Kublai Khan threw the letter on the table with a livid face. He never expected that his father, no, he should be called father now, would actually let him open the encirclement and let Huo Qubing return to the Han Dynasty.
There was no personal grudge between Kublai Khan and Huo Qubing, but the confrontation during this period of time fully made him realize the horror of Huo Qubing.
Such a truly genius cavalry commander will definitely become Yuan Meng's close enemy in the future if he cannot take advantage of this opportunity to kill him.
Of course, Kublai Khan knew his father's difficulties in dragging mines, but he did not think that the Han, or rather the Qin army, still had the strength to supply 60,000 cavalry to march out of the fortress.
In Kublai Khan's view, the Battle of Hetao not only drained Yuan and Meng dry, but also destroyed the Qin army's foundation.
With the food and grass that the Qin army had at this time, let alone 60,000 fine cavalry, even 60,000 infantry were enough to supply them!
The reason why the Han army pretended to go out again was just to force Yuan and Meng to submit at the negotiation table, so that they could surrender without fighting and gain greater benefits.
In Kublai Khan's view, Yuan Meng must not show any cowardice at this time, otherwise the Qin army will definitely push for the next step. Only a tough attitude can win peace, and Huo Qubing's army out of the border was one of the first to negotiate with the Qin army.
Big chips.
Kublai Khan's guess was absolutely correct. The Qin army was not feeling well after the Battle of Hetao. Now the entire Hetao was in ruins and was unable to send troops to attack Yuan and Meng.
In addition, if the Qin army really sends troops, it will be equivalent to helping the Manchus, and the Manchus are also the mortal enemies of the Han people, so it is impossible for the Qin army to send troops and assume such an aggressive posture, just to force Yuan and Meng to submit.
It's just a good opportunity to reap the benefits.
Kublai Khan knew these truths, and Tuo Lei naturally knew them too. However, Tuo Lei's location was different from Kublai Khan's, and his perspective on all issues was also different.
Tuo Lei understands these principles, but he doesn't dare to gamble.
Temujin had already lost the bet in the previous gambling war. If he lost the bet now, Yuan Meng would really be hopeless, so he did not dare to bet at all.
In addition, the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Hetao also made Yuan and Meng's domestic fear of the Qin army reach the highest level in history. It is no exaggeration to say that Qin is as fearful as a tiger.
Nowadays, most people in the entire Yuanmeng Kingdom are unwilling to go to war with the Qin army, even if there is a slight possibility of war, so even if Tuo Lei wants to take a gamble, the people below will not agree.
"Oh, I, Dayuan, am so ill-fated." Kublai Khan couldn't help but sigh.
Yuan Meng originally had a good hand of cards, but due to a careless move, his good hand was ruined.
Now that the Manchu and Qing armies are attacking, Yuan and Meng are not afraid of the Qing, but are afraid of Qin. They must negotiate peace with Qin before the war.
In the opinion of Kublai Khan, the terms of the Qin army's peace negotiations were not only excessive, but in the end no matter how far the negotiations reached, it would be an unbearable burden for Yuan Meng, who was currently extremely weak.
Suddenly, a soldier came to report: "Your Highness, it's bad, Huo Bing led the army to break out again."
This was Huo Qubing's third breakthrough after Kublai Khan took charge of the encirclement and suppression mission.
In the previous two breakouts, although Kublai Khan did not stop Huo Qubing, under his command, the army once again suffered more than half casualties, and now it is probably less than a thousand people.
"Your Highness, I will lead the troops to pursue you immediately," Meng Like said. His implanted identity was that of Meng Libai and Meng Liyuan's brother who died in the Hetao battle, so he had extreme hatred for the Han people.
"Your Highness, the Han generals are ferocious, and the last general is gone." Yuan Xin clasped his fists and asked for orders.
Kublai Khan put his hands behind his back, walked to the door of the tent, looked up at the sky, and remained silent for a long time.
Seeing this, all the generals had doubts in their eyes. After a long time, Kublai Khan said: "There is no need to chase. Your Majesty has ordered the Han army to be sent back to show the Han army's sincerity in peace talks."
"What?"
"how so?"
"Then we have worked so hard, fought so many battles, and killed so many people, what's the point?"
"Yes, since we are going to let him go, it would be better not to pursue him in the first place."
As soon as Kublai Khan said this, the generals in the hall immediately became excited, as if they thought they had been deceived.
In order to keep Huo Qubing's 5,000 remnant troops and capture Huo Qubing alive, Yuanmeng suffered at least 8,000 casualties.
Now that Huo Qubing was finally beaten to only a thousand people, Longcheng suddenly said that he would let Huo Qubing leave. How could these unruly Yuanmeng generals accept this?
"This is an order."
Kublai Khan said in a deep voice, the cold light in his eyes became brighter and brighter, and no one in the hall dared to look at him.
"snort……"
After Kublai Khan snorted coldly, he ordered in a deep voice: "Withdraw the troops and return to Dragon City."
"promise."
————————
"General Huo, it seems Yuan Meng has not caught up." Long Qie said in a deep voice.
Huo Qubing took out his telescope and looked in the direction of Yuanmeng's army. When he saw that there was no smoke and dust rising, he immediately said: "Although I don't know why Kublai Khan didn't pursue him, it must have been because the Lord put pressure on Yuanmeng through negotiations.
.”
Long Qie showed a look of astonishment, while Ran Min on the side said: "Kublai Khan is a bold and careful person. He will not pursue him for the time being, and he will not regret it without a watch. We should take this opportunity and escape directly from Mobei and return to Hetao.
"
"Um."
Huo Qubing nodded and said in a deep voice: "The entire army will obey the order and retreat to the Hetao at full speed."
"promise."
In the Battle of Hetao, the most difficult force to fight was not Bai Qi's rescue of Yinshan City, nor Zhuge Liang's defeat of Zhenbeiguan, nor Qin Hao's defeat of Temujin, but the one who led his lone army into Mobei.
Huo Qubing Department.
After the Battle of Dragon City, before splitting his forces with Zhuge Liang, Huo Qubing still had 21,000 fine cavalry under his command.
After entering Mobei, Huo Qubing massacred three tribes in succession to attract Murong Ke to lead the army to pursue him. Then he first fought against Murong Ke, then against Tuo Lei, and finally encountered Kublai Khan.
Huo Qubing's trip to Mobei can be said to have been through countless fierce battles. Each battle was extremely dangerous and tragic. He even narrowly escaped death twice, once by Xiang Yu and once by Ran Min.
However, his troops were reduced to less than a thousand remnants.
Of the 21,000 troops that marched north, only a thousand were left alive. One can imagine how difficult Huo Qubing's trip to Mobei was.
Now the army that left the fortress finally had to return to Hetao, and although Kublai Khan was no longer pursuing them, there were still Yuanmeng tribes along the way who had not received the order to tow the mines.
Huo Qubing's army massacred many Yuan and Meng tribes, and seeing that there were only a thousand remnants of the army left, these tribes naturally wanted revenge, and they all sent out their tribesmen to carry out various encirclements.
Huo Qubing's journey home is still full of twists and turns and dangers.