Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 384

"Rest the horse first." Xiao Tachi pointed his horsewhip forward, and said with a sneer, "Let these guys play the vanguard first."

Huo Tuo, the commander-in-chief, looked along the horsewhip, and saw countless strong men gathered in the wilderness outside the city. He couldn't help exclaiming: "There are so many people, there are more than cattle and sheep."

Under the order of the Liao court, Xiao Tachi recruited all the Han slaves from nearby counties and counties to come here, the total number is nearly [-]. Hearing this, he couldn't help laughing and said: "Aren't these just sheep?" He shook his head, While looking contemptuously at the slaves who lowered their heads in fear and did not dare to look up.Xiaota Chiyuan thought that such a large-scale requisition of signing troops would probably arouse the dissatisfaction of the local Khitan people and the resistance of the Han slaves.Who knew that under the threat of the army of the Song Dynasty, the Khitan nobles of the states behind the mountains cooperated very well, and the slaves did not resist at all, as if they had long been used to this animal-like situation.Looking at those "sheep" with disheveled faces, numb expressions, and resignation.Brother Timu shook his head, accelerated the horse, and led the thousand-man team into the camp.

There are about [-] troops stationed in the camp, including [-] Mierbo and Khitan cavalry, [-] Xi army infantry, [-] Jurchen infantry, [-] artillery craftsmen, and [-] troops from the original army. Khitan cavalry on Xijing Road.Different from the Song army's division of troops to defend the prefectures and counties, Xiao Tachi did not divide his troops to garrison any prefectures and counties except to send cavalry scouts hundreds of miles away to avoid being attacked by the Song army.Youyun Sixteen Prefectures is different from other places in the Liao Kingdom. It is precisely because of the large number of Han children that the Liao Dynasty's imperial court is also extremely strict.Except for a few Han generals and subordinate military households who were attached to the Liao Kingdom, almost all Han children were assigned to the Khitan households as slaves, and the Khitan people kept their soldiers among the people, practicing bows and horses from time to time, in order to suppress the large number slave.When the able-bodied slaves were spared by Xiao Tachi, although farming and grazing were delayed, the pressure on the Khitan North Academy Army in the counties and counties of Xijing Road was reduced. After all, the Southern Dynasty army had already captured the five states behind the mountain, and no one Knowing whether these Han slaves who are usually docile like sheep will suddenly revolt.At first, I always felt that there were not enough slaves, but under the current situation, the number of Han'er seemed to be too many, and the few Khitans inevitably felt uneasy.

Outside the Liao army camp, circle after circle are the grass sheds of the signing army.In a dilapidated shed, Su Meng knelt on the ground, held a bowl of herbal medicine soup, and fed it to the old man tremblingly, but the medicine trickled down the corner of his mouth, and the old man's eyes Turning around to look at him, a cloudy teardrop slipped out of his dry eye socket, and then he became lifeless, staring blankly at the sky.

"Father—" the broken bowl in Su Meng's hand fell to the ground with a bang.He yelled in his chest, tears streaming down his face.Su Meng could only stuff handfuls of soil mixed with horse dung into his mouth, so as not to cry out, otherwise he would be shot and killed by the patrolling Khitan army as resistance.

At night, when the Khitan army rolled their names and found that a Haner was missing to sign the army, they quarreled for a long time before someone opened the tent where Su Meng and his son were. Kick him to the ground, and then the riding whip on the back of the knife came down head and head.Su Meng squatted on the ground with his head in his arms. He could only watch helplessly as his father's body was dragged away. The Khitan people would boil the slave's body to make a kind of fat. During countless punches and kicks, Su Meng bit tightly. Pursing his lips, he must not faint, lest he be killed as a dead person or a weak waste.His face was covered with blood, his head was almost trampled into the muddy water by the felt boots, and he almost choked to death, but the gap between his misty eyes revealed a hatred that was more blazing than fire.

The Khitan man was tired from the beating, and probably thought it was meaningless, and walked away cursing indiscriminately. Su Mengcai slowly got up, and limped back to his shed like a wounded wild dog. It's blood and mud, and the eyeballs are no different from dead people.None of the Han'er signing soldiers around him dared to get close to him.Su Meng didn't eat dinner and didn't feel hungry, so he just huddled his knees in the hut all night in a daze. It was just dawn, and he heard stern shouts from outside. Standing up with difficulty, resisting the pain all over his body, he walked out.

Those who signed the army had to step forward one by one, some took shovels and pickaxes, others carried heavy wicker baskets, the Liao army was about to enter the city of Yunzhou, and they wanted to build camps for the Khitan people.Su Meng also picked up a shovel, and the edge of the shovel was polished white by the earth and rocks. At this moment, Su Meng's eyes seemed to flicker, like a spark that had not yet shone brightly, and it went out before others noticed it. not see.He walked among the crowd with his head down. Unlike others who had fear and cower in their eyes, Su Meng had no expression on his face. He just followed others.The remaining [-] troops marched between the mountains on the north and south sides for a whole day, with only two Khitan centurions guarding them. Because the cavalry was fast, no one dared to leave the team and flee.Ten thousand Khitan cavalry followed far behind the signing army, not guarding the signing army, but serving as the vanguard of the army, guarding against the surprise attack of the Song army cavalry.Ten miles away from the Qianfeng Battalion, just now was the main force of the Liao army led by Xiao Tachi.

That night, the signing troops camped out in the wilderness, and two hundred Liao troops were sparsely camped among the signing troops.Khitan people grill meat over fire, and the aroma spreads far away.The recruiters had never even tasted meat in their entire lives, and they only ate small bites of the vegetable dough they brought with them, and no one dared to make any noise.In the middle of the night, Su Meng heard the sound of horseshoes sounding in the distance. The sound of hoofbeats was sometimes distant, sometimes near, sometimes sparse, and sometimes dense. , The hooves sounded again, this time it seemed more intensive and intense, and it seemed that several groups of people were chasing.Su Meng's heart was pounding, but he could only lie down with his clothes on like everyone else. In the entire signing army camp, the only ones who could stand up at night were the Khitans.Soon, the sound of horseshoes gradually disappeared, and Su Meng could not hear any sound when he listened carefully. Instead, the crickets in the grass were chirping happily. He took a breath and gradually fell asleep.In the early morning of the next day, the eyes of many signing troops were red, but the Khitan people didn't pay attention to this, and only urged the signing troops to set off again.

Su Meng followed the signing team for two hours, and the mountains on both sides became more and more gentle. Seeing that the sun in the sky was getting more and more poisonous, and people's throats were smoked from the sun, a big city appeared vaguely on the horizon ahead. shadow. "Is this the city of Song State?" Su Meng asked doubtfully.Since he was born, he has never left the manor of his Khitan master. The Khitan people only regard slaves as talking animals. His father told him little by little about the outside world. The characters used by people in the Southern Dynasties, don’t forget that Su whose surname is Su Wu, and whose name is Meng, who was moved by Meng’s mother three times.

"What are you doing in a daze, hurry up, dig the soil, and build a camp!"

The Khitan soldiers raised their whips and screamed viciously. The signatories had to scramble to hold various guys, and under the command of the Khitan soldiers, they dug trenches around the camp. Use the soil taken out to build the wall.Under the sun at noon, the skinny Zhu Jun seemed to be roasted dry. Under the surveillance of the cavalry of the Liao army, the Zhu Jun who fetched water from a small river in the distance always put his mouth on the river first, like a cow or a horse. Drink water.At this time, the Khitan people in the distance were laughing loudly.The Khitan people who were called out to fetch water were all pleasing to the eye. For those slaves who stayed where they were, a hundred people could only drink water from one water bag.

Su Meng was also very thirsty, but he didn't sweat as much as others. The sun on his head was so hot that his skin seemed to be roasted and cracked, but there was a piece of ice in his heart, and he couldn't feel it at all. warmth.At this time, a cavalry suddenly rushed out from the Song Dynasty city in the distance, and rushed towards the killing, causing a panic in the signing army. However, after the guarding Khitan soldiers yelled loudly, All the signatories were immersed in their work again, and only a few dared to secretly glance at the situation in the distance.A Khitan cavalry from the rear went up to meet them. Between the city of Song Dynasty and the camp of the Liao army, the two cavalry fought alternately for a while. The armor of the Liao army was not much different from that of the Song army. Not only has the fur not been removed, but the fur side will be turned out.The armor of the Song Army was covered with smooth leather armor.There were about 2000 cavalrymen of the Song army, and they did not entangle with the Liao army who were facing the battle, but went straight to the more than 2 signed troops who were building camps.

"Run!" "Run!" "Run for your lives!"

Most of the signing troops stood in the same place in panic, while the Liao soldiers mixed in the signing army were terrified and threatening loudly.The shouts of the Song Army cavalry had a strong Hedong accent, which reminded Su Meng of the Song State caravan that came to the farm every year. The guests of the Khitan masters spoke the same accent as the Song Army cavalry Look at Baole with contempt like the Khitans, and enjoy the sleeping female slaves like the Khitans.Su Meng felt suffocated, and buried his head, ignoring the Song cavalry.

The cavalry of the Song army penetrated through the unbuilt Liao army camp, went around in a circle, and rushed back before the Liao army had time to encircle and intercept it.The small number of soldiers in the battalion did not help. Although Yang Yanqing had 2 cavalry under his tent, he couldn't fight all the Khitans in a short while. Of the more than [-] signing troops who built the camp, only a few hundred people faltered and fled. Before they could escape a hundred steps, they were overtaken by Khitan cavalry and shot down in the dust with arrows.

At the head of Yunzhou City, Yang Yanqing looked at this scene with a serious expression, and did not speak for a long time.The Fourth General of Hedong, Zhe Kecun, slapped his palm on the city bricks, and said angrily, "These men are no better than cattle and sheep, and they can't be driven away!" There was a whining sound, as if countless innocent souls were crying.