The horses' hooves flew along the ice covered with dead grass, and the cavalry quickly crossed the Longmen River and galloped along the ramp.

"Your Highness, the Tartar thieves are walking through the Grand Canyon, and the horses are extremely fast, so we have to take a short cut to intercept them." Shang Huaiying changed into a military uniform, carrying a bow, a knife, and two weapons, which added a heroic spirit compared with usual days.

Zhu Qiming was still wearing silver armor, the armor was facing the rising sun, shining together with the different colors in his eyes, and the red tassels on his head were fluttering in the wind, shining brighter than the colorful glow on the horizon. He didn't say anything about Shang Huaiying's words, but turned his head to look at Jiang Yi and Zhao Gang beside him, "Are you about to return to the team?" ”

"It was originally scheduled to leave for Beijing in 10 days, so half of them have not yet returned."

Hearing Jiang Yi's answer, Zhu Qiming smiled at Shang Huaiying, "We actually ushered in a tartar thief at the last moment!" Immediately, he accelerated his horse, rode out of the crowd, crossed the plank road, and galloped into the canyon.

Everyone raised their eyes together, only to see a touch of beauty in the sky, a cluster of red in the valley, a light green all around, a young man straddling a snow-white horse, shrouded in silver light, only a back, just like a moving shadow, instantly transformed into a canyon shallow in the morning sun.

As a result, their faces faded from solemnity, and their eyes were lit up by the red glow, but when they heard the sound of hooves, their excitement was transmitted, as if they were greeted not by a bloody battlefield, but by a charming landscape.

The fields were green everywhere, only the shade of the hills was still scattered with remnant snow, and on both sides of the canyon, where sunlight was scarce all day, two snow dragons snaked and stretched, and the breeze blew a chill on the speeding riders.

Non-stop, crossing canyons, occasionally forks in the road and plains flashed in front of you. Finally, at a distance of a gentle slope, more than 1,000 centaurs slowly stopped.

The cliff locked in the sun, and the cold wind hit them, and some people suddenly shivered, and the excitement along the way gradually dissipated, and many soldiers who had not been in battle felt a little nervous in their hearts.

Zhu Qiming left Shang Huaiying to supervise the army, took Tang Ji, Jiang Yi, and Zhao Gang, called hundreds of guards, slowly rode horses, climbed to the top of the mountain along the gentle slope, and looked through the gaps in the pine forest, and the Grand Canyon was ahead.

The canyon floor is flat and about two miles wide. It is a good idea to set up an ambush here, but there are cliffs on the east and west sides of the canyon, and only here the gentle slope can be walked, which is not conducive to the deployment of troops, and it is not advisable to set up an ambush and volley. However, further south is an open area dozens of miles long, facing four villages.

Tang Ji raised his eyes to look at the sun, his eyes narrowed slightly, "Your Highness, it's almost early noon, and the Tartar thieves have arrived not far from here, but after seeing the surrounding situation clearly, it is not appropriate for us to start a war here." ”

Zhu Qiming pondered for a moment, then turned his head to look south, "Sixty miles further south, there are dense villages. ”

"Your Highness, the Tartar thieves will definitely not rest along the way, and they will definitely run all the way to the vicinity of the village to plunder, it is better to wait for the Tartar thieves to slack off in their looting, and then raid them." As soon as Zhao Gang finished speaking, he felt remorse, pouted and sighed: "How can there be such a ridiculous idea in the future!" Your Highness should only say it below. ”

Zhu Qiming knew very well that there was no ideal battlefield within more than 100 miles along the north and south of the canyon, and Zhao Gang's idea was undoubtedly to choose the best time and the best place, which could greatly increase the probability of victory and reduce his own casualties, but if the Tartar thieves were allowed to enter the village, the consequences would be lifeless, and this price could not be borne by the army with the responsibility of protecting the territory and the people!

Therefore, there is no need for Zhao Gang to slap himself in the face, Zhu Qiming will take his idea as a deaf ear.

Suddenly, the sound of hooves faintly came, and Zhu Qiming hurriedly dismounted, ordered all the guards to return to the slope, and took away his mounts with Tang Ji, Jiang Yi, and Zhao Gang.

As soon as the four of them had come to hide in the woods, they heard the sound of hooves getting louder and louder, and a group of men and horses emerged from the north, and a moment later, when all the Tartar thieves appeared under the noses of the four, the bottom of the valley was already black and oppressive.

The Tartar thieves' horses were not fast, but the lineup was well-organized, revealing a heavy murderous aura, and at first glance it was a well-trained, battle-hardened cavalry. Roughly counting the number of people, Zhu Qiming couldn't help but gasp.

Tang Ji on the side said in a low voice: "Your Highness, the number of Tartar thieves should be around 1,200 people, and fifty percent of the heavy cavalry is quite tricky!" ”

In terms of the balance of strength, the original expectation of his own numerical advantage has disappeared, and the unfavorable terrain has sealed the space for unfortunate tactics, and the certainty of victory tends to be slim, Zhu Qiming has to think about the life and death of more than 1,200 people behind him. Most of his men have not been trained in war, and those who have experienced war have fought smoothly and have not been tested in vicious battles, and it is too risky to confront a group of Tartars who are equal in number to their own and are obviously experienced in battle!

Moreover, the battle of Luchuan has been decided, and this battle will not help to change the direction of the national policy. Perhaps, the only significance of this battle is to wake up the sleeping people with the blood of warriors and sweep away the malaise in the temple.

Zhu Qiming couldn't help but become hesitant.

At this time, two people vaguely resembling Orion's outfit appeared from the opposite mountain stream, one of them looked like an old man, and the other was small, as if he was not yet an adult, and the two rode two thin horses, and somehow broke into the valley bottom, and bumped into the Tartar thieves head-on, but saw more than ten Tartar thieves as if they had been beaten with chicken blood, and rode their horses to intercept the two, and in a moment, several scimitars were raised high······ Zhu Qiming quickly lowered his head, unable to bear to look directly.

A moment later, there were bursts of shouts from the valley floor, as if the huge wolves had been awakened to their bloodthirsty wildness, and their yearning for killing was expressed with a howl.

Jiang Yi snorted heavily, "Your Highness, slaughter these beasts!" ”

Over there, Tang Ji suddenly turned his head, "Your Highness, we are known as warriors, how can we be afraid of these half-human and half-beast guys!" ”

The Tartars at the bottom of the valley are fading away, castrating very slowly, and it seems that the last moments of relief before the bloody sack have arrived. Zhu Qiming raised his eyes to look south, dozens of miles away, there were several villages, and at this moment, there seemed to be an ominous dark cloud floating towards that side.

Zhu Qiming waved his hand, and the four of them ran quickly down the slope.

"There is a fork in the road more than forty miles to the south, and this king will lead his people to intercept the Tartar thieves. The Tartar thieves rode heavily in front and the light cavalry in the back, Tang Ji, you led four hundred guards into the valley bottom, followed the Tartar thieves, and after the Tartars were intercepted, they raided the light cavalry behind them. ”

"Yes!"

"Zhao Gang, you lead two hundred personal guards, one hundred soldiers, also from here down to the bottom of the valley, there is a mountain trail opposite, you go south along the trail at full speed, there is a gap more than forty miles away, diagonally facing the fork in the road. After the king has blocked the Tartars, you will lead a raid on the flanks of the Tartars. ”

"Yes!"

······

Archers, lancers, and swords were lined up in turn, forming a tight formation. Zhu Qiming was in the back team, with the sword soldiers, and Shang Huaiying and Wang Lie followed him left and right.

There was a faint sound of hooves in front of him, Zhu Qiming couldn't help but glance at the grove in the distance, where a hundred horsemen and horses could be lurking, at this moment, Jiang Yi led the crowd to hide there, hoping that Jiang Yi would lose no time in raiding the left flank.

He pondered for a moment, waved his hand at the flag commander, and saw that as soon as the flag was unfurled, more than 400 horsemen and horses were activated, and the movements were quite neat.

The speed of the horse is getting faster and faster, and the sound of the wind is gradually heard in his ears, and when the Tartar thief has just shown a few figures, Zhu Qiming has already led the crowd to raise the speed of the horse to the extreme.

The sound of the surging hooves woke the Tartars, and the front team of Tartars took their bows and arrows, but they were still a little too relaxed, and now they had to pay the price. Under the hood of a wave of arrows, several figures planted on horseback, and the entire team of Tartars suddenly reacted sluggishly for a moment.

"Your Highness must not rush forward!"

Zhu Qiming was intercepted by Shang Huaiying, so he had to lower his horse speed and slowly stop.

"The Tartar thieves all have bows, and they must be entangled to death, and they must not be allowed to perform their riding and archery skills!"

He shouted at the spearmen and swordsmen who rushed forward, and then looked at the Tartar camp. Seeing the uniform beard coat, Zhu Qiming couldn't help gritting his teeth, took a closer look, and found that the heavy cavalry of the front team of the Tartar thieves were all strong and strong, and there seemed to be a few giants in the crowd.

However, no matter how strong the body, no matter how tall the horse, no matter how hard the thick armor, it could not resist the fierce attack of the horse lance. As dozens of figures were knocked out, the lancers' mounts came to a halt, and they all stood up in front of each other, letting out a hissing roar. And the entire Tartar cavalry suddenly stopped, and the front and rear teams were huddled together, and it was difficult to move an inch for a while.

The swordsmen rushed forward, mingled with the lancers, and began to fight the Tartars at close range.

There was a commotion in the Tartar cavalry, and it was clear that they wanted to spread out and crush their opponents with superior forces. At this moment, Jiang Yi was on the left and Zhao Gang was on the right, and the two of them led the crowd to stab the generals diagonally, and there were also bursts of shouts of killing behind the Tartar thief cavalry.

The men on both sides were evenly matched, but one side was surrounded on all sides, and everyone could participate in the battle; The other side was surrounded inside, and a large number of troops were nested in the crowd and became spectators. The Tartar thieves outside wanted to rush out, but the threat of the horse lance was too great, and the sword soldiers were in close combat, so they didn't dare to be distracted a little, and they couldn't get out at all.

Occasionally, there were Tartar thieves in the crowd who wanted to build a high platform and launch arrows to join the battle, but as soon as they appeared, they were shot by the archers who were patrolling outside.

The situation of the Ming army is superior, however, the battle-hardened Warat elite soldiers are not vegetarians, the outside of the Tartar thieves and sword soldiers are not left behind, the war has entered the stage of attrition, the miserable howls are everywhere, blood and flesh are flying everywhere, and the bloody scene is shocking.

Suddenly, a loud shout came, Zhu Qiming followed the voice, only to see two figures flying out of the pile, half of one person's head collapsed, half of one person's shoulder seemed to be removed, and his arms danced in the air like strips of cloth. Looking at the outfits of the two, they should be the Yuefu guards.

Zhu Qiming's heart sank, and then looked at the place where the cheers sounded, a strong man in Vara drank violently, his body was as thick as an iron tower, his eyes were bigger than copper bells, and he was dancing with two copper hammers in his hands, as if he had the strength to open mountains and crack stones. Its mount is significantly taller than the surrounding war horses, and its whole body is black, shiny and shiny, and it looks very powerful.

A lance soldier stabbed at the strong man, but when he heard a roar, the horse lance was smashed away by the copper hammer, and the lance soldier was shocked away from the horse's back by the strong force, and was hit by a hammer in the waist and eye between the whiskers, and then his body immediately smashed to the ground heavily, and after landing on the ground, he only squirted blood and stopped moving.