Helan Mountain is like a natural barrier, weakening the cold current coming from the northwest and blocking the eastward invasion of the Tengger Desert. On the other hand, it also blocks the humid monsoon coming from the southeast.
Its eastern slope is steep, with overlapping peaks and steep valleys, overlooking the Yellow River Hetao. Its western slope is very gentle, blending naturally with the Alxa Plain.
Li Xia really hopes to return to Helan Mountain and face Kublai Khan again.
He could almost see the white snow on the main peak of Helan Mountain with his telescope.
But the long horn has already sounded, and the battlefield is more than seventy miles away from Helan Mountain.
The terrain is not very good.
Li Xia was on the west side. Kublai Khan occupied the higher east side and commanded the troops. At the same time, there were 30,000 yuan troops in the south, forming an angle to the Tang army.
Of course, Li Xia could also choose to go west or flee north. But he did not, because it was difficult for the army to move faster. The more they fled, the less supplies they would have and the weaker their morale would be.
So he chose to set up camp and use Li Zengbo's stupid method of guarding Mount Hatu.
The absurd thing is that in the battle against Mang Gelan, he and Yang Ben used the Mongolian cavalry style of play. They disrupted the enemy's line by constantly pulling and pulling, and then went straight to the enemy's main formation. At that time, most of their subordinates were
They are Han cavalry; but now that there are 50,000 prairie cavalry, they dare not fight like that again.
Because the roaming tactics of fine cavalry require arm-like command.
The Crow Soldier Star Spreading Formation does not just scatter like beans and just roll around, but everyone can disperse and gather together at once. It requires mutual familiarity and trust between the general and the cavalry.
In short, the more fancy the tactics are, the more they need to be adjusted.
When the soldiers and horses under his command were not getting used to each other, and they encountered the most powerful enemy... Li Xia simply refused to mount his horse to fight, and started a positional battle on the plain.
"Quick! Spread all the caltrops away!"
The soldiers ran in the snow, holding cloth bags in their hands, and soon laid out the few iron caltrops, followed by freshly cut wooden caltrops.
Further back there is still Zhenmagou and low earth walls.
The soil under the snow was still frozen hard, making it very difficult to shovel.
What is even more disturbing is that there are many soldiers whispering to each other.
"Only Han people who like to farm would fight in such a stupid way by spending their energy on digging the soil."
"When fighting on the grassland, we will not be trapped in one place like this. We should escape immediately while the horses are still fat."
"Are we going to stay here until the forage runs out and starve to death?"
"..."
If Li Xia brought his cavalry to fight in Mobei, he had changed many of his soldiers' habits, but it was only at this time that the huge difference in concepts between nomads and farmers emerged.
The Great Mongolia was able to rise because every herdsman in it could be a warrior and could form a powerful army without training. But on the other hand, these herdsmen were loose and free. To command them, they only needed to rely on their control of the army.
Hero worship is not enough, there must be enough trophies.
Li Xia must motivate them.
He told them that his entire nation's troops would soon arrive on the battlefield, and when the time came, they would need to surround Kublai Khan.
Now the horse's physical strength should be conserved and the morale of the Yuan army should be consumed.
It is for this reason that the herdsmen are willing to dig out the land frozen by the snow.
It was as if they were building a city in the wilderness.
The exploring horse keeps running back.
"Report! The Yuan army has arrived twenty miles away."
"Pass on the order and the whole army will eat."
"Report! The Yuan army has arrived ten miles away."
"Array up!"
"Shield up!"
In the messy and chaotic camp, Tang soldiers kept running around, teaching the newly attached soldiers how to fight a difficult battle for survival.
In the eyes of nomads, hiding behind thorns, trenches, earthen walls, and shields is cowardly. But in fact, farmers will not turn around and flee. They are used to sticking to their own land and spilling blood on their own land from generation to generation.
On the land, keep your own civilization.
This is true tenacity.
"If the shield is not enough, put up the saddle and the iron frame! Anything that can protect you from being shot or hit will do!"
"Spear ready!"
"This battle is very simple. We hide when the Yuan army fires arrows and collect their arrows. When they are about to charge forward, we stab them!"
"I'm telling you! Our army is coming soon. Kublai Khan is panicking. As long as you defend for a few days, they will naturally be defeated."
"Our Majesty has never been defeated!"
"..."
These people kept their word. Since they said anything that could be used as a shield could be set up, soon the captured nobles such as Mang Ge La and Ye Ri Han were tied to long poles and hung up.
"Ah!" Ye Rihan's shout spread, adding a strange atmosphere to the battlefield.
"Boom!"
A big drum made of cowhide was hammered.
"Boom!"
The thunderous sound of horse hooves sounded in the distance, and the Yuan army was approaching.
~~
On the temporary observation platform, Li Xia held the observation tube and locked the nine-blade white silk stick of Kublai Khan.
"That's childish." He murmured: "If you make the big banner so big, can you become a real Khan?"
This was the closest he had ever been to Kublai Khan.
It is conceivable that during the Battle of Ezhou, Jia Sidao was definitely not that close to Kublai Khan.
During the Battle of Ezhou, Kublai Khan besieged the city for two or three months. Now Li Xia's camp was far from as strong as Ezhou City, but he estimated that it would be enough for him to defend it for more than twenty days.
Lian Xixian arrived at Qingtongxia in early December, and had a deep understanding with Li Xia and Li Zengbo.
Then, when he discovered that Kublai Khan's main force suddenly moved northwest, he would definitely notify Guanzhong for reinforcements. Then probably after the first month, the first batch of reinforcements would arrive. If Kublai Khan's remaining troops could be defeated in the next ten days,
You can reach Helan Mountain in those ten days.
Of course, this is only the most ideal situation.
Today was the first day of Kublai Khan's offensive. It was already in the afternoon. It was obvious that the Yuan army could not break the camp. They would launch a tentative offensive first, and they should focus on the east, because that is where Mang Ge La was.
When I moved the sight glass, it turned out to be true.
Shi Tianze was responsible for the main attack on the east side, and the Yuan army deliberately lowered their arrows to prevent the arrows from hitting Maunge La.
The arrows landed on the Tang army's shields with a clanging sound. After only the first round, Shi Tianze realized that such archery was meaningless, and ordered the soldiers to dismount and fight on foot, pushing their shields forward.
Someone screamed and fell to the ground. He raised his bloody feet, only to find a thorn had been inserted into the soles of his feet.
The Yuan army slowed down their offensive again and began to clear the snow on the ground. The Tang army took the opportunity to fire arrows... The battle was very boring.
But this is also the point of Shi Tianze's patience. When he encounters a mess that cannot be cut, he will slowly sort it out.
Li Xia moved his telescope away and looked at the battlefield in several other directions, taking advantage of this short early stage of attack and defense to analyze as much as possible.
While he was standing on the lookout, the outside of the camp was stained with more and more red blood.
The dead are said to be more and more, and they are said to be less and less.
Li Xia watched for a while and then ordered Yang Ben and Uncle Shu Zhen to each lead two thousand cavalry to mount their horses and prepare for battle.
At this time, Uncle Shu Zhen was still a little confused.
After that, time passed little by little, and the sun gradually turned to the west. Maybe it was this boring battle that disappointed Kublai Khan, or maybe Kublai Khan had already understood Li Xia's defense. It was only dusk that day, and suddenly
If the enemy is strong, he will raise gold and withdraw his troops.
The Yuan army began to retreat slowly.
Li Xia immediately ordered Yang Ben and Shu Zhenbo to lead their cavalry out of the camp to pursue Shi Tianze's troops.
Usually military orders are short and concise, but today Li Xia said an extra sentence inexplicably.
"You go and chase for a while so that you can get back easily."
This was because Shi Tianze's troops dismounted when attacking the camp. At this time, the soldiers were carrying the corpses of their comrades, and the Tang army's arrows, iron caltrops and other objects that had been collected were retreating.
With the sound of horse hooves, these unmounted infantrymen panicked, and many of them dropped their corpses and objects and fled.
Yang Ben was responsible for pursuing the Yuan army from the left wing, while Shu Zhenbo was responsible for the right wing.
Uncle Shu Zhen rode his horse into the formation, still puzzled as to why Li Xia sent him out into the formation.
The two thousand cavalry under his command are his cowardly confidants. At this time, he can abandon the remaining troops and return to the Yuan Dynasty. To be honest, Li Xia doesn't think highly of him, and he can already feel it.
However, wherever he looked, the Yuan soldiers in front dropped corpses one after another, which made him hesitate again.
He originally thought that as long as Li Xia met Kublai Khan, he would be defeated in one blow. But at least today, there was not much confusion even among the 20,000 defeated troops.
More importantly, Uncle Shu Zhen is closer to Meng Ge Khan, and he has a marriage contract with Meng Ge Khan's daughter, the Princess Neighbor, but it was delayed a few years ago due to the dispute over the throne of the Khan. But I heard Li Zengbo say a few days ago that Kubi
He killed his lost neighbor fiercely.
This incident made Uncle Shu Zhen feel uneasy and sad.
His mind was getting more and more confused, and suddenly a trumpet sounded from the front. It was Kublai Khan who sent cavalry to intercept and kill them. The Yuan army had obviously been prepared for this attack by the Tang army.
This time he was facing Kublai Khan, which was scary. But Li Xia seemed to have thought of this, so he said "chasing a section".
At the same time, Yang Ben also raised a flag, ordered Jin to withdraw his troops, and reminded Shu Zhenbo to return to camp.
Shu Zhen stopped his horse, looked east, and then looked west. Time was running out, and it was time for him to make a choice between Li Xia and Kublai Khan.
Various images flooded into my mind.
The former scene shows Kublai Khan ascending the throne in Yanjing, and all the Han ministers shout "my emperor", and the latter scene shows him inviting Li Xia to be the Great Khan in the big tent that day.
It seemed like he was being asked to choose between the emperor and the khan, but that was not the case at all.
Finally, Shu Zhenbo jerked the reins and shouted: "Warriors! Let's go!"