"The first pest is the wolves in the wilderness." Baguli paused and said embarrassedly, "Of course, there is no need for so many of us to be afraid. ”

As if to confirm his words, a few wolf howls were heard in the distance.

"The second evil is the weather. The temperature drops quickly at night in the desert, and even if you sweat during the day, you have to put on a padded jacket at night. ”

Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "It's okay to do this, we have our own things to keep out the cold." ”

Although he didn't know the current weather conditions in the Western Regions, he knew that the Western Regions would be Xinjiang in later generations, and he had heard the story of eating watermelon around the stove. Therefore, before leaving, he prepared his soldiers and carried a large number of items to protect them from the cold, especially down sleeping bags with excellent thermal performance.

Baguli's face suddenly became solemn, and Zhengse said: "The most powerful thing is the third evil-horse bandits!" ”

Dian Wei and Wei Yan laughed together: "We have more than 10,000 elite soldiers here, what kind of bandits dare to come and hit stones with eggs and kill themselves?" ”

Baguli shook his head and said, "The general's words are wrong! There is desert for miles on both sides of the road, are you familiar with the situation there? The bandits come and go like the wind, hiding behind the sand dunes, or simply hiding in the dunes, waiting for you to pass by, and suddenly attack, which is unpredictable. ”

Jia Xu was surprised: "Baguli, Jia walked with you before, but I never heard you talk about any horse bandits." ”

Bagul hesitated for a moment and said, "My lord doesn't know, last time the grass people accompanied the adults and didn't camp in the wilderness, so don't worry about horse bandits." ”

Liu Xin bowed his head and said, "In this way, the horse bandits are only active at night?" I don't know how many horse bandits there are in the Western Regions. ”

Baligu arched his hand and said: "Lord Hui, there are many horse bandits in the Western Regions, but the most powerful ones are the two horse bandits of 'Black Whirlwind' and 'Half Cloud'. These horse bandits included people from the Western Regions, as well as Huns, Qiang, and even Han Chinese, and many of them had their own occupations during the day, and only gathered together at night to form gangs. ”

Jia Xu suddenly asked, "Why are you so clear about the situation of these horse bandits?" Why haven't I heard you talk about it in the past? ”

Bagul's expression suddenly darkened, and he said after a while: "Don't hide it from you, Xiaomin's brother is also a bandit, and he died in a fire last year. Xiaomin used to hear him talk about things in the gang, so he knew a little about it. ”

Liu Xin nodded and said, "Then in your opinion, if there is a gang attacking tonight, how should we deal with it?" ”

When Baguli was in Yumen Pass, he had already seen the appearance of the Han army, and knew that these young soldiers in front of him were all good soldiers, so he thought about it and said: "Back to my lord, the people think that if there is a bandit attack at night, the generals should stick to it and not attack!" ”

"It's the same as what Liu saw!" Liu Xin smiled and said, "Baguli, I didn't expect you to have some knowledge." If Liu can rebuild the Metropolitan Protectorate, he will appoint you as a counselor, what do you think? ”

Baguli does not have a fixed occupation, and usually lives by being a guide for others and working part-time jobs. Although he didn't know what the Metropolitan Protector Counselor did, it sounded like it was definitely an official position. He has changed from a commoner to an official of the Han Dynasty, how can he not be happy? Bagul hurriedly fell to the ground and said loudly: "The grass people are willing to serve the adults. ”

As the night deepened, the weather was getting colder and colder. The soldiers had already erected rows of tents, built piles of bonfires, arranged deer barricades and fences around them, and erected watchtowers at each of the four corners of the camp. Except for the occasional passing by the guards on patrol, the entire camp was quiet.

The big tent in the middle was originally Liu Xin's handsome tent, but now there are many women. Minchan, Yan Rui's mother and daughter, Lan Nier, and the two aunts and nephews of Beigong Qian and Beigong Yan, plus the twelve selected Qiang female guards, were all crammed into this tent. Except for the three female guards who were guarding inside and outside the tent with swords and shields, everyone else had already gotten into their down sleeping bags and fell asleep early.

Liu Xin also stayed here, and no one thought that he needed to avoid suspicion between men and women, and there was no need for him to set up another tent. However, Liu Xin did not sleep, but put on a cotton robe and sat there cross-legged to regulate pranayama.

Tonight, Bagul's words alerted him. Their party was too large to hide their tracks, and it was likely that they had fallen into the eyes of the bandits. And that strong wind, which forced the team to camp in the wilderness, gave the bandits an opportunity, and most likely their only chance. Liu Xin was sure that if the horse bandits dared to sneak attack, they could only do so tonight.

Suddenly, a terrible horn sounded in the barracks, three long and two short, that is, the soldiers on duty at night on the watchtower noticed an anomaly in the distance and sent a warning signal. The horse bandit really came, Liu Xin opened his eyes suddenly, and grabbed the overlord knife beside him. The enemy is in the dark, I am in the light, Liu Xin, who has always liked to use his bare hands, also prepared a weapon for the first time today. Of course, he did not intend to fight the enemy in close combat, but to guard against the enemy's hidden arrows, so that there was an object to cover.

The sleeping women were also awakened by the sound of horns outside the camp, and they seemed a little panicked, but they heard Liu Xin say in a deep voice: "Close your eyes and continue to sleep." ”

Liu Xin has already made up his mind that no matter what happens tonight, he will take a defensive position and will never take the initiative to attack. He brought 15,000 elite soldiers, and if he couldn't even hold a small camp, what would he talk about fighting for the world.

Outside the tent door, Dian Wei was already waiting there with a big iron halberd, and when he saw Liu Xin coming out, he immediately arched his hand and said, "Big brother, sure enough, someone attacked at night." ”

Wei Yan also rushed over, slammed the big knife in his hand to the ground, and said with excitement on his face: "Lord Qiqi, the horse bandits are from the north, and I can't see how many people and horses there are. The last general is willing to lead a group of men and horses to rush over and probe the truth. ”

Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "Without my order, no one is allowed to move!" Let's go over and have a look. ”

In order to prevent night attacks, Liu Xin put a lot of effort into the layout of the camp. In addition to the great efforts to build watchtowers, equip the soldiers on night with clairvoyance, and light a number of bonfires around the camp, anyone who enters within a hundred steps of the camp will have nothing to hide.

Under the escort of Dian Wei and Wei Yan, Liu Xin came to the north behind the fence, only to see that under the light of the bonfire, many black shadows were shaking in the distance, and a strange scream could be faintly heard. At this time, Baguli also rushed over and said eagerly: "My lord, this is their usual method, bluffing on one side and carrying out a sneak attack on the other, please prepare early." ”

Liu Xin was very satisfied with Baguli's loyalty, smiled, and said, "The trick of attacking the east and the west will not play any role in the face of absolute strength. I don't care if he's attacking the east or the west, or if he is attacking something, as long as they dare to come, I'll give him a head-on blow! Crossbowmen, prepare! ”

Baguli said in surprise: "My lord, this place is far away from them, and if you miss it, it will reduce your morale, please think twice!" ”

"Hehe, you know quite a lot." Liu Xin patted Guli's shoulder and said with a smile, "Look at it carefully, my Han elite soldiers are not in vain." Shoot the arrows! ”

More than 1,000 archers fired their arrows together, and the sound of "whooshing" breaking the air was endless, and the black shadows in the distance fell to the ground one after another, and the screams resounded through the night sky. These archers used a three-step shooting method, and the rain of arrows was endless and seemingly endless, and after a few moments, the dark shadows that were still moving were no longer visible.

Baguli opened his mouth wide and closed it, and said eatingly: "My lord, this ,......"

Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "Wen Chang, take someone over to have a look, and drag me back the dead and alive." ”

Wei Yan arched his hand and said, "The last general will be ordered!" ”

Baguli was taken aback, and just wanted to stop it, only to see that Wei Yan had already jumped on his war horse and galloped away with a team of cavalry.

Liu Xin laughed and said: "If it is really as you expected, this is just their bluff, there must be no ambush, what is there to worry about." ”

In fact, through the "clairvoyance", Liu Xin has faintly seen many black shadows turn around and flee into the desert in the north, even if they are lucky enough not to die, they must be seriously injured, Wei Yan has passed at this time, where will there be any danger.

Sure enough, after a few moments, Wei Yan came back with the cavalry. The results of this sortie were not very large, only two bandits who were seriously injured were captured, and a dozen corpses were dragged back, and nothing else was found.

It's no wonder that although the wave of arrow rain just now looked very vicious, and it caught the other party off guard, after all, it was a blind shot in the dark, and the hit rate was purely by chance, and it was not bad to be able to shoot and injure more than ten people.

Liu Xin himself is a thief, so he naturally knows the style of these bandits. If it's a full-time bandit, it's just that, in a situation like this, where you're a good citizen during the day and a horse bandit at night, you have to try to destroy the evidence anyway. Don't look at these horse bandits who have fled without a trace now, when there is no movement, they will definitely take these corpses away, so as not to be touched.

In fact, for the powerful regular army, these horse bandits pose no threat at all, but for ordinary caravans, these horse bandits are enough to kill, and even affect the smooth flow of the Silk Road. Therefore, when Liu Xin heard that there were many horse bandits in the Western Regions, he made up his mind that the first thing he would do after rebuilding the capital was to eliminate these horse bandits. In order to eradicate these horse bandits, it is necessary to grasp the situation of these horse bandits. Therefore, Liu Xincai sent Wei Yan to attack, and before their accomplices returned, they robbed the casualties of the horse bandits, so as to find some clues from them.

"Inform the medical officer and do everything in your power to save those two wounded." Liu Xin saw that Wei Yan and the others had come back safely, passed an order, and turned his head again, "Baguli, do you know who these horse bandits are?" ”

Baguli approached the corpse of a horse bandit and gently lifted the mask covering his face, shocked.