My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 303 Comfortable
Turkic, Qikoupo.

A fully armed caravan was slowly passing by. The terrain here was quite undulating, with several large earthen mounds in the distance, but the surrounding area was extremely desolate, with almost nothing in sight. However, this was not a yellow desert; the ground had a lifeless gray hue, with occasional clumps of thorny bushes visible.

This caravan was extremely large.

The procession stretched endlessly, with over a hundred knights leading the way alone. Including the guards and those covering the rear, there were four or five hundred knights. These knights all rode tall warhorses, took turns wearing armor, and walked along the road, cautiously surveying their surroundings. They were undoubtedly the elite of the Turks.

A caravan escorted by knights of this size was quite extravagant. The packhorses carried many packages and moved slowly forward, with servants dressed as them leading the horses.

"Shh~~~"

A strange whistle suddenly sounded.

The caravan was thrown into chaos.

The guards at the front immediately separated and dispersed to both sides, preparing for battle.

Just as they dispersed, a cavalry force suddenly charged out from directly opposite them. These men had been hiding on the opposite side of the undulating hillside and had moved out at the same time the whistle sounded. However, the whistle came from behind them, while the enemy appeared directly in front of them.

The knights who appeared were all tall and burly, but they all wore masks and dressed as bandits. There were not many of them, only about a hundred.

The leading Turkic general almost laughed in anger when he saw this.

They dare to rob us with over a hundred bandits?!
But the next moment, an arrow came flying. The most conspicuously dressed general was shot through the throat before he could even give a second command. The general clutched his neck, stared in disbelief into the distance, and collapsed with a thud.

The general died, but the army did not disperse. The deputy general quickly took over, and the knights in front began to spread out, forming two flanks, like two hands grasping the other side, and quickly began to shoot on horseback!
Both sides exchanged shots, and players from both sides fell from their horses.

Both hands stretched forward, trying to completely surround the other person.

In the center of the bandits, a slightly short bandit leader carrying a powerful bow looked around and then blew a whistle. The advancing knights suddenly changed course, and the leading general attacked to the right. The two sides clashed at close range. The bandits' spearhead, wielding a long spear, was extremely fierce. In one exchange, two elite Turks fell to the ground one after another.

After killing them, the spear didn't stop; it led the army straight through the enemy's right hand and charged out.

The Turks seemed surprised by the bandits' decisiveness. The knights behind them began to charge forward, and the right flank, which had been breached, reorganized, turned around, and prepared to encircle and shoot them again with the knights behind them.

"Shh~~"

The whistle blew, and the spearheads turned and charged to the left again, this time piercing through the middle of the caravan. The entire bandit group reappeared on the left, turned around, and rushed straight at the knights on the left flank.

The left wing had just turned around when they encountered the bandits head-on. In an instant, screams filled the air as knights fell to the ground one after another, their servants ran around in terror, the entire caravan began to collapse, and the Turkic knights were almost scattered.

Whistles rang out continuously. This band of over a hundred men acted as one, maintaining a unified formation. Like an eel, they weaved through the enemy ranks, repeating this five or six times. The Turkic knights' formation was thrown into chaos, their front, middle, and rear armies intertwined, making effective command impossible and allowing the bandits to charge at them time and time again.

Finally, after the casualties reached a certain point, the knights could no longer bear it and began to rush out and escape.

Instead of giving chase, the bandits broke through the enemy's formation, drove the knights away, and quickly began to collect the spoils. They were not greedy and moved swiftly. Then they disappeared into the distance at top speed, leaving behind only a mess.

The bandits galloped for a long time, and before sunset, they finally arrived at a mountain pass. Everyone jumped off their horses and began to pack their belongings.

Shan Xiongxin ripped off the veil covering his face, took a few steps to the stolen package, hurriedly opened it, and saw the glittering jewels inside. Shan Xiongxin's eyes lit up, and he gasped for breath, unable to recover for a long time.

He raised his head and looked at the bandit leader standing in front of him.

Li Shimin pulled off his veil, chuckling as he examined the stolen goods. "Well? I told you, if you're going to rob, you have to rob the merchant caravans at Qikou. These are all officials and merchants, escorting the most valuable items. If you went elsewhere, you'd only be robbing some cattle and sheep. How could that compare to this?"

With a face full of awe, Shan Xiongxin hurriedly bowed to him, "I was ignorant before, please don't blame me, sir. From now on, I will obey your orders, wherever you say, I will go, and I will never hesitate again!"

Li Shimin smiled and helped him up. "No need for that. If you hadn't brought so many men with you, how could we have accomplished such a great feat?" "Jingde, what do you say?"

The man who had been wielding the spear earlier had now removed his mask. He stood solemnly behind Li Shimin, his eyes fixed on Shan Xiongxin, who was none other than Yuchi Gong.

Yuchi Gong did not answer Li Shimin, but simply stood beside him with a rather cold expression.

Compared to Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong was more like a fierce general, ruthless and cold-blooded, and looked very powerful at first glance, without needing to be tested. When Shan Xiongxin saw this man's height and appearance, he felt a little intimidated.

Li Shimin looked at the soldiers around him and waved his hand, "Give half of these things to the brothers! And the families of the brothers who just died in battle should also receive compensation. I will give up my share as compensation for them!"

"Let's save the other half in the village. There will be many places where we need money in the future. We need to have some reserves to get through the winter. What do you all think?"

"Thank you so much, my lord!!!"

The knights bowed in unison, none of them objecting. Li Shimin smiled and said, "Then it's settled!"

"General Shan, please send someone to take inventory."

"My lord, perhaps you should be the one?"

"No need. I trust General Shan. Although I haven't spent much time with him, I know in my heart that he is a hero who values ​​benevolence and righteousness. General Shan can make his own decision without asking me!"

Shan Xiongxin felt a warmth in his heart, bowed again, and then led his men to begin taking inventory.

Li Shimin took off his armor, took a few leaps, and stood on a small hill in the distance, gazing into the distance. Yuchi Gong had also appeared beside him at some point.

“Jingde, my younger brother has formed a new army in Luoyang and is recruiting brave warriors. Do you want to go there first? With your skills and my recommendation, you would be more than qualified to be a captain.”

Yuchi Gong shook his head. "I'd rather follow you, Lord Jun."

"Why?"

"I feel very safe and secure by my husband's side."

Li Shimin laughed and looked Yuchi Gong up and down. "With someone like you by my side, I feel at ease!"

Li Shimin pointed into the distance, "Look! Those used to be our border fortresses! They were abandoned during the war between Qi and Zhou, and then fell into the hands of these bandits. One day, I will take back these places and build an impregnable city here to intimidate all the tribes in the north and make them submit. Do you believe me?"

"I believe."

"My lord, if Third Master is building a new army in Luoyang, why don't you go back?"

Li Shimin narrowed his eyes. "The Emperor has formed a new army because he doesn't trust the nobles. If I were to join Xuanba, what would the Emperor think? Would he still trust Xuanba?"

"Also, my grandfather always writes to me complaining about my elder brother's actions. If I go back, wouldn't I be ruining my elder brother's plans?"

"Besides, many industries in Hedong, and those mountain strongholds, need someone to manage them. Luoyang is a cage, and I don't like living there. This place is so much better—I have brothers, horses, enemies, bows and arrows, and my Guanyin maid. Hahaha~~"

Li Shimin looked down and shouted, "General Shan!! Leave me a piece of jewelry for women's decoration! I want to give it away as a gift!"

"okay!!!"

(End of this chapter)