Zuo Qiuming was alert enough and reacted quickly enough, but he still misjudged the speed of Guangrui's army's advance.

Zuo Qiuming, who had never dealt with Guangrui Army before, compared Guangrui Army with his own elite. In his opinion, he already looked up to Xiao Ding. Under such weather conditions and road conditions, Xiao An wanted to

It will take at least two to three days to appear at the foot of Yanzhou City.

Li Hao, who went to mobilize reinforcements, could arrive at Yanzhou City in five days at most after putting aside the cumbersome troop deployment procedures. In other words, Xiao Ding had at most one day left to attack Yanzhou City.

In Zuo Qiuming's view, an experienced general like Xiao Ding would definitely leave ample time for him to retreat, ensuring that he could leave safely if things went wrong.

After all, there is no time to risk everything and throw everything aside for a life-or-death duel.

But in just one day, Guang Rui's army arrived at the foot of Yanzhou City.

Standing on the tower, looking at the flag of the Guangrui Army flying in the distance, Zuo Qiuming's brows twisted into the character "Chuan".

What came was not the opponent's vanguard, but the main force.

Those waving flags said it all.

Why was Guang Rui's army marching so fast? Zuo Qiu Ming really couldn't figure it out.

But one obvious fact is that the time Xiao Ding has to attack Yanzhou City will be extended from one day to about three days. This will double the pressure on Yanzhou City.

The army stationed in the city only had two thousand infantry and one thousand cavalry, which sounded like a lot, but spread out on each section of the city wall, the number was pitifully small.

"Have you counted the young men in the city who can be recruited?" He turned his head and looked at a man dressed as a civil servant next to him.

"Go back to the general, we have counted them. There are over 10,000 men aged between fourteen and sixty years old." The civil servant cupped his hands and said.

Zuo Qiuming nodded with satisfaction: "Select the three thousand strongest among them first, and issue them with swords and guns, ready to go up to the city wall to help defend the city. Well, if there are any who are proficient in archery, they must be selected separately. The rest cannot be

It's gone, ready to be used at any time."

"Yes!" The civil servant agreed repeatedly, turned around and hurriedly walked down the city wall.

"General, I will go out and charge for a while to see how good the opponent is!" On the other side, a young general in his thirties held his sword and stared at the fluttering Xiao banner in the distance.

Guang Rui's army was setting up camp right under the eyes of their opponents. Generally speaking, at such a moment, they should send cavalry to approach the city for warning or threat, and at the same time, they should use infantry to form a formation to protect the soldiers building the camp.

But the Guangrui Army did nothing, and just exposed their soldiers who were building the camp to the eyes of the people in Yanzhou City.

They had to set up camp before dark, otherwise the temperature would continue to drop at night and they would freeze to death.

If the cavalry goes out of the city, at this distance, if they pick up the speed, they can rush up to them and slaughter them in a few breaths.

Is Xiao Ding so stupid?

Of course it's impossible.

A man's name is like a tree's shadow. How could a general who gained such a great reputation in the battle with the Liao people make such a mistake?

Then there is only one answer.

They are provoking.

The confidence lies in the dark group of cavalry gathered on the left side of the camp.

This language of war is understood by both sides.

To the soldiers of the Dingnan Army in Yanzhou City, this was naked contempt.

Unlike the armies in other parts of the Song Dynasty, the Dingnan Army has never stopped the pace of war. Their combat effectiveness is definitely among the top among the current armies of the Song Dynasty. Those garrison troops of the Song Dynasty on the Shaanxi Road

, in the eyes of the people in the army, there is no difference between them and a group of lambs.

It was precisely because he underestimated the strength of the Song Dynasty's army that Li Xu had the confidence and determination to rebel.

A fighting army is naturally proud and bloody.

Just like Guang Ruijun.

If such pride and bloodiness are lost, how can we talk about combat effectiveness?

Zuo Qiuming turned his head and glanced at the generals on the left and right. Although the weather was very cold, everyone's faces were flushed. Even the ordinary soldiers had a look of dissatisfaction on their faces.

If we don't fight, I'm afraid it will be a heavy blow to the morale of the soldiers in the city.

"Pengju, with five hundred cavalry, attacks from the west city." Zuo Qiuming pondered for a moment, and said to the general who had just stepped forward, Guo Peng, who was also the most powerful under his command: "If the opponent is really strong, there is no need to be reluctant to fight.

Go around to the east city and then enter the city!"

"Understood!" Guo Peng said as he cupped his hands: "The general knows the importance. There are not enough troops in the city. The general will never lose too many brothers just for the sake of greed."

Boredly, Xin Jian poked a snowdrift in front of him with his long spear, poking the snowdrift full of holes. The commander set up this formation just to lure the enemies in the city to come out and fight.

They captured Huamachi, Huimin Fort, Wanglejing and other places, and captured a large number of the opponent's soldiers. They had thoroughly understood the strength of the opponent in Yanzhou City. The lack of troops was the opponent's Achilles' heel.

Being able to lure the opponent out of the city and kill another batch of them, one after another, will naturally be beneficial to Guang Rui's army.

Moreover, at such a moment, those who dare to leave the city must be the leaders of the opponent's army. Killing a group of such guys in the field is much more cost-effective than leaving them to fight while Guangrui's army attacks the city.

Although Xiao Ding is young, he is a veteran soldier and knows how to arouse the anger of his opponents.

He adopted such a posture to force his opponent to jump in and test the waters even though he knew it was a trap.

Morale is invisible and intangible, but sometimes it can really affect the trend of a war.

The Dingnan Army had not yet come out. Xin Jian raised his head and looked at the city wall in the distance, thinking that the enemy must have seen through the commander's intention and made up his mind to be a turtle.

"General!" From the west, a rider rolled up a long snow dragon and shouted loudly as he ran towards us. "The enemy is riding, the enemy is riding!"

While running and calling, he raised his arms and made a gesture.

About five hundred riders!

Xin Jian felt relieved.

The commander of Xindao was indeed an old man on the battlefield. He estimated that there would be at most 500 cavalry in the city, and as expected, the opponent came with 500 cavalry.

Just right!

He jumped on the horse, raised his spear, and looked at the iron kites jumping on the horse behind him.

They are Iron Kites, not the cavalry of the Guangrui Army.

"You are riding the best horses and wearing the best armor. You should be the bravest heroes!" Xin Jian shouted: "Kill one enemy horse and you will be rewarded with a lot of money. If you kill three enemy horsemen, you will be promoted to one level."

"Yo ho!"

Behind Xin Jian, five hundred armored kites cheered in unison.

They were the leaders among the iron kites, so they were the first to have armor. Even the horses under their crotches were covered with leather armor. The equipment on each of them would cost at least dozens of pieces if converted into money.

And things like armor, even if you have money, you may not have a place to buy them. Even if Xiao Cheng has the father of the Third Secretary on his head, Luo Gang, in the name of the father of the Dongfu Xianggong, is in Shaanxi

On the way, they only managed to squeeze out 300 pairs, and the rest was a little inventory of the Guangrui Army and the Dingnan Army. Then Tuoba Yangwei and Ren Duogui each contributed dozens of them to get this many.

Making a pair of armor is too time-consuming and laborious.

Just like now, Xiao Cheng owns an iron mine in Hengshan, sets up an iron smelting workshop, and recruits a large number of blacksmiths. However, he can only make one or two pairs of armor in a month, and the efficiency is terrible.

.

A pair of armor has hundreds or even thousands of iron pieces, which are all hammered out by hand, and then strung up one by one with cowhide ropes. Not only is this a labor of love, but it also requires a lot of manpower. Now Xiao Cheng,

It is simply impossible to manufacture armor on a large scale.

Five hundred iron kites in armor are now the front line of the Guangrui Army. You must know that even the cavalry of the Guangrui Army's headquarters are only wearing leather armor, with iron plates inlaid on vital parts.

Similarly, as the distress troops of the former Song Dynasty Forbidden Army, their equipment was only wearing leather armor.

Cavalry wear leather armor, which is lighter, more flexible, and can support longer battles. After all, armor weighing dozens of kilograms is a heavy burden for both soldiers and horses.

It is impossible for them to travel long distances wearing armor.

But scenes like today are exactly their strengths.

A head-to-head confrontation, a needle-point against a thorn.

Xin Jian rushed out first with a bunch of horses. For the newly formed Tie Yaozi, promotion and wealth were still the most effective means of motivation. In fact, even the headquarters of the Guangrui Army did not discuss their merits after the battle.

reward.

Five hundred strong cavalry suddenly appeared from the corner of the city wall on the west side, shouting and running towards them.

There were only five hundred cavalry, but when the five hundred cavalry dispersed and charged, the momentum was still extremely terrifying.

Under the leadership of Guo Peng, they rushed directly to the camp being established by Guangrui Army.

What greeted them was a torrent of steel with only 500 people.

On the city wall, when Zuo Qiuming first saw the steel cavalry emerging from the Guangrui Army camp, his eyes suddenly narrowed, and his hand suddenly grasped the handle of the knife at his waist.

He leaned forward and groaned slightly in pain.

He knows the goods.

He would never have thought that Guangrui's army actually had a heavy armored cavalry.

On such a small battlefield, light cavalry and heavy armored cavalry collided head-on, and one can imagine the outcome.

He no longer thinks about victory or beheading. He only hopes that Guo Peng can bring a few more people back.

"Come here, bring the archers up and prepare to cover General Guo!" Zuo Qiuming shouted.

Guo Peng is not a reckless man. Seeing such a situation, he will definitely not entangle with the enemy. Getting rid of the opponent and escaping back is his best choice.
Chapter completed!