Thief Emperor

Chapter 968 Young Li Er

"Li Er, Li Er!"

In Yingzhou, at the foot of Bailang Mountain, in a tent, a soldier in light armor pushed the arm of a young soldier next to him and woke him up.

"It's your turn!"

The young man named Li Er rubbed his eyes, shook his head, and quickly came to his senses. He looked up at the night sky, then looked at his brothers around him.

They are soldiers from a scout battalion under General Meng.

Since it is a scout battalion, it is of course impossible for it to act on a large scale like ordinary soldiers. In fact, it is basically impossible for a scout battalion to act at the same time. They are all scattered and act as scout teams.

A scout team of about ten people.

Right now, this scout team has already advanced to Bailang Mountain in Yingzhou, ahead of the main force behind them.

According to the requirements of the Tang army, when the scout team is on duty and resting at night, at least 30% of the people must stay awake and be on guard nearby.

It is now midnight and time for the shift change.

After the young boy Li Er woke up, he quickly got into the state. He looked at the man who pushed him awake and said with a smile: "Captain, you go to sleep."

The captain also looked at him and grinned, "Okay, I'll go to sleep then. Remember to wake up the brothers at dawn."

After that, he patted Li Er on the shoulder and said, "Kid, keep your eyes open."

Li Er responded, stood up, adjusted his leather armor, took out a telescope from his arms, and looked around.

After a while, the other two scouts who were awakened also woke up. One of them was only a few steps away from Li Er. After looking around, he turned his head to look at Li Er and said with a smile: "Li Er, where did you say you were from last time?"

"Jiangnan Taoist."

Li Er glanced at the White Wolf Mountain not far away and said without hesitation: "Didn't I tell you last time?"

"wrong."

The young man who was talking to him lowered his head to wipe the telescope in his hand, and then couldn't help saying: "Chang Yong, this guy really doesn't know how to take care of things. This telescope has become so dirty in just half a day since he gave it to him."

At present, telescopes have been basically popularized within the Tang army, but even in the scout camp, it is not possible for everyone to have one.

A scout team of ten people generally has four telescopes. The captain has one, and the other three are used by everyone in turn, by whoever is on duty at night.

After complaining, the man turned his head and glanced at Li Er, then laughed and said, "Yesterday, I followed the captain to the captain's place and met a man with an accent similar to yours."

"That man said he was from Luoyang, and when he spoke, he held his head high."

“You are also from Luoyang.”

He looked at Li Er and said with a smile, "You still want to deceive me, your elder brother? Tell me, are you a rich young man from Luoyang City?"

Li Er was stunned.

He grew up in Jinling when he was very young, and moved to Luoyang when he was older. Although none of his family members were from Luoyang, his mother was from Central Plains.

In addition, many of the people I come into contact with are from Luoyang, and their accents now have become somewhat mixed.

After thinking for a while, he said, "I am a Taoist from Jiangnan. My father used to be a soldier in the Jiangdong Army. Later, he brought me to Luoyang."

The young man who asked the question said, "Hey," "I guessed it, and I really found you out."

He blinked at Li Er and said, "Your father is indeed an old Jiangdong Army soldier. Is he in the Imperial Army now?"

"I was saying, our military rules prohibit you from joining the army before the age of eighteen. You don't look like you are eighteen. Your family must be connected!"

As he spoke, he said with some envy: "In the future, you will probably be able to return to Luoyang and serve as a member of the Imperial Guard."

Li Er was about to answer when his expression suddenly became serious. He turned his head and whispered, "Brother Xu, there seems to be someone there."

The young man surnamed Xu was stunned, then he suddenly looked up into the distance, and saw some human figures outside the sparse jungle under the moonlight.

The two of them climbed up the tree at the same time and swiftly, then raised their binoculars and looked into the distance.

In the distance, I saw a group of cavalrymen riding their horses galloping towards me.

"Wake up the boss."

Li Er, who was still a teenager, climbed down the tree carefully, walked up to the captain, and woke up the captain and other people who were sleeping.

After the captain woke up, he saw that it was still dark and knew something had happened. He followed Li Er and looked at the knights through a telescope.

"They are Khitans."

The captain surnamed Chen vaguely distinguished the enemy's uniforms and immediately ordered his men to crouch and hide. After the cavalry passed by, he turned his head to look at the young man behind him and said in a deep voice: "Li Er, go and tell them that we have found the enemy in Bailang Mountain."

"The rest."

He took a deep breath and whispered, "Come with me and take a look over there to see if there are any large groups of enemies nearby." In the scout camp, it is usually the youngest one who goes to report the news, after all, this job is the safest.

Li Er just thought about it, then shook his head and said, "Captain, let Chang Yong go back and report the news. I will go with you."

He took a deep breath and whispered, "I have been in the army for more than a month, and I have never seen what the Khitans look like."

The leader just thought about it, nodded and agreed, then shook his head and said: "You kid, you are really a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers. Those Khitans are very fierce. If we encounter them in the wild, they are riding on horses and can shoot and injure people from a very long distance."

"Horse Archery..."

Li Er was not very convinced.

Because he could ride and shoot when he was thirteen or fourteen years old, but it is hard to say because some of the soldiers in the army have never even seen a horse.

The captain named Chen quickly assigned some tasks and appointed Chang Yong to report the news. Then he took the rest of the brothers and carefully followed the direction where the Khitan cavalry was running.

The mission of the scout is to find out as much as possible about the number and movements of nearby enemies.

Especially places like Yingzhou, which had been occupied by the Khitans as early as the old Zhou Dynasty, when the Fanyang Army was still in existence, and had been run by them for many years.

In terms of geography, the Khitans were definitely more familiar with it.

However, the Tang army is now on the rise as a whole, and has rarely suffered defeat in recent years. In addition, it is well-trained. After chasing for a day and a night, this scout team finally caught up with the Khitan cavalry.

This group of Khitan cavalry consisted of only a dozen people, and they were marching towards the southwest.

In other words, they were exploring in the direction of the main force of the Tang army.

Because of this, they were so cautious and walked slower and slower, and were caught up by Li Er's scout team.

At this time, the two scout teams were less than a mile apart. Captain Chen turned his head to look at the two horses in his team, then looked at Li Er beside him and said in a deep voice, "They are heading towards Pingzhou and Jizhou."

"Li Er, we'll keep an eye on them here. Go and tell the rear to send cavalry over to pluck out the Khitan's eye."

Li Er looked up at the enemy not far away, then looked at Captain Chen, and said, "Captain, you also said that these Khitans are excellent horsemen. If we delay for too long, they might run away."

“It will be hard to catch up then.”

"at this time."

Li Er said in a deep voice: "They are only 20 to 30 miles away from our army. At this distance, who knows what they have discovered?"

Captain Chen frowned: "What do you mean?"

"Send one person back to report the news, and the others can sneak over."

Li Er touched the sword at his waist and whispered, "Kill them before they get on their horses!"

Captain Chen looked hesitant and was about to refuse when he heard Li Er say, "If you kill all these ten or so Khitan cavalrymen, it will be a great achievement for you, and you can get a promotion immediately if you report it."

"maybe…"

He whispered, "Maybe I can get the rank of sergeant!"

Sergeant is the lowest rank among the nine ranks of military honors, but it is tempting enough.

After all, he gave her land and a house.

Captain Chen took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and whispered, "Let's do it!"

"Li Er, go back and deliver the letter!"

Li Er shook his head and said, "Captain, I have been practicing martial arts since I was a child. I can be used at a time like this!"

Captain Chen thought about it seriously and actually sent someone back to report the news.

The rest of the people waited there until dark, and then took advantage of the cover of night to move towards the Khitan cavalry squad little by little.

By the time the messenger came to the army and reported to the central army, it was already completely dark. In the central army tent, he lowered his head and reported: "Report, General, we have spotted Khitan cavalry 20 miles ahead of us!"

Meng Qing just raised his head slightly and said calmly: "I know, I'll report back if you continue to investigate..."

The scout who brought the news hurriedly lowered his head and answered yes. He was about to leave when he saw a man hurriedly opening the door of the tent and walking in hastily.

"General Meng, General Meng!"

He called out twice, Meng Qing looked up and saw the person coming, he quickly stood up and asked, "Brother Jiu, what's wrong?"

The person who came was Liu Bo. He took a deep breath and whispered something in Meng Qing's ear. Marshal Meng's face changed suddenly when he heard it.

"what?!"

(End of this chapter)