After November, more and more soldiers in Li Xia's army fell ill due to the cold weather.
The composition of the Ningxia Army is very complex. Some of the generals are from the horse army in Qingfu County, and some are Mongolian generals who have surrendered. Most of the soldiers are recruited from Gansu, Longxi, and Guanzhong, including Han, Mongolian, and Uighurs.
Some soldiers didn't even know who they were; they might be descendants of Dangxiang and Tibetan people.
But even the big Han from Gansu are still not used to the severe cold in Mobei.
At dawn that day, Yang Ben walked around the camp and couldn't help but sigh: "If it hadn't been for His Majesty to lead the expedition himself, and the soldiers were inspired by His Majesty, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to survive."
Although he was arrogant and arrogant, he knew that he would not be able to keep the army from collapsing under such circumstances if it were him who commanded it.
Li Xia shook his head and said, "It's not because of this."
He did not think that the soldiers were gritting their teeth and enduring because of him as the emperor. This may be part of the reason, but not the whole reason.
He, Li Xia, is not great. Most of the time he only fights for his personal ambitions. After fighting for a long time, he will regard the soldiers as numbers. For example, in this battle, he led more than 7,000 people to attack more than 100,000 enemies.
The army already knew that many people would die.
It can be said that he was ready to sacrifice these people from the beginning, and he was even so ruthless that he could even sacrifice himself.
In his opinion, the reason why the soldiers could endure such a difficult situation was probably because the past life was so bad.
For more than three hundred years, there has not been a decent dynasty, either corrupt or cruel.
But Li Xia didn't understand politics or governing the country. The only thing worthy of praise was his will and some unsystematic ideas from later generations.
He didn't think he did very well. He could only say that he was lucky and his opponents were Song and Yuan.
This is not to say that the Yuan Dynasty was weak. It inherited the huge legacy of the Great Mongolia and had strong military strength. But when it comes to the overall system, it is obviously too rough.
"Because they all want a decent country."
Li Xia turned to look at his soldiers and said this.
"The military pay they should be paid is not owed, and they can farm the land well. The political situation is clear and production is promoted. This is already much more decent than the Song and Yuan Dynasties. To put it more simply, they want to live a good life. Even if they can't live it.
I want to live a good life for my family."
This is a repeat of an old tune. When he first met Yang Guo, he was talking about such a decent country. Li Xia also found it boring to talk about it.
But fortunately for him, he has not forgotten this even after two years of proclaiming himself emperor.
He felt that if one day he walked among the soldiers and could only feel his majesty but not their thoughts, then maybe he would be defeated.
A detective horse came running back and reported: "The Yuan army is already twenty miles away!"
Li Xia walked up to a high place, picked up the telescope and looked, but could not see any trace of the Yuan army yet.
It was a windy and snowy day, and even the dust and smoke could not be seen. It was not a suitable weather for field battles, but Maunge La came to fight anyway.
"Kublai Khan's son is very courageous." Li Xia said, "I considered that he would avoid him after I attacked the camp."
"Your Majesty, there is another possibility that Tuohu's soldiers and horses are arriving soon." Yang Ben said: "Meng Ge has scattered the exploration horses far away to prevent our exploration horses from going around to the west of him."
"It's very possible that we will have to fight in this vast snowy field with less than 10,000 people against more than 100,000 people. Are you afraid?"
"Don't be afraid, the weather is advantageous to us. No matter how many soldiers we have, we will still suffer from the cold. The Mongols are more tolerant of the cold, but the Yuan army is not all Mongolian. On the contrary, our army has cotton armor and is warming up with bonfires.
Here we are waiting for work. At the end of the battle, it is the army of more than 100,000 that is likely to collapse first."
There was no trace of the Yuan army in the sight of the lookout tube.
Another scout came back from the front and confirmed some information. It must be the afternoon when the Yuan army arrives on the battlefield, and the battle between the two sides will begin. Yang Ben then ordered the military officers to cook a meal and let the soldiers have a good meal before the decisive battle.
At this juncture, Li Xia took out the map and looked at it for a while.
"Your Majesty is considering whether Mr. Lian can catch up with Tuohu?"
"I'm not worried about him. With his ability, I'm sure he won't let Tuohu have an easy time."
Li Xia turned around and took a look, only to see that all the generals were holding horse meat and chewing it. Without looking this way, he said: "What I'm thinking about is that after so many days, no Yuan army has been chasing from the east."
It is said that there were no Yuan troops, but in fact some Yuan troops were exploring the west, and were intercepted by Tang troops. The content of the message was to remind Mang Ge to be careful of being ambushed by Li Xia.
It can be seen that Kublai Khan has guessed Li Xia's tactics.
"Your Majesty is saying that the Yuan army is not chasing us, but is going to attack us..."
"Well, that's what I'm worried about." Li Xia said: "If Kublai Khan sends troops to pursue us, our seven thousand cavalry can at least be detoured and consumed in this vast desert.
On the contrary, the Yuan army invaded the territory. Our territory is too large, but the population and troops are too small, making it difficult to defend."
"Then we can only defeat Mangge La as soon as possible." Yang Ben said: "It will not be good for us if the stalemate continues."
Although the Tang army was stationed at the foot of the mountain, with a commanding height and a view to the wind, and could pick up firewood, it would be a disadvantage if they would lose even the firewood if they went down further.
In fact, if Mao Ge La did not attack, Li Xia was also planning to attack his camp again on a snowy night in the next few days.
In the end, the Yuan army attacked first, presumably because they were afraid that the Tang army would escape.
"Come to think of it, the best way for the Yuan army to fight now is to surround us with a large army, while Kublai Khan rushes to seize Xingqing Mansion and take advantage of the enemy to move south."
"If you can see this, there are capable people in Brother Ma's army."
"Of course there are." Li Xia said: "But even if they are surrounded, their strength is weak."
After a while, Tan Ma reported again that the Yuan army was ten miles away.
Li Xia and Yang Ben had discussed all the possible variables on the battlefield and began to arrange their formations.
In this battle, Li Xia instead let Yang Ben take command, while he himself only led the 300 forward battalion to watch the battle on the mountain.
The battlefield was an open plain, and the scouting horses of both sides were sent very far away. They knew the situation of the enemy and ourselves clearly, so there must have been very few surprise moves.
If the Tang army resists, if they can fight for ten days and ten nights, the Yuan army can rely on its superior strength to kill all the Tang army. Otherwise, the victory or defeat will only be determined by a few points.
Take a look at the perseverance of the soldiers on both sides and see who can't hold on first. Of course, equipment, casualties, morale, etc. all affect this result;
The second is to see whose reinforcements can arrive in time. By now, it is no secret that Mang Gelu is waiting for Tuohu and Li Xia is waiting for Lian Xixian.
…
Finally, before noon, I raised the lookout tube again and could see the Yuan army emerging in the wind and snow.
Li Xia looked around until his sight was blocked by the mountain, and he could not see the end of the black line. The Yuan army was outflanking him.
The battle hasn't even started yet, but Ma Gelu is already afraid that he will run away.
He thought this shouldn't be the case. Maunge La's troops were only five times more powerful than him. With such a spread, the front line was much thinner. But he had no intention of running away.
Unless Mang Ge La is sure that Tuohu will be able to arrive at the battlefield within a day or two.
Li Xia, however, did not have any definite information about where Lian Xixian had gone.
He suddenly thought that if he lost this battle...as long as he didn't die, he would still have the courage to continue.
If the northwest is lost, then Guanzhong will be defended; if Guanzhong is lost, then Sichuan, Shu, and even Yunnan will be defended. The deeper Kublai Khan's attack goes, there may not be another defeat at Diaoyu City, and Meng Yuan can no longer bear such a defeat again.
Rarely, Li Xia felt that he could afford to lose.
"Moo!"
The sound of trumpet blowing came from the wind and snow, and the Yuan army had already seen the Tang army's banner and began to charge.
~~
Mang Ge La no longer stayed in his royal tent, but stood on the lookout.
But it was Yuxi Timur who actually coordinated the troops.
Yuxi Timur was seriously injured when the Tang army attacked the camp. Now the injury has not healed. He is wrapped all over. He is not wearing armor. He only wears a thick fur robe and sits next to Mang Ge La.
At the same time, Li Dehui filled in the gaps.
As long as it doesn't involve a battle with Zhenjin for the throne, Maunge La is very useful.
He believed that his own troops, commanded by Yuxi Timur and Li Dehui, would be able to safely surround and defeat Li Xia without making mistakes.
What's more, Tuohu was behind to protect him.
I hope that if Zhenjin is among the Tang army, he can die here; if not, he can die in the heavy snow; it is best to be dead long ago... This is the reason why he returned eastward.
"The Tang army's scouting horses have discovered us a long time ago. They are waiting for work."
Yuxi Timur held a telescope in his hand.
Although he looked down on the Han people, he had to admit that many things made by the Han people, such as gunpowder, compasses, and telescopes, were very useful.
But he still believed that the Central Plains and Jiangnan should be turned into pastures for grazing.
Because he can fight well.
"We have come from afar. Today we only need to surround the Tang army. After we have surrounded them, we will fight them decisively."
Suddenly, he turned around and was a little surprised.
Because Li Xia seemed to be running away, and he didn't expect Li Xia to escape so soon...