August is the end of summer and the beginning of the autumn season, the summer heat on the grassland has not yet dissipated, this is the tail of summer is also the last golden season of the year when the water and grass are abundant, the cattle and sheep on the grassland are desperately grazing all the time, try to make themselves more fat in order to survive the next long and difficult winter.

Yanmen County is one of the closest border counties to the Xiongnu, whenever the Huns enter the Central Plains, they will choose Yanmen as an excellent choice for many breakthroughs, this place is also one of the most densely defended war zones of the border army of the Han Empire, Mayi City is an important town in the south of Yanmen County, to the north is the county governance of Shanwu, and then to the north is the Great Wall to resist the invasion of the Huns.

As soon as the day dawned, the knights of the Hou Mansion hurriedly got up to live and cook, and the iron pot and iron stove provided by the Hou Mansion greatly improved the cooking efficiency.

Chen Zhang was accustomed to getting up early in the morning, and when he walked to the dining table, he immediately had a bitter face: "Why is it minced corn porridge again, this old corn mixed with minced meat hurts my head." ”

"It's okay if you don't get sick from eating." Wei Buguang took the meat porridge and pulled it up, the knights closed their mouths and ate one by one, it is a shameful act to waste food on the border, it is a supreme enjoyment to be able to eat all day long here, the farther you go north from Mayi, the more dangerous it is, it is common to not eat enough to eat and sleep well, everyone cherishes the food on the plate.

Chen Zhang has been in Mayi for nearly a month, and has slowly grown from a novice who is difficult to take care of life, to a qualified knight who knows how to organize one hundred and eight knots for sorting out the caravan goods, is skilled in riding horses and knows when the war horse enters the estrus period, and is a qualified knight who keeps vigil at any time.

The days in Yanmen County were boring and boring, and the same work was repeated every day for a month, training on and off the horse, galloping and stopping training, turning training, queue training, and rushing and chopping training, and most of the day was soaked on horseback, and the butt was worn out I don't know how many times.

The medical workers in the caravan were good at treating external injuries, no matter how strict the wound was on the buttocks, the next day the ensured that the people could get up and continue training lively, and the novices didn't even have a chance to find an excuse to avoid training, and secretly didn't know how many times they spat at the old cell head with a messy beard.

Chen Zhang once had the courage to find Xu Wan, the leader of the caravan, hoping that he could give the new rider a little preferential treatment, but the next day he summoned Meng to come over with a stack of new clothes, and the new pants were specially sewn with leather bushings on the side of the buttocks.

They want to go home but don't dare to go back, Yanmen County is about more than 300 miles away from the Pingyang Marquis, but it is almost impossible to pass through the layers of checkpoints alone, and the inner county to the border county still retains the Qin system of Guan Chuan system to prevent the infiltration of spies, even if they bypass it, they dare not go home, and the old father and mother of the family will beat them to death.

There were people who wanted to resist, but the fact was that every tried and tested veteran could clean up five or six of them, not to mention that the fierce and vicious Zhao Meng could defeat all of them, and the only thing left was to bear it silently, and after enduring it for a long time, they gradually became accustomed to high-pressure life.

The days of training were boring and boring, but fortunately, the caravan was well paid and did not worry about eating and drinking, according to the system in the Hou Mansion, each soldier could enjoy three meals, and it was good to be able to eat a full meal when he saw the meat and fish, which was better than the other caravans with yellow muscles in the Mayi market, and those unlucky ghosts were either robbed of goods and starved, or they were pitted for doing business and losing their money.

Zhao Meng said that this kind of people are the most dangerous, because they have no food to eat, they struggle on the edge of hunger every day, in order to survive and turn over their money, they are like gamblers who have pressed all their family property, crazy and desperate to find any opportunity, they have no goods to trade, only cold knives and guns and deadly bows, they are feared horse thieves.

No one is born a horse thief, the first horse thief is the bankrupt merchant in the Mayi, they encountered the small tribe that did not keep their word and was looted, in despair picked up the knife and gun to attack their compatriots, over time the horse thief gradually increased to form a kind of invisible profession in the borderlands, all the caravans knew that they would face these people, of course, they also knew that they could do the same.

The border county is so chaotic, the Taishou sent by the court is a high-risk occupation, and the county has a new Taishou almost every year, and it is very rare to be able to serve for three years, because every year there will be a Xiongnu tribe from the border, and it seems to be a common thing for the Taishou to die in defeat or defend the city.

Due to the emergence of the Huns, the governance of the border counties is more like a formalistic slogan, even if the cool officials are very tidy, there is no great effect, the duty of the Yanmen Taishou is to defend and counterattack the Xiongnu, and the best efforts should be placed in a more backward position, and the border areas still follow their own rules.

This day passed in a boring training again, and this time Zhao Meng did not immediately shout the order to disband, but said to them: "Your training this month has been successfully completed, 35 people have eliminated 7 of the horseman's talent is too poor, and only 1o of the remaining 28 people can be used as riders, and the remaining 18 must start from the preparation of the riders, including cleaning the stables and bathing the war horses with grass is your job." ”

Zhao Meng Xian recited the 7 eliminated people, even if he already knew the result of elimination, but when he read their names, he still couldn't help but cry bitterly, and not being able to become a knight meant that his status in the caravan was greatly reduced, and he could only do the small things of cooking, washing clothes, cleaning, taking care of the caravan goods, and guarding the base camp of the horse.

At first glance, it seems that the work without danger is good, but when it comes to the penny, it is less than half of the horseman, and the wealth obtained by the robbery has to wait until the bannermen take the good ones and then pick the leftovers, and the booty is often only one-tenth of the horseman's, and often have to endure the good-natured ridicule or malicious ridicule of the riders, and the life in the caravan is extremely humiliating.

Chen Zhang is very confident, he knows that he will not be eliminated, his riding skills are taught by his grandfather Uncle Chen, when his grandfather was a knight of Cao Taigong's personal guard, the father and even grandfather of everyone present have not yet been born, even if his training has been lazy and slack in recent years, and he may not touch the horse's back a few times a year, but this advantage still exists.

After the names of the 18 reserve riders were read, some of them hung their heads in frustration, while others breathed a sigh of relief and showed a happy expression, Chen Zhang really came out on top and became a glorious caravan rider, he had a partial riding foundation and a good riding talent like the other ten people, and several of the other 18 people had similar conditions, but they were only a little short of the official opportunity.

The rider can receive a horned bow, two bags of quivers, a dagger and a scimitar, the dagger is an important tableware when eating in the field, and can also be used as a quick and practical cutting tool or self-defense weapon, the scimitar is a model modified from the ring knives of the infantry officers, the first steel scimitar developed by Hou Guo was sent to them first, and the riders will act as the executors to test the effectiveness of the weapon.

Leading the bright scimitar, the riders rode on their horses and raised their swords and cheered, the reserve riders and eliminators on the side could only stare at them with envy and jealousy to celebrate, Zhao Meng was optimistic about the internal competition among the novices, if a team lacks blood, it means that it lacks combat effectiveness, as long as it does not violate the rules and iron rules of the caravan, he will not interfere too much.

In the early morning of the next day, Shanwu came with a shocking news, the front learned that the three small tribes of the Xiongnu joined forces to cross the mouth of the Great Wall in the north to enter the Kou, Yanmen Taishouzhi decided to take the opportunity to gather the border army to have a hard-fought battle, hearing the news The originally lazy knight suddenly raised his spirits.

Wei Buguang licked his dry lips: "Uncle Zhao, we're going into battle, this time it's still the same old rules?" ”

"Of course it's the old rules, this old guy in Zhidu knows the severity, and he won't make a fuss about the reward money." Zhao Meng skillfully tied the trouser legs with strips of cloth, Hufu cavalry archery was the most taboo clothes that were wide and affected the battle, and the Han cavalry also had similar strip of cloth leggings to ensure that the trouser legs would not affect the legs and clamp the horse's belly to maintain balance.

Xu Wan cleared his throat and said: "Brothers, listen well, we border people have their own rules, when the Taishou drum gathers the battle, the caravan of the border county will also participate in the battle, we kill the Huns without the reward of the court, but the Taishou will open the treasury in exchange for the battle merits in the hands of the warriors, a Hun level five hundred coins, two sheep, the price has not changed in the past 30 years, absolutely Tong Su is not bullied." ”

"Good fellow, one Hun level is worth five hundred dollars, two sheep! This trade is done! Chop off a few more Huns' heads, and I can go home to marry a daughter-in-law and have a baby. ”

"You stupid, how many people died in the hands of the Huns with the same idea as you, the Huns were fierce and fierce to kill people like killing cattle and sheep as fast as they were amazing, there were many marksmen in the leaders of the Huns, who could take your life silently, and you didn't even know who killed you when the time came."

The novices were frightened like a quail by a few old oilers, Wei Buguang felt funny and followed the scare: "You must know that the Huns also have a similar reward, cut off the head of the Han army to reward one cow, two sheep, and cut off the head of the Han army general to seal the Hun king, so the Huns are not soft at all when they kill us." ”

Chen Zhang muttered dissatisfiedly, "Why? We are not Han Army. ”

"Who's to say it isn't? It is no longer the Han army who rides a horse and carries a knife and bends a bow, and there is no Han army in the world to kill. ”

The knights burst out laughing.

"Oh, I see, those Huns are taking advantage of our rank, it's really hateful!" Chen gritted his teeth angrily.

"It's a long way back and forth, and when the Han army goes out, they don't care about the herdsmen on the grassland, and if they catch it, they will be cut down by the Hun cavalry."

Xu Wan carried the horsewhip and smiled slightly: "You don't have to be discouraged, we can count half of the Han army if we follow the Han army, but we don't need to obey the orders and rules of the army." ”

The whole of Yanmen County is preparing for this war in full swing, this late summer the northern sky is full of war clouds, the cattle and sheep on the grassland are still leisurely grazing pasture, and the sky has long been destined that this will not be a quiet season.

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