It is said that it is twenty miles away from Tanzhou, but in order to avoid the Mongols' reconnaissance cavalry, they had to circumnavigate in the mountains. The closer they got to the front line, there were more and more enemy rangers. They were like small fish swimming in the net, drilling around in it, looking for a way out, and inevitably took many detours.

As the sky became brighter, visibility gradually improved. In order to avoid the enemy's watchtower, they forced them to choose a more hidden route. However, the closer they got to Tanzhou, they inevitably became closer to the enemy. The crisp sound of the horse's slings hitting the stones and the sound of the falling sand and gravel rolling down will make people feel trembling, and they are worried that they will be discovered by the enemy who is only separated by a mountain ridge.

"Commander, after leaving the mountain pass, it will be Tanzhou for about ten miles!" He sneaked in the deep mountains and valleys overnight, and everyone was trapped. Hao Fu looked at the surrounding terrain and turned his face to Xu Hong.

"In this way, we are going to turn to the main road, and it is difficult to hide and walk again!" Xu Hong looked at the light thrown from the top of the valley. It was probably near Mao hour, and there was an open land ahead. They had to cross the center of the enemy and us without any cover. In other words, as soon as they appeared, they might be discovered by the enemy rangers cruising here.

"Well, so I think I will wait until it's dark and make sure to make it safe!" Hao Fu reiterated the old story.

"Impossible, military affairs are urgent, we cannot delay it!" Xu Hong shook his head and said. He actually thought, but the emperor had already refused, and it would be useless to persuade him any more.

"Commander, take a break and then do some rest!" At this time, Zhao Bing came over and said, "There is a very likely battle to break out in front of you. The war horses also need to be fed and drunk to restore their physical strength, so that they can rush through the enemy's interception in one go."

"Well, let's take a rest for half an hour, let's go!" Xu Hong agreed after pondering for a moment. He also knew that after a long marche, even if only a short rest was needed, the horse's physical strength could be greatly restored. After they left the valley, they would have to move quickly and rushed into Tanzhou in one go, but it is very likely that they would have to face fierce battles ahead, so it would be necessary to restore the tired horse's physical strength.

"Commander, this place is too close to the enemy. The Mongols and Yuan cavalry may find us at any time. It's too dangerous!" Hao Fu was anxious. Their position was just under the enemy's noses, but they were going to rest here.

"In a short period of time, the enemy ranger will not come again!" Zhao Bing smiled, pointing to the messy hoof prints and horse manure channels on the ground.

"Oh..." As an experienced scout, Hao Fu looked along the place where he fingered. The hoof marks left on the sand were very clear, and the hoof marks were also the style of the Yuan army. The horse manure was still very fresh. Obviously, there were enemy rangers who had just left before they arrived. But because he was too nervous, he didn't observe carefully and found this detail, but the small mistake also made him feel a little ashamed.

"Haha, our Huang team has been in the army since childhood. He was chased by the Mongols' army behind the butt after following the General Manager's Mansion, but he was able to retreat safely every time. It was because of his ability to predict the future. He was right!" Niu Defu looked at him embarrassedly, patted his shoulder and smiled. After saying that, he did not forget to squeeze his eyes at the emperor.

Hao Fu smiled helplessly. Whenever he negated the speculation that Deputy Commander Huang was a big shot, new doubts soon emerged. When he made the suggestion just now, he clearly felt that Commander Xu agreed with his opinion, but Deputy Commander Huang's words made him change his mind. In this team, he was the supreme commander, but he followed the advice of Deputy Commander Huang, which was too abnormal.

Although Hao Fu was full of suspicion, he followed the order unconditionally, used a short rest time to take care of the war horses, and seized time to fill his stomach, restore his strength, and checked his weapons again. He felt that the last section of the road would not be peaceful, and most of them would face a hard battle, and he would try his best to adjust his condition to the best.

He secretly looked at the group of guards in the imperial front. They seemed not nervous about the battle they were facing and were busy with the same things. Deputy Captain Huang was also transferring the bag on the main horse's back to the deputy horse, tied the horse's belly belt tightly, wiped the weapon again, inserted the bullet barrel in the most convenient position for easy access, and then sat next to the war horse, quietly closing his eyes and resting and waiting for the order to set off. Everything seemed so calm and orderly.

Half an hour of rest passed quickly, and everyone was put on horseback and set off in a whole team. This time, Xu Hong adjusted the formation. They lined up in three columns, leaving more than ten personal guards including Hao Fu, Deputy Guard Huang, among them. Although he felt that the imperial guards were doing this to protect them, the scouts who were used to being vanguards still felt uncomfortable.

At the end of the team are the secondary horses that are gathered together. If the secondary horses are usually accompanied during the march, they can follow closely even without traction. In wartime, they are gathered together and stayed behind to take care of them. But now the battle will break out at any time. In order to facilitate combat, they can only gather together and follow them. They will follow the brigade and only need a few people to take care of them.

Valley limit

Although they had already thought of encountering the enemy, when they had just left the valley, they met a team of Mongols and Yuan Rangers who happened to come out of another valley. The two sides were only a few dozen steps apart. Perhaps none of them expected to encounter this. Several enemy rangers who were talking and laughing were stunned for a moment. Seeing that there were many people on the other side, they were not timid, and they took their bows and drew their swords to meet them without hesitation.

‘Bang…’ The Song army’s gunshot broke the silence first. An enemy cavalry who was riding his horse and was about to leave fell off the horse. Obviously, the enemy troops coming up wanted to cover their companions back to report the news, but they were seen through and shot and killed them first.

"Crash!" Hao Fu was stunned. The enemy cavalry had fallen. At the same time, Xu Hong issued an order to charge. He hurriedly urged the horse to speed up and follow the brigade. Because he knew that although this shot killed the enemy ranger who was preparing to report the news, it also alarmed the nearby enemy reconnaissance cavalry and patrol cavalry. They would arrive immediately. If they were entangled with it, there would be a danger of being blocked in the valley.

A gunshot, and several Mongols and Yuan cavalry had not even had time to shoot an arrow, and they fell under the spear and were trampled by the rushing horses, and they could not die anymore. The horses rushed out of the valley like a storm, and their eyes lit up. They finally got rid of the shadow of the mountains and came to an open land.

But Hao Fu found that smoke and dust were rising around him. Obviously, an enemy cavalry heard the gunshots to check. He believed that while he discovered the enemy, he also discovered his own side. His whereabouts had been exposed, and soon a large number of enemy cavalry gathered to surround them, turning the area into a hunting ground, and they were the captured prey.

Although they have been exposed, they are still not something they can stop the team of Mongol Rangers, and these Rangers obviously know this. They are not close, but are cruising around them most of the time, hiding outside the range of the firearm, but they will occasionally accelerate and rush up, and then leave after a few arrows. Or they suddenly rushed to their horses in a diagonal thorn, but they do not fight, but just try to slow down their rush and delay their actions.

The guards in the imperial front were obviously very familiar with the tricks of the Mongol Yuan detective cavalry. They ignored them and would not divide their troops to drive them away. The horse speed was still fast, and they still kept rushing quickly. They opened fire without hesitation when they approached the enemy cavalry a few times. After suffering a few losses, they knew that the range of the bow and arrow in their hands was obviously inferior to that of the Song army's muskets, so they did not dare to come forward to tease them again.

However, this good times did not last long. Under the call of the long horns, the enemy teams scattered everywhere quickly arrived and gathered together. Their actions became bolder and they tried to intercept them. The team of the imperial guards still maintained their speed, but changed their formation to deal with the enemy's blockade, turning three rows and cavalry into six rows to strengthen the frontal assault power and make the formation closer.

What surprised Hao Fu was that the guards in the imperial front were so strong in combat and cooperated so well that they would often start shooting as soon as the enemy entered the range of the musket. Their gunshots were accurate and they were almost shot without any bullets. As long as the gunshots sounded, the enemy would fall off the horse. In order to strengthen the firepower, they would fine-tune the formation to leave shooting space for the companions in the back row.

Under the firepower of the guards in front of the imperial guards, even enemy cavalry with similar numbers to them could not be stopped. Often, without waiting for both sides to draw their swords toward each other, the enemy was defeated, leaving only one corpse of a man and horse behind him. After several times of blocking by the enemy cavalry, Hao Fu was surprised to find that these people were completely unscathed, let alone being killed.

Hao Fu knew that their purpose was to get as close to Tanzhou as possible before the enemy's cavalry arrived, so that they could get the support of the defenders and try to get rid of the enemy's pursuit as much as possible. However, it was obvious that the Mongols and Yuan enemies did not want them to succeed. When they rushed out for more than five miles, they saw smoke and dust rolling in front of them. Judging from his experience, at least a thousand cavalry could create such a weather.

What is even more frustrating is that judging from the speed and distance of both sides, they will definitely encounter ahead. When the turn avoidance will inevitably be further and further away from the direction of Danzhou, and even be surrounded by the enemy from the flanks. At that time, the chances of winning against the thousand cavalry were almost gone, and even if the combat power was strong, it would be wiped out little by little.

"When you meet on a narrow road, you will win. Do you dare to enter the formation with me?" The two sides were getting closer and closer. Hao Fu suddenly saw Deputy Captain Huang, who was not far away, raising his gun and raising his arms and shouting. The loud voice overwhelmed the sound of horse hooves like drums.

"The Great Song Dynasty, mighty!"

"The Great Song Dynasty, mighty!"

"The Song Dynasty is mighty!" This was the mobilization order before the Song army launched the charge. The troops responded loudly, and Hao Fu also shouted,
Chapter completed!