Reborn in Dunhuang, I am farming and doing business in the desert

Chapter 80: Betroth my daughter to you
"More than a thousand people?"

Wu Hou frowned and immediately stood up: "Call everyone to mount their horses! Let's retreat quickly!"

There were only more than 200 people on his side, and they were no match for the more than a thousand Huns. The only thing they could do now was to run away.

So everyone rode their horses into the mountains and forests.

Finally they ran to the foot of a ridge.

"The way forward is blocked by the mountain ridge!" the cavalry exclaimed.

Chen Wuhou turned his head to look at the Xiongnu who were getting closer and closer, and waved his hand: "Go to the mountain, as long as we guard the mountain road, those Xiongnu will not be able to do anything to us!"

This is the only solution I have. I can't die with my subordinates, right?
So, more than 200 people rode up the mountain on horseback, and finally chose a narrow road to stop.

Shen Xun looked around and saw that there was a mountain on one side of the road and a steep cliff on the other side, which was perfect for garrisoning.

"Leave a few archers down, and the rest can find a place to rest." Chen Wuhou jumped off his horse and looked over.

I saw dense crowds of Huns surrounding the foot of the mountain, and some of them were trying to shoot arrows upwards.

He picked up a stone and threw it down, which immediately hit the Hun crowd and caused a commotion.

"Haha! Come up if you dare!" Chen Wuhou put his hands on his hips and cursed, "Fuck you! I'm waiting for you to come and kill me!"

There were also some Huns who understood Chinese, and they immediately rushed forward with roars.

Shen Xun and several archers aimed at their vital points and shot accurately with every arrow.

The rest of the soldiers also picked up stones and threw them down, forcing the Huns to retreat.

The Xiongnu leader pointed at the mountain and cursed loudly, and then ordered his men: "Go and gather another thousand people. Let's surround this hill and not let any of them go down the mountain. I want to see how long the Han people can hold on to the mountain."

The hill is just sand and gravel, without even a blade of grass, let alone water.

He wanted to trap all those Han people in the mountains and let them die of thirst, starvation and freezing!

At night, the temperature dropped sharply and the north wind howled.

Shen Xun stood on the hill and looked down, surrounded by the fires lit by the Huns.

His comrades were all shivering with cold, but they couldn't even find any grass to make a fire.

"It's so damn cold, I can't stand it anymore." Chen Wuhou had already been injured and lost blood, and now he was curled up in the horse's belly to keep warm.

Dozens of seriously injured people began to feel drowsy, and Shen Xun was afraid that they would fall asleep and never wake up again.

He lay under his horse's belly and wrote a letter to his sister by flashlight, describing his situation in detail and writing his new address.

Not long after, a huge metal box suddenly appeared next to him, as big as two rooms.

Shen Xun was stunned. He walked around the huge box and found a heavy iron door.

When I opened the iron door, I saw an emergency light on inside, illuminating the inside brightly.

There is a table, several cotton coats, several quilts, two baskets of steaming steamed buns, a bag of rice and several buckets of water.

What surprised him most was that there was an iron stove installed here, which was connected to a chimney on the top of the box.

There was some wood piled next to the stove, enough to burn for two or three days.

Shen Xun took a piece of letter paper from the table, on which was his sister's handwriting.

Before he had time to read the letter, Chen Wuhou and several guards walked in.

"May the gods of the land and country bless you! What's going on?"

Chen Wuhou looked around in shock, then turned to Shen Xun and said, "Shen Xun, can you summon the gods?"

Shen Xun's eyelids twitched, and he quickly said, "Maybe there really is a god protecting us."

Several guards looked at Shen Xun with respect: "No wonder you suddenly took out so many magical bows and crossbows, were they also given to you by the gods?"

Shen Xun responded vaguely and started to light the stove with a lighter. Several guards also helped to cook porridge silently, and carried in dozens of seriously injured soldiers.

After a while, the flames from the stove heated up the entire box house, and the wounded soon fell asleep on the warm bedding.

Shen Xun picked up a few cotton coats and went out to give them to the soldiers guarding the pass: "Put on your cotton coats, and someone will come to relieve you in half an hour."

Several people thanked him repeatedly and put on their thick cotton coats.

The cotton coat and hat are just right to block the cold wind.

When Shen Xun returned to the box room, he smelled the sweet aroma of rice porridge. About two hundred people were crowded inside. Everyone was eating steamed buns and drinking the porridge from several bowls in turn.

"We have food, but what about the horses?" a soldier asked worriedly.

The others also sighed: "Yes, it's so cold outside. If the horses die, how can we fight the Huns?"

Chen Wuhou frowned and said, "We'll see when the day breaks. If it doesn't work, we can only give up some horses."

Shen Xun didn't answer, but sat in the corner reading the letter written by his sister.

The letter said that she would put out some hay and water troughs in more than half an hour, and asked him to be careful not to hit the horses.

She also said she bought a watch and put it in his backpack, and that she would recall a key chain at noon and at 8 p.m. every day, and asked him to write down the latest news in advance.

Ah Zhao also said that once she had collected enough money, she would buy dozens more bows and crossbows and the matching iron arrows and send them over. In this way, more than 200 people would be able to return to Wulei City.

Holding the letter tightly in his arms, Shen Xun took the bowl of porridge handed to him by his personal guard and drank it slowly, silently watching his comrades applying medicine and bandaging each other.

After half an hour, ten soldiers went out to change shifts, and Shen Xun followed them out.

I vaguely saw a large black mass slowly emerging, right above the heads of several war horses.

Shen Xun was startled and immediately rushed over to lead the horse aside.

After a while, several bundles of hay tied into squares appeared on the ground, with two or three long stone troughs next to them.

The stone troughs were already filled with clean water and appeared side by side in front of the war horses.

The horses were startled at first, then they stretched their necks to drink water.

Shen Xun used a dagger to cut the rope that bound the hay, picked up some and scattered it in front of the horses.

When the soldiers found that the horses had eaten the grass, they were stunned and bowed their heads to the sky and worshiped: "Thank you for the mercy of the great god of the country. When we return home safely, we will make a statue for you!"

Chen Wuhou looked at Shen Xun and walked up to him silently: "Shen Xun, when we return, I will betroth my daughter to you."

Shen Xun smiled awkwardly and clasped his fists towards Chen Wuhou: "I am ashamed to accept this honor. I am afraid that I have wronged your daughter."

Although Chen Wuhou's official position was not high, he was also a military general directly awarded by the court. He belonged to a class of officials with a certain rank, which was much higher than the status of minor officials such as the pavilion chief and the three elders.

Shen Xun didn't dare to dream of marrying his daughter.

"What's wronged or not? I have the final say."

Chen Wuhou patted the young man on the shoulder and said with a smile: "My daughter is sixteen years old this year. She has been reading poetry and books with her mother since she was a child. She is very sensible and has a beautiful appearance. She is a perfect match for you. When we return victorious, I will arrange for you to get married."

Shen Xun:.
At night, heavy snow suddenly fell from the sky.

The soldiers hurried out of the box room and used the ropes used to bundle hay to pull a rope net between the box and the stone.

A layer of straw is laid on the rope net to serve as a simple shed.

Then lead the horses in to prevent them from freezing to death.

Fortunately, there was enough fodder to barely shield the horses from the wind and snow.

However, before the soldiers had time to sleep, the guards at the mountain pass shouted again: "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

(End of this chapter)