Lin Fu's benefactor, Liu Gui, as one of the four leading generals in the second battle of Liang Mang, stationed his troops outside Gourd Mouth in Youzhou, far away from the battlefield in Liangzhou, in order to prevent the same mistake from happening again. Therefore, he could not solve the thirst outside Liangzhou Pass. The reason why Lin Fu dragged Yelu Chucai's Black Crow Bar into this hunt was because firstly, he wanted to wrap dumplings and eat Sun Ji's crossbowmen. Secondly, Lin Fu was ambitious. He purposely gave the military merit to Yelu Chucai in order to make friends with Dong Zhuo, who had just resigned as the King of the Southern Courtyard. He also wanted to persuade Fatty Dong, who would not act unless he saw a rabbit, to mobilize eight thousand of the Dong family's private cavalry to follow behind the horse bars from afar. This was to deal with the field light cavalry outside Liangzhou Pass that might quickly enter the Longyan Plains, such as Liu Ya and Fuling's cavalry troops behind Hutou City, so that they could report back to the king before the battle began. This was why Lin Fu had no choice but to hand over the head of Beiliang's Sun Ji with both hands in the previous battle. His Black Crow Bar was like a spectator from the beginning to the end. Dong Zhuo once laughed and asked Lin Fu if he was not afraid that all his efforts would be in vain. After all, all his efforts would go to his brother-in-law's military merit in the end. Lin Fu did not mince his words. Since both sides of Liang Mang wanted to wipe out the enemy's scouts in one fell swoop, completely blinding the enemy, Lin Fu believed in his own intuition. He believed that the Liangzhou border army, whose resources were not as deep as his own, would definitely not allow several hundred crossbowmen to die in front of their eyes. Once the main force of Beiliang's cavalry entered the battlefield, the military merit would be enormous.
However, Lin Fu felt that it was a pity. Only Dong Zhuo was willing to accompany him to the gambling table. But when he went to see Commandant Murong Baoding and the commander of the Rouran Cavalry, Hong Jingyan, in an attempt to persuade them to join him in this grand hunt that had a high chance of triggering the great battle of Liang Mang, to his surprise, Murong Baoding, who was in charge of attacking Liangzhou's defensive line alongside Dong Zhuo, actually scoffed. Hong Jingyan, on the other hand, was hesitant. In the end, the Rouran Cavalry was temporarily under Murong Baoding's command. Without a military order, the Rouran Cavalry could not be mobilized on their own accord.
As the Black Fox Guards and the White Horse Crossbowmen drew closer and closer, Lin Fu suddenly saw a comical sight. Beside Lieutenant Wei Musheng's horse was a child who could barely be called a youth. Riding on a large horse, he looked like a large horse carrying a small piece of charcoal. The child was not wearing the Beiliang standard light armor of the crossbowmen. Instead of a sword, he carried a cold saber on his back. It looked very absurd. Of course, Lin Fu did not believe that the Beiliang cavalry was lacking in soldiers to such an extent. This was because in the first great battle of Liang Mang, it was said that a young rider had followed the King of Beiliang, Hsu Fengnian, to battle outside Gourd Mouth of Youzhou. He killed people like scything wheat, using his two fists to kill a hundred people. Lin Fu suddenly understood. It was no wonder that not a single person from the Black Fox Guards had survived to report back. There was an eighty to ninety percent chance that they had been killed by this person. Lin Fu did not dare to lower his guard in the slightest. As if he was facing a great enemy, he intentionally or unintentionally avoided the saber-carrying child in his charge.
On Yelu Chucai's side of the battlefield, a group of fifty or so Tibing Mountain Wufu led the charge and killed the crossbowman Lieutenant Li Hanlin in one fell swoop.
Li Hanlin did not change his route and continued forward in a straight line.
In the past, the young man who was cursed together with His Royal Highness, Yan Chiji, and Kong Wuchi as one of the Four Evils of Beiliang, the one who thought that he would spend the rest of his life fooling around among the flowers. His face was still as handsome as ever, but it was no longer sickly white. Instead, it was slightly tanned and angular.
In these three years, he had risen from the lowest level of crossbowmen outside Liangzhou Pass, to squad leader, squad leader, squad leader, vice captain, and commandant. Step by step, he had become the lieutenant of today, the commander of the world's most invincible 800 White Horse Crossbowmen.
His fellow soldiers, his old squad leaders, squad leaders, and commandants had all died in battle before the eyes of this young man whose father was the Beiliang Prefect of Daoism.
The only familiar faces who had joined the army at the beginning were Lu Dou, Li Shiyue, and Fang Hutou.
Li Hanlin remembered the first time he met Brother Nian, who had returned from Liyangjiang Lake to Mount Qingliang. At that time, Li Hanlin was still very much looking forward to Jianghu. He listened to Hsu Fengnian talk about the anecdotes of the Wulin world, about the strength of heroes, the charm of fairies, and the style of grandmasters. Li Hanlin considered the fact that he had never experienced Jianghu as his greatest regret.
Later, he left the rich Lingzhou in Jiangnan and came alone to the unfamiliar Liangzhou Pass. As far as his eyes could see, there were only military forts, yellow sand that blotted out the sky and covered the earth, the boiling hot Gobi Desert, the stubborn vegetation that was hard to see, and the unbearably smelly horse dung. Beside him, there were only three things he could rely on.
Li Hanlin exhaled heavily. "Lu Dou!"
The heavy-eyed Lu Dou nodded. Expressionlessly, he led the charge out of the cavalry formation.
At the same time, a rider followed him out on a fast horse.
It was a young female swordsman who did not fit in with this group of White Horse Crossbowmen. She was full of heroic spirit, the type of girl whose beauty was not too outstanding, but could still make people's eyes light up.
The young girl carried many swords on her back.
Ever since she became the personal retainer of Captain Li Hanlin, she naturally attracted a lot of attention. But when they heard that she was the eldest disciple of the prince, none of the White Horse Crossbowmen dared to joke around. No one dared to call her the nickname "Sword Girl." Some of the younger crossbowmen were even somewhat disheartened.
The young female swordsman called Wang Sheng turned her head and glanced at Li Hanlin.
Li Hanlin responded with a smile. His eyes indicated that he would not forget her master's warning.
After the Old Woman of Beimang declared that she would exterminate all the crossbowmen of Beiliang, and especially after it was rumored that she had specifically mentioned his name, Li Hanlin, in front of all the civil and military officials in the Imperial Court, Hsu Fengnian very quickly had Wang Sheng enter the crossbowmen as a temporary scout. He also sent a message to Li Hanlin.
That message had nothing to do with heroic words, nothing to do with soul-stirring emotions.
"Do not die so easily."
The meaning of these words was that he, Li Hanlin, could die when he needed to, but he had to die a worthy death.
Li Hanlin did not feel that there was anything wrong with these words. On the contrary, as a crossbowman captain who was used to a military life and had seen many deaths, he felt that only such words were worthy of their twenty years of brotherly love.
Sun Ji, I, Li Hanlin, will collect your corpse today.
If I die, Brother Nian, there is no need to trouble you to collect my corpse.
— — —
Pull one hair and the whole body will be affected.
Liang Mang used their own scouts as bait.
Yuan Nanting led ten thousand White Feather Guards and Qi Dang led six thousand Iron Stupas. Based on the strategy of the Huaiyang Pass, they entered the battlefield of the Dragon Eye one after the other.
The eight thousand Dong Zhuo elite cavalry and the six thousand Rouran cavalry of Hong Jingyan, who had changed his mind for some reason, also entered the battlefield one after the other.
This encounter, which had been planned by both sides long ago and was full of variables, happened so abruptly that no one was prepared for it.
Murong Baoding's army could not send reinforcements in time. The Beiliang cavalry of Liuya and Fuling were also unable to send reinforcements.
In the dilapidated Hutou City, the brand new "Xu" flag on the city wall flapped in the wind.
The summer grass that had spent a spring in the cracks of the city was still green, but the autumn wind did not arrive and did not wither.
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