The sky is blue and the fields are vast in the Hetao grassland. It is difficult to cover up the traces while marching on the grassland.
Therefore, Li Xia did not want to hide his traces, and simply marched in the direction of retreat to Xingqing Mansion, at a neither fast nor slow speed.
It was like an elk walking on the grass and being stared at by a jackal, following it and outflanking it from the north, but it seemed not to notice all this and was still grazing with its head down.
On the third day of the march, it was already the second day of October, and the weather suddenly turned cold.
The cold wind from the north blows, and autumn suddenly turns into winter. It's okay to have the sun during the day, but at night, sleeping on the frosty grass can be cold to the bones.
The Tang army chased Tachaer's troops from Xingqing Prefecture. They didn't bring much luggage. They only had some captured blankets, fur jackets, and tents to barely keep them warm. However, they wanted to increase their marching speed by bringing these things with them.
, it is impossible to escape the pursuit of the Yuan army.
As for food, the Tang army was also a cavalryman and imitated the Mongols in eating dried meat, cheese, and even raw meat. Calculating, they should be able to eat all the way to Xingqing Mansion.
Fortunately, the grass on the grassland is not withered yet, and the horses can survive as long as they have enough to eat.
At nightfall, I went to explore the horse and return to camp.
"Report, Zhang Hongfan's department is still twenty miles away from us in the east."
"Where's the north? Tell me."
"There is a Yuan army in the north, about 10,000 people, with one person and three horses. The commander's name is "Hulanji" according to the flag. They have marched along the Uga River to the northwest of us, more than thirty miles away from us."
Yang Ben asked again: "Already to the west of us?"
"Yes, in the northwest direction of us." Tanma had no choice but to repeat it again.
Li Xia asked a few more questions, looked at the map, marked it, and muttered: "Hulan Ji is here, right? It's the corner of Yinshan Mountain."
What is quite interesting is that Yinshan Mountain is in the Houtao area, almost parallel to the Yellow River, and both look like the upper left corner of the word "ji".
"Yes, there is a small lake here. The Mongolians call it 'Nalin Lake'."
Yang Ben couldn't help but become anxious and said: "It seems that in two days, Hulan Ji will be able to kill us. Your Majesty, would you speed up the march?"
"Don't worry."
Li Xia first ordered Tan Ma to go down and rest, saying: "After the battle with Zhang Hongfan, you are a little impetuous."
Yang Ben was stunned, obviously not realizing this.
In Li Xia's view, fighting and competition all depend on mentality. He is very sensitive to changes in mentality in this regard. It is certain that Yang Ben needs to readjust his mentality now, otherwise it will be easy to lose again and again.
He is not as good at instructing his generals as Li Zengbo. What he can do is to provide them with the bottom line and help them adjust.
If Yang Ben can grow into a truly famous general in the future, it may be because he experienced failure but was not destroyed, but received guidance and help.
"Our enemy is like a hyena on the grassland. The more scared you appear in front of the hyena and the faster you run, the more dare it will pounce and bite. The soldiers are in bad condition. We cannot speed up the march. We must let the soldiers
After a good rest, rebuild their confidence."
Having said this, Li Xia glanced at Yang Ben and said: "You too, you have to have confidence, you will not lose to Zhang Hongfan."
"Yes!" Yang Ben straightened his back.
Li Xia looked at the map again, frowning slightly in thought, as if there were still some things he was not sure about.
After thinking about it for a while, the detective finally came back again.
"Your Majesty, Marshal Li Zengbo has sent someone here."
"please come in."
After a while, a veteran Ningxia army general rushed in.
"The last general, Pang Pei, has been ordered by Marshal Li to deliver these two military letters."
Li Xia took the letter and asked: "Kublai Khan personally went to war, can Xingqing Mansion get the news?"
"At the end of the journey to Dengkou, I met the fast horse sent by His Majesty and found out that Kublai Khan was on his own expedition. I believe that the commander-in-chief will get the news today and tomorrow. However, when the commander-in-chief set out, the commander-in-chief had already obtained the information from Gansu Lian Gong.
The news has been firmly established in Xingqing Mansion."
"You came from Dengkou, but did you encounter the Yuan army?"
"I encountered a group of red troops who were exploring horses. After the battle, the general lost three people..."
Li Xia opened the two military letters he received and saw that they were from Li Zengbo and Lian Xixian respectively.
He carefully read Lian Xixian's letter many times, and then stared at the map again.
Only he knows how much pressure he must bear at the moment of making a decision.
In the eyes of Yang Ben and Pang Pei, all they could see was that Li Xia nodded calmly and said, "Do you still have the energy to rush back to Xingqing Mansion?"
"have!"
"I'm going to write a few letters. Can you guarantee that they will be delivered without fail?"
Li Xia's scrutinizing gaze fell, and Pang Pei lowered his head slightly first, then raised it again, and said firmly: "Even if the general dies, he must deliver the letter to Marshal Li before he dies!"
"Okay, you go and rest for an hour..."
An hour later, a knight ran towards Xingqing Mansion again in the darkness.
Li Xia stood on the grass and glanced westward, muttering to himself: "The scribbling preparations are done, let's get started..."
~~
The sky is dawning.
Zhang Hongfan got up from the tent, put on his armor, and opened the tent curtain, saying, "Have all the exploring horses returned?"
"Commander, there are still eighteen knights who have not returned to camp."
Zhang Hongfan paused while putting on his armor, realizing that the battlefield was going to change drastically. However, it took him only a few breaths to regain his composure, put on his helmet, and said, "Ask the returning horses to see me."
After a while, he was listening to Tan Ma's report on the situation at Li Xia's camp.
"The Tang Army did not drive us away at first. Recently we rushed to two hundred paces away from their camp. But the fourth watch has not yet arrived. It seems that soldiers in their camp have started to rise. Before the little ones had time to see, the Tang Army's
Tan Ma had already come out to shoot our people. I tried several times but couldn't get any closer to the Tang Army's camp..."
"Report!" Tan Ma, who had just returned to camp, came to report: "The Tang army is no longer in the camp last night!"
Zhang Hongfan frowned and said to himself: "Li Xia really moved."
"Commander." Li Ting stepped forward and asked, "Should we catch up now?"
"Have you determined which direction they are marching?"
"To Xingqing Mansion, of course."
"Continue to send out scouting horses to determine the position of the Tang army... Pass the order and tell the soldiers to eat immediately and break camp at any time."
"yes."
Zhang Hongfan raised his head and looked ahead, and could only see the vast grassland.
There was also tension and worry in his eyes, but he still tried his best to stay calm, reminding himself that he could not be chaotic, as chaos would lead to mistakes, and allowed Li Xia to find a chance to break the situation.
Less than half an hour later, the troops and horses set off to continue their march, but the Tanma horses that had dispersed had not returned yet.
"The Tang army has not been discovered yet?" Zhang Hongfan sat astride his horse and muttered: "This shouldn't be the case. The back harness is so big. As long as the Tang army goes west, it will definitely be discovered by our scouting horses."
"The commander-in-chief is saying that Li Xia must either sneak across the Yellow River to the south, or attack the Hulanji area to the north?"
"Don't jump to conclusions too quickly." Zhang Hongfan took out the map from his pocket, sat on his horse and began to read it.
Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something. He called his soldiers and asked, "Is there a pass in the western section of Yinshan Mountain?"
This cannot be seen on the map. The map of the Yuan army was simple. A stroke on the Yellow River represented the Yinshan Mountains.
The soldiers and horses under his command were all recruited from the Central Plains and were not familiar with the terrain. However, he brought the guide who was leading the way over here to get the answer.
"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, there is a pass ahead, called 'Jilusai', which was the pass leading to the north of Saibei in the Han Dynasty."
"Where?!" Zhang Hongfan said, "Point it out to me."
"Here, there is a canyon in the southwest section of Langshan Mountain. It is called 'Halonggenai' in Mongolian. It is adjacent to the Great Wall of Yinshan Mountain in the north and Tushenze in the east. There is a fort on the west side of the canyon, which is the Jilu Fortress. It is made of stone and blocks the way across the Yinshan Mountains.
A traffic chokepoint. However, it was built in the Han Dynasty and was abandoned after the Tang Dynasty."
This guide was a member of the Wanggu tribe. He was actually quite knowledgeable and proficient in Chinese and Mongolian. He told a lot about the origin of the chicken and deer stuffing.
"During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Huo Qubing marched north from Beidi County, passed through the Yinchuan Plain, and went north along the Yellow River, leaving Jilu Pass and reaching the land of the Xiongnu. Wang Zhaojun and the Xiongnu Chanyu also set out from Jilu Pass via Halong.
Go to Genai Canyon and go to Mobei..."
"Mobei?" Zhang Hongfan murmured: "Is Li Xia going to Mobei? What does he want to do, is there any change?"
Li Ting reminded: "Commander, don't worry, Marshal Hulanji is just north of Li Xia."
"No." Zhang Hongfan interrupted: "Hu Lan Ji marched too fast and has already captured Li Xia's northwest."
"This means……"
"That is to say, Li Xia doesn't need to face the main force of Hulanji. He can grab the Jilusai by attacking his rear army."
At this point, Zhang Hongfan had already made up his mind and ordered: "Turn the entire army around and march toward Jilu!"
"Commander, the Tang army will have nowhere to escape if they go further north. Could it be that they are trying to sneak across the Yellow River southward?"
"No." Zhang Hongfan said: "Firstly, they don't have ships, and secondly, Li Xia crossing the Yellow River means giving up the northwest and defending Guanzhong. I assert that he still wants to fight to defend the northwest, and will not leave like this... Send me again
Quickly remind Hulanji that Li Xia is not retreating to the west, but is planning to attack him secretly!"
~~
Hulanji is a member of the Barulasi tribe in Mongolia, and his ancestor was Kublai Lai, one of Genghis Khan's four mastiffs.
He can be regarded as a noble son of the founder of the country.
On the third day of October, he set out from the bank of Nalin Lake and led his troops south, preparing to block Li Xia in the direction of Dengkou.
At this time, he had marched in front of Li Xia and completed the outflanking.
From here we have almost left the Houtao Plain, and heading south is to Xingqing Mansion. There are a lot of deserts and wastelands that cannot be marched. Only along the Yellow River can we still have water sources for marching.
This is the only way for Li Xia to escape.
Hulan Ji only needs to wait, recover the physical strength and horse power of his soldiers, wait for a fight with the Tang army, use superior force to hold off the Tang army, and surround it with Zhang Hongfan.
By dawn the next day, Tan Ma had not yet come to report the traces of the Tang army.
Hu Lan Ji waited eagerly for a long time, and finally saw Tan Ma running wildly.
"Report! The Tang army went to the direction of Yinshan Mountain and attacked our rear army. We ordered thousands of households to ask the marshal to support him!"
"Yinshan?" Hulanji was puzzled and asked in surprise: "What did Li Xia do when he fled to Yinshan?"
"Marshal, order Qianhu to ask for support!"
"Exiute."
Hu Lanji cursed, but what he was thinking about was that even if Li Xia crossed the Yin Mountains to Mobei, he would be more likely to be surrounded or starve to death.
It's more like trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain and trick him into leaving Dengkou.
After all, Dengkou, where he is stationed, is the only way to truly escape to Xingqing Mansion.
Therefore, Hulanji only ordered a thousand households to rescue Zhibi, and ordered him to determine the strength of the Tang army to see if it was a bluff...
~~
Li Xia was not bluffing.
Just beside Tu Shenze, he seemed to have abandoned his grace and nobility as an emperor, and returned to the smelly battlefield covered in blood.
The long spear in his hand pointed at the banner of Qianhu of the Yuan Army, and he urged the war horses.
"Follow your majesty to kill the enemy!"
The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty shouted and everyone rushed to be first.
After Kublai Khan's personal expedition put great pressure on the Tang army, Li Xia began to feel as if he had returned to the days of fighting in Sichuan and Sichuan.
He is far from the point where he can start to show off and enjoy happiness.
And also kill people.
Blood spurted out from the chest that was pierced by a long spear and sprinkled on the loess.
To the northwest of the battlefield, there is a Han Dynasty fort standing beside the canyon.
If you let your sight follow the canyon northward and pass through the Yinshan Mountains, you will see the vast Mobei.
The Yuan army didn't even understand what Li Xia was going to do in Mobei...