The once mighty 800,000 allied troops marching south were now defeated and fled in just three months.
As King An had admitted before, in terms of military affairs, he was far inferior to Wei Jing. But no one expected that this defeat would come so quickly and suddenly.
Wang Ji was killed in the battle, and most of the princes of Bingzhou were killed or fled, leaving only a few people. A rough count showed that there were only 260,000 to 270,000 allied troops left.
The soldiers who had fled in panic were still in shock, leaning or leaning, breathing heavily. The moans of the wounded could be heard faintly, and the smell of blood mixed with the smell of gunpowder enveloped the top of the mountain like dusk, making it hard to breathe.
Zhou Hong stood up with a "whoosh": "What should I do? What should I do?!"
The mountain is neither steep nor high, but looking down from this position, you can still see the dotted campfires below and the endless camps of the Qi army.
It was not surprising that the King of Qi set up camp in front of the main entrance to Gangling. Moreover, without waiting for the sentinels to return, one could guess that the King of Qi must have divided his troops to block the two entrances to the west.
They were surrounded by enemies, like a trapped beast, with a shortage of food and fodder, and it was difficult to support themselves.
A feeling of despair welled up in Zhou Hong's heart. Perhaps he should not have come in the first place. Jizhou has the Yellow River as a natural barrier and various passes. If he recruited soldiers and trained them with all his strength, might he not be able to stay in a corner?
No matter what, no matter what, it will never be like it is now, with defeat and death imminent!
"Brother Zhou, what you said is wrong!"
Prince An's eyes were slightly red, the dust and blood could not hide the sinister look in his eyes. Under the flickering light of the fire, his left cheek twitched slightly twice, and his expression was ferocious as if he wanted to bite people.
"We don't have to be defeated and killed."
"We still have a chance."
Prince An uttered these two sentences slowly. Wei Xu looked up, and so did Chen Ang, Guo Huai, and the others. Zhou Hong's eyes widened: "Could it be possible that we can still get away?"
It's not that he is trying to boost others' morale and destroy his own prestige, the King of Qi is really too powerful. In the past, he admitted that the King of Qi was good at fighting, but he still did not comment on the title of the God of War. But today, he felt a strong sense of invincibility.
Can he still escape back to Jizhou?
Zhou Hong looked around and couldn't help but feel hopeful. Since Wang Ji was used to cover their retreat, the casualties of his and Prince An's troops were not actually that serious. Most of the 270,000 to 280,000 soldiers belonged to the two of them.
Once we successfully escape back to Jizhou, there is still hope with the natural barrier of the Yellow River.
"Not only can we escape successfully, but what's more, we may be able to defeat the King of Qi!"
Prince An shouted fiercely, and Zhou Hong was shocked: "Defeat Prince Qi?!"
“That’s right!”
Prince An stood up suddenly and looked around: "Everyone, follow me."
He walked quickly.
The crowd, filled with doubt and with their hearts pounding, looked at each other and followed closely. Wei Xu raised his eyebrows slightly, stood up and followed.
The allied forces were killed and their weapons and armor were abandoned. All their baggage had been thrown away and they were unable to set up camp. The only remaining military supplies and food were piled in the north.
Passing through the few remaining food supplies, behind them was a large group of strong cattle, some standing and some lying. It was a huge group, at least two or three thousand.
"This cow? You..."
Zhou Hong knew that this cow was originally obtained by Prince An as part of the ambush at Dongyukou, but unfortunately the plan failed. However, during the final escape, these oxen were used to tow military supplies, which greatly reduced the burden and prevented them from being immediately stretched to the limit.
"Are you planning to use the cattle to clear the way?"
It's a good idea. It would work well if the enemy army was reduced by half. With the cattle herd clearing the way and the main army following suit, they would be able to escape successfully.
Unfortunately, there is no if.
The Qi army had a total of 600,000 troops, more than twice as many as ours. No matter how good this herd of cattle is at clearing the way, it is still just a group of ordinary cattle. It is entirely possible to create a momentary chaos in the inner area, but it is far from being able to spread to the outer area.
There was no chaos outside. Once the cattle were stopped in the inner circle, they were quickly surrounded and also surrounded like dumplings.
As for the two roads to the west, let’s not even mention them. The road is narrow and there aren't many soldiers guarding it, so they can move quickly. They can just clear the road, let the cattle out and then surround them. Easier and more convenient.
Zhou Hong came here with full of hope, but he didn't expect that what King An asked him to see was actually this group of cattle. He immediately looked painful and was greatly disappointed.
But King An turned around and said word by word: "Ordinary cattle are certainly not enough to defeat the enemy, but what about the fire cattle?"
"Fire bull?"
Everyone looked at each other, confused. Wei Xu seemed to be thinking about something. After a moment, he raised his eyes and caught a glimpse of a thin boy shrinking at the edge of the herd. He glanced at him and then looked away indifferently.
Zhou Hong on the other side was already asking anxiously: "What do you mean? What fire bull?!"
"Ordinary cattle can be controlled, but what if it's a mad cow?"
Prince An said in a cold voice: "Use a hemp rope soaked in tung oil, wrap it around the ox, drive it to the roadside, and set it on fire."
He said sternly: "Who can stop the power of the Fire Bull?"
Yes, the burning bull is in agony and madness, who can stop it? There are a huge number of two or three thousand bulls rushing down the mountain road, and I am afraid they will not stop until they die.
However, how could a bull with flames all over its body be easily shot and killed? Moreover, I am afraid that the ordinary soldiers would have lost the initiative the moment they were frightened by the "monster" and would be thrown into confusion in an instant, so how could they shoot and kill it?
A herd of fire bulls is dozens of times more powerful than an ordinary herd of bulls!
Prince An looked sinister and said, "Tie a sharp long knife to each ox's horn. Its killing power will be several times greater."
"As soon as the herd of fire bulls enters Qi's camp, it will be destroyed!"
Prince An's last words were so enlightening that Zhou Hong and others' eyes suddenly lit up.
"well!"
Zhou Hong was excited and ecstatic, and gnashed his teeth: "This is a brilliant plan, it will surely defeat the Qi army!"
Prince An took a deep breath. He had prepared things like tung oil and hemp ropes long ago when he arrived at Dongyukou. With this in mind, he would rather discard some of the food and fodder than throw away the two things. Now they were finally put to great use.
Morale was boosted and everyone was excited, so they immediately turned back to discuss the details.
Prince An glanced coldly at the edge of the herd. Wei Xu saw that the young man was Fu Pei, whom he had ordered to be sent over in case of emergency. "Come here, take him to the front first."
This Fu Pei could very well be a life-saving talisman if necessary, and he needed to be detained nearby.
There were guards guarding Fu Pei, but there was no need for them to drive him away. Wei Xu walked forward slowly. Fu Pei was thin, so he lifted him up effortlessly, looked at him for a moment, and smiled faintly.
The cold smile, like his gaze, made Fu Pei shudder, lowered his head and hunched his chest, shrinking even tighter.
Wei Xu sneered coldly and left with the man.
He slowed down a step, and when he returned to the front, he saw that the expressions of the people who were in a lively atmosphere just now changed drastically, their brows were furrowed, and the atmosphere became tense again.
"What's going on?"
He threw Fu Pei aside and raised his eyebrows slightly.
Could there be something wrong with the tung oil hemp rope? Can’t the Fire Bull Formation be completed?
No, but there was another part of the plan that went wrong.
King An's face was as gloomy as water. "The Qi army camp is stationed at the bottom of the hill to the left of the road entrance, and it is at least two or three hundred feet away from the road entrance."
They were stationed at an angle, forming a semi-encirclement.
No one present knew about the cow hoof prints, and the way the King of Qi set up camp was beyond everyone's expectations.
Normally in this kind of battle situation, they should set up camp close to the crossing, use layers of encirclement to completely block the passage, and never give the Allied forces rushing down any room to charge.
Everyone looked at each other with frowns.
Under normal circumstances, the King of Qi's way of setting up camp would be beneficial to them, but the problem is that he now wants to use the fire bull formation.
The extra two or three hundred feet of distance served as a buffer for the Qi army. Even a blind person could spot the glaring fire bull. Although it was only a short period of time, it gave the Qi soldiers enough time to identify the "monster".
Another more important thing is that the Fire Ox does not recognize people. The Qi camp was stationed diagonally hundreds of feet away from the road entrance. The fire bulls, feeling the pain, rushed down wildly and immediately scattered once they were out of the road entrance. The pressure on the Qi camp was reduced by half.
After all the planning, the King of Qi just didn't play by the rules.
By doing this, he brought a lot of variables to his own plan.
After a long silence, Zhou Hong said, "Otherwise, we won't attack."
"After the fire bulls are released, even if their effectiveness is reduced by half, the Qi army will definitely be in chaos. We will choose one of the two entrances to the west, release the fire bulls, and immediately retreat to the western entrance."
The sentries have found out that there are only about 70,000 soldiers stationed at each of the two western passes. "Seventy thousand soldiers cannot stop us."
"And the King of Qi is bound by the Fire Bulls, so he's lucky enough to lead half of his troops to chase him, and he has to take a detour." The original route was blocked by the scattered Fire Bulls.
"We have the upper hand and will definitely be able to break through successfully."
This location is not far from the Yellow River and can be reached within two days of rapid march. King Hong'an of Zhou left a way out for the two men. There were boats on the south bank of the Yellow River. They could board the boats and cross the river. Even if the King of Qi caught up with them, he could only sigh at the sight of the river.
With the Yellow River blocking the way, it is very likely that the King of Qi will have to attack Sizhou first. With this little buffer time, they will speed up the capture of Bingzhou, recruit more soldiers, and guard the ferry passes on the north bank of the Yellow River. It is also possible that they will be able to stay in a corner.
Besides, no one can predict what will happen in the future. Bing and Ji states are not small. If we think positively, we may be able to counterattack in the future.
Zhou Hong's speech was well-reasoned and 100% feasible, and everyone nodded in agreement.
A conservative and safe strategy.
But for Prince Yu An, he was only one step away from completing all his plans. How could he be willing to accept this?
Angry and unwilling!
He took a deep breath, stood up and paced back and forth. Out of the corner of his eye he saw soldiers cleaning up the waste from the refugees living in the settlement, and suddenly an idea came to him.
"What if this 200-300-zhang opening is blocked?"
Zhou Hong was surprised: "How to block it?"
King An smiled coldly: "The dike of Panshui was dug, and the refugees fled back in panic. A large number of refugees crowded in and blocked the Qi army's sight."
There was originally a large number of refugees living in the area around Gangling, numbering at least tens of thousands. They were frightened by the sudden arrival of the army and fled. The army came from the southeast, and there was Panshui in the north, so they could only flee to the west.
The road was not easy to travel at night, and the two armies did not engage in battle. The refugees only had two legs, so they must have stopped at a relatively flat and open location on the south bank of Panshui River at a distance, spent the night, and then went their separate ways the next day.
Guo Huai's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he immediately clapped his hands and stood up, "Right! A little further upstream, dig up the river bank, and the flooded river water will rush in!"
The Panshui River embankment has not been repaired for a long time. There has been no major breach, but small breaches have occurred frequently. This section of the river breached last year. The people repaired it spontaneously, and it is still usable, but the embankment made simply of earth and stones is also easy to dig.
The hole doesn't even need to be dug very big, just showing some intention will be enough. The refugees from Henan and Yan, who had suffered greatly from the Yellow River bursting its banks, were already like frightened birds. If someone were to sneak in and shout a few times, they would be terrified and flee to the high places in the east.
Compared with a flood that broke through the dam, the Qi army camp where there was no fighting was much less dangerous.
Tens of thousands of panicked refugees rushed forward, not only blocking the Qi army's approach to Erdaokou in the west, but also filling up the gap of two or three hundred feet.
As soon as the refugees arrived, the fire bulls rushed down immediately, blocking their view, and the ordinary soldiers of the Qi army lost the opportunity to distinguish the "monsters".
Terrified, caught off guard.
"Attack the enemy when they are unprepared. If the enemy army is in a state of collapse, we can lead the army to attack. If the Qi army is in chaos but not collapsed, we can go directly down from the west road, go north to cross the Yellow River and return to Jizhou."
The refugees not only blocked the view, but also prevented the fire bulls from scattering, greatly increasing their lethality. The success rate of defeating the enemy will be greatly improved again.
Even if they retreated 10,000 steps, the Qi army would be in chaos but not defeated, and the King of Qi could still barely divide his troops. How many troops can there be? Can we still stop the Allied forces? These two points are discussed separately. As the nearest route for reinforcements has been blocked by refugees, the King of Qi will have to take a long detour and there is a high chance that he will not be able to catch up.
The Allied forces had already left calmly.
Guo Huai twisted his beard and said coldly: "However, I think that the Qi army will be in a state of great collapse!"
Retreating was only a backup option. He believed that once the Fire Bull Formation was deployed, the Qi army would be defeated!
“That’s right!”
Prince An stood up immediately and said, "There is no time to lose. Wang Deng and Zhang Xing, you two must immediately select three thousand soldiers, take off your armor, pretend to be refugees, and scatter out through the dense forest and gather at the south bank of Panshui. Chou Zheng should dig a hole in the bank in front of you to scare away the refugees."
"Under command!"
Wang Deng and Zhang Xing received the order and left quickly.
The Fire Bull Formation was personally arranged by Prince An, who led Zhou Hong, Guo Huai and others.
Prince An took a few steps and saw Wei Xu standing still, looking at Fu Pei calmly. He said, "Jinzhi, don't worry. This man can't escape."
However, Fu Pei's last life-saving talisman should be used with caution, so he added a few more personal soldiers to guard it.
Wei Xu looked up, said "hmm", walked slowly forward, and walked side by side with the waiting King An.
First disturb them and check carefully to make sure there are no enemy scouts near the crossing; put up fences and drive the cattle to the crossing; build temporary fortifications at the top of the crossing to make sure the fire bulls cannot run back.
Finally, a hemp rope soaked in tung oil is wrapped around the ox in circles, with the end of the hemp rope hanging together with the tail; a sharp long blade is tied to the ox's horns.
Everything is ready, only the east wind is missing.
Prince An looked around at Wei Xu, Guo Huai and other people around him as well as the soldiers who were ready to go in the distance. He slowly walked to the edge of the mountain and looked down from afar. He saw endless twinkling lights, and his eyes became cold.
King of Qi, Wei Jing!
Prince An walked further and further away. Wei Xu watched his back disappear into the darkness. He lowered his eyes slightly and suddenly heard Guo Huai beside him say, "Everyone, I'm going to the toilet."
It is already midnight, and there is still no news on the dike digging. But it should be done soon. If there are any urgent matters, they should be resolved as soon as possible.
Everyone expressed their desire to go as well, and each went into the dense forest. Wei Xu raised his eyes and found a direction to go into the dark forest.
About a quarter of an hour later, Guo Huai and the others came back one after another. At this time, a burst of hurried footsteps approached, "Your Highness, the river embankment is done! The refugees are rushing here and are about to approach Gangling!"
The time has come, and there is no time to lose!
Prince An turned around suddenly and said, "Drive the bulls to the roadside immediately and light them on fire!"
"Tell Chen Ang and the others to hurry up."
The bulls wrapped with oil ropes were blindfolded and their ears blocked. When the first batch was driven to the crossing, the blindfolds were removed and fuses were tied to the end of the oil ropes. When the soldiers in charge of ignition received the order, they immediately pressed the torches on the bundled fuses.
"Zizzi" the fuse burned rapidly, and a faint blue flame suddenly rose from the cow's tail, spinning rapidly in circles, quickly igniting the entire oil rope.
The flames were burning, and the bull was mooing in pain, almost out of tune. Its body was on fire and it was going crazy. It spread its four hooves and rumbled down the mountain path madly.
"Next batch, quick!"
Seeing a large group of fire bulls rushing down like monsters, Prince An's brows turned sinister.
Wei Jing must have received the news of the refugees caused by the broken dam, and he might feel strange about it, but so what? Who can guess the Fire Bull Formation?
The sky and the ground are filled with the sharp blades of fire bulls, surging down like a tide. This time, let's see how you can respond? !
Prince An's expression turned fierce. This time he would definitely destroy the Qi camp!
…
In the middle of the night, Wei Jing suddenly received news that a large number of refugees were pouring in this direction. He frowned and immediately sent an scout to investigate, who reported that the Panshui River had suddenly burst its dike.
The Fire Bull Formation is such a cunning strategy that it is indeed difficult for outsiders to guess the details.
But Wei Jing's response came earlier than King An expected.
"Break the dam?"
How could the water in the basin burst for no reason? He immediately sensed something was wrong and sent people on horseback to investigate, but seeing the tens of thousands of refugees rushing towards him, he had a strong premonition that an unknown and huge change was imminent.
What is it?
Wei Jing's eyelids twitched a few times, but in a moment, he immediately ordered: "Order the entire army to break camp immediately and retreat to the high ground behind!"
The Qi army camp was stationed at the foot of a gently sloping hill. The hill was gentle but large in area, and the top of the hill was a little far away but still relatively high.
Dam burst, flood.
Wei Jing instinctively knew that it was Prince An who was causing all this trouble, so he prepared his army and moved it a little higher. This way, they could overlook the crossing of Gangling Mountain and not be afraid of Prince An cheating. In addition, if they really encountered a flood, they could also retreat quickly.
Be prepared for both situations.
At Wei Jing's command, the entire camp moved quickly, breaking camp and retreating rapidly.
Wei Jing lifted the curtain.
In the pitch-black night sky, the Gangling Mountain and the Yunyi Mountain ahead were pitch black, and faintly, the sound of slight commotion could be heard. The refugees would soon flock here.
"All troops on alert!"
He had a sense of crisis as if a thorn was stabbing him in the back. This feeling had appeared before his most dangerous battle against the Tatars. Wei Jing issued several military orders in succession and the entire army was in high spirits and on high alert, but the sense of crisis did not disappear.
At this time, the Qi army had quickly retreated more than 200 feet up the gentle slope and stopped. We cannot retreat any further. If we do, the Allies may cheat and suddenly rush down from the Gangling Pass, and we will lose the best opportunity to encircle us.
Wei Jing had summoned Han Xi, who came quickly. He immediately said, "Chengping, you lead the people up there in person to investigate the movements of the allied forces."
"yes!"
Han Xi took the order and left in a hurry.
Wei Jing's brows were solemn, and he suddenly raised his eyes to look towards the Gangling Mountain in front of him. Under the pitch-black night sky, it was like a ferocious beast lying dormant, and the wide open passage slanting upward was as dark as a huge mouth.
"My Lord?"
Ji Huan, Dai Guang and others rushed over early. Even Fan Ya, who had just recovered from a high fever caused by being hit by a rocket, came in armor. Everyone looked solemn.
Fan Ya's face was still pale. He asked, "What's going on? What tricks does Prince An have?"
Time and again, every time the evil schemes always involved a large number of innocent people, he had a deep impression of this King An, and he was extremely disgusted and hated him.
Ji Huan shook his head: "Unknown, Chengping went to investigate in person, and now all I know is..."
"Report!"
Before Ji Huan could finish his words, he was interrupted by a loud and urgent report. The young general Liang Dan, who was supposed to be in the front army, came running over.
"My lord, someone has delivered a letter!"
Delivering a letter?
At this time.
Ji Huan, Dai Guang and others looked at each other and immediately thought of the messenger.
Wei Jing had taken the letter, quickly opened it, and unfolded it, his cold and lightning-like eyes glancing over.
There was a faint firelight in the dark night, and only a few lines of small, sloppy but powerful characters could be seen on the writing.
"Three thousand fire bulls form a battle formation, and sixty thousand refugees serve as a shield to block the way for reinforcements. If the Qi camp is in chaos, then attack; if it is in chaos but not in chaos, then flee."
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