"I, the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, am very benevolent. Today I am attacking the enemy. Seeing that you are in rags and have no food to eat, I will return these people's blessings to you, hoping to relieve your temporary difficulties!"

Xu Xian raided the warehouses of Shangyao Village and the homes of wealthy people, and called the people in the city to distribute all the money and grain to them.

Jiubao scooped two scoops of rice for an old woman, grabbed a handful of copper coins for him and put them into the bag. He pointed to the red scarf on his arm and said, "Don't forget, we are the red scarf of the front secretary of the palace."

All of them!"

"I can't forget it, I can't forget it!" The old woman smiled stiffly, took the bag, and walked away as if running away.

Jiubao said with a smile: "Next one!"

After serving the rice and giving money, he pointed to the red scarf on his arm and said, "Don't forget, we belong to the Red Scarf Department in front of the palace."

An old soldier took the rice grain, pointed at Xu Xianxiao and asked, "What's the name of that little general?"

"That's our leader. Everyone in the four squads of Xiaodi in front of the palace knows Xu Xian and Xu Zhixian! Why do you ask me why? Is it possible that you have an unmarried daughter named Yunying at home?"

The old pawn suddenly laughed ferociously, "I asked him his name so that Liu Linggong would know and use his head to avenge him later!"

"You old thing, you really don't know how to show appreciation!" Jiubao directly hit the old soldier's head with the wooden spoon in his hand. The wooden spoon immediately fell into pieces. Several soldiers in red scarves took the old soldier aside and beat him.

Xu Xian waved his hand and said, "Stop fighting and let him go."

Bai Yanyu laughed heartily and said sarcastically: "You are really funny. You kill other people, steal other people's things and then give them to others, and you want others to remember you. Such things are really unheard of. They don't

Maybe remembering your kindness will only make me hate you more."

"What's impossible? You'll be happy just to see two ragged children, aren't you?"

"What do two little kids know? If they sell maltose and eat it later, they still remember who you are."

"Haha... That doesn't matter, as long as I'm happy!"

After spending the night in Shangyaozhai, Xu Xian and Bai Yanyu went south to attack Shankou Town.

As the name of Shankou Town suggests, this town is located in a valley with low hills on both sides. There is a high wall at the mouth of the valley, which is two feet high and about three feet wide. The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty stood behind the wall with half of their bodies exposed.

Judging from their uniforms and weapons, they are probably united soldiers.

The Tuanjie Army is a local army that is not separated from production. It is under the direct jurisdiction of Tuanlian envoys and controlled by Jiedu envoys.

Bai Yanyu said: "I have been a regiment training envoy in Jeju. The united soldiers in the north are not much worse than the Ya soldiers, but they are a little worse than the ones in their hands. Huainan has not fought a big battle for a long time.

, their combat power is probably ineffective."

"That's not necessarily true. It's true that Huainan hasn't fought a decent battle for a long time. However, soldiers from the north often cross the border to harass and loot. These united soldiers from the Tang State are responsible for defending the countryside. Most of them have seen blood. You must not underestimate the enemy and suffer a big loss."

"I won't take it lightly. We don't have siege equipment. It won't be too difficult or too easy to capture this fortress. You first send your subordinates to kill their spirit with strong crossbows, and then I will lead the brothers to attack

.”

Xu Xian ordered Wu Liang to lead a hundred and ten people to a place 150 steps away from the fort wall and stand there. A hail of arrows came up. The Tang army did not expect that the Zhou army could shoot so far. Eighty-nine people were hit by arrows and died immediately.

The archers in the fortress immediately fired arrows to fight back, but unfortunately the range of ordinary bows and arrows was too short, and the farthest shot was about ten steps away from the red scarf soldiers.

Bai Yanyu laughed loudly and said: "It's a waste of effort, the brothers in Hongjindu continue to shoot, don't let them show their heads, I will soon..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard a muffled sound from behind the fort wall, and then he saw more than ten black figures roaring towards him and diving into the queue of Zhou's soldiers. Immediately, more than ten Zhou's soldiers were killed.

Xu Xian shouted loudly: "Everyone spread out. You are waiting to die if you are so close. You go to the east, you go to the west."

Bai Yanyu snorted heavily, "This small fortress actually has ten crossbows. You really underestimated them!"

The naughty boy suddenly ran over and said, "Dianzhi, I caught my tongue!"

"Just in time, bring him up and ask about the situation inside the fort!"

Xiao Zi said hello, and immediately someone escorted a soldier of the Tang Army over. Bai Yan met him and shouted, "Tell me honestly how many people there are in Shankou Town, who is the commander, and where is the weakest defense?"

Xu Xian sighed: "Thank you for being a regimental training officer. Are you blind? Didn't you see that the uniform of this Tang sergeant is different from the one inside?"

"Really, are you sent here from Shouzhou!"

The Tang sergeant just lowered his head and said nothing, as if he didn't intend to recruit anymore.

"Hehe... You're not going to do it, right? I respect you as a tough guy, but I won't be polite to you. Make me a fire, and I will roast him and eat him."

As he spoke, Bai Yanyu took off the Tang soldier's armor, stripped him naked, and gesticulated back and forth on his body with the knife in his hand.

It wasn't too strange to see a Shatuo man among the Zhou army, but in the eyes of the soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Bai Yanyu was much different. He had a fierce look in his eyes, a scarlet tongue licking his lips, and he looked like he was choosing people to eat.

With a ferocious appearance, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty had already turned pale with fear.

Bai Yanyu suddenly laughed ferociously, "Just eat the breast meat. It looks strong and strong when chewed!" As he said that, the tip of the knife had penetrated into the Tang soldier's flesh, and it was slowly slashing downwards, and bright red blood surged out.

It comes out and drips down the belly.

The soldier's will immediately collapsed and he begged for mercy: "Don't... don't eat me, don't eat me, I will tell you the truth!"

"Huh huh... If I had said no, it would have been over. Why did Liu Renzhan ask you to come to Shankou Town?"

The Tang sergeant replied: "It was not Liu Linggong who sent me here..."

Bai Yanyu put the knife on his neck and shouted loudly: "How dare you lie to me? Liu Renzhan didn't send you here, who sent you here?"

"The villain is a scout who came to spy on the enemy under Liu Yanzhen's orders!"

"Who is Liu Yanzhen?"

"Liu Yanzhen was appointed by the emperor to deploy the northern camp and led an army of 20,000 to resist your army."

"Twenty thousand people! Where are they now?"

"Five thousand naval troops are in the Huaihe River, and there are another 15,000 people ten miles away from here. The army originally wanted to camp in Shankou Town to rest. When they heard that there were enemy troops here, they sent people to investigate."

Xu Xian and Bai Yanyu gasped in unison, and Bai Yanyu asked again: "But are you ready to beat us?"

Xu Xian said: "You are not talking nonsense. This Liu Yanzhen came to defend against the enemy under the emperor's order. We have this plate of appetizers in front of us. It is both a great achievement and a morale booster. There is no reason not to eat it."

Bai Yanyu nodded, "That's the truth. What do you think we should do now?"

"What else can we do? Of course, withdraw the troops. Don't forget that they have fifteen thousand people. Even if we have three heads and six arms, we may not be able to defeat each other. Besides, their navy may cut off the army's retreat. We need to inform

Only the Chinese army can succeed!”

"That's all!" Bai Yanyu said and wiped the Tang Army scout's neck with his knife.

Xu Xian said: "You broke your promise not to kill him!"

"I said I won't eat him, I didn't say I won't kill him. Stop talking nonsense and retreat quickly."

Xu Xian first sent people on horseback to contact the Chinese army, and then gathered 3,000 soldiers and quickly turned around and returned the same way. He walked quickly for half a day and only stopped to take a breath at dusk.

"Xiaozi, go find a hidden location nearby where you can camp!" Xu Xian got off the horse and sat next to Bai Yanyu, "The ones sent out to deliver the message should have arrived at the Chinese army. I hope the commander will not abandon us and run away.

"

"That's not the case. The Chinese army plus the Wuning army now has more than 30,000 troops. The Tang army near Shouzhou now only has 30,000 troops. There is no way they can defeat us. The Chinese army has enough food and grass to last two months.

No problem. Even if the Tang army destroys the pontoon bridge, we can still skate across the river in the twelfth lunar month."

"Hearing you say that puts my heart at ease!"

Bai Yanyu joked: "I'm worried about you!"

"What are you worried about me for?"

"I'm worried that Liu Yanzhen's soldiers and horses are chasing me. You kid will abandon me and run away!"

"You look down on people too much. Xu is not that kind of person!"

…

While the two were talking, Bai Yanyu suddenly lay down with his ears to the ground, "There are cavalry coming, about four to five hundred of them!"

"Seriously! I'm sure there are only four or five hundred people."

"What did I lie to you for?"

Xu Xian immediately greeted: "The red scarves are all ready for battle! No need to mount the horse, just get the divine arm crossbow and come over to form a team!"

Nearly a thousand soldiers from the Red Scarf Capital lined up in five columns under the command of Xu Xian. Before everyone could string the divine arm crossbow, the rumble of horse hooves could be heard in front, and about 500 Tang Army cavalry came towards them with great momentum.

Probably because they saw that the Zhou army had no cavalry, they kept accelerating their horses as if they were preparing to defeat the Zhou army.

Seeing that the Tang Army cavalry entered the range of the divine arm crossbow, Xu Xian shouted: "First row, shoot!"

The soldiers pulled the trigger, and immediately two hundred arrows were shot at the oncoming Tang army cavalry. The sharp arrows easily broke through the enemy's armor. Immediately, more than ten Tang soldiers were hit by arrows and fell from their horses, but the oncoming force was still not strong.

reduce.

After finishing shooting the arrows, Zhou's soldiers immediately squatted down and Xu Xian continued to shout: "Second row, shoot!"

This round of arrow rain caused much more damage than the previous one. Twenty or thirty Tang soldiers or their mounts were hit by arrows. The fallen horses struggled in pain and tripped more followers. It seemed that they were aware of the Zhou army's arrows.

They were so powerful that the Tang Army cavalry in front reined in their reins and turned their horses' heads. Unfortunately, it was too late. They had already rushed within a hundred steps of the Red Scarf Capital.

Xu Xian issued orders one after another, "Third column, shoot! Fourth column, shoot! Fifth column, shoot!"

The arrows were like rain, and the poor Tang Army cavalry was shot into hedgehogs before they could find their way back. They went to Jiuquan with their beloved mounts, and only half of the cavalry fled in panic.

Xu Xian said to everyone: "It was my mistake this time. Next time I encounter this situation, if I put it closer, I can kill more!"

Bai Yanyu came up and said: "You didn't have any casualties, but the Tang army lost more than two hundred people. You really got an advantage and acted like a good boy!" He then ordered his subordinates: "Go and see if there are any alive!"
To be continued...