Li Yan has been walking around Xihai City for a few days. Although Xihai City is not as prosperous as Jiuquan City, it is not much different from Dunhuang City.

Hu merchants can be seen everywhere on the streets, leading camels and carrying goods, and they purchase goods from Xihai City and sell them to the Western Regions or Rouran.

The Han people usually did not dare to sell their goods to Rouran, and the goods were looted at the least, or they died in a foreign land. However, Hu Shang didn't care about this, because after a trip, the profits were ten times and dozens of times, which made them willing to take this risk.

"Brother Han, let's go to that tavern and rest for a while." Li Yan said and walked towards the wine shop opposite.

"Two guest officers, what do you want to eat?" As soon as Li Yan and Han Qian sat down, a shopkeeper stepped forward and asked.

"A jug of wine and a plate of beef." Li Yan looked at the wine shop and said casually.

"Okay? Guest, wait a minute! After wiping the grease stains on the table, the shopkeeper nodded and bent down and said.

The wine shop was almost full, and many of them were Hu merchants resting here, and it was clear from their appearance that they were Hu people.

"Have you heard? The night before yesterday, Chi Libu, a big merchant of Wusun Kingdom, was killed at the mouth of the valley more than 30 miles north of the city, and no one in his group of more than 20 people survived, which was really miserable. Alas! "A table of Hu merchants in the wine shop was chatting after drinking.

"It is said that Chiribu has just returned from the royal court of Rouran, and a dozen camels are carrying treasures, what a pity." The Hu man on the side raised his head and drank the wine glass in one fell swoop, and whispered.

"Alas! The Huns have just left, and the horse thieves have come out to do evil again, and in the long run, what should I do? Hu Shang at the wine table shook his head and sighed deeply.

Li Yan just returned to the camp, just in time for the Liangwang Mansion to send someone to pass the order, the battle of the Black Stone Cliff Li Wei was extremely satisfied, and the Zhenbei general Zhang Jing rewarded a thousand taels and gave a hundred hectares of land. Li Yan was named the general of Zhichong and gave Jiuquan a mansion in the city.

Lei Ming was crowned a guerrilla general and rewarded with 100 gold. Han Qian was exceptionally promoted to lieutenant, and the rest of the people were rewarded.

The entire Zhenbei Army camp was full of joy, changing the dull atmosphere of the past.

For this result, Li Yan was also surprised in his heart, it is said that he has just been crowned a general for less than two months, and at this moment, he has entered the seal and folded the general, which is indeed incredible.

Zhenbei General Zhang Jing is also the Taishou of the West Sea, and the Zhenbei General's Mansion at this moment is in the Taishou Mansion. After listening to the messenger's order, Zhang Jing hurriedly thanked him. The face does not change, and there is no joy, anger and sorrow.

"Brother Lei, do you have anyone under your command who is familiar with the West Sea?" Li Yan sat in the camp tent, looked at the thunder on the side and said.

"General, what's the matter? There was a captain named Shi Hong under the last general, who was a native of Xihai. Let him in! Lei Ming said and got up and walked out of the tent.

After a while, Lei Ming returned to the camp, and Shi Hong followed behind Lei Ming in leather armor.

"The last general, Shi Hong, has seen General Zhichong." Shi Hong stepped forward and clenched his fists and said.

"No need to be polite! Captain Shi, there is something unclear about this general, I hope that Captain Shi can solve the doubts in this general's heart. Li Yan got up and said.

"General, excuse me! The end will know everything! Shi Hong bowed his head and said.

Li Yan turned around in the camp tent and asked in a deep voice, "Captain Shi, is there a large number of horse thieves in this Xihai County who specialize in illegal things?" ”

Shi Hong pondered for a moment, clasped his fists and said: "General Qiyu, since last year, there has indeed been a stream of horse thieves flowing into my Xihai territory. ”

"Do you know where these horse thieves are now? How many people are there? Li Yan asked again when he heard this.

"General Qiyu, this group of horse thieves has come and gone without a trace, and since last year, they have committed more than ten crimes, and they have singled out the wealthy businessmen and giants who pass through the West Sea, and none of them have survived. Yang Taishou also ordered people to investigate, but found nothing, and no one knew where he was hiding. From the traces left at the scene, it is estimated that the number of horse thieves in this group is about 200. Shi Hong glanced at Li Yan and said slowly.

"Hmmm! You go down first! Li Yan also had a few general understandings in his heart.

After Shi Hong went out, Li Yan turned to Lei Ming and said, "Brother Lei, I'm afraid this matter will trouble you personally, Xihai will never allow such people to exist." ”

"General, please rest assured, the last general will definitely find out the whereabouts of this horse thief." Lei Ming patted his chest and said.

Since Zhang Jing took over the government affairs of Xihai County, after the war, a large number of government affairs were too busy to be pressed, and he had no time to take care of the training of the Zhenbei Army.

The current Zhenbei Army is in charge of the adjutant general Li Yan, and after Li Yan came out of the Zhenbei General's Mansion, he ordered the formation of 2,000 cavalry, which was led by the guerrilla general Lei Ming.

The original defenders of Xihai County were all dispersed and entered the Zhenbei Army, and the defense of Xihai City began to be taken over by the Zhenbei Army.

At present, there are 2,000 cavalry in the Zhenbei Army, and the war horses have the Hun war horses obtained in the first battle of Black Stone Cliff and the war horses of the Xihai Ranch, and the inferior horses transferred by the camp in the north of the city have been replaced.

On the school field of Xihai City, Iron Hammer was training 4,000 infantry troops, and the smoke and dust were billowing from the entire school field, and the sound of killing shook the sky.

Two days later, Lei Ming took Shi Hong to the camp, and Shi Hong looked dusty and tired at this time.

"The last general, Shi Hong, has seen the general!" Shi Hong knelt down on one knee and saluted.

"Hmmm! Get up! Li Yan looked at the sheepskin map behind him and said softly.

"General Qiyu, after two days of inspecting a hundred miles of Xihai City, the last general has determined the hiding place of the horse thief!" Shi Hong said excitedly after getting up.

"Oh? Where are the horse thieves now? Li Yan turned around and came to Shi Hong's side.

"Dragon's Head Stream." Shi Hong said in a low voice.

"What do you say? Longshou Stream? Li Yan was taken aback.

Li Yan came to the front of the handsome platform as he spoke, and looked at the sheepskin map in front of him and fell into deep thought.

This dragon head stream is located in the south of Xihai City, only more than 50 miles away from Xihai City, where the mountains are high and dense forests, the valley is deep and secluded, because the mountain range resembles the dragon's head, so it is called the dragon head stream.

Longshou Stream is indeed a good hiding place, the whole mountain stream is ten miles long, both sides are high mountain cliffs, if you want to enter Longshou Stream, you can only enter from the valley mouth.

"Captain Shi, how many of these horse thieves are there you can detect?" Li Yan sat on the main seat and looked at Shi Hong and said.

"General, the last general did not observe in detail at that time, this group of horse thieves was very vigilant, according to the last general's estimate of about one hundred and fifty people in the cottage of the mountain stream, plus some other secret posts, the last general estimated that there are probably no more than two hundred people." Shi Hong said after recalling.

"Good! Captain Shi, do you think there is a good way to wipe out this group of horse thieves? Li Yan looked at Shi Hong and said with a smile.

"This~! According to the foolish opinion of the last general, if you want to completely annihilate this group of horse thieves, you should lead 300 soldiers to cross the mountain from here, go straight to the horse thief cottage, and ambush 200 soldiers at the mouth of the valley, and you will definitely be able to wipe out all the horse thieves! Shi Hong hesitated, stepped forward and pointed to the sheepskin map and said.

"Oh? How was Captain Shi able to cross this mountain? Li Yan looked at the mountains on the sheepskin map and said.

"General Qiyu, the last general has lived in the West Sea since he was a child, and he is quite familiar with the mountains and rivers in this area, there is a small road here, which can go straight into the horse thief cottage, but ~ here you have to climb the cliff, if you are not a brave man, I'm afraid ~" Shi Hong glanced at Li Yan with a worried look on his face.

"Good! All right! Captain Shi has worked hard! Go down and rest! Li Yan was overjoyed in his heart, and he already had a plan in his heart.

"Brother Lei, tonight's three watches will be five hundred cavalry, and I will go with the general to suppress the thieves!" Li Yan said to Lei Ming, who was sitting below.

"The last general obeys!" Lei Ming got up and clenched his fists and said.

In the afternoon, Li Yan personally went to the Taishou Mansion to meet Zhang Jing, and heard that Li Yan wanted to send 500 troops to exterminate the horse thieves, and Zhang Jing readily agreed.

At the third watch in the evening, Li Yan watched the thunder on the school ground, and had ordered five hundred cavalry to prepare for departure.

"Let's go!" Li Yan led five hundred cavalry out of Xihai City.

After leaving the city, Li Yan led the Zhenbei army behind him to go straight to Longshoujian.

"General, there is the dragon's head stream ahead." Shi Hong pointed to the hazy mountain in front of him and said.

The day after tomorrow will be fifteen, so the moon will be round tonight.

"Brother Lei, you lead two hundred soldiers to ambush at the mouth of the valley, and the rest of the people will follow you!" Li Yan ordered after dismounting.

"General, let the last general go! It's too dangerous! Lei Ming stepped forward and said.

"I've made up my mind! General Lei, be sure to guard the valley mouth, the horse thief appears, don't worry about killing! Li Yan said and led three hundred soldiers towards the mountain under the leadership of Shi Hong.

Shi Hong led the way ahead, and along the road were steep mountain roads full of thorns.

Half an hour later, Li Yan and his entourage finally came to a cliff, about two zhang high, but fortunately, many vines hung down from the cliff.

Shi Hong took the lead in grabbing the vines and crawling forward, and the sergeant behind him carried a long knife on his back, gritting his teeth and slowly climbing up.

Li Yan and Han Qian also carried long knives behind them, after all, a one-zhang long horse lance could not play an advantage in a dense forest like Longshou Stream.

After about an hour, the three hundred sergeants finally climbed the cliff.

Shi Hong led everyone towards the mountain stream, the forest was full of dead branches and leaves, and the sergeants stepped on it and made a "click" sound, so they could only slow down.

"General, there's a horse thief's cottage ahead." Shi Hong turned back to Li Yan and said.

"Prepare to kill the thief! Brother Han, you take fifty sergeants to intercept their retreat from behind. Li Yan untied the long knife behind his back.

Han Qian took the order with fifty sergeants and quietly copied the bread backwards.

In front of me is a huge cottage, and there are several horse thieves patrolling back and forth with torches at the entrance of the cottage. There were several huts inside, and hundreds of horses were crammed together in the stables.

Rows of horse thieves slept in the hut, snoring loudly, and a disgusting smell filled the air.

"Kill!" Li Yan brandished his long knife and rushed towards the cottage.

The sergeant behind Li Yan unsheathed his long knife and slashed towards the cottage in one fell swoop.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! The horse thief at the gate of the cottage yelled.

"Kill it! Lawfully kill on sight! Li Yan shouted loudly.

A few horse thieves at the door saw that the Zhenbei army was rushing towards them with long knives, and they were frightened, throwing down their torches and running inside.

"Big boss, no! Oh no! A skinny horse thief burst into a hut and shouted at a sleeping man on the bed.

"Who is it? Zhang San, you don't want to fucking live, do you? I'll see if Lao Tzu doesn't pick your skin! The man on the bed sat up sleepily, looked at Zhang San who woke him up in front of him and said.

The man on the bed was the thief Gou Si, his face was full of scum, the bridge of his nose was collapsed, and he was staring at Zhang San viciously with a mouthful of big yellow teeth when he spoke.

"Big boss, the Xiliang Army has come in, run for your life!" After Zhang San finished speaking, he ran away, only caring about his own life.

"Xiliang Army? Tom! I'm going to pick your skin! Gou Si saw that Zhang San had left himself and fled for his life alone, and scolded.

Gou Si didn't care about getting dressed, put on his boots, picked up the big knife at the head of the bed, jumped out of the window.

The Xiliang Army sent a large army to guard Xihai County, Gou Si knew it, and he wanted to wash his hands after finishing this ticket, so he relied on the property he robbed a few days ago to go back to his hometown and become a rich man, and he couldn't spend it in more than ten lifetimes.