Tang Qi Tan

Chapter 659
However, on the way back to Dongning Mansion, an unexpected news interrupted Jiang Tian's trip.Not long ago, a team that was ordered to go to Changhua Prefecture where Shanzhong Road was located lost news two days ago.Along with the loss of contact, there is also the Yamanaka Road Zuowei resident-Yanping Daying.

Therefore, under the circumstances that the original prince may have already appeared; Jiang Tian could only put it aside temporarily, and aimed at the follow-up actions of the Donghai Grand Society; and gathered in Changxing Prefecture, and came to the Zhongwei Sanying and some inner courts from Dongning Mansion The guards turned directly to Changhua Prefecture.

As the saying goes, "seeing is believing, hearing is false", even if there are official documents and official envoys issued by the official office; How many people are willing to trust the office is another matter.

Therefore, this is not only an important opportunity to grasp the opponent's movement, but also the key to solving most of the follow-up problems; so it is very necessary for Jiang Tian to lead the team in person.The Zuowei Sanbattalion, one of the three guards of the public office, is stationed on a daily basis on the mountain road that runs through the east and west of Yizhou and the Tuo barbarians.

In the pattern of one prefecture and seven prefectures on the big island of Yizhou, the four prefectures and one prefecture located on the western coastal plain are the essence of the government's rule; it is also the first to be developed.Therefore, it accounts for almost [-]% of the population and taxation of the public office, and also has the largest proportion of garrisons.

The second is Yilan and Xiongshan prefectures on the east coast of the Big Island, along the narrow and long river valleys along the coast.Because the development and colonization were relatively late, compared with the Tang people and the naturalized people, the western states of the island have already occupied the mainstream; in the eastern two states of the island, there are still many places where Yi and Han people live together.

The central mountain range and its extended mountain range stretching over half of Yizhou Island have become the biggest barrier between the east and the west of the island.Therefore, under the promotion of the office, it took more than ten years, hundreds of thousands of labor and millions of money and food to build a mountain road that runs through the east and west.

It makes it convenient and fast to connect between the east and west states of the Big Island.Even the rumors and news that happened in Dongzhou County on the island, through the stage horses and communication stations set up along the way, they can reach the office of Dongning Prefecture day and night.And Changhua Prefecture was established to ensure this mountain road.

Therefore, the jurisdiction of Changhua Prefecture, which was established at the latest, seems to be the largest among the seven prefectures in one prefecture; but in fact, it only has three counties and the least household registration and output; Outside the settlements, the main industries are herbal mining, mining, and logging.

In addition, because the central mountain range in the island occupies a vast area, the savages and barbarians during the gathering period are endless like weeds; they will gather together every once in a while, becoming a threat to the mountain road and surrounding counties , Therefore, the Yanping camp was specially set up to collect and collect uniformly.

Therefore, Changhua Prefecture, which is surrounded by mountains and has almost no plains, is also the only one among the seven prefectures that cannot provide surplus to the government. The situation, and the place where the office is training soldiers in disguise.

The only output among them is the harsh environment of poor mountains and rivers; it also provides a considerable part of the office with a source of hard-working, brave and fearless soldiers; Stationed and struggled on overseas islands and continents.

Originally, according to the strategic policy followed by the government in the past, as long as the fortresses and fortresses were established on the mountain passes and dangerous places through the steady advancement of generations, they could slowly erode and compress the activity space of these barbarians; Settlements were destroyed or moved away one by one.

In the end, these barbarians and savages in the mountains were completely harmless.Until a few years ago, under the full impetus of that prince, troops and materials were mobilized from all over Yizhou, with the third Youwei Battalion of Yanping Camp as the core; a large-scale offensive was launched against the settlements deep in the central mountain range.

During the period, it was claimed that hundreds of settlements in the mountains were destroyed, and the number of captured and captured savages and savages amounted to tens of thousands; , but it was a victory that was obviously outweighed by the gains and ostentatious.

In particular, the army that was required to go deep into the mountains to confiscate the barbarians and thunderbolts, in the harsh and dangerous environment of the wilderness and deep forest, because of the difficulties in the supply of the rear, the infestation of snakes and miasma, and the influence of the showers and cold fog, it was not a battle. The attrition even reached several times the usual combat casualties.

Persisting for a long time will inevitably cause serious wear and tear on the morale of local soldiers and civilians; it will even become passive and dispirited.Therefore, the last news from the original prince was on his way to Xuanwei Yanping Camp.

Therefore, Dongning Mansion immediately sent troops to block it, and the western end of Shanzhong Road was located in Wufeng Garrison in Nantou County; it also temporarily blocked the spread and dissemination of follow-up news.Immediately afterwards, several envoys holding seals were sent to contact the prefect of Changhua Prefecture and the captain of the Unity Battalion.

In the end, he entered the Yanping camp in the name of condolences, but unexpectedly received news that the son had never arrived there.Therefore, the Dongning Mansion did not hesitate to use the name of the office to order the arrest and detainment of Prince Yuan's cronies, as well as the generals who had close contacts.

When the latest news came out, it was said that some of them had already been escorted on the road; and after providing a large amount of comfort supplies and a promise of rotation and repairs, most of the soldiers in the Yanping camp accepted the office relatively calmly. order; ready to switch defenses.

However, at this moment, an accident happened; when a group of inner court guards sent by the office, together with a regiment of soldiers, were ordered to search the Shenyunshan Grand Shrine in Madong County, Changhua Prefecture, where the Tu ethnic group lived; they completely cut off the news .Immediately afterwards, the Yanping Daying, which sent messages regularly every day, also lost contact.

Therefore, when Jiang Tian rushed forward with light clothes non-stop and led a part of the pioneer cavalry into the mountain road, he discovered some unusual clues.For example, among the forests with ancient trees and lush forests, some vines were obviously overgrown, and they invaded into the terraced fields on the hillside.

There are also some tea hills, orchards, and jicama fields that have withered and withered in large areas; it seems that winter has entered ahead of schedule.The villages and settlements along the avenue are also closed and everyone is on the wall, patrolling day and night with knives, bows, gongs and drums.

After sending someone to ask, I found out that the wild beasts in the mountains have been rampant and active these days, even attacking business travelers, pedestrians, and even farmers who are not working outside in broad daylight; Among them, they killed livestock and carried away the old and weak, women and children.

Therefore, almost none of the villages and settlements distributed along the Shanzhong Road were immune from harm; among them were some enslaved slave traders and natives. The tragic disaster of being wiped out overnight by this beast disaster.

Even when Jiang Tian and his party arrived at Dapu, the first county town with hundreds of riders, what they saw was that the gates of the city were still closed in broad daylight;After a brief understanding of the local conditions, it is not safe even after nightfall in the county.

For several days, there were exclamations and screams from the people in the city; and then when the patrolling regiment rushed over, there was only a mess and blood splattered all over the place.Therefore, everyone in the county is panicked and in danger; this is obviously not something that can be done by ordinary beasts.

Even so, Jiang Tian did not stop too much in Dapu County; he just reminded the place based on past experience to pay more attention to and monitor the exits of sewers and canals.He ordered a short-term replenishment of water, and then rushed to the hinterland of the mountain road, where the Yanping camp was located.

However, when Jiang Tian was driving on the mountain road at night, he felt another completely different scene.Outside the cavalry with open flames holding sticks and fishes walking, there is a dense and omniscient darkness in the night, even the brilliance of turning the clouds to see the moon cannot penetrate the dark and dense forest shade.

Flickering in the darkness, one pair after another faintly glowing eyes, wandering in the mountains and forests like will-o'-the-wisps; they also seem to be closely following and spying on the galloping line that brings a little light on the road.Then one after another, ghosts and wolves howled.

Sometimes, amidst the howling chorus, certain beings would get so close unknowingly.So much so that Jiang Tian, ​​who was in the team, seemed to be aware of it; suddenly he threw a wind lantern towards the tail of the team; it crashed into the left side of the last few riders, and suddenly spread a burst of flames.

Astonished, their mounts were raised slightly, and at the same time, they also showed the looming pairs of copper bell-like animal eyes in the darkness close at hand; and the ferocious animal shape as big as a calf.It was a big-headed creature like a hyena, with hairless but lizard-like horny folds.

"Dire wolf?" At this moment, Jiang Tian couldn't help but think of an ancient creature name that only existed in fossils in later generations; however, more inner guards and cavalry had already reacted, and all of a sudden they reined in their horses According to the crossbow, raise your hand to wind; release a piece of crossbow arrows with a slanting moon array.

The sudden rain of arrows hit the heads and bodies of the "dire wolves" jumping out of the darkness, splashing blood and howling, and they immediately dodged, rolled, and fell on the ground in pain. At the same time, they also rescued the servants and their mounts at the end of the team in a disguised form.

Immediately afterwards, someone in the team straightened up the horse lance on the hook, trying to control the faintly frightened mount; with the remaining courage, he stabbed at the injured "Dire Wolf" who was dodging aside; the sword-shaped lance made of fine steel, The stab like electricity pierced through the front legs and shoulder blades of this "Dire Wolf".

In a blink of an eye, several people worked together to nail it to the ground; and then another "dire wolf" was thrown head-on, and its head was set on fire; Let's kill each other...

(End of this chapter)