"Dang!" There was a crisp sound, and the cavalry leader looked at Ma Yaozi in shock. He had just stabbed Ma Yaozi in the chest, and the result was a clanking sound. Is this man made of iron?
"Do it!" Ma Yaozi grinned ferociously, and suddenly pulled out a horizontal knife from the bottom of the taxi. The blade flashed with cold light, and he cut off the cavalry leader's arm in one stroke.
When the horse kite shouted loudly, the mountain boar also shouted loudly, and like a wild boar, it slammed into the horse of the cavalry next to it.
The horse, which was not tall, neighed miserably and was knocked to the ground by the wild boar. Before the knight on the horse could get up, the wild boar stabbed his neck through the knife with a knife.
In an instant, more than a dozen people started to move at the same time. Using hand crossbows and spears, they killed the more than forty cavalrymen and made them wail.
None of them wore armor, or could not afford to wear armor, so they were no match for Ma Yaozi and the others who were wearing cloth armor.
Seeing that something was wrong, the cavalry leader whose wrist was cut off endured the severe pain and tried to run away with a few trusted cavalrymen.
Upon seeing this, Ma Yaozi put his hand to his mouth and whistled, and five cavalrymen holding long horizontal swords immediately ran out from behind the hill. This had been arranged long ago.
When the cavalry leader saw this, his face suddenly turned pale. This was not a merchant. How could a merchant afford such tall horses that were good for impact? These horses looked like the military horses of the Samanid Empire in Persia.
The battle ended quickly, because the horses of these cavalrymen were short, grassland horses that were good for long-distance marches. They were incomparable to the five tall horses of Ma Yaozi's men that were captured from the west of Suiye City and had the blood of sweat horses.
In addition, the knights on horseback are all the elites of Youyidu. They can fire their bows continuously even on the bumpy horseback, and the opponent cannot escape at all.
"It turned out that Yusupu, the dog slave, was at war with the pagans in the Burdag Mountains in the north. It is said that Yusupu suffered a lot of losses in the past few times, but now he has surrounded the mountain pass leading to the north.
We are ready to attack the mountains."
Not long after, Zheng Tong ran over with his face flushed. The word heretic can already explain the problem very well.
"There used to be a big city near here, but it has been destroyed by continuous wars. However, the river in the north of the city is still there, leading to the mountains. It is exactly what the Yang family told me when they came to Shule nine years ago."
"You mean that we came at the right time, and the dog slave Yu Supu was besieging the castle built in the mountains by the Yang family and others?"
Ma Yaozi hesitated a little. If Zheng Tong's information was correct, there was a high probability that Zheng, Yang, and Xue's family would be besieged in the mountains. They only needed to rush into the mountains to find them.
But this is also risky. If Zheng Tong's memory is wrong, or if Shanzhong is not a descendant of the Anxi Army, then their mission will be over.
Because Yu Supu's army has blocked the road into the mountain, they will inevitably expose themselves if they want to enter the mountain.
"Let's all discuss it! Should we venture in or continue searching."
Ma Yaozi did not dare to make a decision on such a big matter by himself, but instead invited everyone to discuss it.
....
A small piece of multigrain cake and a bowl of bright red wine that looked like it was mixed with the blood of some kind of animal. This was everyone's lunch.
Multigrain biscuits are hard and rough and difficult to swallow, especially when your lips are dry and cracked. They taste like dirt in your mouth, but if you don't eat them, you won't be able to satisfy your hunger.
Yang Shouli took the multigrain cake and sipped it for a long time, but unfortunately, there was not a drop of saliva.
Xue Shouli next to him quickly brought the bowl of blood wine over. Yang Shouli hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help but take the bowl. He was too thirsty.
With all his willpower, Yang Shouli restrained the urge to drink the entire bowl of blood wine.
He took a gentle sip, and the faint smell of blood and the sweetness of the wine instantly filled his mouth.
Taking advantage of this moment, Yang Shouli quickly threw the multigrain cake into his mouth. If he waited for the wine to disappear, he might not be able to eat the cake.
The blood wine in an earthenware bowl was passed around among seven or eight people. After three or four rounds, less than half of it was left. Xue Shouli forced a smile.
"Everyone, don't be polite. If you drink a little more each person, there will be mutton for dinner!"
“This is our last sheep, right? We’ve finished killing the mutton, what will we do next year?
This morning I heard me say that there is only one jar of wine left in the warehouse. By then we won’t even have to drink the sheep’s blood wine. Who knows how long we can hold on?” Zheng Shouli, who grew up with them, looked a little a little bit.
despair.
"What are you talking about? At worst, we will rush down later and bring back some water. Those miscreants will surround us not once or twice. How can we succeed?
If someone has a set of iron armor, he must go to their formation and kill them three times in and three out!"
Yang Shouli didn't care, but he was not as relaxed as he seemed on the surface.
Every year during the autumn harvest, the bastards at the bottom of the mountain would come to surround them. From the beginning, they could eat mutton and drink millet wine, and they could also wear iron armor and fight wolves and run away, but now they are stuck on the mountain with no solution.
Even the water source was cut off.
Everyone can see that even if they can survive this time, they will definitely not be able to survive the next time.
In order to resist the enemy this year, we have killed all the sheep in the city and eaten up all the rice in the public warehouse. Next year if Zahu doesn't come to besiege the city, people will probably starve to death.
However, Yang Shouli didn't understand. Xinqiuci was built so secluded on a high mountain. They were usually very cautious in dealing with the bastards at the foot of the mountain. They always appeared as a fishing and hunting tribe in the mountains. How could they attract the attention of the bastards at the foot of the mountain?
Woolen cloth?
Pagans? They don’t exist! Who wouldn’t know how to wear a black turban if you say Anrak ahu? There’s no reason for them to be discovered!
"Second brother, please come over!" When Yang Shouli was puzzled, his younger brother Yang Sili came over and called him.
Yang Shouli got up immediately. He, Yang Tongyi, was the clan leader. If he was asked to go, there must be something important.
New Qiuci is the name given to the mountain city built by the three families of Yang, Zheng and Xue.
New Qiuci is built halfway up the mountain, with only a small road accessible to the south. To the east is a vast alpine pasture, to the north is a steep hillside, and to the west is a cliff.
The urban layout of New Qiuci is similar to that of the original Qiuci. Although it only covers an area of a few hundred acres, it is divided into four urban areas: east, west, south and north. People of the three surnames live in the three urban areas of east, west and south respectively. The north city is the meeting hall and the public hall.
The warehouse is located.
In the meeting hall, the elders of the three surnames Yang, Zheng, and Xue are already here. After decades of sharing the joys and sorrows, the three surnames are actually about to form one. This can be seen from the naming patterns of the descendants of the three surnames.
.
The descendants of the three surnames were named according to the principles of "benevolence, justice, etiquette, wisdom, trust, loyalty, filial piety, integrity, forgiveness and courage".
It's just that the word indicating seniority is placed at the end. Children of similar ages even have the same word in the middle.
That's why there are naming rules like Yang Shouli, Zheng Shouli and Xue Shouli.
There is a guard in the middle, which means they are about the same age, and a gift at the end, which means they are from the same generation.
So next to Yang Shouli's Ye Ye Yang Tongyi, Xue Tongyi, who had gray hair, also sat. As for Zheng Tongyi, he had already passed away.
"Didn't you dig out the water?" Yang Shouli didn't care about the unkind looks from the elders around him.
"I have already said that this new Qiuci is not easy to defend. The grass grows well, which does mean that there is water in the ground. But now we are almost out of iron pots, so what can we dig for?"
Yang Tongyi's cheeks twitched and he raised his hands. If he hadn't been short of water and had no energy to walk, he would have rushed down and slapped this traitor.
Xue Tongyi, who was next to him, quickly came over to smooth things over, because Yang Shouli was not only someone he had grown up watching, he was also his son-in-law.
"Shou etiquette! When is it? Are you still angry with me? You are the smartest among our younger generation. Please think of a way. If this continues, we will all die of thirst."
Yang Shouli let out a long sigh, "I said a few years ago that we can either go down and abandon our ancestors and become obedient people, and believe in God and peace.
Or unite with the various ethnic groups in Beishan who don't believe in Tianfang Religion and work together to do something big.
But you are unwilling to abandon your ancestors, and you dare not unite all the tribes in Beishan. So what good solution is there now?
Later today, I will rush down the mountain with Li and Zhi, and bring back some water no matter what. If I can survive this year, then go up to the snow-capped mountains, drink blood with raw hair, and I can barely survive."
Everyone in the meeting hall was silent during the conversation. Five years ago, they still had several sets of armor, dozens of bows and arrows, and enough food.
At that time, whether they were going down the mountain to become obedient people or uniting the various tribes in Beishan that did not believe in the Tianfang religion to resist, they still had the strength to fight.
But now, every year, they are blocked by wild beasts from the mountains during the autumn harvest season, and their weapons and armor cannot be replenished, so they have to eat the most grain every year.
Now the bastards are just waiting to break New Kucha and turn them into slaves. They are no longer even qualified to surrender!
"Stop fetching water, you can pour out the wine from the public warehouse and let everyone eat it. You young people, let's go up to the snow-capped mountains!"
Yang Tongyi closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then a drop of turbid tears flowed from his eyes.
Abandoning the old, weak, women and children, leaving a way for young people to survive, in his opinion, this is the only option.
Yang Shouli was also very sad, but he had to sneer at his father's ideas.
"Sir, you are overthinking. Why do the bastards at the foot of the mountain attack us every year? Isn't it just because we know how to farm and the women know how to weave?
What they want is not this new Qiuci, nor do they want to kill people, but they want us to be their cattle and horses.
This year, three to four thousand soldiers were deployed at the foot of the mountain to besiege us. How could we, a few hundred young men with wooden guns, escape?"
"It's God's will! It's God's will! Can't you imagine that we will be Hu'er's slaves for generations to come? Is there no way out?"
Xue Tongyi screamed in agony. Yang Shouli was right. The Zahu who came down the mountain had been attacking every year. It was not because they couldn't tolerate them. The land here was vast and sparsely populated, and there were a lot of unclaimed lands.
The reason why those bastards have been attacking every year is because the descendants of the Anxi army in Xinqiuci are too capable compared with the local herdsmen who only know how to herd sheep and milk cows.
Men are good at farming. Whether they are growing wheat and millet, making wine, or making pottery, they are much better than those bastards who only know how to herd sheep.
Not to mention women, Han women are very ingenious and are excellent at farming and weaving.
Although people at this time did not know what productivity was, they knew that Tang'er in these mountains was as good as any of the others in farm work. If they were caught, they would become slaves who could produce a lot of wealth.
Yang Shouli looked up to the sky and sighed, with tears streaming down his face. He touched the short knife in his sleeve, which was given to him by his wife Cainiang.
Cainiang looks pretty, but once she falls into the hands of a miscreant, she doesn't know what kind of torture she will suffer.
So the couple had already agreed that once the city was defeated, Yang Shouli would kill Cainiang first and then commit suicide.
"There is no way, there is no way at all, unless the Tang Dynasty comes back to save us as our ancestors said!"
This chapter has been completed!