Zhangjiakou.
A convoy of nearly a hundred people arrived in front of the gate of Bianbao City, with the flag of the Fan family on the first car.
"Sir, this is our customs clearance document." The caravan steward took out a silver coin from his sleeve and stuffed it into the hand of the commander in front of the city gate.
The boss weighed the silver, raised his cuffs, and let the silver roll down his sleeves. Then he waved his hand with the other hand and said, "Let's go, let's go!"
"Thank you, Master." The caravan manager nodded and bowed, then turned around, waved to the convoy behind him, and shouted, "Let's go, let's go."
More than a dozen large vehicles walked out of the gate of the border fort one after another, followed the dirt road outside the fort, and entered the vast green grassland.
Except in winter, the Fan family's caravan would come to the grassland every more than a month, taking the same road to Bansheng City every time.
The ruts left on the grass overwhelm the tender grass growing on the ground, leaving behind a man-made dirt road.
The Fan family's caravan left the border fort and walked more than twenty miles to a branch of the Dahei River. The caravan stayed on the bank of the river for the night.
"Master Steward, please try this. I specially bought it from Zuixianglou to honor you."
The steward of the caravan was baking pancakes when a man from the caravan walked beside him. He had a water bag in his hand, and the aroma of wine wafted out of it.
"You are quite sensible." The caravan steward smiled and took the water bag, pulled out the cork, raised it and took a sip, pursed his lips and said, "You are here for business, right?"
"Hey, I don't dare to hide it from the steward." The boy said, "This is the first time for me to go to Tatar territory. I feel very anxious and always uneasy."
"Hush." The caravan manager raised a finger to his mouth and scolded, "Don't worry about your life. I don't know that you can't talk about Tatars after leaving the border fort. That's called a Mongolian nobleman. Remember it from now on. The word Tatars is absolutely terrible." Can’t mention it again.”
"Look at your bad mouth. You forgot the rules as soon as you left the fort." The guy patted his mouth lightly.
The caravan steward said: "Okay, just remember it. If those Mongolians really hear it, no one can save you."
"Fortunately, the steward reminded me, I will definitely keep it in mind." The waiter said with a flattering look on his face.
The caravan steward picked up the water bag and took another sip of wine, and said: "When you get to Bansheng City, you'd better be stricter and talk less. If you offend ordinary herdsmen, you'll get a few whips at most. If you offend nobles, your little life will also be lost." That’s it.”
The waiter nodded repeatedly and said: "Yes, yes, yes, I promise, as long as we get to Bansheng City, we won't say a word of nonsense. When we see those noble people, we will walk around."
After taking two sips of wine, the manager of the caravan became a little more serious in his words. He said: "Don't think I'm scaring you. To tell you the truth, there was a foolish young man in the caravan who said the word "Tatar" in front of a Taji. , was directly captured by those Mongolians, tied to the back of the horse with a rope, and dragged to death on the grassland. That miserable situation, tsk tsk, don’t mention it, I still feel scared when I think about it now.”
The man patted his chest and said with lingering fear: "These Mongols are too cruel. After all, our Fan family has a cooperative relationship with them. They kill our people at will. This is too overbearing."
"You know nothing!" said the caravan steward, "Those Taijis in the Mongolian territory are similar to the nobles of our Ming Dynasty. The one in Qingcheng was canonized as the King of Shunyi by our Ming Dynasty. You can scold them. There is a destiny.”
"That's what the steward said." The clerk nodded in agreement, and then said, "Since King Shunyi is in Qingcheng, why don't our Fan family's caravan go to Qingcheng?"
The caravan steward glanced at him and said, "You can inquire about this."
"You have such a bad mouth." The guy slapped himself lightly.
The caravan steward looked away, picked up the water bag, took a sip of wine, and said, "Do your own thing. There are some things that don't matter, so don't ask."
"Young man, I understand." The boy nodded in agreement.
The caravan steward picked up the baked pancake, tore off a piece and ate it in his mouth, taking a sip of wine at the same time.
After finishing one pancake, he picked up another piece of pancake that had just been baked and handed it to the waiter next to him, saying, "Would you like some?"
The waiter shook his head and said, "No, the little one has already eaten."
The caravan steward did not try to persuade him, but tore open the pancake and ate it himself.
After the second piece of pancake was almost eaten, the waiter whispered: "Master Steward, I heard that there are many horse bandits on the grassland. In the past, it took at least half a month for the caravan to reach Bansheng. In case we encounter What should we do if we get to the horse bandits? I heard that the horse bandits on the grassland are much more ferocious than our Ming bandits."
The caravan manager took a sip of wine, swallowed the food in his mouth, and said, "Don't worry, the horse bandits don't dare to rob our Fan family's caravan."
"Why is this?" The man's eyes lit up.
The caravan manager said proudly: "Don't look at who we are cooperating with. They are the blood of the Golden Family, Su Nang Taiji. Unless those horse bandits are desperate for their lives, they will not dare to touch our Fan family even if they have the courage to do so. Let’s take a look at the caravan.”
"So that's it." The man nodded thoughtfully.
The caravan steward said: "Keep it in your stomach, on the grassland of Tumut, even officials from the Ming Dynasty are not as good as our Fan family's caravan."
The waiter praised: "It's amazing that the boss can actually establish a relationship with such a big shot as Su Nangtaiji."
The caravan manager said proudly: "As long as you understand, work hard in the future and I won't treat you badly in the future."
"Yes, yes, what the steward said is true, the young one must do a good job." The waiter agreed with a humble look on his face.
……………………
There is a stream thirty miles away from the Fan family's caravan. There is a camp stationed on the edge of the stream, with about a few hundred people.
There were bonfires burning in the camp.
Zhao Yutu, Ma Yunjiu, Zhang Hong and others sat around the campfire.
Lao Wu, the deputy captain of the cavalry team who came to the grassland with the convoy this time, and several squadron leaders under Zhang Hong, all gathered around the bonfire.
Zhao Yutu coughed and said, "The sentinels we sent sent back news that the Fan family's caravan is camped thirty miles away from us. They should be able to reach us tomorrow afternoon, so I called you all. Let’s hold a pre-war combat meeting.”
Everyone was sitting upright.
"Everyone present here, either the cavalry of the cavalry or the soldiers of our Tiger Flag, knows more about fighting than I, the director of the Logistics Bureau, so it's up to you to tell us how to fight this battle." After that, Zhao Yutu said Look at the people around the campfire.
Ma Yunjiu was the first to speak and said: "Actually, this matter is not complicated. If our cavalry team takes action, I guarantee that we can capture the Fan family caravan tonight."
"Our brigade can also do it." Zhang Hong said, "The Fan family's caravan, including the gang and guards, only has more than fifty people. A squadron under my command can handle the Fan family's caravan."
Lao Wu answered: "Your soldiers are too slow. By the time you arrive at the Fan family's caravan, it will be daybreak. Why don't we go to battle with the cavalry and ensure that the battle is resolved within an hour."
"You are looking down on people from our team." Zhang Hong stood up fiercely.
Lao Wu said: "I am not looking down on you soldiers, I am just stating a fact that our cavalry is the most suitable for fighting on the grassland."
Zhang Hong sat down angrily.
In the battle on the grassland, his gun team and spear team were indeed no match for the cavalry team.
