This time he brought more than a thousand people, including more than 600 cavalrymen, more than 100 cavalrymen, and the rest were all fire soldiers. They will travel lightly in empty baggage vehicles, so each person only carries a day's worth of dry food and drinking water.
And this time Liu Haojia took away all the officers he could, leaving only a few servants to take charge of the defense of the camp. Anyway, they don’t need to do anything at this time, they just need to hold on to the camp!
The large group of people had not traveled far when news came back one after another overnight, leading them all the way north. Moreover, Ye Bushou also brought news that, except for the two people who died at the sentry post where the fireworks were released at the beginning, only one person died in the other two places where the Mongolian cavalry broke through, and the bodies have been recovered.
As a result, the number of people killed in this battle became nine. Nearly half of them are not collected at night, which shows how risky this profession is!
Not to mention Liu Haojia and his men chasing after them, but also the three men from Hutch and their men headed back dejectedly. At the beginning, because it was still dark, they could only run in small steps. After running for a while, it was daylight after leaving the battlefield. At this time, the three teams of people completely merged into one team and began to gallop!
Moreover, Hutch also sent someone to clean up the rear and cover up some traces. But his instructions were not serious, and the people working underneath were even less serious!
In their impression, the grassland belongs to Mongolian men! Those Han people who were not under the protection of the Immortal Heaven could not even find their way into the grassland, let alone the location of their tribes! In addition, they had just suffered a huge defeat and their morale was low. Therefore, the Mongolians responsible for cleaning up the traces did not pay attention and dealt with the matter hastily.
Moreover, the road traveled by thousands of war horses is not so easy to cover! So although Hutch's arrangement was good, in fact, in the eyes of those old people, the traces they left along the way were as conspicuous as road signs!
At the same time, the worst thing is that Hutch is overconfident. He only leaves people to clean up the traces, but leaves no one behind. Therefore, he who was overconfident was easily bitten by a few old men!
After they rode for a while, they saw that the horses were sweating, and they felt that they were out of the battlefield, so they slowed down and headed back. The three of them, Hutch, were speechless along the way. They just talked casually. They were all thinking about how they could make up for the huge loss they had suffered and the loss of so many sons and daughters.
The three finally reached an agreement that when the Ming people who bought them arrived, they would be asked to deliver the things truthfully, otherwise they would never even think of coming to the grassland in the future, and they would be killed when they came! Moreover, the three of them decided not to change their plans to expand to the surrounding areas and continue to form an alliance to deal with surrounding enemies.
Due to low morale, they naturally wasted a lot of time on the way back. By the time they arrived at Hutch's tribe, it was completely dark. The people in the tribe were very happy to hear that the leader was back, and they all came to greet him with torches.
But when I saw their appearance, I knew they had lost the battle! Especially those whose family members died in the war were even more sad and howled loudly! Losing a man on the grassland is equivalent to the destruction of a family! .
Hutch couldn't say anything at this time. He could only kill cattle and sheep to entertain the people of the other two tribes. As a result, the meal was eaten by several people and was dejected and lifeless. So everyone took a rest after eating.
Just when Haqi and the others had just fallen asleep, Liu Haojia had already arrived seven or eight miles away. An old man ran over without stopping his horse and said: "Commander, tell the brothers to put out the torches, we are very close to them!"
Liu Haojia waved his hand for everyone to execute, and then asked: "How do you know? Are you sure?"
Lao Ye laughed and said, "I'm sure! Marshal, can't you smell the smell of cattle and sheep coming from the wind? This kind of smell can only be felt when a large group of cattle and sheep gather together. , only complete tribes can have sufficient numbers of cattle and sheep of this size."
Liu Haojia heard this and said loudly: "Now you go and lead the way! If you find the place, you will be rewarded heavily!"
After hearing this, Lao Ye was refreshed, agreed, and rode off. Did he know that Liu Haojia said a big reward was really a big reward, so he immediately met with a few old men
He used all his skills and took the young Ye Bushou as a sentinel in front, and at the same time sent people to report back in turn.
There was even an old man who refused to give up and actually took out an angry wind lantern that covered three sides and raised it high to lead the army forward! It can be seen that these old people who can live outside the border wall to this age have some real skills!
The crowd marched in the dark for a long time, and Liu Haojia felt as if they had made a small circle. Just when he was confused, it was Ye Buzuo in front who ran back to two people. After they approached, Ye Buzuo said eagerly: "Commander, you can't come any closer! The smell in front is very strong. There must be a large herd of cattle and sheep, and then there must be a shepherd dog. If those dogs are alerted, the news will leak out!"
Liu Haojia said: "If we move as far forward as possible, how far can we go?"
Lao Ye hesitated for a moment and said: "At most, it's just a small way. Then you can see the Mongolian ***'s spiritual lantern!"
The haunting lamp refers to a tall pole erected in the center of the Mongolian tribes' camp, with an oil lamp hanging from it that burns all night long. This oil lamp is used to guide the way for those who are taking care of the horses at night or on duty at night.
It's hard to tell the way in the meadow at night because everything looks the same. So getting lost at night is not a happy thing! Without this lamp, people who work at night would not know where they would end up if they got lost. Therefore, leaving this lamp unattended at night is called a soul-calling lamp.
After hearing this, Liu Haojia ordered: "Let all the infantry get off the car and prepare to line up to attack! The cavalry will slowly press up from the left and right wings, and let them bring more torches! Once discovered, the cavalry will be the first to attack, and then the infantry will follow."
Liu Haojia told his entire strategy, and the rest of the arrangement was a matter for Liu Ren, Guo Zhankui and others. The two of them and the officer carried out the order quickly and efficiently. Not long after, a broad but thin infantry line appeared under the moonlight on the grassland, with two teams of cavalry on each side, shaped like a flying chain bomb!
By the time the team was ready, Liu Haojia had already made inquiries at Lao Ye Bu Shu's place. By the time they could see the soul-calling lantern, they would be only a mile or two away from the camp. Because the lamp is not big, it cannot illuminate very far. It is mainly used to take care of the people in the camp.
