Chapter 468 Horse Bandits (2)

The Zab River is one of the few open-air water sources on the road.

Especially since this area is a Gobi Desert, there is a river with lush grass and water along the riverbank, which not only attracts various wild animals to drink water, but is also a paradise for water birds and a hunting ground for wolves and leopards within a radius of hundreds of miles.

Every winter and spring, the snow-capped mountains are frozen, the rivers dry up, and large areas of muddy riverbeds are exposed, making it inconvenient for people and animals to travel.

Fortunately, Song Erlang and his team paved a road with pebbles, so there is no obstacle to travel. They just need to find a shallow beach to wade through the river.

Zhao Tingduo has traveled between Hecheng and Mida Valley many times and is very familiar with the terrain in this area.

Knowing that there is a riverbank ahead, we need to hurry a little further to cross the river and stay away from the water source to be safe.

Each rest stop is carefully planned to match the distance a horse-drawn carriage would take in a day.

At the speed we are going, we have to hurry.

When Wei Er and his men returned and failed to catch the spy, the team set out again.

Old Yu sat in the carriage, surrounded by guards.

Song Liyun and Zhao Tingduo rode in front, followed closely by Wu Dan.

Jian Fangtong also received the news that the merchant had already gone to Zabu River.

In front of the convoy, Song Liyun and Zhao Tingduo walked side by side.

The two chatted from time to time, and the horses under their crotch trotted casually. In the eyes of outsiders, they seemed like a couple who let their horses run free.

Song Liyun quietly handed the telescope to Zhao Tingduo and whispered, "There are two people hiding in the bushes ten feet to our right."

Zhao Tingduo remained calm, took the telescope and pretended to look around. After checking out the ambush spots around him, he felt relieved.

Most of these horse bandits came from other places, lacked experience, and were not familiar with the terrain.

Not only were there no personnel deployed at the riverside, where the attack was most likely to occur, but even the personnel that were already stationed were too far away.

As long as he disrupted the rhythm, the encirclement of these horse bandits would be broken.

Beside him, Wu Dan's little face was tense. He didn't hear clearly what the young master and the young mistress were saying, but he could tell from their actions that they had discovered that there were horse bandits around!

After observing the surrounding situation, Zhao Tingduo returned the telescope to Song Liyun and asked her to keep it carefully.

He didn't dare keep such a precious item with him. If it got bumped or scratched, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

"Wudan, tell Elder Yu we're going to push forward a bit, and tell him to hold on tight. Ah Yun, stay with Elder Yu, too."

He had already found the traces of the horse bandits and quickly prepared for battle.

The number of horse bandits was greater than he had imagined, and he had already seen through their intentions.

The ambush on both sides was intended to attack from the rear and side when the carriage was crossing the river.

As a result, the carriage could not stay in the river and had to rush forward.

Being in the water, the guards could not run forward or backward, so they had to stay behind to cover their retreat.

Then the real ambush must be on the other side of the riverbank.

When the carriage without its guard rushed to the river bank, it had to face the butcher knife of the horse bandits.

Apart from the cobblestone road under my feet, the surrounding area was full of mud and dirt. Even if I ran, I would move very slowly.

This is how sheepdogs drive their flocks every day.

Song Linyun was also surprised when he saw Zhao Tingduo suddenly speed up.

She didn't understand military affairs, but she clearly felt that the other party had set a trap and was just waiting for her and her group to fall into it.

Now Zhao Tingduo is advancing instead of retreating. Does he have other plans?

Thinking that Zhao Tingduo had fought in countless battles, big and small, in the past two years and would not make such a low-level mistake, Song Liyun had absolute trust in him and silently took out the bayonet that he had not used for a long time.

In the rear, Yu Lao and others received the news and immediately urged their horses to gallop.

The wheels rolled, raising a cloud of dust on the sandy ground.

The guards protected the carriage in the middle and rushed towards the Zab River without any hesitation.

Almost at this moment, all the bandits in the bushes stood up, looking confused: "Why did they suddenly run?"

"They tried to escape. Surround them. Surround them. Capture them alive."

"Quick, catch up, don't let anyone get out!"

Whistles rang out one after another, and the horses that were pressed down in the depression stood up.

The horse bandits came out of their hiding place and chased the carriage towards the riverbank.

The sound of horse hooves, shouts and scolding, and the pursuit of dozens of horses made the peaceful riverside suddenly boil.

On the spacious mudflats of the Zab River, five carriages ran among the guards, panicking but not in chaos.

Two hundred meters ahead of the carriage, a black horse rushed forward like the sharp spike of a javelin.

Zhao Tingduo was standing on the stirrups, his lowered body blending into the galloping horse, his fluttering cloak pulled straight behind him.

Behind him, Song Liyun held tightly onto the neck of the rapidly galloping horse to prevent herself from falling off.

Wu Dan, who was standing beside her, looked at her nervously and shouted, "Young Madam, the young master wants you to get in the carriage!"

After more than a year of training, Song Liyun's riding skills are better than those of ordinary people, but that is just for ordinary people, and cannot be compared with Zhao Tingduo and Wu Dan who are born on horseback.

Just now, Zhao Tingduo wanted Song Liyun, who had the worst riding skills among all the people, to ride in the carriage with Old Yu.

But Song Liyun did not accept it. She felt that although her riding skills were not as good as others, she was agile on horseback and could cope with any unexpected situation.

Behind the three men, as the bandits approached, the five carriages were about to enter the river when they suddenly turned quickly and went downstream along the sandy land by the river.

The guards nearby also turned their horses, and the running horses turned their heads on the spot with the help of sophisticated horse-controlling techniques.

This sudden change of direction caught the horse bandits chasing behind off guard, and the distance between the two sides was instantly shortened.

Because someone was needed to drive the carriage, the escort team only had ten people at this time.

Faced with thirty horse bandits holding scimitars, the ten-man team did the same thing at the same time: they took out the dark military crossbows from under the felt beside the saddle.

The crossbow is small and exquisite, and is completely black. Even the arrow is shiny black.

The guards' movements were uniform, clean and efficient. By the time the horse bandits reacted, the two sides were already very close and were about to collide.

"These guys have arrows. Be careful, brothers! Shoot them!"

Some of the bandits started shouting and began to frantically take out their arrows.

They had been lying in ambush in the grass and were not prepared to attack. When the carriage suddenly accelerated without warning, the distance between them widened and they had no chance to shoot arrows.

Now that the distance was close, there was still no chance. Before the bandits could draw their bowstrings, they heard a series of "bang bang" sounds.

The bandits on horseback fell to the ground one after another like cut wheat.

In just a blink of an eye, the two gangs started fighting each other.

Fighting one against two, the Zhenbei Army guard held a knife in one hand and an iron crossbow in the other.

He was skilled in archery and horsemanship, and the bandits on horseback were powerless to fight back and fell off their horses one after another.

Several horse bandits were shot in the head by arrows and were dead.

At this time, the horse bandits also saw clearly the crossbows in the hands of these guards.

The strong wind breaks the strong grass. This is a special iron crossbow. The arrows it shoots are made of steel and can penetrate armor and helmet.

The remaining bandits exclaimed, "This is the North Zhen Army's Gale Battalion!"

(End of this chapter)