Xiao Shilu held a snowball in his left hand and a piece of dried meat in his right hand, eating as he walked. The horse behind him did not need to lead the rope and knew to follow him closely.
As the half-brother of Empress Dowager Shu Luping, Xiao Shilu was extremely prominent in the Liao Kingdom.
Not only was he a fellow guard, he was also a supervisor, and he was in charge of the 3,000-strong Holy Army in Zuopi Shi.
His two elder brothers were also in charge of the left and right Pishi armies. The eldest brother Xiao Dilu was also worshiped as the prime minister of Beifu. He was one of the most powerful people among the descendants of the Liao Kingdom.
At this time, the Khitan people were still in the rising stage of their creation, and they had not yet fully mastered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, which would lead to the overall corruption.
Therefore, even a supervisor like Xiao Shilu, a supervisor of thousands of soldiers, can still drink snow when thirsty, eat bacon, and set off when it is snowing.
Four days ago, Xiao Shilu, in accordance with Yelu Deguang's request, led 3,000 people to explore westward. After passing the Jingbian Army, Xiao Shilu's 3,000 people continued westward along the Hun River.
Of course, the Hun River is a tributary of the Yellow River that flows through Shanxi and Inner Mongolia provinces, not the Hun River in the northeast and west of Liaoning.
A cold wind blew from the north. Xiao Shilu threw away the blackened snow in his hands and clapped his hands gently.
"Xiao Qian, take 300 people to see if the forest over there can be repaired? Find a place with the wind and let the boys rest for a while before leaving."
Xiao Qian was the eldest son of Xiao Shilu's eldest brother Xiao Dilu. He was a simple and straightforward man. Xiao Shilu also took him with him this time. After achieving some military exploits, he could inherit his brother Xiao Dilu's position as prime minister of the Beifu.
Of course, this Xiao Qian is not the last King Xi who beat Eunuch Tong's Northern Expedition army two hundred years later. He just has the same name.
"Uncle, won't we leave when we get here? His Majesty wants us to find out as soon as possible that there is an invincible army in the west."
Xiao Qian looked at Xiao Shilu with some confusion. This place was still more than three hundred miles away from the Tiande Army, but after passing the Jingbian Army, the movement of the army began to slow down.
They can only walk twenty or thirty miles a day, and even cavalry is slower than infantry.
Xiao Shilu shook his head, pulled Xiao Qian to his side, and then lowered his voice and said with emotion: "Your Majesty was carried away by the ecstasy of suddenly gaining the Sixteenth State of Yanyun.
In the past, His Majesty only thought that he was superior to the Emperor Shengtian (Yelu Abaoji) in government affairs, but now that he has obtained the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun, he believed that he was also superior to the Emperor Shengtian in military affairs, which was very dangerous.
"
"Isn't it true? Emperor Shengtian attacked the Southern Dynasty several times, but was severely defeated.
Now, without much effort, Your Majesty will soon acquire precious Han lands like the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun, so that the sons of the Khitan can go to the Southern Dynasties at any time, which even the ascended emperor has never done."
Xiao Qian asked his uncle Xiao Shilu with a little emotion. In his opinion, Yelu Deguang's martial arts surpassed Yelu Abaoji, who had more defeats against the Southern Dynasty than victory.
"Humph!" He didn't expect his nephew to be like this. As a veteran of the Yelu Abaoji period, Xiao Shilu was very dissatisfied. He stared at Xiao Qian fiercely.
"The Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun was not conquered by your Majesty, but was betrayed by the people of the Southern Dynasty. Moreover, Yunzhou has not been obtained yet. If you all despise the Southern Dynasty like this, we Khitans will be really in danger."
After saying that, Xiao Shilu, who was burning with anger, did not let Xiao Qian go to investigate, but directly summoned the officers behind him and said.
"This is not far from Zhenwu Army's Dongshou surrender city. Be careful of the Zhejia army in Fuzhou, rest for two hours, and then find a small town that can be garrisoned. Just send people to report to Your Majesty every day."
"Supervisor, His Majesty's order is that we must find out the news about the Tiande Army." asked a general with a typical Khitan hairstyle.
Xiao Shilu shook his head, "We only have three thousand people. If there are enemies who can cut off the Tiande Army's contact with us, then they can also eat the Tiande Army. We, the three thousand people, rush westward and beware of traps.
People in the Southern Dynasties are not all softies like Shi Jingtang. The Zhe family in Fuzhou alone is a difficult opponent to deal with. You must obey me in everything."
At this time, not far from Xiao Shilu's three thousand men, Zhe Deyi, Murong Nobunaga and Chai Rong, together with three hundred cavalrymen in white robes, were already eyeing these Khitans.
Murong Nobunaga shook his head slightly and said with some emotion: "Although I don't know who is leading this Khitan cavalry, they are knowledgeable soldiers. They only travel more than thirty miles a day. They are heavily guarded and want to fight them."
The ambush doesn’t seem to be easy.”
"It's really not easy, but it doesn't seem to be difficult either." Chai Rong had a different opinion. After the initial sense of alienation caused by the disparity in status subsided, Chai Rong increasingly showed his unique vision and outstanding abilities in all aspects.
Already.
"Then tell me, why is it not difficult?" Murong Nobunaga didn't think it was unpleasant to be refuted by Chai Rong.
Because Zhang Zhao usually never got angry because of such things no matter who he was refuted by, no matter whether he was right or wrong, as long as the other party was not messing around. Murong Nobunaga was unknowingly influenced by this.
"Because this cavalry was obviously sent out by the Khitan master to search for us, then they only have two choices, continue to the west, or wait and guard where they are.
If we continue to go west, they will be farther away from Yunzhou, and we can always find a time to ambush them.
If we wait and watch in place, we can join them, cut off the connection with Yunzhou, force them to turn back, and once they retreat, we can pursue them in tandem and win!"
"That's right!" Zhe Deqing glanced at Chai Rong appreciatively.
"We have one thousand sets of cloth-covered iron armor, one hundred divine arm bows, and one thousand five hundred horned crossbows.
We have thick armor and strong weapons, and we are ready to work. No matter how hard we fight, the opponent will not be able to defeat us. It is just a matter of sooner or later."
"There is a small town more than ten miles to the east. It was originally the beacon fort of the Zhenwu Army. I guess these Khitan cavalry will go there for repairs. Let's go there and wait for them!"
Murong Nobunaga chuckled. In Tokyo, just hearing people talk about how brave the Khitan cavalry was made Murong Nobunaga's hands itchy. He was looking forward to fighting with these brave cavalry.
.
.
The Zhenwu Army was originally the territory where Daibei Wuxun was founded. However, after they used a large amount of resources south to fight for hegemony in the Central Plains, the Zhenwu Army gradually declined.
Because of the colorful world of the Central Plains, few people can still appreciate the bitter cold of the North.
In previous years, after the people from the north left, people from further north would come to fill the place.
But in fact, when the Central Plains was in war, the grasslands were similar. As soon as the three northern tribes left, the place began to become deserted. The unmanaged Yellow River also began to run rampant unscrupulously, and it was no longer as prosperous as before.
Even after the Khitans captured Fengzhou, they could only throw away a few thousand tribesmen to the Tiande army, and the city of Fengzhou was abandoned by them.
Xiao Shilu stood on the collapsed beacon tower of Fengsuibao and looked to the west. He always felt that something was peering at him over there, which gave him a very ominous feeling.
The news about the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun made the entire Khitan Kingdom excited, and everyone walked with wind in their eyes.
Many people have been saying that the Shatuo people can be the emperor in the Central Plains, why can't the Khitan people do it?
And Yelu Deguang, who was supposed to be responsible for cooling down this trend, was the most arrogant one. He dreamed of becoming the emperor of the Central Plains. He believed that he had strong martial virtues and looked down on the heroes of the Southern Dynasties.
But Xiao Shilu didn't think so. He felt that just because Shi Jingtang appeared in the Southern Dynasties, it shouldn't mean that Shi Jingtang was everywhere in the Southern Dynasties.
If he gets one or two heroes, he can cause the Great Khitan Kingdom to suffer a big loss, because essentially, the strength and population of the Southern Dynasty are superior to the Khitan Kingdom.
"Supervisor! The situation is not good. What do you think this is?" Kunfa Khitan general ran towards Xiao Shilu with a piece of armor leaf in his hand.
Xiao Shilu took it and saw that it was a piece of armor skirt with dried purple-black blood on it.
"This was found more than thirty miles south. There were many horse hoof prints on the ground. I saw at least twenty different kinds of horses' hooves. Moreover, these hoof prints had strange rings on them, which seemed to be mounted on the horses' hooves.
Something the same."
"Someone is targeting us. Is there any tribe in Mobei that has the habit of inlaying strange things on horses' hooves?"
Xiao Shilu was not too panicked, because the three thousand holy soldiers under him were the elite of the Pishi Army and were not easy to offend.
Ordinary tribal cavalry, 30,000 people can't even think of fighting against 3,000 of them.
Khitan general Kunfa shook his head. He had never heard of such a strange tribe.
"Then it can only come from the west? Who is it? The Fuzhou Zhe family shouldn't be so bold!"
Xiao Shilu frowned, "From tomorrow on, don't send people out to explore. Let the boys have a good rest. After eating and drinking, let's go back."
"Is the supervisor trying to lure these people out?" Kunfa Khitan general asked.
"In the vast desert, if we don't let them show up on their own initiative, we won't be able to find them!"
Xiao Shilu smiled coldly, "I, the Great Khitan, have been traversing the grassland for so many years and am the best hunter in the grassland. I want to see who dares to treat us as prey!"