Several tooth soldiers in the front row were hit by the huge force of the horses on the spot, and their mouths spurted blood, and the spears made of hardwood crackled and broke into two pieces, and plunged into the chests of the horses with wooden stubble. Neither the cavalry nor the foot soldiers could hold back their footsteps and rushed deep into the ranks of the enemy. The cloud cavalry army, which had long been prepared for short-handed combat, threw away the cumbersome spear, pulled out the horizontal knife, and slashed wildly at the foot soldiers below with their heads and faces, while the infantry soldiers of the Jinfan Army took spears back to back in small teams to look at the surrounding high places in the chaotic battlefield, and many foot soldiers with long handles and heavy axes used the cover of spearmen to rush and slash in the gap between the clusters of various squads, and the axes were specially hailed to the horse's legs. Forty or fifty cavalrymen swept directly from both sides of the infantry formation because the horses were startled, and when they turned around and were about to charge and kill, they found that the crossbowmen commanded by Xiao Jiu had already lined up in three formations at the edge of the chaotic battlefield, and released arrows in an orderly manner, and the cavalry who had not had time to react were immediately shot down by more than twenty, and when the remaining horses were about to kick the crossbow formation, dozens of pikemen reacted, and under the leadership of the capital, they lined up behind the crossbowmen in a formation to wait for the enemy.

The fierce battle lasted only half a pillar of incense before the victory was divided, Tian Shaobin, the deputy commander of the Xiaowu Army, was cut off by a long-handled axe that suddenly appeared next to him not long after the battle began, and before he fell to the ground, a few accurate and ruthless spears poked several holes in his body, and only more than 30 of the 200 cavalry finally escaped. At this time, the two cloud cavalry leaders who were in charge of outflanking at the beginning gathered their men and horses to prepare to support the formation, and saw that the two hundred cavalry led by Tian Shaobin, who had always been known for their bravery, were solved like chopping melons and vegetables, and the two heads lost the courage to attack, and after discussing for a while, they actually abandoned the corpses of their comrades on the battlefield and retreated in a hurry in the direction of the Song army camp in Niutoushan.

At this time, Xin Gu had also killed almost all his strength, as if he raised his big axe, and let out a cheer to the beast-like "Huo Huohuo", the entire battlefield was still alive Jinfan soldiers under his drive began to cheer, and some people cut off the heads of the enemy soldiers they had just killed and hung them high on the spears and shook them, the Southern Tang Army at the head of the city was first stunned by this tragic battle, and then burst into bursts of joy and thunder, as if this was not a battle of less than a thousand people just now, but a great victory. Seeing the two hundred cavalry gradually disappear out of sight, Xiao Jiu, the Marquis of Jinfan, let out a sigh of relief, if these two hundred cavalry rush over and fight to the death again, even if they can win, it is estimated that there will be only a few Jinfan troops left. When everyone was cheering just now, Xiao Jiu made a rough calculation, in the short battle just now, the Jinfan Army killed eighty-three people, seriously injured twelve people, and the rest of the soldiers were almost all wounded, and now Xiao Jiu is looking forward to entering Jinling City as soon as possible more than anyone else, but the gate that is close at hand just won't open.

"The soldiers above listen, Xiao Jiu, the capital of the Jinfan Army, and Xin Gu, the captain of the Ya military camp, are here, and they want to enter the city to meet my commander, Lord Wu Yingying, quickly open the city gate and let me in. Xiao Jiu tore his throat and shouted, and the soldiers on the city tower only said that they were ordered not to open the city gate at will, and the city gate captain had already sent someone to ask Hu Ze, the commander of the Tiande Army. In order to show respect for the brothers of the enemy cavalry who had just fought bloodily, the soldiers defending the city also specially put down several baskets of roast meat and cooking cakes, as well as two large pots of tea and soup, so that the people of the Jinfan Army could eat something while waiting. While Xin Gu and the soldiers were sitting on the ground and shaking off their cheeks and munching, Yuhou Xiao Jiu was hanging into the distance with his eyes, for fear that a Song army would suddenly appear on the horizon and come to retaliate.

The loss of more than 300 cavalry was irrelevant compared to last night's victory, and because the Song army was busy consolidating its camp, it was expected that the revenge would not come soon, but from the surrounding mountains, bushes, and artemisia grass piles by the Qinhuai River, many of the routs of the Divine Guard Army that had been scattered yesterday were drilled out. These people wanted to go back to the city, but the gate had been closed since last night, and the south gate was blocked by a cavalry. Many of these Southern Tang routs were scattered by the repeated impact of the cavalry, and when they saw that the legs of the group of cavalry were weak, how could they dare to show up and approach. After the cavalry of the Song army blocking the city gate was defeated, these people dared to get out of their hiding place and gather next to the city gate, but they did not dare to approach the Jinfan army, which had just fought with the cavalry, and only watched them drink soup and eat meat with awe from afar. These routs gathered more and more, and finally the crowd of two or three thousand people competed for two or three thousand, and they gathered outside the city gate and shouted and shouted, and many people clapped their swords and guns and shouted at the city tower to open the door, so that the soldiers guarding the city gate did not dare to open the city gate at will.

While Xin Gu was staring at the city with dissatisfaction, an old Hu merchant came out of the crowd with a few men, hugged Xin Gu's shoulders and said loudly: "Brave general, thank you for defeating the evil and greedy Song people. After speaking, he took off his hat and bowed down, raised his head and said, "May Ahura give you strength and happiness!"

When Xingu was a horse thief on the grassland, he came into contact with several Zoroastrian tribes, and when he saw the old man blessing him, he replied with a smile: "Light will eventually triumph over darkness, and I wish you health and happiness." ”

The old man was surprised, "Brave general, are you also a follower of Ahura, the god of light?" and said with his left hand making a complicated greeting gesture between Zoroastrians.

Shingu also made a gesture of reciprocation and explained, "I am a Khitan from Nobunaga, but I sometimes pray to Ahura. ”

The old man smiled and said: "In the vast steppe, the Khitans are the best friends of the Sogdians, and you are the warriors who protect the people of Ahula. Reach out and ask the guy to bring him a bowl of Huren's favorite liquor.

Seeing that Xin Gu took the wine bowl and dried it up, the old man smiled and pointed to the Jinfan soldiers who were resting on the side and asked, "May I ask the general's name, I don't know which general's tent these warriors are serving in?"

Xin Gu replied: "I am Xin Gu, a Khitan man, and Lord Wu Yingying, who is now the Jinling Beacon Fire Envoy, is my family's commander. "He was originally sent by Wei Wei, the commander of the Tuhun Army, to assist Wu Yingying, but since the establishment of the Jinfan Army, Wu Yingying has relied on him in everything and regarded him as his heart, and his sergeants have revered him, so he gradually recognized the Jinfan Army as a group, otherwise he would not have led the army from Chizhou to join Wu Yingying.

When the old man heard this, he exclaimed in surprise and said happily: "Praise Ahula, it turns out that you are a subordinate of Lord Wu, my name is Kang Qu Dagan, and you Lord Wu often come to the restaurant I opened to eat and drink." He saw Xin Gu looking at him suspiciously, so he gushed again: "Old Kang Qu Dagan was going to Guangzhou to take care of business, and halfway through I heard that the Song people were going to secretly come to Jinling, I was worried about the safety of my daughter who stayed in the city, so I hurried back, who knew that the four gates of Jinling were closed, and those cavalry had been blocking at the gate of the southern city just now, so we had to hide in the bushes nearby, and waited until the warriors sheltered by Ahura drove those cavalry away." The general's men were truly brave, and the old Sogdians had never seen such a brave warrior as they had ever been. ”

He saw that Xin Gu didn't seem to pay attention to his words, but looked at the corpses of the Jinfan Army's dead soldiers not far away, paused, and said, "The general is grieving for the comrades who just died in battle?"

"Yes," said Xingu, "true warriors, who rushed to the front to meet the iron hooves of the enemy's horses, are now lying quietly on the ground. He listened for a while, and then said: "I took them all the way from Chizhou all the way to join the commander, who knew that they actually fell less than a mile from the gate of Lijinling, and I didn't take good care of these brothers." ”

After listening to Xin Gu's words, Kang Qu Dagan said angrily: "Since these warriors died in battle to protect our people in Jinling, the old Sogdians are willing to donate 1,000 yuan to build a big tomb for them and erect a tombstone, so that the people of Jinling will always remember that there is such a group of warriors." ”

Xingu waved his hand and said: "No need, they are buried here, if the war is unfavorable in the future, the remains will inevitably be insulted by the enemy, I know that there is a place that is very quiet, very suitable for the final destination of the warriors." I will take the ashes of these brothers there for burial. After speaking, he turned his face to the north, as if he had seen the place where the brothers who died in battle were placed.

Kang Quda rolled his eyes, touched his beard, and said: "They Han people have a saying, called, hunting dogs cannot escape death in the forest, and warriors will inevitably die in battle." If General Xin wanted to have a safe place for his brothers, the old Sogdians had a lot of property that needed to be protected by warriors. If General Xin was willing to bring these warriors to work here in Old Sogdia, Old Sogdia would never treat these hot-blooded men badly. He looked at Xin Gu and saw that he did not react, and said: "These warriors are paid two hundred yuan a year, and as for General Xin himself, the preferential treatment that General Wu can give you, Old Sogdian can do." ”

It is the tradition of the steppe people to recruit warriors, and it is not a shame to defect to the master who can give the warriors the highest privileges, Kang Qu Dagan spoke to Xin Gu in Khitan language, and he was not afraid that the people next to him would understand, Xin Gu looked at the eager face of this Sogdian merchant, was silent for a while, and said in a low voice: "Thank you Kang Qu Dagan, what General Wu promised me and these soldiers is not what you have." ”

Kang Quda let out a disappointed "oh", but quickly diverted the topic and talked to Xin Gupan about the scenery and people of the grassland.

At this moment, in Jinling City, Wu Yingying looked at the two pro-soldiers standing straight in front of him with some annoyance.

The twenty-four-year-old Huainan native of Guantong's face turned red, and he said: "Miss Kanglisi promised, if I and Zhang Shun are willing to go to her as a guard, in addition to food and clothing, the salary will be one hundred and fifty yuan a year, and if you marry a bride, you will be rewarded with a set of mansions." ”

Zhang Shun, who is twenty-five years old from Jiangyin, said with a crying voice: "My lord, it's not that the two of us are open-minded when we see money, it's just that Miss Kanglisi said that there is no one to protect her, anyway, adults have to assign someone to protect her, so why don't we just leave the military to be her guard, and she doesn't always feel too sorry for adults." ”

"Is this worthy of me?" Wu Yingying snorted, reaching out and slapping it heavily on the table.

"My lord, Zhang Shun and I are both white-armored volunteers, and we were not originally in the military. Seeing that Wu Yingying was angry, Na Guan Tong muttered and explained.

"I don't care what kind of soldier you are, leaving the army without permission is a deserter. Wu Yingying stared at the two people opposite viciously and threatened.