sbdcsierra Chapter 364 Combat
Chapter 364 Combat
The sky is high and the clouds are light, and the grass is green.
The grassland is covered with layers of green, surging like waves as the wind blows.
The horse galloped, carrying two figures, one red and one blue, into the vast green picture.
Zhang Xueming rode his horse for half an hour before he pulled the reins.
Listening to the horse's panting, she turned her head to look at Gong Yuanzheng who rode his horse slowly to her side and stopped, and smiled: "Ayuan's riding skills have improved again."
Gong Yuanzheng raised his eyebrows proudly: "Zhao Zhao taught me well."
"Look, that's Tongqing Pass in our Dayan." Zhang Xueming pointed to the undulating ridges in the distance with his whip.
At the pass, rows of red-bottomed black dragon flags fluttered in the wind. Soldiers in black armor patrolled back and forth, their spears flashing a sharp cold light in the sun.
"Did my second brother tell you the meaning of the name Tongqing Pass?"
Gong Yuanzheng said, "I've said that. This is the frontier of the northern border, the gateway that the barbarians have always wanted to capture. If the border troops hold it, the whole country will celebrate. If they fail to hold it, the country will be destroyed and the family will be ruined."
Before Zhang Xueting took him and Gong Shangjiao to the grassland for "hunting", he had no idea about the Zhang family's guarding the border, and Gong Shangjiao was not much better than him.
Until they took part in this raid on western Lebanon.
In order to lure the cunning Li Xibu into the trap, the "Goose Hunting" team composed of the Zhang family and elite border troops went into battle lightly, without armor, and not even some wore rattan armor chest protectors.
The Lixi tribe had more than a thousand strong men, while Changling's team had less than 500 people. The 6,000 border troops who came to support them set out half a day later than them. If their vanguard team could not hold back the Lixi tribe, this operation would fail.
Not only will the injured jackals become more difficult to find, they will also hunt small tribes that have business dealings with Changling, forcing them to attack villages around Changling in retaliation.
The arrogance that Gong Yuanzheng and Gong Shangjiao had developed because of their successful elimination of Wufeng was shattered in this battle.
Even though Gong Yuanzheng's poison was powerful, it followed the direction of the wind and knocked down most of the young and strong men in western Li. The remaining hundreds of barbarians also caused considerable casualties to their team.
The barbarians reacted too quickly. They didn't care about their fallen companions at all. Their first reaction when they were attacked was to pick up their weapons and run to where the horses were.
Gather and charge.
At this time, Gong Yuanzheng and Gong Shangjiao finally understood the difference between the people of the underworld and the army.
They were taken away from the team by the Zhang family members designated by Zhang Xueting to protect them, so as to avoid affecting the tacit understanding honed by the border troops in the war.
The well-trained elite border troops were waiting in formation. Facing the enemy's charge, they kicked their horses and fearlessly wielded their long swords to meet the enemy.
The war horses on both sides passed each other, and some people fell off their horses, including border troops and barbarians.
Neither side looked at those who fell to the ground. The horses turned around and charged again.
Those who were still alive after falling to the ground also got up and rushed towards the enemy with weapons in hand.
The Zhang family, along with Gong Yuanzheng and Gong Shangjiao, entered the battlefield at this time, bypassing their comrades and killing the barbarians who were still able to stand up from a high position.
That day, the setting sun reflected the red clouds in the sky, and the blood dyed the green grass mottled.
He and Gong Shangjiao had no objection to the extermination of the western part of Li.
In the sheepfold, the Han women who were captured by the barbarians were ragged and haggard. Children with slave marks branded on their faces were holding lambs, their eyes filled with fear and numbness of resignation.
The image and reaction are completely opposite to those of the elderly, women and children in western Lebanon.
Zhang Xueting pointed at the old and weak people in the western part of Li who were driven to the open space and said: "Kill them, and you will pass."
Gong Yuanzheng could only see in his eyes the same calmness and indifference as in Zhang Xueming's.
Faced with a group of old and weak barbarians with hatred in their eyes, holding sticks and stones and still having not lost their will to resist, the two brothers swung their swords without hesitation.
However, when the border troops brought over the ignorant children under the age of three from western Li, Gong Yuanzheng did not hesitate and sent the children to death with a poison dart; but Gong Shangjiao hesitated again and again before closing his eyes and ending the lives of the rest.
Their actions won smiles and a different kind of enthusiasm from the Zhang family and border troops.
At night, by the campfire, after everyone else had returned to their tents, Zhang Xueting told the Gong brothers about what happened in western Li.
"If it weren't for the sudden death of the old Barbarian King Lixi three years ago, his sons were too noisy and had fought several serious battles, the Barbarian King wouldn't have had so few troops left now. We can't even think about sending them away in one go like we did today."
Zhang Xueting has taken off the mask of a miserable old man with drooping eyes and mouth corners, and is no longer as polite and distant as he was in the city.
He sat cross-legged on the ground, took a big gulp of wine from the wine bag, and handed the wine bag to Gong Shangjiao: "Burning the knife can make your brain work slower and stop you from thinking about things that make you uncomfortable."
Gong Shangjiao took it and drank a sip. After hesitating for a while, he still couldn't help asking: "Zhao Zhao..."
Zhang Xueting interrupted him: "She is very good, and you are not bad either. You are the same kind of people, you think too much, you are too soft-hearted, and you put too much pressure on yourselves. The world forces you to lower your bottom line step by step, but there are some bottom lines that you think you will no longer be yourself if you cross them..."
Zhang Xueting stopped talking, used a wooden stick to dig away the carbon ash, and picked out more than a dozen fist-sized potatoes that he had buried earlier.
The potato skins were burnt black, Gong Yuanzheng didn't want any of them, Zhang Xueting squinted his eyes and smiled: "Don't think that Zhao Zhao is a gourmet at home. During those two years of marching and fighting, she followed the soldiers and ate whatever they had. When supplies were insufficient, she even ate leaves and roots. The potatoes were baked like this, broken open and dipped in salt, but this was not enough for her to eat alone."
Gong Yuanzheng looked at him suspiciously, but finally wrapped one in a black handkerchief, tore open the skin, sprinkled salt on it, and took a small bite.
Not delicious, but not terrible either.
Zhang Xueting watched him eat until the corners of his mouth were stained with black ash. He glanced at Gong Shangjiao who was still waiting for the next words and said with a smile: "If you can all be like Yuanzheng, and don't take anything to heart except what you care about, the family won't have so many headaches. Speaking of which, Yuanzheng is more like a member of the Zhang family than Zhaozhao."
It sounded like a compliment, but Gong Yuanzheng felt something was wrong.
He took a bite of the potato, and his little fat bulged as he chewed, which was indescribably cute. However, the pair of eyes looking at Zhang Xueting were sinister, like a venomous snake staring at its prey.
Zhang Xueting grinned with glee, his teeth showing through. The firelight made his handsome features look weird, as if a monster had torn off its skin, revealing its true appearance.
Gong Yuanzheng remained unmoved, his dark eyes glowed faintly in the firelight, with an inorganic coldness.
Zhang Xueting glanced at Gong Shangjiao who seemed to be thinking deeply: "Are you wondering, if she is not suitable, why does no one in the Zhang family object to her becoming the young master?"