Chapter 266: The whole army was annihilated
Li Mo led 20,000 elite soldiers and walked arduously on the rugged mountain road under the guidance of the guide. The soldiers were so tired that their helmets and armors were crooked and they complained bitterly. This was the first time they encountered such a difficult mountain road.
The two guides in their forties stopped and pointed to the dense forest in front and said, "General, if we go further, we will enter the primeval forest."
"General, this primeval forest is seven or eight hundred miles in radius, and there are wild beasts and many natural traps. The army should rest here for a day before going in!"
Li Mo was impatient and couldn't wait. Seeing that it was just past noon, the rest would take half a day and a night. The key to a sneak attack is speed, and time cannot be wasted.
"Even if there are wild beasts, it doesn't matter. It's just a good opportunity for our army to have a good meal. Don't waste time and enter this primeval forest immediately."
After entering this primeval forest that covers the sky and the ground, even though it is early spring when the leaves have just sprouted, the branches are densely intertwined and the sun above cannot be seen. The boots stepped on the thick rotten leaves and shuttled forward through a hidden forest path.
The march for half a day was very smooth. Except for a few people bitten by poisonous insects and a few people killed by traps, the army did not encounter any danger and instead killed a lot of prey.
As night fell, it was pitch black all around, with only the cries of owls and the howls of wolves. In a relatively spacious place, the army camped and rested.
The bonfire was lit, and the iron pots on the march were filled with the aroma of meat. The exhausted soldiers sat around the bonfire, chatting and laughing, waiting for a feast.
Suddenly, a burst of arrows broke through the air, "Ah!..." "Ah..." "Ah!..." The soldiers who were chatting and laughing with their companions were shot in the back by the sudden arrows, and they fell to the ground screaming.
"Enemy attack!... Be alert!" The soldier on guard on the tree shouted a warning.
Hearing the sound, Li Mo rushed out of a small tent, shouting and commanding the soldiers who were in chaos.
"Stay alert! Don't move, chase the enemy in teams of three!"
Fortunately, there were not many enemies who attacked by archery, and the army, which suffered three or four hundred casualties, soon stabilized.
The two thousand-man teams that chased the enemy quickly returned to the original route. A captain came forward to report: "Report to the general, the enemy is only more than a hundred people, and they seem to be local hunters. There is no road in the deep forest, but they move quickly. Our army can't catch up with the enemy, so we retreated."
Li Mo's heavy mood eased a little, but the attacks organized by the local hunters were not scary. He was afraid that the rebels would get the news and send troops to ambush and kill.
"Retreat! Be alert!" After Li Mo gave the order, he returned to the tent and continued to eat the pot of delicious wild goat meat.
In the middle of the night, the enemy launched another crossbow attack. Li Mo was so angry that he issued a death order, asking two thousand-man teams to pursue and kill the enemy. They were not allowed to withdraw until these hateful hunters were completely wiped out.
There was no news for several hours. After the army had breakfast, they saw several hundred soldiers who were exhausted, with broken armor and scratches on their faces and hands, returning to the army camp.
It was still the captain who came in front of Li Mo, his scarred face was covered with bloody scratches from thorns. He fell to his knees with a thud and reported crying, "General, we chased the enemy for half the night and didn't hurt a single hair of the enemy. There were traps everywhere and ambushes shot arrows all the time. We lost more than half of our troops. We didn't disobey military orders intentionally. We had no choice but to withdraw. Please forgive us and spare our lives!"
"Please forgive us and spare our lives, General!" Six or seven hundred soldiers who had escaped death, with fear and grief on their faces, knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.
Looking at these ferocious soldiers, Li Mo had no way to vent his anger and frustration on them.
"Get up! Return to the team and keep on going!"
Li Mo was already a little panicked. He lost more than 1,600 elite soldiers on the first day. He didn't know how many ambushes and traps were waiting for this army? But he was unwilling to retreat. He, the Golden Eagle Archer Li Mo, couldn't afford to lose this man!
It was very quiet during the day. Those elusive enemies didn't show up to harass. I don't know if they were tired after a night and needed to rest, or if they retreated when they saw the army was more powerful, or if they let the army go deep into this primeval forest and waited for an opportunity to sneak attack and kill?
Li Mo was thinking about something in his mind. It was so dark that he couldn't see clearly how far he was around. There was no spacious place to camp, so he ordered everyone to rest on the spot and cook.
At night, a team of 1,000 people was sent out to guard the area, and the sentries were set two or three hundred steps away. In the middle of the night, the sneak attacking enemy still managed to get rid of the sentries, shot and wounded more than 300 Song soldiers with bows and arrows, and then fled in the dark.
Li Mo was furious, but he didn't dare to send another team of 1,000 people to chase and kill those archers. After dawn, when the army was having breakfast, the sentries on the left side shouted and warned repeatedly.
Li Mo was furious!
"You dare to attack my army in broad daylight, you are really going too far!
Li Xiao, gather 3,000 men and wipe out this group of enemies!"
Li Mo's nephew Li Xiao took the order and led 3,000 soldiers to chase the bandits.
Leaving this only winding path, there was no way to go in the direction of the enemy's retreat. It was impossible to chase them on horseback. These 3,000 warriors could only chase the enemy with all their might.
Li Xiao, who was running in front, had already seen the shadows of the enemy and was excited. As long as he caught up with them, he would kill all of you.
But those people were as agile as monkeys, and they could walk freely among the branches and thorns in the forest and on the cliffs on the hillsides. You could see their shadows, but you couldn't catch up.
But they were too few in number and did not dare to turn back to fight, so they just ran away.
After chasing for most of the day, the Song army, tired and hungry, was in a mess, when a light appeared in front of them!
In this primeval forest full of dense trees and thorny vines, a river as wide as four or five feet appeared, and the enemies disappeared. The
tired, hungry and thirsty Song army cheered and ran to the river, took off their helmets, scooped up the clear and sweet river water, and drank and washed their faces happily.
"Be alert!" Young General Li Xiao felt that something was wrong, and hurriedly ordered those soldiers who were only concerned with drinking water.
Suddenly, a horn sounded, and a rain of arrows as dense as locusts flew out from the dense forest on the opposite bank. The Song soldiers who were squatting or lying together drinking water by the river screamed and fell to the ground or fell into the river. In a moment, the clear and bright river water was dyed red. There were countless bodies of Song soldiers on the river bank, and those who fell into the river floated downstream with the river.
Li Xiao shouted desperately and ordered his men to turn around and retreat back to the dense forest. The soldiers who ran slowly and didn't have time to rush to the river turned around and ran back. Hiding in the dense forest, the arrows on the opposite bank could not hit them.
Li Xiao had just retreated to the edge of the dense forest under the protection of his personal soldiers when he heard shouts of killing from the front. Those were the kind of shouts that could only be made by two or three thousand people. How could those more than a hundred archers dressed as hunters make such shouts?
Li Xiao, who followed his second uncle to the battlefield for the first time and wanted to make some achievements to bring honor to his family, was terrified!
A captain, who had been on the battlefield for a long time and had rich experience, reminded Li Xiao with a serious face, "Captain Li, we have been ambushed by a large enemy force. Rush out quickly. Escape is urgent!"
"Okay! Which direction...run?" Li Xiao's face was pale, his voice was trembling, his legs were trembling and he couldn't move, and his mind was confused.
The captain looked at Li Xiao with disdain and shouted in a cold voice: "Brothers, follow me and charge to the left front!"
With the leader's command, the chaotic soldiers felt a backbone. They responded one after another and followed the captain, trying to fight their way out of the encirclement and escape.
More than 30 of Li Xiao's personal soldiers also dragged him and followed.
Several screams rang in Li Xiao's ears, and several personal soldiers who were guarding him were shot and fell to the ground. Those damned orc archers actually rushed out of the dense forest on the opposite side, swam across the river and chased after the fleeing Song army.
Li Xiao was so scared that his soul flew out of his body. He stumbled and crawled forward a few steps, and his neck felt cold! It seemed as if I heard a surprised shout: "I killed an official!"
In this primeval forest full of dangers, in this carefully planned ambush to lure the enemy deep into the ambush, the calm and brave captain did not rush out, and the three thousand Song soldiers were wiped out.