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Chapter 68

Among the ranks of the officers and soldiers, a group of more than 20 mounted cavalrymen stationed behind the horses.

Before the full cavalry, there was a kind-looking old man, wearing a bright armor, sitting high on the horse.Although the old man looks like a general, but there is a big bow beside the horse, and four bags full of quiver, obviously he is also a skilled general of the stallion.

The old man pinched his beard and looked at the battlefield with a very focused expression.

At this time, a man dressed as a civil servant came to the old man on horseback, and said: "The Tang stallion has achieved success and defeated the stubborn bandit Wang Mazi in the first battle. He is the first to win the battle. Here, I will congratulate you first."

The old man smiled gently, and said: "Zhou Ming's mansion, Wang Mazi is just a mob. In this land east of the river (Note [-]), I think that Mu Duaner, Chai Baochang is a strong enemy."

County magistrate Zhou nodded when he heard the old man say this. The other party has heard that he has been jealous of the emperor for several years, so he is probably used to being cautious. , The other party did not dare to speak too much.

The magistrate of Zhou County said: "Duke Tang is a fierce tiger and a rabbit, and he will use all his strength. I hope that the bandits will be eradicated as soon as possible. The peace of the people in the east of the river depends on Duke Tang."

The old man nodded, and when he was about to speak, he gave a slight snort.

The magistrate of Zhou asked in surprise, "What's the matter with Mr. Tang?"

The old man pointed his horsewhip to a hill on the right, and said: "There is a group of people with unknown origins on this mountain. They are quite organized when they set up the formation. I don't think they are ordinary thieves."

At this time, the old man turned his head and asked, "Which general is attacking that mountain?"

Behind the old man, a young man said: "Reporting to my lord, it is Uncle Changsun."

This young man is also wearing bright light armor, although he is only seventeen or eighteen years old, but his eyes are like shooting stars, he has a heroic spirit, watching the fight on the battlefield, he is quite eager to try.

In the middle of the conversation, Changsun Shunde led more than 20 Xuanjia cavalry to chase and kill the bandits up the mountain. He was halfway there when he suddenly saw a road of army horses in front of him, blocking the land.

This route of soldiers and horses is quite strange, the people in front are all holding long sticks, and there are archers behind them holding bows.

Changsun Shunde ordered his subordinates to stop, he judged the situation and found that the other party formed a team, obviously they were not ordinary thieves.He knew this in his heart, if the infantry were in a formation, the cavalry could not rush forward, and the opponent lived on a mountain, so it would be extremely disadvantageous for the cavalry to attack from their backs.

Just as the elder Sun Shunde reined in his horse, a voice came from the other side, saying: "We are not thieves, but passers-by, please let us go."

How did Changsun Shunde believe it? He sneered and said: "Stop talking nonsense, if it's not a bandit, why would you fight against the army, put down your weapons, and I will recognize it by myself."

Before the words were finished, suddenly on the mountain, he said in dialect: "Is the person who speaks, brother elder grandson?"

Changsun Shunde was taken aback and said in his heart, among these thieves, someone actually recognizes him.Changsun Shunde immediately rode his horse and approached a few steps, carefully identified the opponent, and after seeing it clearly, he shouted: "Okay, it's you, the little thief."

On the hill, Li Chongjiu touched his nose, and thought to himself, do members of the Li family only use the word "little thief" to call themselves?
However, the current situation is stronger than others, so Li Chongjiu could only cup his fists and say, "I'm here, brother eldest grandson, please come and be safe, how is San Niangzi?"

"Bah!" Eldest Sun Shunde spat heavily, and shouted, "Little thief, you are worthy of mentioning our young lady, and today is a good day, let someone deal with you, this ignorant little thief."

The eldest grandson Shunde is not broad-minded. When Li Chongjiu met Li Zhiwan Changting that day, the other party was not polite to him, mocking him for living up to the name of the eldest grandson.

Changsun Shunde pulled his horse spear in his hand, and was about to call out his subordinates to come forward together, when suddenly there was a sound of the ground in front of him, and the sound of the bowstring.

Changsun Shunde said inwardly that he was not good, and when he was about to hide in a stirrup, he suddenly felt light on the top of his head.

Changsun Shunde turned his head to look at it, only to see that his helmet was shot to the ground by the opponent's arrow.

This startled Changsun Shunde almost fell off his horse, the other party's attack was like lightning, before he even saw how to draw the bow, the arrow was already out of the string.

Changsun Shunde raised his head and glanced at Li Chongjiu on the top of the mountain, sweating all over his body, thinking that if the arrow had been shifted by two inches, he would not be alive, obviously the other party had shown mercy.

Not only the elder Sun Shunde behind him, but also the cavalry behind him couldn't help being shocked.

If you use iron cavalry to attack the mountain, you may be able to attack, but Changsun Shunde himself will definitely die under the opponent's arrow.The other side spared his life, Changsun Shunde was not a person who didn't know how to advance and retreat, so he couldn't attack again, so he waved his horse, picked up his helmet, and retreated down the mountain in despair.

On the battlefield, under the attack of the officers and soldiers, the bandits were invincible.

As an officer and general, the old man did not restrain his subordinates, but let them slaughter them, not even taking prisoners.

This is also a helpless move. At present, the entire River East border cannot be harvested even a single grain of rice, and the officers and soldiers can barely feed themselves. How can there be any surplus rice to house the captives.And if these refugees let them go, they will come back to loot the village in a few days if they can't find food.

The cruelty was not intentional, it was out of necessity.

Seeing this, the old man let out a long sigh, and couldn't bear to look at it, but at this moment, he saw the elder Sun Shunde, with his head downcast, leading his subordinates back to the camp from the mountain.

The old man couldn't help asking in surprise: "Shunde, what are you doing?"

Changsun Shunde cupped his hands immediately, with a shameless look on his face, and said: "Report to Duke Tang, the thief's archery skills are really good, some people can't attack that mountain."

The old man couldn't help being surprised, and said: "Shunde, you will tell me what happened."

Changsun Shunde told the story with a face of shame.

The old man and the seventeen or eighteen year old boy looked at each other, both showing shock.

The old man asked: "You said that little thief, fifty steps away, raised his hand and shot, and the arrow fell off your helmet?"

This old man prides himself on his archery skills, which are unrivaled in the world. When he was young, he shot two arrows from dozens of steps away, and both of them hit the bird's eyes on the screen. He drove away all the competitors, and finally married a peerless beauty. It is a good story.

And the bandit that Changsun Shunde said shot down the helmet fifty paces away, if it wasn't for the mercy of the opponent's subordinates, Changsun Shunde would have shot down the helmet desperately.

In this way, his archery skills are catching up with him, and there are such outstanding people among the thieves.

Hearing the old man's question, the eldest Sun Shunde said unconvinced, "Maybe that little thief was just a fluke and did it just by chance. Who knows, I haven't heard of it before. How powerful is that little thief."

The old man frowned and said, "How can there be such a coincidence."

The seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy at the side asked, "Uncle Changsun, you said that the little thief knew you well, what's going on?"

The elder Sun Shunde looked at the young man, he was kind. His niece just married each other last year, and the two got along very well, like drums and zithers, they were just a good couple.

The eldest Sun Shunde said a few words at once, at this time the boy laughed and said: "I know, isn't that person the little thief who kidnapped the third sister. The third sister often mentions this person, I want to know who it is figure."

This young man is Li Zhiwan's second brother Li Shimin, and the old man is Tang Guogong Li Yuan.

At that moment Li Shimin didn't need to say anything, he whipped his horse and rode his horse straight up the mountain.When Li Yuan saw it, he couldn't help saying: "People in the world are all married, and their minds are still the same as when they didn't tie their hair." At that moment, he asked his elder Sun Shunde to lead his people to catch up immediately, so that Li Shimin must not lose.

Note [-]: Hedong can refer to Hedong County in the Sui Dynasty, and can also refer to Shanxi in general.

(End of this chapter)