readx; While the Tang army was in full swing to prepare for war, the scouts they sent had also penetrated into Tochar, Sindh, and Punjab. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The Hindu Kush Mountains stretch across the eastern part of Tocharo, from south to north, dividing Tocharian into two, and the western part is a relatively flat plateau area where the Otsuki people lived, and where the Kushan Empire once created a glorious civilization in history.

With the decline of the Kushan Empire, and finally destroyed by the Soda people, it has been divided into countless small states, which, like the Sogdian states, lived between the Arab Empire and the Tang Empire, decades ago, the Arab Empire began its war of eastward expansion, countless small Tocharian states were conquered by the Arabs, reduced to its vassals, the Arabs soon discovered silver mines here, and it became an important source of Arab silver.

The discovery of silver ore further aroused the desire of the Arabs to invade the east, they were blocked by the Hindu Kush mountain range, unable to enter the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty, so they turned around and expanded southward, the iron hooves of the Arab conquest all the way to Tianzhu, after decades of conquest, they gradually occupied the northwest of Tianzhu, that is, Sindh and Punjab, spread Islam there, but from there they took away untold food and wealth.

Decades have passed, and with the strong rise of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions, the two empires have inevitably collided again and again, and this time, the tentacles of the Tang Empire have also extended into Tocharian and Sinde.

In the early morning, a group of more than 30 cavalry rushed along the Xindu River, the white mist shrouded this fertile and vast land, and large forests could be seen everywhere in the distance, and dense villages were distributed around the forest, in the morning mist, the industrious people had already started a day's work on both sides of the Xindu River, they were all Rajputs, who were originally the masters of this land, but now, their country has been destroyed, and the Rajputs have become the servants of the Great Cannibals, and they live under the high pressure of the Great Food Governor, like ants, with their hands produced countless riches, handed over to their masters, were sent to distant Damascus.

The banks of the Xindu River are crowded with women who wash in the morning, the climate here is hot, and the clothes must be washed every day to wash off the sweat stains on them, so the laundry in the early morning has become the most important housework for local women. The laughter and noise of the women not far away reached the ears of the cavalrymen, which made many young cavalrymen feel itchy, and then one of the cavalrymen smiled at a young officer: "Brigadier Heyan, our clothes are soaked with sweat inside and out, why don't we go to the river and wash them!" Anyway, it's hot, and as soon as the sun comes out, it dries quickly. ”

Lieutenant He Yansi's name is He Yansi, the son of the general He Yanyu Run, he is only eighteen years old this year, but he has been in the army for two years, and he has been promoted to brigade commander after many achievements.

In order not to arouse suspicion, they all changed into the uniform of the Sindh Servants, the Sindh Servants Army is an army composed of local Rajputs, Da Shi currently has a regular army of more than 10,000 people in Sindh and Punjab, in order to effectively rule this vast land, Da Shi recruited an army of 100,000 people among the Rajputs, and with this army as the backbone, continue to expand to Tianzhu, because this army is despised by the local people, so the locals contemptuously call this army the Sindh Servant Army.

He Yansi is a serious and unsmiling young general, in addition to inheriting his father's extremely burly and majestic figure, he also has the carefulness and shrewdness that his father lacks, he participated in the scout army, which is the most demanding in the Anxi army, but it is also the highest status of the army, and even surpasses the Modao army, just because their commander Li Qing'an was born in the scout army, therefore, the scout army is also the military branch that countless soldiers yearn for, not only to go through strict selection, but also to go through a year of hard training in Ningyuan country, and only after passing can you become a scout.

So in a sense, the scout army is also the special forces of the Anxi army, and many difficult tasks are often undertaken by the scout army, reconnaissance is only one of the aspects, and special tasks such as surprise attacks and assassinations are completed by the scout army.

The scout team led by He Yansi set out from Wuyun Fort, passed through the Wakhan Valley for more than 800 miles, entered the Xindu River valley from Jiandaluo, and then went south along the Xindu River, and gradually penetrated into the Sindh area occupied by the Great Cannibals.

At this time, He Yansi glanced at the joking soldier and said coldly in Tocharian: "I have already said that you are not allowed to speak Chinese, it will endanger our survival, I will give you one last word, you are not allowed to speak Chinese, do you hear?" ”

The soldier lowered his head in fright, not daring to say another word, He Yansi said to everyone again: "I know that everyone is very tired, but we must find the main grain depot of the Great Cannibal as soon as possible, this is our task, now the main force of the Tang Army should have set off, the time is very urgent, I hope the general can overcome fatigue and complete the task as soon as possible." ”

Everyone agreed, and He Yansi nodded, "Okay, let's continue on our way and rest at noon." ”

At this time, a large group of women with water jugs came to them, they suddenly saw this cavalry, and they shouted together, these women were quite strong, they put down the jugs, picked up stones from the ground and smashed them violently, the scouts were caught off guard, many people were hit by stones, a scout was furious, drew a knife to kill, He Yansi shouted angrily: "Luo Qi, don't do too much!" ”

As soon as he grabbed the war horse, the war horse rushed away, and the scouts followed He Yansi, and ran away in an instant, and the women pointed at their backs and jumped to their feet and scolded, spitting on the ground.

This is not the first time they have encountered it, the Sindh servant army has a very bad reputation among the local people, not to mention that they are tigers, helping the big cannibals to suppress their own compatriots and attack the countries of Tianzhu, and this army has extremely poor military discipline, eating, drinking, gambling, stealing and destroying silver often happens, and the big cannibals do not pay attention to it, and even deliberately connive, so that the anger of the local people is vented on this army, so as to divert the antagonism of the people.

The Tang scouts ran for more than an hour, the horses began to get tired, they also slowed down, looking for land to rest, they found a forest, and then entered the woods to dismount and rest, more than 30 Tang army scouts lay on the ground, chewing dry cakes and beef, and the horses were placed on a meadow, quietly eating grass.

It's August, and the climate here is unusually hot, and people feel like they are living in a steamer, and the wind blows when they ride on their horses, but they can sweat profusely after sitting down.

"Damn, this hellish place is so hot like this, let me settle here, even if I am given ten hectares of land, I won't do it."

A soldier complained that his clothes were soaked with sweat again and again, as if they had been salted, not only him, but all of them, many of them were very tired and too lazy to speak, and another older soldier smiled: "Actually, the peasants like this climate the most, you see we have been down all the way for more than ten days, only two days of rain, and the land is fertile, the water source for irrigation is sufficient, coupled with the hot weather, such grain can be high-yielding, I estimate that two crops can be harvested a year, and food is not a problem here." ”

"No wonder! Last year, I got 2 million stone of grain from here, and this is simply a grain depot. ”

Wu Chang Luo Qi saw that He Yansi had been silent in thought, so he asked with a smile: "Brigade Marshal, what are you thinking?" ”

He Yansi raised his head and asked the crowd, "Tell me, why do the Sindhi people hate their army so much?" ”

"Brigade commander, you are a little mistaken, this is not their army, this is the army of the big cannibals, their own country is destroyed, where is there any army?"

"It can't be said that they are all the people of the caliphate now, and the army of Sindh is naturally also their army, perhaps because the army has bad discipline and scratches the people everywhere, so they are hated."

"Can those women bathe naked in the river without being disturbed? To be honest, I really want to smear their army a little more. ”

"Haha! Forget it! Those women are like wolves and tigers, and they rush up and throw you down in the river. ”

Everyone is most interested in this kind of topic, and immediately you and I said it word by word, He Yansi did not interfere with them, as long as they did not speak Chinese and did not reveal their identities, but it was okay to say it.

At this moment, a sharp whistle came from outside the woods, which was a signal from the sentinels outside, and something had happened, and everyone immediately jumped up from the ground, led the war horses, and flew on the horses together.

"What's going on?" He Yansi asked in a low voice.

A sentry rushed forward and said, "Here comes an army, about three thousand or so. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard someone shouting loudly outside, and it seemed that he had discovered them, but the other party spoke the local language, and everyone could not understand it.

He Yansi said to everyone: "Don't panic, everyone, hide the bow and crossbow, and deal with it with me." ”

He rode out of the woods, and saw an army of several thousand men lying on the ground outside, where they were also resting, and a dozen officers were about to enter the woods, and they were discovered.

The uniforms and scouts worn by this army are the same, only the color is slightly different, they are all servant troops, naturally there is no armor, they are all wearing robes, a cloth belt around their waists, and a belt around their heads, just like wearing a disc, with leggings on their legs, in fact, they are no different from the ordinary people's dress, except that a scimitar is inserted in their waists, and some soldiers carry rudimentary bows and arrows, and that's it.

However, this army seems to be not bad, there are more than two hundred war horses, and the soldiers at least one Seiren wears shoes, unlike the other armies they have seen, which are all barefoot, even the officers.

Despite the similarity in uniform, they differed in appearance, with most of the Sindhi soldiers having large beards and similar appearances, while half of the Scouts did not have beards.

An officer looked them up and down, then suddenly changed to Tocharian and asked, "Where are you in the army?" ”

He saw that He Yansi was not a Rajput, but a bit like the Tocharians in the north, in fact, He Yansi was an Anxi Wusun, and this scout team was an Anxi Wusun or a Turgish except for the commander Luo Qi, who was a Han Chinese, and the others were Anxi Wusun or Turgish, and this Sindhi army was short-sighted and did not look like them, that is, the Tocharians.

He Yansi nodded and said, "We came from Kabul and were ordered to deliver a letter to the Governor of Sindh. ”

The officer smiled, "Then I'm afraid your letter won't arrive." ”

"Why?" He Yansi was stunned.

"The Governor is not in Sindh now, but in Punjab!"

"Then I can send the letter to the people of the Governor's Palace, and they will pass it on, and it is not necessary to see the Governor himself."

"That's the same, I didn't think of it."

The weather was too hot, and the officer's IQ had dropped significantly, and he didn't have the slightest suspicion of He Yansi and them, so he warmly invited: "Let's just go to Shabro, come with us!" There are too few of you, and you are surrounded by angry villagers, and you will die. ”

He admired He Yansi very much, he was a head taller than him, he stood on tiptoe and compared his height with He Yansi, and praised: "You guy, it's really rare to grow so big!" ”

He Yansi was struggling to get information from nowhere to get information, and since the other party took the initiative to invite, he was not polite, so he happily said: "Okay then!" We're going with you. ”

The army rested for a while, and then began to set out on its way, and the scouts were also mixed in among them, forming a group of their own, and the officer was very interested in He Yansi, so he urged his horse to come forward and walk side by side with him.

"My name is Sumaro, what's your name?"

"My name is Yan Hei, the Protector of Secrets."

"Huh! I've been there, and it's all high mountains and valleys, but the people there are short and dark, not as tall as you, not one, all up to my waist, like monkeys. ”

He Yansi smiled again: "My father is a native of Anxi Shule, a merchant, and he married four wives in Humi, and settled there. ”

"Shule is a good place! I heard that the people there are all very rich, ordinary people wear silk and porcelain, and only the landlords and the upper class in the city can afford to use it, so my wife wants me to buy silk for her, and I have said that I have not seen the shadow of silk for 20 years. ”

He Yansi took out a piece of silk from the horse bag, handed it to him and said with a smile: "This is the reward given to me by our king, give it to you!" ”

Su Malo took the silk and stroked it gently, his eyes glowing golden, "Brother, are you really willing to give it to me?" ”

"Anyway, when I go back, the king will reward me again, so I'll give it to you, and we'll make friends."

"What a good brother for me!"

Su Ma Luo smiled, he was afraid that He Yansi would regret it, so he hurriedly stuffed the silk into his arms, and said with a smile: "It's a pity that this piece of silk is given to my wife, I can use it to marry a young and beautiful one again." ”

He Yansi smiled and asked, "I heard you just now that we will be beaten to death by the angry villagers, do the villagers here hate being soldiers so much?" ”

"It wasn't that bad before, but it started this month."

He looked around and lowered his voice, "There may be a riot." ”

"Why?"

"Shhhh Be quiet, don't let anyone hear you. ”

He whispered: "The Arabs originally promised that after converting to Allah, they could enjoy the same return pension as the Arab Muslims, no more taxes, and start enjoying it from next year, but last month the governor suddenly announced that he would cancel this promise, and convert Muslims to pay taxes as well, and those who did not convert to Muslims would have to pay double taxes, which aroused strong dissatisfaction among the people, and I heard that trouble had begun on the Punjab side, so the governor ran there." ”

"Didn't you go to Shabro to suppress the riots?"

"Huh! You're really smart! As soon as I guessed, we were now being sent troops everywhere to Shabro, and we were transferred to protect Shabro's grain depot and prevent the mob from stealing food. ”

(To be continued)