With only two days left until the Spring Festival, the layout of the palace is actually almost complete. The huge and magnificent Tai Chi Palace is decorated with lights and festoons, and the festive red color adds another kind of beauty to the originally solemn place. The palace people also put on brand new clothes, and they took the trouble to say auspicious words to each other when they met back and forth.
But in the camp of the Northwest Sui Army, this kind of celebration was missing.
The army has been out of customs for several months. Although they conquered Nirvana City and advanced five hundred miles into the territory of Mandu Banner, this is by no means something to celebrate. According to the original plan, the entire Mandu Banner should have been occupied by this time. The environment is right. After all, Mandu Latu had no more than 50,000 troops. Even with the herdsmen who participated in the war, there was still a big gap in strength compared with the 700,000 soldiers of the Sui Dynasty who were armed to the teeth.
In fact, the original intention of this war was to win the Mengyuan Mandu Banner.
There are more than 2,000 miles of grassland, tens of millions of livestock, and hundreds of thousands of herdsmen. If all these are won, the record is already brilliant enough.
There is no problem with the plan specified by the Ministry of War, but the battle situation just cannot be opened.
After the first battle, after the two thousand fine cavalry under Mandu Wolf's command were almost lost, he returned to Nirvana City with the remaining several hundred cavalry, but how could it be possible to defend it with only these several hundred troops? Moreover, the army of the Sui Dynasty was familiar with the siege, as if recalling an event that just happened yesterday. Although the latest war dates back more than 20 years ago, the soldiers of the Sui Dynasty were not at all awkward about siege warfare.
A small Nirvana city was taken down with almost no effort. Mandu wolf fled with less than thirty people, but before leaving, he poisoned all the animals in the city. Not only in Nirvana City, but all the tribes of Mandu Banner retreated in an orderly manner at the beginning of the war, and all the animals that could not be taken away were poisoned to death.
The carcasses of these animals were not even used by the Sui army for food.
Wherever the army passed by, looking at the frozen corpses of animals lying on the ground, the soldiers' faces were distressed. So many cattle, sheep, and even war horses were poisoned to death just like that. Those Mongolian and Yuan barbarians were really able to do it. For the Sui army who lacked war horses, not being able to harvest was a huge loss.
According to the plan, after the raid on Nirvana City, the army would transport the looted livestock back to the east of Langru Mountain, but now, even though they were stepping on the five-hundred-mile grassland of the Mongolian barbarians, it felt like they had gained nothing.
The general manager of Zhengxi, Xujun Wang Yang Kai has been in a bad mood.
I originally planned to take out a batch of captured animals and slaughter them to reward the three armies during the Chinese New Year, but now the things snatched from the Mongols can't even feed an army! Without livestock, what is the use of these five hundred miles of pastures
"My lord..."
Mou Liangbi, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, hesitated for a moment, and couldn't help persuading: "Although the cattle, sheep and horses of the Mongolian barbarians were not captured as expected, the battle cannot be regarded as unsatisfactory. After all, the army has penetrated five hundred miles, and our logistics supplies It is very sufficient. Even if there are not enough cattle, sheep and labor, there will be no shortage of wine and meat."
Yang Kai sighed and said: "I feel ashamed of my trust in His Majesty."
There were only him and Mou Liangbi in the room, so he didn't hesitate to say a lot of things: "Although there is enough food and grass, according to the plan, after taking Nirvana City, the army actually doesn't need to allocate food and grass from the pass. Your Majesty is looking forward to it." It is the good news we sent to Chang'an City, not the current situation!"
Mou Liangbi sighed and said: "If the army 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 appearance of those governors... How can they be aggressive?" Thoughts, I clearly want to force the prince and ministers to flee back to Chang'an City in embarrassment!"
"You can't say that."
Yang Kai shook his head and said: "The armies have not slackened in their attack."
"There is no slack in marching, but many battles that can be easily won are fought so anxiously. How can these people deserve His Majesty's trust!"
"I still can't coordinate well."
Yang Kai said sadly: "Your Majesty entrusted me with this job, if I can't do it well, I'm incompetent."
"Why does the prince take all the faults on himself!"
Mou Liangbi said: "I have already written the memorial, please Your Majesty bestow Shang Fang's 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 country in the Sui Dynasty, there has never been a commander who has held His Majesty's Shangfang sword to lead the army. If you can command the army by relying on your majesty's majesty, it is the incompetence and shame of the commander. Wait for the day after tomorrow to hold a banquet At that time, I will discuss with the generals that this war can no longer be dragged on. What is the daily consumption of 700,000 troops and millions of civilians? Waste, too long can not afford."
At this time, the soldiers outside suddenly shouted: "Li Yuanshan, General of the Guard of the Right, Jin Shixiong, General of the Guard of the Left, Pei Huan, General of the Guard of the Left, and General of the Guard of the Right, please see me at Zhengdong."
"Please!"
Yang Kai got up quickly, and Mou Liangbi also stood up with a wry smile.
Four great generals filed in and saluted Yang Kai. Yang Kai quickly stepped forward to help, and said with a smile: "I just came back from the account upgrade, why, is there any urgent military affairs?"
Among the four generals, the oldest is Zuo Xiaowei General Jin Shixiong. The Sui Dynasty stationed the most troops in the northwest, and four of the sixteen guards were deployed in the northwest. The imperial court's defense against Meng Yuan has never weakened in the slightest. In this Western Expedition, the soldiers and horses of the Northwest Four Guards are also a well-deserved main force.
Jin Shixiong smiled and said: "There is no urgent military affairs, I just came to ask the prince for a drink, and by the way, let me tell you how to spend the New Year's Eve the day after tomorrow."
These things have been said before when the account was raised, so Yang Kai knew that the four of them must not have heard before.
He ordered people to serve tea, then sat down on the coach's seat and said: "I don't have any good tea here. Wu Yidao has already returned to Chang'an City. I have already finished drinking the good tea he brought with him. If you are rushing It’s going to be a disappointment.”
Jin Shixiong and others laughed, Li Yuanshan said with a smile: "Your lord is so stingy, I can't believe you really didn't keep any stock."
Yang Kaidao: "I still want to take back Chang'an City to show off to others, the remaining point will definitely not be taken out."
General Yu Zhengdong smiled and said: "Actually, I didn't come here specifically to ask for tea, but I wanted to ask the lord, when will I enter the army? When I was promoted, there were some things that I couldn't say directly in front of the people below. I'm just worried about the lowly position, so delay Going down and waiting for Meng Ge's reinforcements to arrive will make it even more difficult to fight. The Mandu Banner's troops are only gathered around 60,000 to 70,000, but it is estimated that Meng Ge's Golden Horde Cavalry will arrive in half a month at most .”
Yang Kai couldn't help being startled, thinking why did these people suddenly change their sex
…
…
It has not been a real tough battle to fight for several months, and it must be attributed to the fact that the Mongolian Yuan is too big. It is 20,000 miles from the Mengyuan Golden Tent to Mandu Banner, and it will take a few months for the reinforcements from the Golden Tent to arrive before arriving. As for the banner owners of other banners, they could not lead their troops to leave their fiefs at will without the order of the big man Meng Ge, which gave the Sui army an opportunity to take advantage of.
In fact, the reason why Mandu Latu has not waited for reinforcements until now has more to do with the discord between the bannermen of the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties. For example, the Keqin Banner next to Mandu Banner, the conflict between the flag owner Keqin Lelang and Mandu Latu has been going on for a long time. Mandu Latu was dissatisfied with the small size of his fiefdom, and frequently invaded the pastures of Keqin Banner. It's not that there have been no conflicts between the two flags because of this matter, it's just that it's hard for anyone to tear their faces into a big fight.
Mandu Banner was captured by the Sui army at least 500 miles of grassland, Keqin Lelang was happy to watch the show. Anyway, there is an ancestral rule that the banner owners of each banner are not allowed to lead troops away from their fiefs at will, and Big Khan Mengge can't really do anything to him. Besides, he didn't think the Sui people could easily take down the entire Mandu Banner.
Mandu Latu is a famous lunatic. Even if the Sui people didn't come to attack him, he still held back his energy and wanted to go to the Langru Mountain. If the Sui people came to find him himself, Mandu Latu would admit it so easily No wonder.
Mandu Latu was indeed a lunatic, but this lunatic became rational this time. The army of the Mandu Banner has never confronted the Sui army head-on, but waited for the reinforcements from the Golden Tent to arrive. Because he knows a truth, once he has exhausted all the troops in his hand, then he will lose his position as the banner owner. Even if he defeated the Sui people with the help of a god, the strength of Mandu Banner would definitely be greatly damaged.
And Mandu Banner is too far away from the Golden Tent, so Keqin Lelang, the guy who invaded Keqin Banner's pasture, will intensify his efforts to get it back. Looking for Dahan to judge? Not to mention that the pasture would have been lost by the time the envoy arrived at the golden tent. Even when he got there, the sweat would send someone down to reconcile at most, and wanted Keqin Lelang to spit out what he ate. Women are even harder.
It is precisely because Mandu Latu knows this that he has been avoiding and not fighting. He felt sorry for those lost pastures, and even more for the poisoned cattle, sheep and horses, but there was nothing he could do about it, it was much better than the whole pasture not being taken by the Sui people but by the Keqin Banner.
Mandu Ratu is old, and he doesn't want to be a sinner in the clan at the end of his life.
However, that doesn't mean he doesn't want to make a name for himself. Meng Yuan has been in peace for too long, and lacks a real hero. Moreover, he has been waiting for the opportunity to teach those Sui people a lesson. What is missing is the best opportunity.
Mandu Ratu has two sons, the eldest son Mandu Yong is in the golden tent as a hostage. This is the rule of the Mongolian Yuan Empire. The eldest sons of the flag owners of each banner must live in the royal court until they inherit the banner owner. When they or their brothers inherit the banner owner, the new hostages will be sent to the royal court. .
This is an effective means of controlling the prairie, and the Golden Family has never been stingy with raising the butcher knife against those who disobey the rule.
The second son of Mandu Latu is called Mandu Teller, which means as fast as the wind in Mongolian Yuan language.
He also has a very important nephew, Mandu Wolf.
Mandu Lang's father, that is, Mandu Latu's elder brother, was a hostage in the royal court back then, and he was looking forward to returning to the territory to inherit the banner owner. It was already too late when Du Lang's father knew the news in the royal court.
He went to Da Khan to reason, and Da Khan didn't bother to take care of their housework. In fact, the Golden Family prefers unrest between the banners or within each banner. If all the banners are united and strong, the Golden Family will be worried instead. Provoking conflicts among the various banners has always been the golden family's forte.
Mandu Ratu leaned 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 Suiren, New Year's Eve is as important as our fasting. On this day, they will put down their weapons, sing and dance, drink and eat meat. This is a rare opportunity. My So I have been avoiding fighting and waiting for this day... I need a brave warrior to lead the children of the Mandu Banner to demand blood from the Sui people! All the things they plundered, as well as their own lives, will be taken away. return!"
"Among you, who is willing to fight this battle?!"
"I!"
Mandu Teller strode forward, put his palms on his chest and bowed his head, and said: "Dear father, your brave son Mandu Teller is willing to take the children to avenge his shame! As long as you hand over the whip to your son, he will I will ride a steed to the front! The shameless Sui people took away our pastures, cattle and sheep, and I will use their blood and heads to pay homage to the dead!"
"My son, you comfort me."
Mandu Ratu said: "But you can't do it alone, you need a strong helper."
"Mandu wolves!"
He shouted loudly: "Don't you want to take back Nirvana City?!"
Mandu wolf put his hands on his chest and replied loudly: "I want to! I have long wanted to take the warriors of the Mandu banner and trample on the corpses of the Sui people on horseback!"
Mandu Ratu laughed loudly, spread his hands and said: "Go, my children! The wolf god will give you infinite power, and the king of Ming will illuminate your body with holy light. Let the Sui people celebrate New Year's Eve, become Become their death day!"