***
A man on a fast horse galloped into Chang'an City, both the man and the horse were covered in yellow dust, and their military uniforms were stained with blood... ..
In the Weiyang Palace in Xijing, Qin Mu was discussing matters with Sima An and other ministers in the Zizheng Hall. Han Zanzhou bowed with an unusual look on his face and trotted into the hall.
"What? Bring the messenger."
“Yes!”
Although Sima An and others did not hear what Han Zan said to the emperor, when they saw the emperor's face suddenly turn cold, they knew that something big must have happened, and they waited anxiously.
Soon, the messenger covered in yellow dust was brought into the Zi Zheng Hall.
"I am Yan Xiaoman, and I am here to meet your majesty!"
Qin Mu gritted his teeth, secretly sighed, and tried to calm himself down: "Yan Xiaoman, I'm listening, tell me the details of what happened."
"Yes, Your Majesty. General Wen heard that the Qitate invaded Dongtao, so he led two thousand soldiers and horses with me to Bayinnur Lake on August 16, preparing to let Hadan Bater recruit the young and strong people in the tribe to fight against the Qitate together.
I never thought that Hadanbaatar had colluded with Qitat beforehand, and attacked our camp together with Qitat that night. Although we were careful to prevent them, for some reason most of the horses were drugged and their legs became weak.
The enemy released fire rats into the camp, which caught fire. The camp was undefendable and in great chaos. Tens of thousands of enemy troops took the opportunity to attack, and our army... In the end, only General Zhao Zhensheng and 500 cavalrymen broke through;
General Wen... General Wen himself stayed behind to resist the enemy, and fought bloody battles with the brothers who had no horses until the next day. In the end... in the end, they all died heroically for their country. Woohoo... Your Majesty, Your Majesty must avenge the brothers who died in the battle!"
Yan Xiaoman burst into tears when she said this, which showed how tragic the battle was. Qin Mu clenched his fist unconsciously. Sima An, Li Yuan, Yu Shangyou, Gu Jun'en, Yang Chao and others all looked solemn.
Qin Mu asked slowly: "Yan Xiaoman, go on, what happened next?"
Yan Xiaoman forced himself to stop talking, choking with sobs, "Your Majesty, the enemy chased us all the way, and we fled into the desert in the south with General Zhao Zhensheng, and only then escaped the enemy's pursuit. When we finally crossed the desert, we heard that Qitate had crossed the Yellow River to the west and captured Ningxia City. Most of the Mongols in Hetao have surrendered to Qitate..."
"Where is Su Jin? When you came back to report the news, where were Su Jin's 10,000 troops?"
"Your Majesty, I didn't see General Su's troops. I came back from Baimachuan via Huanxian. I heard that General Su's troops went to Suide and Mizhi, and probably have already reached Yinzhou."
"Well, come here, take Yan Xiaoman down and settle him down..."
"No, Your Majesty. Please, let me go back to Hetao. Sergeant Qiu sacrificed himself to save me. I want to go back and avenge him. I must go back..."
Yan Xiaoman's eyes were filled with tears, and he kept knocking his head. Qin Mu stood up and walked over to him, personally helping him up. He comforted him in a gentle voice, "Your name is Yan Xiaoman, I remember that. You don't have to worry, just take a good rest for two days. I will definitely let you return to Hetao, and I promise you that blood debts must be repaid with blood. One day, I will let you personally chop off the head of Qita Te Dog to avenge your comrades who died for your country."
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty..."
Yan Xiaoman was choking with sobs, his face covered in yellow dust was streaked with tear marks, the bloodstains on his military uniform had dried black, but a faint smell of blood could still be smelled.
The faint smell of blood instantly made Qin Mu's murderous intent even stronger. Han Zanzhou watched this scene and couldn't help but wipe his tears.
After having Yan Xiaoman taken away and settled down, Qin Mu turned around and sat back on the golden chair. The first thing he said was, "Pass on my order. The Ministry of Revenue shall immediately allocate 500,000 dragon coins to the Military Equipment Bureau as funds for the production of flintlock rifles."
At this critical juncture, Sima An and others did not dare to say a word of objection.
Qin Mu continued, "The Ningxia Province that I just designated has been lost. What do you think should be done with it, ministers?"
Li Yuan replied: "Your Majesty, I am afraid that Qita Te's troops are no less than 40,000, and they have occupied Yinchuan. The Yinchuan area is known as the Jiangnan area on the frontier, with a relatively dense population and abundant grain production.
Its special geographical location controls the desert in the north, borders the Yellow River in the east, is protected by the Helan Mountains in the west, and is located in the Qingtongxia in the south. It can attack when advancing and defend when retreating. Its strategic position is very advantageous. Once Qitate gains a foothold in Yinchuan, it will become a serious threat to our dynasty.
Therefore, I suggest that while Qitate is still not firmly established, let the Left Army Commander Ma Yongzhen mobilize troops from all over the desert to enter Hetao, and together with General Su Jin, attack from the north and south to quickly defeat this beast. "
Yu Shangyou objected, "Your Majesty, I think this is not possible. They are not of our race, so their hearts must be different. The tribes in the south of the desert may not be reliable. If we rely on them to conquer Qitate, I am afraid that there will be complications.
Besides, there are still 20,000 to 30,000 bandits under Norbu in Mo Nan. If we recruit the Left Army Commander and the troops of the various tribes in Mo Nan to fight in Hetao, let alone whether the tribes in Mo Nan are willing to come, even if they are willing to come, how will they clean up the mess in Mo Nan?"
Li Yuan argued, "Master Yu, don't forget that we still have the Grand Commander of the Front Army, Meng Ke. We can mobilize the troops under Meng Ke to pursue Norbu. Then the troops under the Grand Commander of the Left Army, Ma Yongzhen, can be freed up to go into the Hetao area to fight the bandits."
Your Majesty, Hetao overlooks Guanzhong. If Qitate is allowed to establish a strong presence in Hetao, Xijing will be in turmoil. Moreover, Yinchuan will leave Qingtongxia and threaten Liangzhou Prefecture, thus forming a response with Gushih Khan in Longyou.
Once the eastern end of the Hexi Corridor is cut off by the bandits, the entire Hexi Corridor west of Liangzhou will become an isolated force in a remote area. Attacked from both sides and with no reinforcements to look forward to, Li Dingguo's army of 20,000 to 30,000 is probably in danger!"
Li Yuan's words were not alarmist. Going west from Yinchuan is Liangzhou. Currently, Yu Yongcheng, who is stationed in Liangzhou, has only 7,000 soldiers under his command. If Liangzhou is attacked from both sides by Qitate and Gushri Khan, it is questionable whether it can be defended.
Wen Cunxiao suffered a sudden defeat, which allowed Qitate to capture Yinchuan City so easily, which really caught Qin Mu off guard.
Gao Yigong, Li Jiu and other 40,000 troops have been transferred to Longyou; the situation in Longyou is not optimistic. Without quick reinforcement, the situation will probably be even worse.
Besides, if 40,000 troops were suddenly transferred to Hetao, the logistics and supplies would need to be transported again. This sudden change of orders would easily make tens of thousands of troops dizzy and at a loss, and they would lose their fighting spirit before the battle.
Wei Yuan, the Minister of Works, asked hesitantly, "Your Majesty, do you want to transfer more troops to the north to deal with this change?"
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "No need. Now, we have more than 100,000 soldiers. Quality is more important than quantity. Especially when fighting on the frontier, too many soldiers will be hindered by logistics and make it difficult to move forward."
An autumn breeze blew outside the Zizheng Palace, and suddenly there was a bleak feeling. Finally, people could feel the autumn breeze. Meng Ke actually had few troops under his command, and Qin Mu didn't want to move them. If Meng Ke's troops were transferred to pursue Norbu, there would be a high possibility of rebellion in Liaodong, which would be a disaster.
Qin Mu asked Sima An who seemed to be thinking deeply, "How do you think we should deal with the current changes, Lord Sima?"
Sima An replied: "I agree with your majesty's point of view. It is not appropriate to send troops to help. First of all, sending troops is probably difficult to put out a nearby fire. Secondly, the Qin Dynasty has just been established, and the country should not be left too empty to prevent unexpected events.
Your Majesty, the situation in the south of the desert, the Hetao, Longyou, and Hexi seems to be very complicated, but the more complicated it is, the more we must not lose our composure. Otherwise, not only will we fail to resolve the border troubles, but we will also be exhausted.”
Sima An's words were very subtle, but Qin Mu immediately understood the true meaning. Yes, the current situation was like a tangled mess, and it seemed that there were pressures everywhere.
But we must not lose our composure because of this. We must prioritize and have an overall strategic plan. We cannot just treat the symptoms without addressing the root cause.
Among the four places of Monan, Hetao, Longyou, and Hexi, which one poses the greatest threat to the Qin Dynasty? Which one should be dealt with first
Qin Mu thought for a moment and said, "Send a message to Ma Yongzhen and Meng Ke, and ask them to take advantage of the opportunity when Qitate invaded Hetao to wipe out Norbu with all their strength and integrate the tribes in the south of the desert. If possible, we can use Norbu to further weaken the tribes in the south of the desert."
Li Yuan asked anxiously: "Your Majesty, in this case, what about Hetao?"
Qin Mu said firmly, "Leave Hetao to Su Jin and let him guard the border wall. Qitate thinks he has grabbed a piece of Feng Shui treasure land. If I am right, he will definitely use his energy to manage Ningxia and watch the three tribes of Khoshut, Junggar and Zasaktu fight against our Great Qin. Let him manage it for a while. When he has dug his own grave, I will help him fill it with soil."
*********************************
ps: Please subscribe and recommend!
.(To be continued..)
...