The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 125: Great Victory at Tangcang Town

To the southeast of Tangcang Town, there is a sunken gap in the terrain, which turns to a valley in the north, forming two Y-shaped forks in the road.

This is the only way from Tangcang to Chencang. The fork on the north is longer and requires crossing Jiangjiagou, Humiaoliang and Caotangou. The road is rugged and difficult to travel.

Therefore, the garrison troops and civilians in Tangcang usually took the shortcut to the south, which was not only half the distance shorter than the road to the north, but also greatly increased the speed of travel.

However, under the cover of night, an army of more than a thousand people was marching rapidly towards Tangcang Town from the difficult fork in the road in the north.

"How far is it from Tangcang Town?"

Li Yi looked up at the starry sky while riding on his horse, and then looked at the surrendered Shu army soldiers who were leading the way.

The Shu army surrendered and said hurriedly, "I estimate that we have walked thirty or forty miles, and the main road to Tangcang Town is only ten miles away at most."

Li Yi nodded and said nothing more.

Last night he learned that the Shu army from Tangcang Town had set out, and as he expected, they took the easy road to the south.

Li Yi asked Zhang Jianxiong to continue to lead the Longzhou troops stationed outside Weiwu City, while he personally led a cavalry commander and an infantry commander of the imperial guards, a total of one thousand people, to turn around and march quickly towards Huanghua Valley.

It is about ten miles from Weiwu City to Huanghua Valley, and then fifty miles to Tangcang Town. You must reach Huanghua Valley before the Shu army, and then enter the mountain road in the north, otherwise you will encounter the Shu army and will not be able to form a pincer attack to expand the results of the battle.

The river tributaries beside the mountain valley gurgled and sparkled in the moonlight, like a white dragon lying on the earth.

There was a chill in the air in the early morning. It was already early summer, but the temperature in the valley was still very low.

But everyone didn't feel cold. They were wearing armor weighing twenty or thirty kilograms, carrying spears, bows, shields and other weapons, as well as more than a day's worth of dry food. Even though they claimed to be traveling light, it was not easy.

Li Yi didn't feel too cold even when riding a horse, let alone the walking infantrymen, who would probably be sweating.

Everyone was afraid of exposing their target, so they didn't hold up too many torches, only a few scattered around. Otherwise, a long string of fire dragons on the valley road would have been too eye-catching.

Fortunately, there was a bright moon hanging high in the sky. After everyone got used to the faint moonlight, they could still see the road clearly. The road was bright white at night, and it was okay to walk slowly.

As for night blindness, which was common in ancient times, it was not a problem for the imperial guards whose food was guaranteed.

At three or four in the morning, the human body is in the most sleepy state. In addition, riding a horse on a mountain road is not fast, and the bumpy ride makes people dizzy. Li Yi couldn't help yawning.

But the strange thing is that although his body is obviously very tired, his mind is very clear. I am afraid he can't fall asleep right away.

Li Yi thought about it carefully and felt that it was probably because he was too excited. After all, what he was doing was quite risky, but if he succeeded, the rewards he would get would be far beyond his imagination.

After an unknown amount of time, the sky gradually brightened. The scouts sent out ahead reported that they were only a little over a mile away from the exit of the Tangcang Town road.

Everyone was immediately cheered up. The humans persevered and their endurance was amazing. They walked for a whole night, covering a distance of sixty or seventy miles.

And of course there is a reason to endure all this, which is that there will be huge benefits if we win the battle.

After turning a bend, we finally arrived at the end of the fork road connecting Tangcang Town to Huanghua Valley.

Li Yi led his personal soldiers and rode forward quickly. Suddenly, the view in front of him became clear. There was an open plain with lush forested hillsides on both sides. It was a very suitable place for an ambush.

Guessing that the Shu army would not arrive for a while, Li Yi arranged the troops on duty and ordered the entire army to rest.

Everyone didn't even set up camp, but just fell to the ground and fell asleep.

The soldiers of the Imperial Guards are all elite warriors. Their physical strength and endurance are beyond the reach of ordinary people. However, even the strongest person cannot withstand the hasty march in the middle of the night.

Everyone had persevered solely through willpower. Now that they had reached their destination and didn't need to walk any further, they naturally needed to rest and recover their energy. Li Yi lay down on the slope under a tree, surrounded by soldiers snoring loudly and the chirping of insects in his ears, which disturbed him. It took him a long time to fall into a drowsy sleep.

At dusk, a scout came riding up on horseback, shouting, "Two miles to the east, the Shu army has appeared, in a chaotic riot, and is heading this way!"

Li Yi sat up with a start, stunned for a moment, then reacted and shouted quickly: "Wake up all the brothers, it's time to work!"

Everyone hurriedly got up from the ground, and at the shouts of their respective officers, they picked up their weapons and began to organize the ranks.

Li Yi ordered everyone to lie in ambush on the spot. The mountain at the valley entrance was gentle and uneven, so he moved his men and horses to the hillsides on both sides, and everyone quickly climbed up to find a place to hide.

After the troops were deployed, Li Yi summoned two commanders and instructed them, "When the Shu army reaches the front hill, the cavalry under the first commander will charge out first. When the others see the cavalry taking action, they will rush forward and siege the Shu army."

Cavalry Commander Lü Su nodded and said, "The Shu army is fleeing in panic, and they certainly have no desire to fight. I will lead the cavalry in a charge, and the Shu army will surely be routed. Brothers of the infantry, just follow behind and cut down anyone you see!"

After Li Yi gave a few more instructions, everyone went their separate ways to prepare.

Not long after, I heard noise and messy footsteps coming from not far away.

First, a sparse group of nearly a hundred Shu cavalrymen came galloping, and then a large group of infantry in disarray followed closely behind, with flags and weapons carried crookedly on their shoulders.

The Shu army completely ignored the front, back, left, and right, and rushed straight forward in a disorderly manner.

Just as the Shu cavalrymen in front entered the valley, a Zhou army lieutenant suddenly jumped out and shouted, "Kill!"

Suddenly, a group of armored soldiers swarmed up, and rows of people raised their spears and rushed down the mountain.

Accompanied by a burst of dense string sounds, countless arrows were thrown into the air and flew towards the Shu army.

Suddenly, screams were heard everywhere, and the Shu cavalry in front were so frightened that they reined in their horses, turned around and fled backwards.

At the same time, Zhou soldiers rushed down from the hillsides on both sides. For a moment, the sound of killing was deafening, and the soldiers ran and rushed forward.

The Shu army was in a panic and in chaos. No one wanted to fight and turned around to flee.

Li Yi rode out with his personal soldiers on horseback and saw a group of Shu cavalry surrounding a Shu general. He immediately led his men to charge forward.

When a group of Shu army infantrymen saw the war horses charging towards them, they immediately dropped their weapons and ran away. Li Yi took advantage of the momentum of the war horses, turned sideways, raised his spear, and stabbed a Shu soldier from behind.

Then he let go of the spear, picked up the strong bow from his side, drew out an arrow, drew the bow, put the arrow on it, and shot.

The Shu general saw a burly and powerful Zhou army general leading a hundred cavalrymen charging towards him with unstoppable force.

He was suddenly horrified, his face full of fear, and without thinking, he turned his horse around to avoid it.

However, at this moment, an arrow suddenly pierced his eye socket, and the Shu army general's expression suddenly froze.

The Shu cavalrymen who were protecting him were so frightened by this that they no longer had the will to resist and fled in all directions. The infantry around them also threw away their weapons and retreated in panic.

A large number of Shu soldiers fled to the valley entrance, but found that their retreat route had been blocked. The Shu army was doomed, and many people immediately dropped their weapons, knelt on the ground and cried for mercy.

A personal soldier dismounted and walked quickly to the general who had been shot dead.

He lifted the corpse's hair and shouted, "Who is this fellow?"

A Shu army lieutenant kneeling nearby quickly replied, "This is our commander, Wang Luan."

(End of this chapter)