The eagle's beak cliff is in the southwest of Jiezhou, it is the only way for the Beijing division to lead to the hinterland of the two roads, the mountains are traversing the left and right, and the official road can only be guided by the situation, and the choice is to pass through the valley as much as possible to reduce the manpower consumption of excavation.

The grain transport team moved forward slowly, arrived at the eagle's beak cliff two days later, the team drove into the canyon under the cliff, everyone was greatly admired, the valley bottom under the cliff was wide and flat, the ground was full of compacted fine sand ground, I think it was the rain flowing through this place for many years, the gravel was precipitated and compacted, and the horse's hooves left only shallow traces on the sand, and did not fall into half a point at all; The bottom of the whole eagle's beak cliff is like a huge square, and if it were not for the scattered trees, the valley would be curved in the shape of an eagle's beak, and it could almost be seen through at a glance.

In the past two days, Di Qing was very low-key, and asked Su Jin for three sets of military uniforms for the guards of the Ma Army, and the two who came with him pretended to be Ma Jun's entourage and were sandwiched in the team, and painted his face with charcoal ash to cover the whale scars on his face.

Su Jin secretly admired, worthy of being an old fritter who had dealt with the West Thief for several years, Di Qing was trying his best to cover up his whereabouts, the West Thief was too familiar with Di Qing, and he was also afraid of Di Qing, although there was nothing wrong with the front and back of the team, but maybe there would be someone around him, once Di Qing was recognized, the intention would be exposed, and the whole thing would be in vain.

After the team entered the eagle's beak cliff, the scout sent out to explore the horse quickly returned, and there seemed to be something strange fifteen miles away from the official road in front, with the trend of smoke and dust.

Su Jin and Di Qing looked at each other in shock, the west thief came so fast, and he had arrived here before he received the news until today, only six days later; Eagle's Beak Cliff can be regarded as a hinterland more than two hundred miles away from the border, the western thieves came so quickly, it can almost be concluded that they immediately raised troops after receiving the report, without the slightest hesitation, on the one hand, it shows that the western thieves are familiar with the road and do not put the defense line of the Great Song Dynasty in their eyes at all, on the other hand, it also shows that they are robbing. There is a great interest in looting supplies.

Since Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi reached a consensus and implemented the strategy of solid defense of the walled wilderness, the vast land was almost uninhabited except for the walled city, so that the Western thieves plundered and could not stand it.

Di Qing personally went out and acted as a scout to verify, according to his experience, the dusty momentum was a sign of the arrival of a large number of cavalry, and dismounted and listened to the ground, the ground also shook endlessly, there should be no doubt.

That night, Su Jin quietly gave an order and made some arrangements, arranging for nimble people to go up to the top of the cliff to look at the guard, not to warn the movement of the Western Thief Cavalry, but to deter the possible accompanying spies on the mountains on both sides of the Eagle's Beak Cliff.

Su Jin is most concerned about the location of Fan Zhongyan's army, now that he has encountered the enemy, everything is ready only to owe Dongfeng, Fan Zhongyan's soldiers and horses are Dongfeng, only after knowing his specific location, Su Jin can carry out the next plan.

Asked about Di Qing, Di Qing said confidently: "There will be news tonight, Master Su can rest assured." ”

Su Jin said: "How did the news come in?" The outside of the valley must have been watched by the thief scouts, and I am afraid that it will not be easy to enter. ”

Di Qing said with a smile: "Dealing with the western thief, how can you not make careful preparations, Yanzhou has dozens of military pigeons, and now the non-military pigeon can not transmit the message, and there will be a military pigeon to send a letter tonight; To tell you the truth, Feng Dutou, who traveled with me, is the head of the military pigeon team deployed in Yanzhou, and he has released carrier pigeons to inquire today, and the military pigeons will return in the evening. ”

Su Jin applauded and laughed: "It's so powerful, it's a shame that you came up with it." ”

Di Qing laughed and said: "This is not a humble idea, the Sui and Tang dynasties have already passed the book to the flying pigeon, and its practical use is not great, the western thief is very tricky, and there are harrier eagles in the army, specializing in capturing carrier pigeons in our army and obtaining intelligence, so important military information can no longer be transmitted with carrier pigeons, but this time it is a night flying pigeon to pass the book, only the spirit pigeon 'black feather' carried by Feng Dutou can be competent, this black feather is extremely smart, Feng Dutou can take it as a treasure, this time I hope it can live up to expectations." ”

Su Jin was stunned, after making trouble for a long time, he still didn't have an accurate score, did he guess and fight in the wars these years? I didn't have a letter for sure, which was really depressing.

Su Jin's depression didn't last long, and in the second half of the night, his footsteps outside the tent vibrate, and Di Qing took Feng Dutou to break in without notification, and said in a loud voice: "Master Su, the news has arrived, the news has arrived." ”

Su Jin was already lying in his clothes, and when he heard this, he got up and let Di Qing and Feng Dutou into the tent, and Feng Dutou was holding a carrier pigeon with a pitch-black body in his hand, and a bamboo tube was tied to the pigeon's leg.

Su Jin was overjoyed and said: "This beast is really a miracle horse, and I will give it a credit in the future, and I will serve it with good rice and good grain." ”

That Feng Dutou said gloomily: "Master Su, I'm afraid it's not necessary, hey......"

Su Jin said: "What's wrong?" Why do you cry with a sad face? ”

Feng Du's tears were about to fall, and he held the pigeon under the light with both hands, Su Jin took a closer look, but saw that the pigeon's back was wet and reflective, and he reached out and wiped it gently, his fingers were full of blood, it turned out that the pigeon was injured.

"The spirit pigeon lived up to its mission, needless to say that it met the enemy harrier eagle on the way, presumably desperately escaped from the capture of the harrier eagle, and finally escaped to complete the mission, it is really a good soldier who is loyal to his duty." Di Qing sighed.

Su Jin was in awe of this pigeon, a small pigeon, much stronger than many people in the world, in the world of pigeons, completing the task and flying back to the owner is its only belief, and in the world of people, when encountering a strong enemy, betrayal, greed, suspicion, groveling and other emotions will become dominant, saying that people are not as good as this flat-haired beast may be a little extreme, but it cannot be said that it is unreasonable.

As he spoke, the pigeon tilted its head and died of blood, and Feng Du's face was full of tears, and he howled childishly.

Di Qing shouted: "What are you crying about? I have told you a long time ago, when you come out to fight, you must always be ready to send this life, the yellow sand is killed in a hundred battles, and the horse leather shroud is returned, if you can die on the battlefield, it is the glory of our soldiers; This pigeon fought and died, and where it died, why should it be a child? If I die on the battlefield in the future, if you cry and shed a tear, we will not be brothers when we meet in the underworld in the future. ”

Feng Du hurriedly wiped away his tears and said yes with his chest straightened.

Su Jin listened to Di Qing's words, and his heart was turbulent, this world is not full of corrupt officials, people like Di Qing who serve the country and the people are the mainstream, and only in this way can the building be stable and not overturned.

didn't have time to sigh more, Su Jin untied the bamboo tube, unfolded the note in the bamboo tube under the light, and wrote in a few words: "Five thousand men and horses will be stationed in Liutun Village forty miles behind the enemy, and when the war starts, the beacon fire will be the number, and you can rush to the aid within an hour." ”

Su Jin said: "Is this Lord Fan's words?" ”

Di Qing picked up the note and roasted it on the candle flame, and suddenly the payment appeared, and the word 'Zhu said' appeared in small block letters.

"There is no doubt that it is Master Fan's handwriting." Di Qing said.

Su Jin hurriedly asked, "Who is this payment?" ”

Di Qing said with a smile: "When Fan Gong was young, he remarried Zhu Wenhan from Zizhou Mansion in Shandong Province with his mother, and he was named Zhu Shuo, and his father's surname was restored after the Chinese Imperial Examination. ”

Su Jin said: "I see. It's just forty miles behind the enemy, and fifty or sixty miles from us, which is too far. ”

Di Qing said: "Forty miles behind the enemy, I am afraid that the enemy scouts will know, the scope of the cavalry scout's search is huge, and Fan Gong's consideration is not unreasonable." ”

Su Jin nodded and said: "That is to say, once the war starts, we need to hold on for at least an hour, which requires more arrangements." ”

Di Qing nodded and said: "It's quite difficult, I have looked at the weapon configuration of our more than 1,000 people, there are only five hundred bows and arrows, and there are not many arrows, so I have to think about it." ”

Su Jin's face was solemn, and he immediately proposed to convene a meeting of generals to discuss, so everyone was called into the tent, and after a short discussion, they had a plan, and they all took action with their subordinates.

……

At dawn, in a dense forest ten miles northwest of the Eagle's Beak Cliff, three thousand Xixia cavalry were ready to go, and these three thousand Xixia cavalry belonged to the Jianing Military Division of Youzhou in the left wing, and the Jianing Army in Youzhou in the left wing was the main offensive force of the Xia Army on the East Road on the front line of Yanzhou.

The leading general was a young man in his twenties, who was riding a horse and staring at the official road to the south with a whip in his hand, and his face showed maturity and coldness that was not commensurate with his age.

This person's identity is not trivial, he is Li Ningming, the eldest son of Li Yuanhao, the founding emperor of the Great Xia Kingdom, and he is the newly established prince of the Great Xia Kingdom; Li Yuanhao has many heirs, and Western Xia pursues the rule of establishing a virtuous person but not a long one, so although he is the crown prince, Li Ningming is not easy at all, he must make achievements to stabilize his position, so that his younger brothers will never have a chance to get involved in the crown prince's position.

Because of this, Li Ningming came to the front line in Yanzhou last autumn, and served as a military supervisor under his uncle Li Jiqian, the commander of the Jianing Army.

When the Song army pursued the policy of fortifying the wall and clearing the wilderness, the Xia army plundered less and less materials, and the annual conquest seriously depleted the national strength of Great Xia, and the people could not afford it, and the Yeli tribe in the north had a rebellion not long ago, Li Yuanhao was furious, and Li Ningming saw all this in his eyes.

What made him even more unbearable, but at this time, Li Ningling, the younger brother of the West Road who accompanied the Baoshou Military Division, led 4,000 iron horsemen to level a military village of the Song army at this time, capturing countless people, mules, horses, grain and grass, and the news made Li Ningming feel like a pins and needles.

Fortunately, there was a good opportunity from the sky, and the news came from the fine work that was bought in the Song realm, saying that a team of Song troops escorting grain, grass, weapons and other materials was heading north along the official road.

Li Jiqian was very hesitant, Li Ningming was the crown prince, and such a dangerous thing was definitely not something he could do, although Li Ningming was also very smart and studious, and he had read a lot of military books, and he had a bit of the spirit of a Confucian general when he talked about it on weekdays, but he had never commanded the battle independently, and there was no way to consider the actual combat.

But Li Ningming insisted on leading the troops to go, Li Jiqian also understood his situation, thinking that the enemy army was now shrinking in the walled city and not fighting, and he had also led a large army to wander in the Song Realm, the Song army had no desire to fight, and perhaps it would not be so dangerous, so he arranged for two old and serious lieutenant generals to follow and assist, and carefully told Li Ningming to act and know how to give up, and never put himself in danger for these materials, Li Ningming agreed one by one.

Li Ningming is not a fool, although he is eager to make meritorious contributions, but he is not a reckless person, since entering the Song realm, he has spread the news of scouts to explore the camps of the Song army, he made up his mind, once there is a change, he will give up immediately, and will never joke with his life; The Song army's walled cities did not move, so that his confidence was greatly increased, yesterday evening arrived outside the eagle's beak cliff, the scout reported that the Song army's escort team camped in the valley, Li Ningming was excited, he knew that this piece of big fat meat was about to come to his mouth.