The Qilian Mountains stretch all the way to Huangshui.
Two herdsmen climbed to the top of a mountain and leaned behind a big tree to take a few breaths. One of them looked around and took out a telescope to look to the south.
Where the sun shines, a purple halo flashes through the observation tube.
"Exiute."
"Who is that?"
"Tang Jun."
"Damn it, why did we encounter Tang Jun? Then we can't pass through quietly?"
"I'm afraid that the Tang army has discovered us and set up an ambush in advance."
"Ambush here?"
"Wait a minute, these Tang soldiers don't seem to have many horses. The middle of the team is full of carriages pulling baggage."
"show me……"
The two herdsmen discussed in a low voice for a while, then went down the mountain and joined several other herdsmen driving sheep.
Their clothes were shabby, their faces were stained with dirt, and they looked dirty. If you didn't get close and listen to their words, it would be difficult to connect them with the Yuan army's exploration of horses.
"It must be the envoy sent by the Tang Dynasty to Tibet, who gave so much tea and silk."
"What if not? Maybe the Tang people lured us there?"
"How many people, cattle and sheep died trying to cross such a large desert. Can we still go back?"
"What are you saying? Report it back. The generals know what to do."
In the Han Dynasty, in order to ensure the smooth flow of the Silk Road and long-term peace and stability in the northwest border, the Great Wall was built in the Hexi Corridor stretching for thousands of kilometers, and was connected with beacons, piers, and gates.
Times have changed, and more than a thousand years have passed. The Great Wall has long been in ruins and cannot stop the foreign cavalry from entering.
Li Xia did not have the financial resources to repair the thousands of miles of Great Wall, nor did he have the military strength to spread the thousands of miles of defense.
But he can hold on to the important towns in the Hexi Corridor, build more watchtowers, discover the enemy's traces in time, and severely defeat them.
Generally speaking, the Yuan army had to cross thousands of miles of desert. Regardless of how much they suffered on the way, they were already exhausted after arriving in Gansu, so it might not be worth it.
But there are more than 800 miles of desert edge from Liangzhou to Xingqingfu. If you want to get through, there is always a way.
Few people know that deep in the desert, there is a small oasis called "Bitter Water Well".
And in this oasis, a Yuan army has been stationed here for many days.
They can only be regarded as vanguards, their role is to gather information and occupy the passes on the only way to ensure that the big shots who will follow can pass through the Tang army safely and reach Hehuang.
The distance where we might encounter the Tang army is not long, only about five hundred miles.
These Yuan troops suffered from the scorching sun and waited for several days, and finally some of the explorers returned.
"After King Anxi's army advanced westward, the Tang army in Liangzhou did also advance westward."
"Sure?"
"I'm sure King Anxi has brought 100,000 troops to attack the Chagatai Khanate. Lian Xixian can't possibly dare to ignore it."
"Where are the remaining defenders of Liangzhou?"
"This is the map we drew. As long as we don't attack their towns, we can go around Hehuang by taking this path, but we can't walk with large groups of soldiers and horses, lest the dust and smoke are too big and the Tang army will find them."
Not long after hearing the good news, another scout came back to report that a Tang Dynasty envoy was traveling along the Huangshui River towards Xining Prefecture.
"This team is very slow, as slow as a turtle."
"Their carriages are very heavy and the ruts are deep. Many people in the team are definitely Lifu and definitely not elite soldiers."
"The most likely scenario is that the Tang people also wanted to contact Tibet, but there is also the possibility that the news leaked out and they were setting up an ambush..."
The Yuan general in charge of this vanguard army was named Cui Bin.
Cui Bin was a native of Shuozhou, Shanxi Province. He was forty-four years old, in his prime, and was born tall and majestic. He was good at both literature and martial arts, and was good at both literature and riding and shooting.
He once accompanied Kublai Khan to attack Ezhou and climbed to the top of the city first with a shield. He was extremely brave and was given the Mongolian name "Yan Tie Mu'er". He was appreciated by the King of Yan with real gold and appointed as the governor of the capital in front of the tent.
This time he led his troops through the desert, but before meeting the Tang army, the army lost 20% of its troops due to exhaustion, heat stroke, poisonous insects and other reasons, which shows that this trip is dangerous.
At this time, Cui Bin's forehead was covered with sweat as he stood under the scorching sun and listened to the military situation.
But his eyes were still bright, and he concentrated on carefully analyzing the situation before finally making a decision.
"The opportunity is right in front of you, don't be timid."
The team heading from Chang'an to Tubo moved very slowly because they carried too much supplies.
After crossing the Yellow River for five days, they entered the Huangshui River Valley.
Li Bing led his troops to protect him, turning his head from time to time to look at the surrounding terrain with a cautious look.
The carriage in front slowed down slowly, and Hao Xiuyang opened the curtain and asked, "Li Xiaoyou, what do you seem to be worried about?"
"Master Mingde." Li Bing raised his hand and pointed, and said: "There is only this Tangbo Road to Xiningzhou. The road gets higher as you go west, and the mountains on both sides are towering..."
"A good place for enemy soldiers to ambush?"
"That's right. If the Tibetans set up an ambush in the front, they can attack us from a high position. And if there are enemy soldiers in the rear, they can easily block our retreat. Therefore, without complete preparations, Lian Gong will not march to Xining Prefecture."
"This time we..."
Before he finished speaking, a whistle suddenly sounded from the mountains to the north.
Li Bing looked up and saw a flag waving on the top of the mountain.
"Enemy attack?"
He was a little surprised and didn't understand how there could be enemy troops attacking from the direction of Gansu behind him.
It was also the first time for this young preparer to act alone, so his reaction was not very fast.
But fortunately, he is still calm. He has fought in the battle to defend Hexi and also fought in the battle to attack Xingqing Mansion. He has neither much nor little experience on the battlefield.
While paying attention to the flags at high places to see how many enemy troops there were, he mobilized his troops and horses to stop them. At the same time, he quickly turned his horse around and jumped up a hill.
Looking as far as the eye can see, I can see the dust and smoke billowing to the east, and a Yuan army flag waving in the dust and smoke.
Li Bing took a deep breath and thought something bad in his heart.
I thought the Yuan army would be scouting with dozens of people at most, but I didn’t expect that the Yuan army went through all the trouble and crossed the desert regardless of losses... Was it really just to rob Yan Shangshu’s goods?
Now is not the time to think about this.
"Go down with the order, dismount, train formation! Fight!"
Li Bingcai shouted loudly and immediately felt a chaos in the team. It was the troops who had panicked and disrupted his line.
"Lifu is back, why are you panicking?! Hold your horse!"
"Meet the enemy! Meet the enemy!"
Li Bing kicked the horse's belly, rushed down the hill, personally rushed to a group of Lifu who were howling to stop them, and ordered the soldiers to push carts into formation.
Ahead, the Yuan army was getting closer and closer.
"Li Xiaoyou!" At this moment, someone rushed over and shouted: "Prime Minister Yan orders you to come over!"
"What's the matter?"
"Prime Minister Yan orders you to go there immediately."
Li Bing frowned, not wanting to listen to a civil servant talking at this time, especially a female civil servant.
Moreover, he was ordered by Lian Xixian to protect the mission, but was not actually ordered by Yan Yunyun.
If his general Song He were here, he would definitely ignore such shouting.
But after all, Li Bing's official position was still low. Looking at the Yuan army getting closer and closer, he felt uncertain and subconsciously reined in his horse and retreated two soldiers.
"Where is Mr. Yan?"
When he turned around again, he saw Yan Yunyun getting off the carriage and running towards this side, followed by a panicked middle-aged man.
"Li Jiaoyou, are you confident in facing the enemy?"
Before Li Bing could react, Yan Yunyun rushed in front of his horse, pulled his arm armor and motioned for him to lean over and speak.
"Tell me the truth. The enemy's troops are massive, and you can be confident in meeting them."
"The general did not expect so many enemy soldiers."
"Then can our soldiers and horses on Gansu Road or even Ningxia Road be able to block it?"
"Definitely."
"No more." Yan Yunyun said quickly, "I don't want all the goods. Can you escort me to the north to attract the enemy troops and let the civilians escape?"
Li Bing's pupils opened suddenly, he was deeply stunned for a moment, then he cupped his fists and said, "Yes!"
"I don't know how to fight, so Li Jiaoyong can take command." Yan Yunyun spoke quickly, "Give me a horse."
The Yuan army's horse hooves were already approaching.
Both sides were drinking loudly.
"Fire the arrow!"
"Fire the arrow!"
The first round of arrow rain was not very lethal, but there was a civilian man lying on the ground with his head in his arms who was hit by the arrow, bleeding and urinating, crying loudly.
"Dead man!"
Collisions and casualties are inevitable.
Yan Yunyun got on his horse and shouted: "Leave the goods! The water is good enough to wade through the Huangshui River and go back south!"
She was actually quite good at riding. She shouted and pulled Han Wufei, who was out of breath from chasing her, onto his horse.
"Lower your head and don't block my view."
When he drank this softly, Yan Yunyun turned his head and glanced eastward again, murmuring: "This is strange. Is it possible to spend so much effort to get to Tubo? What's the use of ordinary people going there?"
A cavalryman came forward and took her reins to leave. He seemed a little anxious, but she was still thinking.
"If it's not an ordinary person, who could be here?"