More than ten thousand horses galloped. The ground shook a few miles away, and the sound could be heard.
There were five strongholds in front of the Xi Tribe. Each stronghold had three thousand people. There were no other people here. They were all warriors.
Less than ten miles behind them was the Luan River. There were strongholds on both sides of the river. The strongholds in front were still warriors, and the ones behind were ordinary Xi Tribe people.
They needed to use the water from the Luan River to water their fields. There were fields on both sides of the river. They would only come over when they harvested.
The Luan River was deep and shallow. The shallow parts could be walked by wading in the water and riding horses was not a problem.
In the past, the Xi Tribe was a semi-nomadic tribe. They had a place to live, and in the winter, they would stay in a relatively stable residence.
They also grew grain, usually wheat and sorghum. They also grazed.
Now, they grew a lot of rice and raised livestock and poultry. Li Dayao was in Chang 'an. Through trade, the Xi Tribe people had plenty of tools.
Otherwise, how could the strongholds be built so well? They also cultivated paddy fields and needed short curved plows.
The houses they built were made of bricks and covered with thatch. The tiles had not been baked yet, and they were just burning bricks.
Chengde had an open-pit coal mine. Li Yi did not want to talk about it, but he felt that the Xi Tribe needed it. He could not possibly transport coal from the side, right?
There was. The Heavenly Soldiers were in Shanxi Datong City, Tianzhen County.
Did Shanxi Datong have coal?
The Heavenly Soldiers had a coal mine. It was more than three hundred miles to transport coal to the Xi Tribe. Wouldn't it be better to transport other things?
Under Li Yi's guidance, the Xi Tribe people found the open-pit coal mine. No matter how big it was, it was enough for them.
At this moment, the people living by the river ran into the cellar. They were all distressed about their houses.
If the Turks rushed over and set the houses on fire, they would have to rebuild the beams. The walls were made of bricks, so they were not afraid of fire.
The livestock and poultry were released. When the time came, they could run. It would be lucky if they could escape.
Dang dang dang, dang dang dang … "Enemy attack, the Turks are coming. Get up, the Turks are coming!"
The people standing guard at the front of the strongholds banged their gongs and shouted. Then, the gongs of the other four strongholds rang out.
The Turks did not seem to want to attack the stronghold at all. Their group rushed past the stronghold and toward the river. Then, they changed their direction slightly, wanting to go around the stronghold by the river.
The drawbridges of the five strongholds were lowered, and the doors opened almost at the same time. Dozens and hundreds of people rushed out, all of them in a sorry state. Some of them did not even have their bows.
They screamed desperately, trying to protect their families behind the river.
They had only traveled a few li when the Tujue Tubo divided their forces. One of the five thousand men was divided into three thousand, the other into two thousand.
The two teams rushed towards the nearest stronghold. There were still people coming out of the stronghold one after another. There was no formation.
The Turks nocked their arrows with excitement written all over their faces.
Then … then the people who rushed out turned their horses around and ran back. Just now, they were risking their lives, but now they ran even faster.
The Turks thought that the Xi people were afraid of death, so they shouted.
While they were charging, additional sounds of horse hooves joined in.
Cavalrymen rushed out of the gates of four of the five strongholds in neat rows, all of them fully armed.
The cavalrymen who ran out quickly increased the speed of their horses, and two of the Xi people who were targeted ran around the stronghold.
The cavalrymen of the other three strongholds rushed to the rear of the stronghold. They nocked their arrows and were ready to draw their bows at any time.
Other than the difference in the number of stones, their bows and arrows were the same. They were standard equipment of the Tang dynasty, with leather armor on their bodies and wooden helmets on their heads.
The Turks were quite smart. They saw the situation and the equipment of the other party and knew that they had fallen into a trap.
"Charge, cross the river, go to the back and kill them," the leader commanded.
They looked for gaps in the cavalry formation, not giving up.
The two sides crossed each other at a certain distance and shot arrows. From time to time, people would fall from their horses.
"Kill!" Shi Yue thought that the Xi people would have a hard time fighting, but it seemed that the Turks were finished.
He did not want to wait. The four hundred and eighty men rushed towards the three thousand Turks, where the highest commander was.
"Ka ka ka ka" The Heavenly Soldiers lowered the front of their helmets, opened the front of their guns, loaded the bullets, and pressed their fire caps in, ready to fire at any time.
The three dogs did not move and stayed where they were. Their mission was not to bite the hooves of the horses. If they rushed in, they would be trampled to death.
The Turks who were going back and forth to the back of the Luan River did not hear the sound of hooves. The battlefield was too chaotic.
They rushed through the night. The Xi people slept first, and when they were woken up, they still had time to adapt.
The morale of the two sides was not on the same line. The Turks were tenacious.
They wanted to cross the river, so someone had to stop the five strongholds. The horses slowed down in the water and became fixed targets.
They were looking for an opportunity to distance themselves.
The three thousand men ran and ran, and Shi Yue's men gradually approached.
"There are fewer people there. Charge!" The commander of the three thousand men weighed the battlefield and saw a team with fewer people.
He wanted to disrupt the enemy's formation by charging at this team. The team adjusted slightly and rushed towards the Heavenly Soldiers.
"Stop, two rows." Shi Yue saw that they dared to attack him. He ordered.
The four hundred and eighty men formed two rows in a short time. The front row and the back row raised their guns in the gap.
About three hundred meters.
"Fire!" Shi Yue shouted.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The first row of guns fired and they quickly reloaded.
"Fire!" Shi Yue shouted.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The second row of soldiers pulled the trigger and reloaded.
The moment the Turks heard the gunshots, the people in front shouted and fell off their horses.
Some horses were hit, some raised their hooves in pain, some rushed to the side, and some directly knelt down.
About two hundred meters.
"Fire!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Fire!"
"Pa …"
"Retreat, reload." Shi Yue stopped fighting. The horses were running too fast, and he had lost his mobility.
Everyone immediately urged the horses to run. As soon as the horses sped up, they used their own methods to reload.
They stuffed their guns under their armpits, grabbed the reins and loaded with their mouths …
The charging Turks on the other side slowed down.
"Military forces of the Tang Dynasty." "It's the Military forces of the Tang Dynasty." "Firearms." "Are these firearms?"
The Turks were a little panicked. Not many people had died, but the sense of powerlessness was strong.
It was so far away, and the people around them were shot.
How could they fight? The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty were riding four horses per person. Their troops would be wiped out. They could not catch up, hit, or run away.
The Turks' commander was even more confused. What should they do next?
"Gather, gather!" The commander finally gave the order.
"Fire!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Shi Yue would not wait for the Turks to think before attacking. He had enough range now.
"Go that way." The Turks' commander did not want to chase, and the troops changed direction again.
"Fire!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Turks ran, and Shi Yue continued to shout.
The Xi Clan's troops were still chasing and circling. The other 2,000 Turks were circled back and forth by several troops.
Some were chasing from behind, some were running diagonally in front, and the troops on both sides were circling back and forth.
They were surrounded by the Xi Clan's warhorses, and there was no gap in the distance.
The troops could only rush in one direction to escape the encirclement.
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