It's already very chilly in the northwest in mid-September.
Xu Maoxiu had been lying on the hillside for a long time, his legs and feet were a little numb, and someone slowly crawled over from the side.
"How is it?" Xu Maoxiu asked in a low voice.
"The fire pit is still warm." Fan Jianglin whispered.
"No one was left behind. They were all gone. Why?" Xu Maoxiu said in a low voice, looking towards the valley in front of him.
There are not many trees in the valley. This is to prevent surprise attacks and to facilitate self-defense, so they have been cut down.
At a glance, the tents and bags were still there, but it was quiet and unpopular, with only the chirping of birds echoing in the mountains.
Xu Maoxiu frowned, thinking of something.
"It's not that far from here to Longgu City..." he said.
"So what?" Fan Jianglin asked.
"It would be very convenient if we go on a raid." Xu Maoxiu said.
Fan Jianglin stared.
"Raid? The leader of the Fujiang tribe is in Longgu City! He would only rebel if he was crazy!" He whispered.
"What if someone else is going crazy?" Xu Maoxiu said.
Fan Jianglin wanted to say something else, but Xu Maoxiu waved his hand to stop him.
"We'll go back and report it to the adults, and let them decide," he said.
The two of them slid down the hillside, took the horse beside them and galloped away.
The atmosphere in the camp five miles away was relaxed. Although the journey was easy, the long journey was still very tiring. We were still dozens of miles away from the castle we were about to reach. I felt comfortable thinking about entering the city.
Eat, drink and sleep, the soldiers and generals are very happy.
"What did you say? Longgu City is in danger?"
A conductor frowned and looked at the two people in front of him and asked.
As usual, the marching army sent out outposts to explore and follow, but it was just a decoration along the way. After all, the banner of the imperial military commander was here, and any unsighted thief would dare to come and die.
Just as they were about to arrive at the castle, the two scouts unexpectedly said that the castle was in danger.
Longgu City is the largest fortress on the northwest line and has always been heavily guarded. Western thieves dare not offend easily.
"If Longgu City is empty of troops, it is not impossible..." Xu Maoxiu said.
Can Longgu City be empty of troops?
"You know nothing." The conductor cursed, waving his hands to drive away, "Get out of here."
"Sir, we have been in Longgu City, and we know that Longgu City has not encountered such sneak attacks..." Fan Jianglin said.
The dispute here attracted the attention of others.
"What are you doing?" several generals asked.
Xu Maoxiu looked up and saw Liu Lang among the people coming.
But Saturday Lang didn't even look at them, it seemed like they never knew each other.
The conductor hurriedly stepped forward to explain what Xu Maoxiu and Fan Jianglin had said.
"How is that possible?" Several generals also didn't believe it when they heard this and shook their heads, "If there is no one in the tribe that has surrendered, it can be considered as a sneak attack. Maybe they are out hunting."
Maybe they really overthought it.
After all, I haven't been here for nearly two years.
Xu Maoxiu and Fan Jianglin looked at each other, lowered their heads and backed away.
"It's okay anyway, so let's go take a look."
Suddenly someone said.
Xu Maoxiu looked up and saw that the person speaking was Liu Lang, but he still didn't look at them.
"... Both adults are here, so be careful." He continued, "There's no harm in taking a look anyway."
He emphasized his tone to the two adults. Although these two adults appeared to be friendly on the surface, they were actually pulling each other. Otherwise, it would not have taken them so long to get here.
If this matter is reported to someone who is interested, right and wrong can arise even if nothing happens.
After a quick discussion, it was decided to let Xu Maoxiu take someone to check first.
"I don't agree!"
Liu Kui shouted, glaring at Xu Maoxiu.
"Sir, this is simply useless."
Useless work?
Several generals frowned.
"If there is really a surprise attack, these people have been gone for a long time and our cavalry has no chance of catching up." Liu Kui said with a snort.
Long-distance action has caused great damage to the hoof shells of the war horses. They have been walking so far, and the horses can no longer run fast, let alone catch up or even surpass those people. Then check the results before running back to report...
If you can't do this, it's really useless...
The people and officers present were silent.
"You are looking for a chance to escape!" Liu Kui said with a glare.
Xu Bangchui made a sound.
"Our horses can do it." Suddenly someone said.
Everyone looked back and saw that it was one of Xu Maoxiu's brothers.
Xu Sigen took a step forward, his face flushed, and he seemed a little excited.
"Our horses can," he said again.
Liu Kui sighed again.
"What's the difference between your horses? Besides, you are not two horses." He said.
When they set off from Beijing, all the soldiers were assigned horses. Xu Maoxiu and the other seven were given seven more horses because of Cheng Jiaoniang, but they did not get the treatment of two horses. Not long after walking, the horses assigned by the official were taken back with excuses. .
"It's different." Xu Sigen said. He, who has never been good at talking, was even more awkward because of his excitement. "Our horses are different. Our horses' hooves are intact."
This statement caused everyone to be astonished.
"How is that possible?" Everyone frowned and said.
They walked slowly because the two adults couldn't bear to run long distances, and because after halfway through the walk, the horses' hoofs were damaged and they had to slow down.
Everyone’s horses were injured, but theirs was not? Is their horse a Pegasus?
"This is the horse our sister gave us! The horse our sister gave us is a very powerful horse!" Xu Bangchui shouted.
It's her!
Zhou Lang suddenly realized that this was the case.
How could he be chasing after me in the middle of the night just to send a few ordinary horses!
But those horses, everyone secretly and curiously looked at them, they were indeed very ordinary...
Xu Sigen had already brought the horse over and pointed at the horse's hooves excitedly.
"Look at our horses, their hooves are not damaged," he said.
Everyone present gathered around. They had not noticed it before, but now they followed what he pointed at and saw that there were black things on the hooves of the seven horses.
"What is this?" a general asked, reaching out and touching it.
Iron...
"This is..." Xu Sigen opened his mouth but couldn't speak. His sister didn't say her name. Then... the horse's hooves were made of iron... "It was the horse's hoof that fell! It can protect the hooves from wear and tear."
"Are these just a few pieces of iron?" someone asked in surprise. He crouched down and saw that they were just a few pieces of pig iron, apparently branded on the horse's shoe. Other than that, there was no other pattern at all.
"It's just these pieces of iron." Xu Sigan nodded and said, "In addition, I took good care of it, and the horse was not damaged at all along the way."
Although they saw it with their own eyes, the people present still looked hesitant.
"Okay, let's not delay things now. We'll talk about it later. Since your horses are not injured and can run quickly, let's go quickly." Zhou Lang said.
"Xiao Zhoulang, this matter is indeed a bit unreasonable. Just because someone is missing from the Fan tribe, we can speculate that he has evil intentions. If we cause trouble, will you be responsible?" A general asked calmly.
The imperial court always treated these surrendered Tibetan people favorably and appeased them in order to ensure the stability of the border.
It would not be fun if someone was accidentally accused of sabotaging the recruitment.
Xu Maoxiu and others looked at Liu Lang.
"I'm responsible." Zhou Lang said without hesitation, still not looking at Xu Maoxiu and others, "I believe her."
After saying that, he turned around and left.
Believe him?
The people present looked at Liu Lang, then at Xu Maoxiu and others, with shocked expressions.
Do they...recognize it?
"It goes without saying that if you don't believe us, who can you believe? When it comes to talking about it, we are also your brothers..." Xu Bangchui said, grinning.
elder brother?
Those who stood close and heard it were even more shocked.
Xu Maoxiu glared at him.
"He doesn't believe in you and me," he whispered, "but he believes in her."
"Who is she?" Xu Bangchui asked.
"Sister." Xu Maoxiu glared at him, got on his horse and said, "Quickly leave."
Xu Bangchui laughed and followed suit.
The other brothers also picked up their bows, arrows, swords and guns and mounted their horses. When Xu Sogen mounted his horse, he was violently pulled away.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Xu Sigen shouted.
The man had already run away on horseback.
"I will watch you! If you want to run away, grandpa will shoot you first!" Liu Kui turned around and shouted on his horse, raising the three-foot bow Xu Sigen slung on his horse.
"Forget it, Fourth Brother, don't go." Xu Maoxiu shouted, stopping the brothers who wanted to chase Liu Kui and urging his horse, "It's more important to do business first."
The night wind whistled, war flags were flying, and the torches on the city wall were blowing smoke into the sky with the wind.
"My lord, my lord, we guys can't stand it anymore."
A soldier with blood on his body stepped forward and shouted.
Before he finished speaking, he was kicked down by an old man standing on the city wall.
The old man was about sixty years old, with gray beard and hair, a dark and wrinkled complexion, and he was heavily armored, but this did not affect his flexibility in movements at all.
"When has my son been unable to withstand this?" he shouted sternly, "If you dare to disturb the morale of our army, behead him!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the attendant next to him immediately raised his knife and dropped it.
The soldiers didn't even scream, and the heads separated and rolled to the ground.
There was a dead silence on the city wall.
"Light all the flags and torches, and everyone, including the servants, go up to the city wall." The veteran shouted, pointing at the bottom of the city wall.
There was a sound of greetings on the city wall, accompanied by the sounds of chaotic footsteps. Soon in the night, the city wall was covered with flags like a forest, and people were as dense as ants, almost filling the long and wide gate of Longgu City.
But in fact, they only had less than 3,000 people in total, and nearly a hundred people were injured during the day. In addition, after half a day of fierce fighting, the powerful consumption of the bows had already made many soldiers' limbs weak, and the arrows they shot were weak.
It is conceivable that when the next wave of siege attacks, their bows and arrows will be nothing more than a sound on the armor of the opponent.
The old man stood on the city wall, ignoring the obstruction of his relatives and staring into the night wilderness.
Although there were only a few lights in the wilderness, the veteran's cloudy eyes seemed to be able to clearly see the thousands of Western thieves hidden under the cover of night. They had excellent horses, heavy armor, and all kinds of bows and crossbows, staring at their city with eager eyes.
"Sir, the news has been sent out, why hasn't the Governor led the army back yet..." a general said in a low voice, unable to conceal his anxiety.
"I must have been entangled too," the veteran said.
"Sir, if there are still no reinforcements, we will not be able to withstand it..." the general said in a low voice.
The veteran general did not look at him, nor did he order to kill him immediately.
He turned to look inside the city.
The city was also brightly lit, and although no one could be seen, one could imagine the frightened expressions of the people at this time.
"We must withstand it even if we can't," he said. "We will never allow the people in the city to die or be injured until we are all dead."
If the city is destroyed, the entire northwest front will be severely damaged, not only in terms of people and property, but also psychologically.
Of course the veteran would not say this.
As he finished speaking, there was a burst of noise in the wilderness.
This is when the Western bandits began to attack the city again.
The veteran was shocked and was about to shout when he heard a commotion in the city and a puff of smoke rising from behind.
Seeing this, the expressions of all the soldiers present changed drastically.
There's a surprise attack from behind!
The veteran rushed towards the other side of the city wall and looked back.
"Sir, what should I do?"
The followers could no longer hide their panic and shouted.
"What are you afraid of? If you come one, you'll be beaten, if you come two, you'll be beaten! It doesn't matter if it's one thousand or ten thousand, just fight!" The veteran turned around and shouted.
The uneasiness of being attacked from both sides immediately dissipated. He looked at the dark night and felt refreshed. He stretched out his hand and pulled off his armor, revealing his naked upper body in the cold night.
Due to years of physical training, the sixty-year-old man's body is thin but still strong.
"War drum!" he shouted, extending his hand.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of the drums was so loud that it was matched with the sound of swords, shields, bows, crossbows, spears and spears being struck.
Won! Won! Won! Won!
A higher-pitched shout came from the city wall and spread out in the night wind.
The momentum is like a rainbow and unyielding.
It’s this sound, it’s this sound, the sound that has sounded countless times in my dreams!
Finally heard it! Finally heard it!
Xu Maoxiu, who was lying on the ground in the night, had red eyes, trembling all over, and digging at the ground with his hands.
"They started to attack the city..." Liu Kui beside him whispered.
Everyone looked forward. In the night, the people who were originally prostrate on the slope beside the official road began to appear like ghosts. The people at the city gate still discovered their existence, and there was no need to cover up their footsteps.
The torch also lit up, and in an instant it was like sparks all over the sky rushing towards the gate behind Longgu City.
"Damn..." Xu Bangchui was about to jump up.
Liu Kui held him down.
"You're crazy!" he shouted in a low voice.
"You're blind!" Xu Bangchui shouted in a low voice and grabbed Liu Kui's arm fiercely.
"You are blind, there are only six of us!" Liu Kui spat in Xu Bangchui's face, "There are hundreds of Tibetan people in the Fujiang tribe!"
"Then let's watch them attack the city?" Xu Bangchui shouted, and his sultry breath was sprayed in Liu Kui's face.
Liu Kui shook him off fiercely.
"Your horses are so crazy, can they do it? Why haven't the troops behind arrived yet?" he said bitterly.
The night wind was blowing, and there were more and more shouts and screams from the front.
"Longgu City must be empty, that's why they were attacked." Xu Maoxiu said in a deep voice, "The remaining troops must be at the front, and they have been fighting fiercely for half a day. Now when the enemy comes from behind, they don't have many people to resist...
.”
"You don't have to say that!" Liu Kui scolded, looking at the city gate that had begun to burst into flames.
"Light a torch." Xu Maoxiu stood up and said, "Look for as many dead branches as you can find and light them all..."
Fan Jianglin and others immediately agreed and left.
"You're so fucking stupid." Liu Kui shouted again, "If you keep pretending, how many can six people pretend to do? Who can you scare?"
Xu Maoxiu reached out and took off his bow and arrow, looking ahead.
"It doesn't matter how many people scare you," he said.
The fierce war drums kept beating.
"Kill!"
"My wife, children and people are all in the city, brothers, we can't let these thieves break in!"
With shouts and shouts, twenty or thirty people on the city wall resisted the hundreds of people attacking the city.
The rain of arrows kept spraying, one by one the companions fell, the battle flags fell one by one, and the muffled screams continued one after another.
It can't work anymore, it really can't work anymore...
"Commander, look!"
Suddenly someone shouted.
This voice was particularly harsh amid the screams and shouts.
What are you looking at at this time?
Everyone subconsciously raised their heads and couldn't help but be stunned, although the cost of this surprise was that the bow and arrow of the thieves in the city hit one person's arm.
However, the man felt no pain at all, and instead threw himself outside the city wall, staring into the distance.
In the distance, there seemed to be ghostly lights coming out, and at first glance, it looked like dozens of people were meandering and swaying.
"There are reinforcements, there are reinforcements!"
The people on the city wall had goosebumps all over their bodies and shouted crazily.
As if to cater to their shouts, the chaotic sound of horse hooves sounded not far away. Although the movement was not loud, it must be the leading cavalry.
"Damn it, I've never been so embarrassed in my life!" Liu Kui shouted on his horse, dragging a bunch of branches behind him. The branches also lit a fire, creating a flame on the ground.
"Disgraceful?" Xu Maoxiu, who was also in the same situation not far away, shouted loudly, drawing his bow and arrow, "What kind of shame is this? Who will be dead soon and can't kill many enemies, it's a shame!"
Accompanied by the sound of speaking, the bow and arrow in his hand shot out, one after another without stopping at the enemy in front.
Under the firelight, the bowstring in Xu Maoxiu's hand shook and turned into a shadow, and the sharp screams of sharp arrows piercing the air continued.
If you stand opposite him and look at it, it will look like a waterfall of arrows pouring out, and this is just shot by one person.
As the saying goes, one person is worth ten, that's probably what it means.
"Good guy, your archery skills are really good!" Liu Kui blurted out and drew his bow and arrow unwilling to be outdone.
This group of Tibetan tribesmen who came to raid the rear did not have sophisticated armor leaf protection. The three-stone heavy bow in the hands of Xu Maoxiu and others easily shot through their armor, not to mention the extremely accurate and deadly parts, which quickly destroyed the city.
A piece fell in front of the door.
Tragedy is everywhere, and a sudden attack is frightening, so those who make a surprise attack are also panicked.
The panic of the siege thieves aroused the spirit of the defenders on the city gate even more. They counterattacked and attacked with raindrops of arrows. The fire in the distance made the 300 people who were attacking the city in an orderly manner inevitable.
The tribe became confused.
The news quickly reached the front door.
"There are reinforcements, there are reinforcements coming! The back door is saved, the back door is saved!"
The messenger roared and spread the news to everyone.
Are there reinforcements?
The veteran, who was shirtless and sweating in the autumn night, also had a flash of excitement and disbelief in his eyes.
The war drum in his hand became more intense. This news, coupled with the sound of the drum, shocked the entire army and boosted the already declining morale.
The infantrymen on the city wall assembled again and aimed their swords and guns at the thieves who had climbed up the city wall. The archers behind who could no longer lift their bows again loaded their bows and fired waves of arrows.
The enemies who had already stormed the city wall were retreating steadily, unable to break through this last line of defense, and the war became stalemate for a while.
I don't know how long it took, but the veteran's arms were numb. He stared straight ahead, but his heart was behind him.
Where are the reinforcements?
Where are the reinforcements?
Why has there been no movement for so long?
So, in fact, there are no reinforcements at all...
This time, the city will still be destroyed...
The veteran's face was glistening with water, whether from sweat or tears. More and more people fell around him, and the handymen holding battle flags also entered the battle.
Winning!
Winning!
There seemed to be a faint shout coming from the distant sky, and along with the shout, there seemed to be thousands of horses galloping.
"Reinforcements are coming! Reinforcements are coming!"
The voice sounded again, and unlike last time, the messenger pointed in one direction.
In the night sky far behind, the firelight illuminated half of the sky.
Won victory! Won victory!
The shouts and the sound of war drums became closer and clearer, matching the sound of the drums here, and finally overshadowed them here.
Finally, the horn sound of retreating troops came from the enemy camp, and the Western thieves under the city wall retreated like a tide.
Retired, retreated, saved, saved, he, Mr. Zhu, has been in the army for seventy and forty years, and once again he has fulfilled his mission.
The veteran couldn't hold on any longer and fell down on the drum.
Fortunately! Fortunately!
………………………
Standing in front of Longgu City, looking at the fires burning everywhere and the corpses scattered everywhere, Liu Lang couldn't help but rein in his horse. The seventeen-year-old boy's expression changed under the torch.
Seeing the hell-like scene and smelling the bloody smell in the sky is a feeling you will never experience on the school field.
This is the front line, this is the battlefield, this is fighting, this is the destiny of generals and soldiers!
Zhou Lang couldn't help but roar, pointed the bow and arrow in his hand towards the sky and shot a wave of arrows.
"Who saved us?"
Looking at the opened city gate, the soldiers and people excitedly welcomed them out, and listened to the excited and hoarse shouts of the leading veteran.
The young man was a little startled again.
Who saved them?
Of course, it was these hundreds of soldiers who came here with all their might, and they were the hundreds of soldiers who set fire to the drums and drums along the way to build momentum.
But how did these soldiers and generals get here?
Originally, they should have been drinking and laughing around a bonfire dozens of miles away, waiting for Cheng tomorrow.
Saved a city….
And the root cause of all this lies in the seven horses that can run long distances.
There were seven horses, no, there were only five left now. Of the two horses that turned back to report the news and asked for help, one died of exhaustion on the way and the other died of exhaustion when they arrived at the camp.
If it weren’t for those horses…
Without those horses galloping to catch up and discover the rebellious Tibetan people, without those horses galloping back to report the news, none of this would have happened.
"It was the horse that saved you..." Saturday Lang murmured.
The scene was noisy and no one heard what he said.
Zhou Lang turned back and looked at the distant eastern sky.
Seven horses... actually saved a city...
That woman, what did she think of when she gave the horse as a gift?
