That night, the caravan was stationed on the grassland, which was supposed to belong to a nearby steppe tribe called the Hetu tribe, but the caravan did not find it, much to the disappointment of the caravan leader: he had hoped to sell the rest of the goods in this tribe, but now it seems that the tribe had moved away because of the war, at least so the caravan leader thought. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

After nightfall, several of the caravan's mercenaries took turns to keep vigil, while the others had already gone to sleep, but Mutter was in his tent, thinking about the itinerary of the past few days. Of course, he didn't care about the caravan's gains and losses in this trade, according to the itinerary, they were now very close to Moxi Province, and if they set off tomorrow morning, they should be able to reach Moxi in about half a day's journey. However, the only thing that made Muttel feel a little uneasy was that along the way of the grassland in the past, the slightly larger tribes had moved to the hinterland of the grassland, and almost the closer to Moxi, the more sparsely populated the people became. However, it is common to see some looted pastures and small tribes with traces of burning, and even if they occasionally encounter a few homeless people, they all look at them vigilantly, avoiding the caravans from a distance, and it is difficult to find out any news.

However, it seems that the area on the border of Moxi seems to be even more unpeaceful, which Muttel is sure of.

"It seems that tomorrow morning we will urge the chief to hurry up his journey. Muttel pondered for a while, and just as he had made up his mind, he suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves outside the tent, and before he could react, he heard the exclamation of a mercenary: "Night attack!!

Immediately there was a commotion outside the tent, the noise was mixed with screams and shouts, and then there was a somewhat angry roar: "It's a horse thief, the horse thief is attacking at night! Everyone hurry up to Lao Tzu! Alert, archers line up, don't let them get close......"

Muttle's heart tightened, and he immediately took out the scimitar at his waist, and then blew out the oil lamp on the table, before he opened the curtain of the tent and walked cautiously out of the camp. Outside the tent was now full of torches and mercenaries organizing resistance, and a dozen archers hid behind the convoy to fight back, led by a burly middle-aged man wearing a leather armor helmet, and Muttel recognized this person as Kret, the leader of the mercenary group hired by the caravan. Most of the people in the caravan have been gathered behind him at this moment, a group of mercenaries with swords are around the outermost, and the caravan leader is also surrounded by several mercenaries in the innermost part of the crowd, but looking at his pale face, his expression is obviously a little nervous and uneasy, he must have been awakened in his sleep, and he was still in a trance.

"Captain Kret, what's going on?!" Seeing that the camp was on fire at the moment, and there was the sound of horses' hooves not far away, it was obvious that he was approaching here, so he could only grit his teeth and hide beside these mercenary group members, and hurriedly shouted to Kret.

"Brother Mutel, are you alright?" As soon as Krett saw the person, Mutel immediately took a few steps, quickly pulled Mutel down, hid next to the carriage on the side, and then cautiously glanced outside the camp before saying to Mutel: "Be careful, the group of horse thieves outside also has horse archers, and several brothers in the regiment have been injured by dark arrows!"

"Was it the horse thief who attacked us?, what's the situation now?!" Muttel looked closely, and the dozen or so mercenaries around him were indeed wounded, and there were still many corpses lying on the ground in the distance, so he couldn't help but ask a little anxiously.

"That's right, it looks like those damn horse thieves!" Before Krett could answer, the leader of the caravan on the side seemed to have finally come to his senses, and immediately spat out fiercely, and scolded angrily: "They set fire to our tent outside, the fire is so great that it can't be rushed out now!"

Muttel took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and then quickly thought for a moment before asking, "How many of these horse thieves are there, and how many of us can organize a resistance now?"

"More than a dozen of our brothers were injured, and the two brothers who were on the night vigil did not raise the alarm, so they must have been more than lucky, and as for the others, I am afraid that there were more than a dozen of them who were shot by horse thieves in a panic...... "Only then did Krett take the words, and then he looked out angrily, gritted his teeth, and said: "Now we can only gather more than thirty brothers, as for those horse thieves...... Although it was too dark to see, judging from the momentum of the men and horses, I am afraid that there were no less than a hundred! And most of them should be cavalry with horses, but the camp was too narrow to rush in for a while, so the camp was set on fire, and I just asked a few of my men to investigate the situation, and the camp was already surrounded by them. Fortunately, except for a few grooms and slaves who were shot by horse thieves in a panic, most of them have been concentrated, but with the current situation, I am afraid that it will be difficult to escape, and we can only prepare to break out......"

Mutt's heart sank when he heard Krett say this, the camp where they camped was originally a former settlement of a steppe tribe, the camp was surrounded by mountains on both sides, which was a good barrier to the year-round wind and the sand and dust of the Tadam Desert in the north, but it also caused the closed terrain of the entire camp, and because of the needs of grazing and life, there must be a water source near the camp, that is, the river. Unfortunately, the river is right behind the camp, and although it is not the rainy season of the steppe, if the large army retreats, it will inevitably need to swim across the river, which is equivalent to exposing yourself to the bow and arrow of the horse thief, and becoming a target alive!

The so-called breakout retreat, let alone much security, the horse thieves have already guarded the exit of the camp, and the number of people on their side is double, even if you count the wounded mercenaries, I am afraid that there will not be many breakout forces that can rush out. Moreover, the other party is riding a horse, even if the caravan can desperately break out, how far can it go on the vast prairie with two legs?

Muttel thought quickly in his heart, and finally gritted his teeth and said to Kret: "It is impossible to break through, with our current strength, it is very difficult to protect ourselves, and the breakthrough can only be sent to death in vain...... There's only one way to do it now, maybe try it again!"

Hearing this, Kret's spirit was suddenly shocked, he has been a mercenary for many years, they have been licking blood at the tip of the knife, naturally they have seen a lot of wind and waves, seeing that today's scene may not end well, he is ready to explain here, listening to Mutel said that things may take a turn for the better, naturally busy asking: "What method, hurry up and say it!"

Mutel's face changed, he took the torch in the hand of a mercenary, and then threw it directly into the tent on the side, the torch immediately ignited the tent, the people around were taken aback, and subconsciously wanted to extinguish the fire, but immediately heard Mutel shout: "Don't stop it, let it burn!"

The people on the side were a little surprised to find that this usually kind young steppe man showed a serious and resolute side, and he shouted loudly to the people around him: "Listen, everyone, now we have no way out, the horse thief only wants these goods, now we can only gather all the goods, and then burn them all, after the fire to cut off, the horse thieves are greedy for profit, and they will inevitably fight the fire and grab the goods, so as to ensure that they will not take advantage of the situation to pursue us and buy time to escape." Everyone brought enough rations, and all the people crossed the river to the west, this is already the border of the grassland, and they will be able to reach the territory of Moxi in less than three days!"

Before others could react, Muttel turned to Krett on the side and said, "Captain Kret, you must hold on here, as long as we burn the goods, the horse thief's offensive will definitely weaken, you have to buy time for us!"

"There is some truth to it...... But Brother Mutter, will this really work? If the horse thieves really want to trap us in desperation, wouldn't it infuriate them even more?" Although Krett admired the young man's courage and wisdom, and was a little moved by this bold suggestion, he still frowned and looked at Mutter with some uneasiness out of his years of caution.

Muttel had a serious face, although his face was flushed with excitement and nervousness, but there was an indescribable calm in his tone: "I said, this is the only feasible way, if you don't do it, you will definitely die, if you do it, there may be a glimmer of life, of course, whether to adopt this method or not, it depends on you." ”

At this time, the leader of the caravan on the side suddenly stood up and shouted in a panic: "You can't burn my goods, you can't burn it!"

Mutel frowned, and was about to patiently reassure the leader, but the leader waved his hand, and said loudly in a tone that could not tell whether it was urgent or excited: "Who said we have no way back......! Damn, I'm so scared and confused, I forgot that there is also Lord Joseph, as long as he is willing to make a move, what are these robbers! By the way, which of you has seen Lord Joseph?"

Muttel was stunned for a moment, he knew that the "Lord José" in the leader's mouth was referring to the taciturn young man, but at this time, what was the use of looking for him? Not only Mutel, but even Kret, who was on the side, shook his head when he heard this, not understanding the meaning of the leader's words, and said casually: "The situation was complicated when the horse thieves attacked, I was busy organizing people to fight back, and I didn't notice the others, now everyone should be here, if there is no here, will he have ......?"

"Nonsense, with Lord Jose's ability, how could he be killed by a few horse thieves silently!" The leader obviously saw the doubts of the people around him, but at this moment, he was urgent, and he couldn't care too much, and spit out a sentence with a solemn face:

"You know...... Lord Jose, he's a magician!!"

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