The north-south Black Deer River and its tributaries are often used as a natural boundary separating the Blue Plains and Red Plains pastures.
The tank cavalry company led by Lu Ming was the first armed force of the Montenegrin Principality to arrive at the east bank of the Black Deer River.
The rivers and lakes of the grassland are all places with abundant water and grass. For example, the city of Kori was originally located on the banks of the eastern tributary of the Heilu River.
At this time, Lu Ming's tank cavalry company had become a rapid mobile company directly under the brigade headquarters.
An armed group of more than 300 people arrived at the upper reaches of the Black Deer River. There were many small rivers here, but generally the water was shallow. In some places the river was less than half a meter deep, so horses could easily cross it. After the rainy season was over, tanks could also cross the river.
The grass on both sides of the upper reaches of the Black Deer River was not good originally, because to the north was the majestic Tianshan Mountains, and the towering glaciers seemed to exude a chill. It was recorded in history that blizzards often occurred here, and for the herders, that was the most terrible disaster.
Therefore, traditionally, this area is regarded as an ominous place.
This area was also the place where the Black Wolf tribe, where Ma Chi Nur was located, was exiled.
Here, in the river grassland with a radius of more than 100 kilometers, there live dozens of large and small settlements of the Black Wolf Tribe with a total population of more than 20,000.
Lu Ming's company is now stationed in a larger settlement on the east coast with a population of over a thousand.
…
Walking on the thick green grass, his feet felt itchy and comfortable. Lu Ming looked to the north at the Tianshan Mountains which seemed to be just a stone's throw away.
The southern slope of the mountain range is lush and green, while the northern side should be a snowy mountain, and you can also see huge glaciers.
The Tianshan Mountains are very strange. The lowest part of the mountain range is probably as high as Mount Everest in the previous life, and the highest part is so high that it reaches into the clouds and the peak cannot be seen.
Such a strange and huge mountain range completely blocks the cold air from the far north.
In fact, although the mountains seem close, they are actually still far away.
Lu Ming looked at it from afar, imagining the terrifying scene of a savage army of giants, who he didn't know whether it was a legend or real, pouring out from behind the mountains, and his heart shuddered slightly.
"Will His Royal Highness really come to inspect our tribe?" Following Lu Ming was a short old man with wrinkles all over his face. He was Ma A'ao, the chief of the Black Wolf tribe. He came from the settlement on the west bank of the river, where Ma Chinar lived.
In terms of blood relationship, Ma Chi Nur is his grandson, but Ma Chi Nur was chosen to be trained as a wolf rider when he was still an infant, so it is hard to say that the two have any family affection.
Lu Ming looked at him and smiled: "It will come sooner or later. You must keep the document signed by His Royal Highness the Prince."
"Yes, yes, that's for sure!" The old man agreed repeatedly, but his face was full of hesitation.
The official letter signed by the Prince of Black Mountain Fort granted freedom to all the people of the Black Wolf Tribe, and the traditional ranch that the Black Wolf Tribe helped Ma Quanyou manage belonged to the Black Wolf Tribe from now on. They only needed to pay the eleventh tax. The so-called eleventh tax meant that for every ten adult livestock of the Black Wolf Tribe, they had to pay one to His Royal Highness the Prince, and so on.
Isn't this what the people of Zhongzhou call pie in the sky? How can such a good thing happen
"Commander, the young and strong men in my army will obey your orders from now on!" The old man gritted his teeth and made the decision in an instant.
Look at the amazing iron cannon cart, and I heard there are flying weapons, and the Montenegrins have occupied the eastern grasslands. The masters that Ma Quanyou originally sent to the headquarters to bully others have all run away.
Regardless of whether the Black Mountain people are powerful or not, even if all the young and strong people in the tribe are sacrificed for the freedom and land granted by His Royal Highness the Prince's decree, it would be worth it. In order to win a bright future for the descendants of the Black Wolf tribe, no matter how tragic the sacrifice is, it is worth it.
The validity of a promise signed by a great noble like His Royal Highness the Imperial Prince is beyond doubt.
However, I think His Royal Highness made such a generous promise because he wanted our people to fight to the death.
Lu Ming glanced at the old man gritting his teeth and smiled, "That's not necessary, but we are currently recruiting ambitious young people to form a militia to protect the fruits of freedom that His Royal Highness has brought to the people of the prairie. But participation is voluntary, so Chief Ma, don't interfere. The number of places is limited, and it's first come, first served."
The old man didn't quite understand, but he nodded repeatedly.
Lu Ming looked up again at the towering mountains that were like clouds.
But he was thinking about the secret message from the eldest prince that he received in Montenegro yesterday.
The secret telegram said that Ma Quanyou's Sanyuan Khanate and Chen Xingchang's Baihai Kingdom had sworn allegiance to him and voluntarily merged into the Kingdom of Grefini.
From then on, the Kingdom of Griffinni and the Principality of Montenegro became autonomous territories of the Kingdom.
The eldest prince hopes that he can put aside the past grudges with them and negotiate a peaceful outcome to end the war in the Northern Territory.
The eldest prince even said that they should have sent envoys to the Northern Territory to hold a grand ceremony to celebrate the kingdom's absorption of new territory.
But considering that you are still fighting with them, I will not send an envoy. The envoy will come when you restore peace in the Northern Territory.
What he meant was that he had to put such a grand event on hold and postpone it temporarily out of consideration for his own face.
The eldest prince also said in the telegram that at this moment, all states in the kingdom should unite against the common enemy and quell the rebellion of the second prince.
After you restore peace, I hope you will send your best troops to Kyoto as soon as possible to defend the king.
Thinking about this secret message, Lu Ming shook his head.
Apparently, the eldest prince was somehow bewitched by Ma Quanyou, Chen Xingchang and other aides, and he suddenly became full of confidence.
We had just reached a peace agreement with the Second Prince, and it was said that in the secret agreement, the First Prince would have to pay a large sum of war reparations.
The eldest prince had long since acknowledged the second prince's identity as King Sonia, but both of them had claims to be the emperor of the empire, which was a dispute over the legitimacy of the throne.
Now, suddenly the second prince becomes rebellious again
In fact, Westerners have never taken the armed forces of the Northern Territory seriously, and small regimes like Ma Quanyou and Chen Xingchang are even more ignorant.
All we can say is that the lobbyists sent by the two are very powerful, or there have been major changes in the imperial capital's strategy.
Ma Quanyou had been keeping a low profile and keeping his troops inactive when the Black Mountain Corps entered the grassland. It turned out that he had found a powerful figure.
In the Northern Territory, the four provinces and the kingdom are equal imperial confederations, and the land of the Northern Territory naturally does not belong to the Kingdom of Griffinni.
Ma Quanyou and Chen Xingchang broke this taboo that had lasted for thousands of years.
Moreover, the eldest prince was actually prepared to accept this barbarian land in the eyes of Westerners.
All we can say is that the world is in chaos, and the wheel of history is rolling towards the unknown.
Of course, he didn't care about the telegram from the eldest prince.
But now is the rainy season, and it takes too many detours to enter the heart of the grassland. It is better to wait until the dry season.
During this period, the various tribes in the eastern grasslands were digested and a new management order was established for them.
It was also to consolidate the rear for the Western Expedition.
But he completely ignored the eldest prince's peace initiative and went straight to wipe out Ma Quanyou and Chen Xingchang. I'm afraid his ambition was obvious.
The development of the Northern Territory still depends on the funding and technology of the Eastern Alliance.
If the members of the Eastern Alliance begin to fear themselves and worry that the Principality of Montenegro will become too powerful and threaten their security, they will need to carefully consider the pros and cons.
With his head down in thought, Lu Ming slowly walked towards the felt tent not far away.