Heading Towards the Destination

Chapter 41: Heading to the Destination

"Good!"

Zhang Xianzhong was very satisfied with the performance of these youths. He nodded, raised a large hand high, and swung it down forcefully towards the front and below!

"Depart!"

With that, he took the lead, riding his horse at a moderate pace towards the main gate.

"Everyone, keep up!"...

Following the cavalry training method of the past few days, Ai Nengqi roared and led his small team of Martial Artist youths to quickly follow.

Next was Li Dingguo's team, followed by Liu Wenxiu's team, and Zhang Huier's team.

Finally, the three trusted subordinates of Zhang Xianzhong, riding warhorses and leading the logistics convoy, followed at the very back of the group.

The large group of people left the Wang Family Courtyard without stopping, galloping along the main street towards the city gate in the northwest direction!

Even mounted infantry, when marching, created a much grander presence than infantry soldiers of the same size.

Although everyone had a horse, there were only less than seventy soldiers in total, leading over a dozen large carriages, but wherever they passed, the commotion they caused was no less than that of a thousand-man infantry unit.

Pedestrians encountered on the street, or Rebel Army soldiers on patrol, quickly got out of the way.

The "clip-clop" of hooves, like rain hitting banana leaves, was continuous. In less than a quarter of an hour, under the gaze of the military and civilians along the way, they arrived below the west city gate.

The team of Rebel Army soldiers responsible for guarding the city gate, seeing their Great King personally leading the team, quickly used the winch to raise the city gate.

"Creak..."

After the city gate slowly rose, Zhang Xianzhong still took the lead, guiding the soldiers behind him as they streamed out of the city gate and galloped towards the official road in the northwest direction, their speed increasing rapidly!

This was already with the Spirit Beast Warhorse beneath him trying its best to hold back its speed.

If the Spirit Beast Warhorse ran at full speed, those ordinary horses would quickly be left in the dust!

And this was just a low-grade Flood Dragon Scale Horse.

If it were those high-grade, top-grade Flood Dragon Scale Horses, or even Dragon Scale Horses, their speed would be even more out of reach for ordinary horses!

The sky was already bright. There were many pedestrians coming and going on the official road along the way, but the vast majority of them were destitute refugees, dressed in rags, who could no longer survive due to natural disasters and man-made calamities, heading towards Dingbian City in groups.

They must have heard that the county town had been captured by the Eight Great Kings and that grain stores were being opened generously. As long as they reached Dingbian City, they would have food and drink, and at least be able to survive temporarily.

As for the traveling merchants on the official road, while not absent, they were not many.

These were mostly deeply rooted medium and large businesses; only they had the strength to travel long distances and risk their lives to earn huge price differences.

Especially now, the Eight Great Kings had plundered a county town with their troops and were not short of money at all. As long as the goods were helpful to the Rebel Army's strength, they would accept them all according to the list, and at prices far higher than the usual market price.

For a large number of wealthy merchants, the Great Ming Dynasty, with its widespread conflict, was more in line with their interests.

As long as you had the strength to travel north and south, you could easily double or even triple your wealth within a year or two.

Whether they were merchants or refugees, upon seeing a fully armed cavalry unit galloping towards them, they would avoid the road far in advance, their expressions varied.

After another half an hour or so, the large group of people had galloped for dozens of miles at a steady pace. The sound of "rumbling" water could be heard; they had arrived near the famous Wuding River.

The Wuding River originates from the depths of the grasslands outside the pass, converging from countless lakes and streams, rushing forth, passing through the inner and outer Great Walls, flowing through over a hundred towns, and finally merging into the Yellow River in the southeast direction.

The middle section of the Wuding River passes through the two large gaps in the inner and outer Great Walls on the northwest frontier, forming two huge openings one after the other. Therefore, it became a military stronghold in the northwest region of the Great Ming Dynasty, and successive emperors stationed heavy troops to guard it.

The strategic and dangerous pass located between the two gaps in the inner and outer Great Walls is the famous Yansui Town.

The military readiness of Yansui Town can be said to be the strongest military town in the current Great Ming Dynasty, second only to the Liaodong region.

The official army here is still capable of fighting, much stronger than most of the other nine border towns.

Although the official army of Yansui Town is currently repeatedly defeated when facing the Tartar cavalry who frequently enter the pass to "plunder," they are not without the power to resist.

At the very least, the officers and soldiers here, relying on the protection of the city walls, have repelled countless Tartar attacks and have trained a large number of capable and daring elite soldiers, causing the Tartars to hastily withdraw outside the Great Wall each time they come to plunder after obtaining the expected supplies.

Otherwise, if they were to have their retreat cut off by the Great Ming border army, which has a huge advantage in numbers and utilizes the advantages of home ground like terrain, they could very likely be completely annihilated.

The passive situation of Yansui Town has changed slightly since March of this year.

With Cao Wenzhao, the Deputy General of the Eastern Route of Yansui Town, leading a powerful elite cavalry to be stationed there, he launched several rounds of counterattacks against the Tartars near the pass, temporarily deterring the large and small Tartar tribes living near the outer Great Wall.

If Cao Wenzhao could be stationed here for a long time, it is highly likely that he would deter this northwest border region, making the Tartars dare not go south for a long time.

Unfortunately, in the current Great Ming Dynasty, natural disasters and man-made calamities are endless, and Rebel Armies are emerging like mushrooms after rain. Strong generals like Cao Wenzhao and the strong soldiers under his command are destined not to stay here for long.

It is estimated that he will soon be transferred inside the pass to join the protracted war of encircling and suppressing the rebels.

Zhang Xianzhong, riding on the Spirit Beast Warhorse, looked straight ahead and thought of these things for no reason, feeling a slight chill all over.

Once the elite border army led by Cao Wenzhao was ordered to come and encircle and suppress his Rebel Army, he, as he was now, had no hope of winning at all. Being able to escape safely would already be very good.

Forget it, don't think about these things, it's annoying. Let's hope these young soldiers behind me grow up quickly.

He sighed inwardly, led the team to continue galloping along the official road near the Wuding River for a while, then turned onto a small road to the left, and galloped towards a clearly visible mountain range.

This mountain range, less than ten miles from the Wuding River, stretches endlessly, as far as the eye can see.

It is said that in the deepest part, there is a Demon King entrenched.

A Demonic Beast that can be called a Demon King is at least a Level Five Demonic Beast, corresponding to a human Fifth Layer of Martial Dao expert.

In any case, if Zhang Xianzhong encountered one now, simply being lucky enough to escape would be cause for immense gratitude.

However, the target he had chosen for this expedition was located on the edge of this mountain range; he wouldn't be venturing deep inside.

The target he had selected this time was a dome-shaped earthen hill on the edge of the mountain range ahead, standing about twenty zhang tall and covering an area of roughly five li in circumference.

This year's drought was extremely severe. It was only early autumn, yet everything was already a desolate yellow.

A small river that flowed from the various streams in the mountain range ahead towards the Wuding River now had only a trickle of water less than two feet deep.

Although it hadn't completely dried up, the sight of it was unsettling.

It must be said that the emergence of any dynasty's decline, besides human factors, was also largely due to continuous natural disasters.

Perhaps, this was the true meaning of "the cycle of the Heavenly Dao."