On the vast grassland, a large group of cavalry is marching quickly.
This is the transition zone between forests and grasslands. To the south are majestic mountains, which stretch far and wide, separating the Central Plains from the grasslands. On the high hills, there are beacon smoke mounds that have been beaten by wind and rain, and there are wind, frost, rain and snow.
Among the garrison troops there were Han people who were herding and farming.
They don't want to touch those places, there's no need.
But when the raging wave of cavalry passed by, you could still see the column of smoke rising into the sky.
Yelvshenechi smiled happily.
How many years have it been since you showed off your power in front of the people of the Tang Dynasty? Don’t you think you feel aggrieved when you keep your tail between your legs?
If it weren't for Yi Li Jin's order, he would have wanted to find a mountain pass and rush in, burn, kill, loot and vent his anger.
It's a pity that they don't have time, they have more business to do.
A crumbling earthen city appeared ahead.
The Tucheng occupies a large area, and it looks like it has been abandoned for many years. Due to the erosion of wind and rain, most of the city wall has long since collapsed.
The city is overgrown with weeds, and even foxes and rabbits live among them. Occasionally, you can find some broken tiles and broken porcelain bowls, which seem to tell people about the city's past glory.
Anzhou Ancient City.
It was placed during the Later Wei Dynasty (Northern Wei Dynasty) and has been here for more than 400 years.
Four hundred years of vicissitudes of life are enough for literati to pay tribute to this place for a long time and write magnificent poems. However, Yelv Xie Nechi and Yelu Yuwen were both rough and tumble men and did not understand these affairs.
People are shouting at the time, making a lot of noise and chaos.
One group of sergeants went out to guard, another group rested in the city and ate some dry food, while the slaves went outside the city to choose pastures for grazing.
Along the way, even if the people are not tired, the horses are tired.
One person and three horses can travel more than a hundred miles a day. It's not like they are going to fight hard, so why run to death and waste the horses? Once the Xia people have garrisoned a large army, they don't care about the horse power, and there is nothing they can do to escape.
Yelvshenechi climbed up the end wall and overlooked the mountains, rivers and pastures in the distance.
"This is the real grassland. Compared with it, the place where we herd horses can only be regarded as forest grassland." Xieniechi sighed.
Of course, this place is not completely free from the influence of mountains. As far as Anzhou City is concerned, there are even mountains on all sides. If you want to encounter the truly endless grassland, you have to go west, which is the territory of Shao Thief.
"Actually, these grasslands really have our pasture land, okay?" Yelu Yuwen also climbed up.
The soil on the city wall was originally supposed to be free from insects and grass, but over the years, weeds have grown on it one after another, which makes people sigh.
Yelu Yuwen tugged on the grass stems boredly and continued: "We have continuous mountains where you can pick medicine and collect wild products. There are deer all over the ground and you can hunt. There are dense rivers where you can fish. There are also many open spaces.
, you can use it to grow millet. There is no shortage of pasture for grazing, isn’t it much better than in the west?”
The Khitans herded animals, farmed, hunted, fished, smelted iron, and built cities. They had their own clothes and culture. Apart from not having their own writing, they were much better than the Uighurs. What else could they be dissatisfied with?
Yelusie Nechi smiled and said: "That's right. Abaoji called those tribes the 'barbarians of the southwest'. I think it's appropriate. They are too ignorant and only deserve to be conquered by us."
"They have now been conquered by the Shao bandits." Yelu Yuwen said: "Maybe they don't really surrender, but given time, they can always be subdued. I don't object to Abaoji's conquest of the southwest barbarians, not because of how many people and livestock they have.
But I don’t want Thief Shao to get them."
This is indeed the truth.
The position is there. If you don't occupy it, the enemy will occupy it, and then turn it into the enemy's power. The disadvantages are not small if one goes against the other.
Since the Northern Dynasties, the monarchs of the Central Plains have liked to actively intervene in grassland affairs, sometimes even without shame.
Fifty-year-old Gao Huan was surprised to marry the sixteen-year-old Princess Rouran. He didn't know if he was still able to do it at that time. It was really shameless.
Shao Shude is also a shameless person, even more shameless than Gao Huan.
When Gao Huan was seriously ill, he forced himself to smile and accompanied Princess Rouran on an archery and hunting trip. Shao Thief was probably enjoying it.
"We will set off tomorrow. The troops will be divided into two groups. I will lead three thousand cavalry and take the southern route. You will lead more than 10,000 people and take the northern route in a roundabout way. If we are unfavorable in the battle, you should not go south and go back directly."
said.
Yes, their troop strength has increased because they made a temporary trip to the Xi Ren Pasture and recruited thousands of cavalry from the Austrian Division. The total troop strength currently exceeds fifteen thousand.
With so many soldiers, they still need to be divided into two groups and tested first. This is completely different from the Khitan's tactics when they attacked the Bohai Sea. It can only be said that they have not yet established enough self-confidence and their strength is not strong enough.
Yelu Yuwen glanced at Xie Niechi, stopped talking nonsense, nodded seriously, and said: "Bring more horses, and if the enemy is prepared, pull back. Yili Jinjie didn't even think about wiping out all the enemies in the southwest right now.
Yi, let's fight slowly. The Central Plains is so chaotic and so many people have died. As long as you have patience, there will always be a chance. It's still early for Shao to unify the Central Plains."
"Okay! Wait for my news." Yelvshenechi subconsciously touched the handle of the knife at his waist and said.
A strong wind blew in the wilderness.
In the wild meadow, which is almost half the height of a man, the horses are galloping happily.
The autumn air is crisp and the horses are fat and strong. It is the time for the grassland people to use their troops.
******
In Tanshan Mountain, a palace with a rough style has been completed.
The scenery here is beautiful, the water and grass are abundant, and the mountains are very cool. Duandi is an excellent summer resort.
Tuoba Jin and Quzhu were very loyal and brave people. After settling in the Ruyuan area, they recruited manpower to dig mountains to collect stones or cut down large trees to build a palace for the king of Xia.
After the palace was completed, Shao Shude named it "Xianyou Palace" and planned to live here for a few months if he had the chance.
Tuoba Jin was very excited because he was right to flatter Zhu and the two of them. This time the Rouzhou camp was conducting a large-scale recruitment campaign. They sent 5,000 men, plus men from other tribes, making up 10,000.
, this group is besieging Yunzhou.
The Xianyou Palace Department has also received a lot of benefits in the past two years. There are not only people, cattle and sheep from the various tribes conquered, but also the old and weak who were selected from the Central Plains troops. The entire tribe has a population of more than 36,000.
, can produce nine thousand young men.
In comparison, the strength of King Xi Quzhu was much inferior. He had been tempting for a long time, and so far there were only more than 5,000 households grazing scattered in the Ruyuan area.
A city has been built in Ruyuan, which is near the original ancient city of Yuyi Town in the Later Wei Dynasty. King Xi stayed in this city on weekdays when he went to Zhuzhou, but today he came to Tanshan.
"How can you believe this man's empty talk?" Quzhu asked, questioning his soul.
A random person came here, claiming to be Gao Siji's personal soldier, and said that the Eight Khitan Yi Li Jin Yeluyi were going to send people to attack Ruyuan. Do you believe it?
Yes, this is indeed possible, but how can the man in front of him prove his identity? Moreover, even if he can do this, it is meaningless because no one knows Gao Siji.
No matter how I heard this, I felt weird.
"You are such an abominable person!" the messenger who came to report the news became angry and cursed: "I drove in a hurry, sleeping in the open air, non-stop, and almost even ate, drank and had diarrhea on the horse. You don't believe it? Even if you don't believe it, do it in advance
So what about preparations?”
Qu Zhu Leng snorted and said: "Do you know how much this preparation costs? Everyone is grazing outside at this time, so we can't recruit so many people in a hurry. Besides, we have to arrange strong walls and clear the fields. Years of accumulation will be destroyed in one day. You will pay for it."
Give it to me?"
Generally speaking, life on the grasslands is quite difficult, and there are endless things to do on weekdays. If there is no war, then they will be scattered in various places to graze, and it is very difficult to gather them together in a short time.
It can be said that if the Khitan soldiers really had the strength of 10,000 as mentioned by the envoy, they would not be able to defeat them and would have no chance of winning.
There is a wall outside the Xianyou Palace. With this as a defense, we can hold on for a while. But the palace is so big that it is impossible to fit everyone in, not to mention the people who live their lives, cattle, sheep, and fodder.
Wait, there are so many things, how can a small palace be enough?
Yuyi City is slightly larger, but if it contains a few thousand people, ten thousand people would be a big deal. If too many supplies are placed, even ten thousand people cannot be crammed into it.
If the Khitan army came and they took some of their people to hide within the city wall, they would have to watch helplessly as the Khitan people burned, killed and looted outside. The loss would be too great.
In order to avoid this kind of loss, the only way is to fortify the walls and clear the fields in advance, slaughter the livestock that cannot be brought into the city, and try not to stay to aid the enemy. At the same time, gather manpower as quickly as possible, the faster the better, the more the better, to prepare for the enemy to come.
Hard.
The price is high and determination is hard to make.
"I believe it!" Just when the envoy was about to get angry, Tuoba Jin said: "Yang Dutou attacked the Khitan's vassal tribe last year, and it is normal for them to come back with revenge. Besides, we have transferred so many people to the west, we can't
I hope the Khitans don’t know anything about it.”
Qu Zhu was suffocated when he heard the words, and his face looked a little anxious.
He knew very well what would happen if the Khitans really came. Tuoba Jin was gambling now. If the gamble failed, they would suffer heavy losses and could only count on King Xia to help them.
Of course, if the Khitans really come, these losses will be well worth it.
"This envoy spoke clearly and meaningfully. Last year, the Jin people massively abolished the military towns outside the Pass. This year, the Khitan people have made such a big movement southward that the remaining strongholds will not be protected. If I were Yeluyi, I wouldn't mind grabbing another one.
Take it." Tuoba Jin said.
Qu Zhu opened his mouth wide and wanted to say something, but he didn't say anything. Finally, he said slumped: "You are the one left behind by Ru Yuan. You have the final say."
"Okay!" Tuoba Jin was not polite and directly ordered: "There are a few things that are very urgent. First, immediately select warriors who are good at riding and shooting to search eastward. Once they encounter the enemy, they will immediately harass and delay them. I will
The second one is to send envoys to Yunzhou and let Yang Dutou know that I will handle this matter. The third one is to immediately send people to various pastures to gather people. Cattle and sheep can be brought into the city.
Bring them into the city and hide those who are too late. If you can't hide them, kill them on the spot. Bury them and never leave them to the Khitan. Fourth, show your great righteousness to the tribesmen and inspire them to fight to the death."
"The four things are very urgent, and there is no room for any delay." Tuoba Jin finally said: "The Khitan army set off half a day earlier than the envoy, with one man and three horses, and the marching speed was very fast. I wonder if they will
It's at Sanzangkou, which is around the ancient city of Anzhou. It's fast, you can get here in two days at most."
"Okay! I'm going to gather people right now." Now that Tuoba Jin had made the decision, he no longer looked forward or backward.
After that, he hurriedly left the Xianyou Palace and headed south towards Yuyi Town.
After leaving, Tuoba Jin took down a long horse pole from the weapon rack and looked at it intently for a long time.