In the northwest of Yanluoyuan, the Yaguna River originates from the top of Lancang Mountain and meanders southward on the grassland. After pouring into the grassland, it joins large and small streams to form Danshui, the largest river in the north.
The east bank of the Yaguna River has fertile water and grass, making it a rare vast pasture. After the frost every year, many herdsmen will drive their cattle and sheep here, hoping to put on more fat before the first snow falls to withstand the coming snow.
The harsh winter is coming soon.
"Abba, Abba, what do you see over there?"
The long whip waving in the hands of a shepherd boy suddenly stopped in mid-air, pointing forward and looking at his father beside him with a puzzled face. The man on the horse also noticed something strange under the horizon, but hesitantly shook his head:
"This season, there shouldn't be any dust -"
In the south of Yanluoyuan, there is a stretch of Gobi Desert that stretches for hundreds of miles. Its name is Dankli, which means "untameable sand." It and the Yaguna River form two natural barriers, one horizontal and one vertical. Only by passing through
Only the oases on both sides of the river valley in the Caobo area can advance eastward, which also isolates the Muyun tribe's sphere of influence from the powerful Oma and Choluo tribes.
Every late spring and early summer, the warm wind blowing from Changzhou will stir up large amounts of dust in the Dankli Desert, as if setting off a huge earth-yellow curtain, blocking out the sky and the sun, and pouring into the north, and then blowing into the north.
A large number of herders were driven away from the east bank of the Yaguna River.
However, at this time of year, the north wind has already blown on the grassland, and the dust has not risen for a full month and a half. At this time, the reason for this flying dust in the south is unknown.
But soon, the father who was watching from a distance suddenly changed his expression. He raised his long whip and hit his son hard on the back of the horse: "Quickly go, go back and take your mother away!"
The shepherd boy still didn't understand what happened, so he reined in the horse and wanted to ask again. Unexpectedly, his father had dropped the long pole that was holding the horse on the spot, and instead pulled out the scimitar from his waist that was used for self-defense!
Finally, a group of warriors riding horses appeared from the rising smoke. However, what was painted on the big flag in their hands was not the gray wolf and white deer familiar to the herdsmen, but a flower with exposed fangs.
Leopard head!
"What are you still doing? Let's go!"
Then another whip came, and the horse under the shepherd boy's crotch shook its head vigorously. No longer caring about the horse bit in its mouth that was tightly held by the child, it spread its hooves and headed towards the low-lying meadow scattered in the distance.
The white tent flew away.
Every winter, various tribes in Shuodi would feed their war horses with specially harvested concentrates containing grass seeds. In years when wild highland barley grows vigorously, the harvested grains would even be mixed directly into the forage. Therefore, these elite war horses must
Horses raised by ordinary herdsmen are stronger and can run faster.
In the blink of an eye, thunderous horse hooves and neighing sounds could be heard behind the child. He quickly turned his head to look, only to see that his father, who had been left behind, had already swung his sword to fight the invading enemy troops. However, the man stood alone.
, and after only a few attempts to resist, he was cut off from his horse.
Seeing his father being submerged under the galloping iron hooves in an instant, the child couldn't help crying loudly. However, he also knew that he could not stop there, so he clamped the horse's belly hard and continued to escape into the camp ahead...
…
In the open space in front of the yurt, women were gathering together to wash and cook. The Shuodi women were tenacious and independent. At this time, they suddenly saw men who had gone out to herd running back in panic from all directions. Without saying a word, they pulled themselves up.
To leave. After hesitation, few people would obediently abandon the home they had worked so hard for. However, it was this moment of delay that completely ruined their last chance of survival.
The cavalry coming from the south rushed forward in an instant, swiping their swords with blood splattering, and their heads nodding to the ground. In just a moment, all the men who tried to resist desperately were beheaded, including young men who were taller than a horse's shoulders.
Children and women, after being insulted by each other, either became slaves or committed suicide on the spot due to shame and anger.
The blood-stained tent, along with the few belongings of the herdsmen, were all burned clean by fire. The livestock they carefully raised became food supplies for the enemy and were slaughtered on the spot and put on the fire.
Cook and bake.
The war on the grassland is predatory, just like locusts crossing the border. After all the resources in one place are exhausted, they will move to the next target. And like the Muyun tribe settlement in front of us, where dozens or hundreds of people gather together, Yan
There are many more on the plain.
On the other hand, the team carrying the spotted leopard-headed flag numbered tens of thousands of people. The vanguard in the front had already begun to kill cattle and sheep, but the team behind was still lingering at the other end of the horizon. The warriors removed the heads of the corpses.
Cut them off one by one, and then use sharpened wooden stakes to string them into several strings and stand them on the ground. This is a common threat method used by the Shuodi people. The dead person’s head will intimidate other herdsmen who come to this pasture in the future and make them
Think carefully about what choices you should make if you want to survive.
However, these fierce cavalry did not notice that a small head on horseback was exposed on a small mound a few miles away from the burning tent.
That was the shepherd boy who had watched his father being killed before. The boy was afraid that the wind would carry his cries to the enemy's ears, so he just grabbed the mane of his mount and bit his lips hard until the skin was broken and blood flowed out.
He did not dare to stay here any longer. After dismounting and kneeling in the direction of his mother, he then hit the horse and continued galloping eastward. Because he knew that that was where Dahehan of the Muyun tribe was...
Jiang Yan carried his Xiao Tian Mo and stood outside the tent all night. News of the alliance between Mu He, Onma, and Chuo Luo reached Yan on the second night after his marriage to Tu Ya.
Luoyuan's hinterland. At the moment, the Xinhan only has a few three thousand iron-clad troops at his disposal, and what he carries on his strapped shoulders is the life and death of tens of thousands of people.
A horse neighed in the wind and reached Jiang Yan's ears. It was dawn, and the bonfires lit in the camp were almost extinguished. In the hazy moment, the young man raised his head and saw a horse running from nowhere.
He had already broken into the camp and was standing only ten steps away from him.
The young Xinhan immediately realized what had happened and ran over immediately. Sitting on the horse was a thin figure, slanted, as if he had driven the horse a long way.
Jiang Yan stepped forward, but he finally couldn't support himself and fell down.
Immediately, the sentries on vigil raised their torches and gathered around. The tribesmen in the surrounding yurts were also alerted, and they all stuck their heads out to look.
The soldiers who surrounded Yandang immediately moved out of the way, and he picked up the child and ran back to the tent: "Tuya, help me save people quickly!"
Half a day later, the child slowly woke up. He didn't seem to realize that the people standing in front of him were the princess and Xinhan of the Muyun tribe. He immediately sat up in shock, but did not dare to say a word.
.
"Little brother, how could you come here alone?"
Tuya asked softly, holding a bowl of steaming mutton soup in her hand. She made it with her own hands when the child was sleeping. She also added some Amomum villosum, cumin, sand ginger and cloves, giving it a strong fragrance.
overflow.
The child seemed to have not eaten for several days. As soon as he saw the meat, he immediately took the bowl and devoured it. Even the meat foam on the edge of the bowl was licked clean with his tongue. After eating,
There was finally some color on his face, and the memories of the past few days came to his mind bit by bit:
"An enemy attacked the camp! They killed my father, my mother, and many others! I'm afraid, big brother, big sister, I'm afraid!"
"Then can you tell your brothers and sisters what those bad guys look like?"
Tuya hugged the crying child, patted his back and continued to ask. The child was startled for a moment, then his whole body tightened suddenly, and he started to tremble like a hare. He didn't want to recall the murderer at all.
appearance:
"I don't know, I don't know. I only saw a leopard head on their flag, a man-eating leopard head!"
Princess Di Ren and Jiang Yan looked at each other and signaled the other party to leave first, while she planned to stay in the tent to take care of the children and go back to sleep. However, before the matter here could come to an end, she heard another sound coming from outside the tent.
Loud trumpet sound.
The sound of the trumpet was an early warning from the sentry. Young Xinhan immediately opened the tent and ran out. With his back to the rising sun, he saw that on the horizon divided into light and dark colors by light and shadow, dozens of guns emerged all over the mountains and plains.
A herdsman horse team dragging a cart and carrying luggage. The people in the horse team were disheveled, and there were many injured among them. The cries and wailings in their mouths gradually drifted into everyone's ears along with the wind on the grassland.
in the ears.
"These people are - the tribesmen who escaped from the southwest?!" Tuya also got out of the tent, witnessing everything in front of her, her shoulders trembled.
The black-eyed boy nodded slightly, but stared intently at the herders who relaxed as if they had been rescued after entering the camp, but the expression on his face became more solemn:
"It seems that Muhe still launched an attack, and it was much earlier than we expected. If that child is right, the ones carrying the leopard-headed flag should be people from the Orma Department. However, regardless of the fact that the looters are being burned and killed right now,
Whether they are from Oma, Choluo, or Muyun warriors under Muhe who are flying the wolf flag, for these herdsmen who have come here to take refuge, as for you and me, we are already mortal enemies with drawn swords.
Princess Di Ren did not answer, but involuntarily held her husband's hand: "What should we do next?"
The child who had escaped with his life by chance reminded Jiang Yan once again of the memory he still couldn't bear to look back on when he was young. Feeling the same, he couldn't help but hold tightly to Xiao Tianmo, who had never left his side.
:
"What is supposed to come will come. First, as soon as possible, count how many men in the clan are capable of handling weapons. For this purpose, if we don't find opportunities to severely block the opponent, there will be no chance that the enemy will retreat!"
However, what they are about to face is an alliance composed of the three most powerful tribes in the entire Shuobei. Now even if all the men under their command are counted, there are only 30,000 people. The weapons and equipment are even more stretched, and there is no chance of winning.
"If I had known this, I should have killed this old thief Mu He with one knife on the wedding day!"
Jiang Yan in the tent said, and punched the table hard. The oil lamp on the table swayed from side to side, and the oil in the lamp spilled out, soaking a large piece of the sheepskin map placed on the table.
Princess Di Ren pressed her shoulders:
"At the beginning, we were not accused of rebellion by Shi Muhe. If we had killed him in advance, the situation might have become more unpredictable. Now that we are no longer able to confront the enemy head-on, we can only do our best to hold on."
"What dangers can we defend on the vast grassland?"
"Here, we can take our tribe here to Garhai!"
Tuya suddenly picked up a pen on the desk and circled an area on the sheepskin map. Xinhan raised his head suspiciously, not understanding what the other party was planning:
"Where is this-?"
"Garhai means the land of no one. It is an ancient city that has long been abandoned at the foot of Lancang Mountain. When the first Tianhe Hanxu Muyan was in trouble, he accidentally discovered this place and realized the truth in the city.
The cast armor of Tiezhong Mountain and the method of formation. Therefore, in the future, he can lead the Muyun tribe’s iron cavalry to rush out of the Yanluo Plain and unify the Shuobei grassland."
"Then this ancient city was built by the ancestors of the Muyun tribe?"
"No one knows who built this city, and no one knows how many years it has stood in this bitter cold land in the far north. According to legend, this place was originally a relic left by the ancestors.
Frozen by ice and snow, it was not destroyed by the floods that lasted for many years like other ruins on the land. Although the abandoned city there is in disrepair, it is surrounded by mountains on three sides, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. If we really can't hold on, we can still
Take shelter in the mountains and continue to circle."
Looking at Tuya's determined eyes, Xinhan finally understood that this was the most beneficial and only way for them at the moment. He nodded and ordered everyone to break camp and retreat immediately.
A relieved smile appeared on Tuya's face, and she went out of the tent to calm the restless mood of the tribe. However, watching the other party's figure go away, Jiang Yan did not rush to count the weapons and men, but came alone.
Outside the stable, he led Wuchenlai, who had been with him through life and death several times, thousands of miles north from Wanzhou, all the way to this grassland.
Wu Chen has now grown into a tall horse. When the horse saw its owner, it was extremely happy. It snorted constantly and rubbed Jiang Yan's hand with the bridge of its nose.
But there was a trace of reluctance on the face of the young man with black eyes. He just lowered his head and led his beloved horse out of the camp and came to a deserted wilderness. He suddenly stopped and actually chewed the horse from Wuchen.
Withdrew from his mouth:
"I know, you actually like this place very much, right? From today on, I am no longer your master. You can go to this grassland as much as you like, chasing the wind and the sun. But remember one thing,
Never come back again!"
As Jiang Yan spoke, he raised his hand and rubbed the mount's neck and body vigorously, and then suddenly exerted force and slapped it heavily on its butt. Wu Chen was immediately frightened and ran away with four hooves, but
He immediately turned his head, as if he understood what his master had just said, shaking his head and refusing to leave.
"Let's go! The enemies who invaded Yanluoyuan are not stragglers, let alone wolves and beasts, but the most elite Shuodi army on this grassland! I don't want you to die with me! Leave quickly!"
Xinhan roared in grief and indignation, and with a "swish" sound, he pulled out his long knife and struck the horse's butt hard with the spine of the knife. The horse felt pain and suddenly ran away far away. When he turned around again
, actually shed a few tears in his eyes!
"Remember, if you dare to come back again, I will use this Xiaotianmo to welcome you!"
With a hoarse voice, Jiang Yan stood in the north wind and shouted loudly with a cry. Wu Chen seemed to finally understand, turned his head, and galloped away towards the depths of the grassland. Only the young man's lonely figure was left behind.
Behind it, it gets further and further away, becomes smaller and smaller, and gradually turns into a fuzzy dot like dust, which can no longer be seen.
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