In the early morning, the dew condensed into a piece of white frost on the yellowed grass leaves. The autumn insects on the grassland still seemed to be unaware that they were about to die in this late autumn and early winter season, and they were still chirping and jumping in the grass nests.
.
With a rush of footsteps, the heavily armored knights suddenly lined up on the grassland. At this time, there was no horn blowing, and no loud orders from the commander were heard. However, thousands of iron-clad knights had already arrived in just one day.
They gathered quietly during the time of burning incense.
Since they were covering tens of thousands of Muyun troops retreating eastward, these heavily armored knights could hardly leave their horses without getting rid of their soldiers. They slept with their armor every day. At the moment, they had taken out their respective horses from the horse pen, and the riders
The armor on his body and the weapon on his waist collided lightly, making a soft rustling sound like leaves blown by the wind.
In a yurt not far away, a man holding Xiao Tianmo opened a corner of the tent door. Just now, spies came to report that less than ten miles behind the team, a leopard with a crescent flag had been seen.
The enemy troops of Banner and Langqi. This was the main reason why he urgently ordered Tie Chongshan to prepare for war immediately.
Looking at the dark cavalry phalanx in front of him, the black-eyed boy did not feel at all relieved. There were too many old, weak, women and children in the retreating team, as well as all kinds of baggage and belongings carried on the carts. In addition, they had to be careful to cover up the passing of people and horses along the way.
The traces left behind were far slower than he expected.
Although we can now clearly see the ancient city named Garhai at the foot of Lancang Mountain in the distance. But there is a saying on the grassland: Looking at the mountain, the horse will die. According to the most optimistic estimate, it will take at least a full day's journey.
arrive.
At this moment, the enemy is almost chasing him from behind. If he continues at this speed, he may not have to wait until noon before he will be completely caught up by the opponent and kill everyone in one fell swoop.
But if you continue to move forward, you may still have a glimmer of hope. But if you stop, there will be only a dead end. As a general, all General Yan can do is to try his best to buy some time for tens of thousands of troops to move forward.
.
"Brother, what are you looking at?"
Lying on the couch was the herdsman orphan he had just rescued the day before yesterday. Perhaps because of similar life experiences, Jiang Yan took good care of this child. However, he never told the child the true identity of himself and Tuya.
In his eyes, the two of them are not Hehan and the princess of the Muyun tribe, but just a friendly big brother and big sister.
"It's okay, you can continue to sleep."
The black-eyed boy responded somewhat unnaturally, and after saying that, he was about to roll up the tent and walk out. But the child on the couch suddenly started shouting behind him:
"Is that the sound of Tiezhong Mountain gathering outside? Are they about to set off to meet the enemy?"
"The ears are quite pointed!"
Jiang Yan put a smile on his face, but he still couldn't hide the seriousness in his expression. Upon seeing this, the child immediately struggled and jumped to the ground, and was about to rush out of the tent. The young He Han quickly reached out to stop him, but the child
He kept kicking and beating him in his arms, and his cries were like a sharp knife, piercing the young man's heart:
"It was those bad guys who killed my father and mother! I want to avenge them!"
"Don't cry! How can a man shed tears like a coward!"
Jiang Yan seemed to see the weak side in the child that he had tried to hide for many years. In desperation, he suddenly slapped the child hard on the cheek. The child was blinded on the spot.
But he didn't dare to cry anymore, he just covered his red and swollen cheeks with his hands, with tears still in the corners of his eyes:
"Brother, if I stop crying, will you allow me to go?"
"That's not possible. Now you can't even protect yourself. If you go into battle to face the enemy, you are going to die. How about revenge? Do you know that if you die on the battlefield today, no one will remember your father in the future?
My mother and I will never have the chance to avenge them!"
Looking at the child in front of him, the black-eyed boy seemed to have seen the lonely and helpless version of himself, and his heart suddenly clenched. After thinking for a moment, he took out a dark blue short knife from his arms and handed it to
In front of children:
"Hold this knife carefully. Remember, if you encounter danger in the future, follow my example, with your four fingers together, the blade facing outward, and your backhand holding it. Only in this way can you pour all your strength into the sharp edge.
Go up. Even if your strength is not as strong as that of an adult, you can still exert maximum power when stabbing!"
"Thank you, big brother! Does this knife have a name?"
When the child saw the dagger, he immediately started playing with it and couldn't put it down, and finally his tears turned into laughter.
"It's called Yue Yan, and it was given to me by my elder brother's best friend. I hope it can keep you safe in the future!" Jiang Yan murmured, thinking again of the graceful man in white clothes walking through King Ye's palace.
As a young man, "In this troubled world, we must try our best to survive no matter what, for the sake of the living and the dead!"
The black-eyed boy stretched out his hand and rubbed the other person's head vigorously, as if he was admonishing the child in front of him, and also seemed to be encouraging himself. The child nodded, returned to the couch and fell asleep again, always holding the dagger in his hands, as if from
I have never slept so peacefully.
Jiang Yan also turned around and left the yurt, and walked towards the Tiezhong Mountain where everyone had assembled. As soon as he left the tent, he saw Tuya's figure head-on, who had been waiting for him for a long time.
"The way you looked just now - it was a bit scary..."
Princess Muyun is still wearing her red cloak trimmed with gold. Since the massive retreat, this red color has been like a torch on the wild goose grassland, uniting tens of thousands of tribesmen.
"Have you - seen it?" The young man awkwardly rubbed his face with his fingers, not daring to look into the other person's eyes. "Am I too harsh on that child?"
"I think you are right. In this troubled world, everyone must take care of themselves first, otherwise how can they dare to talk about protecting others?"
"Maybe - it's because every time I see him, I think of my past, and those people and things -"
"Is he the general from Ye State you often told me about?"
"No - it reminds me of my parents..."
As the black-eyed boy said this, he suddenly lowered his head and looked at his toes. Tuya felt that the other person was different from before, so she cautiously continued to ask:
"You still...have never told me about your life experience."
"My father and mother, like that child, also died in the hands of evil people. I once swore that in this life I would find that enemy of the past and cut him into pieces with my own hands——"
Jiang Yan raised his head again, speaking every word as if he wanted to crush the teeth in his mouth.
However, soon, this young man who always behaved like an angry black panther in front of others, his eyes turned red and he almost shed tears: "...But to this day, I still don't know the name of that enemy.
I don’t even know where he is, and I don’t even have a clue where to start investigating!”
There was a sense of desolation in the tone of the black-eyed boy. There was obviously some helplessness in the desolation, but there was also an endless struggle to resign oneself to fate. Tuya didn't know how to persuade this person who was already married to her but was still a stranger.
The big boy had no choice but to open his arms and wrap his arms around his waist, rest his head on his chest and whisper:
"Today... I seem to have gotten to know a different you again, but I wonder if you will still be willing to listen to me what is in your heart in the future? In fact, if you keep some things in your heart, it will hurt you...
"
Jiang Yan didn't know why he chose this time to mention his past to the other party. He once thought that except for the red-haired girl and the boy in white in Mulu City, he would never be able to completely open his heart to anyone in his life.
, and no one in this world can truly understand him. However, at this moment, he can clearly feel the empathy shown in the girl's slightly trembling body. He suddenly realized that the girl in front of him really cares about him and truly cares about him.
I can understand the pain of bereavement that is deep in my heart.
Even though he has now become a new member of the Muyun tribe, commanding tens of thousands of tribesmen under his command, the feeling that all this brings to the black-eyed boy is not that of great power, but a responsibility that is almost crushing him.
If it can be said that his previous marriage to Tuya was just forced by circumstances, but when his wife hugged him, Jiang Yan suddenly realized that he was no longer fighting for some unrelated aliens. What he was doing now
Everything he did was already for himself and for the woman in front of him.
The young man stretched out his arms and took the princess into his arms, and the two hugged each other in silence, as if everything in the world had nothing to do with him at this moment.
I don’t know how long it took, but the young man finally came back to his senses and pushed the girl in his arms away slightly: "You came to me just to talk about this, right?"
Tuya nodded immediately: "I came here to ask you, have you seen old General Yuan Ti? Since yesterday, I can't find him anywhere."
"What do you want with him?"
"I think he was once an important minister of the Yubei Senate, and he escorted his mother to the Muyun tribe, and thus assisted his father Han for many years. Needless to say, he has an understanding of Tie Chongshan, and his experience in leading troops to fight is unparalleled.
.It is definitely not a long-term solution for us to blindly escape like this, but we have not yet asked him if there is any way to buy some time for the tribe."
Princess Di Ren looked worriedly at the herdsmen who were still meandering forward not far away - they had only retreated for a few days, and the team had become more and more scattered. Now the people at the end of the team had just finished resting and were ready to continue on the road.
But the people had run so far that they couldn't even see their shadows.
Along the way, not only were there no news from hundreds of tribesmen, but many of the mules and horses used to carry grain and grass were also lost. Even the few fresh water left in the team had already begun to be carried out among the tribesmen on a head-to-head basis.
Rationing. Tuya saw clearly every day the unspoken desire for survival displayed on everyone's face.
"Old General, he——" The black-eyed boy moved his lips, but he only said half of the words, but he swallowed them back.
"Jiang Yan, do you know where the old general has gone?"
"Old General, he left the camp last night."
"Leaving the camp?! Why did he suddenly leave without saying goodbye at this time? Where did he go? I will chase him back!" Tuya immediately turned around and went to get the horse.
Her husband's answer behind her caught her by surprise: "There's no need to chase him, I let him go."
"How could you let him go? Why?"
"I asked him to handle something very important for me."
"What is so important that it must be done at this critical moment of life and death?!" The girl stared into Jiang Yan's eyes and asked sternly.
But the black-eyed boy just shook his head and refused to say any more: "In extraordinary times, it's better not to say more about some things for the time being."
"Can't you even tell me? Do you know that the old general's unexplained disappearance has caused rumors to spread among the troops. Some say that he is a southerner after all, and he felt that the battle was bound to be lost, so he sneaked away alone.
There is talk that you might also leave us all behind at a critical moment. Even some people in Tiezhong Mountain started talking about it, causing morale to plummet!"
"These are all minor problems at the moment. The reason why people are uneasy is not just because of this incident. Now please tell me, madam, how many days at most can Garhai City withstand the fierce attack of the other party?"
However, Jiang Yan changed the topic and asked about the princess in front of him.
"I - I don't know, maybe it can last up to half a month, or maybe it can only last three to five days. If the other party uses a stone crossbow, it's even harder to say. Although the masonry used to build the city is blocked by ice,
It was frozen and immortalized for thousands of years, but no one had really fortified the city before, and besides—"
"It will be enough in three to five days. We just need to be able to rush into the city before the enemy encircles us today and allow our troops to enter the city smoothly."
The black-eyed boy said this and was about to turn around and leave. Seeing this, Tuya instinctively stretched out her hand to pull, but after pulling, she discovered that her husband had actually worn a lightweight armor under his leather robe!
"Are you planning to personally lead the iron mountain to break the rear?" the girl exclaimed.
Jiang Yan no longer concealed his intentions and nodded resolutely: "There is no other way but this."
Tuya suddenly became anxious: "No, you can't go! Do you know that if you go this time, you will have to use three thousand cavalry to hold back the opponent's army of one hundred thousand people!"
"But we have no retreat in front of us! If we don't lead the team to attack, I'm afraid the enemy's main force will come up in less than an hour. By then, you, me, and everyone in Muyun's tribe will be killed by them.
Leave no one behind!”
The princess in front of her still wanted to stay, but suddenly she heard a loud horn in the wilderness, and then the warriors on guard also shouted one after another:
"The enemy's vanguard has already arrived!"
There were more than ten thousand herdsmen who were not ready to leave the camp, and they immediately fell into chaos. Seeing this, Jiang Yan immediately struggled to break away from the opponent's hand and ran quickly towards the Tiechong Mountain formation where the formation was completed.
, never looked back, but shouted loudly:
"I will work with Tie Chongshan to delay the other side as much as possible. You lead the people on the road as soon as possible, lock the city gate after entering the city, and never come out again. You only need to hold on for three days, and there will be a turn for the better after three days!"
Tuya still wanted to chase, but the young Xinhan quickly disappeared in the heavy cavalry team with the neighing war horses. The horses under Tiezhongshan's crotch stirred up a charming eye-catching dust on the grassland, accompanied by the sound of war drums and horns.
The chorus of sounds gradually faded away, disappearing under the knee-high grass on the horizon.
Behind them, Tuya felt as if she had just had a nightmare that was difficult to wake up from. She looked at her husband who was walking away with Tiezhong Mountain, and suddenly clasped her hands together and prayed devoutly to the blue sky:
"My ancestors in the eternal heaven, no matter whether we win or lose today, please bless Jiang Yan to come back alive and come back to me!"
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