choke element

Chapter 1002: Coming and Going (Part )

In any army, the most alert and fiercest knights must be in the scout team. Although the scale of the fight between the scouts of the two armies is small, it must be extremely fierce. Often, a mistake or a panic will determine life or death in an instant, without any room for redemption.

The remaining four enemy cavalrymen were a little slower in their movements, and immediately several heavy arrows were shot down. Two knights were climbing onto their horses, their backs completely exposed without armor, and were immediately pierced by heavy arrows shot within ten steps.

When the Jurchens led a huge army to spread war throughout the country, one of the secrets of their military power was the light bow and heavy arrows. The bow had a force of only seven dou, and they would not fire until they were fifty steps away, and if they fired, they would hit the target. The arrowhead was six or seven inches long, shaped like a chisel, and could penetrate the body.

Although Zhang Pingliang's troops were not Jurchens, they inherited many Jurchen traditions in martial arts. The heavy arrows they shot were more than three times heavier than the enemy's, not only piercing the enemy's back, but also two or three inches of the six or seven-inch long arrows penetrated the front of the chest and pierced into the saddle.

The two people who were shot by arrows struggled for a few times, and then collapsed. Blood gushed out from the wounds onto the saddle, and then flowed along the saddle to the horse's back, causing the warhorse to neigh repeatedly.

At this time, there was the sound of urgent horse hooves from behind. It was Zhang Pingliang's troops arriving. On the hillside farther away, there was another group of soldiers riding their horses cautiously.

The advantage was obvious. There were only two enemy cavalry left, and although they were mounted, they could not escape. The two Mongolian scouts were tough, and simply threw away the reins, drew their swords and waved them repeatedly, roaring at the Zhou scouts approaching from all sides.

Zhang Pingliang endured the severe pain in his forehead, supported the front bridge of the saddle with one hand, and shouted loudly: "Catch him alive, take him down and torture him to interrogate the movements of the Mongolian army!"

Then he shouted in Mongolian: "Those who surrender will not be killed, but given wine and meat!"

When the Mongols invaded, they killed countless Han people and forced thousands of self-proclaimed heroes to flee in panic. Zhang Pingliang was a survivor who had a narrow escape from death. Now that the two sides were fighting, he was able to intimidate the Mongols into surrendering. The people he intimidated were the elite among the Mongols, the famous Alejinchi Light Cavalry!
This really made him feel extremely happy.

Unexpectedly, the two scouts did not respond to Zhang Pingliang's shouting. Seeing that the encirclement and capture was irreversible, one of them sneered twice and stabbed his own throat with the knife in his backhand. The other turned his head and saw his companion committing suicide. He shouted twice in grief and also turned the blade and stabbed it into his chest.

Several Zhou cavalrymen flew up to stop them, but it was too late. As soon as their footsteps arrived, the two men were already dead.

Zhang Pingliang was immediately frustrated that he had not caught anyone alive. The wound on his forehead was bleeding so much that his vision was blurred.

One of his subordinates grabbed the bridle of his warhorse and said in a deep voice, "Let's take a break. You just stay here and take care of your wounds. Don't hold on any longer!"

Zhang Pingliang rolled his eyes and wanted to say something harsh. But after the blood of the fight faded, the blow on his forehead really frightened him. His hands and feet began to weaken and it was really difficult to hold on. He didn't want to lose face for his superior, so he had to reluctantly agree.

Everyone gathered nearby, lying or sitting, and a soldier in the team who had received first aid training came over to bandage Zhang Pingliang's wound.

He was really lucky, the arrow lost its power after piercing his helmet, only tearing the skin and flesh on his forehead, without damaging the bones or cutting any blood vessels. The soldiers applied gold wound medicine to him and wrapped his head and face with white cloth, and that was the end of the treatment.

Zhang Pingliang half-lay down and took a rest. He felt his hands and feet regained strength and his spirits were restored. But some of his companions were eating and some were drinking water, so there was no need to rush them to continue their journey. So he turned his head to look at the corpses of the enemy cavalry not far away.

Although the enemy riders were already dead and curled up, they were very tall when they were standing to fight, unlike the generally short and stocky Mongols. Looking at their clothes, hats, and boots, although they were not exquisite, they were clearly tailored, unlike the Mongol scouts who usually wrapped themselves in animal fur.

Zhang Pingliang was not only somewhat curious, but he walked over and turned over the corpse that looked like the leader and looked at it carefully. He saw that the man had a clear facial contour, a straight nose, and curly black hair, which was very different from the usual Mongolian flat face, narrow eyes and flat nose.

"This doesn't look like a Mongolian?" asked a companion.

His tone sounded somewhat disappointed, probably because the enemy he killed was not as strong as he had imagined.

Zhang Pingliang bent down, pulled out his scimitar, and cut open the corpse's fur coat. Under the fur coat was a rather exquisite inner robe, with a round collar and narrow sleeves similar to those in the Central Plains.

Since the rise of Mongolia, the war between the grassland and the Central Plains has never stopped. The people on both sides have been fighting each other and have become familiar with each other. For example, Zhang Pingliang and others can recognize what ethnic group a person belongs to or does not belong to by just looking at the slightest trace on his body.

For example, this inner robe with a round collar and narrow sleeves, as well as this formal way of wearing it, are not something that Mongolians have.

When the underwear was cut open to expose the chest and arms, it could be seen that this person's skin was very fair. Although there were calluses and scars on his body, there were few large areas of chapped skin.

The entire Mongolian ethnic group is made up of herders, and their tough and hardworking character comes from years of hardship. When they are herding, they are either exposed to the sun or the wind, frost, snow and rain. They are often infected with various skin diseases, which cause their skin to be repeatedly damaged and healed, resulting in layers of scars that are frighteningly rough. Rather than being human skin, it is more like animal skin or old tree bark.

The Mongolian nobles were not much better. They might have experienced less hardships, but due to Mongolian customs, they almost never bathed or washed their clothes. They also had to deal with livestock, so the dirt on their bodies accumulated layer by layer, and the smell was indescribable.

But these people in front of me are different.

Zhang Pingliang squatted down and looked at the man's hands again.

The hands had obvious calluses on the knuckles from years of holding whips and weapons, but the nails on the five fingers had been trimmed and were very short, and there was no deformation of fingers or cracking of nails due to cold that was common among Mongolians.

It was obvious that these scouts came from a tribe whose living customs were completely different from those of the Mongols, and that this tribe was quite civilized and not like bestials.

Another knight used the tip of his knife to fiddle with the deceased's robes and belongings, and suddenly exclaimed, "Look."

What he picked out with his knife was a nearly worn wooden sign. There should have been words inlaid in metal on the sign, but due to the passage of time, the metal had all peeled off, leaving only indistinguishable dents and a faint pattern on the edge of the sign.

"What is this?" Zhang Pingliang asked.

"Hiss... It seems to be the Khitan people's long horse-riding card."

The knight hesitated and said, "My ancestors were soldiers of the Liao Dynasty, and later became frontier soldiers of the Jin Dynasty... Several generations are familiar with the customs of the Khitan people, so they can recognize it. But how can Khitan things appear here? They are not Khitans either."

Although the Khitans were a foreign race, they had lived and intermarried with the Han people for hundreds of years, and their appearance and bloodline were almost indistinguishable. The Khitans' own civilization had long been integrated into the Han people. The clothes and appearance of these people were definitely not Khitan-like.

"These people are the nobles of Khwarezm!"

Zhang Pingliang snorted.

The Mongols attacked this time, bringing with them the surrendered people from many big countries in the Western Regions. The military government had already made a report in advance, so that the soldiers would be alert. According to the military government, there was a big country in the Western Regions called Khwarezm, and Khwarezm had conquered the Liao Kingdom rebuilt by the remnants of the Khitans in the Western Regions, and absorbed many of the Liao customs.

It is estimated that the knight's ancestors once served in Western Liao and obtained a badge proving their official status, which was then passed down from generation to generation as a family heirloom until the owner died here.

Zhang Pingliang kicked the corpse over and cursed, "Generation after generation, first being the dogs of the Liao people, then the dogs of Khwarezm, and finally the dogs of the Mongols. What's the point? It's better for them to die."

Having said this, he suddenly froze and stood still.

After a while, Zhang Pingliang pointed at the knight who recognized the token and said, "You don't have to continue to be on guard. Take two people and the token with you and go back to report."

"What do you want to report?" the knight frowned and asked, "We haven't even reached halfway on the journey, and we haven't seen a large group of Mongolians, nor have we gotten any news... Is it worth going back just to kill a few Mongolian scouts?"

"We only killed these few people, which really can't be considered a merit. But in the past two days, we encountered Mongolian scouts from afar while marching. There must have been three times, right?"

"I saw it once when I was crossing the river beach yesterday. I saw it from afar when I was looking for water in Yelangpo. I found it again across the mountain ridge when I was setting up camp at night."

When the two armies approached each other, it was common for scouts to cross paths and infiltrate each other. Once they collided, it would be a life-and-death battle, but it was also normal for them to encounter each other from a distance several times without getting into a fight.

Zhang Pingliang then asked, "Now let's think again, were those people we encountered from afar those few times the Mongols?"

"This……"

If the army is compared to a person, then the scouts are the army's eyes and ears. The knights who were transferred to scouts this time were all elite soldiers of the Zhou army, and they had all undergone rigorous training in the military academy. Their knowledge and ideas were different from those of the simple-minded ordinary soldiers. Otherwise, they would not be able to complete the scout mission and ensure that their own ears and eyes were sharp.

The scouts, including Zhang Pingliang, never doubted that the Mongolian army was the same.

They had fought against the Mongols many times and were very familiar with each other. They could describe the Mongols' fighting habits or living customs with their eyes closed.

For example, they all knew that the scouts sent out by the Mongols were always selected Mongolian batuls from the captains of ten thousand or thousand men. If Genghis Khan led the army himself, any team of Alejinchili would have at least one Mongolian Qiexue of high status.

Not only are these people as tough and agile as hawks and dogs, but because of their closeness to the leader, they can ensure that military intelligence is delivered to the Mongolian commander as quickly as possible without any delay.

But this time, the Mongolian scouts killed by Zhang Pingliang and others were all surrendered nobles of the Khwarezmian Empire, and there was not a single Mongolian among them.

So were the scouts they met from afar in the past few days Mongols?
Does the posture of riding a horse look like it? Does the formation of standing guard look like it? Does the sound of the arrows fired when contacting companions look like it? Does the deep shout from the throat when demonstrating from a distance look like it?
When they had no doubts, it looked and sounded like nothing worthy of suspicion. But once they had doubts... it seemed that those things were not quite like each other, as if those people were not Mongolians?
The last time the Mongols used the forest men to fight the Han army, it was ridiculous enough. Now that a war is about to break out on the border between Mongolia and the Central Plains, the Mongols are unwilling to send out even a few of their own scouts?

Why were they so arrogant? Or were they so confident in their vassal tribes that they entrusted the most important scouting missions to foreign tribes? Was this something the Mongols could do?

Zhang Pingliang felt his head hurt even more.

He was not in a high position, and he could not think so much or so thoroughly. But since this trip was to spy on the enemy, it would not make sense for him not to report if he found no doubts.

He said in a deep voice, "Let's go back and report. What exactly this situation means and whether it is meaningful or not will be decided by the generals above."

Zhang Pingliang's subordinates took the order and left. With their light cavalry and fast horses, they delivered the news to the main force of the Zhou army that was rapidly heading north in just two days and one night.

Today is the best day for me in terms of physical condition in a while, I feel refreshed. So I will update twice today:)