Since the Yiwu Road was opened, although there are still sneak attacks and harassment by Turks from time to time, it has been much smoother than before.
At this time of year, the weather has become increasingly cold, and few caravans are heading towards the Western Regions. What they see on the road are mostly caravans returning to Hexi, carrying horses and heavy baggage.
The sound of camel bells carried melodiously far away. The caravan guide was a tall, thin old man in his fifties. He was called an old man because he had frosty hair but not many wrinkles on his face.
He rode a camel and swayed at the front.
The fog was getting thicker and thicker. He stopped, looked away for a long time, looked back for a long time, returned to the high car, and whispered into the car: "Master Sabao, it's foggy, and I can't see the road clearly. If you’re afraid of danger, it’s better to stop and have a rest and wait for the fog to clear before leaving.”
A thin, white, fat hand stretched out from the car, opened the curtain, and looked around at the foggy surroundings. Then a powerful voice came out, with a hint of nonsense in his words: "How far is it from the fifth beacon?"
The guide calculated it and said with a smile: "It's only about twenty miles."
The energetic voice said slowly: "Okay, let's take a rest before leaving."
The caravan set off from Liangzhou and headed all the way to the countries in the Western Regions. It took more than five months before they returned.
After stepping from a foreign land to our homeland, everyone is eager to return home, and the feeling of fatigue is sweeping over them like a tide.
The people in the caravan got off their horses, cleared a clean space on the roadside, and sat or stood to rest.
Just after resting for a cup of tea, the messy and hasty sound of horse hooves suddenly came from the rolling fog.
The surroundings were extremely quiet, and the horse's hooves landed heavily on the ground. The sound was loud and deafening, and even the ground trembled slightly.
The people in the caravan stood up one after another, with expressions of surprise on their faces, staring into the deep mist.
In an instant, a man covered in blood galloped on his horse, rushed out of the mist, and rushed to the caravan, throwing up billows of sand and dust behind him.
This man was breaking through the siege of the Turks and was rushing to Xingxing Gorge to ask for help from Han Changmu.
His face was covered with blood, and the dust and blood were muddy, almost covering his face and eyes. It was impossible to tell what his attire was, or how old he was. All he knew was that he looked particularly fierce and terrifying.
Looking closer, he saw a crossbow arrow stuck in his shoulder. The blood oozing from the wound had dried, sticking the arrowhead to the flesh.
He probably couldn't free his hands to pull out the crossbow arrow and bandage the wound, so he left the crossbow arrow on his shoulder, with the long arrow shaft shaking up and down as the horse bumped.
Seeing Han Changmu approaching, the caravan gasped.
They saw that he was coming from the direction of Wufeng. He was in such a mess and injured. They didn't know what happened in front of him.
Han Changmu galloped past the caravan.
He knew that his appearance was too shocking. He had been fighting for too long and was constantly pursued by soldiers along the way. He finally got rid of the Turks, but he was still injured by a crossbow arrow. He had no time to treat the injury, so he had to rush with the crossbow arrows.
"There are Turkic cavalry besieging us ahead, so we are not allowed to go to the Fifth Beacon for the time being."
"There are Turkic cavalry ahead besieging Fifth Beacon. Rest where you are, or retreat to Xingxing Gorge."
Han Changmu shouted loudly as he ran wildly, but his voice was extremely hoarse, like a dull rustling sound made by strong winds rolling gravel on the ground.
His lips had been dry for too long, and as he screamed, several bloody gashes appeared. When he licked them with his tongue, his mouth was filled with the smell of blood.
When the caravan heard this, although they couldn't tell whether it was true or not, seeing Han Changmu's appearance, they knew that something big was going on ahead.
Sabao, who was in the high car, walked down in panic and asked repeatedly: "What's wrong? What's wrong? What happened?"
The captain of the caravan guard urged his horse over, carefully said what Han Changmu said just now, and then whispered: "Master Sabao, no matter whether what he said is true or false, we can't go forward. Why don't we push it to the end?" Let's go to Shanwozi. It's only about twenty miles away from Xingxing Gorge and is guarded by hundreds of garrison troops. I think it will be safer than sleeping in the desert."
Sabao brought priceless goods with him on this trip. If he had left them on the road, he would have lost all his money.
He thought for a moment, and when passing by Shanwozi, he saw that the village was poor and rundown, with only seven or eight households, and there was not even a bit of meat in the food. But now it seemed that Shanwozi was a relatively safe place to go.
He made up his mind, looked at Han Changmu's figure that had disappeared into the mist, nodded and said: "Okay, let's go to Shanwozi."
The captain of the guard responded and hurriedly organized the caravan, urging them to hurry up.
Who knows whether those Turkic madmen will be unable to defeat the Fifth Beacon and turn their heads here to vent their anger.
The caravan turned around and headed towards Xingxing Gorge. The caravan was no longer as slow and loose as before, and the speed was much faster.
The captain of the guard was a little absent-minded, so he told the guard next to him and urged his horse to gallop away.
After three sticks of incense, the captain of the guard caught up with Han Changmu, took off the water bag from his waist, handed it to him, and said in a deep voice: "Master, please take the water with you."
Han Changmu was stunned for a moment. The hand he stretched out was covered with fresh wounds. He took the water bag and pinned it to his waist. He said nothing, but in his cold and distant eyes, there was the grace of vast mountains and rivers.
He nodded and thanked them, and then galloped all the way. Whenever he encountered a caravan heading to the Fifth Beacon, he would shout a warning.
When they arrived at Xingxing Gorge, the sound of tired horse hooves alerted the garrison on the fort, and they all drew their crossbows and aimed at the man and the horse.
The garrison in Xingxing Gorge is similar to the Fifth Beacon. Although it is the first fortress, it is more bitter and cold than other beacons. There is only bitter water in the fort. After drinking it, you will have abdominal pain. Several buildings are dark and dirty. It was chilly all day long.
Han Changmu stopped his horse, staggered on his horse, rolled over to the ground, and shouted loudly in a hoarse voice: "The enemy is attacking, the enemy is attacking. The Turks are besieging the fifth beacon. Xu Guardsman ordered me to come for help."
The garrison in Xingxing Gorge was shocked, opened the fort door, and dragged people into the garrison with all their hands.
He tremblingly took out Xu Xiangli's handwriting and seal from his arms, looked at the garrison troops around him, panted, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Quick, take me to see the garrison officer."
The garrison had already gone to report to the garrison officer. As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps. The man glanced at him and let out a light sigh: "Shi." He quickly changed his words and said: "Quick, Send him to the garrison quickly, treat his injuries and give him water."
Han Changmu glanced at the man, and felt that the man's face looked particularly familiar. Hearing the word he blurted out, his heart suddenly settled down, and he finally came to the right place.
The tone relaxed, his eyes closed tightly, and he passed out.
In his daze, Han Changmu noticed that someone was feeding him water. The cold water was entering his mouth, and someone was cleaning his wounds that were numb from pain.
He slowly woke up and saw the same face. It was the same person in his memory. He opened his mouth and heard a garrison beside him introducing him as Officer Chen from Xingxingxia. He hurriedly handed Xu Xiangli's handwritten letter to him. He went over and said respectfully in a hoarse voice: "Officer Chen, the fifth beacon is trapped. This is a handwritten letter from Officer Xu."
The man took the handwritten letter and glanced at it, then said in a deep voice: "Everyone, get down."
The garrison troops responded and withdrew from the garrison.
The fort suddenly became empty. The man suddenly knelt down and shouted respectfully: "Your Majesty."
Han Changmu hurriedly pulled him up and let out a long sigh of relief: "Chen Yanxuan, it is indeed you. It seems that I remembered correctly. You are indeed still in Xingxingxia."
Chen Yanxuan nodded solemnly: "Yes, Your Majesty, my subordinates have been stationed at the Xingxing Gorge beacon for three years in the name of the prince. But, Your Majesty, how come you are here."
Han Changmu insisted on coming to Xingxing Gorge in person to ask for help precisely because there was someone he trusted most here.
In the face of crisis, he couldn't trust anyone, not even Xu Xiangli or Zhu Rong, so naturally he wouldn't entrust his family's life and death to them.
His life and death must always be in his own hands.
He took a breath and said: "Yanxuan, the Turkic cavalry suddenly attacked the Fifth Beacon. There are less than fifty garrison troops in the garrison, and there are a hundred and fifty-six Turks. The Fifth Beacon is in emergency."
"What." Chen Yanxuan was shocked and stood up suddenly, his hands shaking involuntarily: "Your Majesty, what you said is true."
Han Changmu's face was solemn, he nodded solemnly, and nodded Chen Yanxuan's head to the bottom: "It is undoubtedly true."
With less than fifty people, they had no chance of winning against a hundred and fifty-six Turkic cavalry.
Regardless of whether there is a chance of victory or not, no matter how great the odds are, the Turks cannot be allowed to succeed.
Chen Yanxuan composed herself and already had an idea in her mind. She asked in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, is your injury serious? Can you still ride a horse?"
Han Changmu nodded, his expression determined and indifferent: "Yes."
Chen Yanxuan saluted: "Your Majesty, my subordinates are going to order the troops. We will set off immediately."
Han Changmu nodded and said: "You need to change your title. From now on, I am the long history of Prince Han's Mansion, Han Jiuchao."
Chen Yanxuan knew the importance. Although he had not met Han Changmu for three years, he knew that Han Changmu would not easily leave Jiannan Road and come to the Hexi area without the approval of the saint.
He nodded with a serious look on his face: "Yes, I understand." He shouted outside: "Here comes someone."
The garrison outside heard the noise and hurriedly ran in.
Chen Yanxuan ordered: "Give him a bowl of jade noodles." After saying that, he hurried out to order troops.
Han Changmu rubbed his knees and shoulders, clenched his fists, and his heart sank.
I don’t know how Fifth Feng is doing now, or how long they can last.
He was so preoccupied that the steaming jade-point noodles entered his mouth, like chewing wax, and he swallowed the dates without any taste.
I don’t know if there is any food and grass in the Fifth Beacon, let alone whether they have had a hot meal. If the poisoned garrison soldiers clean up the remaining poison, the war situation may be better.
