Chapter 868 Scout Encounter!

Jinyang, three hundred miles northwest, on an unnamed hillside, dozens of Fengwu Army and Hujie Army scouts were fighting each other...

Looking at the scouts of the Hujie Army in front of him, whose number was almost twice his own, Zhang Huihuang, the head of the Flying Tiger Battalion of the Fengwu Army, felt increasingly heavy in his heart.

As the Imperial Army captured Shizhou seven days ago and opened the western gate leading to Jinyang, the Fengwu Army, under the order of Yunbing commander-in-chief Yuan Song, also sent out a large number of scouts to spy on the movements of the Imperial Army.

As the special forces of the Fengwu Army, the Flying Tiger Battalion was naturally responsible for this task. Captain Zhang Huihuang led 19 scouts of the Flying Tiger Battalion and was responsible for the reconnaissance and observation of the enemy forces in Shizhou over the next few days.

As a member of the Flying Tiger Battalion, not only has each of them undergone professional training, but they also have a wealth of practical experience. They can be said to be the elite among the elite and the aces among aces in the Fengwu Army.

Therefore, under the leadership of Zhang Huihuang, these 19 Fengwu Army scouts successfully detected the movements of the Imperial Guards in Shizhou.

After completing the mission, Zhang Huihuang was ready to return to the Fengwu Army's camp in Xiaode County with the information he had obtained and report to his superiors. To be honest, since they had already retreated from Shizhou, Zhang Huihuang felt that the most dangerous time had passed, and he had already breathed a sigh of relief.

But who would have thought that the unexpected would happen, and they would actually run into these Tiger Jet Army scouts on this nameless hillside...
Judging from the stunned expressions of the other party, Zhang Huihuang guessed that they were not here to hunt him down, but were scouts sent by the Imperial Guards to investigate the movements of the Fengwu Army.

This made Zhang Huihuang very depressed, but things had come to this point and both sides could not pretend not to see each other, so they could only fight with real swords and guns, and survive on each other's blood and corpses.

The other side was scouts sent by the Hujie Army to investigate the movements of the Fengwu Army. Their personal martial arts were also very outstanding, but the people of the Flying Tiger Camp were stronger.

However, although the individual abilities of the Flying Tiger Battalion's soldiers were outstanding and they could gain the upper hand in a one-on-one fight, the enemy outnumbered them by more than 30 people. So under the numerical suppression of the enemy, the soldiers of the Flying Tiger Battalion could only form a formation to protect themselves under the command of Zhang Huihuang.

Seeing that the brothers at the front were slashed by the enemy several times, although they were protected by cotton armor, they were almost chopped into blood gourds. As the captain, Zhang Huihuang felt distressed and could only shout to the musketeers behind him:

"Dagang, Ergou, you two, reload your ammunition quickly!"

Hearing Zhang Huihuang’s urging, the musketeers who were protected by many of their comrades were also speeding up their reloading. Finally, one of them finished reloading, raised his gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger. A bullet hit the Imperial Guard scout who was rushing in the front right in the face, making a small hole in his face, and he fell down limply...
As the first man finished loading the bullets, the other musketeers in the team also completed loading the bullets one after another. The next second, the musketeers roared one after another, and the Hujie Army scouts who were in the front were immediately affected and all fell down.

This immediately suppressed the enemy's arrogance. Seeing this, Zhang Huihuang was delighted but also a little regretful that he had not brought the Tiger Crouching Cannon with him because it was too heavy.

A large-sized shotgun like the Tiger Crouching Cannon is most suitable for the current situation. It doesn't need too many. Just one shot can kill five or six people, and the situation will be much easier!
At the same time, the leader of the other Hujie Army scouts also shouted loudly with a thick Guanzhong accent:
"You are a bunch of cowards, what are you afraid of?"

"When a man dies, the birds fly up to the sky. If he lives forever, these Fengwu soldiers only have a few muskets. If we break their formation, their muskets will be useless!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the eight-foot-tall man from Guanzhong, who looked like a black tower, picked up a ring-handled sword and rushed to the front of the desert. This man's martial arts were extremely powerful. With one lift of the ring-handled sword, he chopped down a scout from the Flying Tiger Camp and knocked him to the ground with one slash.

The morale of the Hujie Army scouts was a little low, but they were inspired by the heroic performance of their own captain. They increased their attack strength one after another, and the formation of Zhang Huihuang and his team was shaken...

Although the Imperial Guards were also equipped with Shenwu guns, because the quality of the Shenwu guns was not good, they relied more on logistical support. Obviously, as scouts, their logistical support could not be guaranteed.

Moreover, gunpowder is very sensitive to moisture. Once the Shenwu gun malfunctions and the gunpowder becomes damp, the Shenwu gun will be no different from a fire stick. Therefore, these Hujie Army scouts simply did not carry the Shenwu gun. Therefore, facing the Fengwu Army's musket attack at this moment, their only way is to fight at close range!

Zhang Huihuang was anxious when he saw the enemy's close combat. He knew very well that in the face of the enemy's superior numbers, he could only rely on the formation to barely hold on.
Therefore, once the enemy broke through their formation, firstly, the musketeers would not be able to use their musketeers effectively without the protection of the swordsmen and axemen; secondly, if they were to fight on their own, the enemy's numerical advantage would be fully utilized, and in that case, these few people might not even last half a cup of tea.

Seeing that the black tower had also injured one of his brothers, Zhang Huihuang could only urge the musketeer to reload and fire as soon as possible, while he himself gritted his teeth and faced the black tower.

Seeing the leaders of the Fengwu Army scouts coming towards him and wanting to fight him head-on, the black tower grinned confidently, directly picked up the ring-handled sword in his hand, and chopped down continuously with great force...
Facing the chopping attack from the black tower, although Zhang Huihuang wanted to withstand it, the opponent was too strong. Although he tried his best to block the chopping attack, his palms were numb and his blood was churning. He retreated three or four steps before he could barely stabilize his body.

As Zhang Huihuang retreated, a gap appeared in the Fengwu Army's formation, and the black tower rushed in. Seeing that the formation was on the verge of collapse, Zhang Huihuang was so anxious that he didn't care about comforting himself and wanted to rush up to plug the gap.
However, the black tower was so powerful that he kicked Zhang Huihuang to the ground. Just when he was about to raise his ring-handled sword to kill Zhang Huihuang, the Weiyuan gun in the musketeer's hand fired again, and the bullet flew past the black tower's face.

Although he was not hit, the shot still frightened Heita so much that he broke out in a cold sweat and took two steps back. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhang Huihuang stood up again. Just as Heita rushed up again, hundreds of people came out from the other side of the hillside and shouted loudly:
"The scout battalion of the 8th Division of the 2nd Army of the Fengwu Army is here. Which group are those brothers in front of us?"

Zhang Huihuang was overjoyed when he realized that reinforcements had arrived. He immediately responded loudly:

"We are from the Flying Tiger Battalion, and they are scouts from the Tiger Army. Don't let them get away!"

After receiving Zhang Huihuang’s report, the 8th Division’s scout battalion on the other side of the hillside immediately came over to respond...

Seeing the reinforcements that Zhang Huihuang and his men had been waiting for, Heita's eyes were full of helplessness. In another cup of tea, he would be able to completely wipe out the Fengwu Army in front of him, but unfortunately, God did not help him, and the reinforcements from the Eighth Division's Scout Battalion appeared in time.

In this case, they are the ones who should run away now. If they don’t run now and wait for more than a hundred people to surround them, they will be wiped out! Thinking of this, the black tower also made a prompt decision and ordered:

"Zhao Yan, your group will stay behind to cover our retreat. The rest of you will follow me to the grove!"

"Yes!"

After giving the order to these Black Towers, they took the lead and walked towards the grove in the west. Seeing this, although Zhang Huihuang wanted to delay the enemy, his men were attacked by twice as many enemies, and almost everyone was injured and exhausted.

In addition, the few people who stayed behind to cover the retreat were also fighting desperately, so Zhang Huihuang had no choice but to look at the black tower and retreat into the grove with more than 20 people.

Just as Zhang Huihuang and his men had killed all the people who stayed behind to cover their retreat, reinforcements from the Eighth Division's scout battalion also rushed over. Zhang Huihuang also bowed and said:

“Thank you for your help, brothers. I’m Zhang Huihuang, the captain of the Flying Tiger Battalion. Now we have important military intelligence to report to the higher-ups as soon as possible. I have a few injured brothers here. Let’s see if I can hand them over to you…”

"And the one who just ran away was a scout from the Tiger Army. In order to prevent them from detecting our army's movements, it is best to wipe them out!"

Hearing Zhang Huihuang's words, the middle-aged man with a mustache who led the Eighth Division's scout battalion smiled heartily and said:

"Don't worry, Captain Zhang. I know that you Flying Tigers are all capable of doing great things. Go back and report as soon as possible so as not to delay the military situation!"

"Leave these matters to us. I will arrange for my men to send your injured brother back, and we will also hunt down these Tiger Army scouts!"

Zhang Huihuang was very grateful when he heard this and preached:
"Thank you very much. Zhang will treat you to a drink when we get back!"

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In the evening, the Fengwu Army Camp in Xiaode County

Because after Yang Chongqing led the imperial army to Shizhou, it would be difficult for the Fengwu Army to capture Jinyang, an important northern town, without annihilating Yang Chongqing's troops.

Therefore, in order to prevent Yang Chongqing from taking advantage of the Fengwu Army's siege on the city, Yuan Song, the commander-in-chief of the Fengwu Army, decided to temporarily stop the attack on Jinyang, lifted the Fengwu Army's siege of Jinyang, and withdrew the troops to Xiaode County.

At this time, after Yuan Song had dinner, he waited for the arrival of Lieutenant General Zheng Chuang.

"Your Excellency, the scouts of the Flying Tiger Camp have sent us the latest news. The Luoan Imperial Guards have arrived in Shizhou one after another. Currently, the total strength of the Shizhou Imperial Guards has exceeded 30,000. Specifically, there are more than 20,000 Tiger Guards and more than 10,000 Divine Martial Guards!"

"In addition, the Flying Tiger Battalion scouts captured several informants in Shizhou. Judging from the informants' confessions, it is almost certain that Yang Chongqing himself is in Shizhou, and the enemy troops are heading towards Jinyang!" Zheng Chuang reported to Yuan Song seriously:

Hearing these words, Yuan Song didn't say anything but just nodded silently. From the information collected so far, it seems that Yang Chongqing still likes to use surprise attacks as he always did!

Yang Chongqing realized that if they waited until the large army of the imperial guards in Luoan was assembled before rushing to Jinyang for assistance, it would be very likely that the Fengwu Army would complete the capture of Shizhou and Pingyang, the two western and southern gates of Jinyang. Therefore, Yang Chongqing asked Tang Peng and Ma Chongyang to continue to assemble the large army of the imperial guards in Luoan...

He personally went to Yanzhou with several hundred personal guards. He originally wanted to lead the 10,000 Tiger and Jet Army in Yanzhou to rescue Shizhou, but he was one step too late. Shizhou had already been captured by Song Jie, so Yang Chongqing changed his strategy according to the changes in the situation and let his men pretend to be the remnants of Shizhou's army and wander around Shizhou to harass.

As expected, Song Jie could not withstand the temptation and was lured out by Yang Chongqing, where he was ambushed and all his troops leaving the city were wiped out. As the troops defending the city were insufficient, Shizhou was recaptured by Yang Chongqing, and a fully-strength battalion of the Fengwu Army was almost completely wiped out by Yang Chongqing.

Knowing that it would be difficult to quickly capture Jinyang with the Fengwu Army's current strength, Yang Chongqing was in no hurry. On the one hand, he was consolidating the Shizhou stronghold while on the other hand he was waiting for the arrival of the Luoan Imperial Guards.

Yuan Song was not surprised by Yang Chongqing's tactic. After all, this was the safest tactic for Yang Chongqing!
Yang Chongqing is different from himself. If he loses the battle, he still has a chance to start over again thanks to the powerful system of the Fengwu Army and the support of the Marshal.

Yang Chongqing and the Luoan Imperial Guards under his command are the last hope of the Luoan court. Once they are completely wiped out, even if the Fengwu Army has not yet entered Guanzhong, the Luoan court will be on the verge of collapse. Therefore, although Yang Chongqing likes to use surprise attacks, the reality forces him to play it safe!

After a moment of silence, Yuan Song asked Zheng Chuang:
"Where are the Ninth and Tenth Divisions?"

When hearing Yuan Song ask this, Zheng Chuang, the lieutenant general, thought for a moment and replied:
"The Ninth Division has already arrived in Jinzhong. The Tenth Division is moving relatively slowly because it has to escort baggage, but it is almost there now. It is expected that the Ninth Division will be able to reach Xiaode County in the next seven to ten days!"

“As for the Tenth Division and the baggage, because it’s cloudy and the weather is warmer now, the roads are somewhat thawed. It has been raining lightly in the past few days and the roads are not easy to travel on, so they may be slower, but they will be able to arrive in twelve or thirteen years…”

(Thank you very much for receiving everyone's rumors. I have read them all one by one. I will modify the plot based on everyone's opinions!)
(End of this chapter)