Before the army left Yuequan, they actually collected a lot of camels, mainly used to carry daily necessities.
Because it is located in Qikou, there are usually a lot of camels here, which are used in military affairs and in business.
Going northwest from Qikou, there is a large area of desert, but it is not continuous. There are many pastures and water sources in the middle.
If you have not lived in the local area for many years, it is really possible to get lost. Even the local herders may not be able to figure out which river is in which direction, where is the pasture, and where is the desert. After all, not everyone can be a guide.
of.
More than 10,000 cavalry were divided into three groups to attack, with Yang Yue personally leading the attack in the middle, with 4,000 Yamen cavalry, 1,000 households of bodyguards, and 2,000 Tibetan auxiliary troops. It was a mighty and murderous force.
"How did the Uighurs and Xigas people travel thousands of miles south to the Yinshan Mountains?"
"Wherever you go, the cattle and sheep rush there. It seems to be faster than marching in the Central Plains. It is normal to walk thirty miles a day in the Central Plains. Sometimes you can only walk twenty miles, and rarely forty miles. The road must be very easy to walk.
.You can walk seventy miles in one day on the grassland, it’s so fast.”
"If you don't bring a carriage, you can walk more than a hundred miles a day on the grassland."
"Where can we stay at night without a carriage? We don't even have enough arrows, right?"
"How many arrows can a poor man on the grassland have? After shooting a pot of thirty arrows, that's enough."
"Hurry up and kill some cattle and sheep to get some meat to eat. I eat jealous cakes and cheese every day, and there are birds in my mouth."
While setting up camp to rest, the sergeants were busy working and whispering.
It was also the first time for the Xia army's cavalry to travel a long distance of 1,500 miles.
Although this distance is not close on the grassland, it is really not very far. In wars between the two forces, it is common to travel hundreds of miles, and it is not uncommon to travel more than a thousand miles. But in the Central Plains, from Gaoque Fortress to
The three hundred miles to Luan Yuquan is not a short distance, and the defenders can be said to be waiting for work.
Yang Yue was sitting in front of the fire to warm herself up.
At his age, it is extremely uncomfortable not to mention eating ice and sleeping in the snow, running long distances, or even leading troops to garrison on the grassland. But Yang Yue is different, he is full of energy, as if he is burning his life.
Just to accomplish something.
The smell of burning livestock dung is very touching, but everyone here is used to it. There are few trees on the grassland, and it is difficult to find dead branches and leaves. It is even more impossible to carry coal with the army. It is good to find some dried dung in other tribes.
The place where they are staying now is the pasture of a small Tatar tribe, brought by the guide. They are not willing to participate in the battlefield against the Uighurs, but they are happy to provide convenience, which is enough.
"We will only stay one night and set off early tomorrow morning." The pungent smell of burning dried manure mixed with the broth in the clay pot on the fire, giving people an indescribable feeling. Yang Yue calmly went to
He threw a piece of dried meat into the clay pot and said, "It's better to do it sooner rather than later. The weather is gloomy. I'm afraid there will be heavy snow again in a few days, so we won't be able to fight."
Everyone responded with a roar, without any comments.
Wearing a thick sweater makes me feel much more comfortable in this cold weather. Unfortunately, the number of sweaters is still too small, and it is impossible for everyone to have one, otherwise it will be no less than a magic weapon when fighting in the desert winter.
The weather is indeed very different between Qinnan and Qibei.
…
The long team moved quickly between the desert and the grassland.
There is good news and bad news at the moment.
The good news is that they haven't lost their way yet. The guide is very professional and conscientious. It may be that the flame of revenge in his chest is supporting him.
The bad news is that Murong Fu's troops on the left wing have lost contact with them. There are a thousand guards, eight hundred silver saddles and a thousand Tibetan auxiliary troops there. They lost contact two days ago. Maybe they got lost, maybe something happened.
It was an accident, and no one knew what happened.
Zhang Huaiding's right wing is still there, with a thousand bodyguards, a thousand Tibetan auxiliary troops, and two to three thousand White Tatar servants who are eager to return for revenge. They still have guides coming to contact them this morning, and they are still advancing steadily.
There is no shortage of water.
The only dissatisfaction is probably the fatigue caused by the long march and the anxiety caused by the unchanging scenery. This can only be solved through fighting and venting, there is no other way.
Thousands of people rode across the snow, across dry streams, and across the frozen lake Haizi. Everything was silent. Except for the occasional yellow sheep, foxes and wolves, there was almost nothing. Not a single shepherd was seen.
Perhaps this is the boring and lonely winter life in the grasslands, which is not comparable to the colorful world of the Central Plains. No wonder so many people want to go south, and they quickly become corrupted and degraded in a short period of time once they go south. Such days are indeed difficult to endure.
On the third day of November, after the last rest and camping, people and horses set out again with white steam. At this time, we could see towering mountains, patches of woods, and winding river valleys in the distance.
I saw one tent after another.
The guide excitedly pointed out that it was Dujin Mountain, where the royal court of the Uighur Khanate was located in the past. There was an earthen city built on the west bank of the Orkhon River, named "Black City". It used to be the residence of the Uighur Khan and his dignitaries.
It was successively occupied by the Yigas and Tatars, and now it should have returned to the hands of the Uighurs.
"Finally here!" Yang Yue let out a long sigh of relief.
His beard and eyebrows were covered with ice particles, his cloak and winter coat were dirty, and his hakama was mostly damaged. But to the heroic man who rushed to the grassland sweat camp, this didn't matter!
"Keep going!" Yang Yue waved his riding whip and said, "You have already calculated the distance, and in the last two hours we will be wearing armor and heading out."
"As you command!"
When marching and fighting, maintaining physical strength is the most important thing, and this is especially true for quickly maneuvering to surprise the enemy. Generally speaking, before approaching the enemy, everyone should dismount, rest their horse power, drink some water, and then put on armor to complete the last journey and directly enter the battle.
You should also wear armor when passing through dangerous sections, and then take it off after passing through.
The rest of the time, no one is stupid enough to march forward wearing armor, because they will be exhausted and have no energy to fight.
The four thousand Yamen who followed Yang Yue were all military cavalry. They usually fought in armor and used large horse guns. In frontal combat, they had the effect of sweeping thousands of troops. They were good at "working miracles with great force".
Their disadvantage is that they cannot compete with the agile horse archers in the open terrain, and they will be killed by flying kites. But that is a general situation. If you capture their tents and kill their old, weak, women and children, you will be easily killed.
The cavalry had to fight head-on, and the results were predictable.
The most troublesome thing about the Central Plains cavalry in the past dynasties is not that they cannot defeat the grassland people. In fact, as long as the grassland cavalry archers dare to fight head-on, the Central Plains pike/horse cavalry, which has a head-on fighting ability that greatly exceeds theirs, can beat them. The problem is that the grassland people can't.
They will fight you head-on, and they will just fight like a pack of wolves hunting, using the terrain to open up space, and keep shooting arrows at mid-range, eventually draining your blood.
Therefore, if you attack them, you must save them, forcing them not to dare to escape or fight, and they can only fight head-on.
"If the Jindao and Heiji armies were here, dismounted, formed a formation, and rushed towards Heichengzi, the Uighurs would be dead. What a pity!" Yang Yue leaped on his horse and was the first to rush out.
He still felt a little regretful. If he charged with the Uyghur cavalry, there would be a lot of casualties after all. If the soldiers with black swords and golden swords were here, the casualties would be much smaller.
In the second year of Xianqing's reign, Su Dingfang led thousands of Tang troops' mounted infantry and thousands of surrendered Tibetan cavalry, totaling more than 10,000 people, to fight against 100,000 Turkic cavalry.
The Turkic cavalry charged three times in a row, but could not break through the thousands of Tang army infantry who had dismounted and formed a formation. Their morale was declining. Thousands of Tang army infantrymen then took the initiative to attack, and the Tibetan cavalry cooperated with them. They won a great victory, beheading tens of thousands of soldiers and capturing two hundred chieftains.
people.
On the second day, he led his army in pursuit. When encountering thieves, he immediately dismounted and formed a formation. Once again, he achieved an epic victory with thousands of infantrymen defeating tens of thousands of Turkic cavalry.
Then they continued their pursuit and pursued them all the way to present-day Kazakhstan. They pursued them relentlessly, eventually annihilating the Western Turks, and confiscated more than 400,000 of their people and livestock.
In such a battle to destroy the country, in fact, not many troops were used. The Tang army usually fought on the front line with a few thousand elite infantry, and at most it did not exceed 10,000. In addition, some Tibetan people who joined after being defeated were gathered and pursued fiercely.
, basically without spending any money, the arrogant Western Turks were completely defeated.
The Turks used almost all their tricks, including archery harassment along the way, ambushes and sneak attacks that had been popular since the Xiongnu era. They almost all used the old grassland tricks, but they were basically ineffective, and they were beaten until they were scared to death.
So don't say that the infantry is not good and can't beat the cavalry. In fact, your infantry is too weak. Even the infantry array with no tricks in the front can be defeated by the Xiren and Bohai infantry from the grassland. What else can be said?
?All the special skills are gone, and the face is gone.
…
In the early morning, heavy fog enveloped the countryside and there was silence.
Chuoluowu got up early in the morning and prepared to go hunting. When he saw the weather, he was immediately discouraged, but he didn't want to go back home.
He is the son-in-law of the Pugu family. Although his wife is noble and beautiful, she has an arrogant temper and looks down on him, a boy with a foreign surname who clings to the descendants of King Pugu. Even the things that happen between the couple in the evening require the wife to be in a good mood.
Only then can I get close to him. I am usually ordered around and drank around like a slave.
"When I contact the tribes who are migrating westward to Congxi, I will kill you, a bitch, and defect to them." Chu Luowu cursed secretly and prepared to find some Tatar women to relieve his anger.
"Woo" the short horn sounded three times in a row, followed by the thunderous sound of horse hooves.
Chuoluowu was shocked. Could it be that Pugu from Gaochang knew about his plan and sent someone to arrest him?
what to do?
There are some tribes around Heichengzi, but not many, and the people are scattered here and there to spend the winter. A little further away, there are many tribes, but most of them are newly conquered Tatars who are willing to fight against Gaochang Pu for themselves.
Gu family?
Warriors were already running out of the narrow streets. Everyone looked surprised and didn't know what was going on.
The noise outside the city is getting louder and louder, and thick smoke is rising, which is really scary.
"Let's go! Go out and have a look!" Chuo Luowu felt that he could not avoid disaster. If the situation went wrong, he could run away as soon as he left the city, so he made up his mind, summoned dozens of followers, got on his horse, and rushed
Out of the city.
Outside the low earthen wall was a mess.
Thousands of cavalrymen, wielding horseshoes, maces, iron laos, and machetes, galloped between tents one after another. Wherever they passed, countless herdsmen's heads fell to the ground, and flames were lit everywhere.
"Ma Cha?!" Chuo Luowu is knowledgeable. Prairie people rarely use this kind of thick, heavy horse fighting weapons. Riding and shooting in circles from a distance is in line with their aesthetics. Weapons like Ma Cha are generally those from the Central Plains.
This is only used by cavalry who like to charge straight to kill.
Chuo Luo Wu felt a little relieved, but this was outrageous.
"Kill!" A Central Plains cavalry general discovered Chuoluowu's group. He pointed his finger at the horse and rushed over first.
Chuo Luowu's sharp eyes noticed that he was wearing iron armor, and the armor seemed to have tiger stripes painted on it. When he rushed over, he didn't hesitate at all, with an angry look on his face, and his eyes were as big as copper bells, and he rushed towards him.
, with a sweep of his head, he blocked all the sword bones that Chuo Luo Wu had followed, and then he took out the dagger with his right hand and shouted loudly.
"Kill!" The voice almost shattered my eardrums.
Chuoluowu dodged at the critical moment, and the sharp iron sword struck his shoulder armor, knocking him off his horse.
"Brother Tiger" came running behind him with more than ten riders, all of them brave and shouting loudly: "General Xu has killed one of the thieves, kill him!"
Chuoluowu rolled twice on the ground to avoid the tragic fate of being trampled by horse hooves, and stumbled up. Looking around, he saw an overwhelming number of cavalry killing them. The tribal warriors were caught off guard, and the herdsmen had no time to react and mounted their horses one after another.
He ran away without even a hint of courage to fight back.
