HLnovel Chapter 252: The Claw Tribe's Camp
Chapter 252: The Claw Tribe's Camp
Yingdan said: "I wonder if these Saudi people took the official road. I didn't see any of them."
Chu Xiaomu was a little worried and said, "It would be good if I could see them, but I'm afraid I won't be able to see any of them."
Yingdan asked, "Why is that?"
Chu Xiaomu said: "If we can't see any, it means we haven't encountered any resistance along the way and we are getting closer and closer to Bicheng..."
Yingdan thought so too and started to worry as well.
The two men rested for a while, and urged their horses to continue on their journey. After passing Shishui Post, the number of human and horse corpses along the way gradually increased. Every few miles or more than ten miles, one could see broken body parts, sometimes one or two, sometimes four or five, and sometimes as many as twenty or thirty, emitting a foul stench.
Occasionally, they found bloodstained spears and iron swords, which clearly showed that some soldiers from Bicheng had been killed there. Besides the heads of the dead horses, only the skeletons were left, which clearly showed that the meat had been cut off and fed to the people of Sha.
Many crows and vultures stopped at the corpses of people and horses and pecked at them. When they saw someone coming, they scattered and flew high up.
In one of the places, there were more than ten corpses lying in a mess, with only a bloody head left, and only the skeleton of the body, the skin and flesh cut off, the internal organs hollowed out, the appearance was extremely miserable and horrible. The two could not bear to look directly, and Yingdan even retched and almost vomited.
The people of Bicheng mostly make a living by herding. They live wherever there is water and grass with their livestock. Unlike Xihai City and Jinyang City, in addition to the main city, there are many large and small villages scattered throughout the territory, and people will stay in one place to farm and live. The army of the Sand Country swept from south to north, slaughtering all the living creatures they could see. It was precisely because of the nomadic lifestyle of Bicheng that there were no large numbers of casualties.
However, the corpses of people and horses were increasing, and the corpses were getting fresher and fresher. The two guessed that they were not far from the people of Sha, so they did not dare to take the official road. After discussing for a while, they decided to go straight to Bicheng on the grassland on the west side of the official road. This area would pass a low hill called Huaduqiu. Although the speed would be much slower, the distance was closer and it was estimated to be safer than the official road.
The two horses had been running for five or six hours since early morning, and were already exhausted. They had no choice but to slow down. When it was almost dark, a hazy fog began to rise on the grassland, and it was gray in all directions, and the sight was only twenty or thirty feet away.
After another thirty-four miles, a low hill began to appear in the hazy fog. It was the place called Huadu Hill. In addition to the common weeds on the grassland, there were also many shrubs and small trees half a person's height on the hill. The grass and trees were so tangled that the horses could no longer run and had to walk slowly. The fog was also thicker, and I could only see a few feet.
Chu Xiaomu and his companions climbed over the hills and suddenly heard faint voices and shouts coming from the northwest in front of them. They thought that maybe the people of the Claw Tribe of the Sand Country were nearby. So they asked Yingdan to get off the horse and quietly walked towards the direction of the sound.
After climbing over a few more hills, we could hear noises coming from all directions, which clearly showed that there were many people. We quietly came to the top of a small hill, and saw a red light shining through the thick fog below the hill, stretching from east to west with no end in sight. It turned out to be countless burning torches.
In the dim firelight, there were densely packed small black tents.
Due to the thick fog, only those who were closer could see the general shape. I saw that these tents were different from the round pointed tops of the tents in Bicheng. They were all made into pointed ridges with flat ends like spikes. The tent doors were slanted and much smaller than the tents in Bicheng. Judging from the shape of these tents, they were undoubtedly the Claw Tribe of the Sand Country.
There were only dozens of tents visible at the foot of the hill, but extending in the east, west and north directions, there seemed to be countless tents.
Chu Xiaomu and Yingdan were hiding in the bushes. They were shocked when they saw this scene. They didn't expect the Claw Tribe to have set up a camp here. It was hard to estimate their number in the thick fog. They didn't know whether the general and his men knew about it. They dismounted in a hurry, led the two horses down the hilltop and tied them to a tree, then returned to the hilltop to take a closer look. Xiao Qisheng followed them silently, very well behaved.
The camp was dim with firelight and people were shouting. It looked a mess, but it was full of ferocity and brutality. Groups of people were flashing between the tents, most of them were carrying things on their shoulders and backs, and they seemed to be moving things to prepare for fortifications. There were also some people riding on huge bipedal strange birds, running around in the camp. It was unclear whether they were people or spirits.
Yingdan asked quietly, "The Claw Tribe has already captured the Nanding Army camp and can march all the way north to Bicheng. Why are they setting up camp here?"
Chu Xiaomu shook his head and said, "I heard that Huadu Hill is always foggy in this season. They set up camp here, perhaps because they are afraid that our people will find out."
Yingdan asked: "What should we do now, go east or west?"
Chu Xiaomu thought for a moment and said, "Let's explore the situation here first, and then report back to the general."
Taking advantage of the cover of the night and the bushes, the two of them led their horses and quietly crept along the edge of the Claw Tribe's camp. Chu Xiaomu memorized the distance and direction he had walked so that he could calculate the size of the camp and the number of tents. The hill was covered with grass and trees, so he walked a little slowly. It was dark and difficult to see anything, but fortunately, with the light from the camp's fire, he could barely identify the direction.
When we got to the west side of the camp, it was already midnight. The spring breeze was still very cold, and both the people and the horses were shivering with cold. We walked about half a mile and saw countless Claw tribesmen carrying items from somewhere under the hill to the camp. The shadows formed a long line, and the two of them could not pass. We found a high place and looked down the hill. It was a river bend with two large ships parked in the river. The various items carried to the camp were taken down from the large ships.
Chu Xiaomu roughly estimated that there were about 3,000 to 4,000 tents. If two Claw Clan soldiers lived in one tent, there would be 7,000 to 8,000 people. If three people lived in one tent, there would be tens of thousands. If some soldiers did not build tents, the number would be even higher. The Nanding Army was the largest of the five central armies in Bicheng, but its number was far less than that of the Claw Clan army, and it might even be less than half of theirs. No wonder they lost the main camp.
Chu Xiaomu whispered his guess to Yingdan. Yingdan was also worried and said, "We have to return to Bicheng as soon as possible to report to the general and listen to his instructions." Chu Xiaomu also said that this was the only way.
The two men identified the general direction of north and led their horses through the grass and bushes.