I wish everyone a happy Dragon Boat Festival and may all your wishes come true! I also have a wish during the Dragon Boat Festival, that is to get more red tickets
Chapter 197 The Eve of the War
With only two days left before the Spring Festival, the decoration of the palace has almost been completed. The huge and magnificent Tai Chi Palace is decorated with lanterns and colorful colors. The festive red color adds another kind of beauty to the originally solemn place. The palace people also put on brand-new clothes and took the trouble to say auspicious words to each other when they met back and forth.
But in the Sui army camp in the northwest, this kind of celebration was missing.
The army has been out of the border for several months. Although it has captured Nirvana City and has advanced 500 miles into the Mandu Banner territory, this is by no means something worth celebrating. According to the original plan, the entire Mandu Banner should have been occupied by this time. The environment is right. After all, Mandu Latu did not have more than 50,000 troops. Even if the herdsmen who participated in the war were included, there was still a big gap in strength compared with the 700,000 Sui warriors who were armed to the teeth.
In fact, the original intention of this war was to capture the Mongolian and Yuan Mandu flag.
¡°With more than two thousand miles of pasture, tens of millions of livestock, and hundreds of thousands of herdsmen, if we capture all of these, the record will be brilliant enough.
There is nothing wrong with the plan designated by the Ministry of War, but the war situation just cannot be opened.
Since the first battle, after the two thousand elite cavalry under Mandu Wolf were almost completely lost, he took the remaining few hundred cavalry back to Nirvana City. However, how could he hold on with only these few hundred troops? Moreover, the Sui army was as familiar with siege as it was like recalling something that happened just yesterday. Although the most recent war dates back more than twenty years ago, the soldiers of the Sui Dynasty were not unfamiliar with siege warfare.
A small Nirvana city was defeated with almost no effort. Mandu Wolf fled with less than thirty people, but before leaving, he poisoned and killed all the livestock in the city. Not only in Nirvana City, all tribes in Mandu Banner evacuated in an orderly manner at the beginning of the war, and all the animals that could not be taken away were poisoned.
The Sui army could not even use the carcasses of these animals to make food.
Wherever the army passed, the soldiers looked at the frozen corpses of animals lying on the ground with distress on their faces. So many cattle, sheep, and even war horses were poisoned to death. Those Meng Yuan barbarians were really capable of killing them. For the Sui army who lacked war horses, not being able to gain anything was a huge loss.
According to the plan, after the raid on Nirvana City, the army would transport the stolen livestock back to the east of Langru Mountain. But now, although they are stepping on the 500-mile pasture of Meng Yuan Barbarian, it feels like they have gained nothing.
The General Manager of Zhengxi, Yang Kai, Prince of Xu Commandery, has been in a bad mood.
Originally, we planned to take out a batch of captured animals and slaughter them during the Chinese New Year to reward the three armies, but now the things snatched from the Mongolian people are not enough to feed even one army and horses! Without livestock, what's the use of these five hundred miles of pasture?
"Your Majesty"
Mou Liangbi, Minister of the Ministry of War, hesitated for a moment and couldn't help but persuade: "Although we did not capture the cattle, sheep and horses of the Meng Yuan barbarians as expected, the war cannot be considered unsatisfactory. After all, the army has penetrated five hundred miles, and our logistics supplies There is enough. Even if there are not enough cattle and sheep to work, there will be no shortage of wine and meat."
Yang Kai sighed and said, "I feel ashamed of your majesty's trust."
He and Mou Liangbi were the only two people in the room, so he didn't hesitate to say many things: "Although there is enough food and grass, according to the plan, after taking Nirvana City, the army does not need to allocate food and grass from the pass. Your Majesty is looking forward to it. This is the good news we sent to Chang'an City, not the current situation!"
Mou Liangbi sighed and said: "If the military is not united, it is not easy to win a big victory? My lord, look at the faces of those generals, and then look at the looks of those governors How can they have any determination?" The aggressive intention is to force the prince and his ministers to flee back to Chang'an City in embarrassment! "
"You can't say that."
Yang Kai shook his head and said: "The armies are not slacking off in their attack."
"There is no slack in the march, but many battles that can be easily won are fought so anxiously. How can these people deserve His Majesty's trust!"
"I still failed to coordinate well."
Yang Kai said with some sadness: "Your Majesty has entrusted this job to me. If I can't do it well, I am incompetent."
"Why should the prince take all the fault on himself!"
Mou Liangbi said: "I have already written a memorial, asking your Majesty to give Shang Fang the sword to the prince. There is nothing that can restrain them, and they have no respect for the prince!"
Yang Kai waved his hand and said: "Since the founding of the Sui Dynasty, there has never been a commander-in-chief who has held your Majesty's Shangfang Sword and led the troops. If you rely on your Majesty's majesty to command the troops, it is the incompetence and shame of the commander."?. When the banquet is held the day after tomorrow, I will discuss with the generals that this war cannot be delayed any longer. How huge is the daily consumption of 700,000 troops and millions of civilians? Even though our Sui Dynasty is powerful, we cannot afford such unwarranted waste for too long. "
At this time, suddenly the soldiers outside shouted loudly: "General Li Yuanshan of the right Xiaowei, General Jin Shixiong of the left Xiaowei, General Pei Huan of the left leader Wei, and General Wei of the right leader Yu Zhengdong are asking for an audience."
"Please quickly!"
Yang Kai quickly stood up, and Mou Liangbi also stood up with a wry smile.
The four generals filed in and then saluted Yang Kai. Yang Kai quickly stepped forward to help him, and said with a smile: "I just came back from the promotion. What, is there any urgent military affairs?"
Among the four generals, the oldest one is Zuo Xiaowei General Jin Shixiong. The Sui Dynasty had the largest number of troops stationed in the northwest, and four of the Sixteenth Guards were deployed in the northwest. The imperial court's guard against Meng Yuan has never weakened in the slightest. In this western expedition, the soldiers and horses of the four northwest guards were also worthy of being the main force.
Jin Shixiong smiled and said: "There is no urgent military matter. I just came to ask the prince for a drink of water. By the way, I want to tell you how to spend the New Year's Eve the day after tomorrow."
These things have been mentioned before when the account was raised, so Yang Kai knew that the four of them must not have had bulging ears before they came.
He ordered people to serve tea, then sat down in the coach's seat and said: "I don't have any good tea here. Wu Daodao has returned to Chang'an City. I have drank up all the good tea he brought with him. If you were running If you come here, you will be disappointed.¡±
Jin Shixiong and others laughed, and Li Yuanshan laughed and said: "Why is the prince so stingy? I don't believe that you really didn't keep any inventory."
Yang Kai said: "I still want to take back Chang'an City to show off to others, and I will definitely not show off the remaining bits."
General Yu Zhengdong smiled and said: "Actually, I'm not here specifically to ask for tea. I still want to ask the prince for instructions on when to march? When I was promoted, there were some things that I couldn't say directly in front of the people below. I am in a low position because I am worried. If I delay, It will become more difficult to fight when Meng Ge's reinforcements arrive. The Mandu Banner's men and horses are only about 60,000 to 70,000, but it is estimated that Meng Ge's Golden Horde Cavalry will arrive in at most half a month. ¡±
Yang Kai couldn't help but be startled, wondering why these people suddenly changed their gender?
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After months of marching, no real tough battle has been fought. It is too big to surrender to the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. It is twenty thousand miles from the Mongolian Golden Tribe to the Mandu Banner. When the reinforcements from the Golden Tribe gather and arrive, they will not be able to arrive at all within a few months. The flag owners of other banners could not arbitrarily lead their troops to leave their fiefdoms without the order of the great Han Mengge, which gave the Sui army an opportunity.
In fact, the reason why Mandu Latu has not waited for reinforcements until now is more related to the discord between the banner leaders of the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties. For example, the Keqin Banner, which is right next to the Mandu Banner, has a long-standing conflict between the flag owner Keqin Lelang and Mandu Latu. Mandu Latu was dissatisfied with the small size of his fiefdom and often occupied the pastures of Keqin Banner. It's not that there have been conflicts between the two flags over this matter, but it's just that it's hard for both of them to get into a fight.
Mandu Banner was captured by the Sui army and at least 500 miles of grassland was occupied. Keqin Lelang was happy to watch the show. Anyway, there are ancestral laws that prohibit banner owners from leading troops out of their fiefdoms at will, and Great Khan Meng Ge can't really do anything to him. Besides, he didn't think the Sui people could easily take over the entire Mandu Banner.
Mandu Latu is a well-known lunatic. Even if the Sui people didn't come to challenge him, he still wanted to fight through Langru Mountain. The Sui people came to find him. If Mandu Latu gave in so easily That's weird.
Mandu Ratu is indeed a madman, but this madman has become rational this time. The Mandu Banner army never confronted the Sui army head-on, but waited for the arrival of reinforcements from the Golden Tent. Because he knows one thing very well: once he loses all the people in his hand, his position as the flag leader will not be preserved. Even if he defeated the Sui people like a god, the Mandu Banner's strength would definitely be greatly damaged.
"And the Mandu Banner is too far away from the Golden Tent. How did he invade the Keqin Banner's pasture? That guy Keqin Lelang will work harder to get it back." Looking for comment from the Great Khan? Not to mention that the pasture had long been lost by the time the envoy arrived at the Golden Tent. Even if he got there, the Great Khan would at most send someone down to mediate the situation. If he wanted Keqinlelang to spit out what he had eaten, that would be better than asking him to become a It¡¯s even harder for women.
It is precisely because Mandu Latu knows this that he has always avoided fighting. He felt distressed for the lost pastures, and even more distressed for the poisoned cattle, sheep, and horses, but there was nothing he could do about it. It was better than the entire pasture being taken away by the Keqin Banner instead of being occupied by the Sui people.
Mandu Ratu is old, and he doesn¡¯t want to become a sinner in the clan at the end of his life.
However, this does not mean that he does not want to achieve his great fame. Meng Yuan has been at peace for too long and lacks a real hero. Moreover, he has been waiting for the opportunity to teach those Sui people a lesson. The battle is about to be fought, but what is missing is the best opportunity.
Mandu Latu had two sons, the eldest son Mandu Yong was held as a hostage in the golden tent. This is the historical rule of the Meng Yuan Empire. The eldest son of each banner owner must live in the royal court until he succeeds the banner owner. When they or their brothers succeed the banner owner, new hostages will be sent to the royal court. .
This is an effective means to control the prairie. The Golden Family has never been shy about raising the butcher's knife against those who disobey the rule.
Mandu Latu¡¯s second son is called Mandu Teller, and Teller means as fast as the wind in Mongolian.
He also has a nephew whom he values ??very much, Mandu Wolf.
Mandu Lang's father, Mandu Latu's brother, was a hostage in the royal court, and he was looking forward to returning to the territory to inherit the flag. Who would have thought that Mandu Latu poisoned his own father and immediately announced that he would succeed the flag leader? By the time Du Lang's father found out the news in the royal court, it was already too late.
He went to argue with the Great Khan, but the Great Khan was too lazy to take care of their housework. In fact, the Golden Family prefers that there is no peace between the banners or within each banner. If the banners are united and strong, the Golden Family will be worried. Provoking conflicts between various banners has always been the Gold Family's specialty.
Mandu Ratu sat back on a chair covered with a thick velvet blanket and glanced at his generals.
"The day after tomorrow is the Sui people's New Year's Eve. For Sui people, New Year's Eve is as important as our Lent. On this day, they will put down their weapons, sing, dance, drink and eat meat. This is a rare opportunity. I So I have been avoiding fighting, waiting for this day I need a brave warrior to lead the children of Mandu Banner to repay the blood debt from the Sui people! Take it back!"
"Who among you is willing to fight this battle?!"
"I!"
Mandu Tel strode forward, put his palms on his chest and bowed his head and said: "Dear father, your brave son Mandu Tel is willing to take the children to avenge his shame! As long as you give the riding crop to your son, he will I will ride my horse to the front! The shameless Sui people took away our pastures, cattle and sheep, and I will use their blood and heads to commemorate the dead people!"
"My son, you make me very happy."
Mandu Latu said: "But you can't do it alone. You need a strong helper."
"Mandu wolf!"
He shouted loudly: "Don't you want to take back Nirvana City?!"
Mandu Wolf put his hand on his chest and replied loudly: "I think! I have long wanted to lead the warriors of the Mandu Banner and ride on horseback to trample the corpses of the Sui people!"
Mandu Ratu laughed loudly, spread his hands and said: "Go, my children! The Wolf God will give you infinite power, and King Ming will illuminate your bodies with holy light. Let the Sui people's festive New Year's Eve become It will be their death anniversary!¡±