Reborn in Dunhuang, I am farming and doing business in the desert

Chapter 81 Sending Letters
Upon hearing the noise, the Han army picked up their halberds and spears, and those who could move ran over.

Shen Xun and several wounded men lay on the hill, lit alcohol bottles and threw them into the Hun crowd one by one.

In an instant, the Huns were set on fire and rolled down the hillside wailing.

However, there were Hun soldiers all around, climbing up with their bare hands, and some were almost there.

So Shen Xun could only throw fire everywhere. In order to save alcohol bottles, he only threw one in each direction. After lighting up the surroundings, he asked his comrades to attack with bows and crossbows and stones.

In a short period of time, countless Huns were killed and wounded, but the Han army was also hit by many stray arrows.

Some soldiers carried bundles of hay to the side of the mountain and used them as cover to shoot arrows down the mountain.

Fortunately, the ten bows and crossbows had enough arrows and quickly repelled the Huns' sneak attack.

At this time, the snow was getting heavier and the visibility was getting lower and lower.

There were only two bottles of alcohol left in Shen Xun's hand.

"Just have five people guarding each location, and the rest can go back and rest!" Chen Wuhou was also afraid that the soldiers would suffer heavy casualties, so he ordered everyone to go back to the house to bandage their wounds.

At this time, Shen Xun already had some experience in treating wounds, so without saying a word, he used a knife to remove the arrowhead and sutured the wound.

After waiting until dawn, the snow was already several inches thick. Suddenly, we discovered that many Huns at the foot of the mountain had retreated.

Chen Wuhou breathed a sigh of relief and asked his soldiers to cook a large pot of rice porridge and divide the remaining steamed buns.

In the battle last night, only five of our men died and twenty to thirty were injured, but the Huns suffered a terrible loss, with at least a hundred killed.

In addition, it was cold at night and the Huns had no tents to live in, so they had to retreat partially.

However, they only had a few arrows left and several bows and crossbows were damaged, so the situation was not optimistic.

Chen Wuhou glanced at Shen Xun and saw that he was crouching in the corner writing a letter secretly, so he pretended not to see anything.

The Shen family in Yanzeli.

At eight o'clock on time, Shen Zhao recalled a key chain and took out his brother's letter to read it.

Upon learning of his difficult situation, they sent him two hundred freshly steamed buns, some cotton coats, five bows and crossbows, and one thousand crossbow arrows.

After thinking about it, I bought ten more riot shields and sent them over.

At this time, the second brother Shen Heng walked into the wing room, chewing a steamed bun in his hand: "A Zhao, do you have any goods today?"

Shen Zhao nodded: "Yes, I'll send it to the inn, you can bring someone to pick it up."

"Okay, I'll go check it out when Ah Zhu and the others come over." Shen Heng sat down on the kang and asked quietly, "Where are the steamed buns that you and Ah Niang make every day?"

Shen Zhao: "Sold it to foreigners."

"Sell it to foreigners? How?" Shen Heng was puzzled.

Shen Zhao: "You won't understand even if I tell you. Hurry up and send them more. I'm short of money recently."

"You're short of money?" Shen Heng didn't believe it at all: "Where did the money that Ah Zhu and the others gave me every now and then go?"

"They've all been restocked." Shen Zhao added, "I've also distributed some small glass mirrors at the inn. Ask Ah Zhu and Ah Gua to try them out. They're fifty coins each, and they can sell them for eighty or a hundred coins each."

She only told her mother about sending supplies to her eldest brother, so she could steam buns every day. However, she did not tell her mother about the danger her brother was facing, nor did she tell her second brother and father.

"Okay! Those things are rare. I'll go take a look!" Shen Heng stood up, patted the biscuit crumbs in his hands, and strode away.

Shen Zhao also came out of the room and saw people coming and going in the tofu workshop, all of them coming to exchange tofu.

Some people exchanged it for tofu to sell, some exchanged it for one or two pieces to take home to eat, and some just came to watch the fun.

Now my cousin and Ah Zhu's father no longer go out to the market. They only make tofu and exchange it with the neighbors every day. The money they earn is no less than going to the market. "A Zhao, where is your brother now?" Mother Zhang Shanyue pulled her daughter into the kitchen and asked quietly: "You gave him so many steamed buns, will anyone find out?"

Shen Zhao picked up a spoon to scoop up the porridge and whispered, "There's nothing we can do. They have no food. If they can't find anything to eat, they will starve to death."

Zhang Shanyue's expression changed: "Is it really that serious?"

"Yes, my elder brother and his men are trapped in Wulei City by the Xiongnu and the rebels from the small countries in the Western Regions. I wonder when they can escape?"

Shen Zhao still decided to confront his mother. If he could find a way to send a message to the commander of Yumen Pass, perhaps his brother's team could be rescued sooner.

"Oh, can you tell your father about this?" Zhang Shanyue became extremely anxious when he heard this.

Shen Zhao: "I'll tell dad when he comes back."

Recently, my father was called over by the county magistrate several times because of the murder of Feng Laizi. He went to the county town again yesterday, but has not been seen since.

As they were talking, the straw door curtain opened and Shen Ang walked in.

"Dad! You're back!" Zhang Shanyue was surprised and quickly took the backpack from her husband.

Shen Zhao went to get a basin of hot water and warmed his father's hands and face.

While her husband was washing his face, Zhang Shanyue told her daughter what she had learned about her eldest son's team being besieged.

"Can you think of a way to send a letter? Axun's place is one or two thousand miles away from us. Even if they have asked the court for help, they can't reach Yumen Pass in a short time."

She wiped her tears and said, "If it was too late to ask for help, I'm really afraid that Ah Xun would have lost his life."

Shen Ang paused and looked at his daughter: "How did Ah Zhao know this news?"

Shen Zhao simply didn't hide it: "I have a way to communicate with my brother."

As he said this, he took out his brother's letter and handed it over.

Shen Ang took it and looked at it, then quietly put it away and said seriously: "This matter must not be known to outsiders that you can communicate with Asun!"

Shen Zhao nodded and handed the facial ointment to his father.

"I will find a way to send the news to the county magistrate and say that it was brought back by a merchant from the Western Regions." Shen Ang took the Vaseline ointment and applied it on his hands and face before sitting down to eat.

Then he took the wood chip and carefully wrote a letter to the county magistrate.

After writing the letter and putting it in his backpack, he turned around and rode away on his horse. He changed horses at a horse post and galloped towards the county town again.

Shen Ang did not return until noon of the next day.

"I have already sent the news to the county magistrate. As to whether it will be believed or not, it all depends on God's will." Shen Ang sighed.

Shen Zhao also knew that his father was taking a great risk in doing this, because the military intelligence on the border should not be obtained by him, a guard post chief inside the pass.

But the eldest brother’s situation was too dangerous, and if he was not careful, the entire army would be destroyed.

Because the general leading the troops was a fool who knew nothing and refused to listen to other people's advice, in the end only 3,000 of the 8,000 soldiers were left, and now there may be even less than 3,000.

"Gods of the country, please bless my son and keep him safe! I am willing to shorten my life by twenty years!" Zhang Shanyue knelt down in front of the stove and kowtowed several times towards the shrine on the stove.

Shen Zhao also followed suit and bowed, praying in his heart that his elder brother would be safe and sound.

She had just received a letter from her eldest brother saying that they had fought two fierce battles with the Huns again. Each time, the Huns suffered many casualties, but the Han army did not suffer any casualties.

However, two war horses here were dead and injured, so he wanted his sister to send some firewood over as they wanted to roast some horse meat.

(End of this chapter)