Chapter 9 Beyond the Pass (Part 2)

  On the second day at noon, Di Yu returned, but he only brought one person with him, and Cao Guangyi was nowhere to be seen. Zhe Yan-chong was shocked and rushed up to ask: "What happened?"

  Di Yu smiled and said: "No, Guang Yi is waiting up ahead, I came back to inform you all."

  Yang Yingqi smiled and said: "Is there good news again?"

  Di Yu said: "That's right. Fifty miles from here, there is a horse farm with about 3,000 to 5,000 horses, and also cattle and sheep. There are only about 100 guards."

  Zhe Yan was overjoyed, but Yang Yingqi said: "Fifty miles away, why return only today?"

  Di Yu smiled wryly and said, "We didn't rush here directly yesterday, we walked while searching, so it was slow. And after finding it, we secretly observed the terrain, and a few of us galloped out dozens of miles to the east, west, and north to confirm that there were no large garrisons nearby. I'm already hurrying back now."

  "Shall we go now then?"

  Di Yu said, "Let's go first. We found a mound nearby to lie in ambush, and when we went up, we discovered that the mound was originally set with sentries, but unexpectedly there was no one. The various government affairs of Liao State have been abandoned for many years, it's really terrible."

  When Xia Zuo rushed down and passed on the order, he followed Di Yu to advance, and came to the earth mountain that Di Yu said, it was already night.

  Cao Guangyi said at the foot of the mountain: "Don't go up the mountain, just rush in."

  "How can that be? The men and horses are so exhausted..."

  Cao Guangyi said, "You don't know, just now dozens of riders rushed westward again, maybe something happened on the west side. Now there are only some herdsmen left in the pasture. If we wait until dawn, I'm afraid a large troop will come instead."

  Zhe Yan Chong and Di Yu exchanged a glance, Zhe Yan Chong said: "Alright. A horse without wild grass will not be fat, a person without ill-gotten wealth will not be rich! Heaven has sent us such a good opportunity, if we don't take it, it's unlucky."

  Ouyang Shidao said, "What's the use of taking it? Among our people here, there are 70 or 80 who can't ride horses, and only 50 or 60 who can fight on horseback. Including us, there are only a dozen or so who can ride and shoot freely and be considered strong. Even if we sweep this pasture clean, we'll still need to rest."

  Zhe Yan Cong looked back at the people behind him under the moonlight and said: "Everyone is physically exhausted, but their spirits are still high. After taking the horse, they can still walk a distance! Those who don't know how to ride horses will learn now! There are more people who know how to ride than those who don't, right? Let those who know teach those who don't! That's it! Several leaders take charge of their teams and rush in!"

  The people in the ranch had actually heard some movement, but unfortunately the guard was too weak. In the dark night, the wind and the crane's cry made it impossible to know how many horses and men were coming, and they abandoned their posts. The 500-strong crowd easily took over the ranch without any effort.

  Zhe Yan rushed to the tallest horse in the arena, flipped over and got on, without waiting for the horse to be saddled, hugged it tightly and galloped wildly, with an indescribable joy!

  "Why don't we just spend the night here? Although this place is simple, it has a fence as a screen."

  "No! When Guang Yi came, he said there were only about a hundred guards, but after Di returned and joined us, dozens of riders left again. This means that the guards are dispatched in batches, and it's unknown how many guards were originally here. What happened on the west side is also unclear. If the cavalry returning from the west comes back, regardless of their numbers, they know this pasture better than we do, stumbling around in the dark! What can this fence withstand? It's better to take everything and run tens of miles away before finding a place to rest."

  Yang Yingqi also said: "Just got so many things, everyone is excited, can take advantage of the moonlight to support a few more hours! It looks quiet here, but actually hidden danger! If you sleep here, people will feel safe and sound asleep. When the enemy arrives, it's hard to wake up, and when you wake up, you'll be in a panic. Why not rush for a while and then rest? Resting halfway, no one dares to sleep too deeply, and vigilance is stronger!"

  Everyone who heard it agreed, and several leaders immediately passed down the order to set off at night on horseback. Among these more than 500 people, many had been in the north for a long time and knew how to ride horses. Some who had never ridden a horse before were also able to barely stay on with the guidance of others, while over a dozen who really couldn't manage it were tied to their horses and taken away.

  Among several leaders, Diwu, Cao Guangyi, and Aluoman were all very skilled in horse riding. Ouyang Zhan's horse riding skills were above average. Yang Kaiyuan and Yang Yingqi had mediocre riding skills, but during the northern expedition, they had the guidance of Master Diwu and had already mastered many techniques.

  Zhe Yan's situation was particularly special. When he saw the horse, it was like when he first saw the bow. At first, it was a bit blurry, but under Di Yu's guidance, he gradually "remembered" his riding skills and slowly developed a "horse craze". Just now, when he ordered a night attack, on the one hand, it was indeed due to consideration of the situation, but also partly because of his impulse to get good horses!

  There were three to four thousand horses in the pasture, and they could only take away more than a thousand. So Diyu drove the horses that couldn't be taken away to the southwest, south, southeast, and east directions in groups, in order to confuse the pursuers' line of sight.

  Five hundred men marched for dozens of miles, already exhausted. But suddenly they got so many horses, and everyone was excited, at this time even if they were told to go to sleep, most people couldn't fall asleep. Cao Guangyi led the way, walking dozens of miles northeast, before stopping to camp with their backs against a mound. By now the sky had grown light.

  They rested until 4 pm. Suddenly, hoofbeats were heard from the southwest direction. Several leaders jumped up on their horses and thought: "Indeed, there are pursuing soldiers!"

  Zhe Yan Chong and others turned over, mounted their horses, and galloped out of the enclosure surrounded by a fence made of grass and cloth at dawn. Di Yu looked at the dust and said: "It's okay, not even 100 riders, maybe not even 50."

  "Can't be careless!"

  Yang Kaiyuan ordered the women to stay behind, while the archers and crossbowmen moved forward. More than 50 of them who were skilled in horseback fighting had already mounted their horses. At this time, those knights had run closer again, and Di Yu and others saw that there were probably less than 50 of them, but they were as fierce as tigers and their horses were as powerful as dragons, each one was extremely ferocious.

  Di Yu said, "The enemy is far outnumbered by us, but they are skilled in horsemanship and obviously make a living on horseback every day. If we let them charge over to us, it's not necessarily advantageous for us!"

  Yang Yingqi said, "Don't worry, we have the infantry as our rear support!" Yang Kaiyuan waved his hand and seventy prepared gun-halberd men moved forward, followed by a step of crossbowmen. One hundred knife-club men divided into two groups to protect both wings. These five hundred people were deployed in a fan shape, with their backs against the earth mound, while the women and horses were hidden behind them.

  The knights charging from the front seemed to be intimidated by this formation, and their speed actually slowed down, and eventually stopped. In fact, if they had charged forward, they would have known that although the movements of these hundreds of people were neat and swift, their actual combat effectiveness was not as impressive as their appearance suggested.

  "Are they making a final spurt?" Yang Kai asked.

  Di Yu said: "I'm afraid it's not."

  Just then, a horseman suddenly appeared from the opposite side. On the horse was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy in barbarian attire, who shouted angrily in the Khitan language: "What kind of people are you, daring to come and snatch away Shao Yifu's prey!"

  Di Yu was shocked and exclaimed: "Xiao Tienu! It's him!"

  Yang Yingqi said: "Do you know him?"

  Zhe Yan Chong didn't have time to wait for Di Yu's response, and he urged his horse forward one step, saying loudly: "This is the Han family's northern expedition to hunt for food! Do you understand Chinese?" Although he understood Khitan language, at this moment he insisted on responding in Chinese.

  "Ha! You think you're Han people? I spit on that! I've spent a lot of effort to deceive the Khitan, and now you dare to come and snatch what's almost within my grasp?! Before leaving the Great Wall, didn't you even bother to ask who I am?! And yet you have the audacity to come under Wolf's Claw and steal our meat!"

  "Zhe Yan Chong said: 'When a fierce tiger stares at an antelope, it doesn't know that a gray wolf is also eyeing the antelope! But now that fresh meat is within reach, it can only rot between its teeth.'"

  Xiao Tienu listened and instead of getting angry, she smiled and said: "Good! We'll wait and see!"

  He took people away. However, Yang Yingqi and others all knew that this person would come again!