Chapter 2: The first appearance of the enemy

"General! Come here."

Shortly after crossing the Yellow River, a soldier discovered the situation. Yang Yuanqing urged his horse to step forward. From a distance, he saw a dead horse corpse in the weeds, with seven or eight arrows inserted into his body. These arrows were rough and of different lengths. Based on his experience, Yang Yuanqing recognized at a glance that these were the arrows of the Teler people. Although the workmanship of the Turks was not good, they had begun to be made in batches in the past two years, at least the arrow feathers were neat.

Two meters away from the war horse, a dead body lay on the ground with his back facing the sky, and was also hit by several arrows. His armor had been stripped off. He was wearing a thin inner shirt and military boots on his feet showed that he was a Sui army soldier.

A fire chief squatting beside him slowly lowered his head and said sadly: "He is Guo Bing, and he is our brother. The garrison commanded him to go to Yongfeng County to deliver a letter."

Yang Yuanqing's heart was sober that the garrison in Yongfeng County could not come to pick him up, and there were more than 300 miles left.

"How long has he been dead?" Yang Yuanqing asked again.

"It seems that it takes more than an hour at most."

Yang Yuanqing suddenly whipped his war horse and rushed towards a small hill not far away. Standing on the hill, he looked into the distance. The sunset was about to fall from the distant mountains, bursting out the last trace of bloody afterglow, dyeing the western sky red. The surrounding wilderness was vast, and a layer of gray chill filled the entire earth.

Suddenly, Yang Yuanqing saw two small black dots several miles away from the west, and was also looking here. Yang Yuanqing turned around. There were hundreds of camels behind him, which were eye-catching in the wilderness. He looked west again. The two small black dots were gone. Yang Yuanqing narrowed his eyes. He knew that they had been targeted by Xue Yantuo people.

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"I want to tell you one thing!"

Yang Yuanqing's voice echoed in the cold wind, and dozens of people stood silently in the twilight, listening to Yang Yuanqing tell them a piece of unfortunate news.

"We have been targeted by a prairie horse bandit. I don't know how many people there will be, but it won't be less than a hundred people. They will attack us tonight, and we must be prepared."

Combas's youngest daughter was so scared that she threw herself into her father's arms. Her mother lowered her head in horror and wiped her tears quietly. The thirty camel husbands next to her all looked like earth. They were all Hu from the Western Regions, and they had been traveling back and forth on the Silk Road for many years, knowing the misery of meeting horse bandits.

Seeing their timid appearance, Yang Yuanqing couldn't help but feel a surge of disappointment in his heart. He also hoped that these thirty camel husbands would fight with him.

Niu Niu was unusually calm. She had already stood behind Yuan Qing, pressed the hilt of the sword with her hand and bit her lip tightly. She had only one belief in her heart, and she would kill the enemy with her lover and go to life and death together.

Yang Yuanqing quickly thought about countermeasures. He didn't care at all. The key was that he brought a large amount of goods and he had to ensure the safety of the goods.

In a moment, he thought of three strategies, giving up goods and camels and taking people back to the fort, but he immediately rejected this idea. If he did this, his reputation would be bad on the frontier, and escaping at the last minute was the most despised.

The second was to take people and camels back to the fort, but he still gave up this idea. The Gobi Desert dozens of miles southwards were more likely to be attacked, and casualties would inevitably be heavy.

Either keep moving forward and look for a favorable terrain. There will not be too many enemies, so if you really can't do it, you will break through and leave.

"General Yang, I have a suggestion!" The soldier who followed Yang Yuanqing raised his hand and said.

Huo Chang's name is Li Yungui, from Longyou, who is 27 or 28 years old. He has been guarding the border for many years. He is not only experienced, but also very familiar with the terrain here.

"you say!"

"General, walk ten miles northward to the east is the beacon tower at the Yokogawakou, where the Yangma City is built strongly."

A sentence reminded Yang Yuanqing that the Henghekou beacon tower was built on a sudden cliff, and a solid Sheep and Horse City was built below. Although it could not accommodate more than 600 camels, it could store goods. As long as the Xueyantuo people could not take the goods, they would not leave, and women and children could be placed in the beacon tower.

Yang Yuanqing had extremely high martial arts skills. Even if he came to him, he could kill all the women and children alone. The key was that he had to place the women and children well so that he would not have any worries. He didn't care about Yangmacheng. What he thought of was the beacon tower at the mouth of the Yokogawa River, which was built on the cliff, and could place women and children.

Time is tight, and Yang Yuanqing immediately ordered: "Let's go!"

The camels set off again, speeding up this time and heading north. Du Ruhui urged him to come forward and whispered to Yang Yuanqing, "General Yang, have there always been horse bandits in Fengzhou?"

Yang Yuanqing shook his head, "It's not a bandit, it's a Xue Yantuo?"

Du Ruhui was shocked, "Isn't Xue Yantuo in the Jinshan area? Why did he come to Fengzhou?"

"I heard that they were suffering from snow disasters. Xueyantuo had hundreds of tribes. It is estimated that many tribes moved south to avoid the cold. The Yellow River was frozen, and some tribes would organize small groups of cavalry to enter Fengzhou to loot. They came and went like the wind, and it was difficult for the Sui army to guard against it."

Du Ruhui was silent for a moment and said, "General, give me a knife! I have also practiced martial arts in the Imperial College, and I don't want to be a drag."

Yang Yuanqing smiled, took out a horizontal knife from the horse bag and handed it to him, and patted him on the shoulder, "Wait a minute, you go to the beacon tower, the grassland cavalry is not as easy to deal with as you think. They are very fierce and powerful. I don't want you to be killed halfway."

Du Ruhui slowly pulled out the knife and waved it in the air twice, with a cold light flashing, but he immediately became discouraged. The knife was too heavy, more than ten pounds. After he waved it for more than ten times, his arms became a little sour. He sighed in his heart, he was really useless.

Just then, a soldier suddenly shouted: "Sheyantuo people!"

Then the sound of horse hooves sounded. When Yang Yuanqing turned around, he saw more than 30 Xueyantuo cavalry rushed out of the woods two hundred steps away, waving swords and rope covers in the dim night, and pounced towards him.

This was a vanguard sentry. Hundreds of camels filled with cargo burned their minds. Greed made them lose their minds and rushed out to plunder the goods at all costs.

Yang Yuanqing sneered and immediately shouted: "Zhao Yungui led officials and women and children into camels, and other soldiers lined up arrow formations!"

The soldiers were well-trained. Fire Chief Zhao Yungui brought several officials and Conbass's wife and daughter into the camel group. The remaining twelve soldiers lined up in a row, placing bows and arrows, and were ready for battle.

Yang Wei and Niu Niu were holding weapons in their hands, each standing at the soldier. Yang Wei did not ride a horse, and stood on the ground with a sledgehammer in his hands, full of excitement. He had never fought a war and could fight a bloody battle with the enemy. This was a feat that only happened in his dream. It was right in front of him, and his eyes were red with excitement.

Niu Niu was a little nervous. She learned small martial arts, and she was not afraid of one-on-one fights, but the impact momentum formed by dozens of Hu cavalry running side by side was something she had never felt before, and was completely different from what she imagined.

She secretly glanced at Yang Yuanqing, who was only ten feet away from her. His solemnity as steady as Mount Tai calmed her heart a little. She drew out her long sword, bit her lip tightly, and waited for the upcoming assassination.

Yang Yuanqing drew out his double arrows and put the bow on the string. He had practiced this Fenglei bow for more than a hundred times, but today it was the first time he was used in actual combat.

When the enemy group rushed into one hundred and fifty steps, he suddenly pulled out his bow, and shot out his two arrows, which were astonished as thunder, and the two arrows were as fast as lightning, shooting through the chests of the two leading men. The two Xueyantuo cavalry screamed and fell off their horses.

The 150-step accurate shooting made the other Xueyantuo cavalry awe, but the morale of more than a dozen soldiers under Yang Yuanqing was greatly boosted. I heard that General Yang was unparalleled in his magical arrows for a long time, and today they finally witnessed them with their own eyes.

However, Yang Yuanqing stopped shooting the second arrow, waiting for the enemy to approach, entered sixty steps, and then went forward ten steps, and then entered the range of Xueyantuo cavalry. Yang Yuanqing gave the order, "Shoot!"

More than a dozen shots were shot out at the same time, and five or six enemy cavalry fell from the horse. Yang Yuanqing even shot four rounds and eight arrows in an instant. Eight Xueyantuo cavalry screamed and fell off the horse. Before they could rush into fifty steps, nearly half of the more than thirty Xueyantuo cavalry were killed and injured. They were frightened and turned their horses to flee.

"Catch up and kill them all!"

Yang Yuanqing shouted loudly and led more than a dozen soldiers to chase after him. The soldiers chased and shot arrows. The enemy was constantly shot and fell off the horse, and they chased for more than 400 steps. Seeing that Xue Yantuo's cavalry had gradually fled far away, the Sui army no longer chased.

Yang Yuanqing turned over and dismounted, came to an injured Xueyantuo man, and asked him in a low voice in Turkic language.

Yang Wei was a little slower. When he ran up, the battle was over. He hated him so much that he hit the ground hard and scolded, "I missed the opportunity again!"

‘Ah!’ With a scream, Yang Yuanqing killed the injured Xue Yantuo with one knife, stood up and said coldly: “You still have a chance!”

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The beacon tower at the mouth of Henghe River is about ten miles away from the Yellow River. A river flows through the beacon tower. There are hundreds of rivers of all sizes on the Hetao Plain. Most of the rivers flow north and south, but this river flows east and west, so it is called Henghe.

There are several low stone mountains near the beacon tower at the mouth of the Henghekou. Tens of thousands of years of wind and sand erosion have made these stone mountains strange. Some look like pillars supporting the sky, and some look like horses lying in the wild. The beacon tower is built on a stone pillar mountain that is more than 20 meters high. It can only be climbed by a soft ladder.

Generally, beacon towers will be built in places that are difficult for the enemy to destroy, or cliffs or mountains. At the same time, a Sheep Horse City will be built under the beacon tower to accommodate livestock and horses to avoid beasts and wolves.

Yang Yuanqing stared at the beacon tower at the Henghekou. Seeing that it had never been lit, he let down his heart slightly, which means that the Xueyantuo people were far away and did not come so quickly.

The Yangma City in the Beacon Tower at the Yokogawakou covers an area of ​​one and a half acres and is about two meters high. It is made of local materials and is made of stones. It is very solid and solid. In addition to the horses and livestock of the beacon tower soldiers, it is also for merchants to avoid wolves. It is built quite spaciously.

As soon as everyone arrived at Yangma City, they immediately became busy. They started unloading the goods and piled up the tea into Yangma City.

The camel could only enter dozens of sheep and horse city, and most of them could not let go. Yang Yuanqing saw more than a hundred steps away, and he immediately ordered the camel man to tie the camel into the dense forest.

Yang Wei scratched his head and asked strangely: "Yuan Qing, what should I do if the camel was tied to the dense forest and was taken away by them?"

Yang Yuanqing laughed, "Think about it carefully, take away the camels, what will they take to transport goods? They are not stupid."

Yang Wei slapped his forehead, "I'm so stupid!"

He suddenly changed his mind and asked again: "But what if they only want camels and don't have goods?"

Yang Yuanqing shook his head, "The Turks and Tiel people both believe in grassland wolves. Grassland wolves will never kill half of their prey. They will never give up until they get the goods!"

At this time, five bell soldiers also climbed down from the cliff and went forward to meet Yang Yuanqing. Yang Yuanqing asked, "How many extra weapons are there in the beacon tower?"

A leader came forward to report: "Report to the general, in addition to our own carry-on weapons, there are five bows, five swords and thirty pots of arrows."

The standard configuration of the Sui army was a spear, a knife, a bow, a pot of arrows and a round shield. Yang Yuanqing quickly estimated that he had eighteen soldiers under his command, plus twenty of him and Yang Wei, each of which could be equipped with two pots of arrows. If the enemy had more than a hundred cavalry, it could be easily killed.

At this time, a cavalryman who was going to patrol rushed from a distance and shouted, "General, there are more than 400 enemies five miles away."

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Chapter completed!