Chapter 971 The tacit understanding between the two commanders

When the gong sounded at three o'clock in the night, two hundred thousand Yellow Turban troops poured out of Qiandu like an inky torrent.

Meng Zhang was stationed outside the city gate, looking at the long line of torches that seemed to have no end, and suddenly he recalled the snowy night when he took part in the Luzhou uprising three years ago.

At that time, he had only 3,000 hungry people in his hands, except for a small group of Qinglong Legion he brought with him. But now, the Yellow Turban Army of Luzhou under his command was able to shake the entire country.

Li Cunxiao led 3,000 Flying Tiger cavalrymen and took the lead. The dark torrent glowed coldly under the moonlight. The central army formation stretched for several miles. The baggage carts rolled over the official road, pressing the juice of the weeds in the cracks of the stone slabs to flow.

Meng Zhang was riding alone and fell behind, looking at the flames rising into the sky in the direction of Qiandu.

"General, the vanguard has reached Qianling County twenty miles away."

When the scout came to report the time, the sky was just beginning to turn pale.

"Qiao Shefei, do you dare to make a bet with me?"

Meng Zhang reined in his horse and looked into the distance. Gu Changqing's central army flag was faintly visible in the morning mist. The word "Gu" embroidered with gold thread was so dazzling in the morning sun that it hurt his eyes. He suddenly chuckled.

"What are you gambling?"

Qiao Shefei was wiping the pair of doomsday blades in his hands. The cold and sharp edges made the scar on his brow look even more hideous.

"I bet on whether Gu Changqing dares to fight me head-on."

"I bet he doesn't dare!"

Meng Zhang waved the whip in his hand and pointed it straight ahead.

"Why?"

Qiao Shefei frowned and asked curiously.

"Because he's old!"

"The veterans don't dare to gamble, don't dare to fight, they can only watch this coach..."

Meng Zhang looked at the big flag in the morning light, his eyes flickering.

"Look at the battle flags of the Yellow Turban Army, planted all over every inch of Daqian land!"

He suddenly squeezed the horse's belly, and the black horse neighed loudly and rushed towards the morning mist.

At the same time, the steep cliffs on both sides of Hulu Valley were as sharp as if they were cut by knives or axes. The mist in the valley had not yet dissipated, and 50,000 elite soldiers of the Qinglong Army were lurking in the crevices and gullies like ghosts.

The two brothers Liang Fang and Liang Lin each led a unit. Their black battle robes blended in with the rugged rocks, and only the cold light of their swords and halberds was faintly visible in the mist.

"Brother, this Hulu Valley is really a place where families will be wiped out."

"If that old bastard Gu Changqing dares to come in, he will be caught in a trap."

Liang Fang squatted behind the Eagle's Beak Rock, looking at the official road at the bottom of the valley and sneering.

"Don't worry, Commander Meng said that this veteran is the best at observing details and knowing the big picture. We need to make the most of the show."

Liang Lin wiped the lonely silver hammer in his hand with a cloth, while his warhorse, Galaxymon, stood silently beside him. The jagged notches on the silver hammer recorded more than ten tough battles.

"Did you see those fleeing soldiers? You should cry more miserably so that the spies can see it clearly."

He looked at the figures in front of him and suddenly lowered his voice.

On the official road at the bottom of the valley, dozens of "ruined soldiers" were stumbling and fleeing northward. Their clothes and armor were torn, their faces were stained with blood, and they were crying out crazy things like "Qiandu has been lost" and "The Yellow Turban Army is massacring the city".

These "shadow soldiers" carefully trained by the Taiping Sect were able to act out the fear in their eyes to perfection.

Three hundred miles away, inside Gu Changqing's central military tent, seventeen dangerous passes in the Hulu Valley terrain on the sand table had been marked with cinnabar.

The old general's skinny fingers stroked the winding valley. A corner of the secret report on the desk was lifted by the morning breeze, revealing the words "Meng Zhang personally leads an army of 200,000 to attack."

"Duke Su, what do you think?"

Gu Changqing suddenly looked up, his eyes sharp.

"Meng Zhang is trying to lead you into a trap. The cliffs on both sides of Hulu Valley are steep. If we are ambushed, the heavy armored cavalry of the Wuxiong Guard will not be able to display their skills, and the mountain warfare tactics of the Chongyan Guard will also be useless."

Su Ye was leaning against the Qingluan screen sipping tea. Hearing this, he gently used the cup lid to flick away the floating leaves.

"Then according to the Duke Zhenguo's idea, we should take a detour?"

All the generals in the tent were startled, and Tan Mengjun's rough voice exploded first.

"The detour will cost us seven more days of food and fodder, so the Yellow Turban Army can take this opportunity to rest and recuperate."

Su Ye put down the teacup and tapped his jade ring on the table. "What's more..."

"Since Meng Zhang has used Patriarch Simangqiong as bait, if we don't take the bait, wouldn't that be a waste of his arrangement?"

He looked at the generals below with different expressions, and suddenly smiled.

The sound of war horses sneezing could be heard outside the tent, mixed with the unique neighing of white horses under Su Ye's command.

"But, Grand Master, do you really want to force your way into this pocket?"

I don't know when this Duke of Zhenguo walked to the side of the sand table, and his black cloak swept across the untied map on the ground like a ball of flowing night.

"You have to drill!"

"The Crown Prince's life or death is uncertain, and Patriarch Cangqiong and his men's tiger talisman is in Meng Zhang's hands - do you think the cries of those defeated soldiers are really fake?"

Gu Changqing suddenly smiled, with the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes revealing the gleam of swords and sabers.

"The fleeing soldiers from Qiandu kept coming in and said that when the Yellow Turban Army broke through Qiandu, Meng Zhang personally led the Yellow Turban warriors to guard the Suzaku Gate. Is this news false?"

He copied the secret report from the case, the edges of the pages were stained with blood.

"It's half true and half false. If Meng Zhang is really in Suzakumen, he should be rewarding the three armies in Qiandu right now. Why did he come to Hulu Valley to play the empty city trick?"

Su Ye played with the jade toad pendant on his waist, and the green jade glowed faintly in his palm.

"If you want to perform the Empty City Scheme sincerely, you must have a city."

"Meng Zhang sang the song of Qiandu City to us. If we don't respond, wouldn't that be a waste of his efforts?"

Gu Changqing's sword suddenly came out three inches, and the cold light swept across the valley terrain on the sand table.

The charcoal fire in the tent exploded with a crackling sound, and sparks flew onto Tan Mengjun's combat boots.

"I am willing to lead our elite troops as the vanguard to tear open the Azure Dragon Legion!"

The general who was suppressing the rebellion suddenly knelt on one knee.

"General Tan is brave."

"But since Meng Zhang has set up an ambush, he must have deployed an iron barrel formation at the entrance of the valley. No matter how fast the cavalry of Wuxiongwei is, can they be faster than the Flying Tiger Cavalry under Li Cunxiao?"

Su Ye walked slowly to the entrance of the tent, the morning light stretching his shadow very long.

"Duke Su wants me to set fire to Hulu Valley?"

Gu Changqing's eyes suddenly became as sharp as a knife as he looked at the sand table.

"The mountain wind here is very strong. If we attack with fire..."

He stretched out his hand and drew on the cliffs on both sides of Hulu Valley.

“I’m afraid it won’t work.”

"The scouts reported last night that it has been raining for days in Hulu Valley, and the mountain roads are extremely muddy. If we pour kerosene on it, I'm afraid it won't even produce sparks."

Su Ye shook his head, the white frost between his eyebrows gleaming silver in the morning light.

"Are we just going to let Meng Zhang run rampant?"

Tan Mengjun slammed his fist on the table, and the teacup jumped half a foot high.

"furious?"

"He, Meng Zhang, set up an ambush in Hulu Valley. Isn't that a gamble? I dare not use 400,000 troops to fill this hole!"

Gu Changqing suddenly burst into laughter, shaking the dust on the beams to the ground. He stared at the red-marked official road on the sand table, his Adam's apple rolling up and down.

Tan Mengjun was right, Hulu Valley was indeed a deadly place - but if they didn't go there, the whereabouts of Crown Prince Si Yunzhang would always remain a mystery.

What's more, Si Cangqiong's personal golden sword was lying on the desk at this moment, and the pearl on the sword tassel clearly still had body temperature.

"Order the entire army to speed up and march towards Hulu Valley."

"The Wuxiong Guards will be in the front, the Chongyan Guards will be on both sides of the mountain roads, General Tan's army will protect the central army, and the main force of the Duke's Yulin Army will be in the rear to clear out the Yellow Turban Army on both sides of Hulu Valley."

The old general suddenly straightened his hunched back, and the Qilin pattern on his armor glowed green in the candlelight.

(End of this chapter)