A round sunset clings to the ridgeline of the desert, making the earth dark and revealing a layer of deep red; the desert ridge holding the setting sun has solidified, like a sleeping sea.
The desert stretches out flat to the horizon. Where the sky and the earth meet, jagged sand dunes rise undulatingly. A strong wind blows in the desert, the sand grains fly, the sky is dark and the earth is dark. This is the world of sand, and there is simply no place for you to stand.
land.
The desert is vast and vast, with constant ups and downs. More than 20,000 cavalrymen are walking in it, and they suddenly seem so small.
"How far is it?" Gao Fei was riding on a horse, covering his face with a piece of cloth, only revealing a pair of deep eyes, looking at the boundless desert with emotion.
"Your Majesty, we can cross this desert in another four or five miles. We are still nearly a hundred miles away from Lingwu Valley. We can only sleep in the wild tonight." Gai Xun, who was walking beside Gao Fei, replied.
"Well, give Taishi Ci an order to set up camp in front as soon as possible." Gao Fei nodded and gave the order.
The scouts who sent the order galloped out on horseback. After leaving the desert, they ran forward for almost ten miles before catching up with the vanguard marching in front.
Taishi Ci was wearing a steel helmet, a bright red cape, steel armor, holding a wind and fire halberd, and under his crotch was an extremely sturdy horse. He was leading three thousand cavalry in front of him when he saw someone coming from behind.
After hearing a scout who was delivering the order, he reined in his horse and stopped his advance.
"The emperor ordered the general to camp on the spot."
"I understand, you can go back and report to the emperor." Taishi Ci nodded and said to the scout.
After the scouts left, Taishi Ci ordered his men to set up camp. The so-called "camping" was a little different from the past. Taishi Ci was the general of the vanguard. Generally, the vanguard was responsible for clearing the way. If he was asked to set up camp at this time, he could only set up a temporary camp.
Set up some decent tents in the camp, and wait until the army arrives later to complete them.
After the order was issued, while everyone was busy, a fast horse drove up from the dusk directly in front. Looking from a distance, it was a scout from the Huaxia Kingdom.
When the scout saw Tai Shici and others, he hurriedly stopped. When he saw a cavalry general patrolling with several cavalrymen, he first paid a courtesy to the cavalry general, and then asked: "Who do you belong to?"
Subordinates?"
"Don't you have eyes? Can't you see what's written on the flag?" The cavalry general was Taishi Ci's deputy general Hou Cheng. He glanced at the scout and said impatiently.
The scout looked embarrassed and said: "I...I am literate..."
Hou Cheng sneered, glanced at the scout, and asked: "Where are you from? Whose subordinates are you? What's the matter? Tell me the same thing. Our general is busy and has no time to pay attention to you."
The scout said: "I am General Zhengxi, sent by Yihou to report that the Xianling Qiang entrenched in Lingwu Valley at the foot of Helan Mountain have been pacified by General Zhengxi. General Zhengxi sent me back to Linrong City.
Good news above."
After hearing this, Hou Cheng burst out laughing and asked: "It turns out that they are the subordinates of General Zhengxi. Why don't they use flying pigeons to convey the message from such a long distance? They also sent scouts here. How old-fashioned!"
The scout explained: "From now on, you need to fly across the desert to get to Linrong City. There are many raptors in the sky above the desert. I am afraid that the carrier pigeons cannot pass through, which will delay the time. That's why I was sent here. I won't tell you anymore, I still want to
I'm going to Linrong City to report the good news to the emperor."
With that said, the scout was about to leave.
"Wait! Your Majesty is no longer in Linrong City. He will arrive here soon. You can just wait here for a while." Hou Cheng stopped him.
"But……"
"But what? Give me your good news and I will pass it on for you. You have traveled so far and you are already very tired. You should have a good rest!" Hou Cheng stretched out his hand and spread it in front of the scout.
The scout was hesitating when he suddenly heard a loud shout: "Hou Cheng! What are you talking about there?"
Hou Cheng looked back and saw it was Song Xian, so he smiled and said, "Nothing, have you finished your inspection over there?"
"It's over!" Song Xian rushed over with several cavalrymen. He saw the scout standing in front of Hou Cheng, but he was not from their army, so he asked: "Where did this scout come from? Is he lost?"
"No, I caught the spy and said he was a subordinate of General Zhengxi. No matter how I looked at it, I thought of a spy being interrogated!" Hou Cheng replied.
After hearing this, the scout saw chills in the eyes of Song Xian and others, and immediately explained: "I am not a spy. I am really a subordinate of General Zhengxi. I am here to report my success. Please believe it."
I……"
Hou Chengdao: "I don't believe it! How could Ma Chao defeat more than 300,000 Qiang people with just a few thousand people? You must be a spy sent by the Qiang people. You locked up Ma Chao and then said that Ma Chao was beaten."
If you win the battle, you can lure the emperor and then ambush him, right?"
"No, no, that's not the case. It was indeed our general who sent me here. I have the good news to prove it..." After saying that, the scout took out the good news and handed it to Hou Cheng, "And, General Zhengxi
He also said that the road from Linrong City to Lingwu Valley was long and had to pass through a small desert in the middle. It was not suitable for marching. He asked the emperor to wait in Linrong City. After General Zhengxi appeased the Qiang people, he would return to Linrong City...
"
Hou Cheng grabbed the victory report handed over by the scout and took a quick look at it. He saw that it was indeed stamped with the seal and ribbon of General Zhengxi. He immediately frowned. When he was worried about how to deal with this matter, he saw Ma Chao tactfully speaking on it.
He wrote on the ground that the army would not be allowed to go to Lingwu Valley. He immediately thought about it and said: "What's wrong, Ma Chao is going to rebel!"
After Song Xian heard this, he was also shocked and hurriedly said to Hou Cheng: "This is not a joke!"
"Tie him up and I'll go see the general!" Hou Cheng pointed at the scout and said loudly to his subordinates.
The scout was stunned for a moment and before he could react, he was immediately thrown off his horse by Hou Cheng's men. Several of them quickly subdued the scout and tied him up with a noose, even in his mouth.
Stuffed with something.
Hou Cheng hurriedly said to Song Xian: "Follow me to see the general. This matter is of great importance."
Song Xian knew that Hou Cheng was a shrewd man, so he didn't ask any questions, so he followed Hou Cheng to meet Tai Shi Ci. The two of them had been serving as generals under Tai Shi Ci since they surrendered in Bingzhou, and they were very good at observing people's emotions.
Therefore, Taishi Ci also liked the two of them very much and promoted them to his lieutenants.
Tai Shici was inspecting the newly established camp when he suddenly saw Hou Cheng and Song Xian coming over and asked, "Have you finished inspecting the camp? Have you found anything unusual?"
Hou Chengdang was about to present the good news that he had captured from the scouts, and said: "General, my subordinates seized this from a spy. It is a good news written to His Majesty. I feel that there are some clues in the good news."
…”
"What's the clue?" Taishi Ci took the good news, took a quick look at it, and asked.
"General, please read the last paragraph. If Ma Chao really meant it, there may be signs of rebellion!" Hou Cheng reminded.
Taishi Ci took a closer look and felt that something was fishy. Logically speaking, Ma Chao defeated the 300,000 people of the first Ling Qiang with thousands of cavalry. He won such a great victory and should be shown off in the victory report. But Ma Chao
But they did not do this, which was uncharacteristic of the situation, and instead prevented Gao Fei from leading the army to advance. In addition, Ma Chao did such an obvious thing not long after surrendering to Gao Fei, which really made people suspect that Ma Chao had signs of rebellion.
He thought about it carefully, closed the good news, and immediately asked: "How far is it from here to Lingwu Valley?"
"Less than a hundred miles." Song Xian replied.
"Very good! Hou Cheng, Song Xian, you quickly gather the whole army and go on the road with me. We go into battle lightly. The whole army rushes to Lingwu Valley. In addition, send someone to send the scout and this victory report to the back to meet the emperor.
, tell me what happened, and I will take you to quell the rebellion!" Taishi Ci's heart was boiling with passion, and there was no room for even a grain of sand in his eyes.
Looking back at the beginning, after Taishi Ci learned that Ma Chao had surrendered to Gaofei, he always insisted on killing Ma Chao to avoid future troubles. Although only a few people knew about this matter, for Taishi Ci, this matter also remained in his heart.
It hurts, so when I hear Ma
Ma Chao was disgusted with the name Chao. In addition, recently, regarding the issue of equality and zero Qiang, Taishi Ci had repeatedly gone to the Privy Council and asked to lead troops to quell the Qiang, but was rejected. However, this burden fell on Ma Chao.
It really made him feel annoyed.
Taishi Ci gathered 2,500 cavalrymen, leaving 500 to build the camp. They only carried weapons, armor and other things needed for battle. They mounted their horses and headed towards Lingwu Valley in a mighty manner.
When Gao Fei's army just left the desert, they met the people sent by Tai Shi Ci to escort the spies. He immediately asked why, and after reading the victory report, he learned that Tai Shi Ci was heading towards Lingwu Valley with his army. Immediately there was a loud bang.
Angry, he cursed: "What does Taishi Ci want to do? How dare he disobey my order? Send the order, and the whole army will speed up and move towards the Lingwu Valley!"
After the order was conveyed, Gao Fei rode a fast horse, led Zhu Gongdao, Zhu Gongheng and 500 personal followers, galloped forward quickly, and handed over an army of more than 20,000 to the command of Jia Xu, who was about to rush to Taishi Ci.
and stop Ma Chao before they cause catastrophe.
Taishi Ci led Hou Cheng and Song Xian to run all the way, and arrived at Lingwu Valley two and a half hours later. The sky was dimming at this time, and everyone was feeling tired after running for a long time.
After arriving at Lingwu Valley, Taishi Ci rushed into Lingwu Valley without saying a word.
When the soldiers guarding Lingwu Valley saw their own troops and horses coming, they naturally would not stop them. Moreover, the leader was Tai Shici, one of the Five Tiger Generals. They let him enter the valley without even asking.
"Where is Ma Chao?" Taishi Ci rushed into the valley and asked.
"Inside the largest cave in the middle." the soldier replied.
With a gloomy look on his face, Taishi Ci immediately rode up on his horse. When he reached the entrance of the cave, he reined in his horse and shouted loudly: "My dear, Ma Chao, come out!"