Chapter 157 156 Discovery

After facing each other, the soldiers from the Qianhu Station of the rear army quickly climbed onto the carriage. With their feet strong, they naturally changed from the rear team yesterday to the front team and walked at the forefront of the team.

After Wu Zhankui said goodbye to the Liyang County Magistrate, he waved his hand and the army started to move out from the east gate of Liyang County.

Before leaving, Wu Zhankui asked for a guide from the Liyang County Magistrate who was familiar with the surrounding roads. He just led the way to Yixing and then returned. If he moved quickly, it would only take two days.

After leaving the city, Wu Zhankui rode to the front team and spoke to the guide for a few words. After that, the Jiujiang Wei army turned around halfway to Yixing and drove directly to Zhongxi Town in Wujin County to the north.

Wei Guangde saw the changes in the marching route and knew in his heart that his uncle had listened to his opinions yesterday.

The Japanese pirates' escape to the south seems to be a short journey, but in fact the risk is greater. Only the north escape has the possibility of survival. Even at this time, the officers and soldiers may have gathered in Changxing County, Huzhou Prefecture, ready to wipe out this group of Japanese pirates.

Wei Guangde thought so. In fact, last night Wu Zhankui and Wei Meng discussed the direction for a long time, and finally decided to be on the safe side and go north to block the Japanese pirates' northward escape route.

The reason why it is said that the north is more secure is naturally because it is inevitably close to the mountains. Not far from Yixing, you will enter the mountains. If you are slow to catch up, and let the Japanese pirates enter the mountains, will you pursue them or not?

The few hundred men under their command seemed to be ten times the number of Japanese pirates, but the number of truly experienced veterans was only over 300, mainly those who returned from Zhejiang the year before last.

The right army only added less than a hundred men, because some of them were taken to Jiujiang by Wei Meng to serve as the general banner of Zhenfu. He also selected more than ten people for Wu Dong, and Wei Wencai served as personal bodyguards.

The Hou army suffered heavy losses in Dinghai, with more than a hundred casualties.

Adding up both sides, there are about 300 people with combat experience.

But once you go into the mountains to pursue, you have to be prepared for an ambush by Japanese pirates.

The Japanese pirates traveled all the way, but they were very cunning. They not only dared to challenge the Ming army head-on, but also hid and fled. There were even precedents of ambush halfway.

Wu Zhankui and Wei Meng were unwilling to take their children into danger, so naturally it was necessary to be safe and secure when setting up defenses in the north, at least there they would not be afraid of being ambushed and there would be no need to climb mountains and ridges.

And just as they were heading towards Wujin County, under Yixing County, the Japanese pirates began to retreat quickly after launching a round of raids and failing to enter the county.

After two days of traveling in hiding, after arriving at Yixing City today, they suddenly launched a surprise attack on the city gate. They wanted to rush into the city and rob them, then eat something and continue running.

However, just like in Liyang, the county city gate was heavily guarded. After they appeared, they were discovered by the officers and soldiers at the city head, who immediately dispersed the crowd at the city gate and quickly closed the city gate.

Once the city gate was closed, there was nothing that could be done against this group of Japanese pirates who did not carry siege equipment.

Several Japanese pirate leaders got together, and after a chattering conversation, the Japanese pirates quickly withdrew and headed south.

On Yixing City, the officers and soldiers watched the Japanese pirates leave, and many people slumped behind the city wall, their faces already pale.

The number of Japanese pirates is really small, only a few dozen, but not only are they tough, but they are also covered in blood. It takes a lot of killing to do this.

In fact, the clothes on these Japanese pirates were already clean. They were snatched from them and put on constantly, and the earliest clothes were lost hundreds of miles away.

In recent days, the surrounding villagers knew the news beforehand and hid, leaving this group of Japanese pirates without a source of food and clothing, so they had no choice but to flee in embarrassment.

When the Jiujiang Wei army entered Zhongxi Town, the Liyang guide immediately said goodbye and left. They were out of bounds and had to rush back to recover. The most important thing was the thought of war and chaos. Personally, I still feel that home is more important.

Safety.

Contacted Li Zheng and Commander Jia of Zhongxi Town and asked them to prepare meals for the army. At the same time, they also sent out their own soldiers to scout this area to the direction of Yixing to prevent Japanese pirates from really rushing out from this direction.

At this time, the policy implemented by the Ming Dynasty and the mobilization of the guard army was to eat all the way. Wherever they went, the rations for the soldiers had to be prepared locally instead of transporting them all the way.

Therefore, Wu Zhankui and the others did not bring much food with them on this trip.

The carriage was also brought back by the guide from the county government. When the coachmen found out, they left the soldiers behind in panic and ran back, fearing that they would be called back again if they ran late.

All this is in Wei Guangde's eyes. He knows very well what his uncle and dad are planning. He estimates that they will wait here. When the siege is over, either the Japanese pirates will escape from the south, or they will hit them directly and let them Jiujiang Guards

I got this credit.

Before that, the army must have been lying down.

It was night, on the shore of Taihu Lake not far east of Yixing County, a group of people were moving rapidly from south to north.

This is the group of Japanese pirates who failed to raid Yixing County before. They chose to go south. This was just a trick to attract the captured officers and soldiers to go south to Changxing County.

In the past two days, they had not been chased by the officers and soldiers, but they knew very well that after their troubles, the Ming army must hate their group and must get rid of them quickly, so they were careful every step they took, for fear of being attacked.

Caught.

When the sky was getting slightly brighter, several more war horses ran out from Zhongxi Town, each with a knight on board.

Soon, the cavalry was divided into several small teams, with two riders in each team spreading out to explore the surrounding area.

The knights were all fully clothed and riding on horses. The speed was not very fast. The knights looked around with their eyes, observing the footprints left in the distance and on the ground.

Not long after, one of the cavalry groups was moving forward slowly. Suddenly one of them pulled the reins of the horse and stared at a small forest not far ahead.

The woods are not big, but very quiet.

"What's wrong?"

Another knight had already taken a few steps forward on his horse. When he noticed that his companion had not followed, he also grabbed the reins of his horse and turned around to ask.

"Why are there no birds in this forest?"

The knight couldn't focus on the small forest and made no next move.

"Sleep in."

The man in front replied jokingly.

"Don't go near the woods over there yet."

The knight behind said, "Let's go around first and see what's going on behind the woods."

"OK."

They were all riding horses, going around the woods, but it was just a waste of horsepower, so it didn't matter much.

"Be careful."

Later, the knight still warned, and while he was talking, he had already taken off a small buckler from his horse and put it in his hand.

Not long after, the two of them had already detoured to one side of the woods. The woods were still quiet and no birds were seen.

Perhaps infected by the atmosphere, the knight who had been indifferent before now also picked up the small buckler and drove his horse away from the woods and the surrounding lush vegetation.

"There are footprints on the ground."

Not long after, the knight's inaudible voice reached the ears of the knight behind. The two pretended not to be pretentious and continued to walk forward. After walking a distance away from the woods, they looked at the messy footprints on the ground.

They looked at each other, then quickened their horses and trotted to one side.

When Wei Guangde had just gotten up and washed up, he heard rushing footsteps outside, and a soldier quickly ran towards Wu Zhankui's bedroom.

He didn't know what was going on, and Wei Guangde didn't pay attention. He was still thinking about what to have for breakfast today. After all, he was not at home now, and the town wasn't that big, so he didn't know what he could get.

But then, Wei Guangde heard Wu Zhankui going out and ordered: "Inform everyone to gather at the dam in front of the town."

Only now did Wei Guangde realize that he was afraid that the Japanese pirates might have arrived nearby?

Half an hour ago.

In front of a small forest about ten miles away from here, ten knights were divided into two teams, six in each team, gathered together, very close to each other.

On the other hand, the other group of four people were widely dispersed, but they were standing at a distance, constantly observing their surroundings. They had already picked up blunderbuss in their hands.

"Is it just this forest?"

A soldier captain from the front team asked.

"So far, no birds have appeared in the forest. It's very strange."

"Yes, I didn't see it either."

The captain was hesitant. If he were to send someone into the forest to investigate, who would he send?

"Go around the forest, prepare the bow and arrow gun in your hand, listen to my orders, and then shoot in."

The captain thought about it and said.

When the bird cannon is fired, you will know whether the forest is safe or not by seeing if any birds come out.

When they rode quickly around the woods, the people in the woods who had been observing the movement outside had also discovered this group of cavalry.

It can only be said that the two people pretended to be very similar before, hiding it from An Shao's eyes.

This may be the difference between those who have been on the battlefield and those who have not been on the battlefield. Those who have been on the battlefield will be extremely careful in their actions and actions.

In fact, if this group of cavalry had arrived a little later, there might not have been anyone in the woods.

At this moment, suddenly several gunshots were heard from the cavalry, and then two arrows shot into the woods and hit the tree stumps.

In an instant, the Japanese pirates, thinking that their target was exposed, quickly rushed out of the woods and rushed towards the group of cavalry.

"withdraw."

When the captain of the soldiers saw the Japanese pirates rushing out in a swarm, they had no intention of fighting. The Japanese pirates were very powerful individually. This was something they discovered when they were in Zhejiang. Most of the guys rushing out of the woods were short in stature.

, you can tell it’s really Japanese at first sight.

The speed of the several cavalrymen did not slow down at this moment. After hearing the captain's order, they immediately turned their horses' heads away from the group of Japanese pirates.

When the captain was retreating on horseback, he did not forget to raise his hand to make a gesture. A rider who had been observing from a distance saw the gesture, reined in his horse and ran back.

"Hang them and see where they go."

After running away, the captain of the soldiers reined in his horse and gave instructions.
To be continued...