Northern Dynasties

Chapter 157

On the north bank of Kulichuan, there is a long and narrow plateau running from north to south. The edge of the plateau is not as steep and steep as a knife cut, but the curve is smooth and connected with the valleys on both sides. Looking from a distance, it looks like a head lying on the ground. Xiong Wei on the board.

Therefore, this plateau and its surrounding valleys are also called Woxiong Ridge in the local area.

The area of ​​the plateau is about six to seven hectares, and pines and cypress trees occupy nearly half of the space, and the rest is flat land with rich soil.The valleys on both sides are also densely vegetated, and because of the irrigation of the Kuli River Canal, it can be called a region with rich water and grass.

In the late autumn, the river has dried up, exposing a large area of ​​tidal flats and riverbeds, and most of the reeds and aquatic plants have withered.

In the tidal flat at this time, a group of male and female slaves in ragged clothes were wading in the mud and mud on the tidal flat, using stone knives to cut off those withered reeds and water plants.

Although these reeds have withered, they are very resilient. They can be used to weave bedding utensils and repair houses, etc. They are excellent materials with a wide range of uses.But it becomes very difficult to harvest with a rough, blunt-edged stone knife.

There was still moisture remaining in the mud pond, and it was not completely frozen. Those slaves walked in it barefoot, most of their legs were almost sunk in the mud pond, and they were holding unsuitable tools in their hands, all of them were pale with cold. Blue and white, completely bloodless.

In such a situation, every breath is cruel torture, but they dare not slack off.Because there are Hu Zu wandering supervisors in the case, once it is found that their movements are slow and the harvest is not much, a sharp arrow will fly over and shoot people directly to death in the mud.

"The dog slave shoots more accurately!"

A Hu pawn mistakenly killed a hard-working slave on the case, which immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the leader, but he only pointed and cursed, and did not punish him any more.

After scolding his subordinates, the leader looked at the slaves who were still active in the mud pond and sighed: "With these Han slaves alone, it will be very difficult to live this winter! You should be kinder and don't kill them at will. The more Han slaves The more tricky you are, the less and less you will get from winter hunting. In the spring of the coming year, if there are no slaves to use, you will all get off your horses and plow the land!"

"Didn't it mean that there is a big man blowing the trumpet and beating the drum to lead us to attack the big city of Han'er? If we attack it, there will be no slaves to use it!"

One Hu Zu said disapprovingly, with a look of expectation in his tone.

After the leader heard the words, he snorted coldly: "Do you think the big city of Han'er is so easy to attack? Even if all the ministries are mobilized, they have to be killed to fill the formation, and they may not be able to attack. Besides, the big man's family is not strong. The few of us Qu Shuai may not be happy to have him in trouble."

While talking, dozens of Jihu men and women came back from grazing large herds of cattle and sheep in the valley behind the oblique back. Most of those men and women were disheveled and laughing.

Hu Zu, who was in charge of supervising the work of the slaves, was very angry when he saw this, pointing at the returned shepherds and shouting: "If you don't watch the herds carefully, you will only play wildly, lose your cattle and sheep, and skin the thieves and men. !"

Jihu is sexually promiscuous, and men and women can have wild sex at will before they are married, but they will restrain themselves after they get married.Not out of any chastity morality, but out of the protection of property.

Jihu's living environment is inherently harsh, and it is extremely difficult to support a population. Women's productivity is not high. Spit and punish.

The sun was gradually setting to the west, the leader looked at the sky, and then ordered: "Call those slaves back, and then go to the left to inspect. We will move out in ten days or so, but don't make any mistakes! "

This place is suitable for farming and animal husbandry, and every spring and summer there will be Hu tribes who settle here.But because the environment is too superior, the risk of exposure will also increase.Therefore, in autumn and winter, Hu Bu who lived here would search for surface resources and transfer to more hidden valleys for the winter.

"The Western Thieves just lost to the Eastern Dynasty last year, and it is difficult to protect themselves now. I am afraid that the King Gao of the Eastern Dynasty will attack and kill them, so they are not willing to use their troops here! In my opinion, it's okay if they don't move this year, even if there is a small army of thieves. If you want to harass, just kill it. If you turn back in the next year, I don’t know which one will occupy this fertile land!"

Hearing this, several young Hu soldiers couldn't help complaining.Although they lived in the wilderness, they had heard about the results of the East-West War, so they didn't think that the Western Dynasty would attack them aggressively under such circumstances.

"Where is there so much nonsense! In previous years, there were warriors who were stronger than you, but they were all dead."

The leader scolded impatiently, turned his horse and rode under a big tree beside the road, grabbed a shepherdess who was waiting there, and rode his horse up to the field.

On the top of the plateau sits a castle with rammed earth as the wall. Part of the castle is densely covered with felt tents, and part of it is warehouses of different sizes, in which are piled up the materials produced and accumulated by this branch of the Hu tribe who settled here for half a year. .

On one side of the castle are herds such as cattle, horses and sheep, and simple stables and sheds are built.On the other side, the population of slaves they plundered from various places just lived in holes dug in the ground, and the environment was even dirtier and cruder than stables for cattle and sheep.

To the south of the castle is a large piece of rough-cultivated land, and the crops have already been harvested.Further south is a dense forest.At this time, a group of slaves were also cutting down trees and collecting firewood here.

Suddenly there was a short cry in the forest, but fortunately Hu Zu, who was supervising the work outside the forest, didn't notice it.

A woodcutter fell into a deep ditch and was terrified when he saw several strong men with bows and knives hiding at the bottom of the ditch, tremblingly said: "You, you are..."

"We are the officers and soldiers of the northern defense. We are here to suppress the bandits and rescue the hard laborers. Don't say anything, the old man, the army will arrive soon. How many troops are there in this bandit army, and how are they prepared for their residence? Please tell me carefully."

Lu Chuan, who led the way and sneaked here for a long time, comforted the woodcutter in a low voice with his local accent, and found out the details of this episode.

The woodcutter was overjoyed when he heard the words, and hastily told what he knew about Hu's situation in detail, and said over and over again: "These thieves and Hu are not human, please generals must kill them all!"

"The number of thieves is more than three thousand, which is not a small number. No wonder we can rely on this."

After Lu Chuan got the news, he climbed close to Zhu Meng's hiding place under the cover of weeds in the forest ditch, conveyed the information to Zhu Meng in a low voice, and asked for instructions: "General Zhu, should we report to the Lord, or..."

"A small group of [-] people, it's not worth the effort to go back and forth, just do it directly, the fireworks are the name!"

After Zhu Meng finished listening, he directly made a decision, and conveyed his order to his comrades who were hiding nearby. A group of people sneaked towards the edge of the forest, and the woodcutter in the forest would inevitably notice him. After announcing his intention, he signaled them Flee to the woods and don't be affected.

"Come out, get out!"

At this time, Hu Zu, who was overseeing the work outside, also noticed the change of the slaves. He pressed his saber and shouted loudly. Just as he took two steps, a feather arrow shot out from the forest and directly pierced his chest.

This arrow is a signal, dozens of brave soldiers are like tigers coming out of the forest, swinging their knives and bows, they rushed towards the Hu Zu supervisors nearby.

A dozen or so Hu soldiers here were also startled. Some drew their knives and stepped forward to fight, while others turned around and mounted their horses and galloped to call the police.

The battle happened suddenly and ended quickly. Within a few breaths, all the Hu soldiers on the left and right were cut down and shot to death, but there were also a few people riding horses and blowing horns to convey the warning of the enemy's attack.

There were several horses left by the Hu soldiers nearby. Zhu Meng and several others got on their horses and ordered the rest of the people to set off fire and smoke outside the forest to pass the news, while several of them rode their horses straight to Tucheng in the north of Yuanbei.

The police in Tucheng heard the sound and reacted in panic. First, dozens of Hu soldiers rushed out of Tucheng on horseback, and soon they met Zhu Meng and the others.

Hu Gong's weak disadvantage was divided into life and death at this moment, and several people were shot and killed first, but Zhu Meng and the others passed sideways unscathed, followed by Hu Zu's team and shot and killed several people, and then went straight to that place. The gate of Tucheng rushed away.

"Stop them, stop them!"

Hu Zubing, who led the team, was shocked when he saw this. They rushed to the battle, and the soldiers in the city had not yet been organized.Although the opponent has only a few members, once they are rushed into the city, it will inevitably cause even greater chaos.

When these pawns returned to their horses to block the attack, the remaining people in the forest had already collected firewood and set off fireworks on the flat ground. A few people left guarded the fire to add firewood, and the remaining forty or so people lined up to the Tucheng and go.

More than [-] Hu soldiers came to stop them, and the infantry team formed a circular formation to defend on the spot, with armor shields on the outside, long spears on the inside, and strong bows and arrows to fight back.

Although the Hu people were coming fast and furiously, more than a dozen long spears protruded from the formation, so they did not dare to directly hit them, so they could only go around and shoot.

The arrows are dense and fast, but because they dare not get too close, the actual damage caused is limited. On the contrary, although the rhythm of the longbow arrows in the enemy's formation is slow, every arrow will definitely kill.

"Drive the horse into the formation, if you break the formation, you will die!"

The enemy's situation was not fully known yet, and the Hu soldiers did not dare to fight, so they gathered a few horses that had lost their owners, and drove them straight towards the battle formation.

"Left and right geese!"

Following the commander's order, the armored soldiers came out from the left and right, and the original circular formation suddenly divided into two rows. The sword slashed on the shield, but the ribs have been pierced by the enemy's sword.

After a confrontation, Hu Zu injured several people again, and several people got into a fight.Although the enemy's formation was broken away, the remaining soldiers were no longer strong enough to win.

The obvious gap in equipment made their mobility advantages insignificant. After seeing that several enemy soldiers had already seized their horses, the remaining dozen or so pawns did not dare to fight any more. They turned their horses and retreated, calling for more companions.

At this time, the Hu people in the Tucheng also recovered from the initial panic. All the men and women in the city gathered, each holding a stick to form a defense, and another [-] horsemen galloped out to continue chasing and suppressing the enemies on the plateau.

Zhu Meng and others circled the city to make trouble, although they failed to enter, they still observed the details of the city's defenses, and seized several idle horses, galloped back around the plain, and increased their own cavalry to a small number of [-], and the rest of the people joined forces again. Swords, shields and spears gathered in the field.

When the enemy cavalry rushed close, they first blocked the shot with the cavalry, but they lost their sharpness before entering, and they had no foot to break through the formation, so they had to retreat and rearrange.But when they go back and forth, a similar situation repeats itself.If so, the third is helpless.

At this time, the police were sent from all directions in Yuanxia, ​​and the troops from behind finally arrived at the valley in Yuanxia. Most of Jihu's scattered scouts were driven back, and the undiscovered enemy information was also sent back.

In the Tucheng, there was the sound of drums and horns gathering troops for internal defense. Zhu Meng and others finally breathed a sigh of relief as the pawns on the plateau retreated.

"But if we can keep this piece of thieves completely, the dead can rest in peace!"

Zhu Meng glanced at the crowded Tucheng, and said silently in his heart.The terrain of this plateau is high and looking around, Hu Xing is cunning and vigilant, if they don't disturb them, it will be very difficult to completely trap them here and wait for death.

(End of this chapter)