Chapter 532: Eastern Crusade

A section at the southern foot of Jinshan, close to the north court of the Tang Dynasty, in a world of green 'color' ocean, dozens of small streams meander and flow, a strange cavalry army from afar has temporarily become the master here, countless horses and camels greedily gnaw all the plants here, frantically sucking the ice and snow melt water from the snow-capped mountains in the stream, the owner of the war horse, more than 10,000 knights regardless of fatigue, methodically take water and mow the grass, silently preparing for the next part of the road.

The wheels of a horse-drawn carriage strayed into a muddy puddle, and the horses pulling the carriage could not move an inch. Several soldiers gathered around the side of the vehicle, whining and helping to carry the wheels out of the mud pit.

"What kind of bird manager, he can't ride a horse, and he still wants us to listen to his orders?"

"I don't know what the general thinks, no matter what he cares so much, isn't it over if he is tied to a horse? Our wagons also had to carry tent supplies. ”

A general came over, heard the complaints of several soldiers, and shouted angrily: "Where is so much nonsense? Do you dare to disobey the general's orders? ”

The soldiers looked up and recognized it as the general's former personal soldier, now Zhang Qiu, who was the general of the hundred cavalry. Zhang Qiu's demon reputation is not bad, and in the army that advocates violence, the degree of respect is very high, especially the recruits, and they dare not fight him. Several soldiers could only stick out their tongues and continue to fight with the carriage.

Zhang Qiu restrained the gloomy 'color' on his face, and looked up, dozens of steps away, the birdman in the mouth of the soldiers was standing beside the general. He couldn't help but curse in his heart, because of this obscene person, the trip was delayed for at least two days.

Lewd people, Bianling City is also!

The barrel theory says that the capacity depends on the shortest plank.

If the 15,000 Ningyuan Iron Cavalry Knights of the Eastern Expedition are compared to a large wooden barrel, its titular Grand Governor Bian Lingcheng is the shortest of them, and it is far shorter than the rest.

For this expedition, Li Huaitang used a large number of war horses and camels, basically each knight was equipped with two war horses and one pack horse or camel. The two war horses take turns riding, and the pack horses are responsible for carrying arrows, food, medicine, and other supplies. According to the plan, on the way to the battle, the soldiers basically have to spend on the back of war horses and horses, for the soldiers of Ningyuan Iron Cavalry, they may be able to barely cope, but the pampered Bian Lingcheng is reluctant to make it difficult, riding for a day or two is okay, and long-term for it is equivalent to his life. Forced to do so, Li Huaitang ordered one to be vacated from the small number of carriages accompanying him to ride.

Maybe God also wanted to taunt him, so he arranged a muddy puddle in front of the special car of the general manager of Bian, and then there was the opening scene.

The relatively special preferential treatment still can't make Bian Lingcheng dissatisfied, from Ningyuan City to the north to Jinshan for more than 2,000 miles, it doesn't matter how much the road is, even if he sits in the carriage, he is not less bumpy, in his words, the bones of his body are about to fall apart.

In the past few days, he has asked to stop and rest, however, Li Huaitang ignored it, and did not do the first trimming of the long-distance march until the southern foot of Jinshan.

Standing in front of Li Huaitang, Bian Lingcheng begged: "General, I haven't slept on the ground for a few days, so you should take pity on me and order to camp here tonight!" ”

Li Huaitang's eyes were like torches, he looked around vigilantly, and when he heard this, he shook his head and said, "No, our trip has fallen behind schedule." Tonight, we have to travel all night, and the military order is like a mountain, and no one can change it! ”

"The difference between the general's words, we only need to join the army of the Governor of Hanhai before the autumn, and there is plenty of time!" Bian Lingcheng relied on his identity as the chief governor and ignored Li Huaitang's military orders.

Li Huaitang frowned, theoretically it can be so, but the soldiers have traveled a long distance, the people are tired and the horses are tired, especially the war horses will fall off, and before they are put into the battle against the Khitans, they must have a few days of repair, otherwise, they will rush into battle to work and attack, and even if they win, they will not escape the fate of heavy casualties.

In order to have a surprise effect, Ningyuan Iron Cavalry was arranged to take the northern route, from Xijian City to the north, over the mountains and mountains, across the Chu River, through the Ili River Valley, continue north to the territory of the Qarluqs, and then follow the Jinshan to the east, enter the north of the Tang Beiting, and then cross the desert to meet the Hanhai Dudu Guli Peiluo. According to the order, the Ningyuan Iron Cavalry must reach its destination before the autumn wind rises. This march route is sparsely populated along the way, and even if it is discovered, it is impossible to guess the true intentions of Ning Yuan's iron cavalry, not to mention that the Western Regions are different from the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and there will hardly be Khitan spies.

Originally, Li Huaitang also thought that time was not a problem, but he did not take into account the burden of Bian Lingcheng, so he fell into passivity on the itinerary.

The truth was patiently laid out, however, Bian Lingcheng did not appreciate it.

"The general is too alarmist, how can there be a war without dying? It doesn't matter if the soldiers have two days of rest, as long as they are promised more loot at that time! ”

Li Huaitang was angry, and Nan Jiyun and other personal soldiers around him were also angry, in the eyes of Bian Lingcheng, their lives were like mustard.

Surrounded by everyone's anger, Bian Lingcheng began to be timid and weak, and his steps involuntarily took a small step back.

Li Huaitang resisted the emotions that were about to explode, and said coldly: "You don't care about casualties, but what about victory or defeat?" Fighting in a foreign land, only victory, not defeat, defeat, means that we can't come back! ”

Bian Lingcheng didn't dare to say anything more, and walked away with his sleeves sloppy.

Looking at the back of Bian Lingcheng, Nan Jiyun said: "We have offended this villain!" ”

"I have to be offended when I should be offended, I never take the lives of soldiers as a child's play!" Li Huaitang is not afraid to cut the slightest.

Nan Jiyun's 'spirit' was lifted, his 'chest' straightened, and he felt that he was wise to take refuge.

In the distance, the two horsemen were approaching rapidly, and it could be seen that they were scouts of the Eagle Riders.

Hostile?!

The soldiers all put down their work, and the focus followed the galloping sweaty horsemen until they stopped in front of the general.

According to the scouts, the east pass leading to the North Court was blocked by an unidentified armed force, who built a wall at the entrance to the pass, refused to let the scouts pass, and killed the guide who went to negotiate.

"Death to those who stand in the way!" Li Huaitang smashed his fist viciously.

The continuous rush day and night has accumulated a lot of resentment in the hearts of the soldiers, and the best way to vent is to let them kill happily, since there is a tribe with no long eyes in front of them, there is no reason not to cooperate.

In the evening, the army of the Eastern Crusade marched to the Yev Pass, which was not as steep as expected, and the walls blocking the road could only deal with ordinary horse bandits.

Ning Yuan's iron cavalry is obviously a knife to kill the 'chicken', the two wings are equipped with dense cavalry, the Chinese army is the Mo knife formation before, and the Mo knife is followed by the crossbow formation. The crossbowmen were gearing up, waiting for the order to attack.

In the valley, a rider rushed out of the crumbling wall 'gate', raising his hands and calling for negotiations.

Li Huaitang snorted coldly: "I think I'm a bully!" A feather arrow was 'drawn' at the same time and handed to Nan Jiyun's hand.

Nan Jiyun understood, subconsciously glanced at Hu Yi's arrow, and left the battle.

The soldiers all know that there are two archers around the general, Hu Yijian will not talk about it, the content has been tested in countless battles, as for the archery skills of this Nan Jiyun, they have only heard of its name, and they have not had the opportunity to see the true face of Lushan.

Today, you can finally see the horizon!

Nan Jiyun's horn bow comes from the collection of the Hexi family, the material is of the highest quality, from the hands of famous artists, and it takes at least three stones of strength to complete the string.

Lunges could not be performed on horseback, and a full three-stone bow depended on arm strength.

The two horses faced each other, and when they were about one hundred and fifty paces away, Nan Jiyun opened his bow and arrows, didn't even aim, and shot out in a dashing manner.

The bowstring sounded, and the target fell off his horse in response, but he could not hear the screams, and the effect was like an arrow sealing the throat.

"Good!" The soldiers couldn't help but applaud.

Nan Jiyun did not give up, drove his horse straight to the wall at the mountain pass, drew his bow and arrows again, and then a tattered flag fluttering on the wall fell leisurely.

"Good!" The soldiers shouted in unison, and their morale quickly rose.

Nan Jiyun's demonstration was just an appetizer, and the appearance of the crossbowman heralded the beginning of the main meal.

Rows of crossbow arrows swooped down on the dilapidated wall, screaming and clanging sounds, and the traces of people on the wall were suddenly extinguished.

Evidence of the Hu people's poor defense is partly reflected in the sloppy construction, a wall made of rubble collapsed after being shaken a few times by two pedal crossbow arrows at the same time.

After a few rounds of crossbow arrows, the Mo swordsman gave the order to attack.

Hundreds of knights followed behind the Mosaman, supported by bows and arrows, and escorted them up the low stone wall.

Li Siye directly smashed the 'gate' made of two rows of wooden fences and took the lead in killing it.

The battle was short, and perhaps it would be better to call it a hunt. When Li Siye rushed into the mountain pass, he saw the back of the embarrassed fleeing, and the powerful crossbow destroyed the enemy's psychological defense.

Thanks to the lightness of the cotton armor, the equipment of the Mo swordsmen is not too heavy, and the enemy rushes together, and the speed is not fast. Li Siye and other Mo knife hands are tall, and the 'leg' long knife is longer, so it is easy to catch up. Suddenly, in the valley, the cold light shimmered, and the blood and flesh splashed all over the ground.

The Mo swordsmen are like monsters that eat 'meat' violently, and the deserters play the role of predators, and become the 'fat' of the earth in panic and despair.

If it weren't for Li Huaitang's order, Li Siye, who had killed the red-eyed, would definitely not have survived.

Dozens of captives were brought to Li Huaitang, and they were obviously frightened by the fierce Mo knife men, and their faces were like vegetables.

The interrogation revealed that this group of Hu people who were not self-sufficient belonged to the Qarlu Stepping Force, and this valley was actually one of their nests of hidden wealth! Because it was only built last year, it was blocked in the march route and no one knew about it, not even the guide.

Then, according to the prisoner's confession, Ning Yuan's iron cavalry captured thousands of 'women' and children, and seized a large number of cattle and sheep by the way.

Among the seized materials, several boxes of black 'colored' Tianzhu divine 'medicine' attracted Li Huaitang's attention. To his surprise, the captives confirmed that this batch of Tianzhu divine 'medicines' came from Ningyuan City and was going to be sold to the Khitans. Li Huaitang laughed dumbly, he didn't expect that the commerce and trade he vigorously advocated would actually facilitate the drug trafficking activities of the Qarluq people. Please keep in mind the URL, if you like "War Owl in Tang" written by the wolf under the moon