The cavalry came out of Tongxuanmen and headed straight north along the path that the army used during Hu Shahu's rebellion.
Walking at the front of the cavalry was Xu Jin. He had been busy in the city for a while, and it was only now that he finished all his affairs and set off to join the scout troops that had already crossed the Chrysostom Camp. Following him
Next to him was Zhao Xuan, who had just returned from Northern Xinjiang to report and immediately set off to return.
In the past few years, anyone who often travels to Northern Xinjiang must have cooperated with the Zhou Dynasty military. Summary meetings have been held again and again for soldiers who have gone to fight deep in the grasslands. The military has obtained from them
With more and more experience, including how the army supplies supplies in enemy territory, how to replenish war horses, how to place sick and wounded soldiers, how to conduct reconnaissance, and how to cross mountains and ridges, all these things have perfect procedures.
For example, the reconnaissance aspect of military intelligence was originally carried out by different branches in various military offices. However, during the current war, all authorities were gathered together as quickly as possible and merged into the hands of the most powerful intelligence chief in the Zhou Dynasty.
People like Zhao Xuan or Lu Wusi who have rich experience and have not been trapped in the siege of the Mongolian cavalry have also been urgently recalled for questioning in the past few days so that the military government can make many subsequent arrangements.
As for the forward reconnaissance of the advancing army, it is said that Xu Jin's status is different from the past, and he no longer has to travel in person. However, the emperor led the army to the north for the second time within a year, and the main force of the Mongolian army was to be attacked. This is really not a trivial matter.
There was no room for error. Xu Jin was very thoughtful and didn't trust others, so he finally decided to do the hard work himself.
After galloping forward on his horse for a while, he couldn't help but stop and step off his mount, and looked around, only to see vast fields.
The stern and huge Zhongdu City stands at the end of the sight, with city walls stretching across the entire plain. Not far from this huge city to the north, mountains, hills and plains are mixed, and the terrain continues to rise.
Corresponding to the rising terrain, there is the howling north wind. The north wind is like a light and thin sharp blade that cuts across the face from time to time, causing tears to flow from the corners of the eyes and a faint pain to the skin.
The vegetation around Jinkou River Camp is very dense, and large areas of woodland and shrubs are constantly intertwined. The Lugou River water meandering from the old carriage channel flows into Yuyuantan, rushing and swirling along the way, forming many small-scale muddy areas. However,
In winter, the water flow is low, and the north wind has dried the muddy land wherever it passes, and the cavalry often stirs up smoke and dust when passing by.
After the middle period of the Jin Dynasty, the weather was not correct, and the winters were often very cold and the summers were extremely hot. At that time, people secretly attributed this to the Jurchens' cruelty and immorality. However, after the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the weather did not seem to have improved particularly.
Not to mention the Great Zhou Dynasty, including the Goryeo Dynasty and the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty, the weather was also average. After autumn, the temperature became colder every day and dropped very quickly.
Xu Jin estimated that in another month, the temperature will drop to freezing point. By then, all the wet land will freeze and become as hard as pig iron. If you are not lucky, maybe within fifteen to twenty days
, it will be that cold.
This is still the case near Zhongdu. What will happen to the northern grasslands? In the past few days, military reports have been sent back from many passes on the northern line. According to his authority, Xu Jin can access copies at any time, but these days he
I was so busy with other important things that I didn't care.
It wasn't until he suddenly remembered reading it last night that he felt that he had not been away from the army for a long time, but he had lost the military sensitivity to weather and weather, which was a bit embarrassing.
In fact, Xu Jin has been deep into the grassland many times, and he knows that snow will begin to fall in that area in the autumn of Han Dynasty. If there is a snow disaster, it is often covered with thousands of miles of ice and snow, and it is bitingly cold.
The few times Xu Jin went there, even relying on the supplies from the forts along the way and the strong transportation capacity of the Zhou caravan, he could not move around the grassland for a long time. In late autumn and early winter, he could still work hard to find passable roads.
If they fail to return to the pass in late winter, the caravan can only find a camp that can accommodate them for the winter and stay there for two to three months until spring.
After the grassland outside Tunpu was replaced by snowfields, it became endless silence. There were no animals or birds, and it was impossible to distinguish between grassland and water. In the vast uninhabited land, you might trek for more than ten days without seeing any living things.
, and there is no shepherd in sight.
Moreover, in such a harsh environment, even if someone wants to march hard, the distance they can travel in a day is at most ten or twenty miles. If it exceeds a little, the energy, blood and energy accumulated in the human body will be quickly lost. This is no different from deliberately committing suicide.
At this time, not to mention the Han army, even the Mongolian army, no, even the most frost-resistant forest savages were huddled in felt bags and did not dare to come out. Even so, it was inevitable to suffer huge losses to humans and animals.
The reason why the Mongols went south to plunder was sometimes because the weather was good in spring and summer and horse manure was available; but in many cases it was because autumn and winter were cold and there was no pasture. If they did not go south to harvest grass and valleys, they would have to wait to die on the grassland.
.
Since ancient times, when the Central Plains imperial court launched conquests on the grasslands, they had to abide by climate restrictions, choose the spring and summer seasons, set off in March, and make arrangements to withdraw troops as soon as July came. This was also to avoid this
The most terrifying power of nature.
Previously, the emperor convened the ministers to discuss going north, and the ministers one after another concluded that the Mongols most likely relied on this, and they had the idea of taking advantage of the weather.
The severe cold in winter is a test of killing that is difficult to resist and inevitable for both the northern and southern families. But according to the original arrangement, the Mongolian army was trapped under countless fortresses in the wind and snow; now it has become the Zhou Dynasty's
The army will go north to fight against powerful enemies at the same time in the grassland areas and heaven and earth familiar to the Mongols.
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Now, if the previous plan to lure the enemy was in vain, the situation between host and guest will be different.
Genghis Khan's prestige was based on his invincible achievements. If he could not defeat the Great Zhou Dynasty, his position as Great Khan would always be unstable. Therefore, after he swept many major Western countries, he immediately came back to seek bad luck for the Great Zhou Dynasty.
There were rumors that the garrison in northern Xinjiang was being reduced, and Genghis Khan immediately mobilized his troops to attack southward.
The status of Emperor Guo Ning of the Great Zhou Dynasty was based on the community of interests formed by countless warriors. Wherever the interests of the warriors were, the Great Zhou must protect them. The Mongolian army threatened many forts in northern Xinjiang with a large number of firearms. If they threatened to raid them,
The family fortunes of many warriors have ruined their hopes of inheriting wealth and wealth. It is absolutely impossible not to save them.
If you want to go north for rescue, you must move quickly. Every day wasted, the soldiers who are isolated are one more day in danger. But going north does not mean death, because the Mongolian army is strong, the army must bring all the supplies and equipment, and be prepared for a tough battle.
In addition, it is indispensable to bring heavy weapons such as thunder cannons.
The generals do not believe that the Mongols have the ability to manufacture gunpowder weapons on a large scale, but the source of the Mongolian firearms is still a mystery. And no matter how small the number of firearms is, they are still a huge threat on the battlefield. Our side must have greater power and farther. We can use long-range weapons to deal with it, and launch long-distance bombardments across several fronts at any time. Otherwise, it is not enough to suppress the Mongolian army's throwing iron artillery style.
Additional baggage and heavy weapons need to be prepared, and additional time is required.
This cycle of death has almost driven all the officials below Yelu Chucai crazy in the past half month. Li Yun, who is responsible for contacting and controlling various trading houses, was even driven to spin like a top and lost weight. Even so, when the army finally set off, more than half a month had passed since Linhuang Mansion and other places in northern Xinjiang were lost.
Countless soldiers were worried about the safety of their comrades in the north. At the same time, the weather inevitably turned cold. Under the overwhelming power of heaven, the difficulty of fighting north had increased to a level unimaginable by ordinary people.
"The weather may not get cold so fast. If there is heavy snow, the Mongolians won't be able to survive it. Those shamans on the grasslands are very good at predicting the weather. Maybe they..."
A knight said a few words beside him, and Xu Jin shook his head: "We rely on our true ability and don't count on luck."
The difficulty is obvious, and it is really a headache.
What the Mongols came up with this time was not a clever trick, but a real and incomprehensible conspiracy.
But Dazhou is not a weak dynasty like Dajin. Inside Dazhou is a tough skeleton, full of cunning and fierce energy, like a giant with a strong body and full of energy. When this giant shouts and exerts force, , with surging blood surging throughout its body, it can invest a huge amount of resources in any direction.
At this time, the total number of supplies directly provided by Zhongdu and Tianjin Prefecture, including the stockpiles of various official warehouses and the requisition of stocks from commercial banks, has reached a level that is unimaginable to ordinary people. Just the whale oil used to smear the skin to keep out the cold, there are As many as a hundred barrels.
What's more, along various sea and land routes, from Hebei, from the prosperous Shandong, and from various parts of Henan, material resources are constantly gathering. All materials will be transported north from there, along the line from Juyongguan to Jinshan, ensuring that the army can need.
Responsible for transporting supplies are thousands of vehicles, tens of thousands of civilians, and hundreds of thousands of mules, horses, and livestock; responsible for carrying supplies are countless roads that are like large arteries and capillaries. The Mongols It’s absolutely unimaginable that Da Zhou’s protection ability is so strong!
With such support, even in the adversity of late autumn and early winter, when he was facing wind and snow at any time, Zhou Dynasty could still mobilize his army to march northward and wave a giant's fist towards the grassland.
Perhaps due to the timing, there was only one chance to punch, and the distance of the punch may not be very far. But Xu Jin was convinced that it must be an unprecedentedly heavy blow that could beat any enemy to death!
"Xiao Molele's Longxiang Army cavalry has already set off. They move so fast!" Zhao Xuan pointed to the rear.
"Oh?" Xu Jin turned around again.
The group of people all stared with wide eyes, looking at the garrison camp north of Zhongdu that they passed by not long ago.
The cavalry of the Yongxiang Army led the way with light cavalry wearing light armor and ermine hats, with the triangular flag of the headquarters as the leader. When several advance cavalry set off, they were all four in a row, forming a long column.
Column and column moved closer to each other along the parallel roads and open fields, adjusting their order while waiting for the baggage convoy behind to catch up.
A few miles away, everyone could hear the neighing of war horses and the sound of the wheels of the convoy. Of course, there was also the unique sound of weapons and armor, the crisp sound of metal clashing. Because the sounds were so dense, they had converged like a sea wave.
The same ups and downs, with no way to distinguish the specific source of the booming sound.
The roaring sound was indistinguishable, and the queue could not be seen at a glance. Various team flags, command flags, and flags were fluttering everywhere. Horse hooves stepped on the ground, and people, horses, and flags were like silhouettes, swaying rhythmically.
It even brought about a faint trembling feeling that made people dizzy and dizzy.
The cavalry were moving forward at a trot, and the dust and dead grass branches and leaves kicked up by the horses' hooves rolled and rolled into the air, and then were swept by the strong wind in the air, dragging out long smoke. Looking from a distance, it looked like
It's like the tracks left behind when a large ship rows across the sea.
"Let's hurry up and hurry up. The military situation is very strong and we can't delay... Don't let Xiao Mo Le catch up!" Xu Jin whipped his horse and rushed on first.
