Chapter 272: Feihu Pass

Jinzhou.

More than one hundred commoners were moving slowly under the escort of ten Xiliang Cavalry.

The commoners' hands and feet were bound by ropes, and they trudged forward barefoot.

If any commoner walked too slowly, the whips of the Xiliang Cavalry would fall upon them.

With a scream, a bloody welt would instantly appear on the commoner's back.

"Wuu wuu..." someone among the commoners let out a sob.

Ever since Jincheng fell, they had become orphans without a home.

The Xiliang Cavalry galloped and wreaked havoc across the land of Jinzhou.

The cavalry of the Shengqin Army searched everywhere for Jinzhou commoners, escorting them toward Xiliang.

Anyone who resisted was ruthlessly killed by them.

For a time, the commoners of Jinzhou were in unbearable misery.

Just as the commoners were feeling utterly hopeless, they suddenly noticed the Xiliang Cavalry shouting and calling out.

A look of panic appeared on their faces.

The commoners looked ahead and saw, not far away, more than ten cavalrymen in Silver Armor charging toward them amidst yellow dust.

Seeing this, the Xiliang Cavalry drew the Cavalry Saber at their waists and charged over.

The two sides clashed at a distance of less than one hundred meters from them.

One general wielding a Silver Spear seemed very formidable; with just one encounter, he pierced a Xiliang Cavalryman to death.

After a few exchanges, half of the Xiliang Cavalry were lost, and they fled in a panic.

At this moment, the Silver Armor cavalrymen approached the commoners.

Dismounting, they cut the ropes on the commoners' bodies.

The general holding the Silver Spear said, "Less than thirty li to the east is Feihu Pass; follow me."

Having said this, the cavalry general took the lead, and the other cavalrymen protected the commoners as they headed toward Feihu Pass.

After traveling for less than half an hour, Yanguan could be vaguely seen.

At this time, a Scout caught up from behind and said to Zhong Li, "General, we have discovered a large number of Xiliang Army moving toward Yanguan."

Zhong Li frowned and immediately urged the commoners to quicken their pace.

Returning to Feihu Pass, Zhong Li immediately handed the commoners over to the general responsible for settling them.

During this period, the number of commoners pouring into Feihu Pass had reached over one hundred thousand, and they had also rescued tens of thousands of commoners from the hands of the Xiliang Shengqin Army.

Just here alone, two hundred thousand Jinzhou commoners had gathered.

"The Xiliang Army is coming." Chen Hu came down from the city wall at this moment.

After they received orders to arrive at Feihu Pass, they had dispatched a large number of Scouts to Jinzhou to investigate the situation.

They discovered that the Xiliang Shengqin Army was wreaking havoc in Jinzhou, searching everywhere for commoners.

These Shengqin Army were usually in squads of fifteen.

Each time, they could capture groups of commoners ranging from a little over one hundred to five or six hundred to escort toward Xiliang.

Discovering this characteristic, he and Zhong Li discussed breaking up the cavalry, also into groups of fifteen, to compete with the Xiliang Shengqin Army for the commoners.

At first, the Xiliang people did not anticipate that a large number of Yanzhou cavalry would enter Jinzhou, and many commoners were snatched back by them.

After realizing this later, cavalry squads of over one hundred began to appear to encircle and suppress the Yanzhou cavalry.

They followed suit and made changes, also organizing cavalry squads of over one hundred to deal with the Xiliang people.

After several engagements, they fought back and forth.

However, their goal was not to kill the Xiliang Cavalry, but to save the commoners.

Therefore, every time they met, they would entangle but not fight to the death.

Often, after cutting the ropes on the commoners, they would circle around with the Xiliang Cavalry.

Once the commoners had escaped far enough, they would withdraw.

In this way, they did not kill many Xiliang Cavalry, but they also did not suffer many losses, and they saved quite a few commoners.

But in doing so, they ultimately annoyed the Xiliang people.

The scale of the Xiliang Cavalry appearing became larger and larger.

By today, the Xiliang Army had even directly approached Feihu Pass.

It looked like they intended to teach them a lesson.

"Hehe, they've come at the right time." Zhong Li jumped off his horse and slipped up the city wall.

The general guarding Feihu Pass was Niu Cha.

He was also from the background of Yan Wang's earliest personal guards.

Seeing Zhong Li come up, he said, "How many did you save today?"

"About three hundred." Zhong Li was not very satisfied with today's number.

At the very beginning, he could save over a thousand people a day.

However, this was also related to the fact that fewer and fewer commoners were coming to Feihu Pass.

Because in the process of saving commoners, they had been spreading word of two paths to escape to Yanzhou.

One was Feihu Pass, and the other was the Jin River waterway.

Since Feihu Pass was inland, there were many Xiliang Cavalry.

He estimated that many commoners had fled toward the Jin River.

Moreover, the Xiliang people were landlubbers and had no Navy, making it safer than heading to Feihu Pass.

"As expected of a veteran general, one is worth two," Niu Cha said.

Zhong Li was originally a general under Yuan Li.

Therefore, after defecting to Yan Wang, the core generals of the Prince's Personal Army still held some reservations toward him.

He felt the same way.

However, during this time, Zhong Li often led from the front, which truly earned his admiration.

Gradually, he integrated with Zhong Li and the Cavalry under his command.

"It's alright," Zhong Li chuckled twice.

He quite liked the atmosphere within the Prince's Personal Army.

But he was also well aware of the prejudices the generals of the Prince's Personal Army held against him.

However, he was broad-minded and had always treated others with sincerity, so his popularity was quite good now.

Especially with Chen Hu; because both were Cavalry generals, the two cherished each other's company.

Pouting toward the outside of the city, he said to Niu Cha: "Back at Yanguan, I didn't have the chance to witness the power of the Artillery, but I can't miss it now; let's give these Xiliang Army soldiers a taste of what we've got."

Niu Cha licked his lips and smiled quite sinisterly.

After Jinzhou fell, the atmosphere at Feihu Pass became tense.

Because in the history of the Central Plains dynasties, there had always been the saying that one who holds Jin can take Yan.

Therefore, after conquering Jinzhou, the next step for Xiliang would certainly be to set their sights on Yanzhou.

After all, Feihu Pass could be used to advance or defend; if the Great Song wanted to recover Jinzhou, launching troops from Feihu Pass was the most suitable option.

Furthermore, the Jin River was very wide and its current was swift.

It was very unfriendly to nomadic tribes from the northwest like Xiliang.

Attacking Yanzhou was more practical than crossing the Jin River to head south.

While the two were talking back and forth.

The black line on the horizon grew thicker, but these Xiliang Army soldiers stopped at a distance of five li from Feihu Pass.

Then, they vaguely saw some Xiliang soldiers moving about.

Before long, white tents appeared one after another.

They were actually setting up camp right below Feihu Pass.

Zhong Li and Niu Cha exchanged a glance.

They understood; this Xiliang Army wanted to block the roads leading in and out of Feihu Pass.

This way, the Cavalry of Yanzhou could not get out, and the commoners within Jinzhou could not get in.

At the same time, it would allow them to prepare for an assault on Feihu Pass.

"What do we do now?" Niu Cha scratched his head.

Zhong Li's eyes narrowed, and he said: "They can block Feihu Pass, but they can't block the Jin River."

After thinking for a moment, he said: "We should report back to His Highness first; besides, there are these two hundred thousand Jinzhou commoners, they can't stay at Feihu Pass forever."

Niu Cha nodded.

His mission was to guard Feihu Pass; as long as he lived, the pass would stand.

Naturally, he dared not risk going out to fight a battle against the Xiliang Army.

After all, it would be fine if they won, but if they lost, he feared Feihu Pass would be hard to hold.

The two reached an agreement and discussed it with Chen Hu as well.

Chen Hu had no objections either.

Immediately, they dispatched a unit of Cavalry to head toward Yancheng.