Chapter 268 Fake Road Sign Reference Objects
After daybreak, Liu Chao did not let his brothers follow him. He took a bow and quietly went to the front, close to the Song army's vanguard.
Liu Chao wisely did not choose to shoot the Golden Eagle Archer Li Mo. Thinking that the Song army did not take the wrong road in this primeval forest, he knew that the Song army must have found a local guide who was familiar with the terrain of this primeval forest.
Therefore, his goal today was to shoot the Shu traitor who betrayed his compatriots.
As expected, the two figures walking in front were very familiar. The two guides who were talking and laughing with the Song army and leading the way were people from Liu Chao's village. One was called Liu Ertie and the other was called Chen Zhong. In the past, they were also two hunters who relied on this primeval forest for their livelihood.
One of the brothers who died last night was Chen Zhong's nephew. Liu Chao's eyes were filled with anger, but when he pulled out the arrow and put it on the bowstring, his emotions calmed down and his hand pulled the bowstring steadily.
"Swoosh!...Swoosh!" Two black arrows flew towards Liu Ertie and Chen Zhong one after another with sharp airflow and murderous aura.
"Puff!...Puff!" After the sound of two arrows entering the flesh, Liu Ertie fell backwards without screaming.
Chen Zhong, who reacted quickly, screamed "Ah!", but he had no time to dodge. He grabbed the tail of the arrow that shot into his throat with his hand, and fell straight down with fear in his eyes.
"The guide is dead, report to the general!..." More than a hundred soldiers who accompanied and guarded the guide finally reacted, screaming and becoming a mess, but no one dared to chase the sneak attacking enemy in the deep forest on the left front.
After receiving the report, Li Mo was furious and whipped the scout captain in the face with a horse whip!
: "One hundred and twenty people can't protect two guides, I'll beat you to death!" Another horse whip hit the scout captain's face hard, and two cross-shaped blood marks were like the cross on the groom's chest, but without the festive feeling.
The scout captain endured the severe pain and dared not dodge, and was whipped twice by General Li in anger.
: "I admit my crime, please continue to whip and punish me." As long as he gets a few more whips, he can save his head.
Li Mo was secretly regretting again. He had spent so much effort to hire two guides at a high price. Why didn't he let one lead the way in front and the other stay in the middle to protect the troops? He
was so careless!
But it was too late to regret. Fortunately, there were still two days left. The guide had described the general direction and the conspicuous target references at each intersection in detail. It should be a good way to go.
"Go! Follow the direction and references given by the guide and open the way ahead!"
The scout leader was as if he had been pardoned. He quickly got up, took the order and turned around to lead the way.
After turning into a reference point with two trees embracing each other on the side of the road, they walked for another hour and a stream appeared in sight. Li Mo felt more at ease. The road the scouts led was correct, and it was the same as the reference points described by the guide.
The army marched smoothly for a day. At night, the enemy archers who were about to attack did not come. They were probably scared by the general's arrows. The army
continued to march on the second day. They saw a tiger head carved on a giant stone about ten feet high. The arrow passing through the tiger head pointed to the intersection on the right. Li Mo nodded again. The road was not wrong. The reference object was right.
Two hours later, a small river that should have appeared in front of them turned into a stone wall in front of them. The scouts were pointing and scratching their heads under the thirty-foot-high stone wall. They didn't know whether to turn left or go back the same way? The large
army, which was only a thousand steps away from the scouts, rushed up. More and more soldiers dismounted and gathered under the stone wall.
Figures stood up from the stone wall, and dense bows and arrows were aimed at the crowded Song army below.
"We're ambushed! Run!..." The sharp-eyed Song soldiers shouted in fear and turned around to run back, but behind them were dense layers of companions and Song soldiers pouring out from the narrow road.
Arrows rained down like flying, and the Song soldiers squeezed under the stone wall were like a dense living target. Even a blind man standing on the stone wall could hit the target every time.
Above the stone wall, three rows of archers took turns shooting the feather arrows in their hands, and below the stone wall were screams and angry curses like ghosts and wolves howling. The Song army, scrambling to escape, pushed and swore at each other, trampled and rushed back. After leaving the range of the enemy's arrows on the stone wall, corpses fell one on top of another on the dry grass below the stone wall.
Li Mo kept yelling and cursing, and was dragged out of the field by the soldiers who turned back and ran. After chopping off more than a dozen heads, he finally stabilized the army's position. He
took the wrong road and was ambushed by the enemy. Li Mo knew he was fooled. He had to order the rear troops of the army to change to the front troops and retreat back to the iconic reference point.
When he arrived at the huge stone mountain that was ten feet high, Li Mo's men took a closer look and found that the tiger head and arrows were newly carved marks. He almost spurted out a mouthful of blood!
"I am so angry! These cunning and sinister rebels actually made a fake road sign reference!"
In this ambush, the Song army lost more than 2,000 people, and their morale was extremely low. If they had not been in this uninhabited primeval forest full of dangers, I am afraid that many soldiers would have fled. After
finally finding the real road sign reference, after confirming it again and again, the remaining 13,000 Song army soldiers set off on an uncertain journey with their heads down.
However, Liu Chao would never let them get out of this primeval forest so easily. He brought 3,000 soldiers with him to destroy and modify the road sign reference, and played Li Mo around.
After being led around by the cunning enemy for two days and being ambushed and losing more than 3,000 people, they finally walked out of this primeval forest.
Li Mo counted the horses and found that there were more than 15,000 horses left, but only more than 9,000 soldiers on horseback.
A heavy feeling of sadness surged in his heart. Could he regret retreating? The enemy troops deep in the dense forest were still waiting on the way back. If he walked back again, these more than 9,000 people would be eaten by them.
Li Moshin gritted his teeth and shouted to these soldiers with crooked helmets and armor and low spirits: "Soldiers! We have no way to retreat, and we can only move forward desperately. The terrain ahead is flat, and as long as we take Jiangyou Pass in front, we can go straight to Chengdu.
The rebels have few soldiers and their combat effectiveness is not strong. They will certainly be vulnerable to the iron hooves and steel swords of our 10,000 elite light-armored cavalry.
Soldiers, please cheer up, work together, and follow me to seize Jiangyou Pass and go straight to Chengdu!"
"Seize Jiangyou Pass!..."
"Go straight to Chengdu!..."
The sparse shouts of raising arms and shouting came one after another, but it didn't sound like the majestic momentum of an army swearing an oath.
Li Mo sighed in his heart. Twenty thousand elite troops were ambushed and killed before they even had a chance to fight the enemy. How could the remaining soldiers have high morale?
It was impossible to retreat. They could only risk their lives and move forward bravely!
Along the way, they saw several villages that had not been harmed by the chaos of war. Farmers and women were working in the fields and busy with spring plowing. In a small market they passed by, the roadside was full of mountain products, grains and other trading items. The people who were bargaining for deals were frightened by this wolf-like army and screamed and scattered.
Li Mo looked at the goods on the roadside stalls being trampled by the iron hooves of the army, and couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart.
This Sichuan-Shu area is known as the land of abundance, with fertile land and abundant products. No wonder the people who have lived here for generations have no good feelings towards the court officials and the army, because the court officials and the army entered Sichuan to either collect grain and taxes or suppress bandits and rebellions. Unless they were squeezed to death by the overly greedy rulers of Sichuan, they would not welcome foreign officers and soldiers.
The army finally arrived at Jiangyou Pass without any hindrance. Li Mo looked up at the Jiangyou Pass city wall, which was not very steep and solid, and the not many guards on the city wall, and hope and pride rose in his heart again!
"Take down Jiangyou Pass and go straight to Chengdu Prefecture! I, Li Mo, can also be as famous as Deng Ai." Li Mo said silently in his heart with a burning look in his eyes.