Chapter 358 Who is the hunter? Who is the prey?

Chapter 358 Who is the hunter? Who is the prey?

And here there are such clear footprints! What does this mean? This obviously shows that the distance between the Southern Border Army and their own side must not be too far. After thinking and speculating for a while, Wei Xu made a rough judgment in his mind: this army is very likely to be the Southern Border Army going to support Long County! However, what is worrying is that the opponent's speed of advancement is much faster than theirs.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Everyone speed up the march immediately! We must not let the Southern Border Army escape like this! There is no doubt that this is the army going to support Long County. Everyone speed up and chase them with all their might. We must not let these enemies go no matter what! Once the enemy army successfully enters Long County, it will be extremely difficult for us to successfully capture Long County," Wei Xu shouted anxiously.

"Yes," Following Wei Xu's order, the 20,000-strong imperial army quickly took action, and without hesitation increased their marching speed to the extreme, not daring to delay at all, and rapidly pursued forward like a surging torrent.

Due to the large number of troops and different types of soldiers, the formation of the entire team inevitably changed soon after the imperial army began to pursue. The originally neat and compact square formation gradually stretched into a winding, tortuous, long dragon-like shape.

The highly mobile cavalry rushed to the front, galloping at lightning speed, while the relatively slow infantry fell behind. Although they were also trying hard to catch up, they still had difficulty keeping up with the cavalry. This situation was normal. After all, in a long-distance pursuit, the speed difference between the different arms was difficult to avoid. The shield soldiers, who should have been in the front and rear of the army during the march, would inevitably fall behind because of their weapons and equipment.

All of this was in line with Ying Bu's strategy and goal. With only 10,000 men ambushing an enemy force of 20,000, and with no suitable valleys or canyons for ambushes, Ying Bu knew that the chances of winning were slim, even before the formal confrontation. Even if he really won the battle by chance, he would certainly pay a very painful price, and such an outcome was not what Ying Bu wanted to see.

Just as the imperial army was in pursuit, an unexpected scene suddenly took place! Countless arrows, like a torrential rain, whistled towards the two thousand cavalrymen who were charging in front of the imperial army.

For a moment, "Shua, swish, swish, swish..." the sharp and piercing sounds of breaking through the air were heard one after another, echoing throughout the entire battlefield.

This sudden and fierce rain of arrows caused the defenseless cavalry to suffer heavy losses in an instant. In an instant, the shouts of people and horses resounded through the sky, many horses were frightened and lost control, and the knights fell off their horses one after another. The scene was in chaos and a mess. What was even more fatal was that these archers had been hiding quietly in the dense woods on both sides of the road from beginning to end, like a dormant beast waiting for the best opportunity to launch a fatal attack.

If ordinary infantry were here, they would have noticed something unusual. But Ying Bu had another clever plan. He ordered his many archers to lie down quickly, as close to the ground as possible, and cover themselves with the surrounding grass, leaves, etc. Due to the height of the cavalry and their fast speed, it was difficult for them to see what was hidden in this seemingly ordinary area, so it was easy to be overlooked.

When the rapid sound of horse hooves came closer and closer, the countless archers who were lying on the ground suddenly jumped up like cheetahs, drew their bows and arrows, and aimed at the target. At this time, the distance between the two sides was only fifty steps. For any archer who had received a little training, shooting at such a close distance was a piece of cake, and he could hit the enemy accurately with every shot.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" Along with the deafening shouts of killing, almost at the same time, Ying Bu took the lead and led a large number of elite cavalry behind him, galloping out from the front like a tiger descending from the mountain, and rushed straight to the imperial army that was already in chaos and panic.

Just when the imperial army had not yet recovered from their shock, the sudden and violent attack came like a storm, catching the imperial army off guard and making them miserable. In an instant, shouts and screams of killing echoed through the sky, and the entire battlefield instantly fell into chaos and bloodshed.

This tragic scene was just the beginning. As Ying Bu charged like a tiger descending from a mountain, more well-trained archers quickly adjusted their angles and ranges, mercilessly aiming their deadly arrows at the imperial army. They pulled the bowstrings and released the arrows with skillful and ruthless movements, as if these soldiers were not living beings, but lambs to be slaughtered.

Because they were caught completely off guard by the enemy, and because the shield soldiers responsible for defense were still behind due to the rapid march, they were unable to rush to the front to provide support in time. As a result, the cavalry and infantry who were originally charging in the front suddenly lost their effective protection and became live targets for the enemy's arrows. Arrows rained down like rain, shooting at the unprepared soldiers one after another, and blood splattered everywhere, which was a horrible sight. Many soldiers fell in a pool of blood with screams before they could even see the enemy's face clearly.

Wei Xu, who was in the chaos, was not spared either. A sharp arrow came at him like lightning and hit him squarely in the arm. Severe pain spread throughout his body in an instant, but this experienced general did not retreat or panic. Although he was extremely anxious, he knew that he must not lose his composure at this moment and must regroup and organize a counterattack as soon as possible. So, he endured the pain and shouted loudly: "Kill! Kill! Kill!" in an attempt to boost morale and stabilize the army.

Almost at the same time, a shocking scene was staged again. Countless dark figures suddenly emerged from the dense woods on both sides of the road. They were the main force of the Southern Border Army. They held sharp blades, each with a ferocious look on their face, and rushed towards the imperial army with overwhelming force and fearlessness. Looking around, there were enemy troops in all directions, and their number was simply jaw-dropping. Faced with this sudden and powerful offensive, even Wei Xu, who had been on the battlefield for a long time, was at a loss for a moment and became confused.

Ying Bu also made full use of the advantages of the southern border army and designed an ambush in a location where it was originally impossible to set up an ambush. He cleverly arranged for his soldiers to deliberately create a large number of disorganized footprints. The purpose was to confuse the court's army and make them mistakenly believe that these footprints were left by the large force going to support Long County.

Under such circumstances, the imperial army would undoubtedly choose to launch a pursuit in advance and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop, which was undoubtedly the most sensible and advantageous strategy at the moment. Especially when the distance between the two sides was not very far, the possibility of the enemy being deceived was greatly increased. After all, facing such obvious signs of "escape", who could not be tempted?

If they just set up a hard ambush in the conventional way, as long as the imperial army was slightly alert and noticed even the slightest abnormality, they would definitely not fall for it easily. Therefore, they had to cleverly create an illusion - making the imperial army believe that they were the pursuers and the southern army was the one fleeing. In this way, they could successfully lure the imperial army into the trap and launch the pursuit without hesitation.

Once the imperial army began to pursue, their originally orderly and steady marching team would inevitably be stretched out in the rush to catch up. As a result, the entire army's formation would no longer be tight and tight, and naturally more and more flaws would be exposed. Now is the best time for the Southern Border Army to launch a counterattack! When launching an attack, the primary target must be the enemy's cavalry.

If it was an ordinary city battle, the cavalry would not be affected too much. However, this was an unexpected raid, and it was fought in the wild, without even setting up camp. As a result, the gap was extremely huge. Ying Bu made a prompt decision and quickly deployed the remaining soldiers to the far side of the woods. When the offensive was launched, the enemy's full attention had been firmly attracted to the battlefield in front. They had no time to take care of the situation on both sides, and had no idea how many southern border troops were hiding in the woods.

Due to the cover of the trees, the enemy could not see the number of southern troops rushing out of the forest. However, the overwhelming pressure brought by the huge crowds of people emerging from all directions was enough to make the imperial army collapse instantly. At this moment, the situation was developing just as Ying Bu had carefully planned.

All that was heard was a deafening cry of killing: "Kill! Kill..." Ying Bu led the charge, holding a gleaming spear, and rushed towards Wei Xu like a storm. Facing Ying Bu's fierce charge, Wei Xu hesitated at first, but he knew that he could not retreat at all at this moment. So, he gritted his teeth, endured the severe pain, and resolutely pulled out the arrow that was deeply stuck in his arm. Then, he faced Ying Bu fearlessly with a spear in his hand.

"Everyone must not panic. Those who are afraid of fighting will be killed without mercy. Kill!" Wei Xu also understood at this time that in this situation, he must first stabilize the morale of the army. If he directly ordered a retreat, the imperial army would inevitably suffer heavy losses. There is another way to do this, which is to directly kill the enemy general to boost the morale of the army.

Wei Xu's idea was indeed very good, but he underestimated Ying Bu who was rushing towards him. Ying Bu was a real famous general with a force value of at least 90 points.