Ma Chao held the reins of the horse and stared at the guide in front of him tightly, not even daring to blink his eyes, for fear that the guide would disappear in a blink of an eye.

The fog was so great that no one could be seen a few paces away, only the sound of horses' hooves. The sky was bright, but there was no shadow of the sun in sight. The air was damp and cold, and he was wet on his body, and when he took a breath, he felt that half of it was water, and it was cold to his chest.

Ma Chao scratched his fingers, and there was a tingling pain. He bared his teeth in pain and cursed to himself. Frostbite tortured him a lot, it hurt when he touched it, and it itched when he didn't touch it, which made people feel uncomfortable. Sun Ce is right, the climate in the south of the Yangtze River is too different from Liangzhou, and it is completely two worlds. People say that Liangzhou is cold, but he thinks that this Jiangnan is even colder than Liangzhou, and he is shivering with two mattresses in the cold.

"Keep up, keep up." Jiao Zhongqing rushed over and urged repeatedly.

Ma Chao muttered two sentences, Jiao Zhongqing didn't hear clearly, turned his head to look, and chuckled. When northerners come to the south, the last thing they are used to is chilblains. "I'll go back and get you some badger oil, and it would be nice to apply it a few more times."

"Don't you have one?"

"Yes, I'm used to it." Jiao Zhongqing stretched out his hand, and sure enough, the back of his hand was swollen, much more serious than Ma Chao. "But you're different, you're a martial arts practitioner, your blood and qi are smooth, it's just not suitable for our climate here for a while, just adapt to it." Jiao Zhongqing suddenly remembered something, and said: "By the way, Guo Xianjiu said that several of General Sun's boxing techniques are most suitable for moving the palm finger bloodline, and you have the opportunity to ask the general for advice, maybe it will help." ”

"Thank you, thank you." Ma Chao was grateful, he was really tormented by chilblains, and if he had the opportunity to cure chilblains, he couldn't ask for it.

Under the guidance of Jiao Zhongqing, Ma Chao and other two hundred rode through the dense fog. The fog not only did not stop them, but provided them with rare cover. At noon, they rushed to the vicinity of Shicheng, at the southern foot of Niuzhu Mountain. The fog gradually dissipated, and Niuzhu Mountain revealed its outline, like a fairyland.

Ma Chao and the others got off the horse to rest, picked the bag containing soybeans from the horse's back, and hung it around the horse's neck, so that the war horse could lick and replenish his strength. War horses can be grazed in peacetime, but in wartime, the time is tight, and they must be fed with beans and wheat and other concentrates, and sometimes directly with grain, otherwise it is easy to fall off. The standard of food for a horse is equivalent to that of two adult men, and the logistical supply of cavalry is therefore much more expensive than that of foot soldiers.

They are all elite knights, and they don't need to be told, and they know what to do. Ma Chao took out the dry food he was carrying and just nibbled on a few bites, when the sound of horses' hooves sounded, and a knight rode his horse to Ma Chao, strangled his mount, and said loudly: "Young General, someone is out of the city." ”

"Who?"

"Like crossbowmen, there are quite a few of them, about a thousand people."

Ma Chao turned his gaze to Jiao Zhongqing. Jiao Zhongqing was also surprised. Their movements are very secretive and covered by a thick fog, which is unlikely to be leaked. As soon as they arrived outside the city, they hadn't sent anyone to the city to inquire about the situation, so why did Shicheng send people out. A thousand people, if they fight in formation, Ma Chao and they have no chance of winning.

"Don't worry, hide first and see what these people do."

Ma Chao agreed with Jiao Zhongqing's opinion and ordered the knights to find a place to hide. The woods on the side of the road are very deep, and the fog has not completely dispersed, so if you don't pay attention, it will be difficult to spot even if you pass in front of you. The knights led their horses and scattered into the woods, and then slapped the branches and swept away the horses' hoof prints on the ground. Pound and Ma Chao spoke, and led the two knights forward to observe closely.

After a while, scouts reported that the people had gone to the eastern foothills of Niuzhu Mountain, and it was possible that from there they bypassed Niuzhu Mountain and rushed to the river. They also noticed a peculiarity, the vast majority of these people were crossbowmen. However, they were very relaxed, and many of them did not have their bows wound, which did not look like they were ready for battle.

Jiao Zhongqing suddenly understood. "They went to reinforce Zhou Xin. In yesterday's battle, Zhou Xin's crossbowmen suffered the most losses, and he must have transferred crossbowmen from Shicheng overnight for reinforcements. Major General, this is a good opportunity. ”

Ma Chao also felt reasonable, discussed it with Yan Xing, and immediately made a decision. Two hundred knights came out of the woods, immediately mounted their horses, and rushed east under the leadership of Jiao Zhongqing. After walking a short distance, they met the knight sent by Pound. Pound's judgment was similar to that of Jiao Zhongqing, and he also suggested an immediate attack to kill these unprepared crossbowmen.

For cavalry, crossbowmen were far more of a threat than spearmen and heavy armorers, especially crossbowmen. Because of the size of the riding bow, the range is mostly between 60 and 80 steps, which is dozens of steps less than the strong bow and hard crossbow used by the foot soldiers, which means that the cavalry has to risk the danger of being hit by the arrow to rush forward before it is possible to shoot the arrow at the target, and these dozens of steps are often the distance between life and death.

"Yanming." Ma Chao shouted and gestured at Yan Xing.

Yan Xing didn't speak, nodded, adjusted the quiver, and pulled out four arrows, one on the string and three between his fingers. The knights behind him also took out their bows one after another, adjusted their quivers to the right position, kicked the horse's belly lightly, and followed Yan Xingyu throughout. The chaotic sound of horses' hooves gradually became neat, louder and louder, and more and more urgent, and when the last cavalry passed in front of Jiao Zhongqing, they were already trotting.

Jiao Zhongqing secretly admired that he could form a charging formation in such a short period of time, prepare for battle, and not make any superfluous sounds, these knights deserved to be the elite of Xiliang.

Ma Chao gestured to the knights behind him. The knights untied the leather bags on their horses, revealing the wooden poles. Jiao Zhongqing had noticed these leather bags a long time ago, but he didn't know what they contained, and when he saw these wooden poles, he realized what these might be. Sure enough, Ma Chao pulled out a small spear with an iron spearhead inlaid on the wooden pole. Ma Chao spun twice in his hand, kicked the horse's belly, and galloped forward.

The knights followed closely, and Jiao Zhongqing hurriedly stepped aside, so as not to be touched by the war horse.

The knights ran faster and faster, quickly forming a column, and the heads of the horses behind were almost next to the tails of the horses in front, galloping in front of Jiao Zhongqing. Jiao Zhongqing was terrified. If any of the knight's horses stumble, the horses behind them will not have time to stop or change direction, and will directly step on them. However, these Xiliang knights seemed to be accustomed to it, their expressions were relaxed, and they also fiddled with the short spears in their hands with leisure and elegance.

Jiao Zhongqing thought of the cowardice of Ma Chao and the others when they were seasick, and then looked at the relaxed heroism of these knights on horseback, and couldn't help but laugh secretly. The northerners ride horses, and the southerners operate boats, and it is really one side of the water and soil to raise one side of the people.

The cavalry quickly disappeared from Jiao Zhongqing's sight, and the rumbling sound of horses' hooves gradually faded away, leaving only the strong smell of livestock in the air. Exclamations rang out in the distance, mixed with the roar of arrows breaking through the air.

Yan Xing had already caught up with those Danyang soldiers and launched an attack.