Chapter 192: Wild Guard

The winter of this year seems to be coming later.

The wind in northwest Qin was already bitter and there were a few light snows, but people were still able to walk well outdoors. In the same winter, Guanzhong and Jiangnan were different, and Mobei and Guanzhong were also different. The winter in Jiangnan was just uncomfortable. The deep winter in Guanzhong was only severe cold. The winter in Mobei was really called bitter cold. One of the reasons why the Han soldiers were unable to eradicate the great enemy in Mobei for thousands of years was that they could not adapt to the extreme climate there.

As long as it is not too bizarre, the winter in Guanzhong is actually a relatively comfortable cold for the nomadic peoples who have been suffering from bitter cold in the north of the desert.

When the cold wind in late autumn blew, the market families who were used to warming quilts with high beds had already hid in the house to bake the stove, but several types of people still had to make a living, one was the woodcutter who went into the mountains to log wood and burn charcoal, one was the herdsmen who had to take care of livestock, and the other was the warrior who had received orders to fight!

When the environment is good, there is no difference between the soldiers and weak soldiers who have been through the battlefield on the surface. As long as they are trained, they can grow a similar queue. However, as the environment deteriorates, only real soldiers can exert their normal combat power. The weak soldiers even need to reduce their movement power in the harsh environment. In the worst situation, they even feel difficult to move. At this time, they are waiting to be massacred in front of real soldiers who can still act!

In this early winter, several armies in Guanlong area showed their amazing resilience. For example, the Dangxiang people under Li Yiyin had been suffering for a long time. Although their equipment and equipment were not as good as the Khitan, Shi Jin, Tiance Tang, or Meng Shu, they were still able to withstand the gradually colder weather and the increasingly deteriorating battlefield environment.

In addition, part of Shi Jin's army - mainly from Hedong, and the soldiers who had been following Shi Jingtang and Liu Zhiyuan, their rude and barbaric were not under the herdsmen in the south of the desert, and they received training and equipment from the Central Plains, so they could be on the verge of the foresight.

In addition, there are some ethnic minorities affiliated to the Tiance Tang Army, Khitan Army and Shijin, such as Tuyuhun, the Chinese-style Tubo, the gradually sinicized Uighurs of Ganzhou, or the Khitan-style Han people. They have been at the bottom of the ethnic pyramids in their ruling areas, and have been used to suffering, and the areas they are northerly, and are also used to being frozen. Although their combat capabilities are not as good as those of the elites of Shijin, the Khitan skin chambers, and the Tiance Mansion soldiers, they also have considerable combat effectiveness.

On the battlefield, a considerable number of people cannot stand the gradually cold weather.

Meng Shu has been peaceful for a long time, and the Shu army has not fought a great war for many years. The Bashu area is warm. If it is a mountain war in summer, they will have a little more bonus combat power than the northern soldiers. Although the winter in Bashu is also a kind of uncomfortable wet and cold, Shu has been rich in recent years, and even the people can hide in their houses to avoid the cold in the winter. Meng Chang has lived in the palace for a long time since he was young, where there are ice and heat relief in summer, and the garden wind comes from, and there is even a warm stove in winter. He has no guilt for warmth. Therefore, he himself is not sensitive to changes in the weather and has never thought of this before the war.

On this day, when he heard that the Shu army had captured the Yincheng affiliated to the Zhoucheng in Lanzhou, he was so happy that he wanted to lead the troops to Qin Zheng. Unexpectedly, as soon as the door curtain was opened, the cold wind at about zero degrees outside blew in, Meng Chang shivered and gave up the idea. The concubine who followed the army quickly took out the osmanthus cream and applied Meng Chang's place where the cold wind was blown red. The face of the Shu king was well maintained, as tender as Jia Baoyu, and even an ordinary woman could not match.

Although the Shu army was not as good as their monarch, Wang Chuhui was also a civil servant. Most of the soldiers lived in a warm place for a long time and were not adapted to the dry and cold weather in the northwest. Fortunately, the Shu army was mainly divided into two parts, with nearly 50,000 people gathering near Fengzhou. There were city walls here to block the cold wind. People who had already captured Yincheng hid in Yincheng, where there were enough food and grass, and firewood, which was enough for them to keep warm for the winter.

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The Shi Jin soldiers from the wealthy places in the Central Plains were not much better. They did not like fighting in this kind of weather, but tended to hide in Chang'an City. Therefore, when Liu Zhiyuan led his troops to fight, many soldiers were not willing to fight. Guo Wei set up a car formation in the east field of Fengxiang and spread it around with rangers. Yang Xinzhe Congshi two elite troops were ready to go at any time. The formation was hard enough, and the cavalry had strong impact capabilities. Liu Zhiyuan did not dare to advance too much because of the ground.

Not only the Shu army, Jin army, and even Lianglan also had some soldiers who were unwilling to move - they were people who had lived a comfortable life for several years. Lianglan gradually became rich over the years, and their lives were no different from those of Luoyang, Chang'an and Yangzhou, Chengdu, and the number was less than that of the residents of Yangzhou, Chengdu. However, their appearance was also one of the reasons why Zhang Mai was eager to launch this war.

At this time, the temperature in western Qin was about zero degrees, and some small rivers could produce thin ice skins. There was frost in the remaining grass. Lanzhou to the west was colder than Fengzhou to the east, and Xiazhou to the north was colder than Chang'an to the south, but the gap was not too big. Such temperature was enough to make modern urban people hate long-term outdoor activities, but for those who have lived in the northwest for a long time, especially for the cavalry in the Mobei region and the veterans of Tiance, it was not the same!

The weather in Xinxuye City, Luntai Field, is really cold there! The wind seems to be blowing out from hell, which can freeze the people who are in the wind. After experiencing the cold warriors, they don’t feel anything. The cavalry in Mobei also has similar qualities.

The ancient warriors in the cold weapon era had a degree of tolerance for harsh environments that contemporary urban people could hardly imagine. Their skin was blown to pieces, black, yellow and hard, like ravines - that looked like wrinkles instead of wrinkles, so many people under thirty years old looked like people in the Central Plains and 50 years old in Bashu, but such skin was not good-looking, but they were extremely weak in the sense of cold and could withstand the maximum cold.

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When Liu Zhiyuan was in Chang'an and Fengxiang was in stalemate with Guo Wei, several such troops came into contact with the Maling River in the northwest of Qingzhou.

Qingzhou is located at the northernmost point of more than ten prefectures in the west of Qin occupied by Zhangmai. The Maling River flows from hundreds of miles northwest, passes through Qingzhou and flows into the Jing River, and finally flows into the Wei River.

Yelu Deguang made two plans this time:

First, he attacked Liangzhou at the fastest speed. Han Yanhui believed that as long as Liangzhou was broken, Zhang Mai would be panicked if he lost his hometown. At that time, it would be easy to break Zhang Mai again. However, Liangzhou was prepared. Khitan light cavalry attacked the Han family's city mainly by intimidation. With the sudden psychological pressure of the surging of the city, the Han generals guarding the city surrendered or abandoned the city. In many records, the cavalry and archers shot at the top of the city with a round of arrows, which scared the soldiers guarding the city to urinate. Unexpectedly, Liangzhou was prepared, and Zhang Mai even burned the entire Guzang grassland to the solid walls and clear the fields. Such a momentum made Yelu Shuogu know that it was unlikely that the main army would break Liangzhou, so he immediately adjusted his strategy.

The second kidnapping case of the Khitan was that when Liangzhou could not be quickly broken, some of its troops surrounded Xiazhou, and some of its troops cut off the connection between Qinxi and Liangzhou, and then concentrated its elite troops to go south to meet with Shi Jin to attack Zhang Mai!

At this time, the Khitan divided some troops to take charge of Lingzhou and sorted out the entire rear matters. Yelu Deguang himself entered the front line! Yelu Deguang was the second emperor of the founding Khitan country. He had not lost the tradition of the Khitans leading troops as kings. Shi Jingtang regarded himself as Liu Zhiyuan but was still in charge of the central army. Meng Chang arranged himself in the safest place. Only Yelu Deguang and Zhang Mai dared to be in danger. This is the difference between the three types of emperors.

An army of more than 150,000 people in front of the Khitan rushed down from the north, and tens of thousands of cavalry in front had already flowed into the Maling River Basin like thunder!

Almost at the same time, Zhang Mai's order came from Qingzhou City.

This order was published in front of the soldiers of the Modao Battle Axe Formation: "I don't want to see Khitans at the head of Qinzhou before the full moon in November!"

Xi Sheng had only more than 20,000 people under him, including more than 5,000 Modao and Battle Axe formation. According to information, the Khitan had already moved south with at least 100,000 troops, and as elite Pishi troops were among them, no matter how heroic Xi ​​Sheng was, he would not think that he could win more with less in such a situation. If he was defending by the city, it would be okay, but Qinzhou was in the southwest of Qingzhou. If Yelu Deguang distributed some of his troops to restrain Xi Sheng and then drove south with a 100,000 army, Xi Sheng's heavy infantry system would not be able to catch up with him.

Therefore, to complete Zhang Mai's mission, you must fight in the field. If the battle situation is unfavorable, it is impossible for Xi Sheng's troops to be completely wiped out by the Khitan!

Why did Zhang Mai give such an order? Only Xi Sheng knew about the whole army! Just when he was silent, the soldiers of the Modao Battle Axe Formation had already shouted in unison: "Receive the order!"

Zhang Mai's envoy was waiting for Xi Sheng's response. At this time, Xi Sheng was no longer Xi Sheng in Xinshuo Ye City. After experiencing dozens of battles in several years, he naturally had a calm demeanor. After the soldiers shouted to take the order, Xi Sheng just said lightly: "The Modao and Battle Axe Array will definitely live up to the country's trust!"

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The actual military operation was already underway before the order was conveyed. Xi Sheng also had a small number of light cavalry under his command. After finding out that the Khitan had approached the Maling River, more than 24,000 troops rode horses and drove out of the city!

In recent years, Dinghan Mountain's camp has used all kinds of means to search the terrain of the world. Even the terrain in the north and south of the Moon, in addition to asking for information from the surrendered prisoners, it also spent a lot of money to bribe the herdsmen to help collect it. As for the terrain between Guanlong, it was even more detailed - this is the doorstep of Lianglan's house!

After receiving the order, Xi Sheng ordered all his troops. The troops under him included 5,700 Modao and Battle Axe formations, as well as 6,300 spears, shields, 8,000 crossbows, 2,000 cavalry, and 2,000 variegated troops. There were no heavy equipment troops, so the movement was not weak. The infantry of the Tang army was equipped with horses or carriages.

Xi Sheng followed the map and pointed his finger on the high ground swimming in the Maling River that guarded the four roads.

"It's here." Xi Sheng said to Liu Heihu: "Maybe, we will meet the Emperor of Khitan here."

Liu Heihu sneered: "Only those who are in the world can be called emperor! He Yelu Deguang is a bullshit emperor!"

Xi Shengdao: "This battle is not a small matter. You must not underestimate the enemy. The Khitan came here, with a large number of soldiers and a huge crowd of 200,000, which is enough to sweep the Central Plains. We should be cautious."

Liu Heihu said: "On the same day, Xiliang entered the ten prefectures of Qinxi and more than 50,000 troops, and the surrendered troops in the west of Qinxi and more than 50,000. The marshal did not use these 100,000 troops, but only us. Why? Because the marshal knew that soldiers were more expensive than elite troops. In this battle, Yelu Deguang used many soldiers, while the marshal used elite troops. Among the Khitan troops and horses, only Pishi Army was our enemy. Others were just followers, so what's the point!"

Xi Shengdao: "If it is really insignificant, the marshal has already brought his troops north and fought against Lingxia with Yelu Deguang. The marshal has not moved yet, so he has not been sure to break the enemy, so he can't sit still as if he is as tall as a mountain. My Modao and Battle Axe Formation has been scattered for a long time and is famous all over the world. If the Khitan dares to invade the formation, he will probably have countermeasures. No army can ever be invincible."

Liu Heihu trembled and said, "Old Xi, what's wrong with you! The enemy is facing, but he says such disheartening words. Fortunately, there are only you and me now. If you ask the third person to listen, wouldn't it ruin your morale?"

Xi Sheng smiled faintly and said, "I'm not afraid, I want to tell you that you will have the awareness of not refusing to die in this battle. I just heard that you had just given birth to a child two months ago and gave birth to a little black tiger. I'm afraid that you will be in danger, miss your family, and the hero is short of breath."

Liu Heihu spat and said, "I have already promised the country! What else can I talk about? Besides, my family has given birth to seven sons for me. The eighth little tiger is only to add another thirty years later to our army. What are you worried about? But you, your wife has not been in the middle of the birth of her family, but I heard that it was your first biological son. The hero is short of breath, so it's not you."

"I am different from you." Xi Sheng looked west and said, "I am indeed worried about my family all the time. But I know that once the Khitan breaks through my defense line, more than ten states in the west of Qin will be shocked. If there is any mistake in Qinxi, Lianglan will not be able to be alone. If Lianglan is in trouble, then we will have no family... Heihu, I dreamed of Shi Yong's uncle last night, and he must have come for me. We follow the marshal and swept thousands of miles. Now we have reached the final critical battle. If we achieve the result of slaughtering dragons and tigers, it is also the glory of our soldiers. At that time, my wife and children will take care of you."

Liu Heihu said angrily: "If you want to leave your last words, go and write your suicide note! If the battle is so fierce that I will die before you!"

Xi Sheng laughed and said, "That's right, that's right. Talking about this with you is what you ask for!"

———————

The wind and clouds are rising, and the dust is flying in the northwest of Qin.

The Khitan Pishi army was divided into three routes on the left, middle and right. Yelu Deguang took the middle route. In addition to the three routes, the Tieli army in the East Hu was the left vanguard, the Dadan army in the Mobei region was the right vanguard, the Xi clan in the Monan region was the second left vanguard, the enemy lie in the Mobei region was the second right vanguard, the Wei army in the East China Sea was the outer left wing, and the Tuyuhun in the Monan region was the outer right wing, and 150,000 troops rushed down. The sound of iron hooves was shocking, and everywhere they went, they were invincible.

When the news of Liangzhou came, the defenders of Qingzhou and Yizhou volunteered to go north to defend and arranged them on four passes in Yanzhou, Luguan, Qinggang Gorge, and Fangqu Town. Seeing the Khitan coming, the defenders of Yanzhou were frightened and abandoned the pass and fled without fighting. Wugu and the enemy troops laughed and shouted: "This is Han'er!"

The Wei tribe of the left wing of the Khitan outside passed through Lu Pass, and the guards at the pass were a little brave. However, the soldiers saw the Hu people rushing towards him with a ferocious face and fled for more than half with a bang. The Wei tribe of the Wei tribe took advantage of the situation to rush into the pass and burned Lu Pass, the place where Zhang Mai had met the princes, into a flat ground.

Luguan is located south of Xiazhou. Once Luguan is lost, the connection between Qingzhou and Xiazhou will be cut off.

The Khitan marched so fast. The left and right vanguards arrived at Qinggang Gorge one day later. It was located south of Yanzhou and north of Qingzhou. The terrain was quite dangerous. It was dusk after the Tieli tribe arrived. He pretended to retreat a little, but then launched an attack overnight and broke Qinggang Gorge. The right vanguard Dadan tribe was going to take a detour to attack Qinggang Gorge from the south, but unexpectedly, they encountered defeated Qinggang Gorge on the road. Now, they ignored Qinggang Gorge and rushed straight to Fangqu Town, which was in the middle of the Maling River.

The Dadan tribe is the predecessor of the later Tatar tribe. Although it was still under the rule of the Khitan, its clan origins were far-reaching, and there were many heroes in the clan. When the troops were sharp, the guards of Fangqu received news the day before that Yanzhou was lost. Unexpectedly, today I saw the Khitan soldiers pressing the city and shouted "Oh my God," and his subordinates said one after another: "General, Hu Ma is so fierce. Now it's Khitan. The two emperors of Tiance compete for the world. What does it have to do with us! Let's surrender!"

The guards hesitated for a while and saw that Dadan's troops were ready to attack Fangqu Town, and quickly shouted: "Surrender, surrender, surrender!"

In Ling, south of Xia, before Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Luguan is the first line, Qinggang Gorge is the second line, Fangqu Town is the third line, and 150,000 Khitan troops rushed down and broke through the three lines within three days.

Xi Sheng often hears the news in Qingzhou. Before he can react, he hears the collapse of the second defense line. Liu Heihu couldn't help but get angry and scolds the four guards all for being useless: "At least, guard for a few days! They are all wastes! They collapse faster than paper! These newly surrendered troops cannot be used!"

When the news reached the rear, the soldiers and civilians of Wei, Wu, Yuan and Longzhou were also in panic all day long. Yang Xin and Zhe Congshi discussed: "This is the case with the four gates, and the rest of the new affiliated troops can imagine that no matter how many more than 100,000 such soldiers and horses are useless! It seems that we have to rely on the soldiers and horses we bring ourselves!"

"There is also Xi Sheng." Zhe Congshi said: "The reputation of the Modao Battle Axe Array is not something that can be blown up."

Yang Xin said: "Although soldiers are more expensive than elites, the Khitans are all powerful troops. It is impossible to rely on Xi Sheng to fight the 150,000 army by himself! I think it's almost the same to pull our Checheng together."

Zhe Congshi said: "Can we separate ourselves? Is Liu Zhiyuan easy to mess with? We have attacked seven or eight times these days, but we haven't taken advantage of him! It seems that we can only see what the marshal has to do behind him."

The Khitan army was more than 200 miles long, as if it had entered a state of no one. Yelu Deguangce's army then rushed to Yanzhou. When he heard about this situation, he sneered in disappointment on the saddle: "Can't you have something to watch? If you want to continue like this, you don't have to wait until the day of the meeting, and you can arrive in Qinzhou within five days."

Han Yanhui said: "These are just appetizers, and the real meal is still behind."

Yelu Deguang sneered: "I hope so, Zhang Xichong has disappointed me once, and I hope Zhang Mai will not disappoint me this time."

Just as he sneered, he came forward to report: "The Qingzhou defenders have left the city, and they are the Modao Battle Axe formation of the Tiance Army!"

Yelu Deguang sneered, "I know that my army is coming, they dare to leave the city. I have a good idea! Let the men clean up him. The head of the general is presented, and I promise him to be my urinating pot."

Half a day later, the front reported that the Tang army's Modao Battle Axe formation was stationed on the horse-loft on the south bank of the middle of the Bianmaling River, guarding the road to the south. The vanguard asked for advice. Yelu Deguang said angrily: "Do you still need to ask this? Did the Dadan people learn to fight on the first day? No matter whether he is Modao or Battle Axe, let the horse be stepped on for me!"

Dadan's troops were in charge of attack. Yelu Deguang was about to fall asleep that night, when news of the defeat of the vanguard suddenly came: "Reported that Dadan's troops were defeated."

Yelu Deguang was stunned and shouted, "How did he lose?"

"Dadan's army could not attack the Tang army's Modao Formation. Seeing that there was a flaw on the right side of the Modao Formation formation, it turned to a light cavalry. The knife formation suddenly changed, and the flaw turned into a cloth bag mouth. The battle axes on both sides rolled out. The legs of the war horses and horses broke, and followed the short spear and stabbed hundreds of people who fell off the horse to death. The leader of the Dadan tribe retreated urgently. The crossbow suddenly fired in the formation. The eldest son of the clan leader could not retreat and died under the heart of tens of thousands of arrows. The Dadan tribe stained the Maling River with blood. Now the Dadan tribe has retreated fifty miles northwest of the horse highland."

Yelu Deguang cursed: "Useless thing! The Tang army's Modao Battle Axe Formation is good at fighting horses. It was not the first day that Dadan tribe knew about it, so they were sent to die! When they were in Qinggang Gorge, they knew how to avoid the real and attack the virtual. After meeting the Modao Formation, Zhang Mai became stupid!"

I had to bed from the next day, but before I could clean it up, the forwards reported another battle: "The Tieli tribe was defeated in an attack!"

Yelu Deguang shouted, "What attack is encountered?"

The envoy said: "Yesterday, the Tieli tribe saw that the Dadan tribe had failed. After nightfall, he bypassed the horse-lands and was about to rush to Qingzhou and Yuanzhou. Unexpectedly, he was ambushed on the road!"

Yelu Deguang asked: "Which ambush is there in the line? Are they from Zhang Mai's sect?"

"No, it was the two cavalry under Xi Sheng's command, the infantry of the one. The infantry suddenly broke out from the bushes, disrupting the Tieli tribe's formation, followed the cavalry to rush the Tieli tribe back to the north of Fangqu Town, and then retreated into the horse-loft land. The clan leader, Wei Lie, was so scared that he was killed by the Tang army, and he had sent people to ask for help."

Yelu Deguang said angrily: "Damn it! Tieli has been king in Hei Shui for so long, and he can't even see through this ambush, which will ruin my morale! Damn it! Humph, can a small knife and axe array force to send out the elites in my skin room to deal with it?"

Han Yanhui said on the side: "Your Majesty, as far as the old minister knows, the horse-riding land is not a dangerous place. Xi Sheng formed a formation here and faced with the cavalry without fear. Under the threat of Iron Hoof, he dared to change his formation and kill the enemy. He could also predict the Tieli route to ambush, which is already a talented general."

Yelu Deguang said: "A mere general, I really have to deal with me personally to take over the head of Xi Sheng! It's a pity that there are still enemies and Xi tribes ahead, and they are all my strong troops in Mobei and Monan. In addition, my left army is also in front of me, so I'm afraid I can't see how this Xi Sheng is so arrogant."

At noon, the army arrived at Qinggang Gorge and came to report in front: "The second left vanguard and the second right vanguard have arrived near the Huanma Highland at the same time as this morning. The Wu line reorganized and joined the Dadan tribe. The Xi tribe in the south of the Mo, the enemy Lie in the north of the Mo, as well as the Dadan and Tieli, have surrounded the Huanma Highland!"

Yelu Deguang smiled at Han Yanhui and said, "If I could get Xi Sheng's head before supper, I will pardon the invincible crime of Jing Lie and others!"

After lunch at Qinggang Gorge, he was about to set off. When he came to report again, a broken Mo Dao came from the same time. Yelu Deguang replied slightly, "Have you won?"

After hearing this, the envoy dared not answer, nor did he dare not refuse to answer. Han Yanhui shouted, "What are you doing! Your Majesty is asking!"

The messenger said for a long time: "Xi Sheng personally led his troops to break through! Only 500 people were out of the formation. Seeing that his soldiers were few, the four clans besieged all over the place. The two hundred Mo swords and three hundred battle axes escaped from the formation for a hundred steps. After half an hour, they broke thirty Mo swords and fifty battle axes. The four cavalry could not enter the small circle of five hundred people. Liu Heihu, deputy general of the Tang army, suddenly led the main force to fight out, and the four units were attacked from both sides and were defeated for another time."

Yelu Deguang's face turned pale and he asked angrily: "How many people have been broken in the four divisions?"
To be continued...