Since ancient times, it has been extremely difficult for the Central Plains regime to clear out holes in the grasslands, especially the distance and climate. The finances of the Great Zhou Dynasty are maintained at the sea, and it is even less possible to invest their wealth in northern Xinjiang and launch inexorable attacks on the nomadic peoples. The Endless Expedition.
Therefore, the Mongols previously attacked the edge of the mountain stronghold in a large scale and used iron artillery as a powerful weapon. It was not so much a threat to the Zhou Dynasty as it was just right. It just allowed Guo Ning to fight a war not far from the border, using short and bursting weapons. The threat of kill and erasure.
But if Mongolia had a connection with the Southern Dynasty and paid a price that was enough to make the Southern Dynasty change its tune, then the battlefield would not only be in the northern Xinjiang and the desert!
In the past few days, the main force of the Zhou army has been unable to find traces of most of the Mongolian army, so that it has walked farther and farther into the desert. Just the day before yesterday, Guo Ning personally mentioned that thousands of elite troops of his army had Go out, trying to catch up with the scout cavalry in front, and grasp the enemy's movements as soon as possible.
Now it seems that we have gone too far! Failure to get news from the Central Plains in time is a big trouble!
Guo Ning's doubts continued to accumulate, some turned into vigilance, and some turned into fear. He suddenly felt that the biting cold wind around him was too cold, making him want to shiver; and he suddenly felt the urge to jump on the horse, anxious The urge to run back to the Central Plains. But as soon as he said the words, he suddenly felt overwhelmed.
With tens of thousands of troops outside, why can the coach just leave at the drop of a hat?
What if the main force of the Mongols is still in the grassland and the commander leaves, and the soldiers are leaderless, how can they resist? It's not that Guo Ning underestimates the other soldiers, but since ancient times, the commander has been the soul of the army and will be the courage of the army. How can the army that has lost its soul fight?
When the Yehuling army collapsed, Guo Ning was one of the escapees. He had seen that scene with his own eyes. Guo Ning had also heard with his own eyes how the soldiers at that time reviled the cowardly general!
Guo Ning was in a dilemma, and finally called Ni Yi: "Tell the soldiers to be on strict alert tonight. Our team will pack up as soon as possible. If something happens, be prepared to pursue a long distance."
Ni Daxi said: "Your Majesty, is there any news?"
Guo Ning smiled: "Soon."
Xu Yan saw Guo Ning's thoughts and guessed his hesitation: "Your Majesty, when we were ready, it was already midnight and we couldn't hurry up. Why don't we set off early tomorrow morning and go back to Yehuling to wait for the next news. If Return immediately if nothing happens. Here in our team, Xiao Molele and Gao Xin are both veteran generals. They can command the team in a short period of time without making any mistakes."
Guo Ning nodded, and then scolded Ni Yi, who was full of doubts: "Why are you still standing there?"
After hearing what Xu Yan said, Ni Yi was frightened and jumped up when Guo Ning drank.
After all, he was the old man next to Guo Ning. He immediately understood that the situation had deteriorated. He immediately gave a military salute, turned around, and strode away. His figure soon disappeared into the night, and slight noises were heard from all over the military camp. Restless, that is the soldiers making preparations.
Guo Ning simply washed up and leaned on his horse, trying to fall asleep quickly.
The weather was very cold, and even if he wore thick clothes, he could not cover his hands and face. This made it even more obvious that the horses were very hot, and it was very comfortable to lean against them. But Guo Ning had too many things on his mind, and he couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned a few times. This time, I took the map from the horseback and looked at it by the campfire.
The map is very accurate. It includes the jurisdiction of the three recruiting divisions in the north. It is accurate to every fort and every road. Next to some important forts, it also uses small strokes to indicate the number of defenders here, who are the defenders, and the size of the reserves.
Wait for details.
In the past, Guo Ningruo was uneasy and always liked to look at the map to deduce the development of the war to relieve his emotions. He grew up on the battlefield. Looking at the map, he could imagine thousands of armies fighting each other, attacking or attacking.
Defending, interspersing or attacking. The more he thought about it, the more he enjoyed it.
But at this moment, Guo Ning just couldn't stand it anymore. Because this map did not cover the border between Zhou Dynasty and Song Dynasty, but the problem that might arise right now was outside the map.
Guo Ning threw the map away and forced himself to close his eyes.
That night he was half asleep, as if he had never fallen asleep, and he seemed never to wake up. He vaguely saw that he was on a battlefield, surrounded by blood, broken weapons, and dead bodies and mutilated limbs scattered everywhere.
He saw the soldiers running back and forth covered in sweat. From time to time, the roar of horse hooves could be heard in the distance, the shouts of soldiers fighting hard, and the miserable screams of the wounded soldiers who were in unbearable pain. He shouted loudly.
, wanted to take over the command of the battle, but no one listened.
He woke up suddenly. It was already dimming, and some soldiers got up to wash the horses.
Ni Yi, wearing light armor, stood beside him, looking at him with somewhat worried eyes.
The early morning wind blew with a whistling sound. There was a depression upwind of the camp, and there was snow up to the calf in the depression. At this time, the dirt and ice and snow in the depression were picked up by the wind and fell on the tent and armor.
It made a soft crackling sound. Guo Ning heard a special sound from it. He asked Ni Yi: "Did you hear it?"
This question was so abrupt that Ni Yi didn't understand it, but the movements of many soldiers were slightly stagnant, and everyone's eyes turned around. Obviously, although the generals did not leak the news, the soldiers still instinctively felt that the atmosphere was not right.
Guo Ning asked again: "Did you hear it?"
Before Ni Yi could answer, Guo Ning had already straightened up and stood up.
Yes, that was the sound of a light horse approaching at full speed. Guo Ning could even hear the soft ringing of a bell accompanying the horse's leaping hooves. It was a bell hanging on the front bridge of the saddle, representing a hundred thousand urgent matters.
According to the military system of the Great Zhou Dynasty, messages were delivered with gold and silver medals and talismans. In order to avoid being intercepted and harassed by the enemy, messengers usually did not carry anything eye-catching. Only when the situation was extremely urgent, a bell would be hung on the saddle.
Represents the knight with the power to requisition horses or ships at any time.
Moreover, according to Xu Jin's judgment, the messenger from the rear should arrive tomorrow night with the great craftsman. What emergency caused the messenger to speed up?
Guo Ning gritted his teeth hard.
If a person faces a deteriorating situation, he will inevitably feel uneasy and frightened; once he becomes uneasy and frightened, his will will be shaken; once his will is shaken, he will become depressed. But Guo Ning has a resolute character. The more he faces adversity, the more calm he becomes like steel.
He said: "A messenger is here, bring him in."
The messenger arrived in a moment, and the two men, one in front and one behind, happened to meet each other outside the camp.
The man in front of him whipped his horse repeatedly and galloped in front of Guo Ning. He didn't have time to jump off, so he just pulled the reins hard and let the horse spin around.
The last person could only say: "You come from the north, you speak first."
The former reported: "Your Majesty, I am under Zhang Pingliang, the fourth general of the former team..."
"I remember, you are a pheasant."
"Yes, yes."
Pheasant jumped off his horse: "General Zhang asked me to lead people back yesterday to report an urgent report, but I never thought that I would meet His Majesty here. The document here says that the brothers were out on sentry duty and encountered a large number of enemy cavalry equipped with Xiamen.
The armor produced in the country is in great quantity. My general thinks that maybe the Xia Kingdom has some connection with Mongolia, so we must guard against it."
Colluding with Xia Guo?
Interesting. The Xia State gave Mongolia a large number of armors to arm the servant army composed of captives and surrendered soldiers. The Mongols were very patient until the Zhou army penetrated deep into the grasslands, and the entire country's military power was tilted to the north.
Only then did this fact come to light.
"I understand. You've worked hard, please go and rest." Guo Ning patted Pheasant's arm and turned to another messenger.
The messenger bowed his head and delivered two letters.
A letter from Yelu Chucai in Tianjin stated that he had secretly sent people to capture Shi Miyuan's cronies in Tianjin and tortured them severely. The cronies could not endure the hardship and confessed that his backers in Shi Miyuan's mansion
It was a housekeeper. The housekeeper had been summoned by Zhu Wan half a month ago, asking him to urgently sell his shares in Tianjin Commercial Bank to prevent the housekeeper's personal interests from being damaged.
As for why he wanted to sell the shares... Guo Ning opened the second letter, glanced at it, and smiled in anger.
It turns out that things have already happened, and it turns out that any response is too late.
The crown prince of the Song Dynasty is critically ill, and Shi Miyuan is likely to lose his most important supporter. Therefore, he needs a reason to trip all his political opponents at the border, so as not to affect his hands and feet in the center; he needs a tragic event that does not directly affect the Song Dynasty.
A war was needed to give him reason to severely attack those in the DPRK who advocated regaining their homeland; a major financial turmoil was needed so that everyone had to admit that the Song Dynasty was dependent on trade.
All kinds of needs come down to the final compromise between Song and Mongolia... They can even lend a road to the Mongols!
On the one hand, Shi Miyuan's housekeeper was eager to recoup his investment in Tianjin, and on the other hand, he secretly communicated with Li Yun. This led to the leak of the news.
No one could have predicted this situation. If he had thought about it for three days and three nights before the incident, he probably would not have imagined that the people in power in the Song Dynasty would have such no bottom line. But now that it has happened, Guo Ning takes it for granted.
In Guo Ning's eyes, colluding with the Mongols and others is like seeking skin from a tiger, which is tantamount to repeating the scene of the alliance with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty, and it is suicidal. But the powerful ministers of the Song Dynasty only have personal agendas in their eyes. The change of the prince is to them,
It is the most terrible thing in the world, which must be solved at any cost. In addition, it is the flood and the loss of life. What does it have to do with them?
That’s all.
That being the case, the Mongols' movements are quite clear.
The southern border of the Great Zhou Dynasty was relatively weak in military armaments and was by no means a match for the Mongols. Soldiers and horses were gradually deployed in various parts of Hebei where heavy troops were originally stationed. Guo Ning must rush back to Zhongdu as quickly as possible and organize
Troops were sent south for rescue. Even so, we feared that the casualties among soldiers and civilians across Henan would be tragic!
Thinking of this, Guo Ning felt a fire burning in his chest. He hated such a failure and felt that it was due to his own negligence, which led to tragic consequences. So he became more concise and concise: "There are changes in the Central Plains, I will return first. Headquarters by Xiao Mo Le Together with Gao Xin, we will unite Zhao Jue and others as soon as possible and retreat."
Dazhou Nanjing Road, not far outside Zhongmou City.
It was already early morning, dusk had not faded, and the fog was heavy.
Liu Ran gave an order softly and led several of his men around the village in front and turned into the mountain forest trail.
Several of them were experienced warriors. They used the dim light to determine the way forward. They walked with their waists bent and settled silently. They crossed the forest in one breath and looked at the vast wilderness on the opposite side. After the mist, they could faintly hear the singing of birds and the barking of dogs. Liu Ran relaxed. Tone, purse your lips and make a whistle.
Dozens of soldiers from behind urged hundreds of men, women, old and children to follow quickly. The common people were all panic-stricken. They sealed their mouths with cloth strips and bound their feet with thick cloth in order to move quietly.
When the Mongolian army broke in, Liu Ran was patrolling with several of his subordinates. When he saw the overwhelming force of cavalry approaching, he and his men fought and fled.
Fortunately, the number of his men was small, and the Mongolian army was eager to break into the depths and did not pay much attention. He himself was good at riding, and his men also had horses. Everyone was focused on escaping and went to a place with few people, and they luckily escaped.
In the next few days, Liu Ran tried several times to join his companions and gather the strength to fight back. However, the Mongols were roaming across the wilderness, and their advantage was so obvious. Every time, the Mongols discovered the clues in advance and attacked him head-on. After several times, his More than half of his subordinates were killed, and the rest were all injured and covered in blood. The civilians who were rescued along the way were also washed away several times.
It was impossible to fight, so the only thought was to enter a certain city as soon as possible and defend it. But who could have imagined that the Mongolian army was invading like a fire. Even around Kaifeng City, there were Mongolian cavalry galloping to block it. As for how difficult it is for us to move forward?
When he ran away last time, Liu Ran was hit by an arrow in the back. The light arrow did not penetrate deeply and was not fatal, but the wound was not treated in time. He was exhausted for several days, and his physical strength and energy were exhausted. At first, he still felt the wound It hurt so bad that it no longer hurts, only numbness remains.
Everyone walked through the forest with one foot deep and one foot shallow, carefully avoiding branches that might be stepped on or broken.
Not long after we walked, there was a loud bang in the thick fog behind us, which made people panic. People stopped but didn't dare to look back.
"When you hear the noise, it's the fake camp we left behind, which was destroyed by the Mongols. This has been dragging them for a while, so everyone should leave quickly." Liu Ran explained without changing his expression.
The people lamented a few words and quickened their pace.
Liu Ran helped several people cross a ravine, then walked back hundreds of steps from his home to the west of the forest, where he stood behind a big tree and watched.
The fake camp was destroyed. It was just a lie to prevent the people from panic. Liu Ran did set up a fake camp outside Zhongmou City and put some money in the camp to confuse the Mongolian army, but it was captured at this time. It's not the camp, but the city of Zhongmou.
Due to the impact of the Yellow River's many breaches, the land around Kaifeng has a high soil content. To the west of Zhongmou, the land is vast and flat, which is especially suitable for horse herding. In recent years, trade between the north and the south has flourished, and Zhongmou has been used as a place to transport horses and livestock to facilitate trade. , the city walls were all open and useless. Liu Ran, the military judge, wrote many times to remind this, but there was no follow-up.
The Mongolian army came here and marched with light cavalry and rarely attacked the city. But there is no reason not to eat such a piece of fat meat?
The roar was clearly the sound of the emergency wooden fence being overthrown. Liu Ran listened attentively and heard the sound of fighting inside and outside the city paused briefly due to the loud noise. Soon after, the Mongolians cheered deafeningly, and countless people were horrified.
Desperate screams and cries also followed.
The Mongols are like a pack of wolves. Even if they are dozens of miles away, they can smell the smell of blood. Previously, there was a slight breach in the defense of Zhongmou City, and the Mongolian army units gathered from all directions. Now the city is about to be broken, and a feast of killing and plunder is about to begin.
Initially, the Mongolian army will inevitably gather in greater numbers.
In the blink of an eye, the sky became much brighter. Liu Ran looked at the boundless fog and saw Mongolian cavalry galloping back and forth, disappearing and appearing. On the back of their horses, they were either piled with looted property or tied up half naked.
Women either have a series of gray-white heads with dried blood hanging on them.