Chapter 27: Striking Again with Success
(Third update, seeking support!)
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Yang Kai's order was quickly passed down to the east gate, and most of the soldiers who received the order retreated to a cool place under the city wall to rest and avoid the sun, leaving only a small number of soldiers on the city wall for patrol and vigilance, alternating shifts.
Yang Kai's order was still deeply ingrained, and soon the other city heads also carried out his orders. Most of the soldiers were arranged to rest in the shade, leaving only a small number of soldiers on guard patrol.
Yang Kai continued standing on the city gate tower, maintaining his motionless posture, but he also changed places and stood in a shaded area.
The quality of this body is not bad, and the skill is not bad either, but it can't be compared with the physique of a scout in later generations. In the scorching sun of later generations, he could stand for a whole day without any problem, but now his body definitely can't handle it. If he stands under the scorching sun and gets heatstroke, that would be a tragedy, not only failing to set an example, but also being ridiculed by the soldiers, and even causing big trouble, the little prestige he just established would vanish into thin air. Of course, this is also because Yang Zheng and Yang Dong repeatedly asked him to agree!
Seeing Yang Hui listened to their advice and stood in the shade, Yang Zheng asked in a low voice: "Fourth Master, it seems that the rebel army really suspects us of setting up ambushes along the way and dares not to advance! Fourth Master, you are really amazing, with just a few hundred people's ambush, you have stopped the rebel army from advancing!"
"That's unlikely!" Yang Hui shook his head resolutely, without even turning around to respond to Yang Zheng's explanation. "The rebels will not stop advancing unless they suffer another, even greater blow and discover that our army has set up more ambushes."
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"Report to General Li, the rebels are continuing their advance, but at a slightly slower pace than before!"
At a new ambush point, after a while, Li Fude received intelligence from the scout.
Li Fude, still basking in the joy of his first victory, felt a sudden chill in his heart after listening to the scout's report.
He thought the victory of the first battle would make the rebels cautious, and they would send someone to investigate the situation before advancing again. This could at least delay the rebel army for more than half a day. However, it didn't occur to him that after just over an hour, the rebel army continued to march forward. It was beyond his expectation, which made him suffer a blow. The joy of winning the first battle had already disappeared by more than half.
He knew that the rebels might have already seen through Yang Hui's plan and it would be very difficult to launch a surprise attack on the rebels again.
He was also a little relieved, fortunately he had already ordered his deputy to make some other preparations, and this ambush site was absolutely unexpected by the rebels, and another blow might still be possible!
This is a relatively wide canyon, about fifty steps wide at its narrowest point. The mountains on both sides are not too steep, but there are many trees, suitable for an ambush of two or three thousand people and horses. He had previously selected more than 1,000 people from his troops and hidden them in this place after the merger with the follow-up support troops.
There is also a disadvantage here, which is that it is not very suitable for cavalry charges.
There are many trees, I want to ride a horse down from the mountain slope, but it's really too difficult.
However, the second ambush site ultimately chose to ignore the disadvantage of cavalry charges and instead relied on the impact of arrows and other forms of attack to make the rebels fearful and stop advancing.
Before the war began, Li Fude was also worried about his own future and fate, but after that battle, the passion and momentum in his heart were surging violently, and these worries seemed to have disappeared. At this time, he thought only of how to give the rebel army the greatest blow and gain a greater victory. He even thought that even if all the men and horses under his command were lost, it would be meaningless.
Even if his unit suffered heavy losses, as long as he inflicted very heavy casualties on the rebels and made it difficult for them to advance, he would not be punished but would instead be rewarded.
With such a mindset, Li Fude can now be said to have cast aside all his worries and is thinking of how to launch a surprise attack to gain more victories.
Most of the Tang army led by Li Fude was ambushed on the shaded side, with only a small number of cavalry hiding in the sun-exposed area, which could avoid being exposed to the sun and reduce the suffering of the soldiers, and also reduce the chance of being discovered by the rebel army.
Soon after Li Fude and others led the soldiers to set up an ambush point on one side of the valley, a scout came to report that the rebel vanguard had already marched into the mouth of this mountain valley and was about to enter our army's ambush circle. After hearing the scout's report, Li Fude calmly gave orders to let the rebel vanguard pass through the valley first, and then launch an attack after the main force entered the valley.
Li Fude's order was quietly passed on, and the soldiers who had just experienced the victory of the ambush were filled with a sense of joy, without anyone showing any signs of fear. But everyone has already held their bows, strung their arrows, and aimed at the rebel cavalry approaching in the valley, waiting for the command to shoot out the arrows in their hands.
The rebel scouts soon approached the ambush site, and then passed by right under their noses, but Li Fude did not give the order to attack. Some people were getting impatient, with anxious faces all over, and if it weren't for the dissuasion of their comrades beside them, the arrows in their hands would have been shot out.
The vanguard of the rebel army was advancing in a line of three, with over 300 horses, followed by a large group of five riders, about a few dozen steps away from the vanguard.
It's clear from this arrangement that the more than 300 cavalrymen in front were just used to lure the enemy and serve as cannon fodder. Some people are relieved that they didn't attack this vanguard, otherwise they would have been able to eliminate only the more than 300 cavalrymen at most, and might even have alerted the subsequent troops and possibly suffered a counterattack. Li Fude also secretly breathed a sigh of relief, not because he had seen through the rebels' arrangement, but just because his appetite had grown a bit bigger!
The rebel cavalry came pouring in, and after another four or five hundred riders had passed by, Li Fude could no longer hold back and gave a loud order to attack. As he issued the command to attack, arrows shot out like raindrops into the rebel army's formation.
As the sound of horses' neighing and countless wailing rose, many rebel soldiers fell off their horses, either dead or seriously injured. The horses were also frightened, and many wounded or unwounded horses broke free from their masters' control, running wildly in all directions. Some who had narrowly escaped being shot to death were unfortunately trampled by hooves and died!
Arrows continued to fall from the mountain, more and more rebel soldiers were shot off their horses!
After several rounds of arrow rain, the rebels were in a state of panic, but the subsequent rebels rushed over immediately. The rebels who had passed through the valley turned their horses around and prepared to counterattack under the command of their leaders. At this time, many bundles of dry grass rolled down from both sides of the mountain. The continuous rolling down of fifty or sixty bundles of dry grass quickly blocked the entire road, followed by dozens of fire arrows shot from the mountain, directly igniting the dry grass!
A raging fire suddenly broke out, and the wind in the canyon was still quite strong. The flames quickly blocked the entire road, and the rolling heat waves made the Tang army officers on the mountain feel like their whole body was burning!
The rebels scorched by the great fire transmitted even more tragic cries, many people got fire on their bodies and ran wildly without caring about anything.
The rebel soldiers who had turned back their heads after passing through the valley were in a state of confusion and did not know how to respond to the situation in front of them.
At this time, the direction of Tongguan in the distance also raised a rolling dust, countless horseshoes shook the earth, as if thousands of troops were rushing towards this side! Li Fude's troops hiding on the mountain also appeared, while continuing to shoot arrows, they also shouted loudly, preparing to charge!