Yanyun Eighteen Horsemen, an elite cavalry unit led by Hou Luoyi of Jingbian during the Sui and Tang dynasties, is said to be composed of eighteen people, whose members have been strictly screened, most of whom are orphans in the war, who have received Strict Military Skills Training from Luo Yi since childhood, and gradually formed an iron-blooded organization with super combat strength.
They were dressed in winter coats, waist machetes, face masks, black scarves over their heads, only their eyes, and their outer bodies were also draped in long black cloaks, pedaling hu centaur boots, riding boots with daggers, and all carrying large bows, each carrying eighteen arrows, and all of them were equipped with the same full moon curved knife. When the border is in emergency, secret activities are carried out in the desert to carry out special missions.
The Turks once invaded the northern frontier ruled by Luo Yi to kill and plunder, Luo Yi led the "Yanyun Eighteen Horsemen" to sneak attack, defeated the Turks, and killed thousands of Turks; on the way to the Turks retreated, Luo Yi took Yanyun Eighteen Horsemen as the vanguard, thousands of cavalry followed, once again defeated the Turks, killed more than three thousand enemy troops, Yanyun Eighteen rode alone deep into the desert steppe, all the way to the Turks' garrison, killed all the tens of thousands of men, women and children of the Turkic Liao, and Yanyun Eighteen Horsemen did not suffer any casualties, and since then the "Yanyun Eighteen Horses" has been famous. The Turks no longer dared to invade the border pass for half a step.
In the Sui and Tang novels, it is described that Yanyun eighteen rides, as fast as the wind, as fierce as fire, and wherever he goes, there is no grass left. Strong bow and machete, good at riding and shooting, with one enemy and a hundred, not a defeat. They took the trumpet as their order and obeyed only their master Luo Yi. Yanyun Eighteen Horses is a very terrifying ace killer force, and every time Yanyun Eighteen Horses appear, it will bring a terrible massacre.
Local historical materials have many descriptions of the "Eighteen Horses of Yanyun", a cavalry unit that was often sent by Luo Yi to the border pass to carry out special military tasks, traversing the desert and protecting the frontier. Regrettably, there is little mention in the main history, perhaps because this unit was too cruel, perhaps because of the political aspect, or perhaps because this unit did not exist, but since there is such a description, it shows that there is indeed a prototype of the "Eighteen Horsemen of Yanyun" in history.
At the end of the first year (619) of Tang Gaozu Li Yuanwude's return to Tang, Luo Yi gave him the surname Li, initially enfeoffed the Duke of Yan, and later the King of Yan County, Luo Yi and the Tang Dynasty army suppressed Liu Hei's rebel army, and repeatedly fought with Liu Hei's generals Gao Gaoxian (Su Dingfang's adoptive father) and Su Dingfang (later the famous general of the Tang Dynasty), and there were victories and defeats against each other, and on the occasion when the Tang army commander Li Shentong was defeated, Luo Yi was also defeated, the whole army was destroyed, his left and right arms Xue Wanche and Xue Wanjun were captured, Luo Yi fled back, and from then on for many years, There is no record of Yanyun Eighteen riding in history.
In the novel "Sui and Tang Dynasty", the "Eighteen Horses of Yanyun" was disbanded by Luo Cheng after Luo Yi's death. This is not historically true, because Luo Cheng (Luo Shixin) died earlier than Luo Yi.