Chapter 24: Four Fort Allied Army
“Rumble~”
Dark clouds blanketed the sky above, with muffled thunder rumbling incessantly, and the originally drizzling fine rain growing heavier and heavier.
It looked like this rain would continue all night long!
After eating lunch, Li Xiao lay down on the bed and fell asleep, only waking at midnight to the noise outside.
Midnight, that is, eleven o’clock at night, was time to set off.
After putting on their clothes, Li Xiao, Da Hu, and Er Hu came to the outer room.
Dinner was already prepared, with leftover horse meat from yesterday as the main dish, paired with pickles and millet porridge; Li Xiao ate heartily.
The Old Master, Grandfather, Zhao Laotou, and the others ate in silence; no one spoke, only the sounds of chewing horse meat and slurping porridge could be heard.
Only the Old Lady and Qin Dani sat to the side, unable to eat anything, quietly wiping away tears.
They all knew what these men were setting out to do tonight, and they feared even more that these men might not return.
“Don’t cry~”
“It’s like a funeral~”
The Old Master, eating horse meat, scolded the Old Lady and Qin Dani.
With departure imminent, wailing was the greatest taboo.
Thus, in ancient times, regular armies generally did not allow soldiers to meet with relatives before battle, as it affected morale.
Perhaps the death of her eldest son had deeply struck the Old Lady; this time, she ignored the Old Master and walked to the three in front of Li Xiao.
Hugging their heads, she said: “You must all come back safely~”
Her eldest son was gone, her second son missing; the Old Lady did not want to lose her grandsons too.
“Grandmother, we’ll be careful!” Li Xiao nodded and said.
His gaze turned firmly to Qin Dani, reassuring her!
The Old Master was extremely displeased with the Old Lady’s behavior and snapped: “If you want your grandsons to die, then keep talking!”
All the veterans understood one truth: the more one feared death, the more likely they were to die.
The Old Lady’s reluctance to part with her grandsons might cause Li Xiao and the other two to waver inwardly, making them even more fearful of the war.
In the midst of clashing with the enemy, they’d always be thinking about how to avoid getting hurt themselves.
But in that case, death was not far off.
“Don’t listen to your grandmother’s nonsense~” The Old Master said to Li Xiao and the other two.
“Just charge forward; if a saber comes, this old man will block it for you!”
What the Old Master worried about was not Li Xiao, but Da Hu and Er Hu.
Li Xiao was mature and steady; even in battle, he could remain calm. Such temperament would not be easily swayed by emotions, so the Old Master was at ease.
He was uneasy about Da Hu and Er Hu instead.
Da Hu was fairly steady too, but far inferior to Li Xiao.
Er Hu was even worse—impulsive and hot-tempered, and the most unstable.
“How are those three Khitan people next door?” The Old Master looked at Qin Dani and continued asking.
“Nothing unusual; they’ve stayed in the room all day. When I delivered horse meat just now, all three were there!” Qin Dani said.
The Old Master nodded slightly, relieved.
Although these Khitan people had a feud with the Geluolu people, they could not be unguarded; one had to fear the worst.
This concerned the lives of nearly six hundred people from Hexi Fort and the other three forts.
If the Geluolu people learned of it and set up an ambush in advance, the consequences would be unimaginable.
No amount of caution was excessive!
“After we leave, be careful. If these three Khitan people show any ill intent, have someone shoot them dead immediately.” The Old Master said with a fierce gaze, brimming with killing intent.
Qin Dani nodded lightly, indicating she understood!
After eating their fill, the group donned their bows, arrows, and weapons, put on straw cloaks, and stepped out the door; rain was still falling outside, and visibility was zero beyond a few dozen meters.
Gradually, more and more people emerged from various courtyards.
They rode war horses, cloaked in straw cloaks, gripping spears, sabers at their waists, bows and arrows slung on their horseback, fully armed as they advanced slowly.
Behind them were the worried gazes and reluctant expressions of their many relatives.
But no one could escape this war; to avoid enslavement by the Geluolu people, they could only head to the battlefield.
Slowly, everyone converged like a flood.
On the open ground north of Hexi Fort, over four hundred cavalry stood in a dense black mass, silently waiting.
No one spoke; only the war horses beneath them, startled by the muffled thunder, neighed uneasily.
“Boom boom boom~”
Another bolt of lightning flashed, purple light instantly illuminating the land.
In that instant, one could clearly see over four hundred straw-cloaked cavalry standing silent as devils, each face revealing killing intent, silence, or tension.
At the forefront, the Old Master and two others rode ahead, gazing at the crowd.
Li Xiao followed behind the Old Master.
Though he had become the Fort Master of Hexi Fort, he clearly could not command today’s formation; only the Old Master could hold sway over the men from the other three forts.
“Use cloth strips to plug the horses’ ears, and wood to bit their mouths!”
The Old Master’s first words were a command.
Horses fear thunder, so the war horses’ ears had to be plugged to prevent panic and loss of control.
Bitting the mouths also prevented the war horses from neighing and alerting the enemy.
Anyone with slight experience knew these things; the Old Master was mainly instructing the young ones like Er Hu and Tie Tou.
To prevent them from forgetting in the heat of battle due to nerves.
Moreover, in typical night raids, besides bitting the mouths, hooves were wrapped too.
But with rain tonight, the ground was wet, and the war horses’ steps wouldn’t make much noise.
Wrapping with cloth would absorb water and add weight, hindering the war horses’ speed.
“Sanhe Fort has already been captured by the Geluolu people; their next target is Hexi Fort and Hedong Fort.”
“After that, Tazhai and Gushan Fort.”
“To keep your wives and daughters from being defiled by the Geluolu people, to keep your children and family from becoming slaves to the Geluolu people.”
“Tonight, follow me to raid Sanhe Fort and kill all the Geluolu people!”
The Old Master’s icy voice rang out in the rainy night, his roar full of killing intent reaching every ear.
No overly rousing or passionate words; the Old Master simply stated a fact.
Fail to defeat the Geluolu people, and everyone would face family destruction and death.
Precisely because of this, everyone present instantly brimmed with killing intent, gripping their spears and sabers tightly.
“Kill!”
“Kill~”
“Kill!”
Low roars rose in the rainy night, coalescing with killing intent, swirling and echoing endlessly in the wind and rain.
“Set off~”
The Old Master bellowed deeply, turning his horse and leading the way toward Sanhe Fort.
Qin Kaishan, Zhao Tiezhu, Li Xiao, and the others followed closely behind.
The distance from Hexi Fort to Sanhe Fort was not far, only about forty li.
Normally, it would take less than an hour to arrive.
But tonight, the pace was much slower.
Night marching was extremely dangerous to begin with, let alone in the rain.
Fortunately, the Han people around Hexi Fort often fished in the river and obtained effective supplements from fish liver oil, so their night blindness rate was far lower than that of other nomadic people.
This was also why Li Xiao dared propose a night raid.
Moreover, these were fellow villagers who lived and worked together daily, very familiar with each other; following the person ahead closely meant they basically wouldn’t get separated.
Half an hour later, as the group reached a slope, the Old Master suddenly raised his hand, signaling everyone to stop.
He narrowed his eyes, listening intently to the sounds in the wind and rain; years of campaign experience made him sense something amiss ahead.
The others immediately went on alert, gripping their weapons, ready for possible combat.
“It should be the men from Hedong Fort!” The Old Master said, eyes slightly narrowed, staring into the distant darkness.
Hedong Fort was closer to Sanhe Fort.
So Hedong Fort’s men hadn’t gone to Hexi Fort but were linking up en route.
Sure enough, soon after, a fast horse galloped from the darkness, and the Old Master gave a look to the Third Grandfather.
The other immediately spurred his horse forward, returning moments later to report: “It’s the people from Hedong Fort!”
The Old Master nodded slightly: “Let’s go~”
The group then advanced slowly, finally merging with the men from Hedong Fort.
The head of Hedong Fort was a burly man around forty, with arms nearly as thick as an adult’s thigh; he looked like a giant bear astride his horse.
His face full of fierce flesh and a bushy beard, even the spear shaft in his hand was thicker than others’.
Li Xiao was very familiar with this man, named Luo Ping!
He was related to the Li Family by marriage, the grandfather of Li Xiao’s eldest sister!
Now the Fort Master of Hedong Fort!
He rode up to the Old Master and respectfully called: “Uncle Li~”
The Old Master nodded lightly; even setting aside the family ties, given his relationship with Luo Ping’s father, the “uncle” was well-deserved.
“Ha, little Pingzi, over a year since we last met, and you’ve gotten fatter!”
“Keep getting this fat, and soon you won’t even be able to ride a horse!” Grandfather Qin Kaishan laughed, patting Luo Ping’s belly.
It went bang bang!
Luo Ping gave a helpless wry smile: “Uncle Qin, don’t tease me.”
“I can’t help it; even drinking water makes me gain weight. I can’t lose it!”
“Sigh, nothing to be done~” Qin Kaishan shook his head with a laugh.
He turned to Zhao Tiezhu beside him: “If this were in the Central Plains, with little Pingzi’s build, he’d surely be a Great General.”
So fat he could barely ride a horse~
After linking up with Hedong Fort, the Four Fort Allied Army was finally formed, the force even stronger.
Troops numbered nearly six hundred.
In the thunderous rainy night, this force advanced slowly northeast, drawing ever closer to Sanhe Fort.
Another hour passed, and the Old Master raised his hand again, halting everyone.
“We’re almost there~”
“Sanhe Fort is just ahead!” The Old Master said gravely, his sharp gaze fixed on the distant darkness.
Though the rainy night obscured everything.
But the Old Master was very familiar with the surrounding terrain; he could find Sanhe Fort with his eyes closed.
“The Geluolu people should be fast asleep~” Zhao Tiezhu listened carefully to the sounds in the wind and rain; there was no movement from the direction of Sanhe Fort.
“Wait a bit more~”
The Old Master shook his head lightly, not opting for an immediate attack.
Instead, he looked again to the Third Grandfather beside him, who immediately pulled out a finger-thick piece of wood.
He put it to his mouth and blew~
“Shree~”
“Shree~”
“Shree~”
The shrill, piercing sound rang out in the rainy night; wind and rain could not block its spread, yet it did not alert the Geluolu people.
Because the sound from blowing this wooden stick was very similar to an eagle’s cry.
Even if the Geluolu people heard it, they would only think it was Cang Ying crying out.
With the three varying eagle cries falling, soon after, three knights emerged from the distant darkness, galloping quickly toward the main force.
“Elder Uncle~”
As the three arrived, the one in front called out.
This was none other than Li Dashan!
Sent during the day to scout enemy conditions at Sanhe Fort, he had hidden until deep into the night.
By now, rain had fallen for a long time; though the three wore straw cloaks, they were still shivering from the cold.
But their day’s ordeal was worth it.
