Chapter 9 Beyond the Pass (Part 1)

  When Dou Zhongyue and others went to intercept the Khitan vanguard, Cao Guangyi led Shi Kang, Yang Kaiyuan and more than 100 people to quietly approach Zhao Lümin's border camp.

  Arriving at the edge of the village, Yang Kaiyuan led over a hundred men in ambush. Cao Guangyu and Shi Kang approached the village gate on horseback, one step at a time. Cao Guangyu's wound on his buttocks was painful, but his face showed no expression.

  The night watchman saw the two of them and asked who they were. Cao Guangyi shouted: "I am Cao Guangyi, the official in charge of Xiongzhou! Is Zhao Luzi here? If not, call over Zhao Tong or Zhao Guan to respond."

  The night watchman had seen Cao Guangyin before, and under the lamplight he looked carefully and smiled: "It's actually Lord Cao. Wait a minute, wait a minute."

  That village wasn't big either. Before long, Zhao the manager ran over and said from outside the gate, "Cao Dingzheng, you've come visiting in the middle of the night. Is there something important?"

  Cao Guangyi said, "We two just returned from a secret mission in Liao territory. We should have rushed back to Xiong State overnight, but the horses are exhausted and we can't run anymore. My brother's horse died of exhaustion just one mile away, so we came here to ask for water and borrow a horse. Open the door quickly! After I drink some water, I still need to hurry on my way!"

  Cao Guangyi had been to the village several times, and Zhao Lümin had always regarded him highly. Therefore, when Cao Guangyi arrived, the gatekeeper did not suspect anything and opened the gate, allowing Cao Guangyi to enter on horseback.

  Zhao Guan Shi glanced at the horse and thought, "This horse doesn't look very tired." Cao Guang Yi had already sensed something was amiss and took action first, rushing over with Shi Kang to separate Zhao Guan Shi from the others. Zhao Guan Shi cursed inwardly, but before he could react, Shi Kang drew his sword and restrained him. He couldn't help but smile wryly and say, "Cao Gong Zhi, what are you doing?"

  Cao Guangyi shouted loudly, and Yang Kaiyuan led his men to rush over. Only then did Cao Guangyi say: "Old Zhao, I'm sorry. This time I just wanted to come and borrow some grain and horses, I didn't want to kill anyone, so it's best if your subordinates don't make any rash moves."

  "Zhao, you're in charge! Cao, have you turned to banditry? You know how little is stored in this small camp of mine, what's worth plundering?"

  As they spoke, Yang Kaiyuan and others rushed up. Zhao Guan saw their momentum and knew that resistance was futile since the gate had already been lost. He shouted: "Everyone, don't move!" Then he said to Cao Guangyi: "Cao Dianzhi, you just said you wouldn't kill anyone. For the sake of my master's face, please keep your promise!"

  Cao Guangyi smiled and said: "Don't worry, I also want to leave a thread, so that we can meet again in the future, Zhao Da Guanren."

  The handover of the fort's defense went relatively smoothly. Zhao saw that they indeed did not kill anyone and felt slightly relieved.

  Cao Guangyi said: "To be honest with you, this time I came to borrow some money, grain, cloth, horses, and weapons. Other things, no matter how valuable they are, I won't take a single coin. You make a record of the things you lend us, and if our group has a prosperous future, we will repay them double! We'll repair and leave, and this stronghold will still belong to you."

  Zhao the steward didn't dare say a word of refusal and obediently led them on their way and opened up the warehouse.

  After dawn, Zhe Yan-chong and Yang Ying-qi arrived to find that Cao Guang-yu and Yang Kai-yuan had already packed everything up. Apart from money, grain, cloth and silk, there were also twelve horses and twenty or so donkeys. In addition, there were a number of swords, spears, and suits of armor. What made Zhe Yan-chong and the others most happy was that they got five strong bows and ten crossbows. Although Zhang Lao-yu was a skilled craftsman, at that time the materials in the valley were scarce, so he couldn't make good bows. Several hundred people spent one day repairing and reorganizing in the stockade, then set off again.

  Cao Guangyi heard about the good deeds of Zhe Yan and others, sighed, knowing that he could no longer return to the Song Dynasty. He decided to go with these 500 people to the north of the Great Wall to nomadize. Two years ago, he had crossed the Great Wall as a spy to gather intelligence in the Western Capital of Liao, so he knew there was a mountain road that could be used to sneak across the Liao-Song border. Di Yu had another route in mind, and after discussing it with Cao Guangyi, they finally decided on the mountain road suggested by Cao Guangyi, with some additional suggestions made by Di Yu.

  Five hundred people emerged in the mountains and forests, gradually moving north. During the journey, Di Yu still taught people to ride horses, and Zhe Yan Chong also conducted military training for the 500 troops again.

  Cao Guangyi was not very old, but he had a lot of knowledge in his heart. In a short period of time, he brought out a group of quite reliable detectives. It was this group of Hou Qi that allowed them to avoid conflicts with the Khitan regular army several times.

  Yang Yingqi said, "Looking at your skills, it seems that they were not entirely honed from the ranks. Could you have had family training?"

  Cao Guangyi snorted and said: "I'm a deserter, what family learning!"

  Ouyang Shi heard this and chuckled: "I am a pirate who has landed, you are a deserter who has left the camp, it seems we really have a similar stench."

  The Liao Dynasty did not repair the Great Wall. When Yang Yingqi crossed over from the broken walls and ruins of the Great Wall, he knew that he had already set foot in the territory of the nomadic nation.

  Cao Guangyi said, "It's not yet spring, and the grass is not lush. We rely on these eight horses and twelve donkeys to think about crossing the Western Capital Road of Liao State, and then crossing half of the Upper Capital Road, that's a joke. Moreover, our food is not enough." When they set out from Zhao Lizemin's camp, they had twenty or thirty horses and twenty or thirty donkeys. However, in recent days, they have been traversing mountains and valleys, and the roads are rugged. In some places, the donkeys and horses cannot pass through, and it was actually the strong men like Alu who carried, lifted, suspended, and pulled the donkeys and horses. The time spent riding horses is more than the time spent riding on people's backs. Even so, many of them died halfway due to falls or illness.

  Ouyang Yi heard Cao Guangyi's words and smiled: "Naturally, there is only one thing to do, continue the 'borrowing' grain and 'borrowing' horse business."

  Cao Guangyi snorted and said, "The Khitan people often use herding horses as an excuse to send their cavalry to plunder the borders. Now we can do the same to them and let them know the pain of being looted!"

  Yang Yingqi looked at Zhe Yan and Zhe Yan nodded: "Since Brother Cao does not object, then it will be done this way. However, the civilians of Liao are no different from those of Song, both suffering under the oppression of officials and soldiers. If we want to burn the grass, can't we go burn the grass of the official residences of Liao?"

  Yang Yingqi exclaimed: "No way! We are just a handful of people, we can't even evade the Liao army, how can we attack the government office?"

  Di Yu smiled slightly and said: "Attacking the government office is naturally out of the question, but plundering a ranch should be no problem."

  "Pasture?"

  Di Yu said, "Liao State has a policy of group herding, with over 10,000 people in each group. Each group has at least a thousand horses. I remember there's a pasture nearby, but we need to scout out the route first. Let's do this: Yan Chong, you find a place to station our troops and horses, while Guang Bi and I take a few men to reconnoiter."

  Di Yu and the other four left, Zhe Yan Chong gazed at the Great Wall that stretched intermittently into the distance and sighed: "I didn't think we'd actually make it through. If the Song Dynasty were to send a surprise force along the route we took, flanking the Liao Kingdom from behind..."

  Yang Yingqi interrupted him, "That's unlikely. We were able to sneak over here because we're just a small group of infantry and not many in number. If the Song army really sent 500 soldiers over, they would face the same situation as us - exhausted and running out of food. What could they possibly achieve? Besides, do you think the current Song army is as united as we are? Some of them are already thinking of surrendering even with the support of a strong city, let alone being sent deep into enemy territory!"

  Yang Kai said: "If it were in the early days of the country..."

  Yang Yingqi said: "At the beginning of the country? At that time, the power of the Great Liao was prosperous, and I'm afraid the defense was much tighter than it is now. If we were in that era, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to get through."