Chapter 922
Something Strange in the Dense Forest
Chapter 922 Something Strange in the Dense Forest
Outside Tongzhou City,
The world was pitch black.
The night was like a heavy curtain, tightly covering the world. Outside the city to the southwest, the dense forest that usually looked gloomy now looked even more eerie under the influence of the night.
In the dark night, the shadows of the trees were faintly moving. A gust of wind blew past, and they looked even more fierce. Listening to the Marquis's words,
Ningbian and his men also listened attentively, and indeed there was no sound. If so, there must be something wrong in the dense forest, but they were all cavalry, so how could they enter the forest to investigate thoroughly?
"My Lord, if that is true, there is no sound of birds in the forest. There must be something wrong. However, we are all cavalrymen, and we don't know what kind of ambush is in the deep forest. How can we investigate?"
Although they sensed something was wrong, it was unlikely to find those people hiding in the woods at night.
"That's right. The enemy is in the dark, and we are in the light. There are so many traps in the dense forest. If the cavalry goes in, it will be like sending food. In this case, we should force them out."
A fierce look flashed across Zhang Jinyu's face. There was something fishy going on right under his nose. The other party had an expert to guide him. He would see how patient the other party was. He took out the Marquis' Mansion token, threw it to Ning Bian and instructed;
"Quickly go to Tongzhou City to mobilize 10,000 soldiers and bring more flammable sulfur. Let's burn the dense forest. Even if there is a ghost, we can force it out."
"Yes, Lord Marquis, General Mo will go right away,"
Ning Bian took the token, led his troops, raised the flag, and rushed to Tongzhou City.
On the western city,
The current garrison commander of Tongzhou is Eagle Strike Sima Lu Kang, who, under the secret order of Jiedushi Wang Ziteng, leads 20,000 elite troops to garrison here to protect the official warehouses in the city. Now that the army from the east is passing through and night is falling, how could there still be cavalry hiding in the darkness?
Zhu Wu, the commander of the Futu Army, stood on the top of the city wall, picked up a torch, and threw it out along the eastern wall. It drew an arc from the wall and landed steadily about ten feet outside the city. It could only illuminate a small area around it, while the darkness in the distance remained the same.
"That's not right. There must have been cavalry coming here just now. How come there was no sound after a while?"
Zhu Wu stared with his eyes wide open, but couldn't figure out what was going on. He muttered to himself,
"General, could it be that the cavalry on the official road are whizzing past outside? They didn't take the official road, but instead took the small road here."
One of his lieutenants stretched his head to look outside, but it was pitch black, so how could he see anything? He quickly pulled his head back.
"That's impossible. By the way, have you sent someone to inform Sima Lu?"
Zhu Wu didn't understand, so he stopped thinking about it and asked Sima to handle it.
"Your Excellency, when I heard the sound of horse hooves, I sent someone to notify them. Sima Lu and his men are patrolling the city and will be here in a moment."
Before he finished speaking, there was a commotion from below the city wall, accompanied by the sound of weapons colliding. Lu Kang, the Eagle Strike Sima, dressed in heavy armor, hurriedly led his personal soldiers to the top of the city wall and asked;
"Captain Zhu, what's going on under the city? Where are the cavalry coming from?"
Lu Kang thought that the imperial cavalry had arrived at the city. Then he looked at the surrounding defenders, who had already drawn their bows and arrows and were shooting outside. His heart tightened. Could it be that they were not the imperial cavalry?
"Sima, those cavalrymen did not come close at all and disappeared not far from the city. I thought they were hiding there, so I ordered the soldiers guarding the city to go up to the city wall to be prepared."
Zhu Wu shook his head. His feeling was probably correct. There was a faint murderous aura coming from that area.
Lu Kang's eyes moved and he disappeared not far away. No way, who is so brave? He walked to the battlement of the city wall and stretched his head to look. He saw a dark place in the distance and heard the sound of whistling wind. There was no cavalry. After thinking for a while, he said;
"Since there are more people, we can't let our guard down. If they are people from the imperial court, they will come here to look for us. If not, they must have bad intentions."
"Sima is right. Coming here in the middle of the night is like a ghost knocking on the door."
Zhu Wu nodded in agreement. Even if he was visiting, there was no reason to knock on the door in the middle of the night, unless it was an unwelcome visitor.
While the two were discussing,
Outside the East City Gate, there was a sound of horse hooves, which startled the two men. The officers and soldiers on the city wall instantly became nervous. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, a group of cavalry appeared at the torches ten feet away. It was Ning Bian's men who had arrived here.
Seeing that the defenders on the city were on full alert and did not lead the army to approach, he held the token and shouted;
"Ningbian, under the command of Marquis Luo Yun, please ask the commander of the tower to answer."
This shout came with the wind, and the people on the city wall heard it clearly. Zhu Wu had good eyesight and recognized the armor style of the officers and soldiers below the city at once. It was indeed the heavy armor from outside the city. They seemed to be the personal soldiers of the Marquis. Why were they here?
"Sima, the style of the armor is from outside the Great Wall, and General Ning seems to be the deputy general of Marquis Luo Yun. I don't know why he came to Tongzhou City so late at night?"
"Why else? Of course it's for food supplies. But we need to be careful. Call the people over and verify the tokens."
Lu Kang looked a little puzzled. Luo Yunhou's personal guards and deputy generals were at the foot of the city. Where was Luo Yunhou? Could he be nearby? He did not dare to neglect him. He pushed Zhu Wu with his hand and urged him.
"Ahem, you are General Ning, please put the token in the basket. I will check it for you."
After hearing this, Ningbian handed the token to his personal guard and asked him to pass it on. Someone on the attic above the city wall also lowered a basket with a rope tied to one end from the top of the city wall.
The guards of Ningbian put the token in. After a while, when the rope was pulled up, Zhu Wu took the token from the basket and checked it carefully under the light of the torch. The copper token was a bit heavy, and it was written with the words "Ningbian, Luo Yunhou Mansion", which was correct.
"Sir, the token is fine. The handwriting on it, the four characters Luo Yunhou Mansion, are different from the other characters, using another font. Also, this token is quite heavy, and it has a lot of weight. Only the tokens outside the pass are made of copper. Even if it is a replica, there is not that much copper inside the pass."
Zhu Wu muttered to himself, it's not that there is no copper, but the token in his hand can be used to make a few copper coins, which is too extravagant.
Lu Kang's mouth twitched a little, secretly shocked. They say that the outside of the Great Wall is cold and poor, but it seems that it is not true. The Marquis took out a token casually, which is a valuable thing. Aren't you afraid of being picked up by pickpockets?
"Well, put down your bows and crossbows, and invite General Ning in,"
"Yes, Sima."
Zhu Wu quickly waved his hand and asked the surrounding captains to pass on the order. He also shouted to the cavalry team under the city.
"General Ning, I am sorry for the inconvenience. I will go into the city to talk."
After that, he opened the gate at the foot of the city.
Ning Bian saw that the defenders on the city wall had put away their bows and crossbows, so he rode his horse and led his troops over. When they arrived at the city gate, they found it half open. Eagle Strike Sima Lu Kang and Fu Tu Captain Zhu Wu had been waiting at the city gate. When they saw people coming, they saluted.
"Meet General Ning!"
"You two are welcome. May I ask, Sima, has anyone been sent to patrol and monitor the dense forest in the south of the city?"
Ning Bian didn't care about the formalities and asked a question quickly, wanting to find out the situation of the dense forest.
The two looked at each other, thinking that General Ning had other instructions, but they didn't expect that he would ask these questions. Zhu Wu hesitated and replied;
"General Ning, no one has been sent to patrol the dense forest in the south of the city, and there are no secret sentries. The distance is not close, so even if there is a discovery, it is not enough for the guards at the south gate to find it."
It is true that the open space is flat and even if there are people hiding there, the distance of the sneak attack is enough for the defenders to see them.
Ning Bian nodded, thinking that it was true. There were no cavalry in the city, so it would be difficult to conduct reconnaissance.
"The Marquis has ordered the Tongzhou City garrison to prepare 10,000 infantrymen to conduct reconnaissance in the dense forests to the south."
"Well, the Marquis actually came in person, but he used 10,000 infantrymen in the city. This..."
Not to mention that Zhu Wu had an awkward look on his face, even Eagle Strike Sima Lu Kang felt that something was wrong. It was against the rules to mobilize troops in the middle of the night, especially in Tongzhou City.
So I took the call,
"General Ning, have you discovered any enemy forces in the dense forests to the south? Can you allow me to go down and see the Marquis? The matter of mobilizing troops is serious. After all, there are only 30,000 garrisons in Tongzhou, and there are so many important places for food and fodder that we cannot neglect it."
After thinking it over, he replied reluctantly.
"Okay, prepare the troops first. Come, get Sima Lu a horse and take him back to see the Marquis."
As he spoke, a personal soldier let out a warhorse and helped Sima Lu to ride on it. After Lu Kang sat firmly, he nodded to Zhu Wu.
"Captain Zhu, gather 10,000 soldiers and prepare them. I will be right back."
"Yes, Sima."
With the sound of whips being swung, the men rode away quickly.
The distance is very close, and soon,
Ning Bian led his men to where the cavalry was. Zhang Jinyu had been impatient for a long time, but when he thought that Tongzhou City was an important place, the garrison commander also needed to be cautious, he was patient. When the people arrived, before they could see clearly, Zhang Jinyu asked coldly,
"Who is the guard?"
Sima Lu Kang of Eagle Strike heard the voice and looked in the direction. He saw a majestic voice in front. He looked carefully and found that it was indeed Marquis Luo Yun himself. When he was transporting grain to the Anhu camp before, he had seen Marquis Luo Yun in the parade ground. He was wearing bright armor and followed by cavalry guards. He looked murderous and his unique heavy armor from outside the Great Wall was extremely conspicuous. How could he not remember him? In addition, everyone knew that if Shuai Wang Jie was defeated, it was only a matter of time before Marquis Luo Yun was appointed.
Just that one time,
The Marquis's appearance was so well-known in his mind that he could not fail to recognize him. He jumped off his horse out of fear, knelt on one knee, and bowed.
"I am the commander of Tongzhou City, and I am the Eagle Strike Commander Lu Kang. I am here to greet you, Lord Marquis."
"Oh, it's you, get up and answer."
Zhang Jinyu then remembered that there were two special titles on the roster, one was Eagle Strike Sima Lu Kang, and the other was Wing Guard Sima Yang Mao. Both of them were from humble backgrounds and quite talented. Zhang Jinyu's attitude towards these talents immediately changed a lot.
"Thank you, Lord."
After Lu Kang stood up, he stood still, not daring to make any unnecessary movements. He looked very capable and a talented person.
"Sir Lu, I feel uneasy tonight. I came here to inspect. But there is something strange about the dense forest in the south. It is so quiet in the early summer night. It seems strange. Since you are a local, what do you think?"
Without further ado, since we have discovered something strange, let's investigate carefully to see if it is really as we thought. Tongzhou City must not be lost.
Lu Kang was not an ordinary person. Since the Marquis said so, there must be something fishy. Looking back, it was still pitch black. He could only close his eyes and listen attentively.
really,
The birds and cicadas were chirping, almost in unison. There must be someone among them. He became alert and then broke out in a cold sweat. If the marquis hadn't reminded him, if there really were enemy troops ambushing inside, then, you know, people are the most exhausted at dawn.
"My Lord, there are 30,000 defenders in the city, 20,000 of which are the elite troops of the Anhu Camp, and the other 10,000 are the treasury troops in the city. I have already asked the Fu Tu Lieutenant Zhu Wu to gather 10,000 troops and wait for orders!"
"Good, you are a capable person. If I am not mistaken, there must be people in that dense forest. We don't know how many people there are and who ambushed them. If the soldiers go in, the enemy will be in the dark and we will be in the light. It will be very difficult. So we need to send elite soldiers and small groups of troops to fight. We can be sure of that."
Zhang Jinyu pointed to the south. The forest ran along the end of the Anyang Mountains and out to the plains. It had rained a few days ago, and now it was growing more lush.
Lu Kang's forehead was covered with sweat. Who could accurately estimate what would happen at night? Even if he planned carefully, it would be difficult to fight if there was an ambush.
"My Lord, since the enemy is in the dark and we are in the light, and we don't know how many bandits are here, why can't we wait until tomorrow to take action? If we act at night, I really have no confidence, as the enemy may have more people."
She wanted to explain further, but was interrupted by Zhang Jinyu.
"If there were more people, they wouldn't be able to sneak in so far. Go back and mobilize 5,000 crossbowmen to shoot three rounds at the dense forest. Then, have people put sulphur kerosene and other flammable materials on the edge of the dense forest. After lighting them, wait until the fire is extinguished. Then, 10,000 troops will surround them from three sides. If someone from the opposite side really breaks out, the cavalry under my command can deal with it. If they don't come out and escape into the depths of the mountains, then don't worry about them."
It's not like they're forcing their way in. Fire and water are merciless. They can directly ignite the forest. If there really is someone there, there must be some movement. After hearing the marquis's brilliant plan, Lu Kang finally understood the marquis's plan. He was extremely horrified. He was indeed cruel and ruthless. Now the southeast wind is blowing, just in the upwind direction.
"Yes, Lord, I will arrange it right away."
"Well, to startle the snake is to scare it out."
Zhang Jinyu sat on the horse, his body slightly moving. Whether there were thieves there or not, it all depended on Lu Sima's methods.
Lu Kang did not dare to delay, so he mounted his horse and rode away. When he returned to the East Gate, he saw the troops and horses gathered at the gate, including Zhu Wu, and immediately gave orders.
"Zhu Wu, bring another 5,000 archers to follow, and have the laborers carry the sulfur kerosene down to the edge of the dense forest, quickly."
"Yes, Sima."
Zhu Wu had some doubts in his eyes, but he did not dare to hesitate. He responded and turned back to the barracks. At this moment, the city was mobilizing troops very quickly. After a while, 15,000 soldiers were lined up at the south end of the city and slowly advanced forward. Only at the front, 300 meters ahead, there was a man holding a torch and approached first, while the horse-drawn carriages and civilians carrying ignition materials were hiding behind the team.
The cavalry led by Zhang Jinyu saw this action clearly. Taking advantage of the noise made by the infantry in Tongzhou City, he led 5,000 cavalrymen and slowly followed on the east side to cover up the sound of horse hooves.
The movement of more than 10,000 soldiers was no small matter. The White Lotus scouts hiding in the dense forest saw it clearly and did not dare to neglect it. They immediately went back to report.
"Report, Hall Master, soldiers are gathering in Tongzhou City and are slowly marching towards the dense forest. They are almost at the edge of the dense forest."
"What,"
Zhou Xiu couldn't believe it and cried out. He immediately thought that he might have been discovered by the soldiers on the other side. But thinking back carefully, if they had been discovered, they should have taken action yesterday instead of preparing tonight.
"What are they doing?"
"Master, there is nothing unusual. The whole team has no torches. Only the pioneers are leading the way with torches. I don't know what they are doing."
The scouts were also puzzled. Marching at night was extremely exhausting. Could it be that they wanted to march at night?
Zhou Xiu frowned, and seemed to have not guessed the intention of the officers and soldiers' actions. However, he had a bad premonition in his heart, and felt vaguely uneasy.
"Go up the tree and look."
After hearing the order, Zhou Xiu pushed himself up with his hands, stood up with a somersault, and then climbed up the tree next to him with his hands on the tree trunk.
Looking northward through the gaps in the leaves, he saw a dozen torches scattered about, slowly approaching, and behind them, dense black shadows followed, at least ten thousand in number. Although he was puzzled, he knew that he might have been exposed, or that the government troops had become suspicious.
In this way, the plan to raid Tongzhou City might not be completed. Looking at the densely packed government troops approaching, he sighed and decided to get through this first, so he jumped down from the tree.
The incense masters around gathered around and asked nervously;
"Master, have the soldiers discovered us?"
"Master, why don't we fight them out?"
Everyone was talking at once, and although they kept their voices down, the volume of people made the voices much louder. Zhou Xiu's face darkened and he cursed;
"Damn it, why are you panicking? The enemy hasn't found us yet. They are probably here to test us. No matter what, we have no chance to raid Tongzhou. Don't move now. Let's see if the soldiers dare to come in. If they do, we will kill them!"
"it is good,"
"The enemy is in the open and we are in the dark, so we can kill the imperial court's minions."
The people around them all had happy expressions on their faces. They had been in the dense forest for a day and had set traps in many places. If they really came in, they would teach them a lesson.
In just a short while, the imperial army had reached the edge of the dense forest. Lu Kang waved his hand behind the team, and someone immediately led the civilians to drive the carts to the edge of the dense forest and began to scatter flammable materials everywhere. Just as the White Lotus scouts were preparing to investigate, Zhu Wu shouted from his position as a crossbowman;
"Bowmen, get ready. There's a dense forest ahead. Fire three rounds. Ready, fire."
"Swish, swish, swish!" The sound of arrows shot out from behind the army formation. The trajectory of the arrows could not be seen in the dark night, only the sound of breaking through the air could be heard. The arrows rained down densely, and many arrow feathers fell in the gaps in the dense forest. Many members of the White Lotus Sect were shot and fell to the ground. Some of the survivors were still screaming. Zhou Xiu was so frightened that his expression changed drastically. He quickly asked the people around him to go and solve the problem. Many soldiers in ambush were also afraid of being exposed, so they waved their weapons and the screams were instantly extinguished.
Although the action was fast, some people still noticed something unusual.
"Report, Sima, there are some strange noises in the dense forest,"
The scout's report also frightened Sima Lu. He looked at the civilians who were still writing and scolded them;
"Hurry up, anyone who is slow will be whipped."
The voice was filled with anger. The laborers who were still carrying things in front moved much faster. They rolled the sulfur, wood and straw on the ground next to the trees and began to pour kerosene on them. After they finished, they hurried back, and then a cold order was heard.
"ignition!"
(End of this chapter)