Chapter 1089: Encountering the Enemy on Patrol

With the arrival of the main force of the Western Wei army, there were camps for dozens of miles outside Wusu City, with tents stretching out and flags flying. The sight was full of magnificent military scenes.

After arriving in Wusu, Li Tai did not go straight into the city to rest and wait for the enemy. Instead, he took advantage of the fact that the Qi army had not yet arrived here and led his personal soldiers to inspect the mountains and fields south of Wusu City.

If nothing unexpected happens, the armies of the two countries will fight in this area next. At the beginning of the battle, Li Tai must of course understand the battlefield on the spot.

Unlike the gullies and peaks in the north, although the south of Wusu City is also a hilly terrain, the slope is relatively gentle, and there are still some traces of stable buildings between the hills and plains. It can be seen that before the Western Wei army invaded, this area should have been used as a grazing pasture.

From Wusu City to the south, the undulating ponds and plateaus form a slope of several miles or even dozens of miles. The top of the plateau has a wide view, and the bottom of the plateau is rich in water and grass. The western source of the Zhuozhang River passes through the border from north to south, and there are tributaries on both sides that flow into the main stream along the plateau valley.

However, due to the drought, the water volume of the river is mostly small, and large areas of beach silt are exposed along the coast. Bunches of weeds grow on the riverbed that has been dried and hardened by the sun. The nutrients contained in the silt at the bottom of the river are absorbed by these green grasses and grow luxuriantly.

In this plateau valley, although the large group of Qi army has not arrived yet, there are also many scouts moving around. These Qi army scouts are running around in this plateau valley, and occasionally measuring with ropes and rulers. Obviously, they are also collecting terrain data for future battles as a reference for the army to deploy troops, line up, advance and retreat.

These Qi scouts also discovered Li Tai and his party, so they summoned their companions with whistling arrows and horns. The Qi scouts scattered in the valleys gradually gathered together to form a cavalry team of hundreds of people, gathered on the ridge several miles away and looked at Li Tai and his party vigilantly.

Li Tai saw the other party's vigilance and felt a sense of evil in his heart. He raised his hand and pointed at the other party from a distance, and then said to the guards behind him with a smile: "Do you dare to hunt?"

In addition to the elite scouts, there are often senior generals who serve as combat commanders to observe the battlefield before the battle, such as Li Tai, who went here to observe the terrain. Before such a large-scale battle, some generals would arrange their confidants to come and grasp the basic terrain conditions even if it was inconvenient for them to visit the battlefield in person.

So Li Tai was also curious about who was leading the enemy, and after hearing this, the guards laughed and said, "We dare to be the pioneer for the Lord!"

Li Tai tightened his legs and squeezed the horse's belly, and the horse under his crotch took the lead and galloped towards the bottom of the valley. The rest of the guards also rode their horses and followed behind. As the team galloped faster and faster, the distance between each other was also stretched.

Thousands of riders formed a hunting formation several miles wide in the valley, and then the knights scattered on both wings accelerated their galloping, forming an arc that wrapped inward.

The Northern Qi soldiers on the opposite slope saw the enemy approaching, so they all reined in their horses and galloped towards the top of the plateau behind them.

But they were not there to evacuate, but to gather on the top of the plateau to form a more solid assault formation, and then it was like a sharp blade swooping down, and its tip was pointed at the center of the formation where Li Tai was. The knight at the front was wearing light armor and a visor, so his face could not be seen clearly. However, judging from his excellent riding skills and his ability to shoot arrows at the front of the formation, he must be the leader of this team.

"The enemy general is quite courageous!"

Li Tai laughed loudly, grabbed the bow on the side of the saddle, and shot a whistling arrow diagonally. Immediately, the team split to the left and right where he was, forming two parallel straight lines, rushing diagonally to the top of the plateau. The gap between the two teams was just enough for the enemy cavalry to pass through.

But the enemy cavalry did not want to cross each other. Under the leadership of their general, they turned around halfway and rushed directly to the waist of the middle section of Li Tai's team, intending to outflank and intercept Li Tai.

After seeing this, Li Tai simply turned his horse's head, led dozens of cavalry around him to leave the team, and turned to gallop to the bottom of the valley down the slope.

Although the enemy general knew that this was a trick to lure the enemy, he still refused to give up and led his troops to closely follow Li Tai and his party, completely ignoring that the two enemy cavalry in the rear had already merged on the southern bank, blocking their retreat.

"Don't run, Qiang thieves, get off your horse and die!"

The distance between them gradually narrowed. The Qi general rode his horse and pulled the bowstring, as if he had changed from the original hunted object to the current hunter, and shouted loudly at Li Tai who was still riding his horse in front.

Li Tai refused to stop, and led his men to gallop to a sparse forest below the slope. He then dismounted and put his mount into the forest. He and dozens of guards beside him quickly formed a battle formation outside the forest. He pointed at the enemy general who was gradually slowing down and shouted, "Since the enemy general dared to chase me here, do you dare to tell me your name?"

The Qi general ignored Li Tai's question. His expression was no longer as fierce as when he was chasing just now. Especially when he looked back and saw that the enemy cavalry on the plateau was rolling over again, he couldn't help but frowned slightly.

At this time, he was only a few miles away from Li Tai's position. If he rushed forward again, he might be able to break up the battle formation and kill the generals, but as long as the enemy formation was slightly blocked, the troops behind would rush over immediately. Although the forest in front was not dense, it could still hinder the cavalry's running. At that time, all the cavalry would be trapped here and it would be difficult to break through.

After a little consideration in his mind, he pulled the bow with his fingers and shot an arrow at Li Tai's position. The arrow quickly drew an arc in the sky and then shot towards Li Tai below.

However, at this moment, a figure behind Li Tai flashed out quickly and jumped into the air. He chopped down the stray arrow with a knife. Both his skills and eyesight were extremely fast. This was naturally Zhang Shi Nu, who had been the captain of Li Tai's personal guards for many years and now served as the owner of the Hundred Cavalry Camp.

The Qi general wanted to take a chance, but when he saw Zhang Shinu's agile posture and high martial arts, he immediately gave up the idea and led his troops to bypass the woods in front, wading through the water from the other side, preparing to take a detour and leave.

However, seeing that the master took the risk to lure the enemy in, how could the troops behind allow the enemy cavalry to leave calmly, so the troops swept westward along the river like a passing wind, constantly lengthening the distance for the enemy cavalry to detour.

At this time, the other guards also led their mounts back from the woods. Li Tai climbed on his horse and looked at the direction where the enemy cavalry was running away, frowning slightly.

It was originally just an encounter and a tentative confrontation, but the enemy general gave him a feeling of fighting for his life. He was obviously at a disadvantage but still pursued him relentlessly. Thinking back to his words and deeds, he felt familiar, but for a moment he couldn't remember who in the enemy camp could match him.

Seeing that the knights of both sides had already started fighting in the upper reaches of the valley, Li Tai also led the people here to gallop to the battlefield.

At this time, the two sides fought in the upper reaches of the valley, and the battle was extremely fierce. Since both sides were light cavalry armed to patrol the battlefield, they rarely carried heavy weapons such as horse lances, and they all killed the enemy with bows and swords. The cavalry fought hand-to-hand, and both men and horses collided. Soon, the cumulative casualties of both sides exceeded hundreds of people, directly dyeing the stream red.

The number of Wei troops was greater than that of Qi troops, and most of the soldiers who followed the patrol this time were elite soldiers from the second battalion. When the enemy troops were intercepted, the troops from the rear rushed in, which immediately put this Qi army team at a disadvantage.

"My lord, the enemy is fierce, don't fight! We will risk our lives to break through, my lord, go quickly, go quickly!"

A soldier beside the Qi general shouted, and then he and dozens of riders rushed in one direction, using their flesh and blood to knock open a gap. The Qi general roared angrily, whipped his mounts hard, led the rest of the people to break out of the enemy's encirclement from the gap, and then shot left and right to stop the enemy, led the hundreds of people around him to rush to the top of the plateau in the south again, and then the Qi general threw off his mask and looked back in grief and anger, and it was Hulugu.

"Li Boshan, I hate that I am weak today, otherwise I will kill you here!"

Seeing the enemy army rushing up the slope again, Hulugu did not dare to stay any longer, and looked at Li Tai with hatred, and then led the remaining people to Xiaweiju where the Qi army camp was located.

At this time, in the Xiaweiju camp, Duan Shao was leading his generals to welcome the newly arrived Emperor Gao Yang, and when Hulugu led the remaining troops back to the camp, the emperor arrived at the camp.

Gao Yang was already quite dissatisfied with Hulugu, who had close relations with the King of Changshan. When he saw Hulugu returning to the camp in a panic but not appearing in the team that greeted him, his face suddenly darkened. He immediately ordered a member to summon Hulugu to him and angrily asked, "Where did the king go?"

"Your Majesty, I just came here from Heyang. I wanted to go out to explore the enemy situation and report to Your Majesty. It was not easy to meet the bandit leader Li Boshan who also led his troops to inspect. The two sides fought a battle. I only regret that my troops were short of manpower, arrows were exhausted, and bows were broken. I missed the opportunity and had no choice but to retreat!"

Hulugu was already in a gloomy and depressed mood. When he heard the emperor's question, he immediately knelt on the ground and said sadly, recalling the helplessness of the enemy in front of him but unable to kill the bandit for revenge, he couldn't help but burst into tears and knelt on the ground crying: "I met the old enemy in the battle but was unable to kill the bandit. I have committed a great sin against the country, A great sin against the family..."

After hearing this, Gao Yang could not help but show a look of disappointment on his face. Seeing Hulugu so sad and annoyed, he felt a little reluctant in his heart, and said quickly: "I am here to kill the bandits. There is no need to shed tears if the king's achievements are not completed. Are the bandits still in the battle? Increase your troops and go to kill the bandits again!"

After hearing this, Hulugu's expression suddenly became excited again, and Duan Shao sighed: "The previous encounter was accidental. I failed to kill him. I think the bandits are not dead yet. Why will they stop and wait for me now? I am afraid that sending more troops will only be a waste of time. Now that the Supreme is here, the troops are excited. Don't be anxious to take shortcuts. The battle array will be clear tomorrow, and the soldiers will fight hard. The bandits will not be able to last long!"

As he said this, Duan Shao was worried in his heart. The enemy's advantage is very obvious now, but the emperor still expects something unrealistic, and still has no idea of ​​a steady and long-term battle to gradually reverse the disadvantage. This is really not a good phenomenon. If this is not recognized, the next battle plan may be out of touch with reality.

With such worries in his heart, Duan Shao also became somewhat dissatisfied with Hulugu. It was absurd to expect to kill the enemy's main general by accident before the battle, and there was nothing to regret even if the opportunity was missed.

Hulugu was still upset about it, which showed that the defeat in Hedong did not change his thinking of taking risks and using strange tactics, and Duan Shao felt that it was not appropriate to arrange him in the next battle sequence to avoid any out-of-control situation before the battle.

Happy holidays to everyone!!!