The caravan of hundreds of people meandered for nearly half a mile, slowly advancing between the strangely shaped wind-eroded mounds, the desert wind whistling by, making a whimpering sound like a ghost crying, even in the bright daylight, still feeling gloomy, if you walk through here alone, it is estimated that you will panic.

"Guo Heizi, it feels a little wrong, you take a few brothers to the back, let everyone speed up and keep up, and shorten the line as much as possible." Guo Jindiao looked around vigilantly and commanded in a low voice.

It is said that in order to protect Huang Dacan's safety, Xu Jin also made a bloody investment, not only sent the sharpshooter Guo Jindiao to lead thirty elite members of the Shenji Battalion to accompany him, but also selected Guo Heizi and other seventy good hands to join, so although he also encountered more than a dozen bandits and bandits along the way, the caravan was still safe and sound.

Guo Jindiao is the chief sharpshooter of the Shenji Battalion, and his reputation in the army is very loud, and Guo Heizi has a flexible mind, dares to fight, and is a rare lonely man.

Guo Jindiao has rich combat experience, and his eyesight and ear power are even more different from ordinary people, so he said that something was wrong, Guo Heizi immediately became vigilant, and without saying a word, he beckoned twenty brothers to turn their horses and go back to strengthen their vigilance.

"Hurry up and keep up, don't be sluggish, look at what you see, it's you...... And you, keep up, those who want to, those who pee bear with it first. Guo Heizi shouted loudly while beating the horse and going backwards.

Along the way, I walked for more than two months, and encountered more than a dozen mountain horse bandits who cut the path, these traders had experience, and when they saw this, they immediately guessed that there was a situation, and one by one they woke up their spirits, struggled to drive the livestock, and at the same time picked up weapons for self-defense.

Li Daren, who was mixed in the vendor team, secretly glanced at him, and the two guys immediately pulled out a little bit of the single knife hidden under the board cart, so that they could be used in an emergency at any time, after all, the sword of the bandit and horse bandit did not recognize people.

The atmosphere of the entire caravan suddenly became tense, and Huang Dacan obviously noticed the abnormality at this time, turned his head and asked loudly, "General Guo, what's the situation?" ”

Guo Jindiao stepped forward and smiled: "Lord Hui, the terrain here is complicated, which is conducive to ambushes, maybe there are thieves hiding in it and coveting it, so I have to guard against it." ”

"That's right!" Huang Dacan nodded, along the way, Guo Jindiao led the officers and soldiers to repel more than a dozen bandits who blocked the road and robbed, so he still recognized Lao Guo's ability.

"Hehe, your envoy is too nervous, this is less than twenty miles away from Picheng, there is a garrison there, where are the thieves in broad daylight? To put it mildly, even if you grab your property, you won't have to spend it, and your country's cavalry is not vegetarian. ”

At this time, it was a "guide officer" of the Yarkand Khanate, and every time the Ming embassy went to a county seat, the county would send a small official to act as a guide and be responsible for sending the mission to the next county seat, so the guide at this time was sent by Khotan, named Shamushak.

Shamushak looked disapproving, and there was a hint of mockery in his eyes, obviously dissatisfied with the performance of the Ming people as if they were facing the enemy, and probably felt that this was an insult to the security of the Yarkand Khanate.

Huang Dacan arched his hand and said: "The envoy has long heard that your country's cavalry can fight habitually, and it is expected that no thief will dare to do evil near your country's barracks, but General Guo's duty is to beware, and it is good to be careful, Your Excellency Sha Mu does not have to mind." ”

Shamushak's expression slowed slightly, and he glanced at Guo Jindiao's flintlock pistol hanging on the victory hook, and said lightly: "Originally, according to the rules, as soon as your mission enters the country, it should hand over its weapons, just to show respect for your country, the country still allows your country's mission to carry weapons to walk within its own territory, but when you arrive in Yecheng, His Royal Highness Rashid Taiji will personally come to greet your envoy, and all the weapons you carry must be handed over first, and they will be returned when you return to China." ”

Huang Dacan said politely: "This is natural, Your Excellency Xie Shamu reminded." ”

Guo Jindiao pursed his lips disdainfully, a local official is just a small official, pretending to be a big-tailed wolf, Lord Huang is too polite to him, the country of Yidi, afraid of power but not virtue, the more polite you are, the more he looks down on you.

After walking forward for another two or three miles, he finally reached the end of the wind-eroded hills, and in front of him was the sandy land of a flat river. Shamushak said with a slight mockery: "Look, the ground is flat in front, where did the thief come from......"

Before Shamushak could finish speaking, a shriek burst out, and an arrow shot from behind a wind-eroded mound on the left, striking him in the throat as fast as lightning.

With a pop, the sharp arrow pierced his throat, and Shamushak clutched his throat with a frightened face, and then fell off the horse and died of breath.

Huang Dacan was shocked into a cold sweat, and hurriedly lay down on the horse's back, just now the arrow flew past his chin, if he missed a little, it is estimated that he was the one who was shot through the throat.

"There's an ambush!" Guo Jindiao shouted, picked up the flintlock pistol on the victory hook and raised his hand to shoot.

Bang......

The bullet was like an eye, and an archer who had just emerged from behind the wind-eroded mound was bleeding from the head on the spot, and a grunt rolled down.

"Protect your lordship!" A group of soldiers hula surrounded and protected Huang Dacan and Ye Na in the middle.

At this moment, the sound of horses' hooves was loud, and a group of black horsemen rushed out from all directions, raising their bright scimitars and charging fiercely, and the merchants were so frightened that they hid under their carts or under their cattle.

Whoosh ......

A wave of sharp arrows was thrown, and some cattle fell to the ground on the spot, and several traders who were slow to hide were also wounded, and fell in a pool of blood and howled wolves.

Guo Jindiao's face changed sharply, this horse thief who suddenly killed actually had a large number of bows and arrows, and he was good at riding and shooting archers, not quite like a horse thief? However, at this time, he couldn't think about it anymore, and immediately organized a counterattack.

Bang bang bang......

In an instant, the gunshots rang out like bursting beans, and the dozen or so horse thieves who rushed to the front were shot over on the spot. The group of horse thieves was shot in a round, and they were suddenly a little stunned, and their momentum slowed down, obviously they didn't expect the Ming army's counterattack to be so fast and so ruthless, and they were also startled by the Ming army's firearms.

It is no wonder that the flintlock pistol is currently regarded as the most advanced firearm in the world, several times stronger than the arquebus of the Westerners, not to mention the Central Asian countries that are still in the age of cold weapons, they probably have never even seen a gun.

However, the "horse thieves" who had been hit by the blow obviously had no intention of retreating, their momentum only slowed down, and soon accelerated again under the shouts of the leader, but the formation was more scattered and erratic.

Bang bang bang......

Another round of gunshots, the horse thieves were shot and fell off their horses, but they also came closer, and at this moment, they couldn't allow the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion to change their ammunition again, only to see Guo Jindiao hang the gun, pull out his waist knife and shout: "Kill!" ”

The thirty soldiers of the Shenji Battalion immediately hung up their guns and drew their knives, and killed them head-on without fear, all of them were battle-hardened soldiers, who was afraid of whom, and it was over.

At this time, Guo Heizi at the back of the team also led the brothers to fight with the enemy, and those traders hid behind the livestock and vehicles and shivered, one by one they were scared and urinated, but there were exceptions, that is, Li Daren and two men, they held knives in their hands, and calmly hid behind the car to observe.

"Shopkeeper, the strength of this group of strongmen is not weak, it seems that they are still well-trained, not like ordinary horse thieves." One of the guys whispered.

Li Daren nodded, and at this moment, seven or eight horse thieves rushed towards this side, probably trying to break the caravan and disrupt the Ming army's defensive position.

"Damn, you're coming to us, shopkeeper, what should we do?" The two men looked at Li Daren inquiringly.

Li Daren is also a little entangled at the moment, and he doesn't want to expose his martial arts, but he can't be stabbed right in front of his eyes, right?

Seeing that the horse thief was about to be killed, Li Daren was about to jump up, when suddenly a gunshot rang out, and the horse thief was splattered with blood on his shoulder on the spot, and he screamed in pain and fell on the horse's back, and the other horse thieves also followed the horse head and slipped away, and in a blink of an eye, all the horse thieves ran away, and the horse thief who was injured just now was the boss.

Guo Jindiao led the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion to chase and kill hundreds of meters before he dared to chase anymore, lest he fall for the trick of diverting the tiger from the mountain, but the gang of horse thieves seemed to be really such a few people, and after running away, the water was quiet and the river flew.

"Lord Huang, are you alright?" Guo Jindiao loaded the flintlock pistol with ammunition and came to Huang Dacan on a horse.

Huang Dacan shook his head and said with a solemn face: "This official is fine, these horse thieves seem to be stronger than what we have encountered before." ”

Guo Jindiao nodded and said: "Lord Huang, these people are well-trained, their combat power is not weak, they are not very like horse thieves, if I hadn't injured the other party's head by luck, I'm afraid our losses would not be small." ”

Huang Dacan's heart moved, could it be a regular army? If it is really the regular army of Yarkand, then it will be a big trouble.

"My lord, these horse thieves are covered faces, which means that they can't see the light, and besides, these people seem to be coming for you, my lord." Ye Na's charming eyes flashed with a strange light at this moment, and she continued in a low voice: "Could it be that there is a disagreement within Yarkand?" ”

Huang Dacan couldn't help frowning, if the other party was indeed coming for himself as a messenger, then the intention was self-evident.

"My lord, I caught three alive." At this time, Guo Heizi escorted three prisoners, all of whom were injured and incapacitated, and the masks had been torn off, and all of them were local people's faces.

Huang Dacan glanced at the three captives and said in a deep voice, "Miss Ye Na, can you ask who they are?" Who sent it. ”

Ye Na nodded, and was about to ask a question, but saw that the corners of the mouths of the three captives were black and bloody, and they were silent when they rolled their eyes.

Guo Heizi's face changed slightly, and he hurriedly touched the neck of one of the captives, and found that there was no pulse, and said in shock: "My lord, it seems that these guys are all dead soldiers, and they have hidden a poison sac in their back teeth, and they have died of poisoning." ”