The vast mountains are extremely silent and pristine, as if no one has lived there for millions of years.
Liu Ming looked up and saw that the mountains on both sides were rolling and undulating.
The vegetation on the mountain is lush and green, and the forest is deep and dark.
Amid the mountains, the Fen River flows quietly, all the way to the south.
The riverside is full of wild flowers, the grass grows taller and taller, and it is full of vitality.
A tiger came down from the mountain forest and stared at the group of people here from a distance.
Liu Ming put down the slender and pointed armor-piercing arrow in his hand, replaced it with a relatively flat long arrow, put it on the bowstring, and pointed it at the tiger from a distance.
The tiger stopped, his eyes unclear.
There are two followers beside Liu Ming, with walking bows hanging on their waists and iron spears in their hands. At this moment, their bodies are slightly tight, making a fighting posture.
There was another person behind them, softly calming the restless horses.
The horse was very frightened and its hooves were soft, but it did not dare to neigh, as if it was afraid of being discovered by the tiger.
The air was deathly still.
After a long confrontation between four people and a tiger, the tiger slowly retreated and disappeared into the dense forest.
"This tiger has eaten people before." Liu Ming put down his bow, breathed a sigh of relief, and said.
"What are you talking about? Why don't you hunt tigers?" the person next to you couldn't help but ask.
"I'm not hunting tigers today, I'm hunting for rope heads." Liu Ming got out of the grass, lay down on the post road, listened carefully, and said, "It looks like there is really a rope head coming."
"The colorful pheasant has been running in the mountains for many years. He said that he saw Suo Tou herding horses. It must be true. When he returned, he got a few sheep from him as a reward." The attendant said.
Liu Ming did not answer. Just as he stood up, he frowned and lay down again, using the method of listening to the ground.
After a while, he stood up and said: "There are not many people coming, just about ten riders."
"These are the ones exploring the road ahead." The follower added, "I don't know where the large group of people are, let alone where they got out."
Liu Ming glared at him and said: "Kelan is where my Liu family has taken root. I asked you to run around more and become familiar with geography, but you look lazy."
The attendant lowered his head and did not dare to say anything.
Liu Ming is a member of the Kelan Liu family, a branch of the Liu family of Shangdang. Although his surname is Liu, he was given the same surname by a slave. How can it be the same?
"Xianbei must have defeated Jinyang." Liu Ming said: "If Jinyang is still alive by luck, it means that its beauty is gone. They grabbed cattle, sheep, and grain, and then went north to kill Jingle."
"Why isn't the sheep intestine warehouse broken?" the attendant asked in confusion.
"There is no more food in the sheep intestine warehouse." Liu Ming shook his head and said: "Last month we went there to transport food, and it was the last batch. They were all sent to King Liang's army."
"You didn't make up for it?"
"No repairs, no place to make repairs." Liu Ming said: "The King of Liang came here to inspect and didn't plan to stay long. If he stays in the north for a long time, this will definitely fail. He will have to wait for the summer wheat harvest."
"The King of Liang is here to patrol, and the Dai Wang is also here to patrol. If we patrol, there will be a fight..." the entourage muttered.
Liu Ming glared at him and was about to say something when his expression suddenly changed and he said: "Here he comes."
As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly ran into the grass on the hillside.
The last person came with a horse.
Liu Ming looked at it and actually had the heart to laugh: "Were you frightened by the tiger? Fortunately, you recovered. Don't let your legs weaken for a while."
The followers ignored his words, checked the equipment one last time, then took the reins of the horses and waited with breathless concentration.
The sound of horse hooves is getting closer and closer.
After a while, more than ten Tuoba Xianbei cavalry appeared in sight.
They were not very fast and obviously had reservations.
After walking thirty steps forward, they heard the neighing sound of "Xi Lv Lv" and the two Xianbei cavalry who were rushing in the front fell to the ground.
The horse lay down on its side in pain, pressing down on the leg of one of them, causing him to scream in agony.
It looked like the legs of both the man and the horse were broken!
"Charge!" Liu Ming got on his horse and rushed down the hillside.
As the horse galloped, he instinctively leaned back, clamped his legs around the horse's belly, and tilted his body slightly. With a "swish" sound, the sharp arrow flew out quickly and directly hit the third Xianbei cavalryman's neck.
The arrow was very fast, and after it penetrated the neck, it seemed to bring out something, and blood spurted out in a mess.
Two followers also galloped out, both shooting arrows.
One of them missed, and the other hit the enemy's horse.
"Bang! Bang!" The sound of falling to the ground sounded one after another.
Before the Xianbei people could react, four of them fell to the ground and lost their combat effectiveness in a short period of time.
There was one last person in the grass, holding the rifle Liu Ming had just used. He fired three arrows in a short period of time, hitting one person and knocking down a horse.
When he was half-knocked down in front of him, the Xianbei people became furious.
They took out various long and short weapons and rushed over without fear of death.
The three people who fell from their horses and fell to the ground did not seem to be seriously injured. They also drew out the short soldiers they carried with them and rushed over with strange screams.
Liu Ming turned his bow and nailed the fastest runner to the ground.
The two men behind were full of ferocity and ran fast with bow-legged steps. They did not chase Liu Ming, but ran towards the rifle archer in the grass.
The archer raised his hand and shot an arrow, knocking down one person. Then he stopped fighting, gathered up the reins of his horse, climbed on top of it, and ran towards the north.
Several other horses neighed and followed behind him, running dozens of steps with their manes flying.
He was so angry that he stabbed the ground with his knife and cursed loudly.
Liu Ming and his two followers no longer wanted to fight, and turned and left with a whistle.
The Xianbei people carefully avoided horse traps and their own dead and wounded troops. When they picked up their horses, only a silhouette of their opponent was left in the distance.
They chased for a while and then stopped, which was pointless.
So the horse turned around, inspected the dead and wounded, and reported to the rear - there were more than a hundred riders a few miles behind them, and they were also part of the vanguard.
An unavoidable fact has been placed in front of them: even though they were careful, their whereabouts were still discovered.
Just think about it and you will know. It is unlikely that Xiurong sent the message, but Jingle County took the initiative to find out.
In addition to the Jie people here, there are also unknown miscellaneous people. There are many people grazing, hunting, and woodcutting in the mountains. It is inevitable to be discovered by them.
In fact, there is no other way, except to attack the slow with speed. But now Jingle County is on defense, but it doesn't know what to do. The cavalry cannot attack the city.
When Liu Ming and others returned to Jingle County, this small town with only two gates in the north and south had already closed one.
After receiving the news, the herdsmen and farmers rushed into the city in a chaotic manner. For a while, people shouted and horses neighed, and the chaos was endless.
Those who were far away simply did not return to the city and drove their livestock to hide in the mountains.
Liu Ming waited outside the city for a long time before finally entering the city.
"Boom!" The south gate was closed amidst the shepherd's loud curses.
There was no other way, these people looked pale, packed up their belongings on the spot, took everything they could take away, and fled to the spring pastures in the mountains.
A group of strong men rushed towards the city.
Some have high noses and deep eyes, some have black eyes and black hair, and there are even a number of rope heads.
They widened their eyes and looked south, trying to judge when the enemy would rush to the city.
Jingle is the nominal seat of Kelan County and the registered residence of the Liu family. Most of the descendants of the Shangdang Liu family settled here and traveled between Tianchi and Jingle.
They were also scared when the rope came, but now there was no way out.
The Liu family's children are too deeply bound to the King of Liang, and their interests in the Central Plains are too great. There are too many benefits. Not to mention the coming of the rope, even if the former brother-in-law Shi Le comes, he must be captured and presented to the new brother-in-law, the King of Liang.
.
The drumbeats of the gathering of troops were getting louder and louder, and the young men took out their weapons from the wall, under the bed, and from the firewood pile, and went up to the wall to stand guard.
There are not many young and strong among these people, many are old and young. They may not be able to fight in the field, but relying on the city to defend against a group of cavalry is not a big deal.
At the end of the drumming, hundreds of aunts with disheveled faces and bucket waists, holding bright knives, gathered under the city, ready for action at any time.
Some women even lead horses and wield bows with calm faces, and even think about teasing those childish-looking teenagers - it is a prairie custom that men and women can have sexual relations before marriage.
It is not uncommon, and the atmosphere is relatively open.
"Keeping Jingle is a great achievement." The county magistrate took off his obstructive official uniform and threw it on the ground. He changed into a luxurious black lambskin coat - one of the emperor's crown robes, also made of black lambskin - and held it in his hand.
The big ax rushes up the city wall and shouts when it sees anyone.
The strong men and women listened and agreed in unison.
In the border area, survival is extremely cruel, and those who dare not fight with the enemy will be eliminated.
Because you will be looked down upon by others and you won't even be able to marry a woman.
Fighting face to face with Suotou in the field may be too difficult. What are you afraid of when defending the city?
When the drumming stopped, a large plume of smoke and dust rose from the south, and Tuoba Xianbei's large group of troops arrived.
By this time, Shao Xun had been marching south for two days and was only ten miles away from Jingle County.
Hundreds of cavalrymen from the Rebel Army, acting as the vanguard, also appeared far away on the northern horizon.
The garrison at the top of the city saw this and shouted loudly.
In Xinxing County, hundreds of miles away to the east, herds of cattle and sheep were driven southward.
Like locusts, they ate up all the grass, leaves, and buds of shrubs near the post road.
The latecomers couldn't eat it, so they looked further afield.
The herdsmen laughed, sang high-pitched pastoral songs, divided the territory, and began to graze cattle, sheep and horses.
Group after group of cavalry surged southward toward Shiling.
After they left, thousands of infantry even appeared on the horizon.
The blacksmith shops around Pingcheng kept fires day and night, sending iron armor, swords, and arrows one after another to the front line.
Tuoba Yulu's golden tent has passed Yanmen Pass and stopped by the Hutuo River.
The whole army consisted of more than 50,000 people on foot and on horseback, together with nobles from various departments, and they were mighty and powerful.
No one is surprised.
Such a formation can be seen every year by grassland herders.
Unlike the monarchs of the Central Plains who live in the palace all year round, the monarchs of the grasslands patrol the four directions every year, and they do not patrol alone, but set out with officials, generals, concubines and tribes ranging from 50,000 to 100,000. .
The distance is often very long, but the route will be planned in advance, and there are rules for where to graze and where to stop.
This custom later continued into the Northern Dynasties.
The emperor traveled around, inspecting all parts of the country, removing frost in the spring, recuperating from the heat in the summer, hunting in the autumn, and fishing in the winter.
Even until the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the style of the Northern Dynasties still continued. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty patrolled the west to destroy Tuyuhun. During the great battle, it snowed in the summer and suffered heavy losses, but he still did not change his original intention.
Shao Xun also liked to bring large armies to intimidate and pacify all directions. In fact, he was also a Han Chinese monarch with a strong Hu style.
His collision with Tuoba Yulu was both accidental and inevitable.
Chapter completed!