When I said goodbye, the main generals of East Youzhou came to see me off. They were still a strong group of people, just like when I was in Luoyang. But I always felt that something was missing, and I always felt that they might not be able to achieve great things. I felt sorry for Zhao Yun and Liu Yu, because they were the backbone of Youzhou.
Uncle San said hello to me before I left. He told me to go directly to Jingzhou after finishing these tasks. If he didn't leave when I returned to Jingzhou, don't wait for him, and he wouldn't wait for me either. I thought he missed his teacher so much. It was not easy for him to wait until everything was over after not seeing his old brother for more than ten years, so I agreed.
The northeast of Youzhou is very cold in the early morning of autumn. We entered the mountainous area soon after we left. Here we left the scope of Liaodong and entered Xuantu. Xuantu is not big, with only three cities, and we will not pass through them on the way to Lelang because it will take a detour. After passing the mountainous forest area of Xuantu to the northeast, we will cross a river and reach Lelang. I think at our marching speed, we can rest in Lelang tonight.
A light fog surrounded the gradually increasing hilltops. We came out of the fog from time to time, and bumped into the fog from time to time. I always wondered if we would disappear in the fog. The wind here was also very strange. In autumn and winter, the northwest wind should blow, but here it was a gentle south wind. Now it seemed to be biased to the west. It was often a group of fog chasing us, and we caught up with a group of fog and then shook it off. Everyone's youthful mood was the same as mine now. We played a chasing game with the fog tacitly. Every time we surpassed a group, someone cheered and laughed, sometimes it was me, sometimes it was Nan, and sometimes the sound came from each carriage. The only discordant sound came from the carriage of the patriarch. They laughed wantonly without discipline and unity.
As the sun broke through the fog and spread its warmth, the fog gradually dissipated, and the water droplets on the grass began to sparkle. Nan happily ran from the front of the team to the back, and then from the back to the front. Holding his precious fork, he rushed back and forth. The only shortcoming was that he felt that he didn't have a big banner with the word "Liu" to support him. I was happy to do it for him, and he happily continued to run to play with the deer and rabbits eating grass near the road. However, usually before he could get close with his eight-foot iron fork, all the animals were scared away.
The whole team was able to advance at a reasonable speed, because the cattle and sheep that were relatively slow were all sold by Beihai. Only the carriages and a few horses were left, so it was no problem to run a few hundred miles a day. These young Xianbei people often sang songs, but compared to our music, the rhythm was relatively monotonous, and it was boring to listen to them for a long time. However, I was still very interested in listening to Katuyan's story again.
We are about to enter a plank road in a dense forest. The thick trees make the plank road look dark. If I were to go alone, I might be a little scared. I can't deny that I am still afraid of the dark. Although I will pretend to be very brave, I must be in a panic. I think this panic is cultivated by my sister. Because she is afraid of the dark, and she is very afraid, but she claims that she is not afraid when she lies down and hides in the quilt, and I seem to be the same. It must be like this. Suddenly I thought that my sister's habit of sleeping in was cultivated in this way.
I was bored and suddenly came up with a bad idea. It was rare for me to come up with such an idea when I was so relaxed. But after thinking about it, it was not a bad idea. It was useful to him and also an inspiration to me.
"Husayan Kingdom!" The idea was made and implemented immediately.
"What's wrong? Xie, big brother." The unlucky guy came over happily.
"I have nothing to do now, so I'll teach you a thing."
"Okay, okay."
"Remember, even though a fork is used for stabbing, it's not the only thing you can use for stabbing."
"What's the meaning?"
"You'll know if you stab me."
"Now?"
"Yeah, quick."
Nan immediately stabbed at me with the fork, but he was obviously cautious and didn't use his full strength, so I easily blocked the fork with my Tianlang.
"What are you going to do now?"
"Sweep up and down along your stick." It seems that his brain still works well on the battlefield.
"But what if that person reacts quickly and is very strong, and he grabs the head of your fork? Or what if I use my front fangs to wrap around your fork like my wolf?"
"Then stab again." Well, he began to not know what to do.
"Of course others know you are a thorn, so you have to make sure they don't expect it. Otherwise, they can easily block your attack."
"What should we do then?"
"Swinging like a wolf's tooth bāng... It's hard for anyone to think of this. Do you remember what the stone looked like when this iron fork fell to the ground? Don't be bound by its original attack method." In fact, I was inspired by Li Zhen's behavior when he was fighting with the Xiliang generals.
"Yeah." He also became happy.
"But you also have to charge. You can't just stand there and wait for someone to hit you. You have to swing the fork at high speed and keep it in your hand."
Nan immediately started to act, rushing from here to there, shouting "kill", waving the fork that was much longer than he was, completely unaware that he had fallen into my trap.
The end of the shouting and killing was accompanied by the neighing of horses, a loud bang, a soft bang, a muffled groan, and the subsequent groaning, as well as the violent shaking of the trees above, scattering countless yellow and withered leaves. Di Sui and Bei Hai quickly stuck their heads out to see what was happening. Everyone saw what happened in the team: a boy was swinging a fork, and the fork hit the thick tree trunk above. He was thrown off the horse, but he still held the fork tightly.
My sister-in-law came down to ask him about his life and what happened. Nan was practicing martial arts and accidentally hit a tree with a fork. Beihai came close to me and asked, "You taught him, didn't you?" I winked at him in response. However, I still asked him, "Did you hear what I taught him?"
"No, what did you do?... But this weapon movement is not the movement of the iron fork, but it seems to be the movement of you and my weapons. It's impossible for me, so it can only be you."
I curled my lips. I didn't expect that there were so many ways to explain one thing, and they all made sense. However, Beihai got off the carriage after seeing the surrounding situation and rode with me. He, this kind of terrain is good for bandits.
This time, I saw what his new weapon looked like: the handle was six feet long, emitting a cold black light, and the axe blade was unique, with two sides standing opposite each other. The two axe edges flashed alternately on the dark road from time to time like ripples on the water.
"Why is the axe in this shape?"
"If the axe has a single blade, it is unstable. It is easy to exert force, but difficult to retract it. Moreover, the axe has two blades. If one side is damaged, there is still one side left."
"Good." It seems that Beihai has learned a lot from his wife. Now he speaks to me in a very elegant way.
But I also found that it seemed that he had mixed something else in his axe, because I always felt that his axe seemed to be a little bigger than before, at least there was an extra axe body, and the color was a little different. I asked him, he knew it was mixed, but he didn't know what it was mixed with, and it didn't seem to be much heavier. He added it and said it had a sweet taste, like gold. But gold is heavier than iron, it seems that there is not much gold mixed in, and there are other things in it.
But it seems that Long Xing is also very satisfied with his new weapon, looking left and right, up and down from time to time. The Xiongnu who just suffered continued to train regardless of the pain and his cousin's dissuasion. However, this time, he was smarter and more careful. However, he still fell off the horse two or three times. The nervous sister-in-law kept looking at the fool who didn't know that someone was concerned about him. Fortunately, there were thick fallen leaves on the ground, and it seemed that he didn't fall too hard. Long Xing comforted his wife not to be too nervous, and it was okay. As a result, the sister-in-law was severely scolded and dared not say a word. This made me happy to watch the fun from the side. I was thinking about my sister in my heart. Damn, it’s better to bring my sister out, so that I can relax. She must be worried about me again, and I haven’t written to her yet. Although my eyes suddenly brightened up, my mood suddenly dimmed.
Nan fell off his horse again, but this time he flew out in front of the horse, and we also found something wrong. It seemed to be the effect of the trip rope. Then, a very loud whistle sounded, and a large group of people surrounded us from the front. Nan used his fork to drag his horse and quickly retreated to the back and stopped beside us, looking at the enemies in front of him with vigilance. It seems that this is not a safe place either. The Xianbei boys all drew their bows, which made those people dare not rush forward. The current terrain is not very favorable for us. As soon as we left this section of the boulevard, the enemy formed a semicircle to trap our front team. We could not move forward, and we could not deploy. We suffered a lot in the fight.
At 7:00 a.m., the sky became cloudy and the stalemate was broken.
Someone mumbled something to us, and Long Xing leaned close to my ear and said, "They are Wuhuan people. ... If we leave our things behind, they will let us go. If we don't, they will kill us all and feed us to the dogs."
"Pretend you didn't understand and retreat first." I gave the order. Long Xing gestured to the back and the convoy began to turn around. Only the Xianbei boys were left standing guard with their bows.
"What do you mean? I don't understand. If you are in a hurry, we will let you through." I politely began to retreat. Fortunately, the other side did not have many crossbows, and they did not dare to shoot rashly. The well-organized longbow formation of the Xianbei teenagers in front of us made them understand that whoever rushed to the front or dared to shoot an arrow first would immediately become a hedgehog and fall to the ground. We retreated back to the forest, and all the arrows were aimed at the entrance of the tree-lined path. Everyone was frozen in place. They certainly did not dare to rush, and we could not get out for a while. At this time, a Chinese voice came from behind, "Don't run, we will let you through, but you have to leave your money, half is fine." The voice was very urgent, as if they did not want us to leave either.
"A bunch of newbies." Long Xing was happy. "This isn't robbery, it feels more like a business negotiation."
At this time, several people held up shields to protect some people behind them. One of them stood up cautiously and said to us. It was dark and we couldn't see his face clearly. We only knew that his voice and stature were just those of a weak teenager of our age. "We are all trying to survive. You are doing well. Can we also take advantage of your good fortune?"
It seemed as if he was translating someone else's words, because another voice could be heard clearly in the silent boulevard, but it was gibberish and incomprehensible.
Long Xing's words came softly: "If we don't leave it to them, they will set us on fire."
"They seem stupid. They set the fire. First, the fire can't catch up with us; second, the wind is blowing from behind, and the fire will burn them." I also exchanged opinions with Long Xing in a low voice, and he nodded in agreement.
"If you don't give it to me, get out of here!"
"He seems to be helping us." Long Xing and I were talking at the same time. This person seemed to be thinking about us all the time. His words were completely different. He seemed to be afraid that we would be harmed, but he didn't dare to say anything. In fact, if it were me, I could take advantage of this condition. If he said something in Wuhuan language, I would make up something for him. For example, if he said the three sentences just now, they would be: how many people are here; what do they want to do; what kind of leader is here
It seems that he still has some courage and doesn't dare to play with fire. But he doesn't want us to get hurt, and he seems to be a Han Chinese. I don't have a good impression of the Wuhuan people at least until now, and Longxing has a great hatred for them. Thinking of this, I had an idea. I told Longxing and Nan a few words. Longxing made a few gestures to the people behind him, and I also tightened the reins. The horse felt my movement and began to circle in place, feeling uneasy.
"Who is your leader?" I asked loudly.
He immediately yelled at the person next to him, and Long Xing nodded at me. I, Po Liu, Han Lie Ya, Hu Sa Lie Nan Guo, the three of us rushed out at the same time, and the Xianbei boy behind us also followed at the same time.
Our three horses were parallel at the same time. The other negotiating team was obviously frightened by our actions. Some of them were confused, but they still ran away quickly. Unfortunately, when Po Liu Han Lieya wanted to shoot, he had not missed the target. He just plucked the string slightly by 30% like playing the piano and released it. Then someone in front of him fell down. In just a few dozen steps, six or seven people fell down one after another. I stepped forward and poked the Wuhuan leader next to the boy with a stick. I pulled the boy onto the horse. The boy hurriedly said: "I'm helping you!" I know, don't talk nonsense, I pulled you up because I was afraid you would get hurt. He hurriedly thanked me, and I told him to shut up. It seems that after losing their leader, they obviously started to get angry. Some retreated, and some rushed over to fight with us. We fought and retreated. I clenched the Tianlang tail and swept it horizontally, which became the key to suppressing the situation. I used its momentum and the circle of white sticks to block the pace of the Wuhuan people's attack. We still held on, using arrows to repel sporadic charges, including me, pulling up the iron bow and shooting fiercely, Po Liu Han Lie Ya was directing everyone to shoot there, his bow was only occasionally shooting at the leader-like people in the distance, and his axe was also killing, the hooked weapon was dripping with blood. Husa Lie Nanguo didn't bring his bow with him, so he had to run back to get it.
Suddenly, I heard a cry of surprise from the Husa Lie Nan Kingdom. I turned around and saw that some Wuhuan people had come out from the dense woods to surround us. I immediately asked Long Xing to watch over here, took off my quiver and left it to them, and then I turned and retreated.
"Protect my wife with your heart." This was the only instruction he gave me.
The Sirius is ten feet tall, and the space here is narrow, so the offensive defense that was originally used for wide-ranging operations immediately became constrained everywhere. Now it seems that they can only be attacked one by one.
The Xianbei women also began to take up weapons and rely on the carts to fight to defend the convoy. The remaining elderly people also took up bows and arrows to shoot at the Wuhuan people who were still approaching in the dark forest. It seems that during the time I was injured, they have been through hundreds of battles and have become extremely experienced in combat. They are not panicking at all. I realized that I didn't need to be nervous at all. Because the forest was too dense, it really took a lot of detours to attack from the middle. The Xianbei people's outstanding archery skills made these sporadic attacks non-threatening. Although these Wuhuan people who lost their command were still brave, they were almost stupid. I threw the guy onto a cart.
"Stay there." Seeing him straighten his head, he greeted the Xianbei women who were still somewhat hostile to him. "If you think he is not honest, kill him." I said to the Xianbei women in the car. The guy immediately restrained himself a lot, and obviously tried to distract the Xianbei women. In his heart, the Xianbei women's arrows flew back into the woods. In the dim forest road, the only sounds left were the sound of bows and arrows, the sound of swords piercing bodies, and the groans of the dying Wuhuan soldiers.
Sister Liu, this shouldn't be the case. The south side of Mrs. Han's car was shooting towards the northwest woods, and the curtains on the southeast side were lifted, showing a bow, but the bow was opened and closed from time to time, but no arrows flew out. I hurried to the window, "Sister-in-law, close the curtains and give me the arrows." Sister-in-law usually practices archery and has never shot anyone. She is still a sixteen-year-old girl, a new woman, and has never experienced a battle. How can she bear this kind of thing? She knows that they will rush over and kill us, but she still can't be cruel and shoot the first arrow. Although she can only see a small range in front of her window and can't see the cruel killing of the entire battlefield, the arrows supported by the vehicles next to her still make her see a few corpses in front of her. One of them twitched under my eyelids. I think Liu Wan may have twitched in her heart after seeing it. Although I am still not very comfortable after experiencing Hanzhong and the thousand-mile migration to the south, I am indeed a little numb as Zhou Cang said. Because everyone was shooting, I felt that I had to shoot too, and I didn't know why. I just had to keep reminding myself that I was here to organize the defense, and I had to protect the newlywed wife of Po Liu Han Lie Ya. Now, although the opponent was more than ten times ours, the battle situation was clearly under our control, which made me even a little intoxicated. However, when you look at a single person in the battlefield aside, even though he was an enemy, it was still hard to accept that a seven-foot-tall living person was simply killed by a wooden stick less than two feet long with a few feathers. If this is the case, life is so light, so light that it makes you feel a little crazy. I put my hand by the window and waited for her to give me an arrow.
Suddenly, the first arrow flew out of the window and accurately hit the left side of a Wuhuan warrior. The warrior did not fall down, but continued to rush forward bravely. It seemed that the arrow did not penetrate very deeply, but soon the second arrow penetrated his neck, making him lie on the ground and struggle on the edge of life.
"I'm sorry." Although the voice was very quiet, I could clearly hear the girl's sobbing as if she was confessing. I didn't know whether she was talking to me or to the Wuhuan people who were rolling in pain in front of me. But after a moment, a firm voice told me: "I'm fine, I can handle it here, uncle, help me take care of Beihai."
This put me in a dilemma, but the brave arrows shot out from the window faster and faster, showing the woman's determination. I decided to run to Beihai to help.
But there was no serious difficulty here. The Wuhuan line was pushed back very far, and no one dared to rush down rashly. Their biggest mistake now was that they had too few archers, and now these long-range forces had almost all been lost. Some of the Wuhuan who lost the protection of bows and arrows hid behind rocks or in places where bows and crossbows could not reach, and some had to go into the woods, hoping to have less resistance, but women and the elderly were not easy to bully. But thinking of this, I immediately rode back, and I knew where the only weakness in our formation was. Before Beihai asked me why I was not behind to protect the convoy, I told him to give me a few people.
The rear of our convoy is the only flaw!
As long as they move a little further southwest in the woods, they can go around to the back of us, reorganize there, and then attack our tail. Now our formation is like my Sirius, except that the handle of the Sirius has also become a weapon of attack.
The tail of our convoy was the weakest point for attack and defense. When I arrived at the tail with five Xianbei boys, there was no one on the road. Those boys immediately joined the car behind to resist the attack of the Wuhuan people on both sides, while I was thinking about what to do if a large number of Wuhuan people appeared in front, because the enemy had hundreds of people, and we only had fifty, and two or three of them would not resist. As long as the enemy still had fifty people alive and attacked us from behind, we would have no way out. Even if we could repel them, the losses would be heavy.
I suddenly thought that using horse-drawn chariots to charge should be the best way to deal with these Wuhuan people who don't ride horses. I also ordered all the people who used to drive chariots to listen to my orders. When I gave the order, the chariots charged one by one, and the people on the chariots used knives to cut people when they saw people nearby. However, until the end, the hunluan Wuhuan people were unable to organize a decent attack, and no one went there at all.
The battle gradually became sparse, and our resistance became less and less, not because our defense was broken, but because the enemy's attack was almost gone. The enemy finally gave up their seemingly unplanned and very stupid attack and began to retreat. They did not set fire, and in fact, even if they did, it would not have much effect on us.
The battle ended at noon, and I remembered the words: Fortunately, war is so cruel, otherwise I would definitely love it. Because, we only had two people injured, one of whom was thrown off his horse by a Xiongnu and scratched his hand, and the other was stabbed in the horse's butt by the enemy's stray arrow. He was taken out of the battle by the horse and was surrounded, but he relied on a double-sided axe to hack back. The Xianbei leader Po Liu Han Lie Ya had his right leg scratched, and there were no other losses.
I found the person who wanted to help us again, but didn't ask him anything else. I just asked how far their camp was from here. The answer was thirty miles to the northeast by mountain road.
Po Liuhan sent people to explore the terrain and the enemy's situation. The news they brought back was that the enemy had all fled to the northern mountains, and there was a plain ahead. Po Liuhan immediately ordered to set off, and the carriage turned around and continued to move forward. Beihai also replaced his favorite white horse with a red horse and continued to lead the team.
We didn't take a break on the way. We ate some dry food and went straight to the ferry. The ferry was a fairly prosperous market town, but we didn't stop for a moment. We just wanted to cross the floating bridge immediately. However, we were delayed for a while because a government merchant ship happened to be sailing down the Liao River from Xuantu Goguryeo to Liaoyang in Liaodong. Although we were a little nervous, we were still interested to see the floating bridge being dismantled and pulled back from both sides. After the ship passed, several other ships went to dock it. It took a total of two quarters of an hour.
We finally set foot in Lelong County, which is the easternmost and northernmost county of our Han Dynasty. It has eighteen cities, 39,472 households and a population of 179,740.
Among them, the five cities of Zhaoming, Loufang, Tixi, Hunmi and Ledu in Nanlelang Prefecture have a total of 10,410 households. That is the territory of Xie Zhi, the Marquis of Ping'an Fengyun of the Han Dynasty.
Although we haven't arrived there yet, my heart has completely calmed down from worrying about being pursued by the Wuhuan people.