Chapter 1054: Pursuing the Victory

The Qianli Trail was rugged and difficult to travel, and even for the soldiers of Northern Qi, they just gritted their teeth and rushed on.

This mountain road can even be said to be uneven, because it is too troublesome to go back and forth to supply, there are no garrisons on the dozens of miles of mountain roads to guard the key points, and only some patrols are sent back and forth to patrol and pass on messages when necessary.

After a fierce battle for most of the day yesterday, the Qi army finally captured the fortress set up by the Wei army on the Prison Horse Ridge in the evening, but it also paid the price of nearly a thousand casualties. It should be noted that Hou Mochenxiang only brought 5,000 troops to guard the key road this time, and as a result, nearly one-fifth of the casualties were paid just to remove a stronghold. Such a price is undoubtedly very huge.

So after the battle stopped yesterday evening, Hou Mochenxiang sent another order to urge the troops on the Qianli Trail to speed up their march, and they must take advantage of the enemy's forces before entering the Qianli Trail to bypass the enemy's rear, so as to cooperate with the frontal attack to recapture Queshu Valley.

Therefore, although it was too dangerous and difficult to walk on this mountain road at night, the Qi army soldiers still relied on amazing perseverance to travel day and night, and traveled most of the way in one day and one night. They only needed to walk through the winding mountain road less than 20 miles ahead to walk out of the Thousand Mile Trail.

And during their march, they lost as many as two or three hundred war horses. If it were not for the race for time, such a heavy price would be unbearable.

Apart from the lost war horses and injured soldiers, there were still more than 1,300 people who could continue to move forward. They dug a spring in a valley to get water, ate a little and watered the horses before continuing on their way.

"After crossing the pass ahead, you can take a short rest. In the afternoon, you can walk out of the Thousand Mile Trail and turn to the high wall. It will cooperate with the attack on Queshu Valley and wipe out the enemy in one fell swoop..."

A general climbed up to look far away and was still encouraging morale, but unexpectedly, a strong arrow suddenly flew out from the rocks on the side and penetrated deeply into his chest, causing the general to fall directly to the ground and die on the spot.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

When the Qi army soldiers saw this scene, they were immediately shocked. The soldiers in front shouted loudly to warn, and the troops in the back were already in chaos.

After shooting the enemy general with an arrow, He Ruo Dun handed the longbow and Hu Lu to his son He Ruo Bi, and then shouted loudly: "You stay here to continue shooting the enemy, and the rest of you follow me to attack the enemy formation!"

While speaking, he jumped off the rocks with his saber in his hand and rushed to the enemy team in front of him. More than 50 soldiers followed him and divided more than 20 people to continue to stay behind the bunker to shoot the enemy, and the others all followed He Ruo Dun to kill with knives.

The wood and stones on the mountain road severely restricted people's vision. For a while, the Qi army soldiers could not tell how many enemies were ambushed here. Seeing that even the general was shot dead by an arrow, the rest of the already exhausted people became more panicked. When they heard the fierce shouts of the enemy, they subconsciously withdrew and retreated.

Although there were more than a thousand Qi soldiers, they could only line up like a long snake in this winding mountain road. In order to save horsepower, the horses were arranged at the back of the team and led by the soldiers. When the soldiers in front retreated to the back, it immediately caused congestion and chaos on the mountain road.

He Ruodun was one of the most brave generals in the Western Wei Dynasty. The guards around him were also elite soldiers who could fight ten to one. Because they had noticed the enemy's movements first and planned for a long time, they suddenly launched an attack at this time, which was unstoppable.

He held a war knife in his hand, like a tiger running in the mountains and forests, and rushed into the chaotic formation of the enemy army. When he raised his knife and fell, blood and flesh flew everywhere. Although some enemy soldiers bravely waved their swords to resist, no one could match his blade. With his own strength, he cut a bloody passage several feet long in the enemy team. As the troops in the rear joined the battle, the passage continued to spread inward, killing the enemy!

"Aye is so brave, this is what He Ruobi's father should be like!"

On the mountain wall, He Ruobi saw his father's brave and heroic posture in killing the enemy, and couldn't help but cheer loudly, and his shouting seemed to vaguely reveal something, as if it was just a stranger who led him to wander in the mountains and wilderness yesterday and couldn't get out.

Inspired by his father's heroic spirit, He Ruobi was also ready to shoot the enemy with his bow. However, although he was getting older and his physique was no less than that of an adult, he was still a little weaker. The strong bow used by his father was still quite strenuous for him. After a brief attempt, he wisely gave up and hung the longbow on his back, shouting loudly: "How can a good man avoid the sharp blade? He should bravely kill the enemy!"

While shouting, he also held a sword and ran in the direction of his father's group. Seeing this, other archers beside him also hurriedly followed, running and shooting at the fleeing enemies.

"The Eastern thieves, die!"

Several enemy soldiers were in front of him. He Ruobi roared and swung his sword to chop at the enemy. The enemy soldier swung his sword to block, but the sword in his hand was directly chopped off by He Ruobi. Then the blade, which was still full of power, directly cut open the enemy's ribs and abdomen, and the blood and organs in the abdomen directly splashed all over He Ruobi.

“Ah, ah…”

He Ruobi was a little busy trying to shake off the dirt on his body, so he didn't have time to fight against another enemy soldier who came back to kill him. Seeing the enemy's sword also slashing at his chest, he could only fall back in panic. Just then, a soldier behind him shot the enemy soldier, and then rushed up to look at He Ruobi lying on the ground covered in blood and asked in a hurry: "Are you injured?"

"No, no..."

The first time he faced life and death at such a close distance, it was more or less a challenge to the boy's endurance. He Ruobi was a little slow in speaking. He stood up with the help of the guards, looked down at the blood on his body, grabbed a handful of blood and slapped it on his face to show that he was not surprised. He screamed twice, then picked up a horse bow left by an enemy soldier, followed the soldiers and fled outside the battlefield, frequently shooting at the enemy soldiers, and no longer shouted what a good man should do.

Although He Ruodun had only a few dozen followers, he took advantage of the favorable terrain to wait for the enemy to tire out and actually killed thousands of enemy troops. Especially as the enemy soldiers retreated into the warhorse team, the warhorses were also frightened and fled, making the defeat even more difficult to reverse. Many Qi soldiers completely scattered on the mountain road.

After killing the enemy, He Ruodun did not continue to expand the scope of pursuit, but led his troops to capture dozens of enemy soldiers nearby and interrogate them one by one.

While the troops were still interrogating the captives, He Ruobi joined the other archers. He Ruodun saw his son covered in blood, and immediately rolled his eyes, raised his hand and slapped him, and scolded him: "Killing the enemy in battle is especially important. You are a pig-dog who is skinned alive. It seems that you are going to die in battle. Who can be scared!"

The family education of the generals is so simple and unpretentious. He Ruobi was already exhausted after the excitement. He was slapped by his father and turned half a circle on the spot. He also laughed and boasted: "Aye, I killed several people in my first battle. Am I a hero?"

He Ruodun ignored his son's boasting, turned around and ordered the troops to clean up the battlefield, and he personally interrogated the captives. The first thing to determine is of course their current location, and then the various military information of the enemy.

Through interrogating these prisoners, He Ruo Dun learned that although they lost their way yesterday, they had walked a long distance in the Thousand Mile Trail, and their current location was nearly 20 miles away from the southern exit.

What surprised He Ruo Dun the most was the enemy situation explained by these prisoners. It turned out that the Qi army on the opposite side had not yet come south in large numbers. Jinyang was now even more empty than they had expected. The only troops coming south to fight were the few thousand troops led by the Baishui prince Mo Chenxiang.

"Since the enemy is weak, we should be brave and enter!"

When He Ruo Dun learned that the enemy was not strong, he became excited. He naturally did not dare to attack Jinyang City, but he could attack Jiexiu City, which was close to the northern end of the mountain range, to disrupt the enemy's counterattack against Queshu Valley and disturb the enemy's hinterland.

With this in mind, he ordered his men to prepare meals, fill their stomachs with captured enemy supplies, and collect usable war horses, armor and other equipment. It was naturally difficult to gallop on the Thousand Mile Trail, but once they went north out of the mountainous area, the more mounts they had in reserve, the faster they could move in the enemy's territory.

"Hurry up and eat. After eating, go south to report the news and lead the reinforcements to the north to meet me!"

Although He Ruo Dun did not dote on his son, he would not take his son with him on such a dangerous mission. After all, this young boy was not useful, so he urged He Ruo Bi to fill his stomach quickly and meet the reinforcements, while he led more than 40 men and took some captives to the north. According to the route, they could travel out of the Thousand Mile Trail and enter the enemy's territory by dusk.

He Ruobi was full of blood after a battle. Hearing that his father refused to take him, he felt a little disappointed, but he didn't dare to be willful. He could only swallow the millet rice while looking at his father and whispered: "Father, please be careful. I will attract reinforcements to the north as soon as possible!"

However, He Ruobi didn't feel disappointed for too long. After the father and son separated, He Ruobi and several soldiers took two captives as guides to the south for a few miles, and met the tribesmen who went into the mountains to look for them before dawn because they had not returned all night. He Ruobi was very happy and hurriedly led these hundreds of soldiers to chase his father along the road to the north, and sent another person to the south to return to the camp to report the news.

On Jiqiyuan outside the mountain road, Gao Le came last night to meet and discuss military affairs after learning that He Ruodun led his army to come. As a result, he was told that He Ruodun had gone out for inspection and had not returned. When he came again in the morning, he found out that he had not returned all night. He knew that this guy was probably lost in the mountains. For a while, he was angry and amused.

But when the news came in the morning, He Ruo Dun had already led his troops to the north of Jiexiu City. Gao Le did not have time to sigh at He Ruo Dun's bad luck. After learning the enemy's strength, he immediately returned to Queshu Valley and arranged for his troops to launch a counterattack.