HUS Chapter 72: The Discovery at Canglang Gorge
HUS Chapter 72: The Discovery at Canglang Gorge
January 9
The damaged cart was repaired.
Among the various traces of fighting in the valley, those that bore too much of the Feng'an Estate corps' character were all cleaned up.
Yang Can didn't require them to conduct the most thorough cleanup, because it wasn't necessary.
They had already appeared here. If they only concealed the matter of the armor, since it only involved a dozen or so people, perhaps it might still be possible but to conceal the news that they had come to Canglang Gorge, that would be absolutely impossible.
Yang Can only had everyone clean up to eliminate the traces showing that Feng'an Estate had orchestrated this ambush.
After all this was handled, Yang Can had them go wait outside the mountain pass.
Yang Can, along with the few martial masters Leopard Head had left for him, continued to remain at the original location.
After quite some time, the foot soldiers following behind caught up.
By this time, the dust had long settled in Canglang Gorge, so Yang Can didn't let them enter the valley. They all waited outside as well.
After a long while, the sound of horse hooves echoed from far away in the gorge.
Yang Can immediately led the group of guards to hide behind the large trees.
When they saw the group of riders charging from the gorge, with Leopard Head in the lead, they emerged from behind the trees.
"Master Yang, Dakuan has fulfilled his mission."
Leopard Head said excitedly to Yang Can, patting the backside of a person draped over his saddle.
That person lay limply across the horse's back. From his clothing style, he should be a Xianbei herdsman.
Leopard Head was also leading another horse with a person draped across its back.
These people were all bound to the horse backs with lassoes or belts so they wouldn't fall off from the bumping but Leopard Head raised his hand and pushed that corpse down, then dismounted.
Kang Zhengyang and the others also arrived afterward, each leading an extra horse with a corpse loaded on its back.
Yang Can asked Leopard Head with concern, "Dakuan, did any living witnesses escape?"
Kang Zhengyang rushed to answer, "Estate Head, no one escaped. We brought back all the herdsmen we found."
Leopard Head continued, "This place is close to the mountain pass, so no herdsmen pitched tents here, but their camp shouldn't be far away either."
Kang Zhengyang kicked the corpse beside him and said, "This man was herding sheep with his two sons. When he saw that my nephew and I were only two people, he wanted to kill us and steal our horses."
His nephew excitedly chimed in, "We searched separately. I was with my uncle. Uncle made one move, and all three of them, father and sons, couldn't escape. Hahaha."
The common people of Bali Mo's tribe didn't usually live together because they needed to herd, and a certain area of grassland could only sustain a limited number of cattle and sheep.
So the herdsmen of Bali Mo's tribe usually went to various places to graze in units of "tents."
In places where water and grass were particularly abundant, there might be two or three tents or three or four tents grazing together. However, they basically all had kinship relations, which reduced conflicts.
"Well done!"
Yang Can said with great joy, "Quickly spread them out in various places, put them next to the corpses of those mountain goods smugglers. Make a few look like they're grappling with each other. Hurry."
With Yang Can's command, Kang Zhengyang, Leopard Head and the others immediately began bustling about.
There was no difficulty in this task. Before long, they had completed the deployment.
Yang Can looked and saw there were no more flaws, so he said to Kang Zhengyang, "Corps Commander Kang, take the people outside back to the estate first."
As Yang Can spoke, he pointed to a skirt armor plate and a shoulder guard deliberately left on the ground for Kang Zhengyang.
These were parts of a suit of armor.
"Take these two items back with you as well.
After returning to the estate, you must immediately go to Phoenix Mountain Manor with them.
As for specifically what to say, you should know already?"
"Understood!"
This was the countermeasure they had already discussed beforehand. Kang Zhengyang naturally knew what to say when he met the Clan Head.
He responded and headed toward the valley exit with a few Cheng family soldiers.
Their four carts of agricultural products were abandoned there. These things couldn't be taken back, otherwise there would be flaws.
As Kang Zhengyang walked, he pondered. The Estate Head calls Leopard Head "Dakuan" but calls me Corps Commander Kang. In the end, there's still a distinction between close and distant.
Originally, he hadn't felt there was anything wrong with this form of address and even felt it quite suited his status but now that they had a deadly secret they needed to bear together, hearing it made him feel uncomfortable.
Estate Head, actually... even if you called me "Little Kang," that would be appropriate. However, he wouldn't say such words revealing his feelings to Yang Can now.
He wouldn't say it in front of Cheng Dakuan. That dog, he'd been at odds with him since childhood and would definitely laugh at him if he heard.
After Kang Zhengyang led the people away, Yang Can's expression turned serious as he said to Leopard Head, "Now only you, I, and your few relatives remain here. We must deal with this armor."
Leopard Head said, "Master Yang, to deal with this armor, it's nothing more than hiding or destroying it. What do you think we should do?"
Yang Can pondered, "Speaking of it, of course destroying it would be best..."
When Leopard Head heard this, he felt great reluctance. How could a martial master not love armor?
Leopard Head cupped his hands and said, "Master Yang, this humble one thinks we'd be better off hiding this batch of armor."
"Oh?"
"This armor has both iron plates and leather. It's very difficult to burn and destroy, and if we leave traces behind, they'd be even harder to clean up."
Yang Can nodded. This was indeed a problem.
Leopard Head said, "We might as well hide it. If someday it becomes useful..."
As Leopard Head spoke, his eyes already began to shine.
One hundred suits of armor meant one hundred armored cavalry, equivalent to a heavy main battle tank group of this era.
One hundred armored cavalry, what a terrifying destructive force that was.
The number of unarmored cavalry that one hundred armored cavalry could handle was fully three to five times their number.
This wasn't only because the horses and riders of unarmored cavalry were vulnerable before the spears and sabers of armored cavalry.
It was also because of the crushing defensive power, the powerful psychological deterrent, and the absolute advantage in impact force.
Of course, light cavalry weren't completely useless.
If one could cleverly utilize terrain and tactics, even infantry had methods to restrain cavalry, let alone light cavalry. However, this also showed the tremendous value of these one hundred suits of armor.
While "sharp blades" were indispensable, "heavy hammers" were equally important.
At least at critical moments of direct confrontation, the usefulness of armored cavalry was unique.
"Hmm..."
Yang Can was greatly tempted. He also couldn't bear to destroy this armor.
Historical records specifically mentioned when discussing Nurhaci that he raised his army with thirteen suits of armor.
If the role of armor wasn't too important, there would be no need in the historical records to specifically emphasize the number of armor suits he possessed when raising his army.
Now he had ninety-nine complete suits of armor and one suit missing only two components.
Hand them over?
That was impossible.
Destroy them?
Who could bear to do that?
"Very good. Let's find a place to hide the armor first."
The group unhitched the horses from the agricultural carts, then drove the four carts loaded with armor out of the valley.
By this time, Kang Zhengyang had already led away the people outside.
Yang Can and his group left Canglang Gorge, traveled more than ten li along the mountain foot, and entered a small mountain pass.
Worried that rainwater seepage would damage the armor, they chose a slope and began digging.
They first dug an armor cache large enough, spread tarpaulin below, and stacked the armor suits one by one then they covered it with more tarpaulin and directly covered it with earth, pressing it tightly and airtight.
Because they had chosen the terrain well and left a sufficient thickness of soil layer above, it would be extremely difficult for rainwater to seep in.
Combined with the protective effect of the tarpaulin, this batch of armor could be hidden here for a long time.
After all this was done, they smoothed the sealed earth surface with tree branches, and there were no major problems.
Once the sunlight dried it and the sealed earth hardened, it would already be inconspicuous.
After ten days to half a month, wild grass would grow out again. By then, except for them, no one could possibly find this location.
With the armor buried, Yang Can, Leopard Head and their group finally left.
When they reached a rushing great river, they disassembled and smashed the four large carts, throwing all the scattered parts into the river water.
Even the saddles and bridles were taken apart or smashed and broken into pieces to be thrown into the rolling river water.
Leopard Head carefully examined the horses they had brought back. "Master Yang, these horses don't have any special brands on them."
Yang Can shook his head. "We still can't keep them. We can't lose the big for the small. Remove the reins and release the horses."
Even without markings, it was inevitable that someone around their owner might recognize them. At the very least, old horses recognize their masters.
Being careful wouldn't lead to big mistakes. He couldn't leave behind things with significant loopholes.
Better to just remove the horse reins and let them become wild horses to wander about.
Leopard Head was helpless but could only remove the saddles from the several cart horses and release them back to nature.
...
Bali Mo was currently accompanying an unexpected noble guest in drinking.
Even the wild and untamed Bali Mo had to be respectful and full of smiles before this noble guest because this guest was named Tufa Sunxie, and he was Tufa Wuyan's younger brother.
The Tufa tribe was currently one of the four most powerful tribes of the Xianbei people, with more than two thousand warriors who could draw a bow.
Bali Mo's tribe, even at full count, was only about a quarter their size. How could he dare not treat him as an honored guest?
However, the two tribes normally had no dealings with each other.
Now that Tufa Sunxie had suddenly brought more than thirty people to his tribe, this made Bali Mo feel quite uneasy.
After three rounds of wine, seeing that Tufa Sunxie was in good spirits, Bali Mo asked with a smile, "Lord Sunxie, you've traveled a thousand li to come to this humble one's tribe. Is there some matter?"
"Hahaha, Lord Bali Mo, no need to worry."
Tufa Sunxie was in his early thirties. Though not tall in stature, he was extremely stout.
He also didn't use a knife but grabbed a large chunk of mutton with bone using both hands. He only sprinkled some fine salt on it, then buried half his face in the meat, eating until both cheeks were greasy.
Hearing Bali Mo's words, he put down the mutton, grabbed a bowl of mare's milk wine and gulped down a large mouthful, then laughed, "Lord Bali Mo, I bought some silk and porcelain from the east."
He grabbed a few pieces of milk tofu and tossed them in his mouth, saying indistinctly, "These are all gifts for celebrating my elder brother's birthday, so I need to personally come receive them."
Upon hearing this, Bali Mo couldn't help but feel relieved.
So that's what it is. I thought some disaster was about to befall me. What good fortune! What good fortune!
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