The cold wind stomped with dead branches and leaves, flying in the air. It blew into the cave on the cliff and made a sob. The Shi family slave rode on his horse, watching the mountains opposite, and a small path meandering between them. He gritted his teeth and said loudly: "Cross the river! All the foreign tribes on the opposite side of the river are my Grass Valley!"

After saying that, as soon as he lifted the reins of the horse, he was the first to step onto the ice of the Yellow River. More than a thousand soldiers behind him cheered loudly and followed.

Zhang Ke stood at the head of Tanglong Town, looking at the desolate surroundings and the face was as deep as water. In the past few days, the temperature dropped sharply, and the Yellow River was frozen, and within hundreds of miles of the surrounding area, there was a riotous world. The news that the Khitans would cross the river and loot had already spread. Within the Yellow River, many foreign tribes began to attack each other before the Khitans came, and they were very happy to steal it.

In the past few days, foreign households have been hiding in Tanglong Town. Most of them are small tribes, and they have never been to Tanglong Town a few days ago. Now that it is time for life and death, I remember that the imperial army is still reliable and they are moving closer to this place.

This is how to guard the border, and you cannot be angry with the people under the rule. Even if they distrust a lot of people a few days ago, they didn’t come to invite them. Now they come with their families to hide, and there is no reason to keep them out. This is how people’s hearts are built bit by bit. Zhang Ku opened the city gate and let them hide in the city as long as they were nearby foreign households, and they would be properly placed.

Under the city wall, the foreign people who came to hide were basking in the sun, looking dull. Every winter, similar stories were constantly on this land. The strong snatched around, the weak snatched everywhere, and everything was left to fate.

At this moment, a fast horse ran from afar and saw the flag on the horse, and the military and civilians were hiding.

The knight entered the city, turned over and dismounted, ran up the city wall quickly, and crossed his hands at Zhang Ji: "The Chief Minister, the Khitan soldiers have crossed the river!"

Zhang Ke suddenly turned around, staring at the soldiers with a pair of tiger eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Is the news conclusive?"

The soldiers said firmly: "There is no doubt! Khitan soldiers crossed the river upstream five days ago, along the Mayuan Road in the former dynasty, all the way towards Tanglong Town, and robbed them along the way. The northern foreign tribes were attacked by them and fled everywhere, most of them fled south of Tanglong Town."

Zhang Ku nodded: "Okay, I'm afraid they won't come! The foreign tribes don't care about them. If they don't go into the city, they will go! Explore them again!"

The soldier sang his promise with his hands and walked down the city quickly.

Nearly a hundred miles above Dongjiazhai, the Yellow River passes through the cliffs, with no ferry crossings, and there are no roads on both sides. It is now frozen and cannot cross the river from there. The Khitans can only detour from the upper reaches of the north. After crossing the river, they enter Mayuan during the Northern Wei Dynasty and head south along the road. This area is rich in water and grass, with many foreign tribes, and they are just robbed along the way. Finally, they enter the valley where Tanglong Town is located, and all the way south.

Zhang Ji distributed scouts on this line and had many eyewitnesses, so he quickly captured their whereabouts. The attacked Dafan tribe did not trust the Song army in Tanglong Town, for fear of being taken away by the Khitans when they hid here, and most of them were bypassing Tanglong Town and evading towards Fengzhou.

The Shi family slave rode on the horse and looked fiercely at his subordinates throwing torches into the tent left on the ground. The fire broke out, and the dim sky was red. He glanced at the five or six squatted on the ground not far away, spat and cursed: "These scattered people run faster than rabbits, so they leave behind such useless people! The young men watched them and went back to receive the reward according to the number of people!"

Several soldiers next to them cheered together, looked at the foreigners on the ground, and laughed happily. Unlike the Song army, the Khitan and Dangxiang did not count their merits on their heads. For them, living people were more valuable. If the enemy died, the rewards were not as good as cattle and sheep, and living people would have dozens of times more money. After all, population is a more important wealth for them. They just need to grab enough food to feed these populations first.

He ordered his subordinates to set up camps and slaughter the cattle and sheep they had seized as military rations, and the Shi family slaves dismounted from the leeward place.

A personal soldier quietly said to the Shi family slave: "Lang Qun, look at the mountain there, which looks like a spy from the Song army. Isn't it good to catch them for dozens of small horses and escort them as our guide?"

The Shi family slave said, "Where is a spy to catch? It takes only effort! The mountains in the front are all big roads, what guide are you looking for! I came to Tanglong Town two years ago. The city was already broken, and there were many foreign people hiding inside, and they made a fortune! Let these foreign people run there, we captured Tanglong Town and captured them together, saving a lot of strength! Hundreds of Song soldiers could resist my large group of troops!"

The personal soldiers hesitated for a moment and said, "Now the court has been pacifying peace with the southern country, and they have not fought for decades. I will really go to attack Tanglong Town--"

Shi Family Nu said disdainfully: "What's not to fight for decades? I don't know how many wars in this area every year, and everyone pretends not to know. At that time, it's just a matter of pacifying the envoy's lawsuit with the Southern Dynasty. We just want to steal our own things, and it's the most important thing to survive."

After saying that, he sat next to the fire and looked anxiously at a sheep on the fire.

Du Zhongxiao said to Wang Kai: "Deployment, Zhang Dujian of Tanglong Town sent people to report that the Khitan troops had crossed the Yellow River. From north of Tanglong Town, he attacked Tanglong Town along the mountain roads and robbed along the way. According to Zhang Dujian's estimate, he would arrive in Tanglong Town in two days."

Wang Kai roasted the fire and said to Du Zhongxiao: "This is expected, what does Zhijun want?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "I will rush back to Biedouzhai tomorrow and guard the place. What I fear most now is that the Khitans attack Tanglong Town and go south to attack Dongjiazhai. Although the walls there are strong, there are many households outside the village, and many foreign households gather there. It is necessary to be foolproof, and the deployment can lead troops to the ferry opposite Dongjiazhai. The terrain is flat and just as it is about to rush, there are Dongjiazhai to receive food and grass."

"Okay, that's it. If the Khitans went crazy and were hitting my knife. There were only a few roads in this area, could they finally skate along the Yellow River? As long as they didn't go crazy, no one would do such a crazy thing."

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "Deployment, that's not what I said. According to the news I received, if the Khitan did not go south to rob, this winter would not be able to continue. In order to survive, what crazy things can't be done?"

Wang Kai laughed: "Zhijun also said that, don't worry, with me here, I will protect Dongjiazhai!"

After saying goodbye to Wang Kai, Du Zhongxiao took Shisanlang and dozens of personal soldiers and rush back to Pitouzhai.

There are actually some special considerations for the Khitan people to plunder. It is clearly the place that belongs to the Song Dynasty, such as the Bietouzhai, which is so close that it is avoided. Although Tanglong Town belongs to the Song Dynasty in name, it is actually an autonomous foreign tribe, and it is also a Khitan official. Many of the foreign tribes in this area are like this, and they are actually independent and autonomous, but there are official positions from three parties openly and secretly, and they are good at both sides. In peace, they gain benefits from the three parties, but once they encounter such Khitan plunder, there are excuses for attacking them. Whoever can accommodate them depends on who has the spare energy.
Chapter completed!