The Song Dynasty has been deliberate for 16 years, only to know that it is the Water Margin

Chapter 489 Breaking the mountain, intercepting and killing
Shi Qian hid behind a big tree and heard the voices in front of him, all in Xixia language.

He had studied Xia language for a while in Longyou before, and followed the army to Gaizhu and Pozhuoluo. The people he came into contact with were all Xia people, so he could probably tell them apart now.

These were the voices of two men, grumbling.

One person complained that there were too many mosquitoes, snakes, and ants in the mountains. They were bitten and disturbed, making it difficult to live in peace. He did not know when he would be able to return to the city.

The other person scolded the commander-in-chief of the Xishou Baotai Military Division, who transferred them from Yingli to Fuchuan to suffer punishment, while his own family was enjoying themselves in Huizhou City, eating hot food and drinking spicy food.

People in the past hurriedly advised him not to speak loudly, but he said that this place was far away from the foot of the mountain and the Song army couldn't hear him. What couldn't he say?

Before, he was so angry that he slapped his legs and said that he was afraid that the Song Army would hear him. He was not afraid that his colleagues would smell it and report him, and they would at least receive a whipping and suffer.

The other person just shut up and began to walk back as the sound of the array passed.

Shi Qian thought in his mind, it seemed that these two people came here to relieve themselves, but the hiding place should not be far from here.

Du Bo and others analyzed the situation in the mountain and speculated that the Xixia army might not be ambushing in one place. After all, there is no old forest in Lingbo Mountain, and there is no place where thousands of people can hide together. They are afraid that they will all spread out and hide.

This is also the reason why it is not easy to come over to investigate alone, because even if one person discovers an ambush, he cannot see everything. Several people must come together, at least to draw a rough range and be aware of it.

Shi Qian waited behind the tree for a moment, and when he heard no more noise, he appeared. He did not follow the other party directly, but started to climb the tree.

He was nimble and slender, so climbing up trees was no problem. Although he didn't have Lu Da's special climbing ability, he could climb a tree ten feet tall even if he was upside down, but he was not slow, and he didn't make any movement. He climbed up after more than ten breaths. Come to the top of the tree.

He found a tree branch and rode on it, hiding among the green leaves. He stretched out his hand against the awning and looked around, only to see two figures wandering not far away. They should be the people who were talking under the tree earlier.

The two men walked to a rocky and weedy area, then lowered their heads and dug in. The mountain there was obviously lower, and they couldn't see any trace in the blink of an eye.

Shi Qian didn't dare to move rashly on the tree. He kept his eyes close and listened carefully, but he didn't hear any other sounds. He didn't know what was inside the stone grass.

After riding on the tree branch for a while, Shi Qian continued to discover the situation, so he quietly came down, took out a small blade half a foot long from his back, and walked towards the spot he saw on the tree with cat steps.

This area is easier to walk on. The grass is broken and the soil is hard. It should be a convenient place where Xixia soldiers often come to desert.

As we got closer, we could see more clearly. The mountain was slightly tilted, and the grass was growing downwards.

He turned sideways, with the blade standing in front of him. He was wearing black clothes, a black hat, and a black face mask. He bent over and walked like a cat. If seen from behind, the multiple tails looked like a living monkey.

Use a small blade to open a path and cautiously enter the grass. The grass is tall and has long leaves, but the inside is also trampled and staggered, and your heart is in your throat.

He felt his feet getting lower and lower, and then suddenly heard a sound. He immediately did not dare to move anymore, held his breath and felt it silently.

It was the sound of pacing back and forth, the sound of hard metal objects scraping against each other, and some subtle but messy sounds.

Shi Qian waited for a moment, then moved forward with the slightest movement. At this time, the ground was lower and the sounds became clearer. He did not dare to move rashly, slowly pushed aside the long grass, and looked out through the cracks in the grass with his eyes wide open.

I could vaguely see what seemed to be a large stone wall at the end of the grass ahead. There were people walking back and forth in front of the wall, but I couldn't see their appearance or clothing clearly.

Shi Qian rubbed his eyes and cautiously moved closer. Then he discovered that there was a hole in the stone wall. It turned out to be a hidden cave.

Exhaling slowly, he felt that it was almost done. All he needed to do was determine the location. As for the number of people, the Xixia soldiers were hidden in the cave and could not be detected from the outside.

Then he returned the same way, and after thinking about it, he looked for another place.

By the afternoon, Shi Qian had found three locations, all of which were lurking Xixia soldiers. How many of them were unknown, but he had marked them all in conspicuous places.

Finally, he climbed to the top of a big tree and looked in the direction. He saw that he was on the other side of Lingbo Mountain and could see Dulan Lake in the distance.

He secretly thought in his mind that it was almost time to go back, so he climbed down from the tree flexibly, and then started walking out of the mountain. When he arrived at the place where the horse was hidden, he saw that Lu Da and Han Er had returned before him, but there was no news about Du Bu.

The three of them chatted for a while and found that Han Er didn't find any ambush site, and Lu Da also only found one. It turned out that the direction the two of them were going was remote. They were probably hunting rabbits and eliminating some areas outside Lingbo Mountain. Reduce the area where the opponent can hide.

After more than half an hour, Du Bu came back from the mountains. Even though he was a master, he was covered in dirt. There were a lot of leaves and straw sticks on his clothes. The three people asked hurriedly. It turned out that Du Bu had spent most of the day. , almost visited the other side of Lingbo Mountain.

The four comparison locations actually overlapped in several places, and it was finally determined that there were roughly seven places where soldiers were hidden, not too far or too close to each other. The frontmost one was one or two miles away from Dulan Lake, which was the road Zhang Xian took that day. ahead.

Then he rode back to the camp and reported to Zhao Tong. After hearing this, Zhao Tong hurriedly summoned all the generals to discuss how to break the ambush in Lingbo Mountain.

Xu Ning said: "Your Majesty, now that we know where the opponent is hiding, we can just send troops to attack from this side. The Tengjia Army is very powerful and is not afraid of sneak attacks by cold arrows in the forest. I don't think there are too many people. There are two thousand people." You can kill all those hidden Xia soldiers."

Zhang Xian continued: "I have a good idea. If we know the enemy's lair, we will kill them directly. However, we need to send another team to ambush at Dulan Lake. If the Xixia soldiers on the mountain escape from there, we will be able to cover them up for a while!"

Du Bo said: "The four of us went up the mountain today, and we relied on martial arts to clear the way. If ordinary soldiers entered, even the rattan armored soldiers would not be able to guarantee smooth passage. I am afraid that they would have alerted the opponent before they reached the location, and if the opponent ambushed them again, there would be damage. Not to mention, whether we can completely destroy the other party is a question..."

As soon as he said this, the big tent immediately became quiet.

In Lingbo Mountain, only Dulan Lake has a road up the mountain, and there is no thoroughfare in other places. Today, Du Bo and the others can detect the information silently by relying on their martial arts, but how can ordinary soldiers have this kind of ability?

Since there is no such ability, let alone a large number of people entering the mountain for encirclement and suppression, even a small number of people cannot guarantee that they will not make any noise and be known to the other party.

When that happens, it won't be a sneak attack on the opponent, but it will be ambushed by the opponent again.

"Is there no other way?" Xu Ning frowned.

Yang Zhi looked at the crowd and suddenly said: "I think it would be better to burn this Lingbo Mountain with fire!"

"Burn the mountain?" Zhang Xian couldn't help but froze when he heard the words: "But Lingbo Mountain is not all trees and grass, I'm afraid it won't be completely burned." Yang Zhi's face suddenly turned red and said: "I see there is kerosene in the baggage, so I just casually Tell me, I never thought that this mountain is not the kind of mountain with many old forests, so it would be difficult to burn it to the bottom."

Zhao Tong said at this time: "It is not impossible to set fire to the mountain. Lin Duo and Lin Shao actually have little impact. It does not necessarily mean burning the opponent to death. It only needs to act as a deterrent and make the opponent chaotic. In this way, it will be difficult for the opponent to fight. Ambush, not to mention... In fact, half of the so-called fire attacks use the power of smoke. As long as there is smoke, it is also powerful."

"Your Majesty, is this plan feasible?" Yang Zhi immediately beamed with joy and became a little excited. Since he joined Zhao Tong, he has not made any achievements in the past few years, but his official position has been rising rapidly. He was a little scared and always wanted to help so that he could live up to his official status.

But although he was capable of fighting on the battlefield, he had no ability to make plans. If he had such a scheming mind, Hua Shi Gang's boat would not have been helpless when the boat capsized in the Yellow River that day, and he would not have dared to go back home.

At this moment, when he heard Zhao Tong's confirmation, he still didn't believe it and hurriedly asked.

Zhao Tong looked at him with a smile and nodded: "It's feasible."

"My lord, if it works, that's fine, if it works, that's fine..." Yang Zhi smiled and felt relieved.

Zhao Tong continued: "It is feasible, but you still have to come up with a charter on how to implement it."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion after hearing this. Since Zhao Tong explained that he could burn the mountain without Lao Lin, intimidate the opponent or use smoke, which would be effective, they agreed in their hearts and thought about it. It didn't take long before they came up with a complete plan.

Zhao Tong listened to what they said, and found that there was nothing wrong with it, and it was not a difficult task in itself. Although he had a draft, what everyone said was not much different, so he made some additions and dispersed the meeting.

Preparations began on the next day. Fire oil and dry firewood were probably indispensable. The soldiers also taught how to act, and then took action the next day.

Three thousand rattan armor and four thousand ordinary infantrymen climbed up from where Du Bo and others entered the mountain, and then set off a fire from a distance.

It was summer at the moment, and the southeast wind was blowing. This side was south-west, but the other side of Dulan Lake was north. When the mountain wind blew, we went straight forward. Because it was not an old forest, the fire was not that fierce, but the smoke was thick. It rolled up, far bigger than the flames, and had already blown to the other side of Lingbo Mountain.

And these soldiers walked forward with the wind and smoke, following the direction given by Du Bo, like a big net, heading towards the mountains.

On the other side of Dulan Lake, Zhao Tao ordered all the remaining troops to kill them. Nearly 7000 cavalry and more than [-] infantry occupied the lakeside at the foot of the mountain. While looking at Fuchuan City from a distance, they stood ready to face Lingbo Mountain.

Shikawa City reacted immediately, and not long after, a troop of troops came along the shore of Dulan Lake. However, seeing Zhao Tao's army densely packed in the distance, they gradually stopped.

At this moment, there were chaotic sounds on Lingbo Mountain, and then Xixia soldiers were seen running out of the mountain, looking very panicked.

Zhao Tong narrowed his eyes when he saw this, and Zhang Xian gritted his teeth: "Your Majesty!"

Zhao Tong nodded slightly, and Zhang Xian immediately charged over with two thousand cavalry.

The team at Shichuan City on the other side was obviously a little confused. They didn't know why the soldiers who were ambushing in the mountains were running out of the mountains. But when they saw the Song army sending people to cover up the killing, they couldn't stand by and watch, so they hurriedly sent troops to respond.

Zhao Tong smiled when he saw this: "It's not easy to find such an opportunity, eat them!"

Du Bo also became excited. Hearing this, he shouted: "Don't worry, Your Majesty!" After saying that, he swung the eight-foot-long snake spear in his hand, and the army behind him rushed forward with a "boom".

The opponent's team is actually quite large in number, with 7000 people, and half of them are cavalry, which is more than Zhao Tong's.

There were nearly [-] cavalry on Zhao Tong's side, but Zhang Xian took away the [-] people who were killed down the mountain, leaving only half of them. However, in this half there were one guard and two guards of the third army.

Du Bo personally led the two cavalry guards to charge in the center, and the rest quickly spread out in a fan shape, and then fired all bows and crossbows to cover the advance of the Chinese army.

The opponent did not hesitate when he saw this, and there was no room for hesitation at this moment. Even though he knew that there were many Song soldiers and the cavalry was fierce, he could only rush forward, because no matter he hesitated or stayed in place, he would immediately fall into passivity. Once he was trapped on the battlefield, In a passive situation, it basically means losing.

The soldiers and horses collided in an instant, and Du Bo went straight towards the opponent's general.

Xixia's general did not charge forward like him, but was in the middle of the army giving orders. It seemed that he had no intention of going into battle personally.

Du Bo waved the snake spear in his hand, and there was a rain of blood in front of him. No one could be his opponent, let alone one round, not even half of him could block it.

Weapons such as snake spears are almost the longest among horse soldiers. Eight feet is definitely not an exaggeration. Some snake spears are even two feet long and are specially used by fierce generals. Even the large spears of heavy cavalry do not have this. The snake spear is long and heavy.

The snake spear in Du Bo's hand is nearly two feet long. The shaft is as thick as a goose egg. The front blade is three feet long. It has three shallow curves and has blades on both sides. It is not cylindrical. The blade has two sharp points. , each tip is three inches and seven minutes long.

When this snake spear strikes, it's like killing a god when a god blocks it, and killing a Buddha when a Buddha blocks it.

The first and second guards behind him are the most courageous and skillful among the cavalry under Zhao Tao. They participated in the Huaixi expedition to Wang Qing and Jiangnan Square. After being screened several times, they are now the elite among the elite. They are no longer weaker than the Western Army. Elites, trained by Xu Ning and Du Bo, equipped with equipment worthy of military envoys, not to mention the Xixia cavalry, even the Jurchen cavalry can charge forward here.

As if cutting through tofu with a knife, Du Bo and his men rushed into the Xixia army without any hindrance. The Xixia army instantly became chaotic, and the formation was broken through in the blink of an eye.

When the Xixia general of the Chinese army saw this, he immediately complained. When he ambushed the Song army's vanguard at the foot of Lingbo Mountain, he already felt that something was wrong. One or two hundred were killed and three or four hundred were wounded.

The cavalry in front of me were still as brave as that day, or even worse. These light cavalry were no match for me. When I saw that the other party's troops were obviously more numerous than my own, I immediately thought of retreating.

But retreating like this will inevitably lead to heavy losses. Not to mention the current troops, those who are ambushed and hidden in Lingbo Mountain may not be spared.

At this moment, there was smoke blowing from the mountain, and the smell of burning permeated the battlefield. When he looked at the top of Lingbo Mountain, there was thick smoke billowing. Although there were no flames rising into the sky, he knew in his heart that the other party was using fire attacks to force the soldiers down the mountain.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but sigh. Knowing that things were irreversible, it was best to retreat as soon as possible.

Just when he turned the horse's head and wanted to give an order, he heard loud roars in front of him. It turned out that he was thinking about these few breaths. A black horse carrying a black tower-like man came close to him. It turned out to be a general of the Song Army charging to kill him. come over.

Seeing that the situation was not going well, the Xixia general yelled "Ah!" and before he had time to leave, he picked up the snowflake mountain knife and slashed at the opponent.

But his knife only cut half, but suddenly he saw a flash of cold light, and immediately felt the coldness in his throat, as if there was a leak of wind, and then a spring of hot blood gushed out, and after shaking for a few times, he fell off the horse with a "hole" sound...

(End of this chapter)