On the north bank of the Yellow River, at the westernmost end of the Yinshan Mountain Range, there is a mountain range that runs east-west and stretches for hundreds of miles.

To the north of this mountain range is an endless grassland, which later generations used to call this place the "Inner Mongolia Prairie", and the grassland is a paradise for animals with dense hills and deep weeds, and the sparse population.

Every late at night, the mountains will be resounded one after another wolf howls, wolves dozens of hundreds of people from the mountains, to the savannah to prey, a pair of miserable green eyes in the dark flashing a terrifying and ferocious light, after finding the prey will rise up in a group to attack, even tigers and cheetahs such as top predators have to choose to retreat in front of the wolves.

That's why the name of this mountain range is – Wolf Mountain.

But although the mountain is called Wolf Mountain, it is not without traces of human activity.

A majestic Great Wall stretches for thousands of miles along the Yinshan Mountains from east to west, covering almost the entire northern border of Zhao and the entire Wolf Mountain.

This is the famous Zhao Great Wall.

At the westernmost end of the Great Wall of Zhao, that is, in the middle of the Wolf Mountain, the entire mountain range here seemed to have been slashed by the gods and abruptly cut off a large opening, forming a steep valley.

Two steep peaks on the left and right sides of the valley like towering double ques pierced into the sky, a majestic fortress is built according to this valley and the twin peaks between the valleys, the city wall of the fortress is as high as dozens of zhang, the whole body is made of square stones, the east and west sides are built with tall towers, the whole fortress firmly locks the passage between the peaks of the two mountains, it can be said that "one man is the pass, ten thousand people do not open".

This is the Zhao Guoxiong Pass, which is as famous as the Qin Guohan Valley Pass-Gao Que Sai.

Gaoque Fortress is not only a Xiongguan, it is also a part of the entire Northern Great Wall of Zhao State, which can be used as an impregnable fortress when defending, and can be used as a bridgehead for the Zhao army when attacking, and the strategic position is extremely important.

In later generations, the famous Changping Hou Weiqing sent troops from here to attack the Xiongnu, defeated the Xiongnu Right Xianwang with one blow, and captured more than 10 people from the right Xianwang of the right Xianwang, more than 10,000 men and women, and millions of livestock.

Wei Qing was also named a general because of this, and Wei Qing's three sons were all named princes by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

But at this moment, this is not the land of the Han Dynasty, and the owner of this pass is still the world-famous Zhao cavalry.

In the grasslands, miles north of Gaoquesai, a small chase is underway.

Several Huns fled on horseback in front of them in panic, and a cavalry of the Zhao army, which numbered about 20 people, launched a fan-shaped close pursuit behind them, and the two sides kept bending their bows and arrows on their horses to shoot at each other.

It stands to reason that the Huns, as a people on horseback, should have gained an advantage in such a cavalry battle, but surprisingly, the cavalry of the Zhao army gained the upper hand in this battle.

In fact, at the beginning of the battle, the number of people on both sides was equal, about thirty, but now there are only a few Hu cavalry left, and the Zhao army has at least twenty people.

The reason why this is so is because these Huns suddenly found that the cavalry of Zhao State in front of them not only had more exquisite riding skills, but also became more accurate in archery!

I saw that in the process of chasing between the two sides, a young officer of Zhao suddenly bent his bow and arrows.

If you look closely, you will find that the Zhao officer's feet are impressively encased in a pair of stirrups, and his hips are firmly supported by a saddle that arches back and forth.

With a "whoosh", an arrow instantly left the bowstring, catching up with a Hun cavalry like a meteor chasing the moon, and accurately submerged into the heart of the Hun cavalry, making the Hun cavalry fall to the ground and die after a desperate scream.

In fact, it was not only this Zhao army officer, almost every Zhao army cavalry mounted under the crotch was equipped with a complete set of horse harnesses such as stirrups, saddles and even horseshoes.

It is precisely because of the assistance of these harnesses that the battle, which was supposed to be five or five, turned into a one-sided slaughter!

After a few more minutes, the last Hun cavalry was shot and fell from his horse, and the whole pursuit finally came to an end.

The cavalry of the Zhao army jumped off their horses one by one, took out their weapons and beheaded the dead Huns, and then happily hung their heads next to their saddles.

It's not that the cavalry of the Zhao army is murderous, but if you don't take the enemy's head back, this military merit will not be recognized.

Speaking of which, this way of judging merit by decapitation is still learned from the people of the Qin State.

I saw that the young Zhao officer also operated in the same way as his subordinates, but there were at most six heads hanging next to his saddle - you must know that there were only about thirty Huns killed.

It is precisely because of this that this officer of the Zhao Army undoubtedly gained a lot of admiration from the eyes of his subordinates.

In a place like the army, others may not be convinced by officials, but if you have the ability, then others will definitely be convinced.

I saw a Zhao army cavalry laugh in a non-standard Zhao Chinese dialect: "General Li Bai, this time I killed so many Huns, and I won't leave a few miles for the second and third sons!" ”

The reason why this officer is called Li Baijiang is not because his name is Li Baijiang, but because he is a hundred generals (centurion).

The meaning of this Li Baijiang is the same as that of Platoon Commander Li and Company Commander Li in later generations.

This Li Baijiang looks no more than twenty years old, he looks heroic, with sword eyebrows and starry eyes, and his body is promoted, although the skin of the whole person has become rough and a little dark after a few years of life, but it makes him show a kind of Zhao Diman's generous temperament.

The young General Li Baijiang waved his hand and scolded the Zhao cavalry who were coaxing around: "The second and third sons don't want to talk nonsense!" If I hadn't shot these Huns earlier, I don't know how many miles they would have been able to shoot over the second or third sons! Let's go and do things, don't talk more! ”

The cavalry of the Zhao army dispersed in a hurry, and began to look around for the corpses and horses of their fallen comrades, and after about an hour, all the corpses and horses were finally found, so this cavalry team was beaming with dozens of captured war horses and ran towards Gaoquesai in the distance.

Because it was still early in the morning and the enemy had been completely wiped out, the cavalry of the Zhao army was not in a hurry along the way, and they walked slowly with the reins, talking and laughing along the way.

I saw a Hu cavalryman smile at General Li Bai: "General Bai, what kind of saddle stirrup is this, it is very easy to use, with these, we will not have so much trouble fighting the Huns in the future." ”

Since Zhao conquered a large area that originally belonged to Linhu, Loufu and Donghu, many Hu cavalry became the subjects of the five northern counties of Zhao, and many people were conscripted into the Zhao cavalry, and this cavalry is one of them.

General Li Bai nodded when he heard this, and a smile appeared on his face.

These harnesses were secretly sent to Gaoquesai half a month ago, and the strict battle at that time made this Li Baijun startled, thinking that he was sending some new armor.

However, the effect of these harnesses was quickly brought into play, the horse's hooves could enhance the horse's endurance, the saddle and stirrups could greatly help the cavalry to maintain balance on the horse, and recently it was the autumn when the northern nomadic tribe began to be active, so the cavalry in the high fortress attacked day after day, relying on the equipment advantage brought by the harness.

After thinking about it, General Li Baijiang said: "Although this thing is good, but the second and third sons don't want to talk nonsense, if it is known by the five hundred masters, it will be dealt with by military law." ”

These harnesses have now become the secret weapon of the defenders of Gaoquesai, so the secrecy of the harness is naturally the highest level, the highest commander in Gaoquesai, the five hundred lords surnamed Zhao, have already given an order, every time the cavalry of the Zhao army is over, all the horses must be retrieved, and the dead horses must also be discarded after all the harnesses are removed.

In a joyful atmosphere, this group of Zhao cavalry returned to the gate of Gaoquesai, only to see a head sticking out on the wall and shouting loudly to the cavalry: "Password!" ”

General Li Baijiang replied loudly: "Broken slaves! ”

The two heavy iron doors creaked open with a sharp grinding sound that made people sore their teeth, and dozens of Zhao army knights rode horses under their crotches and entered the high gate in turn.

Due to its remote location, there were only 500 troops stationed in Gaoque, led by a 500 lord.

However, even so, this fortress has never been breached by the Huns, after all, the Gaoque fortress itself is part of the Great Wall of Zhao, and those beacon towers on the Great Wall are not to be seen, as long as the beacon fire of the Great Wall is burned, the army of Wuyuan City will arrive to rescue within a few days.

Although it is said to be a small military fortress, it can be said that the sparrows are small and have all kinds of organs, such as stables, barracks, playgrounds, etc., and the situation is quite regular.

After entering Gaoque Sai, Li Baijiang asked his subordinates to lead the horse to the stable, and he jumped off the horse and saluted an oncoming middle-aged officer: "Five hundred masters!" ”

This middle-aged officer, who was about forty years old and had a weather-beaten face, was named Zhao Tong, and it was said that he was a branch of the Zhao royal family (the kind that was one family hundreds of years ago), and his position was the five hundred lords, that is, the highest commander in this high fortress.

Zhao Tong patted General Li Bai's shoulder cordially, and said with a smile: "I heard that the second and third sons attacked this time and brought back a number of Hun heads. ”

General Li Baijiang smiled slightly, puffed up his chest complacently, and said loudly: "There are thirty-four Huns today, and all of them are awarded!" ”

Zhao Tong laughed and said to Li Baijiang: "Good! There is an order in Wuyuan City, and Gao Que is ordered to send 300 cavalry to gather in Yunzhong City. ”

"In the clouds?" General Li Bai was stunned when he heard this, you must know that Gaoque Sai belongs to the jurisdiction of Wuyuan County, and Wuyuan County is Yunzhong County after passing through Jiuyuan County to the east, how did he go there?

Li Baijiang suddenly felt a little excited in his heart, and couldn't help but whisper: "Five hundred lords, could it be that the Huns are going south again?" ”

You must know that the troops here are rarely moved, and every movement must represent a big war.

Even in the most eye-catching Changping War today, Zhao did not transfer a single soldier from Gaoquesai, firstly, because Gaoquesai was extremely important, and secondly, it was really difficult for these cavalry to play in the Taihang Mountains.

Zhao Tong nodded, his face was solemn, and said: "This time I went to Yunzhong, it is to resist the invasion of the Yan people, you are my high soldiers, remember not to lose my face!" Gather your people and set off now! ”

The young Li Bai straightened up, saluted Zhao in front of him again, and said in a loud voice: "Li Mu takes the order!" ”