Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 21

Chapter 21 Be Attacked At Night
In late October, the grassland became colder and colder. Under the whistling of the north wind, the originally yellow grass lost its vitality and a large blank space appeared. Some of the withered grass was even swept into the air by the wind, swaying in an unknown direction.

At this moment, Rahab Clan’s situation was similar to the helpless grass, and he didn’t know where he was going to settle down. After leaving the familiar surroundings, the spirit and vitality of the entire troop was much weaker than before. In addition, they brought too many old, weak, women, children, and many possessions, causing their travel speed to become extremely sluggish.

Lu Zhen, who was in the middle of it, didn’t realize that he was thinking too much about it until a few days after he left. He had originally thought that under such circumstances, there would be a lot of people who wanted to leave the team and make a living, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for him to leave amongst these people.

However, the truth was completely different from what he had thought. In these past few days, almost no one had left the clan without permission. This was not because of how united the people of Rahab Clan were, but because of the situation on the grasslands. Because of the harsh environment, the herdsmen could only survive here if they were united and supported each other. When they came to an unfamiliar place, this was even more important. If they left the tribe in such a situation, it would be difficult to guarantee their future life. They were practically courting death. Therefore, even though they knew that the current situation was very difficult and dangerous, the people of Rahab Clan were still tightly united.

In this way, Lu Zhen’s wishful thinking of taking advantage of the chaos to escape was completely unable to be played. The other reason why he didn’t dare to try to escape was that two days ago, he had discovered that someone was secretly watching him. He was afraid that if he had any plans to leave, they would stop him and even alert everyone very quickly. In addition, Lu Zhen was also afraid that if he left this team, he would be attacked by the attackers. At that time, it would be very difficult to guarantee his own safety.

Yes, although it was only ten days, Rahab Clan had already been attacked by other tribes, not once, but four times. Moreover, this attack was getting fiercer and fiercer, and many clansmen had died because of it.

After leaving their homes and migrating all the way, they were completely targeted. Without adequate defensive measures and being unfamiliar with their surroundings, they could only endure attacks one after another. Naturally, they had to pay a heavy price for this.

The safety of the entire tribe obviously restricted the hands and feet of the other young and strong men, forcing them to defend passively. This greatly reduced the fighting strength of the Mongol cavalry who were good at defending and attacking. Even if they won, it would be difficult for them to pursue the enemy, because they still had to protect the clansmen around them.

Although it was said that the Mongol men, women, and children could mount their horses to fight, they were still only the burden of the strong and young men on the battlefield. Especially when they faced the same ferocious cavalry, the negative impact they caused was even greater.

If they were in the original camp, they would still be able to rely on the advantage of the terrain or their previous defensive preparations, but now it was useless at all. Most of the time, they were just targets of slaughter, and many of them had lost their lives under such circumstances.

Such an unbearable encounter and despair towards the future caused the atmosphere in the Rahab tribe to be somewhat depressed. Even if they stopped for now, not many people were prepared to eat. They only quickly set up simple tents and prepared to sleep after eating some dry rations randomly.

Lu Zhen was in such a team, and his heart was heavy. There was even a trace of regret because he knew very well that these people had died because of their own schemes.

Even though he had thought about it before and knew that this was an inevitable result, he still felt guilty when he saw many innocent Mongolian herdsmen die beside him. After all, he was not a cold-blooded soldier or killer, but an ordinary person.

However, he didn’t turn his head and arrow. At this point, Lu Zhen could only follow his own plan. He had to find an opportunity to leave as soon as possible. Otherwise, he might be slaughtered by the Mongol cavalry.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhen, who was in the dark tent, couldn’t help but roll over, put on the most ordinary sheepskin jacket and half knelt down, lifting a line of curtains to look outside. Apart from the darkness outside, there were only a few young and strong members of the night-patrolling clan-under such circumstances, they did not dare to be careless at all.

“In this situation, even if I wanted to leave, it would be difficult. Not to mention, I have to ride a horse.” As Lu Zhen thought about it, he turned his gaze back to the backpack beside him. He packed all the things he wanted to run away into his bag, but on the grassland, without horses, he wouldn’t be able to walk too far with such a bag on his back.

“Do I really have to follow them to reopen the wilderness? Not to mention that this is not my wish, but from the looks of it, they don’t seem to be able to reach their destination.” Lu Zhen thought quickly. He could tell that the cavalry attacking Rahab Clan were not bandits from the grasslands, but the elites of the various tribes. They should have been killed at the behest of Ye Zichen.

Moreover, those enemies from before were only vanguards or probers. Perhaps, the truly terrifying and powerful enemies would arrive at any time. At that time, with the current strength and morale of the Rahab Tribe, they might collapse after a single battle. If he was in the middle of it, his safety was indeed at stake.

“I must leave as soon as possible before all of this arrives. Even if they are watching me, I will still have to take a risk!” After Lu Zhen thought about the current situation, he quickly made a decision. However, he still needed to consider when and how to leave.

At this moment, Lu Zhen, who was about to lie down again, suddenly moved his ears. Then, he put his head on the ground alertly and listened carefully. After a few months of living on the grasslands, he had also learned some Mongolian survival methods, and this Earth Listening Technique was one of them.

Hearing this, Lu Zhen’s expression quickly became serious. This was the movement of a large number of people approaching him. Although the other party deliberately slowed down his footsteps, the tremor on the ground still made him clearly feel it.

“Not good, after a few unsuccessful daytime attacks, they actually used night raids!” Lu Zhen rumbled and bounced off the ground. From what he heard, this time, the other party was attacking from the left and right. It was bound to bring an extremely terrifying threat and injury to Rahab Clan, who had already rested!

Without much thought, Lu Zhen subconsciously wanted to issue a loud warning. Although it didn’t seem to be of much use at the moment, it was still better than nothing. However, the moment his hand touched the curtain, a thought suddenly surged into his mind, “Isn’t this a great opportunity for me to leave them? They must have been in a mess when they were attacked in the dark. At this moment, they should be very concealed amongst the fleeing crowd!”

Thinking of this, Lu Zhen immediately retracted his hand and quickly carried his backpack onto his body. In addition to the things that he brought when he crossed through the camera, there were also some food that he had accumulated during the normal days. This was the guarantee he used to return to the Central Plains!

Afterwards, Lu Zhen quietly lifted the tent curtain and gently touched the outside. He arrived beside his mount and was ready to ride away as soon as he got into a mess.

Just as he was getting ready, Hezha rushed out from a tent in the middle and shouted, “An enemy is coming!” He also noticed the problem and immediately gave a warning.

The other clansmen in the tent had already fallen asleep because of exhaustion. Hearing these words, they were all awakened from their dreams. Many of them were even more confused, not knowing what was going on. Of course, there were also some vigilant and agile people who had already flown away while putting on their clothes and rushing out of the tent with their weapons.

In the blink of an eye, the originally quiet Rahab Clan base was in a mess. As the crowd hissed, several torches were erected, and more people rushed out of the tent in confusion. Among them was He Huer and one of the leaders of the cadres.

“Wuwuwu” The long and ear-piercing sound of a horn suddenly sounded out from the darkness, causing the clansmen who were originally suspicious of this to be shocked. Only then did they become convinced that the matter was not good.

The moment the horn sounded, the originally tightly blown sound of the north wind changed slightly, as if something sharper was whistling to conceal the sound of the wind.

“It’s a bow and arrow!” Soon, someone understood and screamed.

Just as he finished speaking, countless arrows fell from the left and right like raindrops, instantly shooting down Rahab Clan people who were spinning around like headless flies. The screams grew louder, and people began to flee everywhere, causing the entire Rahab Clan base to be in complete chaos.

The moment the rain of arrows fell, there was a drum-like commotion from both sides. It was the sound of the horse’s hooves hitting the ground as it charged forward. The sound of horse hooves was accompanied by waves of roars. Since they had already attacked, there was no need to hide themselves anymore.

Because they had secretly pulled the distance between the two sides to an arrow’s length, this time the sneak attackers had arrived at an extremely fast speed. In the blink of an eye, they had already broken through the fences used to block the wild beasts outside, rode their horses, and arrived in front of the Rahab tribesmen who had already lost their minds. Without any hesitation, the saber in their hands slashed towards them.

All of this happened too quickly. Even warriors like Hezha felt that they were caught off guard. They could only cut off the reins and mount their horses to meet the enemy, and the others could only wait for their deaths.

The attackers who had come over also had a clear division of labor. Apart from the constant charge, there were also people who threw the newly lit torches into the surrounding tents, quickly igniting them.

Under the blowing drums of the north wind, the fire quickly spread, illuminating the entire camp.

Under the illumination of the flames, a horrifying massacre officially began …