The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 340
When Xia Hourong was anxious, Ardashir was also fidgeting.It's about to enter the desert, but Xia Hourong is still following behind, which is not a good thing.If it was just the mercenaries of the Romans, then Ardashir was not worried. Although those barbarian cavalry were brave and good at fighting, they were not familiar with the desert, and most of them dared not follow them, but those Bedouins were different. Traveling to and from the desert, they are more familiar with life in the desert than the Sassanians, not to mention they are experts in looting. Once they enter the desert, it is not a happy thing to have these 1 people stalking in the dark.

He wanted to ambush Xia Hourong, but after several contests, he found that Xia Hourong was not an ordinary person. Relying on the Bedouin's familiarity with the terrain, he could always spot the Sassanid's intentions and use them. People have suffered a bit, and although it is not a big setback every time, the blow to morale is very big.If it weren't for the high morale of the Romans who had just won a big victory, Ardasil doubted whether he would be enraged by Xia Hourong's relentless pursuit.

"Shapur, you..." Ardasil yelled habitually, and as soon as the words left his mouth, he remembered that Shapur had been beheaded by Sun Shao in Axum City. No.Ardasil tightly shut his mouth, raised his hand to cover his eyes, two lines of turbid tears flowed down his thin face, and dripped on the hot iron armor.

Ardasil regretted it too much, he now felt that he had made a big mistake, maybe because he had never suffered in the war with the Guishan people and the Romans, so he always thought that the biggest enemy was supporting Rome behind the scenes The Yue people and the Guishuang people thought that by defeating the Yue people, he would cut off the roots of the Romans and the Guishuang people, and he could calmly deal with them in the future, so he launched an expedition, hoping to surround Sun Shao, at least To drive him out of Axum, I never imagined that the expedition to Axum would turn out to be such a result. Not only failed to defeat the Yue people and drove them out of Axum, but also killed the two sons of Shapur and Alpha. Romans, Guishan people and Yue people jointly attacked.

How did things become like this?Ardasil was puzzled, how could the civil strife of the Romans subside so quickly, and how could Gordian's tens of thousands of recruits defeat Maximus?Could it be...the Yue people were playing tricks again?Aldashir was startled suddenly, a chill surged up, making him shiver involuntarily.

Knowing everything, Ardashir suddenly figured out all the joints, and suddenly his whole body was cold, and he was inexplicably shocked.He shook his head, instinctively wanting to veto this view, but he thought in this direction uncontrollably, the more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, and his face became very ugly.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..." Hankos, the high priest accompanying the army, saw that his expression was not right, and quickly called out softly.Ardasil was startled, turned his face to look at him, withdrew his mind, and asked under cover: "What's the matter?"

"We are about to pass through the Great Rift Valley." Hankos pointed to the mountain shadow in front of him, "I just prayed to Ahura, and Ahura's answer..." Hankos lowered his voice, Although he didn't say what he said later, the expression on his face let Ardashir know that the result must be bad.

"Does Ahura have any enlightenment?" Ardashir's heart beat violently, and his temples tightened up and down, making him very uncomfortable.This is the first time since he launched an army to fight back against Anxi, the result of his prayers has been unlucky.

"No." Hankos looked at the mountains in the distance that were shining like gold under the setting sun, and shook his head, the worry on his face was fully revealed. He held the sacred fire formula with his fingers, closed his eyes and muttered silently for a while. Scripture, finally opened his eyes in disappointment.

While he was praying, Ardashir kept holding his breath. Seeing that his face was still so depressed, his heart sank uncontrollably.Neither of them spoke, but they could see each other's thoughts from their eyes.

"Don't say it, you must be tired, take a good rest, take a bath, and then pray." Ardashir didn't know whether he was comforting himself or Hankos, and murmured: "Maybe it's been a long time since you Not serving Allah well, he got angry."

Hankos's scalp exploded for a while, and Ardasil's words were like a death sentence for him. He didn't dare to say any more about the ominous premonition in his heart, so he said it quickly, bowed and stepped back.

Ardasil immediately called the person who inquired about the news to inquire, focusing on the whereabouts of Lu Xun's troops, and learned that Lu Xun was still on his way to Gudes two days ago. At this point, although the soldiers who explored the valley ahead have not returned yet, the news half a day ago said that there should be no problem.

Ardasil pondered nervously for a long time, and finally positioned the biggest threat on Xia Hourong at the back. He immediately ordered the army to move forward, trying to pass through the valley, or spend the night in the eastern half of the valley. .With the cover of the valley, even if Xia Hourong wanted to attack, he could only attack from the rear, so he could concentrate on defending.

With an order, the army accelerated and quickly entered the valley.The setting sun gradually sank to the horizon, and the towering valley quickly darkened, like a giant beast opened its mouth and swallowed the Sasanian army, and the sky and the earth were soon plunged into darkness.

Xia Hourong watched the Sassanid army disappear into the valley from a distance, but could only sigh with regret.He didn't dare to enter the valley easily. With Ardashir's prudence, it was impossible for him not to hold back. Maybe he would send someone to wait for him in the valley.

"It seems that we can only chase him into the desert." Xia Hourong sighed for a long time. He tried his best, but he still failed to catch Ardashir in the end, and watched him leave helplessly. This kind of loss is a heart-wrenching pain for Xia Hourong, who has always been going smoothly.

But he is sensible enough to know that he cannot rush forward at this time, otherwise all that awaits him is death.

It doesn't matter, anyway, the Sassanid suffered a lot in this battle, and there are still battles to fight in the future, at worst, he will be arrested in Taixifeng City.Xia Hourong said to the leaders who were also disappointed behind him.Although the leaders wanted to chase into the valley very much, they were also worried about an ambush. Besides, Xia Hourong's command ability along the way was obvious to all. It was a little cheaper, all because of Xia Hourong's vigilance, they already had great admiration for this young Han.

Xia Hourong set up camp twenty miles outside the valley. He put his scouts all the way to the mouth of the valley. For the sake of safety, he arranged not only clear sentries, but also dark sentries. He even arranged for soldiers to hold clairvoyance in the big camp. Look, here is a piece of flat land, there is no danger to defend, if the Sasanians rush out, they will be in danger.

Contrary to the hot day, the night in the desert is cold, the moonlight shines on the endless beach, and the night wind blows unobstructed, making people feel chilly all over.Xia Hourong was depressed and couldn't sleep, so he built a ditch fire outside the camp, sat on the ground with a group of barbarian leaders, drank and chatted, and asked about their customs.

These barbarian leaders admire Xia Hourong who is capable of writing and martial arts very much. They are all proud to be able to drink with Xia Hourong. Everyone talked about the wars of the past few days, and they did not hesitate to use the most beautiful language to praise Xia Hourong's ability to use troops. Some praised him as Apollo, some said Odin, and they all compared him to the God of War of their own race, and one Greek compared him to Athena. As soon as his words came out, everyone laughed. He raised his glass and said to the Greeks: "How dare I compare myself to the goddess Athena. In fact, I am also an ordinary person. This time I can achieve a little insignificant results. It is all thanks to you. It is me who can fight side by side with you." an honor."

The more modest he is, the happier everyone is. It is difficult for these people to have the opportunity to be with the nobles. Even if they are together, those nobles will not talk to them so politely. She is the husband-in-law of Princess Sheba, and now they are their commander-in-chief. He is knowledgeable and powerful in war, but it is really a great honor for them to sit and chat with them.Although the barbarians don't know too much etiquette, they have their own standards of measurement. They are not disgusted with nobles like Xia Hourong, on the contrary, they have a sense of intimacy.

"By the way, you have a young centurion who looks very brave and good at fighting, but his hair is black. Could it be that he is not your Teutonic?" Xia Hourong smiled to the leader of the Teutonic tribe, Stein Rico said.

"He is indeed not a Teuton. As for where he is from, I don't know. I only know that it is a country in the East." Stilicho smiled proudly: "However, he is a warrior. Fact. Not long after he came to our tribe, he met the warriors selected by our tribe and asked to participate in the selection. At first, everyone didn’t like him very much. I even laughed at him at the time, but unexpectedly he almost Defeated all the warriors of our tribe, not only won the right to go to war, but also won my daughter."

"Hahaha..." Everyone laughed. Many people were deeply impressed by the black-haired warrior, especially when he was besieged by the Sasanian heavy cavalry, he miraculously retreated from his body. Seeing him, everyone became excited, clamoring to call him to have a look and compete with him.Stiliko tugged at his braided beard and said with a smile on his face: "That's not a coincidence, he couldn't stay idle, and took his subordinates to the front to inquire about the military situation, and he may be outside the valley now Woolen cloth."

Xia Hourong nodded in disappointment.

"General, don't worry, I will let him come to see the general as soon as he comes back." Stiliko said respectfully: "I can hear from his usual words that he respects the general very much. He was the one who treated the general the day before yesterday. I said, the general must be able to lead us to defeat the Sasanians, so I followed. Otherwise, hahaha..."

Stiliko laughed and didn't go any further. Although he didn't suffer from chasing the Sasanians with Xia Hourong this time, his income was limited. He really felt that it wasn't worth it. Speaking of his most proud subordinate, he was too embarrassed to say that he was wrong.

Xia Hourong saw his regrets, and he also had such regrets in his heart, not only because he didn't take advantage of it, but because Sun Shao's big plan ended up in vain, and Lu Xun was far away in Gudes, so there must be no way to stop it The Sassanids are gone, and if you want to achieve further results, you must go to Ctesiphon.Let the Sasanian army return to Ctesiphon in this way, and the plan to weaken the Sasanians will be considered a failure.

"It's a pity." Xia Hourong shook his head: "I really failed his high expectations. I can only bring you here."

Everyone was a little sad, but they were not as sad as Xia Hourong, and soon became happy again. Halfway through the drink, they all stood up and danced around the ditch fire.Xia Hourong was not in a good mood, and he just happened to watch the barbarian dance to relieve boredom, but it didn't mean anything.

After drinking and singing, everyone went to sleep separately. Xia Hourong returned to his tent, but couldn't fall asleep for a long time.He never thought that he would be thousands of miles away from home, leading a side of alien races to fight against the Sasanians whom he had never even heard of.This battle involved all the four great empires in the world. The coalition forces of the Han Empire even traveled thousands of miles. With the help of the powerful shipping capabilities of the Yue Kingdom, they not only took the initiative on the battlefield, but also dominated the war. Both Guishuang and Rome mobilized to besiege Sassan.

Only Sun Shao has such strength and such a strategy. Unfortunately, God has no eyes, and actually wasted the fighter opportunity created by Sun Shao's painstaking efforts, and all this is to blame for the Romans. It was they who missed the fighter opportunity. Let the Sasanians go.

"Alas, the mighty Rome is no longer strong." Xia Hourong thought of Sun Shao's words again, and sighed involuntarily.He knew that Sun Shao had studied the Romans deeply, and Funan College had scholars who specialized in the study of Rome, and he learned about the history of Rome from the materials collected by those scholars.It is precisely because he has learned about the history of Rome that he thinks deeper and further, from Rome's transformation from a city-state to a powerful empire, to the current stormy scene, and to the possible situation of Rome in the future, He thought a lot about it.Xia Hourong knew that Sun Shao had the idea of ​​competing with Rome, but he also knew that Sun Shao studied Rome not only to compete with Rome for territory, but also to draw experience from Rome's rise and fall, so as to avoid repeating the same mistakes. From a point of view, Sun Shao wanted to use the stones from other mountains to attack the jade from his own mountain.

Xia Hourong's thoughts were one after another, and it took a long time before he fell asleep in a daze. Not long after he fell asleep, he suddenly heard a cry, and immediately jumped up again, and subconsciously shouted while putting on his armor: "What happened? "

"The Teutons are asking to see you." The personal guard strode into the tent and replied in response.

Xia Hourong looked at the sky outside, smiled wryly, and said to himself that I want to see that black-haired warrior, but you don't have to be in such a hurry, you come here before dawn, and let no one rest.Although he was unwilling in his heart, he still dressed and welcomed the Teutons in.To his surprise, it was not the black-haired warrior who came in, but Stiliko.As soon as Stiliko entered the tent, he gasped and called out: "General, the opportunity has come."

"Opportunity? What opportunity?" Xia Hourong was puzzled.

"In the valley...a fight broke out in the valley. The Sassanians seem to have been ambushed by someone, and the fight is raging. Let's...shall we rush over and have a look?" Stiliko didn't finish speaking, A few more mercenary leaders rushed in and looked at Xia Hourong with warm eyes.

When Xia Hourong heard it, his heart was shocked. He strode out of the tent, jumped on a war horse, and raised his clairvoyance to look far away. There was a faint light of fire in the valley in the distance. He listened attentively again. Those barbarian leaders saw it. They all held their breath, for fear of disturbing Xia Hourong's judgment.

Night Breeze sent the sound of killing, although it was very ethereal, but if you listen carefully, you can still hear it clearly.Xia Hourong suppressed the impulse in his heart, jumped off the horseback, looked around, his face remained calm, only his eyes were shining brightly.

"Did any of our scouts come back?" Xia Hourong turned around and asked his personal guard. It was a big Bedouin man who belonged to the royal family of Sheba and was sent by the king of Sheba to protect Xia Hourong's safety.He shook his head: "Not yet, but with such a big incident, they should be able to come back soon."

"Who knew the news first?" Xia Hourong asked the mercenary generals again.

Everyone turned their attention to Stiliko.

Stiliko bowed and said: "My subordinates discovered it. He sent someone back to say that they heard the sound of fierce fighting in the valley. The noise was not small. It seemed that the Sasanians were ambushed. He couldn't believe it. , have sneaked into the valley with people to inquire, first send people back to report, let me inform the general to prepare. If it is indeed the Sasanian who was ambushed, then we can rush to rob, if not, then we have to make preparations .”

Xia Hourong nodded, and became more interested in the black-haired warrior. It is brave and resourceful to make such a judgment in a hurry, and take the risk of going deep into the valley to investigate.He suddenly had an urge to see this black-haired warrior very much.

"Very good." Xia Hourong praised, and explained: "It is night and the situation is unknown, everyone should be prepared just in case, and wait for more definite news. If someone really ambushed the Sassanians, then Of course we can't let go of this opportunity, but we also have to guard against the Sassanid deliberately making a trap to lure us into the bait, if that's the case, once we enter the valley, I'm afraid we won't have much chance to come out."

After hearing Xia Hourong's analysis, everyone nodded in agreement. They just couldn't make up their minds, so they came together to listen to Xia Hourong's arrangement.They were a little nervous, but also a little hopeful. Anyway, the troops had assembled, and they couldn't sleep anymore, so they waited for the latest news from the Teutons.

Soon, the scouts arranged by Xia Hourong rushed out of the night one by one, returned to the camp, and confirmed the news that something happened in the valley, but none of them knew what happened in the valley, Xia Hourong was a little anxious , although his face remained calm, his hands involuntarily tapped on the table.

Time seemed to have stood still, and the ready-to-go camp was filled with silent turmoil. The knights packed up and stood beside their horses, ready to jump on the horses to escape or start charging at any time.None of them spoke, but their nervous eyes were fully revealed, and they looked up at the valley in the distance from time to time.

Scouts kept rushing back to report the news, but Xia Hourong never issued the latest order, and more than 1 knights were waiting anxiously.The war horse snorted restlessly, scraped the sand on the ground with its iron hooves, and shook its mane from time to time.

In everyone's anticipation, the Teutonic scout finally appeared. Everyone watched as Stilicho rushed into Xia Hourong's tent with the panting scout. Going out of the big tent, raised the horn, puffed up the cheeks, and blew the horn of attack.Immediately afterwards, Xia Hourong, who was fully armed, rushed out of the big tent, jumped on his horse, and rushed out of the camp first under the protection of his personal guards.

Behind him, more than 1 knights filed out and quickly disappeared into the night.

(End of this chapter)