Chapter 91 Surprise Attack
Lin Changning led eight hundred cavalrymen out from the side gate as soon as the smoke of war rose, quietly bypassing the Tartars and heading straight for the valley of the Yinshan Mountains.
Their first stop was the camp at the foot of Yinshan Valley. They ran for three days without seeing any tribes stationed there. The cavalrymen didn't complain, but Lin Changning had a nagging feeling. She was sure she was right. She had read the recent battle reports and observed the Tartars' escape route. Logically, she should be able to see the Tartar tribes by now.
Looking at the boundless grassland, Lin Changning doubted for the first time whether his judgment was correct.
However, after only a brief moment of hesitation, he became even more convinced that his idea was correct.
Lin Changning dismounted and looked at the scattered black, bean-shaped sheep droppings on the ground with a hint of joy. He rubbed them between his feet and exclaimed with delight, "This is it! We're not far from the Tartar tribe!"
Zhang Baihu also dismounted, picked up a sheep dropping from the ground, squeezed it a few times and found it was hard: "It's hard, it must have been left in the last few days."
Lin Changning nodded, somewhat disgusted by Zhang Baihu's filth, and silently handed him his own handkerchief: "Wipe yourself clean, you're dirty."
Zhang Baihu chuckled: "Hey~ It's alright, just find a place to wash up at the party, don't get your handkerchief dirty."
The garrison basically knew that Lin Changning was a clean freak. Apart from the commander, he was the most particular about cleanliness in the garrison. He had to wash his hands before eating, take a bath every three days, and always carried a handkerchief and a towel with him. The tents were dirty, and the smelly feet of a group of grown men in winter made people pack their bags and ask the young master to stay with them.
Because her superior liked cleanliness, most of her soldiers also became clean. Their bedding was often aired out, they washed their hands before eating, and they would wash their smelly feet before getting into bed at night. Fortunately, Lin Changning treated her subordinates very well, and she would give them meat and eggs every few days. In addition, the camp was indeed comfortable after it was cleaned up, so no one objected.
This move earned him the commander's favor. He not only praised Lin Changning's troops for their good discipline and neat appearance, but also criticized the other men, making Lao Ma and his group feel ashamed and embarrassed. They went back and started to reorganize their own troops.
Besides, everyone knows that Lin Changning has another quirk: he doesn't like people to touch him or trespass on his tent. Wan Jin, being the simple-minded one he was, rushed in as soon as Lin Changning finished his bath and got dressed. As soon as he came out, he was dragged to the training ground and beaten until he cried for his parents.
After that incident, everyone knew that this young commander didn't like people trespassing on his territory, and no one would deliberately try to enter. Even the old men, like Lao Ma and Lao Zhou, knew that he should just stay outside the tent. After all, Lin Changping was a real fighter when he hit people, and his beatings were really painful, so almost no one would go looking for trouble.
Lin Changning tucked his handkerchief back into his pocket, mounted his horse, and said, "Judging from the direction, it should be at the foot of the mountain in the southeast. Let's go. If we can make it tonight, we'll launch a surprise attack under cover of darkness!"
After saying this, he led eight hundred elite cavalrymen and rode off into the distance. After only about four or five hours, Lin Changning saw wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys in the distance.
Zhang Baihu was overjoyed: "Now the military rations are guaranteed, hahaha!"
Lin Changning looked at the terrain and pointed to the mountains and forests behind the camp: "We will launch a surprise attack when night falls. Cen Zhong, you take thirty scouts to investigate the camp's strength and personnel distribution. Zhang Baihu, you take fifty men to seize the sheep. I will take three hundred cavalry to fire cannons to scare the horses. The remaining two hundred men will cover Zhang Baihu as he takes the sheep away. The remaining two hundred men will charge into the Tartar camp to meet me as soon as the firecrackers startle. We need to buy enough time."
The group of people readily accepted the order. Lin Changning sat on horseback, his phoenix eyes leisurely gazing at the distant tents. When his gaze fell upon the fat sheep in the sheepfold of the camp, a look of determination flashed in his eyes.
Night fell like a silken blanket, completely enveloping the tribe. Scattered tents dotted the grassland, with a few dim lights peeking out from within. The Tatars on guard duty were drowsy, while a group of people sat leaning against each other on the open ground outside the tents. The fire in the middle cast shadows on their sleeping faces.
The north wind howled outside, making a sound like ghosts wailing and wolves howling. The withered grass on the sand rustled loudly, and occasionally a few wolf howls could be heard. The soldiers on duty were awakened by the wolf howls. After looking around and finding that the wolf pack had not come, they lay down next to their comrades again, trying to fall asleep again.
The soldiers on duty would never have imagined that the Han Chinese would launch a sneak attack on them. After all, they were a nomadic people who would change locations every now and then, and it was practically impossible for them to be chased and ambushed on the grasslands.
Therefore, most people on duty were only guarding against wild animals and tribes on the grassland.
The Tartars are not all harmonious, but now that the Great Khan is seriously ill and the other princes are vying for power, almost no one will seize other tribes at this time. After all, the support of the tribesmen is essential to gain the Khan's throne. So they are just waiting for the warriors who have gone to gather hay to return, and then they can have a good winter.
The night wind howled, and no one noticed that a group of Da Xuan cavalry had approached the camp very closely. However, the shepherd sleeping in the sheepfold suddenly noticed some commotion among the sheep. Just as he was about to get up, a gleaming long knife was pressed against his waist.
"Don't make a sound, or I'll kill you."
The shepherd nodded hastily without saying a word.
Which sheep is the lead sheep here?
The shepherd mustered his courage and turned around. He saw Zhang Baihu, who was clearly dressed as a Han Chinese, and suddenly knelt down: "Sir, sir, I am a Han Chinese, please take me away, take me away!"
Zhang Baihu quickly looked around and, finding no one disturbed, pulled the shepherd up: "Head sheep? Where is it?"
Realizing something, the shepherd scrambled to his feet and crawled into the flock, clutching the lead sheep's horns tightly: "This one, this one!"
Zhang Baihu happily led the lead sheep to his subordinate, who then picked up the shepherd and led him to the outside of the sheepfold. He threw the shepherd onto a cavalryman's horse and opened the sheepfold.
"run!!!"
At the same time, the sound of firecrackers crackling came from the horse farm. The deafening noise was particularly noticeable in the quiet night, startling not only most of the horses on the field but also all the sheep in the sheepfold. The cavalry surrounded the sheep in an encirclement.
A cavalryman pulled the lead sheep forward, and a large flock of sheep followed behind, some jumping and squeezing out of the pen and running away, while some confused sheep ran off to other places.
Lin Changning, wielding a long sword, rushed into the camp. Before the people in the largest tent could react, he rushed in and killed the Tartar leader who had just woken up on the bed with a single blow. After finishing, he quickly rushed out of the tent, mounted his horse, grabbed the torches in front of the tent, and lit them everywhere.
Some Tartar warriors, realizing what was happening, fled on horseback, their clothes disheveled, and grabbed their scimitars, charging towards Lin Changning, who was riding in the camp. Lin Changning's personal guards killed them before they even reached him.
Seeing the raging fires all around and the Tartars gradually fleeing their tents, Lin Changning, watching the assembled cavalry, brandished his sword and charged into the densest crowd. He led his men to cut down the Tartars who hadn't even had time to change their clothes and mount their horses. Then, seeing more and more Tartars gathering inside the camp, Lin Changning quickly reined in his horse, turned back, and shouted:
"retreat!!!"
At Lin Changning's command, hundreds of cavalrymen reined in their horses and galloped toward the vast grassland outside the camp.
Only a few dozen scattered men caught up with them, and after dealing with the tail of the cavalrymen who had cut down the men, they immediately followed Lin Changning.
Lin Changning looked at the vast expanse of white, plump sheep ahead in the darkness, then at the Tartar camp receding into the distance behind him, and burst into laughter.
"My grassland, my horse, I can do whatever I want with them~ Yahoo~"
Caught up in the atmosphere, a group of cavalrymen cheered and howled as they galloped into the night on the grassland, leaving behind a trail of fires and shouts of cursing from the Tartar tribes...
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