Chapter 278 Earth Ridge
Before dawn, Zhang Xian's troops, the vanguard of Yue Fei's imperial camp, entered Yijin Township in the north of Xingguo County, Qianzhou. Then the entire army dismounted and took advantage of the night to seize an unnamed red soil ridge between Yijin Township and Xingguo County, adjacent to Pingjiang, and deployed defenses on the spot.
It is said that Yue Fei's troops crossed the Fushe Mountain from Jizhou (later Ji'an) in the northwest, and then went south along the Pingjiang River.
Considering the incident a few months ago when Yue Fei set up his base in Jizhou and asked for grain from Fuzhou, some people might think that Yue Fei had been keeping his troops in Jizhou for the past two or three months.
But in fact, during the past two months, the vanguard of Yue Fei's imperial camp successively left Qianzhou, crossed the Five Ridges, entered Guangnan East Road, then turned into Guangnan West Road, entered Guizhou, and joined forces with Wu Min to cross the Five Ridges from south to north, and then arrived at Yongzhou on Jinghu South Road, and then left Guiyang Prison from Yongzhou and returned to Jizhou.
In other words, Yue Fei did not wait in Jizhou for more than two months without doing anything. Instead, he made a big circle around the entire Wuling area, broke through the Nanling Mountains twice, and fought in more than a dozen prefectures and military stations in Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, and Guangxi. He just "happened" to return to Jizhou in the end.
And this certainly works.
It must be understood that those bandits who occupied various places in the Five Ridges mostly relied on geographical advantages and the so-called miasma of the Nanling Mountains. However, these things seemed so vulnerable under the strict discipline, grand and rigorous tactical arrangements, and calm and proper logistical control of Yue Fei's troops.
As a result, after this round, not only the well-known Qian thief, but also the rest of the Miao villages and bandits were driven out of the Nanling Mountains by Yue Fei like ducks... At this moment, more than 400 bandits, rebel villages, and military thieves who had lost their bases, under the call of some big leaders, gathered in Xingguo, with a total of more than 100,000 troops, and were forced to fight a decisive battle with the front army of the imperial camp.
However, more than 400 heroes, hundreds of thousands of people, finally gathered together. They were beheading each other and becoming sworn brothers, forming gangs and choosing leaders, fighting for control of villages and water sources, and fighting for loose property. They had no idea that Yue Fei had already led the main force back and passed Fusi Mountain.
At daybreak, the more than 400 heroes were even more shocked to find that the high ground on the north side of the plain had been occupied by the government troops. The flags of the Song Dynasty government troops, including the large flag with the word Zhang that they had been familiar with for the past two months, had already been flying on the red soil ridge.
Faced with the sudden military pressure, panic began to spread. Some people tried to escape, but with more than 400 rebels gathered, how could they find a proper retreat route? Some people tried to launch a surprise attack, but again, with more than 400 rebels gathered, how could they mobilize troops?
You must know that among these more than 400 rebel armies, there are some prestigious leaders, such as Li Dunren from Qianzhou, Li Dongtian who was chased from Jizhou by Yue Fei, and Peng Tieda who was originally the king of Jinghu South Road and was chased all the way from Hunan by Yue Fei... These groups have more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, and the following people such as Chen Yong, Zhong Chao, Lu Tian, Zhu Daya, Liu Badawu, Xie Bao, Xie Da and so on are also well-known bandits in the Wuling area, each with more than a thousand soldiers and horses.
But no matter how famous or powerful they are, what can they do in this situation? You know, they have been making trouble for many days, but they haven't even found a leader.
In the chaos, Li Dongtian and Peng Tieda, two big leaders in the north of the city, were forcibly carried by the heroes to the foot of the mountain, where they raised flags, built a straw hut, set up several tables, killed a cat, stewed a snake, and served wine. During this time, tens of thousands of troops gathered under the leadership of the heroes, but they were still unable to move forward... They wanted to dispatch their own troops, but they didn't know where to mobilize them from. They wanted to send the rest of the heroes stationed in the north of the city to go up together, but they only heard countless complaints. Everyone said that Zhang Xian was powerful and occupied the mountain. They were from small mountain villages and had no complete weapons and armor. Going up would only lead to their deaths, which would destroy their morale.
In the end, the two kings Li and Peng were so angry that they stamped their feet repeatedly, holding realgar wine and shouting that there was no real hero at the moment.
But, you know what, among the more than 400 heroes, there are all kinds of people, and there must be some who are not afraid of death. Since Li and Peng cursed like this, there must be someone who can't stand the provocation. In the morning, a group of heroes from the Yongzhou mountain area of Jinghu South Road, only 300 to 400 people, actually took the initiative to launch a surprise attack on Wuming Hongtuling without any support, led by their own leader.
There were three or four hundred people, half of them were Miao and half were Han. The Miao people could still speak Chinese and the Han people were still rough in temperament, so it was impossible to tell who was Han and who was Miao.
It was the height of summer, and the strong ones were mostly wearing leather armor, holding knives and forks in front, while the unarmored ones in the back were mostly shirtless, holding bows in the back. There were even Miao girls wearing silver headdresses and holding scimitars, shouting and giving orders at the back, while dancing and praying... This was a typical Nanling mountain village model, and not surprising at all.
The only difference was that the leader was more than eight feet tall. He was wearing a loose iron armor that didn't fit him well, an iron helmet that he had found from somewhere, and holding a large iron spear. He was leaning forward in front of everyone, which was really amazing.
As this man started to climb up, King Li Dongtian patted his knees with a glass of wine in his hand and said to the leaders around him that this man had the bravery of Zhao Zilong and would definitely succeed... This led to the other heroes flattering him while imitating King Peng and pouting.
As for Zhang Xian's unit which was attacked head-on by this small armed force, they were in a high position and had seen this group of "heroes" early on, but they did not care. Instead, they watched and laughed on the mountain... This cannot be said that they underestimated the enemy. After fighting with these Nanling "heroes" many times, they already knew the characteristics of these people. They were not afraid of death and were brave, but they were poorly equipped and had no organization or discipline.
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