Zhao Yun led his men through a narrow and winding path. Their destination was Fancheng, the same as the Xiliang Cavalry. As Zhao Yun and his men were lightly armored and had two horses, they were faster than the heavily armored Xiliang Cavalry.
“Report. We will enter Jingzhou territory in about fifty more li.” A scout reported to Zhao Yun.
“Fifty li.” Zhao Yun muttered. This meant that Fancheng was near as Fancheng was Jingzhou’s new border city.
“What about the Xiliang Cavalry?”
“They are at least thirty li behind us!” The scout replied. Due to superior speed, Zhao Yun and his men even had the leeway to take breaks and still come out ahead. This is unlike the heavily armored Xiliang Cavalry that is less suitable for travelling over long distances.
“They are still so far away?” Zhao Yun furrowed his brows. The Xiliang Cavalry set out at night to launch a surprise attack on Fancheng. The moonlit night would help hide them but was still bright enough to light the way. However at that rate, the sky would turn bright before the Xiliang Cavalry arrived, causing a new variable.
While Zhao Yun hesitated, a scout reported that someone was approaching them. Zhao Yun quickly ordered his men to hide their secret orders.
Two riders approached Zhao Yun’s men. As they approached, Zhao Yun was able to tell from their uniform that they were Liu Biao’s men.
Zhao Yun’s opinion of Liu Biao’s men improved. These two riders were clearly scouts and they had approached from the direction of the Xiliang Cavalry. That was at least a hundred li away from Fancheng. To have scouts from so far away meant that Jingzhou had capable people as well. The scouts also looked like proper soldiers.
Jingzhou had placed lookouts all over and these lookouts were provided with horses. After all, Liu Biao was restless when Zhang Xiu had thirty thousand Xiliang Cavalry with him. Liu Biao needed to keep a close eye on Zhang Xiu.
“Stop them!” Zhao Yun gave the order and his men shouted for the newcomers to stop.
“Who are they?” The two hurriedly rode past the White Horses as they ignored the warning. As a result, the White Horses shot at them with arrows from atop their horses. With the stirrups, mounted archery was easier to accomplish. After being intercepted, one of them told the other to escape first while he would hold the White Horses back.
“We are the White Horses working under His Majesty the King of Shu!”
“Oh! It’s the Yangzhou Army!” The two soldiers immediately felt relieved since Yangzhou was now their ally.
“Wait! Why are the Yangzhou Army here?” The older soldier skeptically shouted.
“Why are you here?” Zhao Yun also asked the soldiers the same question at the same time.
“We are Jingzhou’s soldiers. We discovered enemy movement and are heading back to Fancheng to make our report.”
“We are the same! We have been hanging around Nanyang so we naturally found out about the Xiliang Cavalry being dispatched! We came here to warn you all!”
“Really?”
“Of course! Aren’t we allies?” Zhao Yun smiled at the two.
“That’s great! Our horses can barely run anymore and we had been thinking of switching horses at a nearby village! Now that we have run into you, we can go to Fancheng together!” The soldier exclaimed.
“Men. Help these two men exchange horses.” Zhao Yun ordered.
“General. Exchange with our horses?” One soldier asked with doubt. This is because of the secrets of their horses. Even if the White Horses dies, they could not divulge this secret.
“It is of no matter. Isn’t it just two horses?”
“Thank you General!” The two soldiers cupped their fist at Zhao Yun.
“There is no need to act like this. We are allies so Jingzhou’s affairs are our affairs.” Zhao Yun waved back generously.
“Eh?” One of Jingzhou’s soldiers suddenly exclaimed. “This is!”
“What happened?” The older one asked.
“Look at the horse!”
“What happened to the horse?” The older one asked again as he looked at the horse. It was a good and strong warhorse. The older soldier sighed in admiration. That is when the younger soldier redirected the man’s attention to the stirrups. The two were amazed after trying the stirrups. They could ride the horse without grabbing on to it with their hands and legs. This would allow them to perform significantly better in war.
One of the reasons the Han people could only use elites like the Wolf Cavalry and Xiliang Cavalry to fight against foreigners is because of the foreigner’s mounted archery. Only heroes like Lu Bu and Gongsun Zan could push them back.
Basically, the stirrups could allow the Han cavalry to be as powerful as the foreigners. Both soldiers could not resist riding on the horse without holding the reins. They felt as though they were standing on flat ground and were confident that they could do archery from atop this horse.
“General. Did Yangzhou provide these?” The old soldier asked Zhao Yun.
“Yes.” Zhao Yun replied honestly. These two soldiers had guts. Zhao Yun had some admiration for them and also pity.
“Look! There are also these!” The young soldier shouted when he noticed the metal sounds coming from the hooves of the horses. These were horseshoes. Riders were usually afraid of three things. Dying in battle, an old horse, and the condition of a horse’s hooves. Of these three, the ones that caused the biggest losses were usually the hooves. After all, warhorses are prone to excessive hoof wear and would eventually become useless. Wearing horseshoes would help reduce the losses of horses.
This was valuable information. If they were to inform their superiors, they would receive huge rewards along with a promotion.
“General. Is it possible…”
“You can have the horse once we reach Fancheng.” Zhao Yun said indifferently. Hearing this, the soldier felt very grateful as his trust for Zhao Yun deepened.
“Right now, we need to get to Fancheng.” Zhao Yun reminded.
“Yes. Of course.” The soldier quickly nodded.
“Since we are both here, how about we split up? One of us report this to Fancheng while the other reports this to the other nearby lookouts. This way, we would neglect no one.”
“That’s right.” The soldiers agreed. This way, Fancheng could prepare faster.
“If you trust me, allow me and my main forces to accompany you to Fancheng while a small detachment is sent to the other lookouts.” Zhao Yun suggested.
“General! Of course I trust you!” The soldiers replied. They were initially vigilant as they were not certain of Zhao Yun’s identity. However, Zhao Yun had allowed them to take away the secret of the stirrups to gain merits. How could they not trust him? Wouldn’t an enemy have already killed them instead of going through all the trouble? As a result, they gave Zhao Yun a map detailing all the positions of their lookouts.
“Men. Go to these locations and light up their beacons. Make sure the Jingzhou Army could see it.” Zhao Yun said as he quietly gave an additional piece of written instruction to one of his men.
“Yes!” Zhao Yun’s subordinate received the order and rode away.
“Come, Generals from Jingzhou. Let us hurry. There is no time to waste.” Zhao Yun said to the two Jingzhou soldiers.
“Yes. Thank you, General!” The soldiers replied.
“Thank me once we arrive at Fancheng.” Zhao Yun said something weird but the soldiers did not think too much.
