Lu Qingnan looked a little anxious: "Big brother, do you think they will go to Qingyuan Village?" Or just flee to the City of the Red Hoof? ”

“…… Possibly! Lu Qingdong's answer was very vague. In fact, he himself doesn't have much confidence in this. On the march to war, the importance of scouts is self-evident. After leading the army into the territory of the Niu Clan, he immediately sent a large number of sentries. These people are doing a great job and bring back a lot of useful information every day.

After capturing Yongli Village and Jimai Village one after another, the situation has obviously changed.

From the day before yesterday to the present, not a single scout has returned. They seemed to disappear into thin air, without a trace.

Lu Qingdong felt bad, and sent hundreds of sentry spies one after another, but it was still the same as before, these people had gone and never returned.

Until now, I came to the empty Zhangpu Village.

He fell silently into thought, slowly walked to the nearest wooden house, carefully observed the inside of the door panel, and after half a minute, he pushed it away and walked in.

The room was dark. Many of the barbarian houses in the north were built in this way: the south-facing walls were sawn with wood, and the heavy rough wooden windows had to be opened with poles at the bottom. When the windows are closed, it is difficult for light to shine in, so you have to light a fire in the center of the fire to see the various furnishings in the house.

Lu Qingnan's face was full of anxiety, he followed behind Lu Qingdong, his left hand crossed his waist, kept pinching his teeth, smashing his mouth, and his face was full of expressions of wanting to kill and vent his anger.

He didn't understand, what was there to see about this empty wooden house?

The eldest brother has been delayed here for a long time.

It doesn't look like any other room. Anyway, there is no one in Zhangpu Village, and it feels like a waste of time.

A leader of a hundred people hurried from a distance, he fell on one knee on the steps outside the wooden house, and asked respectfully: "Prince Qiyu, it's time to cook, what should I arrange today?" ”

The tribes of the northern barbarians were constantly in dispute, and there were more tribes within the big tribes. Normally, the patriarchs of the major clans can be addressed as "Your Majesty", and minor patriarchs like the patriarch of the stag, Lu Qingyuan, are called "Your Highness". Because of identity restrictions, the descendants of the patriarch can only call "prince" and "princess", and cannot use the title of "His Highness".

Lu Qingdong walked out of the dark room, stood at the edge of the sun-shrouded area, and asked lightly: "How many more women do we still bring out from Jimai Village and Yongli Village?" ”

The head of the hundred people kneeling on the ground thought for a moment: "Sixty-two." ”

"Kill them all." Lu Qingdong's tone was flat, as if he was talking about ordinary life topics: "No one is allowed to hide secrets, all women must be killed and mixed with a little dry food...... Today's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast, almost enough. ”

This order made Lu Qingnan and the head of the hundred people speechless.

The former hurriedly stepped forward and hurriedly asked, "Big brother, is this ...... Why? ”

The hundred heads who were kneeling on the ground were also full of shock, thinking that they had something wrong with their ears.

There is something special about this group of women who have been taken captive. Several of them are very beautiful, and even Lu Qingdong himself has tried them and praised them. When he captured Jimai Village, he personally told Lu Qingnan that he would bring these women back and present them to his father as gifts.

There are also several women who are blacksmiths. They know how to forge weapons, from identifying ore to refining into steel, and have a complete set of forging techniques. Lu Qingdong repeatedly instructed his subordinates to keep strict care of them and treat them as part of the most important loot.

"We don't need women now. Kill them, and leave none behind. Lu Qingdong did not explain in front of the head of the hundred people, he accentuated his tone: "We need food." ”

The command, imbued with majesty, cannot be questioned. Despite the doubts in his heart, the loyal Hundred Heads bent down towards Lu Qingdong, and with a light touch of his forehead on the ground, he immediately stood up and carried out the bloody and cruel will of the superior with doubts.

"We're late. It is estimated that someone from the two stockades we captured before escaped, or our scouts were captured by them. Lu Qingdong explained while thinking: "It will take at least a week for the news to reach Red Hoof City, and even longer for Thunderhorn City. From reacting, rallying troops, and then dispatching, arriving ...... The whole process is about a week. All things considered, we have at least fifteen days left. ”

Lu Qingnan's face was blank. It was really difficult for him to adapt to Lu Qingdong's jumping thinking. Before, he clearly talked about killing women as military rations, but in an instant, it was transformed into the movement of the Niu army.

Glancing at his stammering younger brother, Lu Qingdong smiled slightly, raised his hand, and pressed his shoulder: "Anan, my father values you very much." You have to learn to be smart and analyze the problem yourself. ”

As he spoke, he turned around and pointed to the open door panel of the wooden house: "Look here, this is the normal position to push the door. You touch it, and the gray layer on it is very thin. This shows that the people of Zhangpu Village have not been away for a long time. ”

"Come in with me. Here, look at this window, it's open. Looking at the furnishings in the room, the Niu people were in such a hurry that they didn't have time to take everything with them, and they didn't even care about their own home. ”

The devil is in the details. According to Lu Qingdong's guidance, Lu Qingnan gradually saw a lot of problems. He raised his head and looked at his brother with adoring eyes: "Big brother, the people from Zhangpu Village haven't gone far?" ”

Lu Qingdong nodded: "They should be on their way to the nearby village, or they may choose to flee directly to Red Hoof City." ”

A trace of confusion appeared in Lu Qingnan's eyes: "Then why don't we catch up?" ”

"The scout hasn't returned, the situation is unknown, so we'll have to stay here for the time being." Lu Qingdong patiently explained: "We are fighting a quick battle this time, we must fight quickly, and end the battle and leave before the main force of the Niu Clan in Thunder Horn City reacts." So from the beginning we only brought ten days of food. We have a lot of people, the scale of the Niu village on the offensive route is small, easy to fight, and it will be broken as soon as it is attacked, as long as we maintain this offensive momentum, we will go around in a circle in the Niu tribe territory very smoothly, and finally kill through the rock village and go back safely. ”

"So big brother, do you think it's a burden to carry those women?" Lu Qingnan somewhat understood.

"The situation is different now than it was a few days ago." Lu Qingdong sighed: "At that time, we need to boost morale, and it is good for us to bring them." What's more, those women are indeed beautiful, and there are blacksmiths...... They are very valuable, and my father will like them when he sees them. But now the situation is different, I sent out more than a hundred scouts, and not a single one of them returned. We can only stay in Zhangpu Village for half a day at most, and we must leave early tomorrow morning. ”

After a pause, he said slowly: "This is the territory of the Niu people, and no one will provide us with food except for robbery." ”

Lu Qingnan nodded silently.

After a long time, he asked seriously: "Big brother, where are we going tomorrow?" ”

Lu Qingdong had already thought about this problem: "According to the original plan, directly attack Qingyuan Village." ”

……

When the first light rose from the sky, the Lu army left Zhangpu Village, where they had rested for the night, and slowly headed towards Qingyuan Village in the distance.

The light of the night is precious, and the long march makes everyone tired, and no one has the extra strength to chop wood in the woods except for the necessary fuel to boil water and cook. Many people were dissatisfied with Lu Qingdong's order to kill the women accompanying the army, but each other's identities were there, and no one dared to disobey.

It's just that the meat pieces in the soup bowl are inexplicably familiar, a little reluctant, and more regretful.

Many people are rubbing their stomachs, reminiscing about the beautiful faces they once had close to.

There were no horses, and everyone including Lu Qingdong and Lu Qingnan was on foot.

The tribe with the largest number of cattle in the north is the cattle tribe, which is also the source of the tribe's name.

The Tigers have the most powerful cavalry troops. They were the first race on the continent to capture wild horses and successfully domesticate them.

The Leons have the largest number of cavalry. Note that it's "most" and not "strongest". This is directly related to the fact that the lion people have control over certain special crops. But in terms of cavalry combat effectiveness, the lion clan is inferior to the tiger clan, and it only has an advantage in numbers.

Of course, the deer clan has cavalry troops. The Stag Clan is no exception.

The overall consumption of one cavalryman is more expensive than one infantryman. Lu Qingyuan regarded the cavalry as a treasure in his hand and included it under the direct jurisdiction of the patriarch. Suspicious by nature, he didn't believe in anyone, let alone use it in such a small-scale revenge war.

Lu Qingdong was very helpless about this. The most suitable type of troops for long-distance raids is cavalry, but his father has always been wary of himself, even if his second brother Lu Qingnan is the main general, his father still refuses to send cavalry to use it.

The army, which at the time of departure, more than six thousand, suffered slight losses in the battle, but had little effect on the whole. Lu Qingdong sent out a sentry as usual, he was wearing shabby clothes, and his appearance was no different from that of an ordinary soldier. A good general should stay with the soldiers, be able to ensure safety, and at the same time be able to grasp the situation in a timely manner and give orders.

The road is flanked by rolling hills. The terrain of the Niu tribe is complex, and there are mountains and forests everywhere. In fact, the mountains here are not high, at most they are hills, but there are forests growing everywhere, and only close to the village are the clearings cut down by the Niu people.

"Whoosh!"

There were pieces of terrible whistling in the air, Lu Qingdong had a keen sense of hearing, he hurriedly took off the round shield behind him with his backhand and blocked it in front of him, and shouted repeatedly: "Everyone disperse, the enemy is attacking!" ”

Dozens of arrows flew down from the hill to the east, causing chaos in the large and dense crowd. The reflexive warriors rushed behind the nearby rocks and trees for cover, and before they could turn around, they raised their shields diagonally into the sky.

Lu Qingdong's shield was shot through. The sharp arrow pierced through the wooden shield with huge inertia, and appeared in front of Lu Qingdong with an arrow shaft about two centimeters long, and then was stuck by the shield.

The contrast between the technology of the ox and the deer in metal forging is so stark. Even the eldest prince of noble status can only be equipped with a wooden round shield commonly used by ordinary soldiers. In order to increase the defense, the most important thing to do is to cover the surface of the shield with a layer of raw cowhide.

An unlucky guy was shot through the head. He fell to the ground, his hands struggling to get to his feet, but he could only translate this movement into rhythmless convulsions, and he died quickly.

A slow-moving soldier was shot through the palm of his hand and pinned firmly to a tree on the side of the road. He screamed and turned to pull out the arrow, but was hit by more arrows, piercing his chest and screaming in a near-death state.

There was only a wave of arrows, and the chaos lasted only a few seconds. Lu Qingdong moved the round shield in his hand to the left, and his nervous eyes looked into the distance through the edge of the shield, and there were several black figures on the mountain...... The distance was too far to see the specific faces, and they disappeared quickly without hesitation for a second.

It's a cow people!

The results of the casualties were quickly reported: four people died, and fifteen were injured of varying severity.

For thousands of troops, this loss was minimal.

However, the impact on overall morale is significant.

The 100-man and 10-man leaders regrouped. This time, the Deer Clan warriors were not as casual as before, and they became cautious, putting their shields directly on their wrists.

Lu Qingnan found Lu Qingdong, and he seemed a little excited: "Big brother, the Niu people don't dare to fight a tough battle with us. The people of Zhangpu Village must have fled to Qingyuan Village. ”

A simple harassment can analyze a lot of problems.

Lu Qingdong didn't answer, he nodded slowly, and said "hmm" gently.

What the hell are the Ox people doing?

Small-scale harassment does take its toll on me. The surrounding terrain is complicated, the other party set up an ambush in advance, and left very calmly, although his side occupies an absolute numerical advantage, but because the distance is too far to catch up.

Lu Qingdong no longer had much hope for the scouts he had sent. Infantry Scout...... Even if they found the enemy, they would not be able to relay the news back in a short time.

Maybe Lu Qingnan is right: the Niu people gathered in Qingyuan Village.

That was the focus of the attack.

The Ox people are not fools, they know the purpose of the Lord of the Stag Clan.

Judging from the timing, it is currently impossible to send reinforcements in the direction of the Red Hoof City.

It would be better if the Niu people were concentrated in Qingyuan Village. All the people in the nearby village together are no match for the army of the deer clan.

For the first time, Lu Qingdong had the idea of wanting to fight the main battle.

……

Things didn't go the way he thought.

Two hours later, the army entered a valley. Large rockfalls suddenly fell from the cliffs on both sides, killing 31 people and injuring 68 others.

In the afternoon, again encountered a long-range bow and arrow attack. This time the scale was much larger than in the morning, and it was estimated that the number of archers on the opposing side would not be less than a hundred. In a very short period of time, they fired several times in a row, killing fifty-seven people on the spot, and the number of wounded reached one hundred and six.

Lu Qingnan finally saw the scouts sent out.

There were more than a dozen wooden sticks on the side of the road, with human heads stuck in them.

Directly in front of the heads, a stripped headless corpse was propped up on a wooden pole and held in a standing position with its hands apart.