The night is hazy, the yellow sand is all over the sky, and under the arrogant howling of the north wind, the vast Gobi seems to be covered with a light silk veil, covering the sky and the moon. The earth was pale, the eagles returned to their nests, and the wolves of the overlords next door to the grassland also curled up in their nests.

To the northern nomads, the sandstorm was the wrath of the heavens, and it punished all sinners who blasphemed the gods. The people of Daguang believe that this is God's favor for this land, because every time the sand and dust will bring fertile black soil to the vast land in the north, and the next year will be a rare harvest.

In order to prevent the sand and dust from being too violent and causing disasters, the people of Daguang will definitely plant patches of poplars on the road where the yellow sand is dancing, and these poplars with tenacious vitality are like a strong life, which can block most of the wind and sand. When the devastating sandstorm reaches the Great Light, it has already become the end of the crossbow, and the damage is extremely limited.

Wind and sand come every year, and at this time there will be no sign of life on the earth, and few creatures can question the majesty of nature.

Only human beings, the reason why human beings have become the most noble species on the earth, is because they dare to challenge the laws of nature and overcome impossible difficulties.

In the Daguang military camp at the south gate of Lixian County, a single horse galloped into the barracks in the dark night.

On the school field of Nanying, 8,000 soldiers with black armor and silver spears stood solemnly against the wind and sand. In order to resist the dancing sand, everyone was masked, and even all the horses had blindfolds on their faces, revealing only two bright eyes. The whole team is like a demon spirit returning from hell, quietly waiting for the call of the demon king.

Yang Yi, who was also dressed in the same attire, looked coldly at the 8,000 people in front of him, this army screened out of 500,000 people, some of them came from the veterans of the North who had been entangled with the fierce Di people all year round, and some of them were the fierce pawns in the forbidden army, and the most ferocious main force was undoubtedly Yue Jing, who was released by Yang Yi, and the five hundred soldiers of the Northern Army who broke through with him.

The single horse that entered the barracks soon came to Yang Yi's horse, and the man immediately took off his mask and was not who Hong Zhi was.

"Phew." Hong Zhi spit out the mud and sand in his mouth, and said loudly: "The suspicious soldiers have come out!! ”

Yang Yi nodded, swept away with cold eyes, and all the soldiers stared at him quietly.

Hong Zhi, Yue Jing, the eighteen generals, the monkey Jian'er Tie Niu and Bai Yuanliang who was sandwiched between the two, the cold eyes under the countless masks almost merged with the night.

Yang Yi finally glanced at Licheng behind him, then raised his hand to put on the mask, pulled the reins of the horse, and shouted: "Go!! ”

There are no heroic words before the expedition, no strong wine to drink, only wild sand and howling wind. The eight thousand elite horsemen are like beasts out of the cage, like the waves of the black river, rushing into the darkness and never looking back.

Whether these 8,000 will be drowned next door to the boundless wilderness, or buried by the merciless yellow sand, no one knows.

On the city wall of Lixian, the emperor standing in the wind and sand silently watched the eight thousand elite horses disappear into the night, and his heart was full of tastes.

Li Cen, who was standing behind him, arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, Your Highness the Ninth is auspicious, and you will definitely be able to retreat with your whole body here." He pondered and said: "Please also ask Your Majesty to return to the Xingyuan to temporarily shelter from the wind and sand, and when the battle in Shuozhou City is together, we will immediately pull out the village and retreat south." ”

The emperor condensed: "How is the matter of Yang Jie and the others investigated?" How many people are involved? ”

Li Cen shook his head and said, "Because it must be kept secret, it is impossible to collect evidence on a large scale, but judging from the current investigation, what the Nine Emperor Princes said is true. ”

When the emperor heard this, he didn't speak again, stretched out his hand and put up the hood on his cloak to cover the pale hair, and finally took a look at the end of Yang Yi's army disappearing, and then turned around and walked quickly to the city with Li Cen and the others under the protection of the guards.....

Yang Yi's riding skills are very limited, and he galloped wildly in the Yang Forest for two hours, and his legs that tightly clamped the horse's belly were already numb, and at this time, he almost relied on his endurance to support himself from being thrown out by the bumpy fast horse. Yang Yi, who was sweating profusely and had a dry mouth, didn't even dare to drink water, and the sand in his mouth could be chewed with a clattering sound just by swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

Among the 8,000 people, except for Yang Yi, almost all of them were proficient in horsemanship. The majestic poplars blocked most of the wind, and with Yue Jing, who had lived in Shuozhou for six years, leading the way, the army traveled very fast through the forest with two horses per person.

Everyone tensed their nerves, and although most of the movement during the march was drowned out by the howling of the gale, the soldiers still tried their best to suppress their breathing, and from time to time to reassure themselves that they would sit down and not let them scream.

The most leisurely in the army should be the drunkard Bai Yuanliang, a white and pure scholar who had just washed in the afternoon, and at this time he had been blown into mud by the wind and sand. This guy couldn't leave when he was put on the horse by the iron bull, and finally Yang Yi gave him two pots of spirits before sitting on the horse peacefully.

Who knew that after a pot of wine, Bai Yuanliang began to doze off again, and almost fell off the horse several times. Yang Yi simply ordered Monkey Jian'er to tie the drunkard to the horse's back with a rope, and then heard his snoring sound that could not even be concealed by the wind, and everyone was stunned, they had never seen such a sweet sleep on horseback.

When the morning star was about to light up, Yue Jing, who was walking in the forefront and leading the way, stopped, patted his horse and came to Yang Yi of the Chinese army to take off his mask.

"Your Highness, we have reached the northern edge of the poplar forest, and twenty miles further there will be no trees to cover us."

Yang Yi looked around, it was still pitch black, and asked, "How far is Shuozhou City from Yang Lin?" ”

Yue Jing thought for a while and said, "It takes less than half an hour for the fast horse to drive directly." ”

Yang Yining said: "Is there a way to purge the scouts of the fierce Di people and prevent us from being exposed too early?" ”

Yue Jing barely hesitated: "Impossible, the scout speed of the fierce Di people is very fast, if they want to run, it will be difficult for us to catch up." After a pause, he said: "However, the wind and sand are heavy today, and the number of scouts arranged by the fierce Di in the rear will not be too many, and even if they find us, it will be difficult for them to pass on the news as soon as possible." ”

There are only two ways for scouts to deliver news, one is to make a high-pitched sound, and the other is to raise wolf smoke, and these two methods are almost useless in the windy and sandy weather, and the only way is to run back to report the news.

"So it's time to compete for speed?" Yang Yidao.

Yue Jing nodded and said, "Your Highness, rest assured, our army is equipped with two good horses per person, even if the riding skills are not as good as the fierce people, it will not be much slower." ”

Yue Jing looked a little excited, Daguang has always been short of horses, even in the northern army that fights with the fierce Di people all the year round, horses are extremely scarce, and he has never been so extravagant to be equipped with two war horses per person, even if the fierce Di people have enough war horses, there are few such an army.