Not too much delay. More than a thousand people and horses camped in the open for nearly ten days, following the path pointed by Fan Lu before finally arriving at Dingzhou City.
"Why is this city so broken? It's worse than Wangzhou." Chang Wei, who was leading the charge, had a look on his face before his horse stopped.
The northwest frontier is not peaceful, there are tens of thousands of old horse bandits causing chaos everywhere. When it was strong, there were no less than 150,000 people. For this reason, many soldiers once lived here, plowing grain and fighting against horse bandits.
It is estimated that there is arable military land in the northwest frontier, which is the only advantage compared to the northern border.
"Lord!"
While talking, Chai Zong hurried over with more than ten riders. While they were still a hundred miles away from Dingzhou, Xu Mu had already sent someone to inform them in advance.
Xu Mu was even more surprised to see his old friend again, especially after the disaster.
He liked Chai Zong. The person recommended by the old man will definitely not be an ordinary person.
The eight thousand Xu Jiajun finally got it this time.
"After hearing about my lord's stay in the grassland, I will bow down to you."
Not only Chai Zong, but also the dozen or so knights who followed him all looked respectful. Those who guard the borders all have the dream of conquering the mountains and rivers.
"General Xu is an unparalleled talent! This time he has entered the grasslands and strengthened the rivers and mountains of our Central Plains."
Xu Mu didn't want to go into details about the dangers along the way. Several times, he thought he was going to die on the grassland.
In this time travel, the greatest confidence he had was not that he could make distilled liquor. But in my mind, over the past five thousand years, there are treasures of battles left by our ancestors one after another.
His other life seems to be becoming more magnificent and intense.
"Chai Zong, the tiger talisman is here."
Xu Mu exhaled and took out half of the hot copper tiger talisman. If he wants to enter Shu, he has to face three kings of Shu state. These eight thousand Xu family troops are the confidence.
Of course, when the war in Hezhou is settled, Yu Wen will also bring the people from Hutang back. If they are added together, Xu Mu estimates that there will be at least more than 10,000 troops.
It's a pity that too many people died in order to defend the border. Otherwise, if added up, there should be nearly 20,000.
"General Xu, please follow me into Dingbei Camp."
…
Dingzhou Dingbei Camp.
It was already a bleak scene. With Li Rucheng's death, these people could only stick to their last righteousness and stick to the Dingzhou area.
Of course, it is not an army without a master. I guess the old man has already left a message. No matter how the war in the Central Plains goes, Dingzhou must be defended and beware of horse bandits entering the customs.
"Chai Zong, how many people are there in Dingzhou today?"
"There were more than 50,000 people before. The old marquis brought 20,000 people into the inner city, plus the 8,000 people given to the lord, and there were also those who died in the war and returned home. Now, there are only 20,000 people left. But please Don't worry, my lord, the old Marquis has made a good plan, and 20,000 people are enough to defend Dingzhou."
Compared with Beidi, the foreign horse bandits here are more like uncivilized people who only know how to plunder and desperately gather the wool of the Daji Dynasty.
Not a ragtag group, but not a strong army either. It was rare that the prodigal father-in-law led 20,000 Dingbei battalion elites to surround and suppress only 5,000 horse bandits, and he was actually killed and lost his armor.
One general is incompetent and the three armies are exhausted.
"General Xu, eight thousand Xu family troops have arrived."
Xu Mu quickly raised his head and took a closer look. I found that wherever I looked, there were at least three or four phalanxes walking steadily towards them with heavy steps.
A long time ago, after receiving the old man's promise of eight thousand tiger talismans, he had been thinking about what he would do with these eight thousand people in the future.
You must know that these are not ordinary people who join the army temporarily, but real soldiers who guard the border and defend the city.
"I'll pay my respects to General Xu!"
The two leading generals, riding war horses, were the first to shout.
"Meet General Xu!"
Three or four square formations stopped in front of the training ground and also made sounds.
Xu Mu felt happy. He originally thought that there might be some estrangement between the eight thousand Tiger Talisman Army that changed hands, but unexpectedly, they were integrated so perfectly.
I guess it was the incident in the grassland that gave him a bit of a reputation.
"General Xu, the two generals who have gone out have not returned yet. Why don't we have a banquet together before leaving Dingzhou."
Chai Zong's considerations are understandable. If he had not followed the old man's orders, no one would be willing to give up the soldiers he had managed to raise.
After staying for half a day, we had a drink and got to know the two camp generals. Xu Mu then led eight thousand Xu family troops and rushed out of the Dingzhou camp with great enthusiasm.
There were no survivors, and the eight thousand people and the more than a thousand cavalry from before were temporarily organized into a mixed brigade on foot and cavalry, heading towards the inner city.
…
"So, the little boss is back alive."
It had only been one winter, and in order to show off the majesty of a superior, Chen Changqing had specially grown a beard, and even his hair crown had been replaced with gilded gold.
"Three thousand riders rode into the grassland, killed a few battles, and were able to take more than a thousand riders to Yanzhou." Chen Changqing laughed angrily.
From now on, others will only call him a useless general who abandoned the border with His Majesty. On the contrary, the young master entered the grassland, inspired the mountains and rivers, and achieved an unparalleled reputation.
Comparing the two, Dingnanhou was very sad.
"Chen Lu, what do you think?"
Chen Lu was wearing a brand new scribe's robe and had a scribe's crown raised. Anyone who didn't know him would definitely not know that he was one of the six masters in the inner city.
"My little boss has achieved great justice twice." Chen Lu narrowed his eyes, "In the first one, he followed the surnamed Hou Qingjun and killed the traitor."
"The second scene was to take ten thousand people who had joined the army to die, to the border, and then into the grassland to kill Prince Beidi."
"So." Chen Changqing was slightly unhappy. He discovered one thing. Chen Tianwang, who had taken it for his own use, became more and more breathless when speaking.
"How can you be willing to live under someone else's side after you have great righteousness?" Chen Lu said with a smile, "There is always a place in the world where the little boss wants to take root. It may be Liangzhou, it may be Shuzhou, it may be the inner city, or it may be It’s another place outside.”
"Why not Dingzhou."
"Dingzhou is too chaotic, and Xiaodong will not stay there. In the future, Hezhou will be the territory of Chang Zhuangyuan, and he will not go there either."
"It's really hard to guess." Chen Changqing rubbed his eyes. After being blinded by an assassin, he hated wearing an eyepatch, leaving only a strand of hair hanging down to cover it.
"That bitch Zhao Qingyun also stayed in Beidi?"
Chen Lu shook his head, "The biggest prince in Beidi is dead, how can there be room for him? After the little boss fought out of the grassland, he fled north in a hurry."
"Escape from the north? If you go further north from Saibei Grassland, you'll find the Gobi Desert."
"I heard that there are some large oases in the sand sea, where tribes gather."
Chen Changqing burst into laughter, "This rebellious bitch actually dares to surrender to Di Rangguan. He is even worse than you and me. I guess the people in the Central Plains would want to eat his flesh if they saw him."
"There are many dogs in the world, and Zhao Qingyun is the craziest one."
…
He hurriedly bypassed the Saibei grassland and could not return to Hezhou or go to Yanzhou. The world is vast, as if there is nowhere to go.
Zhao Qingyun had a cold face, but his face still showed madness. Behind him, the soldiers mutinied one after another, leaving less than two thousand troops.
Many pairs of eyes among them stared at him eagerly.
If you have milk, you are a mother; if you don't have milk, you are a wolf. This is an eternal truth.
"One ear, you and I are dead!" Huang Daochun, who followed, gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice. He never expected that the most dignified wise man in Beidi would actually escape with a traitorous general.
"Hu Xiu! You lost food and fodder and missed our military plane!" Zhao Qingyun said with a cold face, suddenly drew his sword and slashed back, killing a subordinate general under his horse.
Things like this are already the eighth round since the escape. In order to stabilize the morale of the military, Zhao Qingyun has done everything he can.
He raised his head, gasped, and smiled an increasingly crazier smile.
At dusk, the desert is full of smoke and the moon is full.
A sand wolf that had killed its own race met his eyes. A wolf howl and a mournful roar shattered the howling wind and sand.
