My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 573 The Satsuma Empire under the sunset
Occasionally, rustling sounds could be heard in the woods.

The bushes and branches were then brushed away, and several figures rushed out. They were equipped with similar equipment to the previous knights, including leather armor and a leather helmet lined with fur. One of them supported the injured figure and ran forward, and the other two, one holding a hand, Guarding with a knife, the last remaining person ran for a few steps, suddenly turned around, drew his bow and shot an arrow behind him.

The arrow shot out, penetrated the swaying branches, and flew deep into the forest.

In the forest, there was a sudden "dang" sound, which was the sound of arrows colliding with metal.

next moment.

Three figures on foot, wearing a leather armor covering a chest suit, holding two swords in their hands, with half metal visors on their faces, exposed under thick brown eyebrows, their blue eyes revealed murderous intent.

In the dim forest, they keenly caught several people escaping. The three people held swords in both hands. Their figures surged in the forest, and they ran over quickly. The moment they approached, they slashed out both swords in their hands.

The two Mongolian scouts behind them, one drew his bow and fired again, while the other waved his scimitar and let out a savage roar of "Huha" and rushed forward.

A few banging sounds in succession.

The arrows shot were cut off in mid-air, and the scimitar he wielded collided with the opponent's swords, causing sparks to fly out. The third pursuer was approaching. He was agile, and his swords in his hands were blocking the arms and shoulders of the Mongolian scout. The neck, waist and ribs were slashed out.

It was the five Mongolian scouts who heard the birdsong before, and the leader was named Jibuha, a new name given to him by Subutai, the head of the Mongolian household.

The arm holding the scimitar was dragged up into the air with a bloody line. The Mongolian scout, whose right arm was cut off, was slashed with several swords and flew backwards, hitting a nearby big tree.

He is a famous swordsman in the Wusheng Army, only a little worse than those champion swordsmen. A few days ago, he was ordered to hunt down the Eastern secret agent who appeared in Satsuma, but unfortunately he let the other party escape to the border. When he came, he heard that there was Scout of the Eastern Cavalry.

The Mongolian scout who was left holding his bow turned around and ran away. He was soon overtaken and a sword penetrated his body from the back.

This veteran general is still a dazzling presence in the Mongolian tent where the star shines brightly. His footprints can be seen from the Kingdom of Jin in the east to the Danube River in the west.

He was not worried about the opponent's cavalry. His mission was to take the body of the Eastern spy back, but the current situation made him afraid to be careless.

But the general trend was that Tie Buddha died, and he could only rely on the head of ten thousand households named Subotai. During this period of following him, after seeing his ability to control people and command cavalry, he felt the same as everyone else. The dissatisfaction gradually subsided.

He was once a small-headed man under Iron Buddha. He was not outstanding in the army, but he was extremely skilled in archery. When he was a child, he met an expert from Qi while out herding, and taught him his archery skills.

Then, Xian was shocked.

The blade grazed the air, and when the prancing horse rushed towards the pursuer, the third pursuer attacked from the side!

In the dark forest, the pursuer leaned on the tree trunk, kicked off his feet, and rushed into the air. He swung his swords left and right, like scythes that split the night, and swept out a semicircular sword towards the Mongolian scouts who were charging towards him on horseback. Light.

At this moment, the cold light surged in the forest, and the sound that broke through the air instantly disappeared from zero distance.
The leader of the pursuers hurriedly sheathed his sword and violently raised the swords in both hands. There was a 'bang' sound, and the arrows touched his crossed swords, causing astonishing sparks to bounce.

There was another arrow stuck in his neck, and blood gurgled out.

Howling!
The war horse stood up. The Mongolian scout caught the war horse in time. The sword light swept over and a large branch of the tree branch in front of him broke.

This is a common fight in the west of Tianfengling in recent days. The Mongolian scouts climbed over the mountains to collect information and survey the terrain. At the same time, they also had another task, covering the embroidery department's spies over there, and the Xia Kingdom scouts withdrew.

'boom! '

The leading pursuer rushed forward with his sword, took a step forward, and jumped up with a sudden movement. The two swords struck out the scout's head and the head of the war horse respectively.

The moment a special bird song resounded through the forest, not far from the forest, several cavalrymen were coming here following the bird song.

At the foot of the mountain east of Tianfengling, there are yurts.

Now he is seventy-three years old, but he is still tall.

After running for a while, he suddenly stopped and seemed to hear some unusual sound. He followed the sound and climbed up the mountain. Far away, below the mountain, was the dust stirred up by the march.

The moment he landed, another of his subordinates was shot down from mid-air by cold arrows fired by the other two riders.

By the bright sunshine after the rain.

I saw that the opponent's five cavalry were intact and they cooperated well.

At the age of sixteen, he single-handedly wiped out a group of horse thieves with ten arrows. However, the grassland experienced several twists and turns, and he never seized the opportunity to rise to a high position.

Two feathered arrows passed through the darkness in the forest. The three figures chasing after them reacted very quickly. The leader swung his sword to slash at the flying arrows. When the first sound of "Cang" was heard, the deputy next to him suddenly fell down. Down.

The hunters following behind were also rushing towards them at extremely fast speeds. Here, Jibuha turned over his hunting bow with his backhand, quickly put on two arrows, and tightened the bowstring.

The news from the mountains and forests over there had already arrived and was delivered to Subotai's tent. After listening to the story of his personal guard, he closed his eyes on the wool mattress and nodded.

……

This is the Mongol army camp in Subotai.

The pursuer's eyes narrowed, and he could barely grasp the two swords in his hands. In his field of vision, it was a cavalry that was marching down the rugged mountains, and then passed through the gentle terrain, winding towards the west. Push forward and jump over this mountain.

The three pursuers seemed to have a natural tacit understanding. Without any words or eye contact, they directly pursued the only two people left in front.

The scene of the gentle mountainous area below gradually came into view.

"Kill them first!" Jibuha took an arrow and fastened the bowstring again. A scout under his command galloped up on horseback and passed the two people who were trying to save on the ground. The scimitar held by this scout was arched on the horse's back. This is a common cavalry posture to engage the enemy.

This was his only thought.

Six feet away from the intertwined trees, in the dark and obscured sight, two figures supporting each other stumbled and ran. Suddenly, they stumbled on the protruding tree root under their feet, and they both rolled into the fallen leaves.

After landing in mid-air, the pursuer stepped back vigilantly with both swords, and disappeared into the shadow of a tree in the forest. He turned around and ran away with the weapon in hand. He disappeared behind the bushes in the blink of an eye.

Now he has changed from a small-headed man to the leader of a ten-man team.

"Right in front!" His subordinates who were riding horses in front of him suddenly spoke and pulled out their scimitars: "I saw their silhouettes, and someone is chasing them!"

In the faint light.

'Report back immediately...'

His old face was covered with scars from the battlefield, and he had a stern expression. Even if he didn't speak, no one would dare to look down upon him just sitting there.

Taking off the iron helmet with the fur turned out, he stood up from the fur pad and walked to the tent.

"The response of the Western armies is disappointing. The scouting war has been going on for two days, but they still haven't taken it seriously."

He walked out of the tent and looked at the towering mountains with snow-capped peaks to the west: "As long as your Majesty's spies are rescued, bring them back here and don't need to worry about them. Send an order to the Mongolian warriors ahead to continue according to the previous plan!"

There was a pause in the words.

The Mongolian general, who exuded a terrifying aura, turned around and looked at the personal guards in front of him. "Slaughter it!"

The personal guards bowed and saluted, and after leaving the tent, they immediately summoned the order cavalry. Soon, the order cavalry galloped out and rushed towards the mountains ahead.

At this time, it was still early, and Subotai took a few guards out of the camp and went to the nearby high ground. The Gobi and desert in the distance contrasted with the foothills to the west, creating a contradictory visual experience.

To the east and north that Subotai looked toward, yellow sand was flying, and countless crowds of people and horses were pouring in from all over the mountains and plains.

The mighty 150,000 cavalrymen, one man with two horses, or even multiple horses, created the illusion of hundreds of thousands of cavalry.

In the distance, there are hundreds of fast horses riding alone and in teams of two, constantly contacting nearby soldiers and horses. The roads between the Gobi are full of running scouts.

They were all former Xirong tribesmen, and even came from different tribes. As Subotai integrated the grassland troops and bloodbathed a number of small tribes, he finally twisted them into a unified force.

With the Mongolian warfare methods he taught and the exchanges and orders of the original Mongolian scouts, these original Xirong cavalry exchanged messages with each other quickly and smoothly.

Orders to adjust the queue, speed, and direction of travel were passed among these lone riders to the huge cavalry array.

We will have to cross mountains and ridges, and the terrain is rugged and unsuitable for large-scale cavalry marches.

When entering the area at the foot of Tianfengling, Subotai's order had been issued. Except for the 150,000 Mongolian cavalry who entered the mountain first, the rest of the cavalry could no longer maintain a united formation.

They can only be divided into several groups by their respective centurions, chiefs, and men to achieve the purpose of marching quickly. They enter the mountain in batches. Although the number of people is small, the speed of the scattered march will not be slowed down and it can still be fast. Maneuver and arrive at the place designated by Subotai to assemble.

Moreover, there is also a feeling that the mountains and plains are all over the place, as if they are being washed away.

"The West... can fight you again!"

On the barren hill, Subotai's gray beard and hair were gently stroking in the wind and sand. Looking at such a huge army in front of him, the excitement that once dominated the world and slaughtered the population came back.

……

Satsuma Kingdom, a city named Satira.

The wars and killings have stopped for more than two months. The towering city walls still bear the traces of the fighting months ago. On the city walls made of large rocks, hang the flag from the empire further west, embroidered with three dragons with fire-breathing heads. shape.

Satila is built on the mountain, located behind the city. The towering castle is close to the mountain. The mountain mist occasionally floats in, covering half of the towering castle, full of mysterious beauty.

Although the war has passed for several months, there is still chaos in the city at this time. The soldiers who invaded the city are tall and majestic, savage and rough. They come with the attitude of conquerors to the Satsuma people in the city, even though the city has been captured. However, they treat the Satsuma people like they are looking after their own trophies. Scenes of Western soldiers robbing property and killing people often appear on the streets.

For a city-state that has captured an enemy country, the victor's army can slaughter and loot the city at will, and will not stop until the commander of the army feels it is okay.

This is why they were able to start from a small country in the northwest, gradually expand their territory to the surrounding areas, reach the southern islands, control hundreds of tribes and city-states, large and small, and then turn around and continue killing and expanding their territory eastward.

The castle that was once the emperor of the Satsuma Kingdom now bears the ferocious flag of this army.

It became the temporary command post of the supreme commander of this army, Grand Duke Olain.

He was originally a marquis of a small country. When Holy Lothar's army came, he led his army to kill the emperor and open the city gate, and received the due reward. After that, he became the vanguard of the opponent's front line, constantly attacking cities and territories, and encountered If there is a strong enemy, Holy Lothar will make his army retreat, and other generals will come to take over the battle.

Often within a few days, or even half a month, a powerful empire would be captured and ruled, and then soldiers from the defeated country would be recruited to become servants and continue to advance.

Last year, Olain led 70,000 people into the heart of the Satsuma Empire from the north, collapsing the empire's resistance to Holy Lothar in the west.

At this moment, he has eliminated the resistance forces in the center of the Satsuma Empire. Only a small number of people have escaped, and they are struggling with manpower in other Satsuma provinces and are still resisting.

We originally planned to completely eliminate them and welcome Holy Lothar to Satira. Unfortunately, in the past month and a half, the resistance of the remaining forces of the Satsuma Empire has become stronger and stronger, and their weapons and armor have become more sophisticated.

Later, from the captured weapons, he realized that the empire in the east was funding these Satsuma people.

"It seems that the lesson given to the Easterners last time was not enough."

O'Lain is a stout man in his fifties with a big beard, blue eyes, and short curly hair. He sits in front of a bright window, flipping through the information in his hand, and putting a grape into his mouth with a fork. , the juice dripped down the corners of his mouth and onto his beard.

Outside the door, there were scouts waiting for him to receive him.

He cursed and read the news coming from the southeast. The iron fork was in his hand and was bent.

Then, there was a loud bang on the table, causing the fruits in the fruit plate to spill out. The silver goblet in hand also tipped over on the table, and the wine poured over and spread to the edge of the table.

"How can a group of Samoans who don't know how to fight resist an attack by an army of 10,000 people!"

Suffering several defeats at the hands of the remnant forces of an empire was a great shame for Olain himself, who captured Satira.

It is easy to be ridiculed by the generals who are accustomed to fighting around Holy Lothar, saying that he just took an advantage to capture this strong city.

"We must conquer again... No, it's not peaceful over there in the east... Scouts from the east are becoming more and more frequent..."

Just as he was thinking about it, an official came in outside the door and whispered something in Olain's ear. The failure to annex the three small towns southeast of Satsuma had already made the Grand Duke very unhappy. However, what the official said made him even more angry. .

"The great swordsmen of the Wusheng Army didn't catch the spy?!"

"Yes, Grand Duke."

"Damn it, how can I hold my head up in front of Holy Lothar? This spy is very important. He has been in contact with the Samo people and provided them with weapons from the east... Is the great swordsman back?"

"Yes."

"Let him come in to see me immediately!"

The official nodded, bowed and left the room.

After a while, a man wearing a leather armor with two long swords on his back followed the official to the door. The latter stepped aside, invited him in, and then gently closed the ivory door.

The swordsman who came in still wore a half-iron mask. He made no sound, stepped on the soft wool carpet, and came to the spacious long table. Facing the Archduke O'Lain who was eating and drinking, he bowed respectfully.

Then, he took the quill from the table and wrote a line of words on a piece of rough paper.

The general meaning: The cavalry from the east appears in the mountains and will kill here soon.

O'Lain, who was tearing off a grape, trembled all over when he saw these words. He squeezed the grape on his fingertips hard and the juice splashed all over his face.

His originally arrogant and disdainful demeanor suddenly changed, and the blood faded from his face.

The scene of more than 30,000 people from the Jinsa tribe sent out earlier, and more than 30,000 heads standing in tall towers, surged up from the depths of his memory.

(End of this chapter)