Chapter 1,254: The Partitioned Army

To Liu Shang's dismay, when they spent three days and finally got around to the back of the mountain ridge, they found that the Shangjun garrison had already destroyed the main road to the north of the mountain ridge. You know, these days They were walking around in the mountains these past few days, and they accidentally discovered a small village, and then found several trails through the hunters inside.

After placing the army in a mountain col to rest, Liu Shang, led by the hunter, went to a trail to check the situation in person. However, after observing for nearly a quarter of an hour, he could not think of a way to go up the mountain ridge.

Looking through the gaps in the crown trees, Liu Shang discovered that this was indeed a trail going up the mountain, but it had obviously been destroyed. The entire trail had been broken into a cliff several feet high. Several large rocks had been pried open and fell into the valley in front of them.

Not only that, there is a checkpoint on the mountain ridge where the trail used to be. Viewed from the bottom of the mountain, it is a stone wall made of huge rocks, directly blocking the location of the trail. starter

From Liu Shang's position, the military formation on the mountain ridge is simply a military formation built on a high platform suspended in mid-air. It is almost impossible to get up from other positions.

This was the case on the inconspicuous trail in front of him. Liu Shang could imagine that the situation everywhere else was basically the same.

As expected, when he saw him coming back, the other generals also gathered around him, looking at him expectantly.

Liu Shang looked at a few people and shook his head imperceptibly. The other people were disappointed. Liu Shang winked at a few people, then turned and walked towards an empty space. Several people understood and quickly followed.

After several people arrived, Liu Shang signaled his soldiers to retreat to a dozen steps away, and then persuaded several people: "Everyone, I have just seen that it is impossible to go up the mountain via this path. How about the rest of you?"

According to the captives and hunters, there were three paths going up the mountain on the north side of the mountain ridge. In addition to the one that Liu Shang was looking at, there was another one that Ren Fang and Yuan Quan were looking at each.

Seeing Liu Shang looking towards him, both of them shook their heads. Seeing this situation, everyone was frustrated.

After a brief pause, Liu Shang said: "Everyone, it seems that it is not feasible to use the military formation to capture Shanliang to help the army capture Dingyang. If I guessed correctly, the Dingyang army has already captured all other roads up the mountain. It’s been destroyed, so the only plan now is to take the second route—continue to go west and go around to the west of Dingyang City.”

When everyone heard this, they also cheered up. Capturing the military formation on the mountain ridge was originally one of the alternatives. If that didn't work, there was a second way to go.

Seeing that everyone had recovered, Liu Shang said: "On the way back, I have inquired with the hunter. He knows another trail that goes around to the west. It is said that it only takes more than two days and less than three days. We have been carrying food for ten days, and now it has been three days. If we can save one day, the army will be more certain of success. Therefore, I decided to set off immediately to the west of Dingyang City."

"No!" the other four responded in unison;

"Okay, this place is too close to the military formation on the mountain ridge. We will set off immediately and set up camp a little further away from here to rest. Moreover, I have already agreed with the hunter that when we get to their village, we will Buy all the prey and take it away, and try to buy the rest of the food. If you can allow the army to carry more food, bring as much as possible. "

After several people discussed and decided, they immediately gathered their troops and set off.

The five thousand troops were led by the Iron Eagle warriors. Walking with Liu Shang was the Orion who led him to observe the military formation on the mountain ridge, a young man in his twenties named Shitou.

The young man was very talkative and kept chatting with Liu Shang all the way. After returning to the small village, Liu Shang ordered the army to stop outside the village, and then he led a hundred soldiers and Shitou into their village. After the villagers in the village heard that these Tang soldiers wanted to buy all their prey and most of their food at high prices, everyone's last caution against the Tang soldiers disappeared.

Under the greetings of several old hunters in the village, every household took out all the prey at home, but there was very little staple food such as rice grains. After all, they themselves needed to buy some food from the county outside the mountains. Enough for one year.

This is a small village of more than ten households, located on the mountainside, with about a hundred people. Except for about twenty young and strong hunters, the others are all old and weak women. When Liu Shang placed a large amount of money in front of them, everyone was so happy that the money was enough to be worth twice the price of selling their prey in the county town.

Five thousand Tang troops had a hearty meal outside the small village and had a good night's rest. The next day, led by Shitou and another middle-aged hunter named Uncle Qian, they headed towards the mountain col to the west.

Two days later, their group finally reached a mountain ridge west of Dingyang. Uncle Shitou and Qian led Liu Shang to bend down behind a huge stone on the mountain ridge, pointing to the official road several hundred steps away: "General, look, in front of you is the official road from Dingyang to Fushi. Next to the official road There is a Xiaowubao at the foot of the mountain. All the residents are people named Fu. It is called Fujiapu. It is said that it has been in Shangjun for more than a hundred years. "

"Uncle Qian, how far is it from Dingyang City?" Liu Shang asked;

"About seven or eight miles away!" Uncle Qian thought for a moment and said uncertainly;

"Are there other villages around here?"

"From Fujiabao to the east, there is Caojia Village on the other side of the river along the official road, and there is also Shijia Village four miles west of Dingyang City. If there are any more, just go west along Fujiabao."

After listening to Uncle Qian's words, Liu Shang remembered that his army went all the way west from Hukou to Dingyang City, and all the villages were empty. However, Fujiabao in front of him was obviously inhabited. It was already evening, and there was smoke rising from the fort.

It seems that Dingyang City has moved all the people in the villages east of Dingyang to the county town, fearing that their army can get intelligence or even support from the residents outside the city, but it is impossible to take care of all the small villages in the deep mountains like Uncle Qian and his team.

Thinking of this, Liu Shang carefully observed the fortress in front of him. This was a stone fortress built on the mountain. It was less than 400 steps long and wide. Judging from the situation inside, there should be about 50 households, which means no more than 200 to 300 people. However, the fortress wall looked very solid, about 10 feet high, and people could be vaguely seen walking on it.

It was almost dark today, and it seemed that his army could just rush to the fortress after dark, and just attack the fortress at night, so that the army could have a good rest for the night, and start to support the siege army in the east tomorrow.

Thinking of this, Liu Shang led a few people to retreat from the mountain ridge, and then gathered the rest of the generals together, and told them his ideas. Everyone thought that this arrangement was feasible, so the army began to prepare.

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