In any army, the most alert and fiercest knights must be in the scout team. Although the scale of the battle between the scouts of the two armies is small, it must be extremely fierce. Often an omission or a bit of shock can determine life or death in an instant, without any trace of a trace.
There is no room for redemption.
The movements of the remaining four enemy knights were slightly slower, and immediately many heavy arrows were shot down. The two knights were getting on their horses, with their bare backs completely exposed. They were immediately hit by heavy arrows shot from within ten steps.
The arrow penetrated.
At that time, the Jurchens spread the news to the world with tens of thousands of people. One of the secrets of martial arts they relied on was to use a light bow and heavy arrows. The power of the bow was only seven fights, and it was important not to fire at fifty paces, but it would definitely hit the target. And the arrow clusters were six or seven inches long.
, shaped like a chisel, it always has the power to penetrate the body.
Although Zhang Pingliang's troops are not Jurchens, they have indeed inherited many Jurchen traditions in terms of martial arts. The heavy arrows they shoot are more than three times heavier than the enemy's.
On the contrary, two or three inches were exposed through the chest and penetrated into the saddle.
The two people who were hit by the arrows struggled a few times with their hands and feet, and then collapsed. Blood poured from the wounds to the saddles, and then flowed along the saddles to the backs of the horses, causing the horses to neigh.
At this time, the sound of horse hooves was coming from behind. It was Zhang Pingliang's men who were all arriving. On the hillside further away, there was another team patrolling on horseback.
Our own advantage was very obvious. There were only two enemy cavalry left. Although they were mounted, they could not escape anyway. The two Mongolian scouts were stubborn and simply threw away their reins. They drew their swords and waved them repeatedly, attacking the approaching Zhou army from all sides.
The scout roared.
Zhang Pingliang endured the severe pain in his forehead, supported the front bridge of the saddle with one hand, and shouted loudly: "Catch them alive and torture them about the Mongolian army's movements!"
Then he shouted in Mongolian: "If you don't kill those who surrender, I'll have meat and wine with you!"
When the Mongols invaded, countless men were killed, and tens of thousands of men who thought they were heroes fled in panic. Zhang Pingliang was a survivor of a narrow escape. Now the two sides were fighting, and he was able to intimidate the Mongols into surrendering.
The one who was intimidating was the most elite among the Mongolians, the famous Aljinchi Qingqi!
This really made him feel extremely happy.
Unexpectedly, the two scouts listened to Zhang Pingliang's shouts and did not react at all. Seeing that the situation of surrounding and capturing was irreversible, one of them sneered twice and stabbed his own throat with a knife. The other turned his head and saw his companion committing suicide, feeling sad.
After shouting twice, he turned the blade and plunged it into his chest.
Several Zhou army cavalry flew up to stop them, but there was no time. As soon as they arrived, the two of them were already dead.
Zhang Pingliang was immediately frustrated when he was not caught alive. The wound on his forehead was bleeding again, so much so that his vision was blurred.
One of his subordinates grabbed the bridle of his war horse and said in a deep voice: "Let's rest for a while. Just heal the injury here. Don't hold on!"
Zhang Pingliang rolled his eyes and wanted to say something harsh. But after the blood of the fighting faded, the blow on his forehead really shocked him. Now his hands and feet began to become weak, and it was really difficult to hold on. He didn't want to lose the face of his commander, so he had to
Reluctantly agree.
Everyone gathered nearby, lying or sitting, and soldiers with first-aid training came over to bandage Zhang Pingliang.
He was really lucky. After the arrow penetrated the helmet, it lost its power and only tore the skin and flesh of his forehead. It did not damage the bones or cut off any blood vessels. The soldiers applied gold wound medicine on him and used a white cloth to cover his head and face.
If it is entangled up and down, it will be processed.
Zhang Pingliang lay half-lying and took a breath, feeling that his hands and feet had gained strength and his energy had returned. However, some of his companions were eating and drinking, so there was no need to rush to continue the journey. So he turned his head and looked.
The corpses of enemy cavalry not far away.
Although the enemy cavalry had died and huddled up, when they stood fighting before, they were very tall, different from the generally stubby Mongolians. Look at their clothes and even their hats and boots. Although they are not exquisite, they are obvious.
There is a tailoring pattern, which is different from the Mongolian scouts who usually wrap themselves casually in animal skins.
Not only was Zhang Pingliang a little curious, he walked over and turned over the corpse of the leader and looked carefully. He saw that this man had a clear face, a straight nose, and curly black hair, which was different from the usual Mongolian flat face, narrow nose, and flat nose.
Not the same.
"This doesn't seem to be Mongolian?" a companion asked beside him.
His tone was a little disappointed, probably because the person he killed was not the powerful enemy he had imagined.
Zhang Pingliang bent down, drew out his machete, and cut open the corpse's leather robe. Under the leather robe was a rather delicate inner robe, with a round collar and narrow sleeves similar to those in the Central Plains.
Since the rise of Mongolia, the war between the grasslands and the Central Plains has never stopped. People on both sides have been fighting each other, and they have become familiar with each other. People like Zhang Pingliang can identify who they are by looking at the clues on someone's body.
race, or does not belong to any race.
For example, this inner robe with a round neck and narrow sleeves, as well as this serious way of wearing it, are not something Mongolians would have.
Then he cut open his underwear to expose his chest and arms. It can be seen that this person's skin is very fair, and although there are calluses and scars on his body, there are few large signs of chapped skin.
The entire Mongolian ethnic group is herdsmen, and their tough and hard-working character comes from years of hard work. They are either exposed to the sun or wind, frost, snow and rain when grazing, and they are often infected with various skin diseases, causing the skin and flesh to be repeatedly damaged and healed, resulting in
The scars are layered on top of each other and are frighteningly rough. They are more like animal skins or old tree bark than human skin.
The Mongolian nobles are not much better. They may have experienced less weather, but because of Mongolian customs, they almost never take a bath or wash their clothes in their entire lives. They also have to deal with livestock, so the dirt on their bodies accumulates layer by layer, and the smell is unpleasant.
Describe it in words.
But these people in front of me are different.
Zhang Pingliang knelt down and looked at the man's hands again.
There are obvious calluses on the mouth of these hands due to holding riding whips and weapons for many years, but the nails on the five fingers are trimmed and very short, and there is no cold deformation or cracked nails that are common among Mongolians.
s??????.???
Obviously, these scouts come from a tribe whose living customs are completely different from those of the Mongols. Moreover, this tribe is quite civilized and is not a beast.
Another knight fiddled with the deceased's clothes and belongings with the tip of his knife, and suddenly said, "Look."
What he picked out with a knife was an almost obsolete wooden sign. There were originally words inlaid in metal on the wooden sign, but due to the passage of time, the metal had all peeled off, leaving only indistinguishable dents and the edges of the wooden sign.
Faint patterns.
"What is this?" Zhang Pingliang asked.
"Hiss...it seems to be the Khitan people's walking horse card."
The knight hesitated and said: "My ancestors were in the grain shooting army of Daliao, and later became the frontier driving army in Daijin... Several generations of people have been familiar with the customs of the Khitan people, so they can recognize them. But the things of the Khitan people,
Why are they here? They are not Khitans, either?"
Although the Khitan people are a foreign race, they have lived and intermarried with the Han people for hundreds of years, and their appearance and bloodline are almost indistinguishable. The Khitan people's own civilization has long been integrated into the Han people. There is absolutely nothing Khitan about the clothes and appearance of these people.
Human appearance.
"These people are the nobles of Khwarezm!"
Zhang Pingliang snorted from his nose.
This time the Mongols attacked and threatened the surrender of many big countries in the Western Regions. Various aspects of the military government had already made notifications in advance to make the officers and soldiers more vigilant. According to the military government, there was a big country in the Western Regions called Khwarazm,
Khwarazmo also attacked and destroyed the Liao Kingdom that was rebuilt by the remaining Khitan people in the Western Regions, and absorbed many customs of the Liao Kingdom.
It is estimated that the ancestors of this knight once served in the Western Liao Dynasty and obtained the talisman to prove their official status. They were then regarded as family heirlooms and passed down from generation to generation until the owner died here.
Zhang Pingliang raised his foot and kicked the corpse over, cursing: "In this generation, we have been the dogs of the Liao people, then the dogs of the Khwarezm, and then the dogs of the Mongols. What's the point? It's better to be dead."
.”
Having said this, he suddenly froze and stood still.
After a long while, Zhang Pingliang pointed to the knight who recognized the talisman: "You don't have to go on sentry duty. Take two people and the talisman and go back to report."
"What are you reporting?" the knight asked with a frown: "We're not halfway through the journey, we haven't seen the Mongolian army, and we haven't found any news... Just killing a few Mongolian scouts is worth going back for.
Going?"
"These are the only ones who were killed by us. They really can't be considered meritorious. But in the past two days, we encountered Mongolian army scouts from far away during the march, right?"
"I met it once when I was crossing the river beach yesterday. I saw it from a distance when I was looking for water in Wild Wolf Pond. I found it again across the ridge when I was camping at night."
The two armies are approaching each other, and it is common for the scouts to cross each other and infiltrate and spy on each other. Once they collide, it will be life and death, but it is also normal for them to encounter each other several times from a distance but not get to fight.
Zhang Pingliang then asked: "Now let's think about it again, are the Mongols who we encountered those few times in the distance?"
"this……"
If the army is compared to people, then the scouts are the eyes and ears of the army. The knights who were transferred as scouts this time are all elites of the Zhou army, and they have all experienced strict training in the military academy. Their knowledge and ideas are different from those of simple-minded people.
Ordinary soldiers, otherwise, would not be able to complete the task of sentinels and ensure that their own ears and eyes are clear.
The scouts, including Zhang Pingliang, never doubted that the same was true for the Mongolian army.
They had all fought with the Mongols many times, and they were all very familiar with each other. They could describe the Mongols' fighting habits or living customs with their eyes closed.
For example, they all know that the sentries sent by the Mongols have always been led by the captain of ten thousand men, and the Mongolian Batuers selected from the captain's side. If Genghis Khan personally led the army, then any team of Aljin Chili would have at least
There will be a distinguished Mongolian Qixue included.
These people were not only as tough and astute as hawks and dogs, but also because of their status as close to the leader, they could ensure that military information would be transmitted to the Mongolian commander as quickly as possible without any delay.
But this time the Mongolian sentries killed by Zhang Pingliang and others were all surrendered nobles of the Khwarezm Kingdom, and there was not a single Mongolian among them.
So were the scouts they met from a distance in the past few days Mongolians?
Does the posture of the horse look similar? Does the formation look similar when on alert from a distance? Does the sound of the chirping sound used when contacting companions look similar? Does the deep shout coming from the throat during a long-distance demonstration look similar?
When they have no doubts, there is nothing suspicious about them. But once they are suspicious...it seems that they are not similar. It seems that those people are not Mongolians?
The last time the Mongols used forest men to open up the Han army to fight, it was ridiculous enough. Now a war is about to break out on the border between Mongolia and the Central Plains, but the Mongols are not even willing to send a few of their own scouts?
Why are they so trusting? Or are they so confident in their servant tribes that they entrust the most important sentinel tasks to foreigners? Is this something the Mongols can do?
Zhang Pingliang felt that his head hurt even more.
He doesn't have a high status, so he can't think so much and think so thoroughly. But since this trip is to inquire about the enemy's situation, there is no reason not to report back if there are doubts.
He said solemnly: "It's better to go back and report it. What this situation represents and whether it has any meaning or not will be decided by the general above."
Zhang Pingliang's subordinates took the order and left. With their light cavalry and fast horses, in just two days and one night, they passed the news to the Zhou army's main force, which was rapidly heading north.
Today is the day in which I am in the best physical condition in a while, and I feel completely refreshed. So I will update twice today:)