The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 25 Four Forts Alliance
"Boom~"

The sky was covered with dark clouds, muffled thunder continued to sound, and the originally drizzling rain became heavier.

It looks like the rain will continue all night!

After lunch, Li Xiao lay down on the bed and fell asleep. He was not awakened until midnight by the noise outside.

It's midnight, which is 11 o'clock in the evening, and it's time to set off.

After putting on their clothes, Li Xiao, Dahu and Erhu came to the outer room.

Dinner was ready. The staple food was the horse meat left over from yesterday, paired with pickled vegetable and millet porridge. Li Xiao ate it with relish.

The old man, grandpa, Old Man Zhao and others ate in silence. No one spoke. The only sound they could hear was the sound of chewing horse meat and slurping porridge.

Only the old lady and Qin Dani sat aside, unable to eat anything, quietly wiping away tears.

They all knew what these men were going to do tonight, and they were even more afraid that they would not come back.

"Stop crying~"

"Like crying at a funeral~"

The old man ate horse meat and scolded the old lady and Qin Dani.

When going to war, crying is the worst thing to do.

Therefore, before a battle, ancient regular armies generally would not allow soldiers to meet their families, as this would affect morale.

Perhaps the death of her eldest son had deeply shocked the old lady. This time she ignored the old man and walked up to Li Xiao and the other two.

He hugged the three people's heads and said, "You must come back safely~"

The eldest son is gone, the second son is nowhere to be found, and the old lady doesn’t want to lose another grandson.

"Grandma, we will be careful!" Li Xiao nodded.

He looked at Qin Dani with determination, reassuring her!

The old man was extremely dissatisfied with the old lady's behavior and scolded her, "If you want your grandson to die, then keep talking!"

All veterans understand one thing: the more you fear death, the easier it is to die.

The old lady's reluctance to part with her grandson might cause Li Xiao and the other two to waver in their hearts, making them even more afraid of war.

When fighting with the enemy, always think about how to avoid getting hurt.

But if that happens, death will be a short distance away.

"Don't listen to your grandma's nonsense~" the old man said to Li Xiao and the other two.

"Just keep going forward. If there's a knife coming, I'll block it for you, old man!"

The old man was not worried about Li Xiao, but Dahu and Erhu.

Li Xiao is mature and steady, and can remain calm even when fighting. Such a person will not be easily bound by emotions, so the old man is very relieved.

The ones who were worried were Dahu and Erhu.

Although Dahu is also quite calm, he is far inferior to Li Xiaolai.

Not to mention Erhu, who is impulsive and irritable, but also the most unstable.

"What about the three Khitans next to them?" The old man looked at Qin Dani and continued to ask.

"There's nothing unusual. They stayed in the house all day. When we delivered horse meat to them just now, all three of them were there!" Qin Dani said.

The old man nodded slightly and felt relieved.

Although these Khitans had a grudge against the Karluks, they still had to be on guard, as they were always prepared for the worst.

This concerns the lives of nearly 600 people in Hexi Fort and the other three forts.

If the Karluk army got wind of the news and set up an ambush in advance, the consequences would be disastrous.

It’s never too careful!

"After we leave, you must be careful. If these three Khitans have any bad intentions, have someone shoot them to death immediately." The old man said with a fierce and murderous look.

Qin Dani nodded slightly to show that she understood!
After eating, everyone equipped themselves with bows and arrows, put on straw raincoats, and walked out of the house. It was still raining outside, but the rain could no longer be seen from dozens of meters away.

Gradually, more and more people came out from various courtyards.

They rode on war horses, wore straw raincoats, held spears in their hands, had scimitars on their waists, and had bows and arrows hanging on their horses' backs. They moved forward slowly, fully armed.

Behind them are the worried eyes and reluctant expressions of many relatives.

But no one could escape this war. If they didn't want to be enslaved by the Karluk people, they could only go to the battlefield.

Slowly, everyone gathered together like a torrent.

In the open space north of Hexi Fort, more than 400 cavalrymen stood in silence, forming a black mass.

No one spoke, only the warhorse beneath them was frightened by the muffled thunder and neighed anxiously.

"Boom boom boom~"

Another bolt of lightning struck, and the purple light instantly illuminated the earth.

At this moment, one could clearly see more than 400 cavalrymen wearing straw raincoats, as silent as devils, with expressions of solemnity, silence or tension on each of their faces.

At the front of the crowd, the three old men were riding on their horses, staring at everyone.

Li Xiao followed behind the old man.

Although he became the Lord of Hexi Fort, he was obviously unable to control the situation today. The old man had to take action to suppress the troops from the other three forts.

"Use a piece of cloth to block the horse's ears, and use a piece of wood to block the horse's mouth!"

The first words the old man said were orders.

Horses are afraid of thunder, so the ears of war horses must be blocked to prevent them from being frightened and out of control.

Holding the horse's mouth also prevents the warhorse from neighing and alarming the enemy.

In fact, anyone with a little experience knows these things. The old man is mainly telling young people like Erhu and Tietou.

Prevent them from rushing into battle and forgetting about it due to nervousness.

Moreover, in general night raids, in addition to holding the horse's mouth, the horse's hooves must also be wrapped.

But it was raining today, the ground was wet, and the horses wouldn't make much noise when they trampled.

If it is wrapped with cloth, it will increase in weight when it comes into contact with water, which will affect the speed of the warhorse.

"Sanhe Fort has been captured by the Karluk people. Their next targets are Hexi Fort and Hedong Fort."

"Then there are Tower Village and Lonely Mountain Fort."

"To prevent your wives and daughters from being abused by the Karluks, and to prevent your children and family members from becoming slaves of the Karluks."

"Tonight, follow me to raid Sanhe Fort and kill all the Qarlug people!" The old man's cold voice rang out in the rainy night, and the murderous roar reached everyone's ears.

There were no overly passionate or exciting words, the old man just told them a fact.

If we don't defeat the Qarluk people, everyone will be destroyed.

And precisely because of this, everyone present instantly became murderous and secretly tightened their spears and scimitars in their hands.

"kill!"

"Kill~"

"kill!"

A low roar sounded in the rainy night, condensing a murderous force, and continued to circle and echo in the wind and rain.

"Let's go~"

The old man shouted in a deep voice, turned his horse around, and headed towards Sanhe Fort.

Qin Kaishan, Zhao Tiezhu, Li Xiao and others followed closely.

The distance between Hexi Fort and Sanhe Fort is not too far, only about forty miles.

Under normal circumstances, it will take less than an hour to arrive.

But tonight, the pace was much slower.

Marching at night is already very dangerous, let alone on a rainy night.

Fortunately, the Han people around Hexi Fort often go down to the river to fish and get effective supplements of cod liver oil, so the proportion of night blindness is much lower than that of other nomadic peoples.

This is also the reason why Li Xiao dared to propose a night attack.

What's more, these people are from the same village who live together day and night. They are very familiar with each other and will basically not get separated if they follow the person in front of them.

Half an hour later, when everyone reached a slope, the old man suddenly raised his hand and signaled everyone to stop.

He narrowed his eyes and listened carefully to the movements in the wind and rain. Years of combat experience allowed him to sense something unusual ahead.

The others immediately became alert, gripping their weapons tightly and preparing for possible battles.

"It should be the troops from Hedong Fort who have arrived!" The old man narrowed his eyes and stared at the darkness in the distance.

Hedong Fort is closer to Sanhe Fort.

Therefore, the troops from Hedong Fort did not go to Hexi Fort, but met up on the road.

Sure enough, not long after, a fast horse came running out of the darkness, and the old man winked at Third Grandpa.

The other party immediately rode forward, and returned a moment later, reporting, "It's someone from Hedong Fort!"

The old man nodded slightly: "Let's go~"

The crowd then slowly walked forward and eventually joined up with the people from Hedong Fort.

The head of Hedong Fort was a burly man of about forty years old. His arms were almost as thick as an adult's thighs, and he looked like a giant bear riding a horse.

His face was covered in flesh and a beard, and even the gun in his hand was a few centimeters thicker than others.

Li Xiao was very familiar with this person, his name was Luo Ping!
He is a relative of the Li family and is the father-in-law of Li Xiao's eldest sister!
Now he is the lord of Hedong Fort!

He rode up to the old man and respectfully called out, "Uncle Li~"

The old man nodded slightly. Not to mention the relationship between the two families, just talking about the relationship between the old man and Luo Ping's father, he deserves the title of uncle.

"Ha, Xiaopingzi, I haven't seen you for over a year. You've gained weight again!"

"If you keep getting fatter, it will be difficult for you to even ride a horse!" Grandpa Qin Kaishan said with a smile, and patted Luo Ping's belly with his hand.

Bang bang!

Luo Ping also smiled bitterly: "Uncle Qin, stop laughing at me."

"I can't help it. I gain weight even if I drink water. I can't lose weight!"

"Hey, there's nothing we can do about that~" Qin Kaishan shook his head and smiled.

He turned to Zhao Tiezhu beside him and said, "If he were in the Central Plains, Xiao Pingzi's physique would definitely make him a great general."

The fat ones can hardly ride a horse~
After joining forces with the people from Hedong Fort, the four-fort coalition was finally formed, and the entire team became even stronger.

The number of troops reached nearly six hundred.

In the rainy night with thunder and lightning, the team slowly moved towards the northeast, getting closer and closer to Sanhe Fort.

Another hour passed, and the old man stretched out his hand again, asking everyone to stop.

"We'll be there soon~"

"Sanhe Fort is just ahead!" the old man said in a deep voice, his sharp eyes fixed on the darkness in the distance.

Although I couldn't see anything because of the rainy night.

But the old man was very familiar with the surrounding terrain and knew the location of Sanhe Fort with his eyes closed.

"The Karluk people should be asleep~" Zhao Tiezhu listened carefully to the sounds in the wind and rain, but there was no movement from the direction of Sanhe Fort.

"Wait a little longer~"

The old man shook his head slightly and chose not to attack immediately.

Instead, he looked at the third uncle next to him again, and the other party immediately took out a piece of wood as thick as a finger.

Blow it near your mouth~
"Wow~"

"Wow~"

"Wow~"

The shrill and sharp sound rang out in the rainy night. The wind and rain could not stop its spread, but it did not arouse the vigilance of the Qarlug people.

Because the sound of blowing a wooden stick is very similar to the cry of an eagle.

Even if the Qarlug people heard it, they would just think it was a goshawk screaming.

Accompanied by three eagle cries of varying lengths, three knights soon appeared from the darkness in the distance and ran quickly towards the main force.

"Uncle~"

After the three of them arrived, the person in front started shouting.

This person is Li Dashan!
During the day, he was sent to Sanhe Fort to spy on the enemy situation and hid until late at night.

It had been raining for a long time at this time, and although the three of them were wearing straw raincoats, they were still shivering from the cold.

But their day's suffering was worth it.

(End of this chapter)