Chapter 1055: Plundering Jiexiu

Due to the heavy losses in the capture of Qiumaling, Houmo Chenxiang did not rush to attack again. Instead, he chose to temporarily stop his troops at Qiumaling and repair the garrison that was quite damaged in the previous battle.

In this way, he not only consolidated the current results of the battle, but also allowed the soldiers to rest for a while, and waited for the advance in the direction of Qianlijing to take effect before cooperating with the attack, but his plan was destined to be disappointed.

Although the distance between Queshu Valley and Qianlijing was not far, and the closest distance was only a few miles, it was difficult to communicate directly with each other due to the obstruction of high mountains and dense forests. They could only communicate through the entrance and exit at the rear.

Although Houmo Chenxiang also arranged personnel along the way to deliver messages, the efficiency of communication based entirely on human power was not high.

In the afternoon, Houmo Chenxiang was still supervising the soldiers to strengthen the fortress defense, but the Wei army on the south side of Qiumaling suddenly launched an attack. Although the offensive was not fierce, it still made Houmo Chenxiang alert.

It should be noted that in the previous two days of fighting, the Wei army had been in a passive defensive state, fighting and retreating, but now they fought back and tried to recapture the lost mountain road. This different approach must mean that some unpredictable variables have occurred on the opposite side.

So Houmo Chenxiang ordered his soldiers to defend the fortress of Qiumaling, while he asked people to go north to inquire about the situation of the troops along Qianlijing.

The Wei army's attack was mainly through long-range weapons such as bows and arrows, while the counterattack of the Qi army was relatively monotonous.

Because the troops who went to Heyang before took away too many bows and arrows, Jinyang had not replenished them in a short time, so Houmo Chenxiang's troops did not carry many bows and arrows, and the soldiers' means of combat were also greatly restricted. They could only stay in the camp, avoiding stray arrows while guarding against the enemy climbing the wall.

Although the Wei army launched a counterattack, they were not in a hurry to engage in hand-to-hand combat. In a terrain like Queshu Valley, if the two sides did not engage in close combat, the actual damage that could be caused was very limited, and the fighting process was also very boring and unremarkable.

The Wei army's offensive was wave after wave. Although the intensity was not high, it was not interrupted. Rather than launching a counterattack, it was more like consuming the patience and strength of the Qi army.

"Could it be that the Qiang thieves are going to feint in the daytime and attack the camp at night?"

Seeing the enemy's offensive, Hou Mochen Xiang couldn't help but think secretly. After a little hesitation, he arranged a team of reserve soldiers to prepare firewood and other night battle supplies to avoid being attacked by the enemy unexpectedly and retaking the fortress.

In the evening, the Wei army's offensive intensified. It was no longer just a long-range stray arrow harassment. It had begun to deploy heavy armored infantry. Several people formed combat teams in front and behind, and dozens of teams climbed along the mountain road to Qiuma Ridge.

Hou Mochen Xiang looked at the sky and confirmed his guess that the enemy was going to fight at night, so he ordered the reserve troops in the fortress to prepare meals in advance, so that they could deal with the increasingly fierce attack of the enemy.

But at this moment, the soldier he sent to the rear to get the news rushed into the camp, and said in a panic: "Report to the king, the division brigade on Qianlijing was ambushed by the enemy and was defeated and retreated. The enemy, the enemy is still chasing all the way, and will rush out of Qianlijing and attack Jiexiu City..."

"Is this true?"

Hearing this, Hou Mochen Xiang's face suddenly changed, and even his thoughts were a little blocked for a while. After a while, he was awakened by the noisy and fierce sound of metal clashing from the direction of the fortress wall.

When he saw the Wei army soldiers attacking fiercely, he realized that the enemy was not going to launch a night battle. It was clear that they knew they were in a difficult situation and intensified their offensive, just to create a dilemma for them. Originally, he had planned to encircle the enemy from the front and back, but now the enemy used it against him.

"Hold on, and repel this wave of enemy attacks!"

In a flash, many thoughts flashed through Hou Mochen Xiang's mind. Although he knew that the retreat was in danger, he knew that it was not appropriate to withdraw his troops and horses from here. The enemy was counterattacking fiercely. Once their soldiers retreated, the enemy would definitely follow them. At that time, it would be difficult for the front and back teams to control each other in this rugged mountain road. Once the front and back lost their discipline, they would inevitably be defeated!

Qianlijing and Queshu Valley were difficult to communicate with each other. The enemy's intelligence transmission must be very immediacy and seriously delayed. The enemy here might not be clear about the specific movements of other troops and horses, so the best way at the moment was to stubbornly and resolutely defeat the enemy's attack and make them wonder if other routes were ineffective? When the enemy slowed down the offensive to save soldiers and strength, it would be a good opportunity to withdraw troops and horses and retreat.

Therefore, under the command of Houmo Chenxiang, the Qi army soldiers in the fortress had no other plans, but just focused on fighting fiercely with the attacking Wei army soldiers.

Gao Le, who was also supervising the battle on the south side of Qiumaling, saw that the enemy in the fortress was still fighting tenaciously and there was no sign of defeat, while the casualties of the attacking soldiers were rising rapidly, so he couldn't help but frowned.

He didn't think that He Ruodun's offensive was frustrated, but he guessed that the enemy's intelligence transmission was delayed, so the enemy generals here didn't know that the rear was harassed, so they still wanted to fight?

At this moment, the sun had already sunk behind the mountains in the west. Seeing that it was getting dark, Gao Le also ordered the troops to retreat. Unless the enemy army also had new reinforcements in a short time, it would only be a matter of time before the Qiuma Ridge was recaptured. Fighting further would only increase casualties.

As the Wei army temporarily withdrew from the battlefield, the battle of Qiuma Ridge also came to a temporary end. Hou Mochen Xiang seemed to be still quite calm, but in fact he was already extremely anxious.

It was already evening when he received the news. The enemy army that had been attacking for thousands of miles must have entered the north of Taiyue Mountain. It was unknown how much chaos had been caused in the rear, but he was blocked by the offensive of the enemy army in front of him and did not dare to move lightly.

After the battle was suspended, he no longer concealed it and hurriedly ordered the soldiers to pack up and evacuate to the rear overnight. In order to prevent the enemy army from chasing too close, he also left some soldiers to ambush and block the enemy in dangerous places along the way.

Not to mention the fighting and psychological games between the two sides in Queshu Valley, He Ruo Dun and his party marched northward along the route of the enemy's defeat. When they rested for a while on the way, they also waited for the news that the troops in the rear had increased. After the front and back joined, they accelerated their progress.

There was no need to worry about getting lost this time. In addition to the Qi army captives in the team as guides, there were also various traces left along the way by the Qi army soldiers who had fled before. So He Ruo Dun and his party trudged dozens of miles of mountain roads in one go, and finally rushed out of the Qianli Trail when it was almost dark in the evening.

Although they were already exhausted at this time, they saw that the vision was gradually widening, and they saw flat fields and low earth mounds, no longer the irritating mountains and rocks, and they were in a very happy mood.

Outside the Qianli Trail was a fortress, which was originally owned by the soldiers of Nanshuo Prefecture. Before, the soldiers were transferred south, and only their families were left behind. But probably because the defeated soldiers who had traveled thousands of miles before informed the enemy, the fortress is now deserted.

He Ruodun and his party rested here for a while, then put on their armor and mounted their horses. After leaving the fortress, they marched north along the military road, and hundreds of cavalrymen headed straight for Jiexiu City. Along the way, there were many fleeing people, mainly the elderly, women, children and other families of soldiers from Nanshuo Prefecture.

These people also heard the news of the enemy army entering the country. Fearing being attacked, they dragged their families and their belongings to Jiexiu City to avoid the war, but they did not expect to encounter the enemy directly on the road. There were constant cries of despair in the team.

Although the Western Wei army has never regarded women, children, and the elderly as meritorious, these soldiers' families often carried wealth when they fled, which was very coveted when they saw it on the road. Although the Wei army had strict military discipline, not everyone was a moral model. Seeing the wealth scattered along the way by the Qi people, some people naturally became greedy.

But He Ruo Dun knew the importance of the matter and had a clear goal. He not only turned a blind eye to the fleeing people, but also shouted to the troops behind him: "First, take Jiexiu City, and don't fight along the way!"

After hearing this, the knights all retracted their sights and rode their horses attentively, finally arriving at the city of Jiexiu before dark.

At this time, the inside and outside of Jiexiu City were also in chaos. There were defenders in the city, but many soldiers' families in the surrounding fields rushed into the city to take refuge. The carriages and horses were all blocked inside and outside the city gates. Even if the defenders wanted to close the city gates and strengthen the city defense, they were also obstructed.

When He Ruo Dun and his party rushed to the city, scaring away the crowded crowd outside the city, the open city gate appeared in front of them. Although there were still generals and soldiers shouting to gather armored soldiers to fight in the city, many armored soldiers were either coerced by the crowd or abandoned their weapons and fled, so how could they organize an effective interception and counterattack?

"The great Wei army has entered here to fight the enemy. The people in the city should leave quickly. Staying in the city will kill you!"

He Ruodun had been in the military for a long time and naturally knew how to cause greater panic. After he led his troops out of the city on horseback, he was not in a hurry to occupy the key points in the city, nor was he in a hurry to kill people. Instead, he ordered the soldiers to ride on horses in front of the alleys in the city, and drove all the people in the city out of the city. Then he found the warehouses in the city and scattered the stocks in the warehouses in the alleys, allowing the rioters to pick up and scramble.

After riding back and forth in the city for nearly an hour, he collected some war horses and combat supplies, and then started to set fire from all sides of the core area of ​​the city.

When the soldiers gathered in the east of the city again, the fire in Jiexiu City was also spreading rapidly. This city is located near the Fen River, so it was not afraid of this disaster. However, at this time, all the residents in the city had fled to the suburbs. Even if there were still some bandits and rioters left in the city, they were mainly for looting storage materials and had no time to put out the fire.

"This trip has yielded a lot of harvest. Return to Qianli Jingkou for a short rest and return tomorrow morning!"

He Ruodun also knew how to stop when he saw the good. He waved his hand to greet his followers, and then took the lead to rein in his horse and go in the direction of the way he came. The group of followers behind him also rode their horses while pulling the horses full of harvest and followed them, heading south all the way.

The same was true for He Ruobi in the team. He led two war horses behind him, and on their backs were several pieces of fine armor and other excellent weapons selected from the enemy city's arsenal.

Because there were so many spoils of war, the horses would drop items when they ran. He originally wanted to stop to pick them up, but his father and his companions had no intention of stopping. Fearing that they would fall behind, he could only keep running fast. Every time he heard items falling from the back, he would grimace in pain.