During the past two days, although Yan Liqiang and other guards had been staying in Huijiaji, Liang Yiji did not relax his attention on the Black Wind Bandits.
After the Black Wind Bandits retreated that night, Liang Yiji had no way to track them and determine their specific whereabouts and location. However, he sent guards to watch the roads near Huijiaji every day, watching to see if the Black Wind Bandits would cunningly go around the road ahead of them, set up an ambush, and catch them off guard.
In fact, after the Black Wind Bandits retreated that night, there was no sign that they would bypass Huijiaji and continue to set up an ambush on the road ahead of them.
The priest from the Flame God Cult of the Shatu Alliance died, and Aligukin also died. The Black Wind Bandits suffered setbacks in two operations and lost many soldiers and generals. Under such circumstances, the Black Wind Bandits, who had no leader, had naturally greatly reduced their ability to act. Perhaps there had already been chaos and many disputes within the group.
Therefore, when Yan Liqiang and his team left Huijiaji, although the Black Wind Bandits did not appear, one thing was certain, the large group of Black Wind Bandits must be behind Sun Bingchen and his team.
After leaving Huijiaji, Yan Liqiang and his team's next target was Fengming City in Lanzhou.
The straight-line distance between Fengming City and Huijiaji is only more than 400 miles. Although this distance seems not far on the map, in fact, it is difficult to travel in the wild and requires crossing mountains and ridges. Even if riding a rhinoceros horse, it will take three days of walking in the wild to reach Fengming City.
This section of road is the most difficult section on Yan Liqiang and his companions' journey. This road is vast and sparsely populated, with wilderness everywhere. At the same time, this road is also the territory where the Black Wind Bandits have been able to wreak havoc in recent years. Once Yan Liqiang and his companions pass Fengming City, the further east they go, the more populous the place becomes, the more prosperous the place becomes, and there are cities one after another. The Han Empire's garrisons are everywhere. The Black Wind Bandits would never dare to enter those places. Therefore, if the Black Wind Bandits are unwilling to continue to target Yan Liqiang and his companions, they can only catch up with Yan Liqiang and his companions on this section of the road from Huijiaji to Fengming City.
Since they knew this, it was natural that Yan Liqiang and his team would set the trap on this road.
Such a place was soon found. On the evening of the day when Yan Liqiang and his companions left Huijiaji, a canyon appeared in front of them. While passing through the canyon, Yan Liqiang kept looking up at the mountains on both sides of the canyon.
This canyon is not as dangerous as the Langya Valley, but it is also a strategic pass on this road. The widest part of the canyon is less than 100 meters, and the narrowest part is only 20 to 30 meters. The valley is full of jagged rocks and overgrown weeds, while on both sides of the canyon are ridges of varying heights. Those ridges are bare, with nothing but rocks. The lowest is about 50 to 60 meters, and the highest is almost 100 meters. It is absolutely impossible to rush up the canyon on a rhinoceros horse, and in many places, it is even difficult for ordinary people to climb up with bare hands.
Riding a rhino horse in the valley, Yan Liqiang looked around for a while, then squeezed his legs to hold the rhino horse and rushed to the middle of the team, walking side by side with Liang Yiji. The two men on horseback exchanged glances, and both of them saw what the other was thinking.
"Brother Liang, let's do it here. Let's choose a place. If the Black Wind Bandits dare to chase us, we will teach them a severe lesson here!" Yan Liqiang said to Liang Yiji.
Liang Yijie nodded, "Let's go ask the adults what they think!"
"good!"
Two people came to Sun Bingchen on rhinoceros horses.
Sun Bingchen was also looking at the terrain and the mountains here. When he saw Yan Liqiang and Liang Yiji riding over together, he already knew what the two wanted to ask, so without them having to speak, Sun Bingchen nodded and said, "If we set up an ambush here, we can indeed take advantage of the terrain. If you want to do it, just go ahead. We'll find a place to camp outside the valley tonight, so get ready!"
Yan Liqiang and Liang Yiji both nodded.
Perhaps even Yan Liqiang himself did not realize that, unknowingly, Sun Bingchen's reliance on him had gradually led him to be compared with Liang Yiji.
Since it has been decided to ambush here, the rest of the things are simple. There is only one thing, which is to find a suitable place for ambush in this valley. The criteria for choosing the ambush location are also very simple. One is to be able to take advantage of the geographical location and to be able to inflict the greatest damage to the pursuing Black Wind Bandits from a high position. The second is that if the momentum is not right, it will be convenient for everyone to retreat immediately and prevent the Black Wind Bandits from catching up immediately.
Meeting these two requirements, Yan Liqiang and his team did not spend much effort to find a suitable place for an ambush in the canyon.
That place is more than 80 meters above the ground of the canyon, and the mountain walls on both sides are steep. Not to mention riding a horse, even if a person wants to climb up, it is basically impossible unless he is an expert. From Yan Liqiang's own point of view, if he does not use any tools, it will be difficult for him to climb up.
The road in the canyon became winding and narrow there, winding for four or five miles long. It was a bit crowded for eight horses to walk together. If one wanted to climb to the ridges on both sides, they could only bypass the winding canyon and climb up from the back of the ridge.
Yan Liqiang and his men set up their camp for the night on a hillside outside the canyon. After setting up the tents for the night and pretending to camp, they left more than a dozen guards and more than a dozen wounded soldiers in the camp to pretend to camp, cook and light up the smoke. Then the remaining less than seventy people, as well as Sun Bingchen and Ye Tiancheng, rode their horses again, made a big circle, and came to the back of the ridge. They left the horses in a ravine outside the valley and had several guards watch over them. The group of people climbed up the ridge with all their belongings, rubbing their hands, ready for an ambush, waiting for the arrival of the Black Wind Bandits.
Originally Liang Yiji wanted Sun Bingchen to stay in the camp and not take risks here, but Sun Bingchen rejected the idea and said he wanted to come and see it himself.
Since Sun Bingchen was coming, Ye Tiancheng naturally felt uneasy about staying in the camp, fearing that something might go wrong, so he brought Ye Tiancheng along so that he could be more easily looked after.
After arranging everything, the group found a sheltered place on the ridge to rest, covered their heads and ate their dry food. They were not allowed to light a fire or make loud noises, and had to follow orders in all actions. Everyone was holding their breath, rubbing their hands, waiting for the Black Wind Bandits to come to them.
The sky gradually darkened, and there was still no sign of the Black Wind Bandits. Yan Liqiang sat down behind a rock, took out his horn python bow, and maintained the bowstring.
The bowstring of the horn python bow is made of the tendons of a horn python, so it is very easy to maintain. You only need to use the fat on the body of the horn python to gently wipe the bowstring. After absorbing the oil on the fat, the bowstring of the horn python bow can remain taut and dynamic, and is not afraid of corrosion from water vapor.
"Guard Yan, do you think... those Black Wind Bandits will come?" At some point, a young guard quietly approached Yan Liqiang, sat down on the stone next to Yan Liqiang, and asked Yan Liqiang a question in a voice that was filled with deep hatred that was hard to conceal.
Yan Liqiang raised his eyes from the bowstring of the horn python bow and glanced at the guard who came up to him to ask questions. That guard was Hu Haihe.
…
ps: I recommend a historical novel with great potential and worth reading, "Bloody Blade of the Prosperous Tang Dynasty". The author of this book is Cheng Zhi, a classmate of Lao Hu in Luyuan. He was a screenwriter of regular historical film and television dramas. He has a unique understanding and insights into Chinese history and pays special attention to the restoration of historical details. When he was in Luyuan, what Cheng Zhi disdained most was that officials with Tang and Song Dynasty backgrounds in film and television dramas were actually called "Adults" - "Adults is a title that only existed in the Qing Dynasty. In the Tang and Song dynasties, we Han people called court officials adults, which was ignorance of history." Cheng Zhi was heartbroken.
(End of this chapter)