"Idiot, you are holding the torch high at night because you are afraid that you will not die!" Acton sneered and put down the horn bow, and the tight bowstring made a buzzing sound.
Awang grabbed the arrow that penetrated his right chest, and it seemed like a red-hot iron was pierced into it. The screams were harsh, terrifying and full of pain. The slaves on the side tried their best to do something to help their master, but they couldn't do anything. , the wound was too deep, no one dared to use the arrow, for fear of directly killing Awang.
"Hurry, hurry!" Awang tried his best to control himself: "Where is Tenzin? Hurry, call him! Let him take command on my behalf!"
"Yes, yes, I will go find Master Tenzin right away!" The slaves looked for someone in panic. Ngawang lay down with the help of a slave. The blood loss and pain made him feel exhausted, but his mind was still intact. Very sober, he murmured: "There are not many enemies, otherwise they would not just shoot arrows, but rush over. Put on armor first, half of the people control the appendix, and half of the people rush out, and these people will only hide and shoot arrows from a distance." Get rid of the cowards! Don’t panic, don’t panic..."
Fortunately for Ngawang, the slave found his deputy Tenzin in the chaos. He painfully handed over the white Yak helmet that represented the command to Tenzin: "I am no longer good, and the rest will be gone." I'll leave it to you. There shouldn't be many enemies, otherwise they won't just be hiding in the distance and shooting arrows. You leave half of the people to guard the prisoners, and take the remaining half to drive away the thieves and escort the prisoners back! As for me, give me a Be happy, just take the ashes back!"
"Ngawang!" Tenzin couldn't help but burst into tears when he saw his old friend's painful look. He pulled out his dagger, but couldn't bring himself to do it. Awang forced a smile and said: "Don't be like this, act like a woman! You should be happy for me to die on the battlefield! Take my ashes back and give them to my wife, and let her tell the children who their father is." Such a person!"
"Yeah!" Tenzin saw Ngawang's face pale and his chest rising and falling rapidly. Knowing that the other party was in extreme pain, he gritted his teeth, pointed the tip of the knife at Ngawang's heart, and stabbed it hard, causing Ngawang's body to feel a burst of pain. He twitched violently, and then a relieved smile appeared on his face. He exhaled a long breath and murmured: "I'm coming -!"
The grassroots officers of the Tubo people are very experienced in combat. Even at night, Tenzin accurately judged the enemy's direction. He lined up his men in a simple arrow formation and rushed towards the enemy, shouting and waving his long sword. With spears, swords and axes, they rush towards their enemies desperately, either killing them or dying in their hands.
It is a pity that the enemies they encountered were probably the most cunning cavalry commanders in Northeast Asia at that time. In addition to teaching personal martial arts such as riding, archery, and spear stabbing, the teachers at Dinglin Temple also trained the selected outstanding survivors. Various tactics will be taught. Especially for cavalry tactics, the teachers repeatedly told the students that an excellent cavalry commander is also an excellent hunter. He must learn to hide his subordinates, and must skillfully use whistles, horns, flags, whistles and other communication tools on the battlefield to keep the enemy under control. His subordinates are always in hand, sometimes dispersed, sometimes concentrated, luring the enemy to expose the weaknesses of his formation, and then attacking them. After winning, he pursues them until they are eliminated, instead of running headlong into a dense crowd like a fool. A phalanx of spears may be exposed in front of a strong crossbowman. Compared with spears and bows and arrows, the swift four legs of the war horse are the most powerful weapon of the cavalry.
What Acton did today was in perfect compliance with the requirements of the teachers. He first asked his subordinates to attack the Tibetans camping with bows and arrows. When he found that the Tibetans rushed out of the camp and rushed towards him, he immediately used a series of powerful weapons to attack him. The rhythmic whistle commanded his men to retreat to both sides to avoid the sharp edges of the Tubo people, then circled to the side and rear and began to attack. Like most soldiers who were attacked from behind, the Tibetan people's first reaction was that they were surrounded.
"Don't panic, don't panic! Cover your face with a shield, we don't have to be afraid of cowards who can only shoot arrows!" Tenzin shouted loudly, and he asked his men to form a circular formation with him as the center. In the darkness, horse hooves thundered, and arrows kept coming. Flying forward, the arrow screamed. The Tibetans fought back with bows, arrows and slings, but they could not see anything in the dark and had no idea what they could hit. The Tang army cavalry in the darkness threw their torches into the open space around the Tubo formation. They could see clearly that they rushed to a distance of only more than ten steps from the Tubo people. They drew their horned bows to their ears, and the heavy arrows they fired could even penetrate. The Tubo people's leather shields nailed the shield-holding arm to the shield. Whenever the Tubo people rushed out of the circle and tried to attack the Tang army's cavalry, the cavalry would retreat into the darkness, and the pursuers would soon be surrounded and killed. die.
The Tubo people persisted for a long time. They believed that the enemy's cavalry had limited arrows and they only needed to hold on until the enemy ran out of arrows. But Acton set out with six pack horses, which in addition to grain and fodder had twelve bags of feathers and arrows. When the Tubo people could no longer bear it any longer, they began to retreat slowly towards the camp. At first they could maintain their circular formation, but under the harassment of the Tang army, they finally couldn't stand it any longer and some began to leave. Wounded companions and shields fled towards the camp. Just like the first piece of soil collapsed when a dam collapsed, more and more people quickly fled, and finally they dispersed in droves. Acton's cavalry followed them, easily killing one enemy after another until the remaining The enemy below fled back to their campsite.
"The Tubo people have become frightened!" Aktun laughed and said, "Everyone, please stay away and take a rest!"
"Why do you have to retreat further? Aren't you afraid that the Tubo people will escape?" Tuyan Mangjiebo asked carefully. The other party played and killed the Tubo people who had just destroyed their village like sheep. Unknowingly, she had a crush on Ake. Atsushi's attitude has changed a lot, from being unconvinced to being in awe.
"The Tubo people have many wounded and so many prisoners, and we are cavalry, so they can't escape!" Actun said with a smile: "I'm afraid they will take advantage of the darkness and send a few daredevils to attack us at night! Let's! Everyone, both men and horses, have a good rest, and we will deal with them again at noon tomorrow!”
For the remaining half of the night, no one closed an eye in the Tubo camp. The Tubo soldiers opened their eyes vigilantly, guarding against possible attacks; while the Qiang prisoners, with a conflicting mood of fear and hope, looked for the escaped By chance, when the first ray of dawn came the next day and dispelled the darkness, they discovered that the mysterious attackers had long since disappeared, leaving only horse hoof prints and corpses on the ground.
There was only one road in front of Tenzin. He ordered his own corpses to be burned, the wounded who could not walk and all the luggage that could be thrown away were left behind, and then he escorted the prisoners on the road. He had a gloomy face, looking back from time to time, holding the handle of the knife tightly, guarding against the group of mysterious attackers last night.
The retreat of the Tubo people was not easy. On the way, prisoners kept breaking free and escaping into the weeds beside the road. Normally, Tenzin would have ordered his subordinates to pursue them, capture them, and torture them to death in front of other prisoners. . But this time it was different. He had a premonition in his heart that the attackers last night would never give up so easily, and they would come again.
A sharp whistling sound confirmed Tenzin's guess. Having fought with the Tuyuhun people, he knew very well that this was a type of feathered arrow that nomads liked to use - the top of this type of feathered arrow was a hollow piece of wood. , when the feather arrow is shot, the air passes through the hole at high speed, and a special sharp sound will be made, which is often used by herdsmen to convey messages. Since the Tang army had many city-side cavalry from Turks and other ethnic groups, the Tang army often used them. He looked where the sound came from and saw a riding figure on the hill in front of him. It was obvious that the knight had fired the buzzer.
"The enemy from last night is catching up!"
Every Tibetan in the queue felt another chill in their vests, and some even stopped and looked behind them, as if there were evil spirits following behind.
"Don't stop, don't stop!" Denzin shouted loudly, waving his whip over the soldiers' heads. He knew that this would intensify the soldiers' panic, but he had no choice but to do so. The terrain here was flat, not even a big one. There are no mounds visible. For the Tibetans, who are almost all infantry, the situation is even worse than last night. The only way to set up camp and defend is to find a high ground as soon as possible.
While the Tubo people were rushing on their way, the sound of horns and trumpets kept coming, as if two people were talking to each other. Riding shadows also appeared more and more frequently, as if invisible whips were lashing the backs of the Tubo people. Without Tenzin's urging, the Tubo soldiers were marching as fast as they could. In order to avoid being held back by the prisoners, they even threw aside the prisoners who had worked so hard to escort them here. Finally, before the enemy cavalry arrived, they occupied the hill where the enemy who had previously shot Mingdi was.
"Everyone, put up your shields and prepare your slings. If the thieves' cavalry approaches, give them a good look!" Denzen said loudly.
The Tubo people responded in unison. For these Tubo soldiers, using a sling is almost a skill that goes deep into their bones. When they were herding children since they were young, they always had a wooden staff in one hand and a sling in the other. Whether they were driving cattle, sheep, or wolves and other harmful animals, they were indispensable. He could be beaten passively, but now that the sky is clear, he must avenge his shame.
By the time Aktun arrived, the Tubo people had already formed a circular formation on the top of the hill. Although the hill was not high, only about 20 meters above the ground, it was still a commanding height. There are still seventy or eighty Tibetans who are fighting to the bitter end, and their morale must not be taken lightly.
"Come up and shoot these Tubo dogs to death!" Tuyan Mangjiebo shouted excitedly. She had seen the Tubo people's embarrassment last night and just now. Her previous suspicion of Actun had already turned into suspicion of the strong. respect.
"People are so condescending, and they make good use of slings. If you rush over like this, you are seeking death!" Aktun had seen the power of slings when he was at Dinglin Temple. He knew that although it was difficult to use, one hit would break bones and tendons even if he was wearing armor. He looked around and suddenly pointed to the grass not far away: "Who are those people there? Catch them quickly!"
With a whistle, five or six cavalrymen rushed over and rushed back a dozen unkempt men. When they were still more than ten steps away, Tuyan Mangjiebo cheered, jumped off his horse and rushed over, hugging those few people. They cried, laughed, and danced in a group. After a while, the Qiang girl came back and said to Aktun: "These are people from my tribe. The Tubo people just ran in a hurry. They took the opportunity to escape!"
"Oh? This is the best!" Akdon looked at the terrain on the left and right, measured the wind direction, and suddenly laughed: "Tuyan Mangjiebo, please gather the people in the same village, listen to my order, and give these Let the Tubo people show some color!"
Tenzin stood on the mound, observing the enemy's movements. To his surprise, the number of enemies was much smaller than he imagined, with only about twenty riders. He wanted to lead his troops to kill them, but he was afraid. This is a trap. While he was hesitating, he saw dozens of prisoners who had escaped earlier gathering together again and mowing the grass. What were they doing? Is it to feed the horses?
"Master Tenzin, do you want to go out and show these Qiang dogs some color?" someone asked.
"Fight out? How do you know this is not a trap?" Tenzin sneered.
"There are only twenty riders in total. What is there to be afraid of?"
"You saw the twenty knights, what about the ones you didn't see?" Tenzin asked: "Use your brain, that thing around your neck is not just for eating!"
Under Tenzin's scolding, the Tubo people strictly guarded the mound. They only sent out a dozen soldiers to throw stones at the Qiang people who were cutting grass. However, the distance was too far and there was only a symbolic threat. After a while, the Tubo people realized that mowing the grass did not pose any threat to them, so they simply ignored it. After more than two hours, the Qiang people cut a lot of grass. The first grass they cut had already dried under the scorching sun on the plateau.
"Akdon, why do you want us to cut so much grass? Is it something to feed the horses?" Tuyan Mangjiebo asked.
"No!" Acton shook his head: "Have you ever taken wild honey?"
"Wild honey? What do you mean?" Tuyan Mangjiebo asked in confusion.
"There are many wild bees in the woods of my hometown. There are not only honey in the hive, but also many bee pupae. They are very delicious. They are sizzling when roasted over fire. Not to mention the fragrance. But wild bee larvae are also poisonous. Very soon, a big lump will swell if you are stung. If you are stung seven or eight times, even a strong man may die! So if you want to eat wild honey, you have to find a way!"
Tuyan Mangjiebo was confused when he heard this: "What does this wild honey have to do with cutting grass?"
"Hehehehe!" Acton laughed: "You'll find out later!"
On the mound, Tenzin was taking a nap. He hadn't slept much since last night's torment until now. Even a tough man couldn't stand it now.
Today I finally got back to normal. That’s what amateur codewriting is like. I just have to squeeze in time. It’s so difficult!
