Chapter 172

  Blackstone City, the army is about to set out.

  "Within ten drumbeats, if you have not arrived, behead!"

  The red eyebrowed man sat on horseback, his eyebrows twisted together, and the red brow on his face was even more vibrant.

  The warriors who pursued last night have not returned yet, and the result is that only one of them has survived, and they have all been defeated. The death of thousands of people is extremely rare in the Rong tribe. Moreover, this team was personally led by Chì Méi. This is not a pleasant thing, and Chì Méi couldn't help but think whether he had been too kind to these people usually.

  "Koyama-bu!"

  "Agreed!"

  "Doggy style!"

  "Agreed!"

  "Yáquán bù!" -> "Department of Dental Springs!"

  "Agreed!"

  Mèng...

  At one shout, a tribal leader responded, and after ten drumbeats, the Red Eyebrows led by Chimei had already arrived with over a dozen large and small tribes.

  Last night's defeat made everyone a bit unhappy, with a stifled anger on their faces that made them want to kill someone.

  "Let's go!"

  The red eyebrows were clean and neat, and the sentence was thrown down. The horses galloped, but the team maintained its own formation, without any chaos. The Rong tribe's riding skills are unparalleled in the world, and the speed of the team's advance is extremely fast.

  Before long, the troops had entered the Qingniu Mountain area.

  On the top of Ox Horn Peak, a poplar tree's branches are shifted, pointing towards the north.

  "Arrived, arrived." Cheng Dairen looked carefully and suddenly came to life.

  Just as they were about to reach Qingniu Mountain, the Red Eyebrows' troops were blocked. On the main road, giant logs, boulders and deep trenches had been laid out.

  These are not enough to stop an army of ten thousand men; with a troop of ten thousand, one person can take a handful of earth and fill the ditch.

  Almost without waiting for Chi Mei's order, someone had already dismounted and was clearing the way ahead. They moved large logs out of the way, shifted rocks, filled in ditches... Naturally, the speed of the troops was also slowed down.

  In the mountain forest, Cheng Da Lei carried a large axe on his back, grasped a sword in his hand, and clenched and unclenched his fists.

  "Let go!"

  The archers of the Hundred Man Squad shot their arrows simultaneously, iron arrows falling like rain, shooting down from high places at the Rong tribe who were opening up the road.

  This sudden rain of arrows caught them off guard, and in an instant, more than a dozen people were shot and injured, and for a moment, they were so flustered that they didn't react.

  "An ambush!" The Red Eyebrows shouted coldly: "Kill them!"

  In fact, without Red Eyebrows' order, a Han man from the Rong tribe had already charged forward with his bow, arrow and curved knife.

  "Let's go! Let's go!"

  Cheng Dalai let out a loud roar and turned around to flee into the depths of the mountain.

  The Rong tribe's horsemanship is unmatched, and their archery skills are also unparalleled. This can be considered a racial talent of theirs. As for the mountain bandits led by Cheng Da Lei, they don't even have any real archery skills to speak of - being able to draw a bow is already quite an achievement for them. These people are more skilled with hoes than in combat.

  Of course, they also have their own talents. After living in Qingniu Mountain for so many years, they are extremely familiar with the terrain here. Climbing mountains and crossing ridges is like walking on flat ground for them. As for the Rong tribe in the mountains... I've never heard of anyone herding sheep or cattle to the top of the mountain.

  A group of people turned around on the mountain for a few rounds and disappeared without a trace. The Red Eyebrow Army sent out pursuing troops, but they returned in vain. Two of them sprained their feet from running too fast and were in so much pain that their faces turned bright red.

  It's a bit embarrassing and also a bit humiliating.

  "Press on, beware of your surroundings!"

  The army continued to advance, but had to constantly clear a path, which slowed down the speed of the troops.

  "It's here! It's here!"

  Gao Fei's palm was pressed against his chest, and he was so close to the Rong tribe that he was frightened out of his wits.

  "Let go!"

  "Let's go! Let's go!"

  The red-browed face got uglier and uglier, relying on the geographical advantage, occasionally releasing a wave of feather arrows in the mountains. And these arrow-releasing people are extremely despicable, shooting one wave of arrows and then leaving, once being discovered by scouts in advance, they absolutely have no intention of fighting, pulling their legs and running away.

  But in mountainous areas... even a skilled warrior can't run very fast.

  The casualties were actually not that heavy, and the injury or death of dozens of people was nothing to the troops. But this feeling of having cold arrows flying over at any time was really disgusting.

  Thus, the speed of the troops' march was greatly slowed down.

  No matter how long the road is, there will always be a moment when you arrive at your destination.

  Three days after setting out from Red Eyebrows, on a dusk, Red Eyebrow's troops had entered the center of Qingniu Mountain. He took out a rough map to observe the surrounding terrain, then let out a long sigh and gazed forward: "What I want is inside!"

  The troops advanced, and as they turned a bend in the road, Chi Mei did not see the valley he had imagined, but instead saw a city wall that rose from the ground, dotted with torches.

  Things are a bit different from what I thought, there is an army stationed here, whose soldiers are they?

  Forget about all that, knock down this city gate, and those mutants will return to their original form.

  Without a moment's delay, Chi Meng ordered the attack on the city.

  The empire has lost a hundred battles and lost a hundred times. The Rong tribe has won a hundred battles and won a hundred times, until now, the empire is used to losing, and the Rong tribe is also used to winning.

  In the cognition of the Rong tribe, the imperial warriors are weak and timid, and the imperial city is as fragile as a paper hut, which will collapse with just one trample of iron hooves.

  "The great leader... They're attacking!"

  "So sudden!" Cheng Dairen was also startled, and just came over to attack the city. Don't they need to rest, recover their strength, and investigate the surrounding terrain?

  "Get ready! Get ready!" Cheng Da Lei shouted loudly: "We're going to fight!"

  Four catapults were pushed forward from the rear of the troops, and with the first stone hitting the city wall, the first battle between the two sides unfolded.

  Hong Mei didn't give Cheng Dairen time to catch his breath, even if he still doesn't know who his enemy is. As a certain mountaineer said, the mountain is there, so I will climb it.

  If you ask Chi Mei, Chi Mei will definitely say that the city is there, so I want to break the city.

  "How did they get catapults? How did they get catapults!" Cheng Dalai shouted loudly from the top of the city wall.

  The Red Eyebrows had not only catapults but also battering rams and cloud ladders. Of course, these were not made by themselves, but were seized from the King of Youzhou.

  Behind the catapults, warriors rushed to the city wall, battering rams, climbing up to the top of the city with cloud ladders, bows and arrows shot into the sky in anger.

  Cheng Dalai let out a cold breath: "It's hard to guard against, I thought the Rong tribe was not good at attacking cities, but it turns out that they are so sharp when attacking."

  "Let go!" Cheng Dairen furiously roared.

  The heavy crossbow had long been building up momentum, and fifty crossbow arrows shot towards the foot of the city wall.

  The two sides' first battle was conducted in a state of mutual slaughter, starting with an attack on the city at dusk and withdrawing troops only after the third watch.

  The Red Eyebrows did not take down the Frog Hill Fort.

  Taking advantage of the night, the other side set up camp three miles away from Heli Village, which was truly a siege, and they could see each other eating and drinking.

  Cheng Dali did not take advantage of the enemy's camp to launch a night raid, he was busy repairing the city wall, replenishing crossbow arrows, and checking casualties.

  Perhaps because they were not skilled in using catapults, some of the stones did not hit the city wall, and some flew over it. In the end, only one stone hit the city wall, injuring seven or eight people, with no fatalities.

  But Cheng Darui knew that this was only the first battle. At most, it could only be considered an appetizer before a big war.