The map of this world is not a complete replica of the present world map that Zhao Changhe knows. For example, a few geographical areas such as Beimang and Gujian Lake are different, but most of them are still the same.
Different oceans and monsoons, different mountains and rivers, different plateaus and valleys will result in completely different climate distributions, which will have a great impact on species and culture. Since it has formed a landscape so similar to that of ancient China, the geography must also be very similar.
The same is true for the geography after going out of the border and heading north. There may be some small differences that do not exist in the world, such as the rocky mountains in the Xuanwu Secret Realm, the Xuanwu Lake in the yellow sand, etc., but the general distribution will remain unchanged.
If you go out of the Great Wall from Yanmen Pass and cross the Yinshan Mountains, you will first see a vast grassland, which is called the land of the northern desert and the southern desert, where the Batu tribe is located. In fact, it is the present-day Inner Mongolia, where the environment is very favorable, and there are many arable land and minerals. Of course, the arable land has not been developed in the hands of Batu and his predecessors.
Further north is the Gobi Desert—this is not an adjective, it is simply called the Gobi Desert. The desert stretches from west to east, forming the dividing line between the north and south of the desert. After crossing it is the Golden Horde in the north of the desert. Most of it is now the area of Outer Mongolia.
If Huangfu Yongxian's troops crossed the desert to the north, they would attack the royal court directly, which is somewhat similar to Wei Qing's route.
This kind of royal route is naturally impossible to bring only the original Yanmen garrison, that's how many people. In fact, after the capital swore to go to war, only half of them followed Zhuque and Zhao Changhe, and the rest went to Yanmen to report after leaving Beijing. For example, Zhuque didn't like Cui Yuanyong's Hebei Army, so he simply assigned it to his father's side. The powerful imperial realm expert who was with the army was Sanniang.
The Gobi Desert did not separate the entire Mongolian Plateau, but was cut off in the east. Thus, a grassland belt running from north to south was formed in the east, which was a corridor connecting the south and north of the desert.
To the east, Huangfu Qing and Zhao Changhe crossed the Yanshan Mountains to the north and entered this grassland belt. From here, they could go around to the northeast and march straight in, defeating countless grassland tribes along the way and reaching a famous mountain to the east of the royal court.
It is called Langjuxu Mountain, where the Temple of Eternal Heaven is located today.
Going further north, there is another famous big lake, which is now called Lake Baikal and is now the vast ocean.
Both routes can also turn halfway and agree to meet at one of the points, and they don't necessarily have to fight separately.
There are several major problems with marching and fighting in such a place.
First of all, in this environment without clear landmarks such as mountains and roads, and without GPS navigation, it is very similar to sailing on the sea, and it is extremely easy to get lost during the march. If you look at the sun, moon, and stars to determine the direction, you can only determine that you are heading north, but you cannot be more specific. The slightest deviation may result in you going to the wrong place.
The second is water supply. Military rations can be brought by yourself, but it is difficult to carry enough water with you. If you can't find a water source for a few days, there may be disastrous consequences.
Due to the full dependence of the Batu tribe, the two armies of the Han Dynasty now brought a lot of old herdsmen from the Batu tribe. They knew how to get to the holy mountain and the royal court, and which route to take. In particular, they had to go to the holy mountain several times a year, so they were very familiar with it. They knew where there were water sources and where the tribes lived on the road. Even without the storage box, these two items were basically no longer a problem. The current storage box was a backup, so there was no need to worry about getting lost.
The third problem is that the enemy's army comes and goes like the wind, unlike the Central Plains where they stay in a city and wait for you to attack. You often find that your army has passed by, but the enemy comes from behind you. It is also common for both sides to encounter each other on the road without any preparation, and then fight each other in a confused manner. This cannot be avoided by simply being a good scout. The falconer sent by Sisi perfectly solves this problem.
The last question is that the royal court can be changed. Nomadic tribes rarely have such a clear attack point. Where Timur is, there is the Golden Horde. Often, a large army will rush to the royal court, but they can't even find a shadow, wasting military expenses and food. The same is true for the temple. The so-called sacred mountain is also a continuous mountain range. People hide in the mountains, so it's no big deal to demolish a temple for you. The place where the immortal god is located is more likely to be a completely secret place, and it is impossible to find it.
But this time, Timur also wanted a decisive battle.
At night, the Suzaku army set up camp. Zhao Changhe entered the general's tent holding a roasted eagle leg and said with a smile: "Come, come, have some. This is Timur's eagle. The meat is delicious."
A large group of officers and soldiers gathered in the camp and were looking at the sand table map. When they saw Zhao Changhe coming in with the barbecue, they turned their heads away.
Suzaku, dressed in a soft armor cape, sat behind the commander's desk and glared at her man unhappily: "We are in a military meeting, what are you doing?"
"I don't know how to fight, so I'm just going to get you some food."
"You're not the one who came in with an eagle's leg like you did. What's that? Don't you guys want to eat it?"
"Look at what you said. Everyone just ate. This is a snack." Zhao Changhe stuffed the eagle leg into Zhuque's hand without saying anything, and leaned over to look at the sand table: "What are you studying?"
The image of the Vermilion Bird holding up its bird leg is really out of place, but looking at the generals' expressions, they look like they are smiling like an aunt. I don't know what's wrong with the generals nowadays. Aren't they all serious
She took a bite angrily: "What we were discussing is another matter, but Wei Yang just came to complain, do you want to listen?"
Zhao Changhe looked at Wu Weiyang, the general of the Demon Suppression Division in the tent in astonishment. He was previously sent to serve as deputy to the vanguard Xue Canghai. This was his own idea. He was afraid that the Blood God Cult would go too far and really hurt the harmony of the world. He sent the people of the Demon Suppression Division to assist and suppress the evil spirit of the Blood God Cult. As a result, they ran back before they had even fought a single battle...
Wu Weiyang bowed helplessly to Zhao Changhe and said, "We also know that war is not a place for mercy, especially in the past when the Hu people were defeated, they would scatter and then gather together again, and it would be a reincarnation. Therefore, if General Xue wants to kill the adult men of the tribe we captured this time, we won't say anything..."
Zhao Changhe said: "He wants to kill women and children? Didn't we tell him that those who are smaller than the wheels will not be killed?"
"But General Xue put the wheel back on."
Zhao Changhe: “…”
"I tried to stop them with sweat on my forehead, but General Xue said that if only women and children were left here, they would not survive. If we are really kind, we might as well send them to the interior of the country and disperse them to fill various places to replenish the population." Wu Weiyang said, "I think it makes sense, but it will require a lot of troops to do this. Whether it is appropriate or not, the Marshal and King Zhao need to make a decision. Or relocating after the war is also a solution. Anyway, this battle will not last long regardless of victory or defeat."
Zhao Changhe looked at Zhuque. He was too soft-hearted in this matter and couldn't make the most reasonable decision. However, Zhuque was a big devil who slaughtered the whole family without even frowning. He was also afraid that Zhuque would say that the wheel was flat...
But Suzaku nodded: "We can do it after the war... This kind of war will not last long, so give them a basic living guarantee first."
Zhao Changhe and Wu Weiyang both breathed a sigh of relief, and Wu Weiyang bowed and said, "Then I will go and tell General Xue." "Don't worry, Weiyang also knows about the military, why not discuss it together." Zhuque said, "We are analyzing it now. We can't hide the situation of our two routes. Timur should also know about it. According to common sense, he can't be stupid enough to divide his troops to deal with them separately. He can only try to entangle one route and concentrate superior forces to destroy the other. Where do you think his main force will appear?"
Zhao Changhe asked: "What do you say?"
"The mainstream opinion now is that we are mainly light cavalry, which is very mobile and not easy to be blocked. In addition, we have you, me and Hong Ling, three of us in the Imperial Realm. So the other side is more likely to put the main force on my father's side and just contain us a little bit. As long as they don't let us advance, otherwise they won't be able to withstand the damage."
Wu Weiyang said: "If you ask me, that's my opinion. Even according to the current situation of the conflict between Timur and Bo'e, it is possible that they will let us drive all the way to their sacred mountain to fight Bo'e to the death, and then he will come back to pick peaches."
Many generals said, "That won't happen. If we can really march forward without any hindrance, we may not go straight to the sacred mountain. Can't we take a detour and attack Timur from behind?"
"That's hard to say. After all, the two roads are quite far apart, and it's hard to grasp the timing of the detour."
Zhao Changhe shrugged as he watched the generals discuss. So the commander himself really couldn't do it. It's easy to give advice, but how to make the most correct choice from various opinions is the real level. The literati who record it can say after the fact that a certain general didn't listen to the correct opinions and led to failure. In fact, if they really changed the decision-making position, who can easily judge which one is correct
The current situation is still good. There are differences in details, but generally speaking, everyone believes that Timur's main force will appear in Huangfu Yongxian's group. As a coach, what he needs to think about is how to take the next step based on this consensus. Should he attack Timur from behind or just drive straight to the sacred mountain? And how to support his father's group, when, who and how many people to send.
The distance is far and there is no phone, so everything has to be judged.
However, Suzaku looked at the sand table and pondered for a long time, then whispered, "Everyone thinks so... Would Timur have thought that we would think so?"
Zhao Changhe was stunned, and the whole room was also stunned. This is not the time to play the game of "I predicted your prediction". It needs reasonable basis, otherwise this kind of thing can be infinitely nested, and no judgment can be made.
Zhuque waved his hand, "Of course I am not making up stories without any basis, because I personally settled the affairs of northern Shanxi, so I know more details than you. First of all, the tribes in northern Shanxi surrendered completely out of fear of my threats, and they were not convinced in their hearts, but they had to contribute so much money, food and horses, so they were even more resentful. When my father stationed troops in Yanmen County, they could still be honest, but now that the army has left Yanmen, what will they do?"
Seeing the generals lost in thought, Zhuque continued, "I was going to go south at first, but the demon god Fengyin was stationed in southern Shanxi, so I didn't move. In other words, there is actually an extremely powerful demon god who is their backbone. Whether it is to make the tribes in northern Shanxi defect or to raid Yanmen himself, it is completely possible. Once chaos breaks out in the Three Jins, and the families of the army that went out to the border are all in Yanmen, what will be the result then?"
Wu Weiyang said: "The army's morale is unstable and they just want to return to the pass. Timur only needs to send people to harass them, and he can contain this route, and maybe he can drive them back without losing a single soldier. On the contrary, if the main force encounters this, it may lead to a desperate mentality."
All the generals said, "That's right... But Marshal, since you knew about this situation, why didn't you solve it in advance?"
Zhuque smiled slightly: "Of course I have made arrangements, but Timur doesn't know. On the contrary, he will think that we are mobile and elite, and will not face the main force..."
As she spoke, her eyes swept across the generals, taking in their expressions.
In fact, it was her first time as a head coach, and when she said these words, she didn’t have much confidence in her heart, but everyone’s reaction gave her confidence.
During the Spring Festival, she got to know the generals and had a very obvious feeling - everyone looked down on you inwardly, even though they were obedient on the surface. You said you were from a family of generals, and you did go to the battlefield with your father when you were young, but you have never been a commander-in-chief, and you usually do things that are in the martial arts world. Do you really know how to fight? Anyway, you are the Supreme Lord of the Imperial Realm, the Holy Church, and you are also the Queen Mother. No one can compete with you for the position of commander, but the distrust in your heart can be revealed inadvertently.
Just like when they thought they were playing the prediction nesting doll game just now, the silence in their eyes was almost overflowing. If they catch you making any obvious mistakes, they will definitely refute you in court and will not give you any face.
But no one refuted, even the speechless expressions from before disappeared, and everyone was in deep thought.
This shows that your judgment is reasonable in the eyes of these veterans on the battlefield, and then you will have the confidence.
Zhuque took a deep breath and made a conclusion: "I am 80% sure that Timur's main force will appear on our side... and I dare to assert that Timur and Bo'e will have no conflicts in this battle. The Khanate and the Temple will sincerely join hands to encircle and suppress us in the Modong grassland!"
Yue Hongling, who had been sitting cross-legged in the corner without saying a word, slowly opened her eyes: "My sword is trembling... Sister's judgment may coincide with my sword intention."
When it comes to the swordsman's insight into crises, no one in the world can compare to Yue Hongling.
Even if we are not going to encounter the main force, there is a high probability that the opponent's Yujing will be here.
Everyone in the camp had fought in battles all their lives, so when they anticipated that they would encounter a main force, not only did no one show any fear, but they were all excited about the "military achievement".
An old general immediately said, "In that case, we might as well make it more standard... Since we want to show that we think the main battlefield will be on General Huangfu's side, let's make it look that way to them. It seems that we are sending troops to the west, but in fact we are not going at all... We need to completely block the enemy's aerial reconnaissance."
Suzaku pondered for a moment, "Not enough. From now on, don't use the storage box. We need to march straight in, eat the enemy, and chase the water source. Timur will set a trap for us, so we wait."
That night, Wu Weiyang, a brave general of the Demon Suppression Division, led 10,000 cavalrymen to the west to support the western front. Soon after, they left the eastern front. The eagles in the sky saw this movement and reported it back to the north.
The next morning, after a good night's sleep, the vanguard Xue Canghai's troops received an order from the army in the rear while having breakfast. The Blood God cultists raised their knives and rushed towards the next water source settlement in front of them, howling.
——
PS: It's still a little short. There's a marching sketch in the easter egg chapter, which gives you a rough idea.
(End of this chapter)