Seven-Star Army to harass them along the way.

Xia Shanjun, who had never had a chance to show off after entering the mountain, was already hungry and thirsty. As long as the Seven-Star Army dared to appear, no matter what kind of martial arts master he was, Pusan ​​Si'en was confident that he would stay and surround him.

It's a pity that this road was extremely peaceful, and the Seven-Star Army never appeared. There were only some traps that slightly blocked the Yan Army's progress, but did not cause any effective damage to them.

Now that the strength of the Yan army has been greatly weakened, the left and right armies have been crippled, and the rear army lost nearly a thousand people in the night attack that night. Xu Cun simply asked the able-bodied soldiers to escort the wounded back, and only brought the vanguard and the main force with him. A total of 2000 troops went northward, plus the 5000 Xia Shan troops commanded by Pu San Si'en, the total strength was [-].

For the Yan army, the news of the burning of food and grass could not be concealed at all. Pusan ​​Si'en did not think about covering it up. He bluntly announced to the entire army that the food and grass could only be used for half a month. The Seven Star Gang must be destroyed in these ten days. The main village.

Excluding the time spent on the road, Yan Jun only had ten days to spare.

On the first day, the Yan army arrived south of the canyon and immediately set up camp. At the same time, they sent a large number of elite scouts to the east and west to detect the movements of the Seven Star Army and whether there were other ways to approach the opponent's lair.

In the commander's tent of the Chinese army, all the generals were sitting neatly, with Pusan ​​Si'en and Xu Cun sitting side by side to the north.

Xu Cun looked at the generals in the tent and couldn't help but sigh quietly.

In just over half a month, he had already lost two of his supervisors, Shang Zhirong and Xiao Tongyuan. Wen Xiguang took the blame and resigned and went to the capital of Dongyang Road to await the fate of General Li Shouzhen.

Now, under his command, only Du Min, the former military governor, and Gu Taicheng, the Chinese military governor, are left under his command. The military positions of Shang Zhirong and others are temporarily taken over by several deputy governors.

The further north he went, the more ominous the feeling in Xu Cun's heart became. He didn't know how many of the generals in the tent would survive after the battle.

When he was thinking about it, Pusan ​​Si'en said in a deep voice: "I have sent someone to report to General Li urgently, asking him to transport a batch of grain and grass to Shuiyun Village within fifteen days, and sent 5000 people to escort him along the way. I know that you don’t agree with the decision to continue to march, so I want to let you know firsthand that I am not forcing tens of thousands of people to die in vain.”

Xu Cun was slightly startled, his face softened slightly, and the others had similar reactions.

Pusan ​​Si'en added: "You can tell the soldiers about this matter when necessary, but for now, we still have to keep them busy and focus on breaking the enemy's position."

The people took orders.

Pu San Si'en looked at Xu Cun and asked, "Mr. Xu, what are your opinions on the upcoming war?"

Xu Cun thought for a while and said cautiously: "Judging from the situation in the canyon, the enemy is very well prepared. Our army has no better way for the time being except to attack by force."

Layers of walls and arrows were built in the canyon in the north, almost filling the entire canyon. There must be various defensive measures inside. What was placed in front of the Yanjing coalition was a hedgehog with almost no flaws. .

Pusan ​​Si'en raised his hand and rubbed his brows, and said in a slow tone: "Although a strong attack will cause great losses, for our army, this may be the best situation. If the enemy continues to flee in the mountains, we will eventually They can only set fire to vent their anger. Now they are setting up a battle formation with our army. This is a God-given opportunity to defeat the enemy. I wonder which governor dares to take the lead in fighting?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the former military governor Du Min stood up immediately and said: "General Pusan, General Manager Xu, the last general will lead the vanguard soldiers to invite the battle!"

At this moment, he looked resolute, with a look of resignation, and a bit of shame in his eyes. After all, the left army led by Wen Xiguang was destroyed because of his underestimation of the enemy.

Du Min has been in a state of extreme anxiety and resentment these days. He is extremely eager that the person who was attacked by the Seven Star Army is the vanguard of the front army led by him. Only by defeating the enemy and capturing Lu Chen alive can he wash away the shame brought by the enemy.

Now that the two armies are facing each other, whether it is the responsibility of the vanguard or his inner desire for revenge, he must step forward and take over the heavy responsibility of the first battle.The other generals in the tent probably understood his mood, so no one stood up to fight with him.

Pu San Si'en and Xu Cun looked at each other, then stood up and came to Du Min, saying with high hopes: "Du Dujian, I hope you will win the battle and capture the bandit's position. I and General Manager Xu will jointly name Please take credit."

Du Min said seriously: "The general has issued a military order here, and the enemy will be defeated tomorrow!"

"it is good!"

Pu San Si'en nodded solemnly and said solemnly: "Only when you break the formation and destroy the enemy will you become the vanguard general of our army!"

……

The sun is rising, and there is a chilling atmosphere in the mountains and fields.

On top of the first village wall in the canyon, Lu Chen was wearing armor and saber, looking calmly at the southern land.

Beside him stood Li Chengen, Yu Dajun and several team members, all of whom looked calm and collected.

Lu Chen said: "Cheng'en, you will command this battle."

Li Chengen bowed slightly and said: "The last general will take orders."

Lu Chen said slowly: "The first battle will be difficult, but you have to remember that no matter how difficult it is, you cannot let the enemy break through the position."

Li Chengen bowed his head and said: "Captain, please rest assured that you will be there when you are in position, and you will definitely not make any mistakes."

Lu Chen smiled faintly, still looking to the south, and said: "If I guessed correctly, Pusan ​​Si'en will not directly send out the Xiashan Army. This first battle should be led by the Yan Army's vanguard. If I were in his position We will definitely not make such a decision.”

Yu Dajun, who was standing nearby, asked in confusion: "May I ask Captain, why is this?"

Lu Chen said: "Because Du Min is very reckless, and he is used to acting on impulse. He is brave but has little strategy, otherwise he would not have been careless and rash before. Normally, such a person is indeed suitable for the tip of a knife, but now the morale of the Yan army is empty. A big victory is urgently needed to stabilize the morale of the army. For Pusan ​​Si'en, it should be directly let the Xiashan Army go into battle, instead of still thinking of using the Yan Army's cannon fodder to test my trump card."

Yu Dajun and others nodded thoughtfully.

At this moment, several vigorous scouts came forward and said: "Captain, the first part of the Yan Army is approaching the canyon. Judging from the flags, it is the Du Min Department of the vanguard."

Lu Chen smiled and said to Li Chengen, "Leave it to you."

Li Chengen responded decisively: "Yes!"

Lu Chen turned around and walked back, then climbed to a high point on the east side and looked down at the scene at the entrance of the canyon.

After about half a stick of incense, I saw the Yan army approaching in formation, with swords, shields and hands rushing forward to cover, spearmen on the left and right, and thousands of armored infantry in the middle.

The first wall of the Seven Star Army is located in the valley, about fifty or sixty feet away from the entrance.

The wall is made of earth and stone. It is not afraid of fire and arrows. There are arrows stomping on the horizontal stones on both sides. It is like a shortened version of the city wall. Although it is not as high as the real city wall, in this narrow canyon, it is like A natural chasm stood in front of Yan Jun.

In the bright morning light, the majestic drumbeats slowly rose from behind the Yan army's formation. Du Min gave an order, and the vanguard army rushed towards the canyon. Hundreds of infantrymen rushed to the front, roaring and striding towards the village wall. .

Li Chengen held a spear in his hand and looked at the Yan army pouring into the canyon like a tide with an indifferent expression. When the opponent came within [-] feet, he said in a deep voice: "Wait!"

Dozens of seven-star army soldiers with big muscles and round waists stood proudly on the wall of the village. They took a breath in unison, and then used their arms to draw the strong bows. The bulging muscles almost burst their sleeves.

The Yan army entered thirty feet.

Li Chengen silently counted three times and said solemnly: "Let go!"

Dozens of people released their bowstrings at the same time, and a heart-wrenching sound suddenly came out. The arrows drew a curve forward and immediately splashed down.

The dozen or so Yan troops who rushed forward had no way to dodge. They could only rely on large shields to block them. However, some of the arrows eventually passed through the gaps between the shields.

Fortunately, everyone on board the infantry was wearing armor, they comforted themselves like this.

But the next moment, the Yan Jun who rushed to the front all changed their expressions.

The arrow arrives, breaks the armor, and penetrates three inches into the flesh!

(End of this chapter)