Chapter 15: Attacking and Defending with High and Low Positions (3)

  Outside Juyan City, hunting in the vast sky, white grass connects to the horizon as wild fires burn. At dusk, clouds are sparse and it's time to drive horses, on an autumn day, the plain is perfect for shooting pheasants.

  These lines of poetry were written by Wang Wei, the Ghostly Talent, in his capacity as Supervising Secretary, when he was sent to comfort the troops at the border during the war between Tang and Tibet outside Juyan Pass in the 25th year of the Kaiyuan era.

  The first two lines of the poem actually refer to the tense situation between the two sides on the border at that time, while the last two lines praise the heroic and unrestrained manner of the men outside the pass, with their horses and bows.

  In this space-time of the late Han Dynasty a thousand years ago, the borders of the Great Han had almost no peaceful days, and the Huns frequently invaded. Wang Wei's line "Hunting in the sky" is placed here, but it doesn't need to be borrowed as a metaphor, on the contrary, it is extremely appropriate.

  On this day, on the grassland outside Yamato Gate, there was no sign of the Xianbei Hanzi's figure, but four Han Chinese men were running agilely across the grassland. They were Liu Zhang and his party, who had been invited by Wudai elder Wu Meng.

  After Guo Si and Zhang Liao arrived, Liu Zhang no longer had any thoughts of delaying his departure. By the time the two men had completed their handover, he was able to leave smoothly, and another three days had passed.

  Liu Zhang immediately decided to first go to the grasslands to meet with the Wuhuan tribe and settle the matter of the horses, then quickly return to Ji Province. After all, time was really running out.

  Gao Shun was overjoyed when he learned that Liu Zhang had actually obtained a steady supply of horses. He recalled how ambiguous Liu Zhang's response was when he mentioned the matter of the trapped camp, and only now did he understand what was going on. For a moment, he admired his lord's tactics and deeply congratulated himself on his good fortune.

  "Big brother, as Old Man Wumeng said, if we go another ten miles west from here, we can reach their camp."

  In the cold wind, Liu Zhang and his three men slowed down their horses. Zhao Yun calculated for a moment, then turned to face Liu Zhang and said:

  Liu Zhang shaded his eyes with his hand, looked up at the sky, and from early morning when they left Jin Yang City, the four of them had been galloping non-stop. By now it was already half a day. On the vast grassland, as far as the eye could see, there was nothing to use as a reference, so they could only make an estimate based on the sun's position during the daytime.

  "Let's go, hurry up a bit more, and rest again when we arrive at Old Man Wumeng's place. Otherwise, once the sky darkens, this vast wilderness is so big that it's easy to get lost." Liu Zhang nodded in response, putting down his hand.

  Zhoa Yun, Gao Shun and Zhang Liao all nodded, several people raised their whips to urge on the horses, amidst the shouting, four horses galloped together, kicking up dust as they left.

  It was already deep autumn, and the grassland was a vast expanse of deep yellow, with some stubborn clumps of grass still dotted about, half green and not yet withered. As the horses galloped by, it felt as if they were treading on a gigantic, exquisite carpet.

  A few people were inattentive and only rushed along, and they had run out for about four or five miles when they suddenly saw a large cloud of dust rising up ahead, as if a large cavalry was galloping by. The four of them were all startled.

  In this era, the forces on the grasslands were mainly divided into two major blocks. In the west was the Xiongnu, and in the east was the Xianbei. As for tribes like the Wusun's Tiele, Mongols, Qifu, and Tuyuhun, they were all extremely weak, with more than half of them dependent on the Xianbei. After the Han dynasty severely defeated the Xiongnu, although their territory remained vast, their population had sharply decreased, almost to the point of extinction. The lands they inhabited were also mostly vast deserts, where one could travel hundreds of miles without seeing any signs of human habitation.

  The Xianbei took advantage of the decline of the Xiongnu to expand their territory, occasionally launching wars of annexation and absorbing countless small tribes. The various tribes also fought each other constantly.

  The harsh living environment outside the pass made it impossible for them to stop their warlike pace, and in order to fight for population and pasture, each tribe not only fought among themselves, but sometimes some tribes that were anxious also raided the border areas of Han.

  It can be said that at this time, the situation outside Guanzhong was no less chaotic than the interior of the Great Han. Now, in such a situation, there were large cavalry troops ahead, and Liu Zhang's four men all had serious expressions, not daring to be careless.

  Each of them put down their weapons and urged their horses to gallop away. If they were to be drawn into the battlefield, although all four of them were skilled in martial arts and could easily save their lives, they were not enthusiastic about the messy situation.

  They thought of avoiding them, but the cavalry on the opposite side seemed to have no such intention. In the dust, the horses neighed and made a loud noise, and suddenly they turned around and came straight towards the four people...