"Thank you so much!" Lord Wang knelt on the wall of the village and kowtowed heavily to Wu You, who had specially sent the horse over.
"My benefactor will last forever!" The men and women guarding the stronghold also knelt down one by one and bowed to Wang Wu.
Because the lands suitable for horse herding such as the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures were all controlled by the Liao Kingdom, the Song Dynasty was seriously short of war horses. The price of a good horse could usually be sold for more than 20 copper coins.
The other party sent back more than forty horses, which was equivalent to giving them eight hundred copper coins. However, ordinary bankers could not save two coins throughout the year, so how could they not be grateful?
In addition, with these war horses and weapons, everyone in Wangjiazhuang will have a certain ability to protect themselves when they go out to seek refuge. Even without the help of the village wall, they can still show off their weapons when encountering a small group of bandits, forcing the opponent to face difficulties.
And retreat.
If unfortunately they encounter the Liao army, the old, weak, sick and disabled in the village will definitely not be spared. The young people can escape on horseback. The entire Zhuangzi will not be completely broken. In the peaceful years, the fireworks in the ancestral hall will be
There is hope that the land soaked in blood can regain its vitality.
"No need to thank you, you can leave early!" Wu You felt sad because of the worship, he waved his hand, left the horse and weapons, and turned around to leave.
Han Qing and others did not go too far, and they were overtaken by him not long after. Everyone continued to head southwest. Along the way, they saw three or four more forts, all of which had been breached by the Liao army or bandits. There were more inside
There was no smoke, only wild dogs with red eyes running around among the ruins.
"What a sin..." Everyone felt even more angry and couldn't help but shake their heads with emotion.
In the past six months, the official family has been focusing on internal fighting and cannot spare much energy to manage the war in Hebei.
As a result, the war continued to rage from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
The emperor of the Liao Kingdom never paid military salaries to the troops under his command. Whether it was wolf cavalry or signing troops, they all relied on looting to maintain morale and daily expenses.
Therefore, the soldiers of the Liao Kingdom always robbed wherever they went, euphemistically calling it "grabbing grass and valleys." In fact, they regarded the people of the Song Dynasty as crops, cattle and sheep, rather than the same human beings.
Just when I was feeling extremely depressed, calls came from behind me, "My benefactor, please stay for a moment!"
Everyone turned around in astonishment, and in the afterglow of the setting sun, they saw the white-haired old owner of Wangjiazhuang, with seven or eight of his descendants, riding their horses in hot pursuit of everyone.
"My benefactor, we have nothing to repay for the kindness of our lives." For fear of causing misunderstanding, several young students from a distance followed the instructions of their village owner and explained in unison at the top of their lungs, "I specially took some dried meat.
I’ll bring you some cakes and drinks as a gift to my benefactor. It’s already getting late, so I’d like to treat my benefactor to a hot meal so that I can have the strength to go on the journey.”
After saying that, each of them raised their arms on horseback with their palms facing forward to show that they did not have any ill intentions.
"This, this, this..." Wu You and others felt their hearts boiling. For a moment, they didn't know how to respond.
"My father-in-law and brothers have worked so hard, I'm sorry to hear you accept it!" Han Qing felt warm in her heart. She raised her hands and saluted the owner of the Wang Family Village.
"I can't do it, I can't do it. My benefactor saves me first and sends the horse behind. If we can't even let our benefactor eat a hot meal, are we still considered human beings?" The old village owner was determined not to accept it.
He saluted, turning his body sideways on the horse while stammering in response.
While he was talking, he and several of his disciples had already brought them closer. But on the back of each horse, there was a white Gecloth sash.
The young men opened two of the robes, and immediately the smell of cakes came out along with the heat.
"Benefactor, wine!" There was a jar lying on the horse of Master Wang. He jumped off the horse, staggered to his feet, pulled out the plug from the mouth of the jar, and raised his hands in front of Han Qing. "In the countryside,
I can't make good wine. Please take a few sips from me, just to quench your thirst."
"Thank you, father-in-law!" Han Qing got off his horse, took the wine jar, took a big gulp of it, and then handed the jar to Wang Wu beside him.
Without saying a word, Wang Wu took a big drink of his own and handed the wine jar to Zhang Fan.
One by one, everyone took turns to drink heavily, and in the blink of an eye, they drank up a jar of old rice wine.
Immediately, he took the cakes and the freshly steamed dried meat brought by the descendants and ate them happily.
In the past two years or so, as the official positions have become higher and higher, everyone has actually eaten all kinds of delicacies from the mountains and seas. However, there is no meal that is as delicious and hungry as these cakes and dried meat today.
After a while, everyone was full of wine and food, said goodbye to the owner of Wangjiazhuang and his descendants, and continued on their way. The night wind quickly became stronger, and a layer of frost formed on the withered grass tips at a speed visible to the naked eye.
However, there is a warmth that always echoes deep in the blood of everyone.
This warm current accompanied Han Qing and others until they reached the ancient ferry of the Yellow River in Ji County.
Maybe it was the sight that was obscured by the night, or maybe it was the two consecutive clean victories that frightened all the small Liao armies around them.
From Wangjiazhuang to Jixian Ferry, Han Qing and others never encountered a third Liao army along the way.
Seeing that the ferry was in sight and the clear sound of waves could be heard in the night wind, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
He was about to light a lantern and send out a signal to notify Yuan Kun that the Yuan Bao brothers were coming to pick him up in a boat. Unexpectedly, a horn suddenly sounded loudly in his ears, "woo woo woo, woo woo woo woo..."
Immediately afterwards, dozens of rockets soared into the sky, illuminating the dark riverside. Two cavalrymen whose numbers could not be seen, one on the left and one on the right, swooped towards the ferry.
"Sure, there's an ambush!" Wu You was shocked, picked up his weapon, and rode his horse to block Han Qing firmly behind him.
The other veterans of the Zhenrong Army also took almost the same action as him, forming a formation around Han Qing, preparing to fight to the death with the Liao army outflanking him from both sides.
No one bothered to think about who leaked everyone's whereabouts to the Liao Kingdom.
No one bothered to think about how many enemy troops were coming under the cover of night.
Everyone's retreat has been cut off by the Liao army, and in front of them is the rolling Yellow River. Gritting their teeth and fighting to the end, there may still be hope until the Yuan brothers take Han Qing away by boat.
If they each escape for their lives, not to mention the kindness Han Qing has always shown to each other, they will all end up being overtaken and chopped into pieces by the Liao army.
"Jie Feng Yao Zhen, behind me!" Han Qing saw everyone's movements in front of his eyes. Han Qing shook his head with a smile, pulled out the steel knife, and ordered loudly.
He has no habit of leaving behind his robe and running away.
Neither in the 21st century nor in the 11th century!
If he watched Wu You and others' blood splattered across the ferry just to give himself a chance to board the boat to escape, he might not be able to feel at ease in his life.
What's more, even if Wu You and others are all sacrificed, it may not be delayed until the Yuan brothers arrive in a boat.
"Judge——" Wu You and others instinctively wanted to persuade Han Qing not to be impulsive. However, when they saw the calm smile on the other party's face, they suppressed their words and followed the orders one by one.
Qing formed an attack formation behind him.
We all can't follow Judge Han to expel the Liao dogs and regain the sixteen states of Hebei and Yanyun. We can just die together in battle.
It is better than watching helplessly as the Khitans once again drank from Ma Bianliang, but could only kneel down and howl.
"Woo woo woo, woo woo woo, woo woo woo -" Just as everyone had raised their weapons and slowly started their horses to speed up, there was suddenly another sound of horn drawing on the Yellow River behind them.
Low and angry, like a dragon roaring when it wakes up.
Immediately afterwards, dozens of battleships lit up their lanterns and approached the river bank.
Fire and thunder crossbows, dragging red stars and blue smoke, soared into the sky and rushed towards the Liao army, which was slowly shrinking the encirclement.
In an instant, the Wolf Cavalry of the Liao Kingdom, who thought they were sure of victory, was knocked off their feet.
