Aksuhe took a boat, changed his horse, and ran quickly to catch up with the Ming army.
The person who took him there was Du Jushi, the interpreter of Honglu Temple and editor of the Hanlin Academy.
Du Jushi was born in Suining, Sichuan.
When Ju Ming occupied Sichuan, the Du family still chose to wait and see, and only sent two of his disciples to join the army.
They didn't react until the founding of the Ming Dynasty, but it was obviously a bit too late. Finally, Du Jushi was admitted to the third class of Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty, but this man preferred to study literature and history, and directly applied to the Hanlin Academy during his internship.
Gold shines wherever it is.
Du Jushi got along well with several foreign envoys, learned Persian and Turkic, and translated Persian and Seljuk works in the Hanlin Academy for a long time. At the same time, he was seconded to Honglu Temple as an interpreter.
Aksukh, the Eastern Roman envoy, was proficient in Latin, Greek, Turkic and Arabic.
They hurriedly and slowly caught up with Zhong Yanchong in Liangzhou.
"A messenger to watch the battle?" Zhong Yanchong was confused.
Du Jushi explained carefully, and Zhong Yanchong finally understood. He was busy with military affairs and was too lazy to entertain the envoy. He just exchanged a few words and asked Aksuhe not to run around.
Zhong Yanchong was able to serve as the deputy commander of the Western Expedition. In addition to his own outstanding abilities, the main reason was to balance the factions in the army.
Zhang Boring, Zhang Guangdao, Li Bao, Yang Zhi and others have held important positions in the central government for a long time, and they promoted many generals of their respective factions.
Ever since Yao Pingzhong was deprived of his military power, Ju Ming wanted to support the Shaanxi faction.
Zhong Yanchong was the representative of the Shaanxi faction he selected. At the same time, Zhong Yanchong was from Luoyang. He was a general disciple of the Zhong family, and his sister was married to the emperor as a concubine. Although his ability was only above average, his status and qualifications were sufficient.
Convince the public.
It is perfectly fine for a person from Luoyang to be a representative of the Shaanxi faction.
As for Li Yanxian, although he is from Shaanxi, he does not belong to the Shaanxi school.
Li Yanxian served as a soldier in the Western Army of the former Song Dynasty, and initially made his fortune as a Shaanxi hero and horse bandit. However, he was transferred here and there, and his direct lineage was dispersed long ago and integrated into the cavalry units of various armies.
Li Yanxian defected to the army relatively early and did not strive for much credit. He led the cavalry and cooperated with many big bosses, so he had good relations with various factions. In the middle period, he was stationed in Hebei, and most of his subordinates were Hebei soldiers. In the later period, he often stayed in Shanxi until
Before the battle to destroy Xixia, he was transferred back to Shaanxi to command the army for two years.
With Li Yanxian as the coach, all factions are willing to give him face.
"Where is that place? There are troops stationed there, and there are many people coming in and out repeatedly." Aksukh asked.
The military escort sent by Zhong Yanchong said: "That is Liangzhou Cangcheng, which is specially used for hoarding and transferring military rations."
Aksuhe asked again: "Are there many such military warehouse castles in the Ming Dynasty?"
The military escort laughed.
Military secrets cannot be disclosed casually.
Aksukh was not allowed to climb the city wall, and there was no high ground suitable for observation nearby. He mixed in with the crowd and looked around, but found that it was very orderly, with countless soldiers and civilians coming and going without any chaos.
He asked several questions in succession, but the military escort only answered one, and all other questions were answered with laughter.
After staying here for half a day, I asked all the questions I could and asked all the questions I couldn't. Aksukh asked to catch up with the troops further ahead.
Accompanied by Honglu Temple and military personnel, he changed horses and ran wildly, catching up with Li Yanxian's second main force at Xingxingxia.
The rocks are jagged and the mountain roads are rugged, making it difficult to get up even if you want to.
Aksukh could only follow the troops forward obediently, walking slowly in the canyons and mountain roads.
"The terrain here is steep. We only need to build a fortress and send a small number of troops to effectively defend it." Aksukh commented.
The military personnel shook their heads and said: "It's useless. The most it can do is delay the attackers. This place is not adjacent to both sides, and there is not even a river. You can only rely on two bitter springs for drinking water. It is too difficult to supply food and grass. If you really want to defend this place,
, both sides have to continuously increase their troops, and the final victory or defeat depends on which side has more food and grass and faster transportation. Dare Xiliao compete with Ming Dynasty in this?"
After finally crossing Xingxingxia, Li Yanxian personally took up residence in Xingxingxia Town in later generations.
This place has been turned into a temporary military camp, and hundreds of miles before and after (the actual marching distance) are rugged and desolate land, so the area in front of us is relatively open and flat.
Even so, there aren't many people around.
The population of Xingxingxia Town increased because of the construction of roads during the Republic of China. The trees there were planted by the town cadres of New China, and the drinking water came from reservoirs far away.
Nowadays, there are only a dozen families living in this area of several miles, and there are not a single decent tree. To drink water every day, you have to ask the garrison to open a bitter spring.
Aksukh commented: "This is not suitable for survival, let alone marching."
Two bitter springs cannot supply the army.
Li Yanxian's main force has been drinking the water he brought since he entered Xingxing Gorge.
All troops are marching at a accelerated pace. Wu Jie's vanguard is clearing the way. There is no possibility of enemies nearby - as long as the Ming army guards the springs along the way, no matter how many troops in Western Liao attack and ambush, they will die of thirst. Because of the long-distance attack over mountains and ridges, it is impossible to lead too many troops.
Drink plenty of water, as there are deserted areas along the way.
The sooner the Ming army passes here, the better. If they delay for a long time, the water supply may be cut off.
But if you want to go fast, you can't go fast. The troops can move quickly with light equipment, but the baggage must be transported slowly.
The four-wheel sidecar was completely dismantled and had to go some distance before it could be reassembled and dragged by mules and horses.
As for the heavy artillery, transportation was even more difficult. Li Yanxian threw them directly outside the Xingxing Gorge to avoid blocking the passage of the army and affecting the overall marching speed.
Aksuhe went to see Li Yanxian.
Li Yanxian's reaction was similar to that of Zhong Yanchong. He was accompanied by a civilian officer and did not bother to care about the foreign envoy.
There is nothing interesting to see in this poor place. Troops came out of the canyon one after another, and then set up camp and waited to move on.
If you want to march, you have to line up!
Aksuhe set out with an army, and not far away he encountered mountains and valleys again. And there was still no water source, the mountains were bare, and in many places there was not even a blade of grass growing.
The Qing Dynasty set up several post stations along the route and liked to send prisoners there to serve as post soldiers.
No matter how difficult life was, the prisoners' postmen did not dare to run away. Because the springs everywhere were guarded by soldiers, they would die wherever they fled, and they would die of thirst in no man's land!
We encountered a fort ahead, with a small Jingguan built outside the fort.
The human heads were piled up like a pyramid and were almost dried due to the dry climate.
It was left by Wu Jie's vanguard troops, who cut off the heads of the defenders of Xingxingxia Village and set them up here to intimidate the enemy troops guarding the village.
The effect is very obvious!
The Ming army broke through Xingxingxia Village so fast that not a single defender there escaped. Heads were piled up here, and the defenders here were even less willing to fight. Faced with artillery and musket fire, the siege troops had not yet made contact.
The defenders were so frightened that they abandoned the stronghold and fled.
Some people even voted for Wu Jie and said they were willing to serve as guides for the Ming army.
Aksuhe finally crossed the mountains and canyons. I thought the road ahead would be easy. But what happened? It was either a desert or a Gobi!
"Is this the place where the peach blossom stone comes from? It's so crazy!" Aksukh couldn't help complaining.
He thought of the Eastern Roman army. If they continuously marched long distances through desolate areas, their morale would be almost exhausted before the battle started.
Du Jushi smiled and said: "This is the homeland of China. An ancient Chinese general said that those who openly offend a strong man will be punished no matter how far away he is. The place where he said this was thousands of miles further to the west (straight line distance).
That’s three thousand miles).”
Aksukh was silent.
He was really convinced. An expedition under such circumstances was not something the Eastern Roman Empire could do, at least not at this time.
It’s a great test of the army’s organization and logistics capabilities!
…
At this moment, Wu Jie's vanguard force was only 140 miles away from Yizhou City (Hami).
Probably north of the later Hami Yandun Station.
There was a large fortress next to the river. The wall was increased to more than five meters high, and at least three thousand defenders gathered inside.
Wu Jie's cannonballs are not used up much and can be picked up after winning the battle.
But the consumption of gunpowder and food and grass was huge.
He even stayed for a few days on the way, waiting for the follow-up troops to send supplies, and by the way, he stayed to treat the wounded soldiers.
Along the way, six enemy strongholds were eradicated, and Wu Jie suffered more than 200 casualties - 57 killed, 82 seriously injured, and 134 slightly injured.
Most of the seriously injured were scalded and smashed, all caused by the storming of the fort. Especially those who were drenched with gold juice, suppuration and infection were difficult to treat. Some of those who could not bear it were already dead, and it is estimated that many more would die from infection.
.
With only small cannons and flying ladders, it was difficult for Wu Jie to attack the stronghold in front of him.
He could only pull out the piers on the south side of the fort, set up camp near the river with the piers as the center, and then wait for the main force to come for reinforcements.
The first batch of main force, thousands of people, is marching quickly with civilians and food and grass.
It is said to be a forced march, but in fact it all depends on how fast the camels move. A lot of food, grass and equipment are carried by camels.
Aksuhe took advantage of every opportunity. As long as the road was slightly wider, he would surpass the existing troops and run to catch up with the troops further ahead.
Finally, we caught up with the first batch of main reinforcements.
After leaving the mountain pass, the front is mostly desert Gobi, and the vegetation begins to increase as we walk.
The reinforcement general Sang Zhong sent light cavalry to explore the road, and soon the scout cavalry came back: "There is a large group of enemy cavalry blocking the way ahead. General Wu's vanguard may have been surrounded by heavy troops!"
"Let's go back and guard the fortress at the mountain pass to protect the passage for the subsequent army to leave the mountain." Sang Zhong immediately ordered.
"Aren't you going to save General Wu?"
"If he had been prepared, there would be no need for us to rescue him. If he was unprepared, it would be useless to go and rescue him. He had stopped his army once before to resupply, and the food and grass could last for a few days. At worst, the mules and horses would be slaughtered. Our tanks and artillery were all
He's still behind, and he doesn't have many cavalry with him, so he doesn't have the ability to rescue him at the moment."
Sang Zhong was a general left behind by Zhong Shidao. Historically, he first joined Wang Yan in Hebei to fight against the Jin Dynasty, and then switched to Du Chong to defend Kaifeng. However, Du Chong made him full of resentment. He also had an affair with Cheng Qianqiu, the envoy of the Western Beijing Army.
He, out of anger, directly rebelled in Xiangyang and occupied Hubei with more than 100,000 troops. He was eventually killed by his old boss Wang Yan.
The civil servant named Cheng Qianqiu not only forced Sang Zhong to rebel, but also forced the generals responsible for conquering Sang Zhong to rebel.
In this time and space, Sang Zhong was reorganized along with the Zhong family army, and then he was promoted step by step through meritorious service.
He heard that Wu Jie's vanguard troops were surrounded, and had no intention of rescuing them. He honestly retreated to Shankou Zhai Fort to prevent the subsequent army from being blocked among the mountains.
Wu Jie also captured the Shankou Village Fort and left some auxiliary soldiers and civilians to garrison it.
Sang Zhong retreated to the mountain pass for about an hour, and the reconnaissance cavalry kept coming back to report: "The enemy's reconnaissance cavalry is increasing, and our cavalry is not enough. We have been pushed back within five miles!"
"The cavalry should move closer," Sang Zhong ordered. "It will be a great achievement to hold this place. Slowly wait for follow-up friendly reinforcements."
Wu Jie rushed too fast!
He trained an assault-type heavy-armored combined brigade and didn't take the Xiliao army seriously at all.
I have a hammer in my hand and am looking for a nail to hammer.
(I recommend Da Luoluo's new book "The Qing Dynasty is Ending". This guy's coding speed is really fast. I write one book, but he can write several.)
