The convoy carrying the tiger flag left Qingcheng and headed slowly towards Xinpingbao.
The cart was filled with goods exchanged from herdsmen, but the biggest achievement this time was to open up the business roads on the grassland, allowing Tiger Flag to open its own shops on the grassland.
Of course, some of the profits from the shops opened on the grassland should be distributed to the Khan and some Taiji.
On the way back, the sentry riders of the motorcade dispersed. Li Shuheng sat on a four-wheeled cart, accompanied by Zhang Hong, who was leading the team this time.
Zhang Hong followed the cart and said with a smile, "I didn't expect to win the shop so smoothly. With this business road, in the future our Tiger Flag will be able to continuously sell goods through the shops opened on the grassland." Transport them to the grasslands and sell them.”
"Although there were some ups and downs on this trip to the grassland, it went smoothly overall. We have completed the tasks assigned by the boss." Li Shuheng said in a relaxed tone.
He is different from Zhang Hong. As the deputy director of the Tiger Flag, he has already come into contact with some of the secret things of the Tiger Flag. Opening up business roads on the grassland is the strategic goal of the Tiger Flag. In addition, Another strategic goal is the sea.
The news from the sea has not been sent back, at least before he left Lingqiu, the news from Tianjin Wei has not been sent back. Now the success of his trip to the grassland can be regarded as fulfilling his mission.
At this time, Tan Zaiwang came galloping on his horse.
The horse's speed was very fast, and it was not like a normal report. Zhang Hong immediately became vigilant, stretched out his right hand, and pressed it on the handle of the sword on his waist.
"Deputy Director, there are horse bandits in front of us."
Tan Zaiwang didn't get too close. He was more than twenty steps away and shouted on his horse.
"How far is the horse bandit from the convoy?" Li Shuheng showed a hint of nervousness.
Horse bandits, like wolves, are the targets that the convoy needs to guard against.
There are countless horse bandits, large and small, on the grassland, and some are simply herdsmen who specialize in robbing passing caravans.
Tan Zaiwang shouted, "It's about three miles away, and everyone has weapons in their hands. They should have found traces of our convoy."
Zhang Hong asked, "How many people are there?"
"There were too few people in the cavalry. We didn't dare to get too close. We didn't get a clear look. There were probably several hundred people."
"So many." Li Shuheng frowned.
Although there are many horse bandits on the grassland, most of them are teams of dozens or hundreds of people. When hundreds of horse bandits gather together at once, it is obvious that there is more than one horse bandit team.
The last time their Tiger Flag convoy encountered horse bandits on the grassland, several horse bandit teams united together.
Zhang Hong turned to Li Shuheng and said, "Deputy Director, what should I do next?"
Li Shuheng is the deputy director with the highest position in the team. It can be said that besides Liu Heng, he is the highest-ranking person in Tiger Flag.
Suddenly, Zhang Hong was a little worried when he heard that there were hundreds of horse bandits.
He was not afraid of these horse bandits, but he was worried that if they took action, he would not be able to take care of the deputy director, Li Shuheng, and the horse bandits would be injured.
Li Shuheng hesitated and said, "How far are we from Qingcheng?"
Zhang Hong replied, "We have been walking for most of the day. It is at least forty or fifty miles away."
"It seems that there is no time to retreat, so we have to fight." Li Shuheng made a decision in his heart and turned to Zhang Hong, "You are the captain of the combat team this time, and you will command the rest of the battle."
Leave professional matters to professionals.
Li Shuheng was not prepared to intervene in the command. Although he was the second person in the Tiger Flag and the person with the highest position in the convoy this time, he did not know much about the soldiers under Zhang Hong. He went with this unfamiliar person. It would be more appropriate to leave the command to Zhang Hong.
"Yes." Zhang Hong agreed.
Instead, he left Li Shuheng's cart and began to give orders to other squadrons of soldiers.
The Tiger Flag's usual training vehicle array began to assemble, and the gunmen among the soldiers began to load gunpowder and lead in preparation for the battle.
The Tiger Banner Cavalry in the distance approached the convoy.
Dozens of cavalrymen had no chance of winning against a team of several hundred horse bandits. Instead of fighting head-on with the horse bandits on the grassland, where they would all die in the end, it was better to retreat behind the car formation and preserve their strength.
When the last cavalryman returned to the convoy, the car array was closed, and a team of gunmen took up their positions again.
Tu La, who was three miles away, also noticed the movement on the other side.
Less than three miles away, he noticed the black command flag on the opposite motorcade, which was unusually dazzling.
Tu La motioned for everyone to stop, and he urged his horse to reach a dirt bun, looking expressionlessly at the Ming caravan that had already formed on the opposite side.
He was too familiar with the car formation in front of him, as well as the black command flag. Although he couldn't see the words clearly, he could feel that the car formation in front of him was the same one they met on the grassland before. A motorcade with a tiger-character flag.
This was a hard bone that would break his teeth if he bit it. He didn't want to mess with it, even if it was Su Nang Taiji's order.
He was able to roam the grasslands and grow his horse bandits from dozens of people to the current team of more than 200 horse bandits. He did not rely on the support of the Mongolian nobles, but his own caution and knowing who could Provoke, who should not be provoked.
The motorcade from the Ming Dynasty in front of him was something he couldn't mess with.
I don't know when, Tu Sha came to Tu La and whispered, "Master, the caravan that Su Nang asked us to attack is indeed the caravan with the tiger-character flag that we saw last time. .”
Not only Tu La recognized it, but Tu Sha also recognized it.
"I know." Tu La said expressionlessly.
Tu Sha asked, "What should we do next?"
Looking at the tiger-character flag caravan that was already waiting in the distance, Tu La pondered for a moment and said, "Tell our people not to take action yet and let the other teams of horse bandits take action. If we can capture this tiger-character flag caravan, we can It’s not too late to take action.”
"Understood." Tu Sha nodded, and then added, "The few horse bandits who followed may not be willing to be cannon fodder for us."
"Go and tell them that as long as they can capture the Ming caravan in front, they will receive half of the goods on the car." As he said that, Tu La glanced at several groups of horse bandits a little further away with disdain.
Among these horse bandit teams, the largest number was only over 70 women, and the smallest number was only over 30 people, which could not catch his eye at all.
Tu Sha pulled the reins and went to the groups of horse bandits to tell them what Tu La had said.
"Brothers, have you heard this? As long as we capture the Ming caravan in front, 50% of the goods on the car will belong to us." A bearded horse bandit shouted to other horse bandits.
"Grab his motherfucker"
Many horse bandits started shouting in Chinese and Mongolian, as if they could just rush over and kill all the people in the distant convoy and steal the goods carried by the convoy.
Tu Sha watched with cold eyes.
He had no intention of reminding these people. As for their life and death, it had nothing to do with him. Moreover, at this time, they needed cannon fodder, and these horse bandits were the best candidates.
