Chapter 24 Chapter Six Playing Chess on the Ping Ping, How Can You Realize the Opportunity of Life and Death
On the way to march with the soldiers of Nanhai County, Xingyan did not ride the white horse "Feixue" that was kindly gifted by the prefect.Although he also wanted to try the majestic feeling on this tall horse, but when he noticed the expressions of Captain Bao, Lin Xu and others, Xingyan still suppressed this idea.
Of course, the strength of this horse cannot be left in vain; after thinking about it, he woke up and pushed the "small and weak" Qiongxi onto the horse, while he himself held the rein and acted as a groom, together with Lin Xu and others. walk.
Most of the soldiers in Nanhai County are infantry. Only the chief general Bao Chuxiong, a few school officials and orderly soldiers ride horses, and most of the others walk with weapons.Therefore, in this long snake-like team, the girl in red on the white horse of the divine steed is particularly conspicuous at this moment.
Now, this little girl who was riding a horse for the first time was shaking her head and kept looking around to see what was new, as if she was on an outing.Behind her horse, followed by a flag-bearer soldier, holding the water-blue black bird flying the golden flag in his hand.The bright-colored banners fluttered in the wild wind, and the golden feathers fluttered with the wind, reflecting the golden and blue colors, which is really beautiful.
If you only look at this big flag, you will feel very powerful.
Although the destination Huoyun Mountain is in Jieyang, because Jieyang has a vast area, Huoyun Mountain is on the border with neighboring counties, so it is nearly 200 miles away from the county seat.
Just pulled out from Jieyang County, the marching team is fairly neat, lined up in a long snake, meandering along the official road.But after more than an hour, the queue became somewhat disorganized.Marching under the scorching sun, the soldiers were all sweating, so they inevitably became a little slack.
This situation fell into the eyes of Bao Chuxiong, so he was naturally very dissatisfied; but this Captain Bao is also a veteran of the army, thinking that he is still far away from Huoyun Mountain, and the sun on the top is really scorching. Blaming the soldiers for this may affect morale.Thinking of this, Bao Chuxiong turned a blind eye and let them go for now.
The long road is quite dull, and it is inevitable that people will have to find something to say.While walking, Xingyan heard the Sheng Heng Tang Sheng from Tianshi's teaching talk to him: "Master Zhang, I saw you practice the talisman yesterday, it is indeed extraordinary. He is good at talismans. I don’t know what kind of spells Zhang Daoxiong is best at? If you can tell me, the mages like me can know it well, and when we go to fight with the monsters, we can take care of each other.”
"What Senior Brother Sheng said is true. If you want to say that I am best at it, it should be..."
Speaking of this, Xingyan got stuck—if he wanted to talk about the spell he was best at, of course it would be the "Bing Heart Knot" taught by Lingyi.It's a pity that yesterday's demonstration was quite a failure, and this spell was obviously automatically ignored by the person who asked the question.Or "Water Without Trace"? "Water Curse"? "Instant Water Jue"?But these spells are a little neglected to practice after he got on Thousand Bird Cliff.
Just as he was waking up to a dilemma, a crisp voice suddenly sounded from the side: "Brother is best at playing the flute!"
"Playing the flute?"
Hearing this, everyone was stunned.
"yes!"
Xiao Qiongxun enthusiastically promoted Xingyan:
"The hall master's brother is the best at playing the flute, sometimes he can play it without the flute~"
"You can blow a...whistle without a flute?!"
Seeing Qiongxi's delicate and childish face, several people around couldn't help laughing immediately.Even Bao Chuxiong, who was sitting upright on the yellow pussy horse in front with a black face, couldn't hold back the sudden smile: "Ha! ~ This little girl's words are so funny!"
However, Xingyan didn't think Qiongxu's words were funny; immediately he slapped his head and suddenly realized: "Oh, why didn't I think of that. Qiongxu, thank you for reminding me!"
"Brother Sheng, I am best at playing the flute! Would you like to hear me play a piece of music?"
As he said that, Xingyan reached out to get the Shenxueyu flute on his waist.
"Ahem!"
Hearing this, Bao Chuxiong hurriedly turned around and waved his hand, blocking him:
"Master Zhang! I don't think it's necessary. Playing music during the march may disturb morale!"
"Uh, this is..."
It was only then that Xing Yan realized that this move was inappropriate, so he could only smile a few times, and continue to concentrate on being his groom.
Seeing this situation, Sheng Heng Tang kindly exhorted:
"Brother Zhang Dao, from this point of view, when it comes time to fight the monsters, you can let me wait to fight in the front line. You only need to be in the middle of this Xuanniao flag to support."
"...Thank you Brother Sheng for your kindness!"
After this conversation, it was Zhang Yun'er who saw Qiong Xu's cute demeanor, so he started to tease her.However, no matter how much she teased her, the little girl on the horse refused to talk any more, just watched her giggling and smiling, her eyebrows and eyes curved into two lovely crescent moons.
Bao Chuxiong's team of county soldiers traveled to a depression about ten miles away from Huoyun Mountain, and they collected their trilogy and temporarily repaired them.In addition to rectifying the formation and dispatching scouts, there is another important task, which is to draw fire-avoiding symbols on the soldiers' armors by Sheng Hengtang and Zhang Xingyan.
Most of these talismans have a time limit; in order to maximize their effectiveness, the two of them only began to draw talismans for soldiers when they were approaching the battlefield.
At this time, it was about the end of noon, and the sun was slightly westward from the south, and most of the soldiers were hungry. By the way, they took this opportunity to eat dry food with the water in their skins.
When the scouts and Bao Chuxiong reported that the situation of the bandits had not changed, they woke up and said that they had painted fire-avoiding runes on all the armor.After Bao Chuxiong gave an order, the group of about 300 soldiers marched towards Huoyun Mountain in an orderly manner.After that, no one whispered to each other casually, or lagged behind and moved ahead.
After less than half a cup of tea, Xing Yan could clearly see that under the blue sky several miles away, there was a crimson mountain entrenched.Captain Bao Du mentioned before that Huoyun Mountain was not steep, so Xing Yan imagined Huoyun Mountain as a bald and flat hill in his mind.It wasn't until I saw it with my own eyes that I realized that my prediction was wrong: from a distance, Huoyun Mountain is majestic and steep.The stones and rocks on the mountain are either red ocher or purple red, like the color of bright clouds; the trees on the slope, although it is July and summer, seem to have been dyed by three autumn frosts, and the mountains are red; It set off waves of red waves.
Looking around, under the blazing sun of July, the whole Huoyun Mountain is glowing red and full of flames, like a gigantic torch, burning blazingly under the sky.And the clouds gathered in the sky above the peak have strange shapes, like boats and cliffs, reflected by the red mountains, like red velvet.
Just as he was waking up and marveling at the magic of nature, Xiao Qiongxun suddenly leaned forward and whispered to him, "Brother, that mountain is so strange~"
"Yeah! It's the first time I've seen such a strange red stone mountain. But it's very beautiful."
"Well! Not only does it look good, but it also smells good~"
With that said, Qiong Xun wrinkled his nose and sniffed vigorously.
"Uh?"
"...Sister Qiongxi, I think your nose is really good, it's almost as good as a dog's nose! Why don't you go hunting with brother next time? Ha!"
"Okay, okay! Don't forget to take me~"
Just as he was waking up to laugh with Qiongxu, the long-silent Sheng Hengtang suddenly said loudly, "Congratulations, Captain Captain!"
Sheng Hengtang's words were really out of his mind, Bao Chuxiong felt a little strange, so he turned around and asked: "Master Sheng, the war has not yet started, where does the joy come from?"
"My lord, please allow me to explain in detail. Pindao once learned the art of observing Qi with the real master Tianshi, and he can measure the victory and defeat of the army."
"Oh? Tell me quickly!"
As soon as he heard about the victory or defeat, Bao Chuxiong became very interested immediately.
"Before a great battle, clouds often condense above the battlefield. If the clouds are like dikes and slabs, it is the spirit of victory. If it is like an overturned boat, red and white follow each other, then the commander and soldier are brave. Please see, my lord."
Sheng Hengtang raised his hand and pointed at Huoyun Mountain in the distance, and said:
"At this moment, the clouds from all directions are gathering towards Huoyun Mountain, like a huge boat, or like a embankment, flowing and changing, red and white, it is the spirit of the Lord's victory!"
Bao Chuxiong was overjoyed when he heard the words, and ordered the junior officer beside him to gallop back and forth on a fast horse, spreading the words of the prosperous Tang Dynasty to the army.When the soldiers heard the report, they cheered loudly, one after another, they all quickened their pace, wishing to rush to Dafeng Village to fight immediately.
Seeing the high morale of the soldiers in the county, Bao Chuxiong was overjoyed, and thanked Sheng Hengtang: "Actually, I can get help from some of your high-powered mages, why don't those rats just catch them?"
Not long after, this bandit suppression army with high morale marched to the foot of Huoyun Mountain.
After arriving at the destination, Bao Chuxiong reined in his horse, adjusted his formation slightly, and then ordered the soldiers to attack Huoyun Mountain together.Just as he was about to raise his arms to give orders, he suddenly saw a man flashing in front of the horse, cupping his hands and saying, "I don't know how the general plans to defeat the enemy?"
Looking closely, the person who spoke was none other than Lin Xu, a disciple of the Celestial Master.Bao Chuxiong is relying heavily on these Tianshizong disciples now, seeing him asking a question, he replied in harmony: "Since I have the help of a few of you, and my son-in-law is not afraid of anger, Chuxiong is going to go up the mountain with all his might and blow the wind away." The bandit village was wiped out in one fell swoop!"
"General, although this method is very good, there may be a better way to defeat the enemy."
"Oh? I would like to hear more about it."
Seeing that Bao Chuxiong was interested, Lin Xu narrated the strategy he had planned all the way: "Those thieves, although they are no match for the general's courage, but as the saying goes, 'poor bandits can't be forced'. At that time, they will definitely resist with all their strength. Moreover, these desperadoes have the advantage of the location, and they are more familiar with the terrain of Huoyun Mountain than you and I; if they defend against the danger and resist stubbornly, I am afraid that the general will be difficult to capture for a while."
Hearing what Lin Xu said was reasonable, Bao Chuxiong couldn't stop nodding.
"There is one more thing to worry about. The fire-avoiding talisman on the sergeant's body, after two or three hours, the effect will be compromised; in addition, it will inevitably be stained with blood during the fight, and the power of the talisman may not last long. If the two armies At the moment of the stalemate, if the rat-like monster hides in the dark and sets fire to the county soldiers who are fighting in the narrow place, I am afraid that at that time..."
Although Lin Xu didn't say any more, Bao Chuxiong knew what he meant.He was still full of confidence at first, but now he has become a little hesitant after hearing Lin Xu's analysis: "In this way, if we go straight to the mountain, I'm afraid we will repeat the old story of Chibi... I don't know what good strategy Lin Daochang has? "
"Adults can use the strategy of 'throwing bricks to attract jade'. There is a saying in military scriptures, 'throwing bricks to attract jade, similar to lure them, and attack them.'"
"The Daoist means to lure those bandits down the mountain, and then annihilate them in one fell swoop?"
"Exactly! Meng Zhe, the hexagram of the lower ridge and the upper gen. The upper ridge is the mountain, and the lower ridge is water; there is water at the bottom of the mountain, and it is dangerous. If the bandits in Dafengzhai confront the general's soldiers and horses at the foot of the mountain, the enemy will be large." Dangerous, the general will win. At that time, if that rat-like monster dares to come out to make trouble again, then I will wait for a few senior brothers and make him come and go!"
"Sure enough, a clever plan!"
Hearing Lin Xu's high-spirited talk, Bao Chuxiong applauded and praised: "Unexpectedly, the heavenly master taught all the Taoist priests, not only the spells, but also the art of war. Chuxiong really admires it!"
"I will order people to prepare some golden drum banners, and go to the Huoyunfeng Dafeng Village to make noise to lure the enemy!"
"Uh... Please forgive me for speaking bluntly, this method of luring the enemy may not be effective."
"Oh?"
"Flags and drums are just suspicious; the phrase "similar to lure" in the Bingjing means that similar things must be used to lure the enemy, so that the fake ones can be confused with the real ones. Your Excellency can separate seven or eighty soldiers and let the lieutenant colonel Under the leadership of the official, go to the Dafeng stronghold to attack and shout to kill, so that the bandits can be convinced. Otherwise, those bandits have been hiding for a long time, and they may not be fooled."
When speaking, Lin Xu was in high spirits, and his words were full of strong confidence.
"Haha! Lin Daochang is really young and wise, and he has no plans left behind. He really deserves to be a hero! No wonder your senior brother saw the victorious spirit before—with Brother Lin's help, why should Chu Xiong be so troubled? If he wins this time, the first A credit belongs to Your Excellency!"
"Don't dare to be, don't dare to be!"
Although Lin Xu was humble and polite, he still couldn't hide a trace of joy on his face: "I'm just doing my best, and it all depends on the bravery of the adults and soldiers."
After a short pause, Lin Xu humbly asked:
"After the victory in this battle, I wonder if Lord Captain can teach me a little favor?"
"Oh? Just tell me what's useful to Bao!"
"Actually, it's not a big deal. I teach a few people in Panyu. They were imprisoned by the government for some trivial matters before, and they are still in prison. I just hope that after the victory, the captain will speak a few words for us in front of the prefect... ..."
"Ha, it's a trivial matter, and it's on Bao!"
Bao Chuxiong patted his chest and made a big promise, and then went according to the plan Lin Xu had just offered.
Now, not only Bao Chuxiong and the other officers and soldiers only have Lin Xu’s disciples from the Celestial Master’s Sect, but even this Shangqingtang advocate wakes up. Those Taoist friends of Zong are really dragons and phoenixes among men! Especially Brother Lin Xulin, who is not much older than me, is so proficient in the art of war in battle formations! Although I have read some military books and war strategies, But I just never thought about using them in practice."
Apart from admiration, he woke up and made up his mind. After deciding to go to war, he must follow the lead of Lin Xu and others and help them wholeheartedly.
At the foot of Huoyun Mountain, everyone is making final preparations for the upcoming battle.
Before they knew it, the sky above everyone's heads was already densely covered with red clouds.
The Huoyun Mountain under the thousands of miles of cloud array, occasionally being reflected by the scorching sun, will appear scarlet like bleeding.