At night, at the northern foot of the Kyrgyz Mountains, on the southern edge of the Moingum Desert, at the source of the Tarasu River. The Khorasan forward army of 20,000 soldiers was stationed at the foot of the stone mountain. It is deep inland and rainfall is scarce. The mountains are mostly bare Gobi rocks, and occasionally there are some wild grasses growing in the cracks of the stones.

However, at higher altitudes, there is snow cover, and when the spring flowers are in full bloom, there is always snow flowing down. It is also the most prosperous time of the year at the foot of the mountain. It's autumn now, and the temperature is slowly getting colder. Just wait for the first snow to fall, and winter will really come. At that time, it will also be covered with snow, making it impossible for chariots and horses to walk.

Therefore, taking Balasagon before the onset of winter is the most important thing for the entire kingdom of Khorasan.

At the moment, on the Gobi Mountain, not far from the camp tent, two hairy boys were sneaky, looking at the patrolmen outside the camp and walking away.

"Brother! Are we really going to steal from the barracks? ", a big but thin boy said. He was wrapped in a dusty animal skin and barefoot. His hair was cut into inches, and he was dressed as a tribal.

"Mangyour, if we don't go, will we wait for death? The tribe doesn't have much to store! The cattle and sheep were also robbed by the barbarians, so if you don't steal them, will you rob them? The small but stocky boy asked. He wanted to rob it, but the barracks were heavily guarded, and robbing it was tantamount to looking for death.

At the moment, although he was also wrapped in animal skins, he had a pair of shoes on his feet. And it's a rare boot in the tribe!

This is the reward of the barbarians!

At that time, the barbarians broke into their tribe, ate and drank, and looted their tribe's things. Moreover, the women of the tribe have to sleep, and their Eji (Niang) has some appearance, so they are valued by the patriarch of a small tribe. When he had finished sleeping, the chief of the tribe gave him something. This boot made of cloth is one of them.

These boots are very expensive to them. In the past, only at the feet of the Liao officials who collected tribute taxes, they looked at it from afar. So with these boots, the two of them were overjoyed. Even if the boots are big, they don't fit. The two brothers are also happy, you and I change clothes day by day.

It's just that their Ah Kai (father) was taken away by the barbarians! Not only that, but the adult males of the entire tribe were taken away. The patriarch also wanted to intercede with the Naiban people, leaving some people to take care of the women and children of the tribe. As a result, the barbarian was unreasonable, not only wounding the patriarch, but also killing several young men who did not obey.

In this way, the men of the tribe had to go. And it's not just them, almost all the tribes in the vicinity have been looted. The grain was emptied and the men were taken away. Leaving some old and weak women and children, they can only wait for death. In addition, a large number of fugitives are scattered around, making food even more stressful.

Therefore, now is death, and they want to be full of ghosts.

"But brother... This military camp is such a big battle, in case we are discovered..." Although his hungry stomach prompted him to follow his brother Achina to the military camp to take risks, he couldn't help but feel timid when he watched the battle in the military camp.

Achina patted Mangwuer's head angrily and scolded: "Let's go to the river to pick up some leftovers, and we don't enter the barracks, what are we afraid of?" ”。

As he spoke, he bowed his waist and hurried towards the Tarasu River next to the barracks. Due to the onset of winter, the waters of the Tarasu River have been completely reduced. The small river next to the barracks can be crossed with one foot. The sky was full of starlight, and the river reflected the silver light, like a jade belt.

The Achina brothers had been observing the barracks for some time and had noticed that when the stove was lit, the soldiers in the barracks would wash their cooking utensils by the river. Therefore, the chances of going to the river to find food will be much greater.

The two sneaked around and soon came to the river. Although the stars are shining, they can't see the small leftovers. The brothers put their hands on the ground and put it in their mouths to taste what they felt was edible. Suddenly, Mang Ur felt a bone, stuffed it into his mouth and licked it, and there was a salty taste on it.

"Brother... Taste it...", Mang Wuer smacked his mouth and said loudly.

Achina is not welcome! I quickly stuffed the bone into my mouth, felt the salty taste, and immediately showed a little satisfaction on my face. In the eyes of the tribesmen, salt is extremely precious. Every year they had to spend thousands of cattle and sheep to get a few sacks of salt from the merchants. Some tribes with small power even have to spend half of the tribe's cattle and sheep in exchange.

After all, salt is indispensable for the tribesmen! If you don't, you won't have the strength to hunt and fight. The doom of the tribe is coming.

They usually eat the kind of bitter and astringent inferior salt, and they can only lick a small bite every day. Still, they felt it was one of the few relaxing times of the day.

Just as they were enjoying a rare human delicacy, a troop of cavalry suddenly rushed from across the river. Before they could hide, the cavalry spotted them.

"······ the driver," one of the cavalrymen at the head shouted, holding the reins tightly. Several cavalrymen behind him also reined in the precipice, looking at the two Achina brothers vigilantly.

"Who are you?" , the cavalry led by the head asked.

Achina was about to reply, when one of the horsemen suddenly spoke up: "Sneaky in the middle of the night, near the barracks again." I think it's Jian fine. ”。

"Take it away!" A commanding man gave an order, and the others marched them to the barracks.

It's also Achina, they're unlucky! The cavalry was a ranger who went out to scout. When he found the messenger of Da Liao who had arrived, he hurried back to the barracks to report it. As a result, he bumped into Achina and them, and they were treated as spies.

At present, the barbarians are newly defeated, and there are many stragglers. Along the way, the rangers have bumped into quite a few. Since a live captive is worth more than a dead man's head, the rangers saw a group of scattered barbarians who were directly captured alive. If you send it to the barracks, you can also get a lot of rewards.

Therefore, they were not immediately put to death, because they were worth more than they lived.

In the barracks, Li Chengye, who had already rested, was called up by the guards. But it was the messenger of Da Liao who brought a message. That is, Balasagon has been recovered by the Liao, and the Liao Emperor died at the hands of the barbarians. The entire Great Liao Wenchen generals, peddlers and pawns were waiting for the heavenly soldiers of Khorasan to take over all the defenses of Balasagon .

At the same time, the subjects of Daliao were also willing to become the subjects of Khorasan and respect Li Chengji as the emperor. For this reason, a letter was also presented to the people. There are large and small handprints on it, densely packed, which makes people dense and phobic.

However, in Li Chengye's eyes, it was indescribable excitement.

Because of their Li family, they finally returned to Balasagon as victors!