On the north bank of Zishui, the Xi infantry and cavalry of the brigade had left the temporary camp and began to set up a strong formation behind Xiao Gan and others.

The Xi knights on the river bank also rode back and forth, and made a series of slightly shrill and rapid whistles. Some war horses were urging to step into the river, and splashes gradually appeared, making dense sounds of stepping on the water. On the other side of the water, there were also sounds of horses stepping on the water and whistling. This was the sound of the Xiangzhou cavalry led by Yue He when they were exploring the warning along the river.

The Xiangzhou Army, which has been fighting repeatedly in the north, is now becoming more and more elite soldiers. Not only is the fortress tactics becoming increasingly mature, but it has also gained the ability to fight in the field after absorbing some of Gao Qiu's remnants, and even the level of cavalry has improved.

Yue He, wearing a half-body wart armor, now patrolled the south bank of the Zihe River with dozens of Xiangzhou bullies who could barely shoot arrows on the back of the running horses. About half an hour ago, they found a sound when the troops were dispatched on the other side of the Zihe River were covered by thick fog. He sent people to warn the Xiangzhou army in the nearby camp, and drove the horses to run on the south bank of Zihe River to create a sound so that the other party mistakenly thought that there were troops and horses on the south bank of Zihe River. In this way, the Liao people would not dare to cross the Zihe River before the fog dissipated, and the nearby Xiangzhou army could also have time to make a peaceful deployment.

The morning fog had faded a little at this time. On the north bank of Zishui, you could see dozens of cavalry of Liao people suddenly appearing in the fog!

These cavalry are undoubtedly the far-blocked horses in the Liao army. Yue He has suffered a lot. The essence of these Liao cavalry is the light route of the grassland cavalry, with only thin leather armor to protect them, and cannot fight with mediocrity. The war horses under their crotch have long and messy manes. You can tell at a glance that they are not the stable war horses that need careful care, but the grassland horses that are stocked on the grassland. However, compared to ordinary grassland horses, they look extremely majestic and are obviously good horses that get one in a hundred. Each Liao cavalry horse has a stubborn sheep horn bow in his hands, and five or six quivers are hung on both sides of the saddle. The weapons used for melee combat are only an arc-shaped sword. However, they rarely fight with the enemy in close combat, and they are all accurate and ruthless riding and shooting skills to solve their opponents.

After fighting with Wu Haogu's elite cavalry for several months, their tactics also improved. They did not shoot people with bows and arrows (Wu Haogu's light cavalry also had half a pair of wart armor), but first shot the opponent's tall horse. So Yue He also suffered a bad luck. He had lost two good horses in the past few days! That was all his private property! Moreover, since Ji Yi stepped down as the Hebei Transportation Commander, the Xiangzhou Army's hands became tighter and tighter, and the cavalry who lost their horses in the battle could not get a few dollars in subsidies.

Although I am reluctant to lose the war horse, the battle that should be carried out still has to be carried out!

On both sides of the river bank, the elite cavalry on both sides were hitting one opposite side, and they were all holding crossbows. After a while, the morning mist had almost disappeared. If Yue He and others avoided the battle, the Liao people's far-distance horses could explore the depth of the Zi River and find the shallows that they could cross.

This Zi River is not a big river with abundant water flow. There are many shallow places and it is easy to cross. Now the Xiangzhou army has not completed building fortresses along the Zishui line. Once the Liao army crosses the river, the Zishui defense line will be broken.

Once the water is broken, Zhending Prefecture City will be exposed to the Liao army's military front!

At that time, Han Xiaozhou will have to make a choice between field battles that he is not familiar with and defending the fortress. Now Han Xiaozhou has only three generals in his hands and two generals' new army in Zhendingfu Road. The combat effectiveness of the latter is a problem, and the former is also a defeated soldier. He is really unsure of field battles. If he defends the city, how many cities can a mere five generals defend?

The battle between the light cavalry of the two sides began with a round of arrows that were shot almost at the same time. The sound of feather arrows breaking through the air was whizzing, and Yue He's subordinates spread along the river bank and listed a long front. Because across the river, both sides only shot feather arrows from afar, which did not have much lethality to the armored knights. However, among the cavalry under Yue He was equipped with Tianjin crossbows, which could accurately shoot at a distance. However, after many defeats, many Tianjin crossbows were lost and there was no supplement, so they could not be able to use a crossbow. About ten percent of the people could use it. The rest were only the most ordinary soft bows available.

The bows used by cavalry are different from infantry. They have no way to equip too long bows, only recurve bows with shorter equipment, that is, riding bows. However, they have no money to equip themselves with horn bows. The buffalo horn bows are not only expensive, but also have a long time to make, so it is impossible to equip the little bullies in Xiangzhou. However, the Liao people's far-blocked horses have a stubborn sheep horn bow! No matter how the overlord of the grassland declined, they would not be able to even get together.

Although the stubborn sheep horn bow is not as good as the buffalo horn bow, it is much stronger than the soft bow laminated by bamboo and wood. Moreover, in terms of horseback archery technology, Yue He and they are not as good as the Liao people's far-blocking horses. Because the distance is a little far, Yue He and they can only shoot fixed shooting (just stop the war horse), while the other party can still run back and forth while shooting feather arrows, and their heads are not bad.

Of course, it is much easier to shoot moving targets than to shoot fixed targets, so this battle between riding bows quickly decided to win. As the screams of the horse's pain of being caught in the war, Yue He's cavalry finally couldn't hold on and had to retreat.

However, they did not retreat too far, but retreated twenty or thirty steps. They pulled out the array again on the bank of the river.

The Liao people's Yuanluozima took the opportunity to find a suitable place to cross the river, just to see where the water flow was sluggish and slow. Yuanluozi, who was leading the team, began to divide several teams, rode his horse into the river, and his figures were hidden behind the horse's neck to avoid the opponent's arrowhead, and then rushed straight towards the opposite bank!

Yue He quickly assigned his subordinates to divide them into several strands and shoot arrows to the corresponding position to intercept! Dozens of bowstrings kept turning from full to short, and waves of arrow rain were poured out. The far-distance horse that ventured across the river was soon caught in an arrow, and the people were shot overturned. However, the remaining soldiers were still moving forward!

Xiao Gan watched his knights fall into the water one by one, splashing water from a large team, but there was no expression on his face. He just watched more cavalry rush into the water and strive to advance to the other side. Oh, the one who followed the way to explore the way was not the real cavalry, but the horse-riding infantry!

The task of stopping the horses in the distance is to explore the way, and these Xi infantry riding horses are used to grab the beach. As long as the Song brigade arrives, they will grab the south bank of Zishui. Xiao Gan will be sure to defeat Han Xiaozhou's Xiangzhou army south of Zishui again.

As long as the Xiangzhou army is forced to retreat to Zhending Prefecture City, Xiao Gan can launch the next round of military operations, bypass Zhending Prefecture City, and attack Jingxing Pass is almost in danger!

At this moment, about ten miles away from the coast of Zishui where the battle was taking place. In a strong camp built similar to a castle, the brigade of infantry was ready to go, but they were waiting to go but not.

Because there was a debate in the central army tent. The debate occurred between Han Xiaozhou, Zhou Yunqing and Wu Song.

Zhou Yunqing is Zhou Tong's son, Zhou Feiyan's brother. He followed Wu Haogu when he was first established in Jiehe Shangshi. Later, because his sister became Zhao Ji's person, he also followed Tengda and became the chief engineer of the model new army. Later, he became the chief coach of the model new army and the chief coach of the Kaifeng Infantry Academy. Not long ago, Zhao Ji sent to the Xiangzhou army and became the general army.

Wu Song led a group of people to break through and surrender to Xiangzhou when Gao Qiu's troops were destroyed. He was immediately valued by Han Xiaozhou and became a general first. After a few days of the Battle of Zishui, he was promoted to the Zhending Road Army Du Yuhou (the memorial was still on the way, and the formal appointment was not issued).

After the news that the Liao army was trying to survive the Zishui River came, Han Xiaozhou, Zhou Yunqing and Wu Song began to argue about whether to fight or leave.

What caused the debate was two contradictory orders. One was Tao Jiefu's order to defend Zishui. The other was Zhao Ji's order issued to the Xiangzhou army through the Dujun Office after the war on the north bank of Zishui, requiring the Xiangzhou army to resolutely avoid field battles.

But now, if you want to defend Zishui, you must fight in the field! To avoid field battles, you can only watch the Liao people cross the river.

Now the Liao army, which is preparing to cross the Zishui River, has strong infantry combat capabilities. If the Xiangzhou army is defeated, they may take the opportunity to attack Zhendingfucheng.

Therefore, Han Xiaozhou and Zhou Yunqing both advocated avoiding war. Only Wu Song wanted to concentrate the Xiangzhou army of three generals, and then fight a battle with his opponents, regardless of victory or defeat, he could achieve the goal of defeating his intention by consuming the strength of the Liao people.

"Team training, Liaogou has crossed the river, crossed the river!"

The three of them had no conclusion yet. A confidant school of Han Xiaozhou suddenly ran away and shouted outside the tent.

"Is Liaogou coming? How many are there?"

Han Xiaozhou heard the sound and hurriedly recruited the person into the tent.

The voice of the school was a little lower: "......, the generals of Yue's troops sent people to report that about 10,000 Liao troops had already crossed the Zishui River and were lined up on the back of the Zishui River."

Han Xiaozhou raised his face and said in a deep voice: "I have to line up the water and ask for a decisive battle! Our army has been defeated and his morale is low. You can't force the battle. Instruct all the troops to defend the camp! In addition, rocket orders are issued to take all the ranger hard probes back to the Dazhai."

Han Xiaozhou actually had a decision long ago!

The Xiangzhou Army must preserve its strength, because the new Hebei Transportation is not as generous as Ji Yi, and will not continuously provide weapons made in Tianjin to supplement the Xiangzhou Army. Therefore, the Xiangzhou Army can only live a life carefully and do not have a decisive battle without a decisive battle.

As for the Liao people who went south... the three armies could just follow them. As long as they bite their tails and prevent them from letting go of their hands and feet to attack Zhending Mansion, there would be no big problem.

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Chapter completed!