Song Qingshu and Yelu Qi galloped eastward with their men. There were many checkpoints along the way, but Yelu Qi's betrayal was too sudden. Even the people in Shangjing did not expect it, not to mention the other cities further away.
In addition, the news did not spread so quickly. The guards still thought that Yelu Qi was the commander of the Imperial Palace. When they saw him arrive, they were all flattered and welcomed him warmly.
Yelu Qi only lied that he had a secret mission assigned by the Emperor and did not stop at all. Most of the guards did not ask much. After all, the rules were one thing and the actual operation was another. Yelu Qi was the commander of the Imperial Palace Division and was the favorite of the Emperor. Who would offend him because of a little suspicion?
But even so, there were still a few stubborn guards on the way. They insisted that Yelu Qi had to go through the relevant paperwork before they could let him pass. Yelu Qi was not soft on such people. When the other party saw the paperwork, he killed him with a sword and then put the crime of obstructing urgent military affairs on his head, successfully frightening the other soldiers.
Seeing all of this, Zhao Min couldn't help but praise, "I've heard that Yelu Qi has the air of a modest gentleman. I was worried that he would be indecisive and delay the opportunity, but now it seems that my worries were groundless."
Song Qingshu sighed, "This time it concerns the lives of thousands of people in his family. Even a modest gentleman will become iron-blooded."
Just like that, the group of people overcame all the obstacles along the way. After daybreak, they had run about one hundred and sixty miles to the east. Fortunately, they were all cavalry and Yelu Qi had transferred good horses from all the palaces. Even so, these few hours of running were enough to make the horses tired.
While the troops were resting, Song Qingshu said in a low voice, "We can't go on like this. We are at least 400 kilometers away from the sphere of influence of the Golden Snake Battalion. Considering the necessary rest time midway, it will take at least two days. By this time, the people in Shangjing must have reacted and sent elite cavalry to chase us. It is only a matter of time before they catch up with us. "
In fact, Song Qingshu did not know much about the speed of marching in ancient times. There were all kinds of traveling hundreds of kilometers in a day in historical records, which seemed to be beyond the limits of physics. But when he came to this world and led the troops through the baptism of war, he had a general understanding of this problem.
The most important thing was that the length of a li in ancient times was different from that in modern times. In ancient times, one li was more than 300 meters. Three li was about one kilometer in modern times. In ancient times, an infantry that could travel 20 kilometers a day was already considered a top-level army. Cavalry was a little faster, but like the Mongols, who had one soldier and three horses, they could only travel about 95 kilometers a day. Of course, if they completely abandoned their supplies and desperately marched, regardless of whether it was infantry or cavalry, their speed could be a little faster. But this would not last long. Once they suffered a setback midway, coupled with the loss of supplies, it was easy for the whole army to be wiped out.
About four hours had passed since they left Shangjing, and they had run more than 50 kilometers. In the eyes of Yelu Qi and Zhao Min, this was already a very fast speed, but Song Qingshu could not help but complain. One had to know that in his previous world, the world record for a marathon was only two hours and twenty seconds, which meant that they could run about 21 kilometers per hour. Now, they had run for four hours on a good horse, and they had only run about 50 kilometers. It was not even as fast as the people in his previous world.
Of course, complaining was one thing, but Song Qingshu also understood that the comparison could not be so simple. After all, the marathon did not have to carry any weight, and the journey was smooth, and there were supplies along the way. On the other hand, the cavalry had to cross mountains and pass through various checkpoints along the way, which took time. More importantly, there were more than 3,000 people in this army, including many women and children. A large army needed to maintain formation at all times, and it was not as convenient and fast as a single person.
There was also the marathon. After all, they only had to run about 42 kilometers in total, and they just had to finish it. The cavalry, on the other hand, had to conserve their horses to a certain extent. Otherwise, with the speed of the marathon, it would not take long for the horses to die from exhaustion.
"We are already mentally prepared for this problem. This time, how many of us can escape will be up to fate." Yelu Qi was in the army, so he was naturally very familiar with the speed of marching. He had already considered this problem before.
Song Qingshu frowned and glanced at Zhao Min. Seeing that she was not surprised at all, he knew that she was thinking the same way. He could not help but sigh. These people were used to being in positions of power, and they really did not care about human lives.
Of course, he was not so saintly as to want to save everyone. However, these people were going to rely on him, and every one of them was an excellent rider. He could use them as seeds to train a large number of excellent knights. If they died on this wild mountain escape, it would be a waste.
"How about this, we will split into two groups, and leave one group as a distraction to cover the retreat of the main army," Song Qingshu suggested.
Zhao Min frowned slightly, and Yelu Qi also smiled bitterly. "Those who are wise will die, and those who stay behind will not do their best. They will most likely collapse at the first touch, and they might even expose our information."
Zhao Min also agreed. "Yes, although there may be those who are willing to stay behind to cover the retreat, there are few people after all. If the others are forced, it will be difficult to guarantee the effect." The army often chose suicide squads and tempted people with wealth and official positions. Although it was dangerous, there was still a chance of survival. It was not like now, where those who stayed behind to cover the retreat would definitely die.
Faced with the doubts of the two, Song Qingshu smiled and said, "What if we take the lead?"
Zhao Min and Yelu Qi were both shocked. "What do you mean?"
"We will take the lead to cover the retreat of the main army," Song Qingshu explained. "In this way, those who stay behind with us will not think that they will die."
Zhao Min and Yelu Qi nodded inwardly. With them taking the lead, it was a good idea, but there was a big problem. "Then won't we also fall into a dead end?"
Song Qingshu shook his head. "Do you think I am the kind of person who will seek death?" He remembered in his previous life, Taizu's classic crossing of the Red River four times. Against the pursuit of hundreds of thousands of enemies, he managed to escape with his life. At that time, their situation was even worse than now. With such a genius example, combined with the complex terrain of the Taihang Mountains, it was not impossible to shake off the pursuers.
Hearing his general explanation, Zhao Min and Yelu Qi were acutely aware of the possibility of success. To the side, Yelu Chucai also sighed with emotion. "Everyone says that the Prince of Qi is a famous general that has never been seen before. Before, this old man felt that the people were exaggerating. Today, I have seen the Prince of Qi for myself.
A young girl in the crowd was also curiously sizing him up. Although the young girl was tall, her face still had a childish look. She was not a stunning beauty, but when she suddenly pursed her lips into a smile, there was a shyness and charm to her.
Song Qingshu knew that she was his cheap wife, Yelu Chucai's daughter, Yelu Yan. He politely nodded and smiled at her. Who knew that Yelu Yan's face would suddenly turn red, and she would turn her face away.
Song Qingshu did not know whether to laugh or cry. Although she was born in the grasslands, she was still too young. It was normal for her to be so shy.
Noticing that the two of them were exchanging glances, Zhao Min put her hand to her mouth and coughed lightly. Indifferently, she said, "Since that is the case, let's split up."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
