A spring rain.

Wash the blue sky.

Wash the dirty floor.

The dormant grass was awakened, and its head was poked out, peering into the land, and small raised buds appeared on the bare branches, declaring its existence in the still steep cold wind. Birds chirp over the still desolate and dilapidated fields, bringing spring in all directions.

Spring in the Hetao is coming.

The bird saw a cavalry galloping across the field.

Due to the lack of maintenance of facilities after the withdrawal of the Eastern Han court, the looting of Qianghu made the land more dangerous, and many people were reluctant to set foot in it, and the originally smooth official road has become potholes. The drizzle that had just ended made the official road even more muddy, and the muddy water splashed by the cavalry as they marched put a coat on the cavalry and the horses, and everyone was embarrassed, just wanting to end this arduous march as soon as possible.

At the front of the line is a heroic young man.

The young man has a majestic appearance, a calm bearing that is not commensurate with his age, and the most special thing is that his eyes, which are as deep as the sea, which are unforgettable at first sight. His robe and cloak were covered with muddy water, dyed snow white and yellow, and the boy didn't care, except for the silver spear on the side of the horse.

A cavalryman rushed up: "My lord, it's getting dark, do you want to find a place to camp first?" ”

The boy looked up at the sky and asked, "How far is it?" ”

"More than fifty miles."

"Then don't rest, we'd better get to the place in one go, and have a clean and warm place to stay in the evening, and a hot meal, than to camp in the wilderness and nibble on cold and hard dry food."

"No."

Everyone was sleepy and tired, and they wanted to find a place to lie down immediately, but the boy was the leader of this team, and it was up to the boy to decide whether he could stop or not. However, sleeping in the damp and muddy wilderness is not a good idea, and no one will have a problem with a warm room, steaming meals and bath water in exchange for overnight travel.

They've been on the road for too long.

From Beiping to Bohai, and then straight to Hetao, there was hardly any rest on the way, and everyone was tired.

The memory of this time, in addition to rushing or rushing.

Get up early in the morning, camp in the dark, day after day, which is boring and hard to imagine ordinary people.

The reason for this rush is that the leader is almost strict self-discipline.

Although the leader is young, he is strong in martial arts, decisive, and usually takes good care of everyone.

At first, some people were worried that he was too young to lead this army, but the boy quickly convinced everyone with practical actions. On the way, they encountered several bands of thieves and deserters who coveted their horses and launched attacks, but they repelled them one by one. The boss always rushes to the front, and quickly takes out the thieves with his silver spear, so that the enemy is afraid and has no intention of fighting again, so they always win easily.

Under the leadership of the leader, everyone has traveled thousands of miles together, from strange to familiar, and they have become more and more tacit with each other.

Everyone was extremely proud of this, and they were extremely convinced of the young man named Zhao Yun.

The destination is close at hand, but now everyone's greatest wish is to have a hot meal, take a hot bath, change into clean clothes, and then sleep soundly.

When the Beiping cavalry was rushing overnight, there was also a cavalry in the other direction, which was also urging the horses to gallop. What is even more coincidental is that the size of this cavalry is not much different from the Beiping cavalry, less than 600 people, and some of the cavalry can see blood stains on their clothes, apparently having just experienced a battle.

They were dragon cavalry, and the leader was Qu Chen.

Following the hidden markings of his companions along the way, the Breaker rode off the relatively easy official road, wading across the river, through the woods, and finally to a valley. The secret sentinel arranged outside sent a signal, and Li Fu came out of the valley to greet him, and saw that Qu Chen's men and horses clearly had traces of battle, and Li Fu's heart sank.

Li Fu grabbed the reins and asked in a low voice, "Facing up with the Qianghu people?" ”

Qu Chen rolled the saddle and dismounted, and said calmly: "Hmm." A troop of Qianghu cavalry discovered the trails you left behind and chased them in the direction you were going, and I led men up to fight them. ”

"How's the loss?"

"More than 40 brothers were killed and many more were wounded, but those Qianghu people were even more miserable, and nearly 200 people were killed by the two legions. They didn't seem to know that the legion technique couldn't be used all the time, and as soon as the second legion skill came out, the Qianghu cavalry began to waver, and then their leader asked me to slaughter it, and the Qianghu people turned around and ran. ”

Qu Chen said it lightly, but Li Fu knew that the battle situation was definitely not that simple.

The cooldown time of the king-level general's legion skill was five minutes, and Qu Chen killed the enemy chief after sending out two legion skills, indicating that the battle lasted at least five minutes.

Qu Chen's fighting style has always been known for his bravery, wielding a halberd as if a heavenly general descended to earth, unstoppable, and it was difficult for the Qianghu cavalry to have two generals under him. The idle Qianghu small army was shocked by Qu Chen like this, and most of them had already retreated, this time the Qianghu people continued to fight with the Broken Cavalry, and it also caused so many losses in the Broken Cavalry, it should not be an ordinary army.

Li Fu frowned and said, "My lord, why do I think the Qianghu cavalry has been more difficult to deal with recently than before?" ”

"You just know?"

Qu Chen laughed: "They have indeed become stronger, Xu Junshi has told me the truth, I just didn't tell you." Half of the new soldiers had not seen much blood, and if he had mentioned this stubble to them before the battle, he would probably have been tied to the battle and scared himself to death before the battle began. ”

Li Fu gasped.

The cavalry was originally at a disadvantage against the Qiang Hu cavalry, everyone has been training hard, hoping to narrow the gap between the two sides, but the opponent's strength has improved again, no wonder it feels wrong to come out this time, how to fight in the future? I'm afraid that only a bold guy like Qu Chen will take the initiative to attack fearlessly and insist on sharpening his troops in actual combat, knowing that the strength of the two sides is not equal.

"Where are the refugees and prisoners?" Qu Chen asked.

"It's all in the valley. According to the orders of the adults, the refugees, livestock, and Qianghu captives were separated, and two centenarians guarded the captives. There was a lot of loot on this trip, and in order to speed up the march during the retreat, I ordered some cattle and sheep to be abandoned......"

Li Fufei replied quickly.

This time, the Breaker rode to attack the small Qianghu tribe as before, plundering the population for the development of the Hetao territory, and found that there were multiple Qianghu rangers tracking them on the way back. Qu Chen found that the situation was not right, so he decided to personally cut off the rear and ordered Li Fu to take the main force and the captured population and livestock to go first. When the Broken Captives found the Qianghu Rangers, they were only more than 30 miles away from the Dragon Leader, but after the continuous drizzle, the roads were muddy and difficult to walk, and it was difficult to walk fast with the refugees, Qianghu captives and booty, so in a hurry, Li Fu had to take everyone to this valley for temporary resettlement.

Qu Chen was obviously indifferent to abandoning cattle and sheep.

"It's good that people haven't been lost, have you sent someone to report to the territory?"

"I sent three batches and took different routes back to the dragon territory, and the fastest should have returned to the territory."

Qu Chen remained silent and continued: "How are your defenses arranged? ”

Li Fudao: "In addition to the necessary guards and prisoners and sentinels, eight hundred cavalry are divided into two groups to take turns to rest, there are two hundred people at the mouth of the valley, about two miles to the northeast and northwest, and there are one hundred cavalry lurking in the forest, which is in a horn situation with us. It can not only expand the range of vigilance, but also rush to the aid in time when encountering the enemy. ”

Qu Chen finally showed a satisfied look on his face, Li Fu's astuteness was rare among the transferred generals.

"It's getting dark, let's spend the night in the valley tonight, and we'll go back to Longling tomorrow morning, and pay attention to vigilance at night."

"Don't worry, sir!"

After the break, the troops fought hard, and after using up dry food, they rested in the place one after another.

Qu Chen leaned against a stone wall and closed his eyes to recuperate, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

What happened today made him feel that something was unusual.

The legend of the dragon collar is widely known in the Hetao grassland, and the deterrent power of the frog dragon is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, deterring the ignorant and barbaric Qianghu people, and the Qianghu tribe is very afraid of the dragon collar. It is precisely because of this that the Breaker Cavalry dared to repeatedly take the initiative to attack the Qianghu tribe, and enriched the population of the Hetao territory by attacking the Qianghu tribe.

Qu Chen knew that the combat strength of the Broken Cavalry was not good, and the targets he chose were all small tribes.

With mental calculation or unintentional, the legion's skills took the lead, Qu Chen assaulted and opened the way, and two thousand cavalry rushed up. By the time this combination was finished, most of the small tribe's combat power had been disabled.

This was followed by a joyful surrender ceremony.

The Qianghu tribe in the Hetao area is complex, and the Xianbei people, Xiongnu people, and Qiang people all thrive on this land, and wars or annexations between them are common. There are many battles, the rules are self-contained, and the defeated either become slaves (aliens) or become members of a new tribe (the same race), divided and combined, in short, survival is the most important, and everyone has long been accustomed to it.

It was not surprising that the enslaved Han people cooperated with the dragon army, and the captive Qianghu people actually cooperated obediently. The customary rules on the grassland made the movement of the captives ride very smooth.

Due to the "Legend of the Dragon Collar" as a talisman, the matter of being followed by the rangers had never happened before, but today at least four groups of rangers were far behind the Broken Cavalry, and there were nearly a thousand Qiang Hu cavalry trying to pursue. If it weren't for Qu Chen's occupation of the advantageous position, the two legions in succession shocked the Qianghu people, and they were so frightened that they hurriedly retreated and continued to fight, and it would be difficult for the broken cavalry to retreat with all their bodies.

This is a red flag.

What made the Qianghu cavalry put aside their fear of the dragon leader?

After thinking about it, Qu Chen temporarily thought of the following three possibilities.

The first type: The news of the loss of the frog dragon was learned by the Qianghu tribe.

When the sailor regained Salmon Island, Qingjiaolong went out with the team, and was separated from the fleet on the way back to the Flying Fish Territory, and not many people in the Dragon Leader knew about it, but Qu Chen was obviously qualified to know. The Qianghu tribe did not dare to clash with the dragon leader, because they were afraid that "the dragon leader has a dragon", once the dragon leader lost the frog dragon, it was just an ordinary township-level stronghold, and there was no need for the Qianghu cavalry to continue to endure and avoid.

But the loss of the frog dragon is a territorial secret, and the Jiaoshui master has been given a gag order, and it must not be passed on.

Except for those who witnessed it, there were very few people who knew that the frog dragon was lost.

There were only four people in Long Ling who knew this secret: Xu Shu, Zhai Yin, Feng Luan, and Qu Chen. The first three were invited to participate in the closed-door meeting, and Qu Chen had the right to learn that it was not the reason why he was the lord's brother, he was the number one general of the Hetao garrison, and the executor of the plundering operation, and he must clearly know the current situation of the territory, so as to avoid forcing the Qianghu people with excesses and putting the dragon leader in unnecessary danger.

It is impossible for any of the four insiders to sell their territory, and what Qu Chen is worried about is that he will inadvertently say that he will not know.

Second: The Qianghu people decide to take revenge on the dragon leader.

In order to obtain a large number of people needed for the development of the Hetao territory, it has become the norm for the captives to take the initiative to attack, Qu Chen carefully avoided large and medium-sized tribes, and only picked soft persimmons to start, but it is easy to radicalize the people's anger if he does too many bad things. Fights, vendettas, and mergers between the Qianghu tribes are not uncommon, but not all tribes are incompatible, and the network of friends, in-laws, and allies is difficult for outsiders to detect.

So far, there have been five small Qianghu tribes attacked by the Breakers, and three of them have been removed.

No one can say whether there are strong foreign aid in those five small tribes.

Regardless of the origins between the tribes, the Qianghu tribes generally regarded themselves as the masters of the Hetao, and the Han people were the objects of oppression in the Hetao and had no status. A township-level Han stronghold provoked many times in Hetao, which could easily arouse the strong dissatisfaction of many Qianghu tribes. The "Legend of the Dragon Leader" has a certain deterrent effect on the Qianghu people, but after all, it is just a legend, a miracle, and it may not make the Qianghu tribe so afraid that they dare not make trouble.

The dragon cavalry took the initiative to attack again and again, which was tantamount to using a small knife to continue to cut the flesh of the Qianghu people. I didn't cut much each time, but the pain was real, and over time, it was not surprising that I was driven crazy.

What happened today may be the beginning of Qiang Hu's revenge on the dragon leader.

The third type: the Qianghu people need food.

Winter is the hardest season for nomads.

If they did not stock up on enough food before the onset of winter, they would often take risks, so the nomadic cavalry raided Han Chinese settlements mostly in the autumn.

This winter, there was heavy snow in the Hetao, and many livestock froze to death on the grasslands.

Winter is gone, spring is coming, but it will be a few months before the grasslands come back to life, and the stomach will be treated every day. Livestock are frozen to death so much, and then slaughtering cattle and sheep to feed their stomachs, will make the number too small affect the breeding of livestock populations, causing a longer and more far-reaching disaster, which is equivalent to drinking water to quench thirst.

Nomads have a lot of experience in dealing with such situations.

The most direct way to get rid of the tribal food crisis is to grab it.

Recently, a number of fights have broken out between the Qianghu tribes in the Hetao, and many Qianghu cavalry have marched south to plunder the Han area. In the past few months, the dragon leader has plundered several small tribes in a row, and captured a lot of loot, and it is not impossible that some Qianghu tribes have targeted the dragon leader.

Whichever speculation is closer to reality is not a good thing for the dragon leader......

Thinking about it, Qu Chen fell into a deep sleep.

As it was almost dawn, he was awakened by the noise and shouts of killing outside the valley.

Enemy attack!