In the army, whether it is the Central Plains army or the border guards, scouts are the most dangerous arms. As the eyes of the army, they often need to go deep into the enemy's territory. Without protection, they are basically using their lives to find out the enemy's movements for the army.
They have nothing to rely on to save their lives. They are quick-witted and fast horses, and they are often inferior to luck.
Most of the time, the scouts would die silently, and even if they found out where the enemy army was, they couldn't send the information back in time. Only scouts with good luck and good strength can return to the camp with military intelligence.
Such a scout is undoubtedly a hero in the army.
Therefore, even if the general in the army met them, he would show more concern and trust.
The first person to discover Khitan rangers was Er Gouzi who was acting as a lookout post on Lima's low slope. When his frightened shout reached Niudan's ears, the latter's first reaction was not fear, but ecstasy.
The ecstatic Niudan abandoned the grass in front of him, got on his horse and ran towards the grass slope, looking in the direction Er Gouzi pointed out. Not far to the east, a cavalry team of four or five hundred men was galloping towards them, bypassing a gentle slope.
"Dutou, we only have one centurion, and they have four or five hundred people. What should we do?!" Er Gouzi asked loudly eagerly. He wanted to say whether we should run, but felt that this was too timid, so he changed the words temporarily.
Niudan ignored Er Gouzi, put his hand on his forehead and looked carefully, carefully identifying the opponent's armor and weapon, and even the height of the horse under him. Because the distance is a little far, it is quite difficult to see the cow's eggs.
Er Gouzi didn't know what Niudan was looking at, and wanted to ask, but couldn't rush him, as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. Although they are new recruits, Er Gouzi also knows that if his team fails to escape in time and is bitten by the opponent, their centurion will be in danger.
The other rangers had already given up on observing the traces on the grass under the shouts of the old soldiers, mounted their horses quickly one after another, and adjusted their formation, making preparations for both confrontation and retreat.
Compared with these army soldiers, Zhang Zai, Liu Dahe and other three Confucian scholars were somewhat less restrained, and immediately followed the cow egg to the grassy slope, and attacked the Khitan rangers just like him view in the direction.
However, in terms of their understanding of military affairs, they are not even as good as Er Gouzi, a recruit who has been trained anyway, so naturally they can't see anything.
"Dutou, what are you looking at? The barbarians are rushing over!" Zhang Zai couldn't help asking.
Five hundred cavalry galloped rapidly on the grassland, and their power should not be underestimated. Although there was no scene of shaking the ground, the sound of rumbling horseshoes was still like thunder, and it kept exploding in my heart. It would be a lie to say that you are not panicking at all .
The point is, if you have few people, you have no chance of winning. This is the deadliest thing.
When Zhang Zai was in Huainan, he looked down on the fighters, and even the war, thinking it was just a brutal confrontation between a group of vulgar people. Mobilizing the hearts and minds of the army and the people before the war, dispatching food, fodder and supplies during the war, and Confucian scholars who governed the local area after the war are the truly important events.
Therefore, he is an out-and-out recruit on the battlefield.
"Dutou! They have crossed the safe distance!" At this moment, Er Gouzi finally couldn't bear it and yelled.
"These barbarians are dressed in leather armor, with sabers hanging from their waists, and longbows on their backs. The horses are neither fast scout horses, nor short horses known for their endurance like ordinary cavalry... These are not scouts from far away, but A rare fine cavalry in the army!"
When Niudan looked back, the ecstasy in his eyes became more intense, "This can only explain one problem: the Khitan army is nearby!"
He turned the horse's rein, and under the admiration of Er Gouzi and Zhang Zai's blank eyes, Niudan ran down the grass slope first, and shouted: "Go!"
Now that the location of the Khitan army has been ascertained, and the core military situation that he came out to investigate on his own, Niudan has no reason to delay.
But now, the situation is already very dangerous. Although the Khitan cavalry still has some distance, when their cavalry speed increases, the distance between the two sides will be very close.
However, since Niudan dared to leave now, he would not be looking for a dead end, scouting Ma Kuai, there is no doubt about it.
In fact, just as Niudan expected, before the Khitan elite cavalry caught up, their speed increased. Although on the vast grassland, five hundred elite cavalry chased a hundred rangers, there was no need to worry too much about the formation, and the speed would be very fast, but there were always hundreds of steps between the two sides.
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Zhang Zai looked back several times, and finally confirmed that the Khitan Jingqi should not be able to catch up with him, he was relieved. If you don't really face the threat of death, you will never know what the fear of death is. Now that you have recovered your life, Zhang Zai is very happy.
At this time, Zhang Zai admired Niudan's calm military orders, bold actions, and meticulous response. They had already ascertained the approximate number and location of the Khitan army, and made extraordinary contributions to the frontier army. In this situation, Zhang Zai felt that his image was a bit taller.
Even though he didn't do anything along the way, after all, he took part in this operation and took risks, and there are still many days of hard work, which no one can erase. After this encounter, Zhang Zai felt that he had gained a lot in the army.
However, Zhang Zai's rejoicing did not last long.
After they turned around a piece of water bubbles, they found that another Khitan cavalry team was rushing in front of them!
Obviously, the Khitan elite cavalry would pursue them, and even though they knew they couldn't catch up, they still bit them, not without support.
After the Khitan discovered their team of scouts, they sent someone to notify the nearby rangers in advance, and cooperated with the brigade of fine riders to intercept them in front!
"Dutou, there are Khitan barbarians ahead!" Zhang Zai's heart just let go, immediately hung in his throat.
Niudan looked back at him coldly, and was very dissatisfied with his yelling, "There are only twenty scouts, why are you panicking?"
Scouts are different from fine cavalry. In order to reduce the burden on fast horses, pursue extreme speed, facilitate escape in danger, and bring back military information, their armor is simple, and they generally do not wear armor. Such an opponent is not difficult to deal with.
Niudan and the others are only wearing the lightest leather armor, which can protect them from distant arrows. As for the two horses galloping at each other, the swords, guns and weapons stabbed at extremely high speeds, the leather armor is not much different from a layer of paper.
Scouts are not a unit that exists for combat.
"Kill!" Niudan drew out the horizontal knife.
Bass, slap, and the sound of metal friction when the long knife was unsheathed made Zhang Zai's hairs stand on end. Although the Confucian scholar is not good at combat prowess, as a Confucian scribe, he does have some combat prowess, so he immediately went to draw the horizontal knife at his waist.
It's just that his hands were trembling a little, and he didn't quite listen to them. He pulled out the knife several times, but he didn't even pull out the knife.
At this time, the two sides have begun to make mistakes.
The sound of fighting and fighting came and went, mixed with the sound of long knives piercing into the flesh, and then startled by the screams of dying, Zhang Zai couldn't help being smart, almost fell off the horse's back, and hurriedly clenched his hands Take the reins.
Suddenly, a fountain of blood exploded in front of him, splashing warm blood all over his face. When he turned his head in astonishment, he saw a soldier who had lost his head and fell from his horse with blood spurting from his neck.
Zhang Zai recognized the soldier and exchanged a few words with each other. He knew that the other party was a simple man who loved to laugh, which made him quite fond of him. Unexpectedly, at the moment, he was killed by the Khitan people.
Before Zhang Zai could yell out, he was suddenly hit on the forehead, and his eyes went dark.
Thinking that he was hit by Khitan scouts and was about to die, Zhang Zai could no longer control his fear, and the screams were worse than killing a pig.
He didn't fall down, what hit his forehead was just a broken arm.
Zhang Zai didn't know how his side rushed past the Khitan cavalry, his mind was blank.
The spirited scholar always thinks that he is passionate and invincible. Even if he breaks into the army and takes the head of a general, he will not be timid.
I don't know, if I haven't been hung with a knife and ax on my forehead a few times, I will never understand how difficult it is to make my hands and feet obedient when facing a forest of swords, guns and swords suddenly facing me on the battlefield; How much courage is needed to cut at the opponent's vital points in the training method.
"Take them away!"
Because of a loud roar, Zhang Zai finally came back to his senses. He looked around and found that there were some people missing in his team. Although not many, they were indeed missing.
The one who yelled these words was Dudu Niudan, and after yelling these words, he led half of the rangers out of the brigade, turned a corner, and headed towards the four or five hundred elite Khitan cavalry who were chasing up.
Although the fight with Khitan scouts just now did not cause much damage to the cavalry team, the speed of the team still slowed down a bit, and the Khitan elite cavalry behind them had already caught up.
At this time, Zhang Zai ignored the fact that he peed his pants, his heart trembled so much that he couldn't help shouting in a hoarse voice, "Dutou, there are many barbarians, you will die if you go back!"
As soon as these words came out, Zhang Zai trembled all over.
Dozens of cold gazes fell on him together.
"Shut up!" the deputy chief shouted in a deep voice.
Zhang Zai opened his mouth, but could no longer speak.
Of course Niudan knew that if he turned around and faced the battle, he would definitely die.
But only in this way can the opponent's horse speed be slowed down, and the others can win the opportunity to bring back the military report.
When Zhang Zai saw Er Gouzi and the others, although his eyes were red and his teeth were gritted, he didn't turn his head to take another look. He just tried his best to speed up the horse.
This is the fate of scouts.
Looking back, looking through the robes behind him, he vaguely saw the resolute backs of more than forty cavalry, rushing towards the surging crowd of Khitan elite cavalry without hesitation, Zhang Zai felt his throat was as hard as a rock in an instant, and hot tears came out of his eyes.
Of course he knew that if he didn't turn around and die, he would definitely not be able to survive, and everyone else would not be able to survive, and the military situation would not be able to reach the border.
Zhang Zai, Liu Dahe and others who had just joined the army, no matter how unbearable they were, at least at this moment, they had a personal experience of what it means to be in the same robe. How simple are these eight words, but the heroism and sadness contained in it are so heavy that those who are not involved cannot deeply appreciate it.
Withdrawing his eyes, his vision was already blurred by tears, Zhang Zai, who was ashamed, blamed himself and hot all over, clenched his teeth tightly.
He used to look down on lieutenant generals.
But now, he found that he didn't even have the qualifications to be a fighter.
"Er Gouzi, take someone back!"
All of a sudden, the deputy chief ordered in a deep voice.
In front of them on the right, another group of Khitan scouts appeared, and there were quite a few of them.
They were too far from the border and too deep into the steppe. When they came, relying on their experience and dexterity, they avoided many Khitan scouts; but now, running for their lives, they could no longer cover their tracks.
Encountering an enemy who has the strength to hinder the progress of the entire team, their only way of survival is to keep people behind again and again.
Until there is only one person left.
Or, none left.