Chapter 374: War Smoke Rising
Maoyuan County is located at the junction of Xiangyi Prefecture and Donglin Prefecture.
Since Xiangyi Prefecture began to promote official horse-drawn carriages, there have been many more merchants traveling between Xiangyi Prefecture and Donglin Prefecture.
Naturally, the number of travelers settling in Maoyuan County also increased.
It was originally just an ordinary small county town, but because of the frequent trade exchanges, it suddenly became lively.
On the official road, there was an endless stream of carriages and horses coming and going, and at the roadside tea shops, carriages and horses would stop from time to time to have a cup of tea and rest their feet.
"The northern barbarians are coming!"
"Run!"
Suddenly, a shrill cry was heard, and several people on horseback came galloping from the direction of Donglin Mansion.
"Run!"
"The northern barbarians are coming!"
The knights on horseback galloped past, shouting as they ran.
When the merchants and pedestrians on the official road heard the shout, they were stunned at first, and then ran madly towards the mountains and forests on both sides of the road.
As for the cargo?
At this time, do you need to consider whether to choose life or money?
In just a moment, the official road, which was bustling just now, became quiet.
The roadside tea shop was in a mess.
Some people ran into the county town, and some hid in the mountains.
Then, whether people entered the county town or hid in the mountains and forests, they all felt the earth shaking.
The northern barbarians are really here!
"Close the city gates!"
"Ring the gong!"
Li Gan, the captain of the Maoyuan County garrison, gave the order immediately.
No one knew how the Northern Barbarians appeared within the territory of the Tang Dynasty, but it was impossible to stop the thousands of Northern Barbarians' cavalry with just the garrison troops of a county.
The only thing they could do was to defend Maoyuan County.
"Light the signal fire!"
Wolf smoke is also known as beacon fire for signal transmission.
Since the King of Yan came to guard the north, there has been no war in the north for twenty years.
Now, the war is coming again!
Li Gan didn't know why there was no smoke from the north, nor did he know why the Northern Barbarian cavalry suddenly appeared outside Maoyuan County.
He only knew that if the northern barbarians attacked the city, he would have to fight to the death.
However, the Northern Barbarian cavalry circled the city of Maoyuan and headed south.
As soon as Maoyuan County Magistrate Chu Xiuyan received the news, he drew his sword and climbed up the city wall.
“Something’s wrong!”
Chu Xiuyan looked at Li Gan beside him and said, "Captain Li, what do you think this northern barbarian is going to do?"
"Anshun County!"
Li Gan suddenly raised his head. "The Northern Barbarians should be heading to Anshun County. Huangfengkou!"
"Someone, beat the drum!"
"We can't let the Northern Barbarians go to Anshun County like this. Brothers who are not afraid of death, follow me out of the city!"
Li Gan guessed the target of the Northern Barbarian Cavalry and without any hesitation, he directly issued an order to go out of the city to fight.
It is no secret that at Huangfengkou, Xu Laoer killed two little princes of the Northern Barbarians in succession.
On the contrary, in order to boost morale, the news had already been spread.
At this moment, the Northern Barbarian cavalry appeared here strangely and headed south, clearly intending to attack the elderly, the weak, the women and the children of the Xu family.
At first glance, this matter has nothing to do with them.
However, the men of the Xu family are guarding Huangfengkou, guarding the pass for the Tang Dynasty and protecting the safety of these people.
If they watched the women and children of the Xu family die at the hands of the Northern Barbarian cavalry, would they still be considered human beings?
Li Gan explained the whole story in a few words.
Most of the garrison troops of Maoyuan County came out.
They were garrison troops, their duty was to defend the city. But if the fighting in the north got intense, they would also have to go to the battlefield and fight. Because of what the Xu family father and son did, they didn't have to fight.
Now that the Northern Barbarians intend to retaliate, how can they sit idly by?
"County Magistrate Chu, I leave the county in your care!"
Li Gan bowed three times to Chu Xiuyan, and then rushed out of the county town with more than 300 garrison troops.
Maoyuan County is not big, and the garrison troops are no more than 500 people.
Of course, there are also some elderly and weak people among them.
At this moment, there were more than 300 people following Li Gan out of the city, which was already the entire combat force of Maoyuan County’s garrison.
"Don't risk your life, our goal is to hold them back!"
The wolf smoke has risen. As long as we can hold back these Northern Barbarian cavalry and give the city government time to respond, these Northern Barbarian cavalry will never return.
…
The leader of the Northern Barbarian Cavalry is now Duke Antai Xu Huairen, who is dressed in women's clothing.
But at this moment, Xu Huairen was just wearing the appearance of Duke Antai, but his inner thoughts had already changed into that of a different person, a woman.
"I don't know what's good for me, I'll kill them all!"
After discovering that the garrison troops of Maoyuan County had left the city, Xu Huairen, who had changed his mind, waved his hands violently.
Then, one hundred Northern Barbarian cavalrymen separated from the main group and charged towards the more than three hundred Maoyuan County garrison troops led by Li Gan.
"defense!"
Following Li Gan's shout, the three hundred garrison troops immediately formed up and raised their long chevaux de frise.
The chevaux de frise was a weapon specially developed by the Tang Dynasty infantry to fight against the northern barbarian cavalry. It was actually just a long piece of wood with a sharp point cut out.
Once the infantry encountered a cavalry charge, they would quickly raise their chariot spears and support themselves on the ground.
If the cavalry ignored the obstruction of the halberds and charged directly, they would inevitably end up with their horses and men falling off the ground.
If the cavalry took a detour, they would be intercepted and killed by the soldiers' short crossbows.
Because the Northern Barbarians had come with all their might, Li Gan began training his garrison troops as soon as he received the news.
In the past, no one would pay attention to Li Gan’s training.
But now, on the contrary, everyone is eager to practice for a few more days.
After all, the purpose of training now is to survive on the battlefield.
With the bluffs raised, the Northern Barbarian cavalry chose to take a detour.
Li Gan waved his hand decisively and shot the crossbow arrows rapidly.
Shoot the horse first when shooting a person!
The Northern Barbarian cavalry, without their war horses, were nothing but trash when facing the Tang Dynasty's infantry.
The one hundred Northern Barbarian cavalrymen failed to destroy Li Gan's three hundred garrison troops. Instead, half of them lost their lives. As for the rest, although they did not die, they lost their mounts.
"kill--"
Li Gan roared, led the charge, and charged with his sword.
The northern barbarian soldiers opposite him also ran with their swords in hand, ready to fight Li Gan.
However……
"puff!"
Li Gan raised his hand, and the crossbow in his hand shot through the man's chest cleanly.
"Scum!"
Knife against knife?
Do you think I'm stupid? Why would I waste all that energy when I could kill you with less effort?
On the battlefield, saving every bit of energy gives you a better chance of saving your life.
This is the experience summarized by Li Gan’s father.
He handed it over to the garrison of Maoyuan County without reservation.
As a result, the one hundred northern barbarian cavalry were completely wiped out, while the garrison troops of Maoyuan County suffered no casualties.
Everyone followed Li Gan's example, rushing forward with swords in hand, but when they got close to the Northern Barbarian soldiers, they pulled the triggers of their crossbows and shot them with crossbow arrows.
"Shameless Tang people!"
When Xu Huairen, the Duke of Antai who had changed his core, saw this scene, he couldn't help but curse.
"High Priest!"
"Would you like me to lead a team?"
A Northern Barbarian cavalryman guarding Xu Huairen spoke respectfully.
(End of this chapter)
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