Female-to-male: I live on farming

Before the Changnan Army entered Yizhou, Xiao Anyi and her men intercepted them at Jialing Pass. Jialing Pass is located at the junction of Yizhou and Xuzhou. She had already sent scouts to find out the marching route of the Changnan Army and deliberately chose such a location.

She left five thousand Black Armored Soldiers in Yizhou for Lu Youqing, and took the remaining troops to Jialing Pass in advance to make arrangements.

Jialing Pass stands between high mountains, with steep peaks on both sides of the pass. The mountains are steep and dangerous, with only a narrow passage running through them. In front of the pass is the Lima Plain. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Choosing this place to ambush the Changnan Army will achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Moreover, this place is very close to Yizhou, so if there is any emergency in Yizhou, we can provide timely assistance.

There were 5,000 crossbowmen in Xiao Anyi's army, and they had already set up crossbows on the mountains on both sides, waiting to lure the enemy into a trap.

The Changnan Army naturally didn't know that the princess had led her people to the northern border just after they evacuated the northern border. They couldn't have imagined that even the court couldn't have imagined that the princess would lead troops to help the northern border.

They thought that holding on to Yizhou was their best way out, but they never expected that they would choose to take the initiative to attack.

The commander of the Changnan Army, Zhong Shi, suddenly pulled the reins, raised his hand to signal the entire army to stop, and looked at the valley ahead with a vigilant look on his face.

"What's wrong, General?" The deputy general beside him rode forward and asked in confusion.

"I always feel like something is wrong."

The deputy general looked around and found nothing special. "General, the Jialing Pass ahead is really dangerous. It is a natural barrier of Xuzhou. Are you worried about an ambush?"

"This is indeed the best place to set an ambush. I always feel a little uneasy." Zhong Shi is a cautious person.

The deputy general sometimes felt that the general was too cautious. Although this was safe, it was difficult to achieve a surprise victory and win military merit. He could not help but advise: "Who dares to ambush us here? General, the court has ordered us to capture Yizhou as soon as possible. If we delay any further, I am afraid we will not be able to reach Yizhou on time."

Zhong Shi frowned, his dark face was thoughtful, his eyes were deep and focused, and the wrinkles on his forehead deepened. He turned his head and ordered: "Send an advance team to explore the way."

The deputy general had no choice but to accept the order and sent two hundred men to explore the way ahead.

The army was stationed in front of Jialing Pass, waiting for news from the vanguard troops.

An hour later, the vanguard troops returned intact, and Zhong Shi ordered the army to continue advancing.

"The entire army must pass through Jiayu Pass as quickly as possible, and no stopping is allowed!"

When the Changnan Army's main force slowly stepped into the valley, Zhong Shi suddenly felt his heart pounding, as if some danger was about to come. He subconsciously raised his head and looked at both sides of the valley, but was stunned by the scene in front of him.

Suddenly, countless cold and shining arrows shot out from the hillsides on both sides of the valley, attacking them as densely as raindrops. These arrows brought with them the sound of sharp wind and the threat of death, instantly shrouding the entire valley in a shadow of death.

"There's an ambush! Retreat!"

Zhong Shi shouted with a hoarse throat.

Countless soldiers were killed by arrows falling from the sky before they could even react to what was happening.

Zhong Shi swung his sword to block the countless flying arrows, but he could dodge them, but the horse under him could not.

After hearing the painful roar of the warhorse under him, it finally fell to the ground, with no one knowing how many arrows had pierced its body.

Because the canyon they had to pass through was narrow and the army's formation was stretched out very long, he ordered a retreat, but the troops behind did not convey the order in time, and there were vehicles transporting food blocking the road at the back, and the food trucks were moving slowly, making it impossible to withdraw quickly.

After the front troops withdrew from the range of the crossbows, after several waves of arrows, there were almost no people standing within the range of the crossbows. The ground was covered with arrows and corpses with arrows stuck in their bodies.

"retreat!"

There was an ambush ahead and the enemy's strength was unknown. Zhong Shi did not dare to take any risks and hurriedly ordered his troops to retreat.

The retreat horn sounded, and the Changnan Army retreated hastily, not stopping until they had retreated several miles.

Just as the Changnan Army blew the horn, someone asked Xiao Anyi whether he needed to pursue.

"No need!"

Xiao Anyi waved his hand, stood tall on the steep mountain, and looked down at the Changnan Army that was gradually disappearing from his sight.

The reason why the vanguard of the Changnan Army did not find anything strange was because she did not deploy soldiers in the front. And they would not climb up the mountain to investigate, so they could not find her ambushing crossbowmen.

Therefore, her main fighting force in this battle was the crossbowmen. Tens of thousands of crossbow arrows were fired, and the Changnan Army also suffered heavy losses this time.

Before leaving, the princess had advised her not to act rashly if she encountered the Changnan Army, but to focus on delaying them as much as possible and try to avoid head-on confrontations with them as much as possible.

The Xuanjia Army suffered heavy losses in the last battle and has not yet recovered. Almost half of the 50,000 Xuanjia Army soldiers she leads are new recruits, so it is not appropriate for them to engage in a head-on confrontation with the Changnan Army.

Moreover, they have no shortage of food or weapons, and there is plenty of time to waste with them.

She only needs to delay until the princess quells the rebellion in the north and incorporates the Zhenbei Army. Then, when the princess returns with her troops, she can attack the Changnan Army from both sides.

"Okay, give the order to clean up the battlefield."

Just now they shot all the 50,000 arrows they brought, and many arrows scattered on the ground. Those arrows that hit the soldiers can be recovered and reused, while some of the broken iron arrowheads need to be taken back and replaced.

From this perspective, it will take at least three to five days for the crossbowmen to be able to return to the battlefield.

However, Xiao Anyi estimated that the Changnan Army would not act rashly in the short term.

In this way, the Changnan Army and the Xuanjia Army led by Xiao Anyi were stuck in a stalemate at Jialing Pass for a while.

Zhong Shi led the Changnan Army to fight against Xiao Anyi several times, but the outcome was difficult to determine. He could see that the other party did not try his best, but was deliberately delaying time.

But he was helpless because the enemy had occupied Jialing Pass in advance. This pass was easy to defend but difficult to attack, and the enemy was very good at using the terrain in combat.

This put Zhong Shi in a deadlock until he received an imperial decree.

It said that the princess had led her army into the northern border, won a great victory in the first battle, repelled Northern Qin, incorporated the Zhenbei Army, and ordered him to fight quickly and decisively, and seize Yizhou as soon as possible.

When he heard the news, his eyes widened and he couldn't believe what he heard.

This news hit him like a bolt from the blue. He could not imagine how the princess had managed to repel Northern Qin in such a short time.

The Northern Qin Army was extremely brave, and even the Changnan Army found it difficult to gain any advantage at their hands.