The spring breeze was like a knife, and more than ten thousand spirits roared past the mountain road while riding in the wind and rolling the remaining clouds.

Gu Qing was getting more and more anxious, and at the same time he was secretly blaming himself. He was really careless this time. Unexpectedly, the south, which he thought was safe, was actually not safe. He only assigned dozens of personal guards to Huangfu Sisi and the others.

Against more than 2,000 soldiers and horses of unknown origin, this small number of personal guards had no power to fight back.

I don’t know what is happening to Huangfu Sisi and Wanchun now, and whether Wang Gui and the others have suffered casualties. If the two sides had fought, Wang Gui and the others would have suffered a big loss. Even if Gu Qing led his army and slaughtered all of them, they would not have been able to save anything.

Can't save the lives of the guards.

"Have the sent out scouts returned?" Gu Qing turned his head against the wind and asked Han Jie loudly.

Han Jie also replied loudly: "We are not back. We are marching too fast. The scouts are probably not much faster than us."

Gu Qing said coldly: "Send another group of scouts to investigate. They must be quick. It doesn't matter if the horse runs to death. I want to know the whereabouts of this army and horse immediately, and we will start the battle as soon as our army arrives."

Han Jie responded, waved his hand, and sent a group of more than ten scouts to quickly cross the team and gallop forward.

Gu Qing added: "In addition, send a general to Suizhou to ask the governor of Suizhou with my belt and ask about the origin of this group of people. Also, ask around the place where Huangfu Sisi was attacked.

Villagers, let’s see if we can find out any clues. In short, everything must be done quickly, saving people is like putting out fire.”

Han Jie responded loudly again and followed the order.

After leading the army to cross the Han River and marching for more than half a day, the soldiers had no time to dismount and rest. Even when eating, they took out dry food while riding and filled their stomachs at will.

Finally at midnight, Gu Qing led his army to the mountain road near Suizhou City, where Huangfu Sisi and Wanchun were attacked.

As soon as the army arrived, a scout came to report it. The scout worked hard and finally found out the whereabouts of the army.

The general named Ma Sui was not actually a "general who conquered the north". On the contrary, he did not have any official position appointed by the imperial court at all. However, he came from a family of officials. His father, Ma Jilong, was a military envoy to Youzhou.

In essence, Ma Sui was considered a loyal minister of the imperial court. When An Lushan rebelled last year, Ma Sui, who was clothed in white clothes, was in Youzhou and encouraged Jia Xun, who was left behind by Fan Yang at the time, to rebel and return to the Tang Dynasty. Jia Xun did have this intention. Unfortunately,

Yes, the secret was leaked before the matter was completed, and Jia Xun was killed by Xiang Runke, the deputy guard.

Naturally, Xiang Runke did not let go of the instigator, Ma Sui, and ordered soldiers and horses to pursue him. Ma Sui was very smart and knew that something was wrong, so he ran away in advance and ran all the way to the south of the Yellow River. When he was about to defect to the court, he suddenly heard that Tongguan had been captured.

, the news that Chang'an had fallen and the emperor fled in panic.

Ma Sui's heart suddenly became cold, and he stood blankly outside Chang'an City, doubting his life.

There is nothing I can do if my heart is cold. I must continue to be loyal to the emperor I chose with tears in my eyes.

The emperor ran away, the court lost contact, various states and counties were in chaos, and the army was even more chaotic and weak. Ma Sui met several so-called royal divisions along the way, and found that they had no intention of going north to regain the lost territory. The leading general only

I thought about taking advantage of the troubled times to recruit more troops and gain more benefits for myself.

So Ma Sui was completely disappointed. Later, he heard that the Anxi Army under Gu Qing had won several battles with the rebels. However, Ma Sui no longer had any thoughts of defecting to Gu Qing. After going through all kinds of experiences, Ma Sui finally came to a conclusion:

That is in times of trouble, only if one's fists are strong enough can one devote one's efforts to the emperor and the Tang Dynasty. To seek refuge with others is to rely on others, and it is difficult to stretch one's ambitions.

The south of the Tang Dynasty was relatively peaceful and unaffected by the war. Ma Sui traveled to the south and recruited landless farmers and refugees from the north. After half a year, he actually recruited more than 2,000 soldiers. Ma Sui

He was considered a good general. Under his training, the new soldiers gradually became more capable in half a year, and they were barely able to fight the enemy.

However, as the commander-in-chief of an army, Ma Sui finally got a taste of how difficult it was to support an army of soldiers and horses.

Weapons, shields, bows and arrows and other ordnance must be dealt with by oneself. What is more difficult is food, which consumes the most. In the past six months, Ma Sui has led his army to frequently approach Guanzhong, and has fought several times with small groups of rebels in the border areas of Guanzhong.

The captured weapons, leather armor, bows and arrows equipped the entire army, but food was a big problem that always troubled him.

Seeing that there was not much food in stock, his subordinates were about to starve, and the army he had finally built was about to fall apart. Ma Sui had to occasionally do some part-time work as a roadblock and robber, so this half-soldier, half-bandit army set its sights on Huangfu Sisi.

Dozens of trucks of grain.

After hearing about Ma Sui's origin, Gu Qing was silent for a long time, and finally sighed: "He is a man, and his loyalty is commendable."

Han Jie hesitated and said: "So, he and we are... friendly forces?"

Gu Qing shook his head: "The condition is that he did not harm Sisi, Wanchun, Wang Gui and the others, otherwise he will still be my sworn enemy. I don't care about friendly forces, the person who hurts me is the enemy."

Han Jie nodded heavily.

"Have the scouts found out where Ma Sui's troops are stationed?"

"I heard that Ma Sui's troops were stationed at Taibaiding, more than two hundred miles north of Suizhou City. Miss Huangfu, Her Royal Highness Princess Wanchun, and Wang Gui were probably taken captive to Taibaiding."

Gu Qing immediately said: "Give me the order to continue marching and arrive at Taibaiding immediately."

After resting for a while, more than 10,000 soldiers mounted their horses again and marched on the mountain road in the middle of the night with torches.

Marching at night was quite dangerous. In this ancient time without street lights, the light of torches could not shine very far. Although Gu Qing was anxious, he did not dare to rush too much to avoid unnecessary losses to his soldiers.

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It was not until the next morning that Gu Qing led his army to Taibaiding.

When they arrived at the foot of Taibaiding Mountain, the Anxi Army's scouts had already been waiting here. Seeing Gu Qing coming, several scouts stepped forward to report to Gu Qing that they had found out that Ma Sui's garrison was stationed on the mountainside on the north side of Taibaiding. There was a place on the north side.

The quiet valley has a pleasant climate and there is even a small plain where wheat and green vegetables are grown.

Gu Qing was always very cautious when facing battles, and would not dare to act impulsively even if he was desperate to save people, so he ordered his scouts to draw a map of Taibaiding's topography and mark all the valleys, trails, jungles and other terrains.

After the scouts were drawn, Gu Qing called Shen Tian, ​​and the two discussed the map for a long time. Then Gu Qing ordered the cavalry to dismount, with the Marksman Battalion as the vanguard. The remaining 10,000 soldiers were divided into two groups, and they circled around from the left and right flanks towards the north of the mountain.

If you encounter an enemy, fight.

Gu Qing has commanded many battles, but this was his first time fighting in the mountains. Despite his anxiety, he was helpless. This time, it was to save people, not to annihilate the enemy. To save people, he could only act passively. The opponent would not be so stupid.

Run from the mountains to the plains to fight him.

"Sir, in fact, if you encounter an enemy and decisively set fire to the mountain, it is the easiest way to destroy the enemy. No one can escape when the mountain is on fire." Shen Tian suggested.

Gu Qing glared at him and said: "Yes, no one can run away. Sisi, Princess Wanchun, and Wang Gui can't run away. We are here to save people, not to kill people and silence them. Do you understand?"

Shen Tian thought so, scratched his head and stepped back.

The army dispersed into three groups, entering the mountain from the left, right and middle sides at the same time. Gu Qing followed the army and walked in personally.

After walking for a long time, Gu Qing was so tired that his eyes were dizzy. He was bitten by mosquitoes on his face and arms several times in the jungle. Suddenly he heard fierce fighting sounds coming from the front. Gu Qing's eyes narrowed and he said: "Han Please go quickly to find out the military situation and report it immediately."

Han Jie immediately sent his personal guards to rush into the forest.

Not long after, the guards ran back to report that the forward sharpshooting battalion encountered a sniper attack. The enemy had already ambushed them. They laid out bows and arrows over a mountain stream ahead and started shooting at the sharpshooting battalion from a high position.

Gu Qing immediately sent an order and ordered Sun Jiushi of the Divine Shooting Battalion to lead his troops to fight back.

After a loud thunderclap, Gu Qing hurriedly quickened his pace and came to the mountain stream where he was ambushed. He saw many corpses lying around, and many people wearing leather armor were injured and fell to the ground wailing. Not many people fell to the ground, obviously. Seeing that the situation was not good, the remaining enemies withdrew without knowing the current situation.

In contrast, the Marksman Battalion had almost no casualties. After all, the range of bows and arrows was different from that of flintlocks. Once the Marksman Battalion counterattacked, the bows and arrows would have lost their effective range wherever the flintlocks could hit, resulting in casualties on both sides. The disparity is understandable.

Gu Qing stood at the foot of the mountain stream, raised his head and looked around at the surrounding environment. After a long time, he suddenly smiled: "This Ma Sui is really a talented general. The place for the ambush was chosen very well. If it were me, I would probably choose this place. Surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing an abyss on one side, it is really wonderful to choose this place to snipe with bows and arrows from a high position..."

After Gu Qing finished speaking, he laughed a few more times, and then quickly stopped laughing. He found that the scene in front of him was so familiar that all he needed was a knowledgeable person next to him to come up and ask, "Why is the Prime Minister laughing?" and then wait. After he showed off his rich experience in being beaten, he was immediately slapped in the face by reality.

In fact, Gu Qing was quite lucky. Fortunately, he let the Sharpshooting Battalion serve as the vanguard of the Chinese army, and the weapons of the Sharpshooting Battalion were far ahead of the bows and arrows of this era, so even though they were ambushed, the Sharpshooting Battalion did not suffer much loss. , on the contrary, Ma Sui's soldiers suffered many casualties, and this great opportunity for an ambush was lost.

If the central forward was not a sharpshooting battalion, but soldiers armed with ordinary weapons, this ambush might really suffer a big loss.

Gu Qing pondered for a long time and said: "Instruct the soldiers and horses on the left and right wings to move closer to our center as soon as possible and advance cautiously to avoid being ambushed by the enemy."

"The Marksman Battalion is always ready to move forward with guns in hand, and will attack when it encounters the enemy."

After issuing several military orders in succession, Gu Qing also followed the Marksman Battalion and moved forward slowly.

The road from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside was not smooth. The following mountain road became more and more rugged and difficult. We did encounter several ambushes from the enemy on the road. Each time, we had to retreat under the sharp weapons of the Sharpshooter Battalion. .

In the afternoon, Gu Qing and the Sharpshooter Battalion finally arrived at the Ma Sui garrison that the scouts had discovered. There was a small plain on the mountainside. There were many wooden houses built on the plain, as well as some simple arrow towers, watchtowers, and stone piles. The artificial enemy defense line was formed with rigorous fortifications and various buildings in order.

Looking at the admiration in front of him, Gu Qing sighed: "It's really not easy to create such an atmosphere under such conditions."
Chapter completed!