Chapter 10 Who Was Besieged?

  The grand alliance takes action and it's fierce, thanks!!

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  This is a small village abandoned due to war, twenty miles from the Dajiang Bridge Garrison. It was now surrounded by nearly a thousand Youzhou and Heishan military infantrymen. In the center of the encirclement were rows of connected earthen houses built into the side of a mountain.

  This small village has more than half of its houses damaged, and it is not yet known who is in the earthen house, but outside the courtyard, there are three layers of armor-clad soldiers, with a total number of no less than 200 people, including dozens of cavalrymen. And judging from the number of corpses on the ground, the initial number of men and horses was probably no less than 300.

  Three hundred heavily armed and armored cavalrymen from Jizhou, this is already a high-end equipment for the Jizhou army with less armor and war horses. So, who are they protecting?

  This answer, Youshui military temporary commander, Heishan military leader Du Chang also wants to know. For now, he can only guess that it is a high-ranking general of the Jizhou army. Who could it be? Is it Zhong from the Jizhou government who handles high-level affairs? Or is it General Chunyu Qiong or General Ju Shou? Or perhaps some other important figure. Whoever it is, Du Chang has made up his mind to take a look for himself - he orders his subordinates to bind him and bring him before his eyes, and the answer will naturally be revealed.

  Under Du Chongwei's strict military order, nearly a thousand Youzhou and Heishan troops took turns launching wave after wave of attacks.

  First, nearly a hundred Youzhou cavalrymen rode their horses in waves across the village, shooting arrows at the thatched cottages. Seeing that the bows and arrows posed little threat to the people inside, they split off a group of armored knights who circled around the houses from left and right, riding their horses at full speed. These armored knights did not shoot arrows; instead, they held the reins with one hand and swung long ropes with the other, using the momentum of the galloping horses to throw out the ropes, which lassoed the eaves of the thatched cottages, the fences in front of the courtyards, and other protruding parts. Then, they tied the ends of the ropes to their saddles, turned their horses around, and rode off at full speed, causing the ropes to tighten with a loud rumbling sound, sending dust flying everywhere, and the two outermost cottages, which had been in disrepair for years, were pulled down in an instant.

  Not far away, the Youzhou army and Heishan army formed two squares with over a hundred archers. As the house collapsed, they took advantage of the moment when the people inside were exposed and shot arrows in unison. The sound of the bowstrings was one wave after another, and the arrows flew in from all directions like rain. The Jizhou armored soldiers held up their shields to resist, and the arrows either hit the shields or passed through the gaps between them, stirring up a bloody mist and cries of pain; or they hit the broken earth wall, sending dust flying, and the sound of the impact was continuous.

  At this time, the originally connected row of earth houses, due to the collapse of the houses on both sides, only the middle earth house was left, standing alone in the broken walls and ruins.

  After the Youzhou cavalry and infantry archers shot for dozens of rounds, several dozen Jizhou soldiers fell again. At this time, the archers' arm strength was gradually exhausted, and the arrows became sparse. Unfortunately, Du Chang had no fresh archers to follow up, causing a disruption in the attack rhythm.

  At this time, the Jizhou army counterattacked.

  More than 20 crossbowmen rushed out of the earth house, a burst of arrows shot down a piece of Youzhou cavalry waiting to pull down the earth house with a lasso. Then, a general wearing black armor jumped out of the earth house, holding a long spear, as soon as he appeared, he charged towards the exhausted and retreating Youzhou army and Heishan army archers, instantly stirring up a bloody storm.

  "It is Hebei military general Gao Lan!"

  On the mountain slope, Du Chang was directing the battle and was surprised that after more than a dozen rounds of shooting, he would still be counterattacked by the enemy; He was delighted that Gao Lan was a famous general of the Ji Zhou army, no matter who else was in the house, as long as he took this man's life, it would be a great achievement.

  Du Chang gave a loud order, and the Youzhou army and Heishan infantry swarmed up, launching a fierce attack. The Jizhou soldiers also charged forward under the encouragement of their two generals, trampling over the bodies of their comrades, wielding swords and spears to meet the enemy.

  Two torrents, one large and one small, collided, stirring up a sky full of bloody mist. A small, nameless mountain village was instantly transformed into a battlefield of carnage.

  Ma Xun and his Xiao Hou team arrived just in time to see this bloody slaughter scene.

  Ma Hu noticed the center of the entire battlefield at a glance - the abandoned village hut.

  Who is inside? Ma Feng was immediately drawn to this question. He believed that at present, all the soldiers of Youzhou Army wanted to know the answer, and digging out the answer was also his duty as a general.

  Ma Xian's gaze wandered, and a small mountain that rose from the ground, about 20-30 feet high, caught his attention. The mountain was not tall, but it stood almost vertically, covered with weeds and moss, making it impossible to climb. This was also the reason why the Youzhou army could only attack from three sides and couldn't surround it. However, for Ma Xian, all impossibilities would become possibilities.

  With the plan decided, Ma Huo dismounted his horse, gave a brief order to his deputy, removed his helmet and leather armor, slung his quiver over his back, picked up a bag of arrows, and ran quickly towards the small hill.

  Ma Huan had rich rock climbing experience, but such a nearly vertical mountain, if not assisted by rock climbing tools, even Spider-Man would have the danger of falling off a cliff. Ma Huan certainly had rock climbing tools, his tool was iron hand!

  After climbing up the mountain top from a relatively gentle slope on the side, what lies ahead is a nearly vertical cliff. Ma Haohan grasped the rock wall with his left hand's five fingers, slowly leaned out, and waited until his entire body was fully exposed before slowly descending. From below looking up, it seemed he was only relying on one hand to suspend his entire body. The first step wasn't difficult, as long as you had enough arm strength and courage, it wasn't hard to achieve; the truly difficult part was the next step - finding a supporting point or foothold.

  The normal foothold is the gap between rocks, but not every gap can accommodate fingers or withstand the pressure of toes. The most frightening thing is that when climbing halfway, no rock seams can be found, and the situation of being unable to reach the top or bottom... So, free-climbing such cliffs is almost like seeking death.

  But Ma Huan had his own methods, and with a fierce thrust of his right hand, the four fingers clenched like a shovel, and the stone chips flew everywhere. The first joint of his four fingers was deeply embedded in the stone wall - the special alloy fingernails that could easily cut through steel bars made it no difficult task to punch holes in the rock.

  Relying on this super climbing "nail", Ma Huo descended the cliff with an almost impossible posture, alternating hands and feet. Because he chose a location on the northwest side, which was not the main battlefield, plus the shelter of branches and leaves, so that except for his scouting team, no one else discovered it. The defending army, the Ji State Army, did not expect that in the backyard of the thatched cottage behind the mountain, an uninvited guest had quietly entered.

  In this era, the village earth house originally had no windows. Ma Yun wanted to investigate the situation inside the house and could only do so by going up to the roof, parting the thatch to peek inside. However, earlier the houses on both sides of the earth house had collapsed, with the tilted beams crushing one corner of the earth house, and half of the southwest-facing earth wall was damaged. As long as you got close, you could see the situation inside the house clearly.

  Ma Xuan slipped into the backyard, and as soon as he entered, he saw a snow-white, tall and majestic war horse tied to a wooden stake in front of him. Ma Xuan recognized it at a glance, this was not the kind of Youyan horse commonly seen in the Youzhou army camp (the predecessor of Mongolian horses), but a Western horse.

  Whether it was Gongsun Zan's Youzhou army or Yuan Shao's Jizhou army, the war horses they used, except for a few elite ones such as the tall Pingzhou horse and Liangzhou horse ridden by Bai Ma Yi, were all from the northern grasslands. These horses had good endurance, strong hind legs, and strong adaptability, but their bodies were relatively short, with sturdy but short limbs, and their sprinting speed was not as fast as that of Western Region horses.

  And before his eyes was a horse of perfect proportions, with smooth coat, long legs, thick chest muscles, and it stood at least one head taller than ordinary warhorses. It had the distinctive characteristics of a Western horse breed - could this be the legendary Ferghana horse?

  Such a fine horse, of course, would not be something that an ordinary person could ride, as can be seen from the silver-plated horse head and the exquisite golden leather saddle. Not to mention, there was also a groom carefully feeding it with high-quality bean feed on the side.

  Good horse! Ma Hong's eyes lit up, and he quietly reached out to pet the horse. With a swift motion, he knocked the groom unconscious with a hand chop to the back of his neck. He then took the feed from the groom's hand and continued to gently stroke the white horse's mane while feeding it. Ma Hong showed off his horse-training skills from years ago, quickly dispelling the horse's hostility and establishing initial trust.

  "Wait quietly, I'll take you away soon." Ma Yun stroked the horse's forehead, and only then did he notice that this horse was pure white all over, with only a strand of silver-gray mane on its forehead, looking extremely special.

  "Hey, Silver Arrow, that's what I'll call you." Ma Huan almost instantly came up with the horse's name.

  Ma Yun walked briskly towards the broken wall, her footsteps light and quick. She poked her head in and took a glance, taking in the scene inside the house at a single glance.

  But inside the house, apart from the four guards standing by the door with tight faces and holding shields and knives, there were only three people who dressed differently.

  Two men stood on either side, one dressed as a scholar and the other as a military general. In the center, someone knelt sitting on a thick felt mat, with a low table in front of them, on which was spread a map. It was clear that this person kneeling was the leader of all the soldiers inside and outside the house.

  Ma Yun glanced sideways, only to see that this person was wearing a suit of golden armor, with a flowing purple cloak draped over his shoulder, and a beautifully decorated sword hanging from his waist. He stood calmly in the midst of danger, exuding an aura of composure and grandeur.

  Who is this charismatic figure?

  Just then, a sudden horseshoe sound came from outside the courtyard. Ma Hao suddenly raised his head and saw a team of Youzhou cavalry rushing past the courtyard, with bowstrings ringing in their ears, arrows flying like rain, shooting down more than 20 crossbowmen in front of the earthen house.

  What! This is actually the vanguard team I led myself! When did Du Chang take it away?

  Several arrows shot from the broken wall into the house, pattering continuously, nailed to the earth wall, dust falling down, and fell on the shoulder armor of General Jin Jia.

  At this time, the scholar standing beside him was shocked and, regardless of seniority, rushed forward to grab the golden armor general, wanting to pull him to the back courtyard to hide. The golden armor general, however, remained seated with his knees pressed together, his face pale as iron, and suddenly grabbed the gilded helmet and slammed it heavily on the ground: "A great man would fight to the death in front of him, but instead flee between walls?"

  With that, he drew his sword and pointed outside the house, shouting: "Gentlemen, follow me, Yuan Shao, to battle, and together we'll strike down the army of Youzhou!"

  Yuan Shao! This man is actually Yuan Shao!

  Ma's head buzzed loudly, her eyes shining brightly, and indeed good fortune had arrived, nothing could stop it!

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  PS: Yuan Shao encountered danger at Jieqiao Bridge, surrounded by Gongsun Zan's army, which is a historical fact. That oath with a loud and clear voice also comes from the "Book of Later Han".