As summer approaches, the ice and snow in the Tianshan Mountains begin to melt, and the gurgling streams leave a deep ravine on the grassland.
Akobi, who was out tending sheep, looked up at the snow-capped mountains in the distance and prayed devoutly to the mountain gods that his father and uncle could return home soon.
On a low hillside not far from here, the figure of a girl riding a horse suddenly appeared.
Akobi's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly waved the branch in his hand and shouted: "Hala, I'm here!"
The girl turned the horse's head and came down. With a pair of crescent moons on her face, she smiled sweetly and innocently.
"Akobi, why did you come so far away again? This place is close to the Han Dynasty. Enke (father) said it is very dangerous."
When Akko heard the girl's complaint, he smiled bitterly, took the reins of the girl's horse, and touched the bridge of the horse's nose to comfort her.
He looked east and said, "I want to see my father and uncle as soon as possible."
In the endless pasture, dozens of sheep grazing seemed to have sensed the situation, and they all looked up to the east.
Akobi helped the girl off the horse and handed over the water bottle on his waist, "Here, moisten your throat."
The girl smiled brightly, took the kettle, and took a sip, very free and easy.
Seeing this, Akobi had a rare smile on his face.
Near noon, the two found a dry place, lit a bonfire, and put the dried meat and water they carried into pottery urns to boil.
The girl blinked at Akobi, then reached into her arms and took out a small bag.
"Look what I brought you." The girl handed Akobi the small bag with body heat in her hand as if she were offering a treasure.
After Akobi took it, he exclaimed in surprise: "Salt?!"
The girl smiled and nodded, indicating to Akobi to put some in the water and cook together. Akobi immediately shook his head, "No, you must have stolen such precious salt without telling Uncle Mirza, right?"
The girl raised her lips and looked very unhappy, and said: "Eat it for you. Where did all this nonsense come from? Don't forget it. Give it back to me. I'll let Lightning eat it later."
Akobi looked at the horse that was gnawing grass with its head down, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
In fact, he knew in his heart that the food of the girl's horse was better than his own, so there was nothing to be jealous of.
"Well, then I'll put in a little bit, just a little bit." Akobi was finally moved. He hadn't eaten salt for a long time. His body felt limp and he didn't dare to train. He could only help the family graze and reduce activities.
Frequency of.
The girl smiled and said: "It's originally for you to eat, so just put it all in. Anyway, no matter how much you put in, Enke will scold me, so it's better to put it all in."
Akobi looked at the girl with emotion. The girl's pretty face was red and she didn't dare to look at him.
The hot broth was cooked quickly. The two of them only had one spoon, and Akobi asked the girl to eat first.
"You go ahead and eat. I'll drive the sheep back from far away first. After we finish eating, we'll go back."
Akobi said and looked eastward instinctively.
Boom~
Akobi was stunned and looked at the girl, "Did you hear anything?"
The girl was lowering her head to taste the salty broth. After hearing this, she looked up at Akobi and wondered: "No, could it be..."
Boom~
Before the girl could finish speaking, her expression changed, she stood up and looked to the east, which was the direction of the Han Empire.
"They're here again..." The girl was lost for a moment.
Fortunately, Akobi reacted quickly enough, pulling the girl and running directly towards the horse. The two of them got on the horse, not caring about the sheep.
"Hurry, go back and report the news, the Han people are here again." Akobi hugged the girl and waved his riding whip vigorously.
The horse neighed in pain and ran quickly towards the tribe's location.
And not long after they left.
"Oh, he ran pretty fast."
The soldier wearing a white tiger armor turned over and dismounted, took a look at the boiling broth, and took a sip without disgust.
The few people who followed him said with a smile: "Looking at his body shape, he should be a young man herding herds, not a Qiang scout."
The military man nodded and motioned to everyone to take the sheep back. No matter how small the flies were, they were still meat and could not be wasted.
The other people looked at each other and smiled. Unexpectedly, when they went out to explore the road, they were surprised. These dozens of sheep could be sold for several thousand coins.
"The ice and snow here have indeed melted. Except for some swamps that are a bit dangerous, as long as you pay attention to other places, there will be no problem for the army to pass through. I think we will survey here. Beyond that is the Qiang territory." The military man turned around and said.
.
When everyone heard this, they all nodded in agreement.
···
"Enke, Enke..."
The girl's voice came from afar, and Mirza, who was teaching archery to the tribe's youth, frowned.
When he turned around and saw his daughter being held in Akobi's arms, his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.
But the man on the side suddenly frowned and said: "What's going on? Hara's face seems to be wrong. A person as stable as Akobi looks like he's in some big trouble."
】
At this time, Akobi and his wife had already entered the tribe, and the girl cried and shouted: "Enke, Han, the Han people are coming!"
Mirza's expression changed drastically. He ignored his daughter and looked at Akobi, "Is it true?"
Akobi turned over and dismounted, stroked his chest and said: "Yes, it's true, Uncle Mirza, let's stop them. I just took a look and there are only about twenty of them, one person and two riders."
The man next to him said: "One person and two riders, they should be the scouts of the big man. They appear here at this time. I'm afraid they are not evil. Mirza, we should go."
Mirza looked at his companions, nodded and said: "It seems that the war last year has not been extinguished. The Han people want to drive us all out."
Several companions looked helpless. After experiencing the successive defeats last year, no matter who they were, they would have lost the confidence to fight.
The weapons of the Han people are so weird, like thunder coming to the world in summer, which cannot be resisted by human beings.
Seeing that they were all trying to escape, Akobi shouted excitedly: "No, how can you give up the fight? Let's go capture those Han people and use them as hostages to exchange for my Enke and them!"
Akobi's cry did not fall on the hearts of Mirza and others. It was they who felt despair, not the naive Akobi.
Mizar turned back and shouted: "Inform us, everyone pack their bags. Let's move west to avoid this meaningless dispute."
As the chief of the tribe and the most powerful warrior in the tribe at present, Mizar's words are very leadership.
Except for the young Akobi, everyone, regardless of gender, old or young, took action, including the girl Hala who admired Akobi.
Akobi stood there, watching all this, but nothing could be changed.
···
White Tiger City.
This is a newly established civilian residential area with an area of more than 3,000 acres and is home to nearly a thousand herdsmen households.
The man who was repairing the feet of the cow suddenly felt something and looked up at the mountains to the west.
The woman holding the cow's leg saw this and said with concern: "Master, are you thinking of Akobi again?"
The man nodded and said disappointedly: "We should have left him alone in the first place."
The woman also said helplessly: "But in the situation at that time, we didn't even have any hope of survival. How could we know that the Han people would treat us so kindly? If we had known, we would have brought Akobi with us."
The man sighed heavily and comforted the woman: "It's okay. I will definitely find Akobi during this western expedition. You take care of yourself here and wait for us to come back."
The woman nodded, touched her belly that was already slightly pregnant, and said with a smile: "When Akobi comes back, he will be very happy if he knows that he will have a younger brother and sister soon."
When the man heard this, he also had a smile on his face, looking forward to the scene of his family being reunited.
"Amir, is brother Amir at home?" someone shouted outside the yard.
The man looked up, responded loudly, told his wife to take care of herself at home, put on a suit of leather armor and went out.
Not long after, we arrived at Dingjunfang.
Amir looked at the man aside and asked, "Brother Tata, even you are here. Do you know what is going on?"
The man named Tata was half a head taller than Amir. He was carrying an ox-horn bow and shook his head and said, "I don't know. I just heard that there are benefits to coming. Maybe I can let More and the others go to school in Luodu. I
It’s coming.”
Amir's eyes lit up. After more than half a year of integration, he now knew the existence of Luodu. He also knew that many Han people wanted to send their children to Luodu to study. He heard that it was a magical place.
While the two were chatting without saying a word, a red-faced man came out from the front of the team.
The big man didn't say a word, but the people next to him helped translate.
Amir probably understood that the big man wanted to find a sharpshooter.
Amir looked at Tata aside, no wonder he came, Tata is a master that even the king wants to recruit.
Thinking of his lost son Akobi, Amir clenched his fists and said, "I will also work hard to be selected, and let Akobi go to Luodu later."
In the blink of an eye, five days passed.
The artillery team that has completed recruit training is ready to go.
Amir stood in the middle of the team, holding the Wind Dragon Musket that had just been distributed tightly in his arms.
He looked enviously at Tata in the front row of the team, because Tata was holding the more powerful Thunder Dragon Cannon in his arms.
As the captain, Guan Yu is arranging tasks. The fifty people in the artillery team have their own division of labor, and it is impossible for them to unite in one place.
When Amir learned that he was going to fight on the outpost, he immediately thought of his son Akobi, who would definitely be waiting for him there.
Thinking that he would be able to see his son soon, Amir happily looked at the setting sun in the distance.
As for feelings of family and country?
Sorry, I really don't.
For people at the bottom, where is life?
···
On April 15th, the army set out for battle.
King Lu Bu of Liang personally led the troops. The White Tiger Army dispatched 5,000 men and 10,000 new soldiers and civilians. They had abundant supplies and full firepower.
The news was not blocked, and the Qiang merchants had already passed the news back.
The strategic policy this time was also brought back, which is very simple: "Don't kill those who surrender."
Not only that, the business travelers also spontaneously brought back what they saw and heard in White Tiger City.
It turned out that the people who were captured last year were not dead. Not only were they not dead, they were living better than them, with endless amounts of salt to eat and endless wine to drink.
It turns out that the Han people did not have to be exterminated. As long as they laid down their weapons, the Qiang people could also have household registration and land in the Han Empire.
It turns out that all kinds of materials that the Qiang people covet are so abundant in the Han Dynasty, and the prices are so low that one sheep can be exchanged for a lifetime of salt.
Everyone knows that this is a trick to attack people's hearts, but the facts are right in front of you, so you can't help but believe it.
If ordinary herdsmen were interested, they were immediately suppressed by the nobles above.
The nobles would not let the Han people succeed.
In less than three days, the Qiang people gathered more than 100,000 people and built fortifications in Beihe Qianghai (Qinghai).
Akobi was also recruited. He did not follow Hara to escape, but took the initiative to join the ranks of defending his homeland.
"Akobi, are what those people said true or false?"
Several teenagers were carrying loess while looking at the businessman who was hung up and exposed to the sun not far away.
Akobi shook his head and said: "It must be a lie. How can the Han people be so kind? Your Majesty is right. We must be ruthless to avenge our families instead of being shaken by the lies of the Han people."
"Well, I think so too. The Han people are really despicable. In order to defeat us, they will use any deceptive tricks."
Although several young people said this, in fact, they were all looking forward to it, hoping that their families would live well there as the business travelers who were hung up said.
"Hey, you guys, don't be lazy and move quickly."
Bang~
Akobi received a whip on his back and looked back at the overseer, daring to be angry but not uttering a word.
Seeing that he dared to look back at him, the supervisor shouted angrily: "What are you looking at? If you look at it, you won't have anything to eat at night."
Akobi pursed his lips. He was already very hungry. If he had no food tonight, he might starve to death.
Seeing Akobi obediently carrying the loess, the supervisor smiled with satisfaction.
at this time.
Dongdongdongdong~
"Enemy attack, enemy attack..."
"The Han people are coming, the Han people are coming, run away!"
The supervisor was so frightened that he rolled down the mound, got up and ran towards the rear camp regardless of his embarrassment.
Akobi and several teenagers were also scared to death. They were all orphans who had lost their families and had no one around them to rely on.
Akobi looked at the dust and smoke billowing in the distance and shouted: "Quick, let's protect the sheep."
The teenagers looked at each other and ran back behind Akobi.
But before they could run far away, a roar suddenly sounded in front of them.
I saw a large tent with a banner on it that was instantly torn apart... If I read correctly, the supervisor just now was inside.
Akobi cursed secretly: He deserves it.
"Akobi, I'm afraid!" The young man collapsed to the ground.
Akobi helped him up and shouted: "Run, run, do you want to be killed by thunder?"
The teenagers fled in all directions, crying, "Don't the Han people say that those who surrender will not be killed? I surrender, I don't want to die."
"Can't you see it now? The Han people lied to us, they..."
Before Akobi finished speaking, a familiar shout suddenly came from behind.
"Don't kill those who surrender, don't kill those who surrender..." Standard Qiang language.
Akobi and the others were stunned on the spot, looking back at the rapidly approaching Han vanguard.
Akobi was stunned.
Because, among the group of cavalry, he saw a very familiar and stalwart figure, "Well, Enke?!"