He shook his head and looked at Zhou Zhengqing: "Go, get me a pot of wine."
This time, Zhou Zhengqing didn't try to persuade him. He simply responded and turned to leave the study.
Guo Jiwang sat alone in his study and sighed.
He recalled what Wu Shuangren had told him—
Everyone has a scale in their heart.
Several thousand elderly people cannot walk fast, and their families are very likely to accompany them, making a total of nearly ten thousand people. These people will eventually be captured by Mount Liang and forced to attack the city.
The lives of nearly ten thousand people, coupled with the morale and spirit of the Yi Province Militia, and even the morale of the entire Yi Province in the future.
This is one side of the scale in Wu Shuangren's heart.
Guo Jiwang felt that the combined weight of these things was not enough to make Wu Shuangren risk his life and lead the Yi Province Militia on a dangerous mission.
But Wu Shuangren's algorithm is clearly different from his.
On the official road, Yan Xiaobing led three thousand vanguard soldiers on a rapid march.
His vanguard consisted of over a hundred cavalrymen, but he did not send them out to pursue Wu Shuangren and his men.
Because Wu Shuangren had more cavalry under his command, and sent more than a hundred riders ahead, Yan Xiaobing worried that they might not return.
The reason why Mount Liang's 6,000 troops were defeated was because all the First Rate experts led more than 100 elite cavalrymen into Yi Prefecture City first, leaving the remaining 6,000 to be ambushed and routed by Wu Shuangren.
Yan Xiaobing will not give Wu Shuangren a second chance like this!
Before marching, he arranged the troops into formation, with soldiers carrying shields on the outer perimeter and those carrying shields evenly distributed throughout the ranks.
In this way, if an ambush occurs and arrows rain down from the mountains and forests along the road, these soldiers can raise their shields immediately to protect the vast majority of the people.
Yan Xiaobing also distributed the best soldiers in the army as evenly as possible throughout the ranks to prevent the army from being scattered and revealing obvious weaknesses.
He was prepared to be ambushed!
Yan Xiaobing would be apprehensive about fighting nine thousand men with three thousand. But Yan Xiaobing didn't believe his side was without a fighting chance against four thousand.
The worst outcome would be that they would be defeated, and Wu Shuangren would inevitably pay the price!
If Wu Shuangren chooses to engage them in battle, regardless of victory or defeat, it will inevitably deplete a lot of their stamina, increase the number of wounded, and thus slow down their march.
In this way, Yan Xiaobing's tactical objective was achieved.
What he wanted was to hold back Wu Shuangren's more than four thousand men so that he could devour them once the main force caught up!
Even if you can't finish it, you should still bite off a piece of meat!
After realizing he had been Wu Shuangren, Yan Xiaobing was seething with anger, waiting for an opportunity to vent his frustration.
Five riders were galloping ahead on the official road.
This is a scout sent out by Yan Xiaobing.
Suddenly, dozens of riders appeared ahead of them. The five Mount Liang scouts immediately reined in their horses and stopped.
As the cavalrymen in front caught up, the five Mount Liang scouts decisively turned their horses around and began to retreat.
The two riders leading the pursuit were Wu Dongrong and Liao Yu. Just like last time, when they closed the distance to about a hundred paces, they took out their bows, nocked the strings, and shot arrows.
This time, however, the five scouts in front were all skilled martial artists with sharp reflexes. They either dodged the arrows or deflected them with their weapons in time.
The five scouts then turned around on horseback and returned fire. Their archery skills were quite impressive, posing a certain threat to Wu Dongrong and Liao Yu.
After exchanging two rounds of fire, Wu Shuangren and Xu Jing caught up on horseback and joined the battle.
The five Mount Liang scouts, under increasing pressure, resorted to slashing their horses' hindquarters with their steel blades to spur them into a frenzied gallop!
In the end, the four men left only three scouts behind. They first shot and wounded the horses of these three men, and then killed the three who had fallen from their horses one by one.
A moment later, Wu Shuangren, leading several dozen riders, spotted the Mount Liang vanguard army marching ahead.
The enemy had also learned of Wu Shuangren and his men's approach through scouts and were prepared.
Yan Xiaobing did not order a halt to the advance. Instead, he instructed all the soldiers carrying shields to raise their shields, and the column moved forward slowly.
"Archers, prepare!"
Yan Xiaobing activated his Internal Skill and loudly gave the order to the group.
Next, as Wu Shuangren led his cavalry closer and entered the range of the Mount Liang archers, a volley of arrows rained down!
The dozens of riders brought by Wu Shuangren were all dressed in lamellar armor and carried shields in one hand.
The men scattered, raised their shields, and crouched low on their horses, using their shields to protect both their own heads and their horses' heads. In this way, they rode forward through the rain of arrows.
Some arrows struck the shields, while others bypassed them and hit the cavalry behind, but were blocked by their lamellar armor.
The cavalry did not get too close. When they were about 150 paces away from the front ranks of the Mount Liang vanguard, the cavalrymen at the forefront revealed the powerful crossbows they were holding in their other hands.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Arrows pierced the air and landed on the ranks of the Mount Liang vanguard.
After the first cavalry unit fired all their crossbow bolts, they immediately retreated in an arc, followed by the second cavalry unit charging forward and firing their own crossbow bolts...
This process is repeated, creating a wave-like attack.
Compared to shooting at fast-moving and scattered targets, shooting at a fixed target like a group of people huddled together obviously has a much higher hit rate!
In the Mount Liang ranks, some archers who didn't have time to hide behind their shields were hit by crossbow bolts. Some died instantly from throat piercings, while others were riddled with arrows and screamed in agony...
The Mount Liang ranks stirred, and the stench of blood filled the air.
For a moment, the rain of arrows fired by the Mount Liang troops became sparse.
"Don't panic! Maintain formation!"
Yan Xiaobing shouted in the ranks and ordered the wounded to be pulled away to prevent them from disrupting the formation.
As long as the infantry maintains its formation, Wu Shuangren's light cavalry would never dare to charge directly into the enemy lines!
As expected, after several rounds of firing, Wu Shuangren led his cavalry in a wave-like firing pattern, then retreated to outside the range of the crossbows and reloaded their powerful crossbows.
Yan Xiaobing quickly reorganized his team and ordered them to continue advancing!
Next, Wu Shuangren led his team in two more wave-like firing maneuvers.
The vanguard of Mount Liang suffered dozens of wounds, but they never stopped advancing.
Several cavalrymen brought by Wu Shuangren also suffered casualties.
"We can't continue. This terrain isn't suitable for cavalry harassment; it has to be on flat ground."
In the ranks, Wu Dongrong suddenly said to Wu Shuangren, "I just noticed that the cavalry of the Mount Liang army has been moved to the front. The enemy general must have deliberately let us fire a few rounds to lower our guard."
If we charge in with arrows again next time, the enemy will likely send cavalry to pursue and engage us in close combat. Once we're entangled, and a large force of infantry catches up from behind, it will be very difficult for us to escape."
Wu Shuangren nodded.
This is the benefit of having experienced veterans by your side.
Even if Wu Dongrong, a veteran, didn't Guo Jiwang, he could at least ensure that Wu Shuangren made no mistakes or made fewer mistakes.
Although Wu Shuangren had more than 300 cavalrymen at his disposal, few of them were skilled riders, and he also had a limited number of powerful crossbows.
In addition, the surrounding terrain is mostly mountainous and forested, making it difficult for cavalry to take advantage of flanking maneuvers.
Most importantly, the enemy also had cavalry, so they were not without the ability to retaliate.
After listening to Wu Dongrong's words, Wu Shuangren knew that continuing to harass the enemy with cavalry was no longer feasible.
He roughly estimated that the previous marching speed of this Mount Liang vanguard army was much faster than the overall marching speed of the First Battalion, Second Battalion, Third Battalion and Sixth Battalion of the Yi Province Militia.
If we don't stop them, those four battalions will be caught up by noon tomorrow at the latest.
Wu Shuangren could also order those four battalions to stop conserving their fighting strength and flee with all their might.
But if they did that, the people of Linwen County who were left behind, as well as the other Militia Private who helped with the retreat, would be the ones caught up by the Mount Liang vanguard.
"Then we'll just have to find a place to have a sniper battle!"
Wu Shuangren said in a deep voice.
He had already made such preparations when he decided to lead his troops out.
Let's go.
Wu Shuangren turned his horse around and led the group far away.
The two sides did not clash again for the rest of the journey.
Wu Shuangren led more than 300 cavalrymen at the forefront. Whenever Yan Xiaobing's scouts spotted them from afar, they would turn back.
Yan Xiaobing led three thousand vanguard soldiers on a rapid march behind them. The troops sometimes walked quickly, sometimes jogged, sometimes walked slowly, and sometimes stopped to rest.
Marching is a skill that tests a general's ability. He must ensure that the marching speed is fast enough, while also ensuring that most of the soldiers are physically fit enough to deal with a sudden battle.
So far, Yan Xiaobing has done a good job. He led a group of Mount Liang elites, and their overall marching speed was superior to that of the Yi Province Militia.
In the afternoon, on the official road leading from Linwen County to Yi Prefecture City.
The Militia Private of Yi Province Militia, consisting of battalions one, two, three, and Sixth Battalion, had caught up with the last group of civilians.
Among these people were elderly people with mobility issues, mothers carrying children on their backs, and men pushing wheelbarrows...
Some vehicles got stuck in the mud, and several Militia Private quickly gathered around to help. Some carried the elderly in the group on their backs, while others took the luggage and carried it on their shoulders.
Some people were too tired to walk and sat by the roadside, panting.
A young Militia Private walked over, handed his water bag to someone, and then knelt down to tie straw sandals for a barefoot child.
The child's mother wiped away tears, repeatedly saying, "Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"
The young Militia Private was a little embarrassed. "I'm also from Linwen County, we're from the same hometown, no need to be so polite."
After saying that, he picked the child up again and continued walking.
The procession of several thousand people had not gone far when suddenly a few riders caught up from the rear.
The rider, clad in lamellar armor and carrying a command flag, shouted as he rode:
"Yi Province Militia, First Battalion, Second Battalion, Third Battalion, and Sixth Battalion, listen to my command: Turn around immediately!"
Upon hearing the order, the battalion commanders of the four battalions shouted loudly:
"Third First Battalion, First Battalion, assemble!"
"The Third Battalion, Fourth Detachment..."
Upon hearing the order, the Militia Private put down the elderly they were carrying, returned the children they were holding to their parents, gently placed the bundles they were carrying on the ground, and then one by one turned around and ran back the way they had come.
The team still included more than half of the Fifth Battalion. Shi Chen, the battalion commander of the Fifth Battalion, waved and stopped a cavalryman who was delivering a message.
When the cavalryman on horseback saw that Shi Chen was wearing the shoulder insignia of Senior Militia Colonel, he reined in his horse and was about to dismount and salute.
"Hey brother, no need to dismount, no need to dismount."
Shi Chen quickly waved his hand, "I just want to ask, why did you make those four battalions turn back?"
The messenger on horseback hesitated for a moment.
Seeing this, Shi Chen immediately said, "I understand the rules. If it's inconvenient to say, then forget it."
"The higher-ups didn't say anything about keeping it a secret... but they also didn't specify the exact mission. I think it's something like the enemy is catching up, and someone needs to go back and stop them."
The messenger on horseback spoke.
"I see."
Shi Chen's expression was somewhat complicated. He nodded, "Thanks, brother."
"You're welcome."
The messenger rode forward on horseback.
"Yi Province Militia, First Battalion, Second Battalion, Third Battalion, and Sixth Battalion, listen to my command: Turn around immediately!"
The other person kept shouting, their voice growing fainter and fainter in the distance.
Shi Chen felt a pang of unease as he watched the Militia Private around him gathering in the opposite direction.
He had actually guessed the answer; it could only be that the enemy behind them had caught up, which was why Wu Shuangren ordered the four Militia Private to turn back.