On a winter morning, the sun hid behind thick clouds as always, and although the wind and snow had long since stopped, the sun never appeared in the sky.

Xu Chang and Zhao You were two of the thirty-six horsemen, and they were Kou Ying's henchmen, who had already gotten up early in the morning, left the camp with the soldiers and horses, and went straight to the west.

Kou Ying is still very sophisticated and cunning after all, although he doesn't want to really fight the Northwest Army too early, but he also knows that if the soldiers and horses stand still and do nothing, it is very likely that Chu Huan will see through it as a bluff.

Mo Wuyi led the team to withdraw from the Fallen Horse City, but the soldiers and horses had completely retreated into Yanshan, and it was naturally difficult to complete it in three or four days.

He was ready to let the cavalry corps turn back and return to the city of Fallen Horses, and refuse according to the city, but before that, he still had to send troops and horses to the west to explore the truth, first, to show Chu Huan that the westward advance of the Liaodong Army was not a bluff, but a more important reason, but also to find out how the Northwest Army would respond.

Xu Chang and Zhao You are both from cavalry, and the ability to lead a few thousand cavalry is still not a problem, and the two of them have been instructed by Kou Ying last night, and each led two thousand cavalry to wander west to explore the truth.

Xu Chang took the lead, walking in the forefront, and as soon as the cold wind blew, the Liaodong soldiers had already raised their spirits.

Four thousand Liaodong iron cavalry lined up, neat and orderly.

The rangers were cruising around the periphery, and the four thousand soldiers and horses were marching all the way west, walking for a whole day, and finally arrived near a small mountain range, Xu Chang knew that the small mountain was called Huangling, which was a very inconspicuous one among the many mountains in Hexi Road, but now in Xu Chang's eyes, the Yellow Ridge was a boundary, and according to Kou Ying's instructions, after the soldiers and horses arrived at the Yellow Ridge, they were not allowed to continue to march west.

Four thousand soldiers and horses are just a stone used by Kou Ying to test the Northwest Army, to test the reaction of the Northwest Army, but it is not fat for the Northwest Army.

If you go too deep, if you are dumplings by the Northwest Army, it will be too late to regret it, but where the Yellow Ridge is located, it is just right, which can further touch the nerves of the Northwest Army, and even if there is a situation, you can get reinforcements from the main force in the rear at any time.

According to Kou Ying's instructions, after the soldiers and horses arrived at Huangling, if they did not find the enemy, they could stay near Huangling for a day, and if nothing happened within a day, they could retreat and join the main force, and then retreat to Fallen Horse City together.

Xu Chang naturally obeyed Kou Ying's words, and after arriving at Huangling, the whole army dismounted and camped according to the ridge.

After staying in Huangling for nearly a day, the surrounding rangers did not find any movement of the Northwest Army, Xu Chang was ready to turn around and return, but he also secretly laughed at the cowardice of the Northwest Army in his heart, so he suddenly got the report of the rangers, and the shadow of the Northwest Cavalry suddenly appeared in the west.

Xu Chang's heart suddenly became nervous, quickly rode to the mountain, looked west condescendingly, only to see a team of cavalry on the plain in the distance, Xu Chang looked at it, and estimated that the opponent's strength was only two thousand people at most, but it was only half of his own strength, and at the current speed of the other party, it would be at most a cup of tea to get closer.

Xu Chang's heart was suddenly settled, secretly thinking that the Northwest Cavalry suddenly appeared here, judging from the strength of the other party, it was naturally not a ranger scout sent out, could it be that he learned that the soldiers and horses of Liaodong appeared in the area of Huangling, and Chu Huan also sent soldiers and horses to explore the truth?

If he saw the arrival of the Northwest Army at this time, Xu Chang would not hesitate at all, and would definitely order an immediate retreat, but the appearance of such a cavalry on the other side made Xu Chang's heart tremble.

He has followed the Red Liandian Southern Expedition to the North for many years, and the Red Beitu Cavalry was born, so he really doesn't know what fear means, he has always been very brave on the battlefield, and he has always been against the enemy, and the 36 cavalry in Liaodong have always been charging forward.

"Old Fourteen, what do you think we should do?" Xu Chang turned his head to look at Zhao You beside him, "This is a piece of fat in your mouth." ”

Zhao You frowned and said, "Starling, do you say that the Northwest Army knows that we are here to set up a formation?" ”

"Of course I do." Xu Chang said: "Let's come here with great fanfare, if the Northwest Army still doesn't know anything, their scouts and scouts should also go back to eat." ”

Zhao Youdao: "Since they have scouts and horses, they should be able to find that we have at least three or four thousand soldiers and horses, why do they only send two thousand people?" Is there any conspiracy going on? ”

"I heard that Chu Huan is a scheming person, but he can't help but guard against it." Xu Chang bowed slightly: "But they can send two thousand cavalry, which is already good, you know, how many cavalry can the Northwest Army have, how can it be compared to us?" ”

At this moment, Xu Chang condescendingly saw that the Northwest Cavalry on the distant plain suddenly stopped advancing and stopped in place.

"Are they ready to leave?" Xu Chang frowned.

Although Kou Ying had confessed that once he encountered the Northwest Army, he would never easily launch an attack on the Northwest Army unless he had to, so as not to fall into the enemy's trap, but at this moment, seeing a piece of fat meat in his mouth, there seemed to be signs of flying away, which made Xu Chang, who always had fighting blood flowing in his veins, a little disappointed in his heart.

"Nope." Zhao You shook his head and said: "They have already dismounted, hehe, this is interesting, could it be that they want to confront us in this area of Huangling?" ”

Xu Chang stared at that side and didn't say anything.

Zhao You looked up at the sky, it was already ten o'clock at dusk, the days were short and the nights were long in winter, knowing that it would not be long before the sky would be dark, and said to Xu Chang: "Starling, we can withdraw our troops." ”

"Withdrawing troops?" Xu Chang looked at Zhao You, full of surprise, "You said to withdraw the troops now?" ”

"The second brother has instructed that as long as you stay here for a day, you can withdraw the troops." Zhao Youdao: "And the Northwest Army has already reacted, we can be regarded as knowing the movements of the Northwest Army, there is no need to continue to stay here." In case the Northwest Army plays tricks, he knows exactly where we are, maybe it will! ”

Xu Chang smiled: "Are you but there will be an accident if you stay here?" ”

Zhao You didn't deny it, but Xu Chang stared at the Northwest Cavalry who had stopped and sneered: "Old Fourteen, we just met the Northwest Army, and we didn't even say hello, if we withdraw our troops immediately at this time, have you ever thought about the consequences?" Raising his hand and pointing at the Liaodong cavalry formation not far away with a horsewhip, "You should know that since the attack on Yanshan and entering Hexi, the morale of the soldiers has been very depressed. The Liaodong Army was afraid of who came, and as soon as they saw the shadow of the Northwest Army today, they withdrew their troops. ”

Zhao You frowned and said: "Starling, I naturally didn't mean that, it's just that our task is to explore the reality of the Northwest Army, if we don't withdraw our troops, will we confront the Northwest Army on the opposite side here?" The second brother said that we should not easily contact the Northwest Army, and we must not do anything with them unless we have to, in this case, it is not beneficial for us to stay here. ”

Xu Chang said: "Old Fourteen, if you want to leave, I won't stop you, but I, Xu Chang, followed Dianshuai out in my teens, and I have experienced a hundred battles, but I really haven't shrunk my head when I encounter the enemy!" ”

Zhao You knew that persuasion could not be successful, sighed, and said, "Starling, then what do you say we should do?" ”

"Don't worry, let's wait and see." Xu Chang rubbed his hands, "Old Fourteen, I pondered, the Northwest Army only sent these two thousand cavalry, of course, because they didn't have many cavalry, is it possible that it was also because they thought we didn't dare to do anything with them?" ”

Zhao You was silent, just staring at that side and not speaking.

Xu Chang continued: "You said that if we really eat this Northwest cavalry!" ”

Before he finished speaking, Zhao You said in surprise: "Starling, are you going to make a move against this enemy army?" ”

"The meat is in the mouth, and if you don't eat it, you won't eat it for nothing." Xu Chang sneered: "The second brother didn't let us easily confront the Northwest Army, it was just because he was worried that before Liaodong was stable, he would form a mortal enemy like the Northwest Army." But the second brother doesn't want to think about it, a person like Chu Huan, if we don't mess with him, can he be honest and peaceful, this person is out of the northwest and cannibalized all the way, if we retreat, Hexi will be swallowed by Chu Huan too, and our Liaodong will inevitably fight with the northwest sooner or later, hehe, in this case, let's eat their cavalry now and consume their strength, why not? ”

"Starling, you still have to think twice." Zhao You said: "Don't mess up the overall situation of the second brother." ”

"Second brother asked us to explore the truth, we haven't completed the task yet." Xu Chang said: "The Northwest Army has a reputation, but we have never fought with them, I don't know their depth, since we have encountered it today, why not test it, and really touch what this group of Northwest people is capable of?" ”

Zhao You thought for a while before he said: "Starling, it's better to wait and see if there are any tricks in the Northwest Army, let's wait for the night and tomorrow morning, and then make a calculation." ”

Xu Chang hesitated, he was not familiar with the terrain here, and even said that he was quite unfamiliar, and he didn't know the depth of the Northwest Army, for the sake of safety, but he also felt that what Zhao You said was not unreasonable, so he finally nodded and agreed, and waited all night to see if there were any tricks on the Northwest Army's side.

The Northwest Army is just separated by a tea time, each camped, the tiger is on the side, both sides have to double their vigilance, beware of the other side to take advantage of the night.

At dawn the next day, Xu Chang, who was half-asleep, was suddenly awakened by a horn sound, reflexively drew a knife in his hand, and shouted: "What's wrong?" ”

Over there, Zhao You had already run over and said, "It's the sound of the horn from the Northwest Army!" ”