Just when Sodema was worried about her husband and son, Zhebu, hundreds of miles away, could not feel his wife's concern at all. At this time, he was trying hard to open his eyes and stare at the front as he moved forward. The long dragon was indeed the Tanghe people's army. They were marching westwards. Zhebu silently counted the baggage trains passing by in the distance. The towering trains were filled with food and other supplies. They had already passed by. There are six cars, and the people behind them are still following up. You can't see the end at a glance. It seems that the owner is right. The Tanghe people are really preparing to do a big job this time. They have brought so much food and supplies. It's It looks like he is going to stay on the grassland for a long time.
The walking speed of those guys is not slow. The Zhebu team hiding on the flank of the shallow hill ambushed silently in this gently undulating short ditch. There are beams as high as a person on both sides, and half a person deep in the withered yellow grass. A good place to hide. The scout team led by Zhebu is hiding here. Together with his son, there are ten people in total, which is exactly the full number of people for a scout team. Taking advantage of the terrain, Zhebie and his companions quietly observed the passing team. This was probably Gao Yue's army in the Tanghe people's army in the northwest. As expected, the walking speed was extremely fast. Even though they couldn't catch up with the carriage, they were able to march much faster than ordinary people. I heard that my endurance is much better than that of ordinary people.
A figure quietly ran up from behind, "Dad, there seems to be a scout from Tanghe on the left, coming towards us."
"Oh? Did you find us?" Zhebu asked, tilting his head when he knew it was his eldest son Chishu.
"Not yet, but they came in this direction and searched very carefully. According to their current search speed, it won't be long before they find us." Chi Shu had just turned sixteen, and his childish face was full of expressions. He was excited. It was his first time to participate in such a formal mission. He was nervous with a hint of expectation, looking forward to the first war in his life.
"Well, don't worry, you go and continue to observe, and let me know when you are two miles away from us." Zhebu looked at his son with encouraging eyes, patted his shoulder heavily to cheer him up, "Tanghe people It’s no big deal, even if they find us, they can’t catch up with us. Our mission this time is not to fight them face to face, their riding skills are still a bit behind.”
The person responsible for searching this area was a scout team from the direct brigade of the First Division of the Tengger Army. More than thirty people on fast horses were divided into two search teams to form a fan shape and move forward one after the other. It was cold in the early spring night. , but to the scouts who have long been accustomed to performing this kind of night reconnaissance mission, this is nothing. They have survived countless icy and snowy winter nights that are much more difficult than this.
Zawari skillfully tapped the horse's belly with his toes and took a few steps forward. A signal was sent from the left side and he discovered the situation. As the leader of the scout team, he had to go and see for himself what was going on.
The two scouts had already lit torches and were carefully observing the traces on the ground. Zawari dismounted and leaned down by the light of the fire to carefully examine the hoof prints on the ground. The messy hoof prints trampled the withered grass on the ground into disorder. It seemed that there was nothing unusual about it, but the experienced Zawari immediately saw something strange from the horseshoe nails in the horse's hoof prints.
"Captain, you are the cavalry of the Motes. This kind of horseshoe is only used by the Motes. It is thin in front and heavy in the back, making it easy to gallop long distances. It is completely different from the horse hoof prints of merchants. You see, this dark pattern is famous among the Motes. The Iron Shop - exclusive to Luo's Iron Shop, it is said that almost all the Mott Cavalry handle iron there." A scout pointed at the hoof prints and reported to Zawari with an excited grin, licking the thick The scout on the lips seems to be imagining whether this discovery will give him a reward
"Yes, captain, there should be only about ten riders, a standard Mott scout team. Judging from the freshness of these hoofprints, they should have been stepped on not long ago, no more than half a day at most. There are some shallow ditches and complex terrain about three miles ahead. On the low hills, will the Mote scouts spy on our large army?" Another scout asked the captain for credit, not to be outdone.
Zawari also agreed with the views of his two subordinates. It is impossible for a caravan to pass through this place, and ordinary Mote herdsmen will not come out to graze at this time. It is the spring famine season, and most herdsmen stay in the settlements. Make do with stored hay, not to mention I heard that the Motes have asked all herdsmen to move west to avoid the war, so it is even more impossible. There is only one possibility, and that is the scout team of the Motes. Hehe, it seems that it is a collision. Let’s go together. Zawari couldn't help but smile when he thought of this. A ten-man scout team was just enough for his own scout team to eat. Let's see if there is such a chance.
"Well, it's very possible that you two said it. Immediately notify the other group and say that we have discovered the enemy's situation. There are about ten enemies. Let them immediately outflank them from the right and pay attention to concealment." Zavari nodded. Remounting the horse, he stroked the cold waist knife hanging on the belt with his right hand, but pressed his left hand on the quiver inserted diagonally on the edge of the saddle. A hard bow was waiting for the master's call. A pair of eyes were slightly sunken in the eyes. The falcon-like eyes looked forward through the dark night, "Order them to follow up, extinguish the torches, and form one team per team, three in front and four behind. Each team will keep a distance of 50 meters and search forward."
Chi Shu looked nervously at the dark distance. The fire that had just turned on for a while made his heart skip a beat. Could it be that the Tanghe people's search team discovered something? But the fire quickly extinguished, and Chi Shu judged that the opponent was still three miles away and would be coming soon. With the advantage of geographical location, Chi Shu can see the traces one mile away, and if the enemy's hoofbeats are two miles away, they can be heard. However, if the opponent sends traces of his side, Are there any other ways to deal with this? Thinking of this, Chi Shu did not dare to delay any longer. He ducked down the hill and ran along the bottom of the ditch towards the place where his father and the others were hiding.
Chi Shu's subconscious vigilance saved Zhebu's scout team. When Chi Shu went downhill, three squads of scouts and search cavalry led by Zavari also appeared one mile away from the small slope where Chi Shu had just stayed, making no sound. Wuxi quietly rushed towards this chaotic slope.
After identifying the target, the experienced Zawari decisively ordered his subordinates to change to rubber hoof pads. In such wilderness, in the dead of night, the sound of horse hooves would be caught by keen hunters two miles away, and he replaced it with rubber hoof pads. Rubber hoof pads can greatly reduce the possibility of being discovered, making a successful sneak attack much more likely. This is a gadget that the War Readiness Administration only started to equip. It was first equipped to all the scout troops. Zawali's unit was the first batch to equip it. At first, Zawali did not believe in this thing. After testing it, After several times, Zawari had to admit that this thing was not only much more convenient than the leather pads and cotton pads he used to use to reduce the sound of horse hooves, but it was also several times more wear-resistant and concealable, especially It’s the granular surface that makes walking silent. As long as you’re not sprinting quickly, you can barely notice it even if it’s almost behind you. I heard that this thing is made of something called rubber, but no one knows where the rubber comes from.
After hearing his son's report, the sensitive Zhebu immediately felt that something was wrong. Scouts would rarely use torches when they came out to investigate, because this was undoubtedly to inform the enemies lurking around of their location. It's just a matter of quietly observing something like this, but once a torch is used, it only means that the enemy has made a major discovery and must use a lighting tool such as a torch that can look after a large area. It also means that the enemy must have discovered his traces.
The danger was right in front of him. Zhebu did not dare to neglect and immediately called everyone to mount their horses and prepare for battle. Maybe the enemy would appear in front of him the next moment. Fortunately, the number of enemies was not large, and this kind of dark night was more conducive to escape. one party. Quietly heading north along the small ditch, Zhebu, who had experienced several battles, suddenly found that he was so nervous. He had never been in this situation before. Maybe it was the addition of his son that made him feel even more stressed. .
The black hillside looks like huge beasts crawling on both sides. This is a rare complex terrain area in the Tengger Grassland. Two miles further along this small ditch, you can enter the vast and boundless prairie. Once you enter the prairie, , then you no longer have to worry about the threat of the enemy. There, even hundreds and thousands of enemies can hardly intercept you in the dark night. Zhebu suppressed the nervousness in his heart and whispered, urging his companions to follow closely. He looked around cautiously. The closer he got to the end, the more likely things would go wrong. Zhebu knew this firsthand.
After walking around the hillside, Zawari estimated that the other group of men and horses had arrived at the designated place, so he no longer worried about anything. He drew out the long knife from his waist with one hand and whipped the horse's buttocks with the other hand. The strong horse suddenly lowered its head and raised its hooves. He rushed out, and a large group of cavalrymen behind him saw their superiors speeding up suddenly, and knew that the critical moment was coming, so they all mustered up their energy and stepped forward bravely.
Although he was marching, Zhebu, who had always been highly alert, immediately noticed that something was wrong. Although the sound coming from behind was not obvious and did not look like the sound of horse hooves, the sound of weathered stones and soil The sound of rolling and crashing was obvious, and my heart suddenly tightened. The enemy came so fast, and they were forced here without even noticing it.
How did they do it in such a close place? Unfortunately, this was not the time for the commission to consider this issue. There was no time to think about it. While raising his whip and urging his horse, Zhebu roared: "Quick! The enemy is catching up. Don't stop. Rush out of the ditch in front and head north!"