To the west of Jinsha City, a cavalry group wearing black robes quickly headed east.
At the front of the team was a man wearing bright armor and a black shirt, accompanied by two men in the same attire.
Behind him is a man wearing a Xixia official uniform and a Xixia official hat. This man is Tang Guolong, the minister of Honglu Temple in Xixia.
There is another man beside him, Puxuan from Zhaoti Temple, wearing a monk's robe.
Tang Guolong and Pu Xuan were ordered by Shi Le to lead the mission westward through the desert and arrived at the country of Uz.
They originally planned to borrow troops from the Us State, go east through the desert, defeat Long Chen, and protect Xixia.
However, the country of Uz was in civil strife at that time, and the king put them aside.
After the turmoil in the country calmed down, King Wus sent 3,000 elite soldiers to protect Tang Guolong and Pu Xuan back to Xixia.
At this time, the news of Xixia's destruction had reached the Uz Kingdom through the camel caravan.
Tang Guolong disliked the fact that Us sent too few troops and there was no possibility of restoring the country.
King Us believed that the Great Zhou Dynasty was separated by the desert and sent too many troops at once, which would put great pressure on logistics.
Moreover, I heard that the fighting power of the Zhou army was astonishing, so they sent three thousand elite soldiers as the vanguard to investigate the situation of the Zhou Dynasty.
If he could gain a foothold in the Great Zhou Dynasty, King Us would send another army to invade.
Tang Guolong was dissatisfied, and Pu Xuan persuaded him to stop saying that Xixia had been destroyed, and it would be good if the Wu State was willing to send troops.
Tang Guolong thought about it. If the Us State sends troops, there is still the possibility of restoring the country.
Therefore, the two of them followed the Us army across the desert and invaded the Great Zhou Dynasty. The first one to bear the brunt was Jinsha City.
"General, those traders from the east are scaring us."
A general wearing a feather under his command sneered.
This general's name was Xibin, and he was an archer with very accurate arrow skills. He had a unique skill, which was to shoot arrows with the help of wind.
Generally, archers hate wind, because the wind will change the flight path of the arrow, making it impossible for the archer to calculate the flight path of the arrow, resulting in inaccurate shooting.
Xibin is different. He can feel the wind and use it to make his arrows fly farther and shoot more accurately.
Therefore, he was called by the country of Uz and his enemies: Sibin the Wind Rider!
It was Xi Bin who attacked Zhang Hua just now. He shot seventeen of them alone in the wind and sand.
The general walking in the front had a scimitar on his waist and a spear hanging immediately. His name was Baheman, a fierce general of the Uz Kingdom.
Baheman didn't speak. He also recognized Xibin's archery skills, but he didn't think there was anything special about it.
"Xibin, you only killed a dozen or so, don't be so proud."
Another young general taunted.
This general is very tall and tall. The horse he rides is very tall. The horse's hooves are like a sea bowl. The muscles on the horse's body are knotted. The nose spurts out thick white steam. There is a black shield hanging on the horse's back.
His name is Sisio, and he is extremely powerful. Because he is good at using shields, he is called: Black Shield Sisio.
These three generals were fierce generals from the Us Kingdom. The King of Us sent them to lead three thousand elites into the territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty. The main purpose was to inquire about the situation.
Pu Xuan looked at Xi Bin and Sisio and secretly sighed in his heart: It's just a small skill. With such a level of cultivation, he is not as good as his junior brother.
No matter how exquisite Xibin's archery skills are, when he meets someone with a high level of cultivation, he will just show off his skills in a gaudy way.
Relying on such people to restore the country, Pu Xuan murmured in his heart.
Tang Guolong was riding on horseback, looking at the surrounding Gobi Desert with tears streaming down his face.
"In the past four years or so, the country has been destroyed and the family has been destroyed..."
Tang Guolong burst into tears, and several people from Honglu Temple behind him also shed tears.
When he went on a mission to the country of Wusi, Tang Guolong brought many people with him, but only this few were left when he came back.
The desert was so dangerous that two-thirds of the people died on the way from Xixia to the Us state.
After arriving in the country of Us, half of them died because they were not acclimated to the local environment, and only five of them came back in the end.
Everyone's heart is heavy.
I set foot on my hometown of Xixia again, but things have changed.
"Master Tang, where is the place ahead?"
General Ba Heman stopped, and Tang Guolong immediately rode forward and bowed: "General, ahead is Jinsha City, our first city in the west of Xixia."
Xibin, the Wind Rider, asked: "Are those cavalrymen from Jinsha City just now?"
Tang Guolong replied with great certainty: "They are the defenders of Jinsha City. The only important military town in the west is Jinsha City and no other cities."
There is only one Jinsha City near the desert. The soldiers and horses that can reach here must be the Jinsha City defenders.
"General Ba Heman, I led five hundred cavalry to capture Jinsha City."
Xibin, the master of the wind, leaped forward on his horse.
Ba Heman ignored Xi Bin and asked, "How is Jinsha City?"
Tang Guolong said: "A small town in the west. In the past, in order to prevent horse thieves from robbing merchants, a military town was set up here. Its main function was to collect taxes."
At the beginning, Xixia established a military town here to protect the trade routes.
Later, all the horse thieves were killed, and Jinsha City was retained as a place for business travelers to stay and provide supplies, and at the same time collect taxes.
When Tang Guolong left, Jinsha City was still a small military town.
"However, I have been away for many years. I don't know how it is now. It may have been built stronger."
Tang Guolong was not careless, but reminded carefully.
"With cavalry like that just now, even if it's a strong city, it's easy to defeat them. I only need five hundred people."
Xibin the Wind Rider is still so contemptuous.
Ba Heman still ignored Xi Bin, ordered a few cavalrymen, and said: "You go ahead and inquire to see what Jinsha City is like."
Several cavalrymen immediately rode forward.
Xibin, the Wind Rider, was a little dissatisfied and felt that Ba Heman was too cautious.
Three thousand elite soldiers continued to advance.
...
Sands City.
Zhang Hua was sitting in the room, and Li Xiqi couldn't ask clearly, so he had to go out and find a man of medium build.
"Li Zhuo, I order you to lead troops out of the city and inquire about the situation to the west."
This Li Zhuo is the Ma Kuai of Jinsha City, who catches thieves.
Generally speaking, it is called catching fast. Jinsha City is a large place and most of the bandits ride horses. Therefore, those who catch thieves also need to ride horses. The catching fast is called Ma Kuai.
Their salaries are higher because they not only have to raise people, but also horses.
"Prefect, I heard there are enemies in the west?"
Li Zhuo was well-informed. He heard about Zhang Hua just after he came back.
"Yes, Zhang Hua is useless and actually backed down at the critical moment. You quickly take someone to investigate the situation and come back as soon as you find out."
Li Xiqi was very anxious. He was worried that something might really go wrong.
Li Zhuo replied: "Prefect, let the brothers in the city guard the city first. No matter how many people come, we cannot escape before the battle. There will be a battle."
"We just need to withstand it. King Wu and His Majesty are in Yuncheng and will support us very quickly."
"Young one, take your brother out of the city to investigate now. The prefect must guard it."
Li Xiqi said with emotion: "You can still be relied upon by the strong wind and strong grass. Go immediately! Be careful and don't engage in a fight. Come back after you find out more."
Li Zhuo took the order, immediately ordered five people, opened the west gate, and hurried westward despite the wind and sand.
