To the west of Helan Mountain is a desert. Only some small mountains can block the strong wind and allow vegetation to settle down, which has become a resting place for passing business travelers. Hatu Mountain is a small oasis more than 200 miles away from Helan Mountain.
You may not be able to tell in winter, but in summer, the snow melts and forms rivers, which become resting places for birds and animals. "Report! Found Li Zengbo!"
"South or north?"
"To the north, there is a small tribe nearby called Duribu. Some herdsmen exchanged many things with the Tang army using dried meat, cheese, and tents."
"Really?" Shi Gang turned around and saw that Tan Ma had brought back some marching pots, daggers, horseshoes, and even a suona and two gongs and drums.
He picked up two gongs and struck them, and there was a sound of "dang". "What kind of idiot is running away and still carrying such a thing?"
After muttering like this, Shi Gang dropped the gongs and drums and ordered to continue the pursuit. However, another scout hurriedly reported back: "Young General, the troops of King Tacha'er Zong have come around from the north of Helan Mountain and are flanking Li Zengbo in the north.
.”
"Is it necessary?" Shi Gang was surprised, "He is a clan king, and he came here to chase down some defeated troops? Damn it. Damn Li Zengbo really knows how to run, so the clan king has to work hard."
In fact, as soon as the truth came out, Shi Gang also knew that Tachaer was not only here for Li Zengbo, but also to prevent Li Zengbo and Li Xia from reuniting. But he felt unhappy after all. After all, he had told his generals not long ago that His Majesty trusted the Han army more.
Now I want to change it. Your Majesty puts more emphasis on the Han army, but trusts relatives more. "Damn it."
If Shi Gang's classmates and friends saw him leading troops and horses on an expedition, swearing swear words, they would all be very surprised. Because whether Shi Sanlang was in Kaifeng or Yanjing, he showed
A relaxed and quiet look.
In the past, like the historian Jiulang Shi Zhang, he loved Taoism on weekdays and called himself Taoist Juzhai. In his spare time from studying, he liked painting and painted figures, landscapes, and flowers. In short, he was very elegant.
At that time, the military power of the Shi family was in the hands of several nephews of Shi Tianze, but his sons were either studying or practicing.
Later, Shi Tianze's two nephews Shi Shu and Shi Quan died in battle one after another, and his eldest son Shi Ge died in battle. So he had to transfer his eldest brother Shi Tianni's only remaining son Shi Ji to the Eagle Guard, and at the same time began to let the remaining eight
A son was exposed to military service.
As Li Xia gradually became more powerful, the Shi family gained more trust from Kublai Khan. This was because Shi Tianze and Li Xia had the most serious personal feud.
But what no one knows is that before Shi Bang’s expedition this time, Shi Tianze secretly said something: “Do you know how to fight a battle?”
"Knowing this, I will kill Li Xia to avenge my brother and cousins and make great contributions to support the Shi family." When Shi Tianze heard this, he slapped Shi Gang directly.
"Pa!" "Father?"
"Your father couldn't kill Li Xia, how about you? Remember, don't die on the battlefield, and don't let the grudge between Shi Jia and Li Xia get out of hand."
"Father?"
"When your grandfather was alive, he protected the hometown and the people. Since his father took office in Henan, he has governed the country, cared for the people, and restored livelihoods in the Central Plains. Li Xia appreciates this very much."
"Appreciation? How can father use such words? No, when did Li Xia show appreciation to his father?"
"You don't have to worry about this. The historians have been loyal to the Yuan Dynasty for three generations and have no intention of repeating it. My father only hopes that you can survive on the battlefield. If one day, my father can die for the Yuan Dynasty! But the merits your father and ancestors have accumulated for the Central Plains
It's enough to keep your children safe, don't let it down. Do you understand?"
"My child, I understand."
Shi Bang answered like this that day.
Looking back now, I feel that no wonder Dayuan keeps losing battles. If the generals fight with this kind of thinking, how can they not be defeated?
After so many close relatives were killed, my father didn't want to take revenge, but was afraid? It's ridiculous.
While riding on horseback, Shi Gang thought of something else - Zhang Hongfan could guess that Li Xia crossed the Yinshan Mountains to Mobei. There was no reason why his father couldn't guess it. He couldn't have guessed wrong on purpose. He returned to Wulate Ranch to guard His Majesty's family.
Big camp?
After marching for another two days, we could already see the traces left by Li Zengbo's remaining troops.
Shi Gang was overjoyed and ordered to speed up the pursuit.
Not long after, someone came from the front and announced: "The King Zong has surrounded the remnant of Li Zengbo's troops. However, the scouting horse discovered that there were troops and horses moving in the northwest, and ordered Shibang to go to Tugacha tribe to support!"
Although Shi Gang was reluctant, he still accepted the military order. After that, he got several guides and a map.
When he opened the map and looked at it, the idea was to ask him to go around in a big circle and go to the back to see if he might encounter Li Xia. "Oh, you grab the credit so openly, I don't know whether to scold you for being greedy or praise you for being frank.
"
~~
"Commander, we seem to be surrounded by the Yuan army."
In the afternoon, Pang Pei rushed to Li Zengbo's side and said: "The general sent people to run in several directions, and they all found the movements of the Yuan army."
Pang Pei was injured in October, and now two months have passed and he is still not fully recovered. Because when Li Zengbo decided to break out, his battalion of lightly injured soldiers was in the city, so he temporarily protected Li Zengbo to break out.
Li Zengbo marked it on the map and said: "Since we are surrounded, let's build defenses on this mountain. We will defend until our supplies are exhausted."
"It's not a loss." Pang Pei said: "This humble life of the general, after he escaped from Xingqing Mansion, he still kept the dog Tacha'er around for two months, which reduced the pressure on the Gansu garrison, right?"
"Then I'll live to be seventy years old, and it won't be a loss at all."
"Next year. Next year, it would be nice to celebrate the marshal's seventieth birthday."
Out of the 700 Tang troops, there were only about 400 left, and they immediately began to dig ditches and build fortifications.
They shoveled away the snow, dug out ditches for trapping horses, sharpened branches, covered them with snow and set up traps. It was already night, and they hurriedly ate dried meat and started shoveling snow to build walls.
During the process, people kept falling down due to being too cold or too tired. Then someone started singing.
The singing was very jerky, and no one paid attention at first. Gradually, it became louder and louder.
"The flying springs coming out of Shule are not like the wine envoys in the Yingchuan River. The formations under the Helan Mountain are like clouds, and the feathers are flying day and night."
"Little Uighur, what are you singing?"
"Sing Tang poetry, Tang poetry is so beautiful." Ai Shan turned around and said, "This is what my grandfather said. He said Tang poetry is so beautiful." "Your grandfather still knows about Tang poetry?"
"He didn't know, he heard it from my great-grandfather."
While they were talking, they did not stop what they were doing. Finally, Ai Shan sighed with emotion: "Our shovel is really easy to use. It can be used as a shield or a knife. It is also light to carry."
"Why do you feel so good about everything?"
"Of course it's good, we didn't do it before." "Keep singing."
"Okay. The festival envoy Sanhe recruits young men, and the five edicts are issued to generals." Ai Shan sang again, "Try to brush the iron clothes like snow, and talk about holding the sword to move the stars."
All the soldiers couldn't help but laugh at him.
"This little Uyghur is so happy even when he is about to die."
At night, when it was the coldest time, they pitched tents to rest. More than an hour later, the sound of horns woke them up from exhaustion.
"The Yuan army is coming!"
"Damn, it's that dog Tachaer again." "Bah, the defeated general."
"Haha, if you dig the Yellow River and try to drown my dear grandson, I'll make you run away with your urine in your hands. Did you know that?"
Pang Pei strode up to the heights, stared at the rushing Yuan army line in the distance, his eyes opened wider and wider, waving his hands and said: "Brothers, I will sing folk songs for you. Tacha'er, my dear grandson
Son, dig the Yellow River and flood yourself!"
"Haha, General, what are you doing? You have to listen to Wang Xian when you sing folk songs." "Tachaer, dear grandson, come here! I'm going to bump into your grandpa."
The big flag in the distance was getting closer and closer, and finally the trap collapsed with a loud bang.~~
Tachaer sat in the tent with a cold face.
Tanma came in and out like running water, reporting all kinds of news from all directions to Sajisi.
"Eh Xiute, the smoke is being lit on the top of the mountain over there, and Li Zengbo is mentioning
Wake up Li Xia."
Sajith thought: "Look on the bright side. Your Majesty is surrounding him, doesn't he just want to see if Li Xia will come to support him?"
"That's Li Xia. If it were someone else who ran to Mobei, we would still guess that he is alive." Tacha'er said: "Do you know why the Great Khan sent me here?"
"Your Majesty, please speak."
"If we attack Lanzhou by force, we will definitely encounter the artillery of the Tang army, and the casualties will be too heavy. As soon as Li Xia shows up and gives us the opportunity to surround him, Your Majesty will take action."
"Your Majesty, he has indeed appeared. Eighty miles to the northwest, rebels appeared. Our scouting horses thought they were Tuohu's soldiers, but they stepped forward and were shot dead by them."
"Exiute, who is it? Is it really that crazy woman Uluru Hunai?" "Yes, there are at least 30,000 people."
"Where is Tuohu?! Their 150,000-strong army can't be completely defeated. Where did they retreat to?" "They must have gone north. Doesn't the king know him well?"
Tachar took two steps and came up with a rather sober strategy.
"Don't rush to attack Li Zengbo. Keep the remaining soldiers and drag Li Xia here until the Great Khan sends reinforcements. Believe me, the Great Khan will definitely prefer to fight Li Xia here faster than attacking Lanzhou! Send Tanma back.
!」
~~
Li Xia was still moving slowly.
When he learned that there was a Yuan army chasing the defeated Tang army ahead, he asked Uluru Hunai to lead his troops to the Hatu Mountains to rescue them, but he did not go.
Because the wound on his body has not healed yet, although he can walk slowly, if he gallops, the wound will burst. He is in a hurry, but he cannot be hasty.
This time they were fighting against Kublai Khan. They had to go through small battles one after another, winning, losing or drawing, to test each other and plan the battlefield. Only in the end could a decisive battle be possible.
In the early stage, he had a slight advantage.
Winning the support of Uluru Hunai, he dispersed the more than 100,000 Yuan troops who returned from the Western Regions to the east, making it difficult for the Yuan troops to regroup in a short period of time. In addition, he also recruited and surrendered 20,000 people.
Now, what Li Xia wants to do is to digest the results of this victory, return to the territory to rest, and take back the surrendered troops and horses for his own use. This will completely change the balance of forces in the Western Regions.
At this time, if the Yuan army appeared in front, Kublai Khan must have noticed it. So he had to be quick. He needed Uluru Hunai to win quickly with the force of thunder.
For this reason, he, a severely wounded man, simply stayed at the end, taking care of the 20,000 newly surrendered Mongolian troops with 500 elite troops. This was very bold, but Li Xia tried to take back this army in the shortest possible time.
At the same time, dozens of miles southwest of Li Xia's camp, two teams of cavalry with only a few people each encountered...
"Who is that? There is no banner."
In the wind and snow, Akmu narrowed his eyes and asked Dalengtai: "I heard that what they shouted just now was in Chinese. He is Han, and he is the Tang Army, right?"
"Fool, there are many Han Chinese among Kublai Khan's rebels."
"Hey!" A call suddenly sounded in the distance, and someone from the opposite side shouted in jerky Mongolian: "Are you Mongolian too?" "Yes? You don't seem to be."
Akmu was about to answer when Dalengtai suddenly stopped him and whispered: "Don't be anxious, let me analyze it." "Analysis?"
"Your Majesty only has a few soldiers and horses to watch the 20,000 rebels. What if the enemy soldiers make a detour and sneak attack?" "I understand, it's like our cattle and sheep are behind."
~~
Further away, Shi Gang squinted his eyes and wiped his sight glass. After a long time, he seemed to see cavalry sneaking away from the opposite side. He finally realized something and ordered: "Quick! Stop them."
(PS: Thank you all for your support in making me become this year’s Twelve Heavenly Kings. I will write a single chapter of New Year blessings in a few days. I will formally express my gratitude then)