As the sun was setting, the two riders walked slowly on a flat sandy land commonly known as Longan'er. Thirty li further south was Hutou City, the most important city in Beiliang Border Pass. There are 30,000 elite soldiers stationed inside and outside the city, 3,000 iron cavalry, 6,000 light cavalry, and more than 20,000 infantry. Even the people in the city who are not included in the military registration, as long as they are young and middle-aged, can put on armor and mount a horse to fight in a hurry. Behind Hutou City is Huaiyang Pass, which has newly established the Northern Liang Capital Protectorate. On the left and right sides of Huaiyang Pass, there are two big pass cities, Liuya and Tiefuling, with more than ten thousand troops, which are absolutely outnumbered by the infantry. Hutou City in You is different. The two military towns of Liu Ya and Tie Fuling are almost all cavalry with fast horses and light armor. Obviously, it is the opposite of Hutou City, the "defense city" that was mainly used to block the Beimang army from going south. These two border towns, which are smaller in scale, are more responsible for taking the initiative to attack. After the first front with both offensive and defensive capabilities, there is the second front with Jinyuan, Qinghe and Chongzuka as the fulcrum, and the two cities of Scrophulariaceae and Shenwu as the two wings in the north of Liangzhou, followed by the perennial station at the border of Liangzhou The Daxue Dragon Cavalry Army, as well as the army of the two deputy commanders of the cavalry, Chen Yunchui and He Zhonghu. Coupled with the canine-toothed Wubao watchtowers, there is no doubt that the border north of Liangzhou is the most difficult battlefield in Beiliang. Generally speaking, Beimang is the least likely to attack the heavily guarded Liangzhou northern line. If the Northern Barbarian really wanted to open his mouth to eat this place, it might not be as simple as chipping teeth and swallowing blood. Compared with the northern line of Liangzhou, which is dominated by large horses and sharp swords, there are mostly infantry in Youzhou, so Yan Wenluan, the commander of the infantry, is also there. Regardless of the terrain in the north of Youzhou or the distribution of the garrison, It has all been determined that Youzhou is a typical offensive and defensive battle between nomads in the north and farming in the Central Plains. One party attacks the city and the other defends the city. Back to attack posture. Originally, the Dragon Elephant Cavalry was stationed in the middle of Liangyou and Youzhou. They could support both sides at any time, and even actively wandered around looking for fighters. Among them, the close connection between Youliang and Liangzhou has virtually split a crack.
The largest city in the northwest of the Liyang Dynasty was not the state city of Lianglingyou Sanzhou in Beiliang, but this Hutou city that stands out from the sky and overlooks Beimang!
There are still some passes on the border of Youzhou, such as Daomaguan, for business travelers to enter and exit Liangmang, but north of Liangzhou, there are none!
It is doomed that there will be only wars and battles in the yellow sand, and the sound of caravan camel bells will never be heard.
Although there were only two horses, one of them was dragging a woman in distress with her hands tied. She was covered in dust, her lips were chapped, and the delicate embroidered shoes on her feet, which looked like a graceful girl in the south of the Yangtze River, were also dilapidated, exposing her bloody toes. Her figure was shaky, but she was still holding on. When she was able to look up and see the legendary Hutou City, where the heads of Beimang captives were placed on the top of the city, she was dragged to the ground by the horse because of this untimely pause. Turning her head, she tried her best to get up, otherwise she would be dragged to Tiger Head City like this, but she was so exhausted that she couldn't stand up anymore, she just turned over, and there was a burning pain from sliding on the gravel in her back , this kind of pain does not lie in how much severe pain occurs in an instant, but in the continuous accumulation of bits and pieces.
The Beimang cavalry soldier who was acting on orders couldn't help turning his head and glanced. Such a woman sitting high on the cloud just fell off the altar, and was dragged forward by him and his mount like a dog.
He turned his head to look at the rider in front of him, he didn't know why this man didn't kill him, and he didn't know why he didn't kill her either.
In the distance, the hustle and bustle was everywhere, and a majestic cavalry team of hundreds of people came crashing down, shaking the ground.
His heart contracted violently. This was the first time in his life that he had seen such a large number of Beiliang cavalry. He also quickly discovered that the Beiliang cavalry was different from the Liu Zijun cavalry he was in before. The enemy is undoubtedly very brave and cruel. After he joined the army, so did he himself, otherwise he would not be one of the cavalry guards of General Liu Gui. But the feeling given to him by the Beiliang cavalry in front was even more terrifying. It was not obvious that he had fought with the standard crossbowmen before, but he felt that those famous Beiliang crossbowmen were really amazing in combat power, but when they exceeded three hundred After the number of people, it gave people a very strange feeling, as if the three or four hundred riders were integrated into one body, and their riding and whipping were full of a kind of forbearance and restraint that would make all Beimang warriors feel extremely uncomfortable. For the Hutou City garrisons in front of them, their bodies followed the horse's back every time, and the ups and downs were exactly the same.
He only heard that the two heavy cavalry, which were fed with countless gold and silver, could truly go hand in hand when they spread out their formations and charged forward.
The four hundred riders got off their horses almost at the same time, and the leading middle-aged knight knelt on one knee, bowed his head and cupped his fists and said, "The last general Liu Jinu, see the prince!"
After that, the four hundred riders said in unison: "See the prince!"
Xu Fengnian smiled and said: "Get up, this time I will trouble General Liu to go out of the city to meet you."
The young prisoner behind Xu Fengnian, who could still ride a horse and wear armor, was stunned for a moment, unable to turn his head around, but when he saw that General Liu, who was wearing armor, knives and crossbows exactly like the cavalry pawn behind him, seemed to be crippled when he got up
Then he knew who this ordinary-looking lame general was, the number one frontier general under the commanders-in-chief of Beiliang, Hutou City guard Liu Laizi!
He didn't know what Liu Jinu was, but almost every Liu Zijun soldier had heard of this legendary liu cripple in the desert. This person is different from many Beiliang fierce generals who are more famous in Beimang with greater meritorious deeds. According to scholars in Beimang and Southern Dynasties, Liu Laizi is recognized as a good general in the world. Such as parents and children, two sons and two daughters, the son has died at the border, and the younger son was only sixteen years old when he died. Both daughters were married to his subordinates, and both became widows. Liu Laizi has never been merciless to the enemy, but he has never killed innocent people indiscriminately. During a long-distance raid for revenge fourteen years ago, he went deep into the hinterland of Gusai Prefecture and beheaded tens of thousands of people along the way. That leg was used by a captive woman. The dagger pierced through, but Liu Laizi still didn't kill her, leaving only a sentence that was widely circulated on the grasslands, "Whether it's our Beiliang or your Beimang, only when the men are dead, it will be the turn to kill her." You girls."
Liu Jinu accompanied Xu Fengnian to the majestic Hutou City, where he had spent most of his life. Looking at the tall city wall, the eyes of this accomplished general were extremely warm.
The four hundred elite riders behind them slowly turned their horses to return. They couldn't help but glanced at the weird two people. The young man on horseback was dressed in a northern barbarian costume and carried quite a lot of weapons. After dragging one, he could only walk poorly sable forehead woman.
After entering the city, Xu Fengnian took a shower and changed his clothes. Liu Jinu and several Hutoucheng captains stood respectfully at the steps of the outer courtyard.
The last time Xu Fengnian patrolled the border as King of Xinliang, he stopped at Huaiyang Pass and did not come here. It is said that the school lieutenants at that moment were quite slanderous and complained, saying that the prince looked down on their Hutou City and put Hutou The generals of the city were regarded as the cubs raised by the stepmother of Beiliang. The school lieutenant who led the 3,000 heavy cavalry publicly threatened that if he had the ability to let the soft garrison of Huaiyang Pass perform martial arts with him once, he was not willing to bully the Huaiyang cavalry as light cavalry, at worst, let them borrow two or three more troops Qian, it still doesn't take three rounds of charging to make those guys lose their armor and armor. Xu Fengnian saw one of the brawny men who pretended to be calm but was obviously restrained and cowering, and waved for the pillar generals of Hutou City to sit down and talk. Liu Jinu's qualifications and military achievements are there. Facing the new owner of Beiliang, Xu Fengnian, of course, was not at a loss. He sat on the stone bench calmly, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the horse terrier who scolded the most after drinking, and now he was with a shy girl who dared not see her lover. Like them, they moved the stone bench and sat at the end, shrinking their heads.
Xu Fengnian tilted his head, as if he was looking for someone, and asked with a smile on purpose: "General Liu, I don't know if Mr. Ma, Captain Ma, who said that he can't beat me with punches and kicks, but can drink me down, is there?"
Liu Jinu held back his laughter and didn't speak.
The captains present here, who were as rough as the frontier sandstorm, couldn't help laughing out loud, and their laughter was full of candor and kindness.
No matter how soft-tempered a man is, he will probably be hardened by the vicious sun here year after year.
No matter how narrow-minded a man is, he will probably be stretched out by the grandeur here day after day.
That horse thorn straightened his waist, showed his head high behind Pao Ze, broke the pot and said, "I want to report to the lord, if you are an old man, if you are really angry, you have to eat a whip for your humble job. It's the one who gets the whip." Time, can you find a place where the humble subordinates can't see it? Otherwise, you will be laughed at by those guys in the future."
Xu Fengnian obviously didn't intend to argue with this man, and asked, "General Liu, can everyone drink?"
Liu Jinu nodded with a smile and joked: "Of course you can drink it. This group of people fights like that. On the wine table, everyone is number one. However, both Ma Xiaoli and Chu History are on duty at night. As long as one doesn't get too drunk, it doesn't matter."
Xu Fengnian hummed, "Then let's have a drink until we finish. What we owed last time, we can only make up for it later."
Liu Jinu turned his head and shouted, "Ma Tribulus, go with Chu Hanqing to fetch two jars of wine in person, and then roll off to watch the night."
Ma Xiaoli was relieved, and trotted out of the yard with another captain, and soon brought two jars of green ant wine.
The guilty Ma Xiaoli didn't dare to wait any longer, so he wanted to run away quickly. Chu Hanqing, the elegant captain of Hutou City, hesitated for a moment, looked at Xu Fengnian, and asked, "Your Majesty, I can't drink tonight with a humble job, and I don't know if I can drink next time." When and where will the drinking party be, can I respect the prince once with an empty bowl?"
Xu Fengnian nodded.
Chu Hanqing held up the empty wine bowl, while Xu Fengnian stood up and drank the green ant wine in the bowl.
Ma Xiaoli asked anxiously: "My lord, why don't I respect you for my humble position?"
Xu Fengnian smiled and drank another bowl.
After sitting back on the stone bench, Xu Fengnian looked at the border generals with sincere smiles on their faces, and asked, "General Liu, is there anything else you need in Hutou City? Just ask."
Liu Jinu held the bowl in one hand, put the other on the lame leg, smiled and shook his head, "No more."
Xu Fengnian didn't say much, and drank silently with these Beiliang veterans who were all in their forties.
At the end, Liu Jinu only said one sentence, "Since the prince is sitting here, I can say something that I thought I couldn't say. The more than 40,000 people in Hutou City should have drunk it today." I have no regrets even though I have died after drinking the prince's farewell wine."