On the snowy grassland, a group of braid Xi warriors galloped back to the camp of the Ahui tribe and reported to the tribal leader Su Zhi that they had seen the leopard flag. They pointed to the northwest, where dark clouds hung low, and wind and rain were blowing.

"How long did you come back on horseback after you saw the leopard flag?" Looking at the exhausted tribal knights, the Xi clan Ahui tribe's Qi Jin's heart shook, but his face tried to remain calm. He asked as he sent someone to gather the chiefs of the clan.

"We rode for three days!" The warrior who had been ordered to go north with a team of men and horses said.

"Tongluo's cavalry is really coming, are you here to rob or passing by?" One of the clan leaders asked worriedly. Before, I had heard that the Bayegu people had attacked the Xia tribe and marched south to raid the Khitan territory, but now I heard that the Tongluo people were coming, and the older leader's face was full of fear.

Not long after taking over as the head of the tribe, Su Zhi was still very young, only in his early thirties, but he had the name of the tribe's first warrior. At this time, when he heard that the army of Tongluo was coming, he beat a drum in his heart, but he desperately pretended to be calm and relaxed on his face. Facing the leaders of the various tribes surrounding the tent, he nodded, "There is going to be a big war on the steppe, and the caravan tribesmen I sent to the south to trade with the Han people have come back to tell me that Du Lan, the Turkic Great Khan of the Eastern Steppe, is now dissatisfied with the Sui Emperor of the Central Plains, and the Central Plains Emperor is also dissatisfied with Du Lan, and intends to support the Turki Little Khan in the northern part of the Eastern Steppe to replace Du Lan Khan." At the beginning of the year, Dulan Khan attacked the Sui Bian, and failed for the Tuli Khan to secretly report to his father-in-law of the Sui Dynasty. Said this time. Dulan Khan has secretly contacted the Datou Khan of the Western Regions, and wants to destroy Tuli first, and then attack the Sui Dynasty. "Speaking of which. Su Zhi sighed, "Now the Tiele people in the north are moving one after another, which proves the truth of the information more and more. Now the Tiele people such as Baye Gu and Tongluo are sending troops to the east at this time, and their intentions are already quite obvious. ”

The leaders sitting in front of the brazier in the tent were all full of worry, "Damn the black people, they will fight the Sui State if they want to, why do they always use us first." ”

"The law of the jungle. It has always been so. Su Zhi sighed.

The Tiele people were preparing to respond to the order of the Turkic Khan to attack the Sui in the south, but at this time, they came to fight the Xi, Khitan, Xi and even Murwei tribes in the east, which seemed a little inexplicable. But the leaders of the Xi people, who have survived on the grassland for so many years, are very aware of this qiē. In the eyes of the Turks, the Sui State in the Central Plains was a rich and powerful dynasty, while these tribes in the East were much weaker. Therefore, each steppe prepares to attack the Central Plains before. They must first raid these semi-nomadic, semi-fishing and hunting tribes in the East. Raid the tribes of the East. It was both to prepare supplies for the upcoming war, and also to weaken and deter the tribes in the east, so that they could have peace of mind when they set out on a journey south.

"Should we run?" An elderly leader asked.

Su Zhi shook his head, "We can't outrun the leopard riders, they are outnumbered, the iron riders are like clouds, as fast as leopards, no matter how fast we run, we can't escape their pursuit." Moreover. It's winter now, and the day after tomorrow gets colder and colder. If we abandon the camp for the winter now. Even if we run away, it will be difficult for us to survive this harsh winter. But we must not just sit idly by, we should slaughter the sheep and oxen, separate them and hide them in secret places, and hide all our people in the forest, and then we must gather all the warriors of our tribes, and we will fight them. ”

The leopard flag is the banner of the Tongluo people, and the Tongluo people are a branch of the Tiele people, and they are a large tribe among them. The totems of the Tiele people are wolves like the Turks, but there are many tribes of Tiele, and Tongluo has the meaning of leopard in Turkic language. Nowadays, the wolf's head is more of a symbol of the blue Turks in the Turks, so the Tongluo people in Tiele are more often fighting leopard rides. Tongluo nationality is a large tribe in the nine surnames of Tiele, especially after the Turkic Khan's tooth tent moved south, the Tongluo nationality and other Tiele tribes developed rapidly in Mobei, according to the Su branch knows, the Tongluo nationality is a very powerful one among the Tiele tribes in Mobei, with more than 40,000 victories and a population of more than 200,000 households, many of which are in recent years from the Muwei in Mobei, the Xi, Khitan, Xi and other tribes in the east.

The population of the five major tribes of the Xi tribe combined, there are no 100,000 accounts, and the combined warriors of each tribe do not have 40,000. The 40,000-strong Tongluo is just one of the Tiele people, and the Tiele tribes in the north and south of the desert and the western regions are all combined, which is said to have exceeded one million accounts, which is also the basis why the Tiele tribes can provide as many as 400,000 people to the Turkic Khanate in its heyday. The once unified Turkic Khanate had hundreds of thousands of soldiers, of which the soldiers and horses were divided into three categories, one was the attachment dominated by Ashina and Ashde, that is, the guards, the number of this khanate janissary was less than 100,000, but it was the most elite. However, the largest number of Turkic cavalry came from the Black Turks who had surrendered to the Turks and given up their original tribal titles, as well as those northern Tiele and other tribal armies who still did not give up their tribal titles and rebelled infrequently. And the Turks also have an army, that is, Hu Cai, also known as Tuoqi, which is a force composed of nine surnames of Zhaowu in the Western Regions, and it is also a Hu soldier in the eyes of the Turks.

It is precisely because the Turks once had such a large number of soldiers and horses that the Turks in their heyday were able to suppress the Northern Zhou and Northern Qi Goguryeo in the east, and the west destroyed such a powerful country as Yanda, and also turned the Persian Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire around. If it weren't for the fact that the Western Turks had been at war with Persia when the northern part of the Central Plains was unified, and if the Western Turks had moved their troops to the east, the process of the unification of the Central Plains would probably have been heavily disrupted.

When the Turks were strong, these small tribes in the East, whether they were Murwei, Xi, Khitan or Xi, were all dependent and subservient to the Turks. The title of the current tribal leader of the Su branch is the Turkic official position obtained by the Xi people when they surrendered to the Turks.

Compared with the powerful Turks, the strength of the Xi people is too weak, even if it is only a tribe of the Tiele tribe in the Turks, it is still far superior to the strength of the Xi people. What's more, although the Xi clan also has a history of hundreds of years, it has been separated from Murong Xianbei since the beginning. Until now, they have not been able to form an effective tribal alliance. Up to now, there are five major tribes of the Xi people. The Ahui clan is the strongest among them, but the well water does not interfere with the river water on weekdays, and they do not unify with each other. Even many times, there are times when tribes often clash with each other. The five major tribes of the Xi nationality combined, there are hundreds of thousands, and the regular army can have seven or eight thousand people. If you add auxiliaries, you can also raise about 30,000 tribal soldiers. But it is difficult for the tribal soldiers gathered in this way to fight against the leopard cavalry from Mobei. Previously, the Baye Gu people robbed thousands of Xi people on the dam, but the people of the department did not dare to say a word.

The Ahui clan can recruit 2,000 elite warriors. And it can also call up 4,000 auxiliaries. But in the face of the Tongluo people who rode with leopards, few leaders dared to fight.

"We have to fight back, and if it's just to escape, then we've escaped for a while. But in the end, they will also be destroyed by cold and hunger. The leopards are strong though. But they came from afar, and they could not have come from the whole tribe, and they might have come only a part of it. We can contact the other four tribes to send troops against them, the last time the department and the tribe were attacked by the Baye Gu people, we believe that they also have a breath of anger against the Tiele people, the other tribes are similar, if we are still scattered, then we will be defeated. They can't escape either. Together, we can protect ourselves. Let alone. The biggest enemy of the Turks is the Sui State in the Central Plains, and we are now dependent on the Sui State, hold on, and then the Sui State will send troops to help us. ”

The leaders believed Su Zhi's words, and although they didn't feel that the Sui State would send troops to help them, it was like a hope. Besides, they really have no other way out.

The soldiers in the camp began to brave the wind and snow with Suzhi's arrows to send orders to the Xi camps everywhere, summoning the Xi warriors to assemble, and telling the Xi people of various tribes to retreat to the forests in the east for shelter. It only took two days, and the Xi camps scattered everywhere had already completed the retreat. They hid many of their belongings in the snow in the nearby woods and buried them, and then drove their cattle and sheep to the east.

In a forest, Suzhi re-erected the flag here, and three golden deer were displayed on the flag, the deer was the totem of the Xi people, and the three golden deer were the symbol of the Ahui clan, and only the strongest Ahui clan could have three golden deer.

More tribal leaders and elders gathered in Suzhi's camp, and the first step had been implemented, but next, how to deal with the upcoming leopard cavalry, these elders did not know how to deal with the approaching leopard horse.

One of the tribal leaders offered his opinion, "We should continue to retreat eastward, at least with the warriors of the other four tribes, so that we can be sure of a battle." ”

Su Zhi's son, sixteen-year-old Kedu, jumped up and shouted, "Coward! Why pour such frustrating words into our ears, our Ahui clan is not a department and a department, we can't let a group of robbers of the Tiele clan flee in fright. As he spoke, he spat on the ground in disdain.

"You little hairy child who hasn't even paid for what a woman is like, you only know the courage of a horseman"

Su Zhi raised his hand to stop the angry elder from continuing to retort and scold, "What the elder said is not without reason, it should be more steady, but Kedu is not completely wrong, and courage must not be less." ”

"We can't turn around and flee without fighting, but in the face of a strong enemy, we can't just be brave and blindly fight." Su Zhi slowed down and said, "We have to take advantage of the familiar terrain and the current bad weather, not to confront these leopards head-on, we should sneak attack, keep sneak attacks, and fight and retreat, we retreat to the south, approach Huaihuang, and lead them to the foot of the Great Wall of the Sui people!" ”

"Whew!" The taunts shouted in unison, all of them in admiration for the young leader's strategy. The leopard clan is very strong, but even the Turks, the masters of the leopard clan, can't beat the Sui people in the Central Plains, so these leopard people are not wiped out in front of the Sui people.

"We need to send someone to the Great Wall, to report to the Sui people, to ask them for reinforcements, so that they can get ready!"

"I'm willing to go!" Many shouted loudly, scrambling for the task.

"Let Kodu go." Su fulcrum his own son.

In the dead of night, Su Zhi called his son Kedu into his tent alone.

The two sat cross-legged, facing each other on a cowhide, roasting and drinking mare's milk tea. Su Zhi lifted the leather bag and took a big sip, then handed it to his son with satisfaction, and the son also lifted it up and took a big sip.

"Tell me, what do you think."

"I want to stay and fight the leopard people, I don't want to leave at this time, and the big war is coming, but I leave, which makes me look like a coward."

"Is your brain broken?" Su Zhi shook his head and sighed.

But Kedu insisted, "I know the strength of the leopard horse, but I am not afraid of death, I want to fight side by side with my clan brothers." ”

Su Zhi shook his head desperately, "No, I've already decided, you go to the Great Wall early tomorrow morning." ”

"I'm a taunting warrior, I'm sixteen." "I've hunted bears and leopards alone, and I've hunted bearskins and leopards in my tent," he shouted. I rode fast, and I could shoot an eagle's eye in the sky with an arrow. ”

"Among my peers, no one has ever beaten you, and your riding archery is also the strongest, even when I was your age, I didn't have such good riding and archery skills." Su Zhiyi said, "Everyone knows these things, what's the use of you still saying it, don't I know." But you must know that you are the son of my Su Zhi, and you will inherit my position in the future and lead the Ahui tribe. What do you think is the most important thing for a tribal leader? Bravery? No, bravery is just the most basic requirement of a tribal leader, and as a leader, you have a lot to consider. Just like now, you are the son of my Su Zhi, you are the young patriarch of the tribe, at this time, your position is not to stay here as a warrior and charge into battle. At this time, you should represent me, our Ahui clan, and even our Xi tribe, go to the Great Wall, go to the Sui State, and ask for reinforcements, that's what you should do. ”

Su Zhi lifted the mare's milk bag and took a big sip, then sighed, pointed to his son, and said, "You have to understand your own position, you are the heir of the tribe, not just a warrior." How many Tongluo people can you kill alone? One two, five ten? But if you can bring back reinforcements from the Sui people, then we can defeat these vicious leopard people and kill them by 12,000 or even 35,000, understand? Whether you understand it or not, early tomorrow morning, you will give Lao Tzu the road and rush to the Great Wall. After speaking, Su Zhi directly kicked his son, who was still a little unconvinced, out of the tent. (To be continued......)