Outside the gate, go to Shengchuan.

This is the real hinterland of the grassland, the grassland population is said to be the place where the soul of the dead is led to the heavens, and it is the sacred place in the hearts of the tribes of the grassland, so there are no herdsmen who settled down to set up tents on this rich river with abundant water and grass. There is a lake in the Xiangsheng River, and the gods and witches of various tribes cook sheep and slaughter cattle by this lake every year, sacrifice blood animals to the heavens, and sincerely pray that the grassland can still grow water and grass for cattle and sheep in the coming year.

However, the prayers of the gods and witches have lost their effectiveness in recent years, and the celestial statues have forgotten that these people still exist in the grasslands, and have poured drought and death into the grasslands year after year. The last time the gods and witches of the Taiqige tribe sacrificed their lives to heaven on this rebirthing river, and since then, there has been no one to sacrifice in the rebirthing river. A day that is useless to a steppe man is no different from a sheep's hoof that gnaws at a sheep's hooves.

With the pace of the army going south, the herdsmen and slaves belonging to the tribes also migrated with them, anyway, most of them have little cattle and sheep left, and they may not be able to survive if they stay on the grassland, so it is better to go south with the army to seek a chance of survival.

However, there are also wandering herdsmen who have not followed the footsteps of the grassland tribal alliance to the south, these are mostly wandering herdsmen with a family or a few dozen people, and even the rogues on the grassland look down on the pitiful wealth of these herdsmen, and only the small tribes in a worrying situation will pull these herdsmen to strengthen their ranks in order to avoid being swallowed up by the big tribes.

In the eyes of the wandering herdsmen, the river is an excellent place for wintering, and now this holy place has been abandoned by the gods and witches of the large tribes, and the herdsmen have come to the river one after another. The lake in Sichuan is the only water source within a radius of 100 miles, and there are often animals to drink, and hunters can often harvest a lot by squatting by the lake for a night, and it is rare for the poor people on these grasslands to eat meat with their bellies open.

The three hunters had been squatting in a leeward for most of the night, and seeing that the east was white, and that they had caught no more than two hares, the young hunter could not help but be a little unbreathed:

"Wait, wait, can the yellow sheep be delivered by himself?" he muttered quietly, "After waiting all night, there are only two hares, how can I explain to my grandmother." ”

The two older hunters next to him were much more steady, and they both tried the bowstring in their hands from time to time to prevent them from being frozen and unable to open the bow, "A good hunter will not be discouraged if he can't wait for the prey in one night, and if he doesn't wait for the yellow sheep to come, will he use your two legs to catch it?"

"Abba and Uncle know how to joke, I shot those two rabbits. The young hunter sullenly became angry, and took out an artemisia arrow from a quiver sewn from a raw yellow sheepskin, and put it on the bowstring made of the deer's intestines. ”

"Since we can't wait for the yellow sheep today, it's the sky saying that now is not a good time to hunt. The two old hunters, both the elders of the young hunters, picked up a hare and yawned and prepared to get up and leave, "If you can't wait for the yellow sheep to drink water, you might as well go back to sleep and wake up and eat rabbit meat." ”

The young hunter stubbornly stood after taking out the leeward port, and the two elders went back to the tent to sleep first, for the old steppe people it was not easy to squat outside the tent all night in such weather, and they were eager to drag their tired bodies back to the tent to rest.

The leeward young hunter twisted his face and forced himself not to sleep, hesitating whether he should go back to the tent with the two elders, but the two hares were not enough for them to come out to hunt for the three of them, thinking of the relief in Grandma's eyes and the rough hands after going back, he felt that it was not a big deal to wait until dawn.

The young hunter waited a long time, and when it was dawn, no beast came within range of his bow and arrows.

It seems that Grandma is inevitably going to be disappointed today, the young hunter was about to get up from the leeward with a depressed face, when he suddenly heard something and put his face on the ground, it was the sound of horses' hooves!

The young hunter had made up his mind that the herds of wild horses on the prairie were going to run to the lake to drink, and this was the perfect opportunity, as long as anyone who could stretch his bow could shoot at least one horse, but beware of the leading horse king rushing over with the herd of horses and trampling it, the inexperienced hunter could easily be trampled into a puddle of flesh and blood by the herd.

He drew his bow and arrows, and half-concealed himself at the leeward, so that the horses would not be able to see him until they had gone to the end. The young hunters, who were quite confident in their archery skills, already thought of the joy on their faces when he rushed back with his grandmother to cut the horse's flesh.

The sound of the horses' hooves was getting closer and closer, so loud that he could hear it clearly on the ground without having to lie down.

His young hunter had already woken up to the fact that such a loud noise could not be made by a herd of wild horses, it was the sound of a large cavalry marching!

But didn't all the tribes with such a large cavalry army on the grassland go south to the place called Yao to grab things? The young hunter thought incomprehensibly, but all this had nothing to do with him, although it was not difficult to become a warrior under the tent of the nobles of the big tribe with his archery skills, but whether it was riding a horse or wielding a sword, it was not his forte.

He returned to the leeward back, and in the eyes of the nobles of the big tribes, there was not much difference between them wandering herdsmen and lowly slaves, and there was no emotion in killing them casually.

The young hunter cautiously poked out half of his head to see the trace of the cavalry, a cavalry army of thousands of people on the grassland was not something that the tribe could easily take out, let alone when the tribal alliance army went south, how could there be such a cavalry army on the grassland?

The cavalry did not carry a banner, and the men and horses were all in the dust, as if they had traveled a long, long way.

When the young hunter's eyes came into view, and he had to realize that such armor and blades were by no means the equipment of any tribe on the steppe, the scouts of this thousand-man cavalry had already discovered him hiding in the leeward place, and more than ten horsemen outflanked him, leaving him without any chance of escaping.

"It's just a wandering herdsman's hunter on the steppe, and this is the Shosheng River, and the barbarians don't have the luxury of wasting scouts in this place. The leader of the cavalry looked at the young barbarian captured by his subordinates with tears and laughter, "Why don't you release him quickly?"

The scouts let go of their clasped arms, and the young hunter fell to his knees and kowtowed desperately, muttering something they didn't understand, as if begging for something.

The general who was the leader of the cavalry on horseback took a few steps forward with his rifle and struck the barbarian on the back with a shot, and the latter let out a strange cry and turned and ran deadly.

Someone next to him stretched out his bow and wanted to shoot, but he stopped him, "The barbarians killed our people in Jinju, what is the difference between you killing the barbarian herdsmen and them?"

"General, let this barbarian go back, for fear that he will leave a disaster behind. ”

"What if the wandering herdsmen who don't even have horses have the heart to embarrass this cavalry? Are the guns, spears, bows and arrows in your hands paper-mâché?" the general on horseback took a deep breath and then said, "marching and fighting, there are things to do and things to do not! If you don't care about the slaughter and let the killing run rampant, what difference is it from a brute!"

It had been a long time since he took over this cavalry, and the last thing he wanted was for these men to end up in the battlefield like beasts.

"Dig ice and get water! Give the horse water, wash the horse's nose and fill the belly! Go on the road after a moment's time!"

At the sound of the order, thousands of cavalry dismounted in an orderly manner and dug holes in the lake to get water

This is the hinterland of the grassland, they did not bury the pot to cook, a few people boiled a pot of water on the spot, soaked the pot and helmet cake they carried and swallowed it, and then checked whether the four hooves of the mount were damaged, whether the saddle sheath horse belly belt was still good, the knife in the sheath was still sharp, and their bow could shoot murderous arrows.

They are the pride of the entire Jinzhou cavalry and even the entire Dayao cavalry, where the horse's hooves are directed and the soldiers are pointed, so that the barbarians of the grassland also know that Dayao also has such an invincible cavalry!

Su Xiaogong took off his helmet, and the staff general next to him looked at the silver threads in his black hair with some bitterness.

Once upon a time, when the general came to our cavalry, Ying stood like a young man, and now his hair is half white.

He put down the food he was serving and reminded him quietly, "General, it's time for breakfast." ”

The rapid march of 400 miles a day has completely disregarded manpower and horsepower, not to mention that such a march has lasted for two days, and half a hundred horses die of exhaustion in the middle of the road every day.

Su Xiaogong, who turned a deaf ear, remembered the secret conversation he had with the Jinzhou general Song Zhiwen before leaving Jinzhou, who asked him which was more conducive to the Jinju war situation than to stay in Jinju and mediate with the barbarians or to allow him to lead his army out of Jinzhou and go around a big circle in Dayao and the grassland, he calmly replied:

"This cavalry army stays in Jinzhou, and the last general at least dares to guarantee that every cavalry can replace at least two barbarian cavalry, but if it is according to the situation of Jinzhou city defense, and the city north of Yuancheng is clear, even if the wall is clear, it is only a matter of time before it falls, it is better for Rong Mo to take these good sons and women to the north and stab the barbarians from behind. ”

Su Xiaogong drew an arc almost across most of the map on that map, thousands of miles away, too far away, too many variables, but if it succeeds....

"The victory or defeat of the Jinju war has taken a turnaround, but it will be a moment. ”

This is his Su Xiaogong's self-confidence, and it is also the self-confidence of the cavalry.

Song Zhiwen locked himself in the house for three days and three nights, and agreed to his proposal after coming out.

Then this cavalry army quietly pulled out the camp and went north through the neighboring states and counties, hidden in the vast grassland, and then traveled thousands of miles to finally go to Shengchuan.

"How sure are you?"

"No fear of defeat without a fight. Su Xiaogong replied to Song Zhi's question.

If you lose, you will only die.