Chapter 513: The Big Show Begins

When the horse bandits once again appeared in front of the convoy, Ma Li's always confident face finally showed a trace of panic. Different from the previous rides, this time, the number of horse bandits reached dozens, and they were still in Xuzhou. Outside, they were looking at their food like wild wolves.

"General Cao!" Ma Li looked back at Cao Tianci.

"No!" Cao Tianci didn't think twice and directly rejected Ma Li, "Colonel Ma, we must not send any more manpower. If we send too few, we will give our opponents heads. If we send too many, huh, huh, They just hope that we will be provoked and attack with all our troops!"

"You mean?" Ma Li asked.

"This is a trap." Cao Tianci said decisively: "Ma Xiaowei said before that this is probably a group of horse bandits coming from afar. Now it seems to be true. They must be short of food and body." was given, so they targeted us, even if we were a convoy escorted by the army,"

"There shouldn't be many of them!" Ma Li pondered.

"Not many. I estimate that they should be between fifty and one hundred. If there are more than one hundred, they will attack by force instead of using some ghostly tricks to lure us." Cao Tianci nodded and said, Regardless of the horse power, he looked embarrassed, "They expect us to be provoked, and then the whole army will go out to chase them. Then, their hidden people will come to attack our convoy."

"We divide our troops into half and go out, we should fight them!" Ma Li said.

"No!" Cao Tianci shook his head and refused, "Captain Ma, since these horse bandits can escape all the way from a distance, their combat power cannot be underestimated. Besides, my mission is to escort Mrs. Lu, not to destroy the enemy and build an attack. , I have completed my mission by delivering Mrs. Lu to Mr. Lu of Shannan County. I don’t want to ignore them. There shouldn’t be many of them when we leave, so we can only use this trick. As long as we gather together, They won’t talk about it.”

"I've lost thirty people, and you've also lost thirty. You don't want to take revenge?" Ma Li wanted to try again. Of the dozens of cavalry and horses he had brought with him, only ten were left at this time. If he returned like this, he would inevitably be punished by military law.

"No one can predict the casualties on the battlefield. Even if you want revenge, you can only do it after completing your mission." At this point, Cao Tianci's tone has turned cold, "Captain Ma, there is no need to say more. , when we arrive in Shannan County and complete the mission, I will take my brothers to the grassland to find these horse bandits and kill them all to take revenge." He looked back at the convoy and shook his head: "Now is not the time. ”

Ma Li sighed, he knew Cao Tianci was right.

Dozens of horse bandits were watching on one side. The speed of their advance was understandable. It took half a day and they had not gone ten miles. During this period, Cao Tianci also made a posture of dividing his troops and attacking.

But as soon as his men and horses were dispatched, the horse bandits immediately retreated. When Cao Tianci withdrew his troops, they approached again, sticking to the convoy like brown candy.

With such a group of horse bandits staying aside, everyone could only eat cold dry food for lunch and swallow it randomly with the snowflakes on the ground. After taking a short rest, they started on their way again. The horse bandits in the distance could not be seen. The men and horses who had lured out the opponent seemed to be a little distracted, and finally began to slowly retreat into the distance.

"It seems they saw no chance and retreated!" Ma Li breathed a sigh of relief.

"Not necessarily!" Cao Tianci became even more worried, "Captain Ma, I'm worried that they will gather men and horses to attack."

"Wouldn't that be better?" Ma Li said: "They came together, just in time to gather and annihilate them."

"I'm worried that I won't be able to defeat them." Cao Tianci sighed, "We have to focus on two things. On the one hand, we have to protect Mrs. Lu's safety, and on the other hand, we have to fight the enemy. You know, the horse bandits don't care whether Mrs. Lu is dead or alive. , and if something happens to Mrs. Lu, even if we win this battle, we may not survive? General Gao will kill me, but Mr. Lu will spare you? "

Ma Li's face changed slightly.

But something that frightened Ma Li even more happened an hour later. Just as Cao Tianci said, the horse bandits gathered. At this distance, they could count the number of each other clearly, and they actually exceeded one hundred and fifty riders.

With a bang, Ma Li and Cao Tianci swallowed involuntarily and looked at each other. They both saw fear in each other's eyes. One hundred and fifty horse-riding bandits, coupled with the combat effectiveness shown by the previous horse bandits, this battle , I'm afraid it won't be easy to fight. What's more, they have to divide their forces to protect Mrs. Lu.

"Why haven't they launched an attack yet?" Ma Li suppressed the panic in his heart, looked at Cao Tianci, and asked.

"I suspect they still have manpower." Cao Tianci's voice was low and trembling. "There must be more than one team of horse bandits targeting us. The previous one wanted to go it alone, but found that we were a bit troublesome and refused to be fooled by them. There was nothing we could do. Now I'm afraid they have to contact more people. "

"What should we do?" Ma Li also became afraid.

"Didn't you say before that your General He's troops are not far from here?" Cao Tianci asked, "If you rush to ask for reinforcements, how long will it take to come back and forth?"

"I'm afraid it will only take a day." Ma Li said.

"One day at a time." Cao Tianci gritted his teeth and said, "You set out immediately to find General He to ask for reinforcements. You'd better hurry up, or you'll collect the corpses for us!"

"Can you survive the whole day?"

"I'll find a favorable place to set up camp. I won't leave, just stay there."

"Can you hold it?"

"You have to defend if you can't." Cao Tianci pointed to the carriages behind him, "We still have some defensive equipment over there. We were originally worried about encountering this kind of situation. Colonel Ma, what do you think?"

"Okay, I'll go. The ten of me will stay to help you." Ma Li gritted his teeth.

"Forget it, ten more people and ten less people won't help us much. Lieutenant Ma, you think you can run to the rescue easily and skillfully. The horse bandits will definitely intercept you. Take your brother with you." Cao Cao Tianci said calmly: "Let them cover you. If you are all intercepted by the horse bandits, then we will really be doomed."

"Okay, then take care of yourself!" Ma Li stretched out his hand and held Cao Tianci's hand firmly, "I leave everything to you."

More than a dozen Qin soldiers on horseback ran out of the convoy and rushed to one side. As Cao Tianci expected, the horse bandits immediately separated into dozens of horsemen, bypassed the convoy, and chased Ma Li and his party. go.

Looking at Ma Li's retreating figure, Cao Tianci let out a chuckle and snickered. "Go forward, speed up, go forward!"

I wonder if the reinforcements from the horse bandits have not arrived. The horse bandits not far away have not launched an attack. They have been following the convoy slowly until nightfall. Cao Tianci decided to stop and set up camp. The horse bandits were not far away. Naturally, it was impossible to set up tents in a tidy manner. The crowd gathered all the carriages, unloaded the horses, and connected all the carriages together to form a carriage formation.

There was only one bonfire lit in the car formation. Mrs. Lu and Lu Hong sat by the fire, looking at the horse bandits not far away with some worry. They also set up camp, with dozens of fires burning, faintly visible. The strange laughter of the horse bandits came from the ground.

Cao Tianci came over and sat by the fire, with a heavy look on his face.

"General Cao, is there any danger?" Lu Hong's voice was filled with panic.

Cao Tianci lowered his head and thought for a moment, then raised his head, "Mrs. Lu, I don't dare to hide this from you. The situation is very bad. Now the bandits are no weaker than us. They haven't attacked. I'm afraid they are waiting for reinforcements. If Once their accomplices come, we may not be able to stop them.”

"What should I do?" Lu Hong screamed.

"There is only one way now!" Cao Tianci said: "Steward Lu, I will send ten of the best soldiers, led by you, and they will leave here quietly in two hours. We stay here to attract the opponent's troops, so , maybe there is a way out.”

"Ten people?" Lu Hong's eyes widened.

"At this time, it is not better to have more people. Perhaps, it is easier to escape with fewer people. The horse bandits definitely did not expect that we would come up with this trick. Their thoughts will only be concentrated on us. Now they think we are The fish meat on their felt boards has been reduced to a minimum. If you still stay here, you will really die. "

"We're leaving, what will you do?" Lu Hong looked at the other party. Although it was very dangerous to escape like this, there was no way to survive if he stayed here.

"I estimate that they will launch an attack as soon as reinforcements arrive. We can hold them off for as long as we can. If we are lucky and we can escape, we will come to find you." Cao Tianci said.

"General Cao, it's me who has caused trouble for you." Mrs. Lu had tears in her eyes. Cao Tianci was using these hundreds of lives to cover her escape, so he couldn't help but be grateful.

"Mrs. Lu, don't say that. Since we are being targeted by horse bandits, we can't escape even if we want to." He looked at the carriage in the queue, "I'm afraid we can't even take away these belongings."

"Money is nothing more than external possessions." Mrs. Lu shook her head.

"That's it, I'll pick the ten best soldiers for Madam." Cao Tianci stood up and left Madam Lu.

At midnight, ten soldiers guarded Madam Lu and Lu Hong as they mounted their horses. The horses' hooves were covered with thick cloth and their mouths were strangled. Under the cover of night, more than ten people quietly He left the camp and walked quietly into the distance.

Seeing Mrs. Lu's figure disappear into the darkness, Cao Tianci breathed a sigh of relief. Of course Mrs. Lu was safe, and no horse bandits would pursue them.

"The show has begun!" He laughed proudly. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly votes at (.). Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users please go to m.. to read.)