The Zabu River is one of the few open-air water sources on the road.
Especially in this area, which is the Gobi Desert, there is such a river. The lush water and grass along the river not only attract all kinds of wild animals to drink water, but it is also a paradise for water birds and a hunting ground for wolves and wild leopards within a hundred miles.
Every winter and spring, the snow-capped mountains freeze, rivers dry up, and large areas of silt riverbanks are exposed, making it inconvenient for people and animals to walk.
Fortunately, Song Erlang and the others paved a road with pebbles. Now there is no obstacle to passage. They just have to find the shallows and wade across the river.
Zhao Tingduo has traveled many times between Hecheng and Mida Valley, and is also familiar with the terrain in this area.
Knowing that there is a river beach ahead, we still need to drive a little further to cross the river, so it is safe to stay away from the water source.
The setting of each rest stop is planned and corresponds to a day's journey by horse-drawn carriage.
At the speed of my group, I had to hurry up and hurry up.
When Wei Er and the others turned around and no one was caught peeping, the team set off again.
Mr. Yu was sitting on the carriage, with guards looking around.
Song Liyun and Zhao Tingduo rode in front, followed closely by Wu Dan.
Jian Fangtong also received news that the merchant had gone to the Zabu River.
In front of the motorcade, Song Liyun and Zhao Tingduo walked side by side.
The two of them chatted a few words from time to time, and their horses trotted casually. To outsiders, they seemed to be a carefree couple.
Song Liyun quietly handed the binoculars to Zhao Tingduo and whispered: "Ten feet away on our right, there are two people hiding in the grass."
Zhao Tingduo remained calm. He took it and pretended to look around with the binoculars. He took a look at several ambushes around him and felt relieved.
Most of these horse bandits came from elsewhere and lacked experience and were unfamiliar with the local conditions.
Not only were there no manpower assigned to the easiest place to attack by the river, but the distance between those already stationed there was too far.
As long as you disrupt the rhythm, the encirclement of this group of horse bandits will be broken.
Next to him, Wu Dan's little face was tense. He couldn't hear clearly what the young master and young lady were saying, but he could tell from their actions that he had discovered that there were horse bandits around!
After Zhao Tingduo observed the surrounding situation, he handed the telescope back to Song Liyun and asked her to put it away carefully.
He didn't dare to keep such a precious object around him. If he came across it, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
"Wu Dan, tell Mr. Yu that we are going to charge forward for a while and ask him to sit down and hold him tight. Ayun, you are also with Mr. Yu."
He had found the traces of the horse bandits and quickly prepared for battle.
There were more horse bandits than he thought, and he had already understood what the other party was trying to do.
The ambush on both sides was intended to launch an attack from the rear and sides when the carriage was crossing the river.
As a result, the carriage could not stay in the river and could only rush forward.
Being in the water, the guards cannot run forward or backward and must stay behind.
Then the real ambush must be on the other side of the river beach.
When the unguarded carriage rushed onto the river bank, it had to face the butcher's knife of the horse bandits.
Except for the cobblestone road under my feet, there was mud all around. Even if I ran, I would move slowly.
This is how sheepdogs drive the sheep every day.
Song Linyun was also shocked when he saw Zhao Tingduo suddenly speeding up.
She didn't know much about military affairs, and she clearly felt that the other party had set up a pocket, just waiting for her and her group to get into it.
Now that Zhao Tingduo is advancing instead of retreating, does he have another plan?
Thinking that Zhao Tingduo had fought countless battles in the past two years and would not make such stupid mistakes, Song Liyun had absolute trust in him and silently took out the military thorn that he had not used for a long time.
Behind, Mr. Yu and others got the news and immediately urged their horses to run.
The wheels rolled, raising a cloud of dust in the sand.
The guards protected the carriage in the middle and quickly rushed towards the Zabu River without any hesitation.
Almost at this moment, all the horse bandits in the grass stood up and looked confused: "Why did they suddenly start running?"
"They want to escape, surround, surround, and capture alive."
"Quick, catch up, don't let anyone rush out!"
Whistles sounded one after another, and the horses that had been down in the depression stood up.
The horse bandit came out of his hiding place and chased the carriage towards the river beach.
The sound of horse hooves, shouts and curses, and the pursuit of dozens of horses made the calm riverside suddenly boil.
On the spacious mudflat of the Zabu River, five carriages ran between the guards in a panic but not chaos.
Two hundred meters in front of the carriage, a black horse rushed forward like the spike of a javelin.
Zhao Tingduo was standing in the stirrups, his low body blending into the galloping horse, with his flying cloak pulled straight behind him.
Behind him, Song Liyun hugged the neck of the fast-running horse tightly to prevent himself from falling.
Next to her, Wu Dan looked at her nervously and shouted: "Young Madam, the Young Master wants you to get in the carriage!"
After more than a year of training, Song Liyun's riding skills are better than those of ordinary people, and those are ordinary people. They cannot be compared with people like Zhao Tingduo and Wu Dan who are on horseback.
Just now, Zhao Tingduo asked Song Liyun, who was the worst at riding among them all, to ride in a carriage with Mr. Yu.
But Song Liyun didn't adopt it. She felt that although her riding skills were not as good as others, she was flexible on horseback and could adapt to changes if there was an accident.
Behind the three people, as the horse bandits around them approached, the five carriages were about to step into the river, when they suddenly turned quickly and swam downstream along the sandy land beside the river.
The guards next to them also turned their horses in unison, and the running horses turned their heads on the spot with their exquisite horse control skills.
This sudden change of direction caught the horse bandits chasing behind them off guard, and the distance between the two parties instantly closed.
Because someone is needed to drive the car, there are only ten people in the escort team at this time.
Facing thirty horse bandits with scimitars in their hands, the ten-man team made a move at the same time: they took out a dark military crossbow from under the felt beside the saddle.
The crossbow is small and exquisite, completely black, and even the arrows are dark and shiny.
The escorts' movements were neat and tidy, and by the time the horse bandits reacted, the two sides were already very close, almost about to collide.
"These people have arrows, brothers, be careful! Shoot with arrows!"
Some of the horse bandits were shouting and began to take out their own arrows in a panic.
They had been lying in ambush in the grass and were not preparing to attack. When the carriage suddenly accelerated without warning, they widened the distance and had no chance to shoot arrows.
Now that the distance was close, there was no chance. Before the bandits could draw their bow strings, they heard a "snatching" sound.
The bandits on horseback were like felled wheat, falling to the ground one after another.
In just this wrong moment, the two gangs strangled each other.
With one against two, the guards of the Zhenbei Army held a sword in one hand and an iron crossbow in the other.
He was proficient in bows and horses, and the bandits on horseback had no power to fight back once they were confronted, and fell off their horses one after another.
Several horse bandits were shot through the head with an arrow and were already out of breath.
At this time, the horse bandits also clearly saw the iron crossbows in the hands of these guards.
The strong wind cuts off the strong grass. This is a special iron crossbow. The arrows it shoots are made of steel and can penetrate armor and break armor.
The remaining horse bandits exclaimed: "This is the Zhenbei Army's Gale Camp!"