After taking a deep look at the other party, Lei Juetian said slowly with a complicated expression: "I just hope that the Great Khan will remember the promise he made to his subordinates. After seizing the Wuhu area, he must treat the Tang people well and never use ethnic differences as a gap. , otherwise Lei Juetian will really become a historical sinner for whom death is not enough to atone for his sins."
Bi Xili stopped and said solemnly: "You can rest assured, Jue Tian. Not to mention that I have already promised you, and I will definitely keep my promise. I also have the blood of the Tang people. If I want to gain a foothold in the Central Plains, I must win the hearts and minds of the Tang people. This is Undoubtedly, I don’t think Juetian would think that I don’t even have this understanding, right? What’s more, after the advocacy of several generations of Khans over the past hundred years, many of our customs and habits have gradually become the same as those of the Tang people. To put it nicely, the Machihan people today are not much different from the Tang people. I have never thought that the Machihan people are superior to the Tang people. What’s more, the culture and art accumulated by the Tang people for thousands of years are more worthy of our Machihan people. Learn and draw lessons from it, but I also think that excessive national pride has made the vast majority of the Tang people too lazy and unwilling to make progress in the shadow of their ancestors. Nations without enterprising spirit will be eliminated by history. This is an inevitable law of history. , this is what you told me, I may be the portrayal of today's Tanghe Empire. If the Tang people want to gain a new life, I'm afraid they really need a blow, so let me be the blow."
Taking a long breath, Lei Juetian lowered his head and walked forward. He knew that what the other party said was very reasonable. As a Tang nationality, Kes helped the foreign regime to conquer his country. Although the empire was extremely decayed, But for the orthodox Tang people, it is still an unacceptable fact. He has been in charge of the Maji Khanate for more than ten years, and the Great Khan has great trust in him. It can be said that one person is inferior to ten thousand people. The status of ordinary Tang people in the Maji Khanate has also improved a lot. Just in this way, he can be regarded as Is there any reason why you serve the Macchi Khanate? Lei Juetian was a little confused.
"Juetian, you seem to have something on your mind?" Bixili was keenly aware of the confusion in his confidant's expression.
"It's nothing, sweaty, just a little emotional. I'm about to enter Wuhu, and my mood is a bit complicated. Many past events from the past slowly resurfaced. Maybe one day I will have to face my former colleagues again, but this stance is completely different. It's different. I'm afraid you, Khan, will have a hard time experiencing this feeling." In front of his master, Lei Juetian didn't want to hide anything. The ups and downs of more than ten years could not erase the ravages and ups and downs in his memory. On the contrary, As time goes by, certain scenes become clearer in my mind, as if they happened yesterday.
Bixili can understand the other party's feelings. He believes that a successful monarch must first have a broad mind. Without a broad mind, the monarch is not a qualified monarch. He himself has always held himself to this standard. Lei Jue The fact that Tian can be reused by him is a clear proof. As a Tang nationality person, he saw that he had worked hard to make the Machikhan people stronger and stronger, but now he was directing his troops against his own motherland. This kind of complex mood was indeed not something that ordinary people could understand.
"Juetian, otherwise, you will not participate in this Northern Expedition. You should trust Yaning's character. I have also given them a death order a long time ago. It is strictly forbidden to disturb the people and those who disobey the order will be executed. Even the Tanghe Empire As long as our troops are willing to surrender, we will not kill them all, but accept surrender as much as possible. Of course, you also know that this is a war, and it cannot be without sacrifice and bloodshed. We can only try to avoid bloodshed." Bixili's words were plain and simple.
"Thank you for your kindness, Khan, but I think it is better for me to go with General Yaning. After all, I know the situation in my hometown better, and I don't want more people to die because of unnecessary resistance. Khan, I also I need to get ready, so I'll go down and rest first." Lei Juetian shook his head with a heavy expression and rejected Bi Xili's suggestion, bowed his forehead, and walked forward sadly.
"Standing in the dangerous building, the wind is blowing softly, looking at the extremely sad spring, and the sky is gloomy. In the grass-colored smoke, I am speechless, who will be left behind." Half of the depressed butterfly love flowers are wrapped around Lei Juetian's retreating figure, Under the setting sun, his thin figure looked even more lonely.
In the early morning of March 23, 697 in the Gregorian calendar, the 210,000-strong army of Mach Khan, which was already ready to go, split into east and west routes with lightning speed, crossed the border between the two countries, and attacked Wenning and Baling prefectures.
By noon on March 24, the army of Machi Khan from the four corps on the eastern front, under the personal leadership of Dingguo General Ya Ning, rapidly advanced for more than 100 miles, conquering several important checkpoints and towns along the way. Ningfu was already under the control of Machi Khan's army. On the evening of March 25, Machi Khan's army on the east road finally encountered its first battle since the war began. Two infantry regiments of the Third Division of the Sixth Army of the Empire tenaciously attacked the north-moving Fifth Army of Machi Khan near Luomadu, fifty miles away from the city of Wenning in the middle of Wenning Prefecture. The Imperial infantry took advantage of the favorable terrain and effectively restricted The role of the Machihan cavalry was brought into play, and the two infantry groups guarding the flanks of the Luoma Crossing used the ships near the ferry to make a roundabout advance and raid the Machihan Fifth Corps that had just camped. The Machihan Fifth Corps commanded Due to excessive pride, he relaxed the defense of his command post. The Imperial assault force from the river seized the opportunity and annihilated the entire Fifth Corps command post in one fell swoop. The entire Machi Khan Fifth Corps command post, except for the investigation. Qin's deputy corps commander managed to escape, but all other members of the headquarters, including the corps commander, were wiped out, and the fifth corps was defeated.
Fortunately, the 4th Corps of Machi Khan, who was advancing together on the side, discovered the anomaly of the 5th Corps on its flank, quickly adjusted its deployment, used forcibly collected boats to cross the Xiangshui River, and then launched an attack from east to west. Due to the huge disparity between the enemy and ourselves, the two regiments of the Imperial Army guarding the Luoma Crossing were forced to retreat after a day and night of heroic resistance. At this point, the important ferry leading to Wenning Mansion had been controlled by the Machi Khans. The door to Wen Ning Mansion has been opened.
In the early morning of March 30, except for the Fifth Corps, which was still regrouping and reorganizing near Luomadu, Machi Khan's army on the East Route of the Northern Expedition had successfully crossed the Xiangshui River and approached Wenning Fucheng. On the night of March 29, the Third Division of the Imperial Sixth Army, which received the order, began to withdraw from Wenning Prefecture and made a strategic move to the north. Accompanying the third division were a large number of Wen Ning Prefecture gentry and landlords with their children. and wealthy businessmen, while the Wenning Guard Division was ordered to defend Wenning Fucheng. When the third division evacuated Wenning Fucheng, the wealthy Wenning Fucheng immediately fell into chaos. The refugees quickly became entangled together, burning, killing and looting everywhere. The security forces who were ordered to guard Wen Ningfu City were not only unable to control the situation in the city, but even a considerable number of security forces soldiers joined the mob. Taking advantage of this period of vacuum, they frantically looted the homes of wealthy families in the city. , the entire Wenning Prefecture was in a state of chaos. This chaotic situation lasted until March 31, when Machi Khan's army entered the city and the situation was brought under control.
At the same time, Yaning's deputy Bi Xiao launched a fierce attack from the western front with three armies. The attack went extremely smoothly. On March 15, Bi Xiao personally led the Eleventh Corps across the undefended Lianshui and arrived at On the shores of the famous Dongting Lake, a land of plenty and plenty, the fertile plains and beautiful lake waters made the soldiers of Machi Khan forget to leave. On March 26, Bi Xiao led an army to capture the dock base of the Dongting Lake Navy Fleet - Botou Town. The entire dock was deserted, and the ships had been ordered to withdraw north a few days before the arrival of the Machikhans, along the rivers and lakes. The southern section of the Han River (Han River-Dongting Lake) was evacuated north to the Han River.
On March 28, after Bi Xiao received information that the entire fourth division of the Imperial Sixth Army stationed in Balingfu was retreating, he divided his troops into two groups and led the 11th and 12th Corps to advance along the west bank of Dongting Lake. The Tenth Corps went north along the east coast of Dongting Lake, passing through towns and villages along the way. It was smooth sailing. However, many landless tenants fled due to the large number of landlords. The local grassroots officials were unable to intervene and joined in the wave of land grabs. And it is getting worse.
This Wuhu area was originally the birthplace of the empire's nobles and big landowners. When the empire's founding emperor conquered the world, there were many meritorious veterans here. Later, after the empire was established, as the royal family concentrated power, it also A large amount of compensation was given to those meritorious officials. Many of these people returned to their hometowns to buy land and became rich. Moreover, as the times changed, these families who enjoyed many privileges in political power found ways to continuously annex land, making this The farmers in the area were constantly reduced to tenants, and the entire Wuhu region became an area with a high concentration of imperial land. However, those peasants who were reduced to tenants and farm laborers were living in increasingly poor conditions. Having lost their land, their only way to survive was to join the services of these great nobles and landowners. In fact, they lost their personal rights and became semi-dependent serfs of the landlords.
Now that I have this opportunity, I can see that these usually awe-inspiring owners are panicking at this time. They even join the fleeing ranks before they can take away many things. As for the land and houses, no one cares about them, even the slaves who used to help the landlords. They all took advantage of the situation and robbed their owners' property. The tenants could not hold back and swarmed in to launch the final attack on their dream goal of becoming land owners.
On March 31, 697 in the Continental Gregorian Calendar, Bi Xiao’s army of Mach Khan on the Western Front achieved a historic victory at Silver Carp Mouth at the northern end of Dongting Lake, where Dongting Lake and the Han River, the main artery leading to the Five Lakes region, met. The strategic point is only more than thirty miles away from Balingfu City, and water and land transportation is extremely convenient. It can be said that we are already standing at the door of victory.