The first batch of honey fruits from Huazhou was sent to the military camp outside the Saiwai - thousands of miles away from Baisheng Pass, where the Zheng army of the Northern Expedition rested for three days.

In the golden luan tent, Shi Fangzhen, the Son of Heaven, sat in the chair. It has been two months since he went out with the army, and his eyes have become deep, and his face seems to have been carved and polished, becoming angular and a little more solemn. Liu Weiguo came in from outside the tent, holding the pear fruit that the Son of Heaven liked in his hand, and gently placed it on the table.

"Didn't I tell you to give all the honey fruits to the soldiers?" Shi Fangzhen looked at the prince's letter in his hand, and said a little unhappily.

Liu Weiguo thought to himself, there are only 200 cans of honey fruits in total, and one of the 180,000 soldiers can get a few drops, and he said with a smile in his mouth: "The slaves have already sent some to the major battalions, and left a few cans for you to moisten your throat. ”

While talking about Liu Weiguo, he choked up a little, how much he has suffered in the past two months, he has lost so much weight that he can't look good. Shi Fang really didn't want to listen to Liu Weiguo's broken thoughts, so he picked up the bowl and drank the honey water, and a few pieces of pear meat in the bowl were also pulled into his mouth and eaten cleanly.

It's really sweet, Shi Fangzhen sighed in his heart. In this Northern Expedition, he was ambitious, and he wanted to share weal and woe with the soldiers, establish meritorious deeds comparable to Gaozu, and solve the troubles of the north for thousands of years in one fell swoop. When the army marched north, Shi Fangzhen insisted on refusing to ride Luan, and rode out on horseback like King Keming, the prince of Shenguo, who commanded the army. But after three days, his legs were worn by the saddle and his flesh was blurred, and he couldn't take a step at all, so he had to sit back in Luan. Looking at Shen Guogong, who was riding on horseback and had a sassy and heroic posture, Shi Fang really wanted to be able to replace him.

Then there was dinner, Shi Fangzhen insisted on sharing weal and woe with the soldiers, eating a pot of rice, he thought that he had lived in the deep palace for many years and rarely rode a horse, which was not as good as Shen Guogong, but the food in the palace was simple, and Shen Guogong spent all day and night, which was definitely not as good as himself. When a mess of mushy things was brought to him, the rice and vegetables were mixed together, and the smell almost made him vomit on the spot, and he forcibly ate two bites, so rough that he cut his throat. Squinting his eyes, he glanced at Shen Guogong and the others who were accompanying him to eat, everyone ate sweetly, and Shi Fangzhen finally clearly realized that it was a good wish for him to share weal and sorrow with the soldiers.

Persisted for a few days, under the persuasion of Liu Weiguo, the Son of Heaven set up a banquet to reward the generals, and the remaining ingredients made the Son of Heaven eat a small stove, Shi Fangzhen recognized the situation, he was the Son of Heaven who grew up in wealth, and this kind of thing really can't be compared with Gaozu, fortunately, these are small sections, as long as I can pacify the Northern Desert, my achievements will not lose to Gaozu, or even to any emperor for thousands of years.

Zheng Junbing divided into three ways to go deep into the Northern Desert, the left road is the Metropolitan Governor of Annan Miao Tieshan, the right road is the former Governor of Annan Qi Xinwen, the two roads each led 50,000 horses, and the Chinese army 80,000 soldiers and horses separated by more than ten miles, advancing together, three times a day to contact each other, unify the process, echo each other. The Northern Desert is an endless grassland, and there are no roads in the first place, but it is also convenient for the army to march.

Most of the northern desert tribes fled before the arrival of the army, and some of the small tribes that did not have time to flee were caught by the army, and when they saw the army all over the mountains, they did not need to fight, and these small tribes of more than 1,000 people surrendered directly.

Shi Fangzhen was enthusiastic to receive the tribal leaders who had surrendered

, Putting on the majesty of the king of the Celestial Empire, the leaders of those small tribes saw the full battle and thought that they had arrived in the kingdom of heaven, and they were both surprised and delighted. Shi Fangzhen liked the dazzling and helpless appearance of these people, which greatly satisfied his vanity.

After those tribal leaders kowtowed chaotically under the shouting of the eunuchs, Shi Fangzhen finished the emperor's addiction to the Celestial Empire, and conveniently divided the official positions and land, and gave away property, so that those small tribes who surrendered were completely blinded. It is clear that he defeated the life and death in the hands of others, how did he give so many good things in a blink of an eye, smooth silk, white and bright porcelain like jade, and fine tea, I had seen it in the merchants of Zheng Guo before, but this thing is more expensive than gold, and it is not something that a small tribe can afford, so it can only be enjoyed. Now that he doesn't have to pay the price of a sheep, he has obtained so many good things for nothing, how can he not let the tribal leaders be grateful to Dade and swear allegiance one by one.

The leaders of these tribes are not stupid, there is a saying on the grassland, where there is water and grass, there are cattle and sheep, the Zheng people give enough benefits, respect the Zheng people for the Great Khan can get money and food to strengthen the tribe, do not have to worry about being annexed by the big tribes, where to find such a good thing. As long as the money and food were sufficient, these small tribes volunteered to become the eyes and ears of Zheng Jun, leading Zheng Jun to move towards the royal court.

As the Zheng army went deep into the grassland, the Zheng army and the big tribes of the Northern Desert finally had a few decent battles, the grassland tribes came and went like the wind, the Zheng army was as solid as a rock, and the two armies faced each other like waves rolling reefs, either the waves were broken by the reefs, or the reefs were flooded by the waves. Zheng Guo has been preparing for the Northern Expedition for a long time, and has been specially trained on how to deal with the grassland light cavalry, and under the shroud of strong crossbows and sharp arrows, those Northern Desert tribes are difficult to win, and often run away.

Zheng Jun did not have many horses, only 40,000 cavalry of 180,000 military horses, this is because Zheng Guo's own horses have thin torsos and can only pull materials, military horses have to be bought from the Northern Desert or the Western Regions, Zheng Guo controls iron tools and grain to sell to the north, and the Western Regions and Northern Desert are also very strict with the horses flowing to Zheng Guo, and these 40,000 cavalry troops are still cobbled together by the Anbei Metropolitan Protectorate and the Sixteen Guards.

The cavalry is insufficient, so they dare not pursue for a long time, those defeated Northern Desert tribes were able to escape, and by virtue of the advantage of horse matching, the Northern Desert people continued to launch raids and disturbance wars, night raids, and guerrilla warfare, so that the Zheng army was exhausted, the lack of trees on the grassland, it was difficult to set up a well-defended camp, the battle line was long, and the materials for domestic transfer became more and more difficult, and the silver taels spent in two months had exceeded 10 million.

The handsome tent of King Keming, the Duke of Shenguo, was half a mile to the right of the Jinluan Palace, and Liu Weiguo sent someone to send ten jars of honey fruits. Waiting for the people to leave, Zhao Wei smiled and picked up a jar to remove the lid, drank it mouth-to-mouth, and when the sugar water was finished, he reached into the jar to take out the pulp and stuffed it into his mouth, not caring that the juice fell on his beard, and praised vaguely while eating: "It's so fragrant, it's so sweet." ”，

Wang Keming's hair was neatly combed, pinned with a golden hairpin, white face and black beard, solemn face, sitting behind the handsome case in light armor, frowning slightly and looking at the spy sent by the secret guard. The spy report is the situation of the Northern Desert Royal Court, the royal court maintains the apparent peace under the leadership of the goddess Tizhu, but the eldest prince Kunbo and the second prince Liman have never stopped fighting, and the two of their subordinates have to break out into conflict every day.

Northern Desert Royal Court, Wang Keming's eyes flashed with determination, if this northern expedition can break through the Northern Desert Royal Court, destroy the desert people

The sacred mountain in my heart, Mishan, can be regarded as a great success, without the spiritual pillar of the royal court and the sacred mountain, the desert people will definitely fall into civil strife, and when the new Great Khan is born again, at least fifty years of peace can be fought for the north.

Putting down the spy report in his hand, Wang Keming sighed quietly, although the Zheng army went thousands of miles deep into the north, it was still more than a thousand miles away from the royal court, and at this rate, the army could not reach the royal court before the weather became cold in September. Alas, if it weren't for the Son of Heaven's insistence on driving the expedition in person, he would have used the cavalry as the sharpest, and the desert tribe as a supply all the way to the royal court. The infantry army is divided into 10,000 teams, led by Xiao generals, and rush to the royal court as soon as possible to rendezvous, as long as there is a guide on the grassland, there is no need to worry about getting lost. Marching and fighting, there really can't be a son of heaven, this is like a thorn in the body, the whole body is uncomfortable, this is a war, it is obviously a careful play.

Standing up and looking at the map on the screen behind him, the spy staff used their lives to mark the location of the big tribe and the royal court of more than 10,000 people, the route of the army's attack was drawn up by the Son of Heaven, and along the way, as much as possible to show the northern desert people the great power of the Zheng Dynasty, such a marching route lagged behind the army's journey of seven or eight days.

The red flag marks where the Zheng army is, although it occupies a region thousands of miles deep in the northern desert, almost as small as half of the Zheng country, but the vast grassland lacks supplies and is difficult to garrison, and the army retreats from these lands and has to return to the hands of the desert people. The Son of Heaven intended to use the desert people to deal with the desert people, divide the leaders of those small tribes, and assign the land to them, which was a good idea. However, most of these tribal leaders are greedy for money and food, and when the army withdraws, they either follow the southern retreat and live in the territory close to Zheng Guo, or they simply become wall grass and return to the northern desert under the command of the northern desert, which can not be of much effect.

"The jar just now is a cantaloupe, and then a jar of pears. Big brother, don't you try it? Zhao Wei selects honey fruits and sticks labels on the bottom of the jar to indicate the fruits in the jar. Wang Keming shook his head, he was really envious of his righteous brother who was well fed and slept, this man was happier than anything else as long as he had a fight.

Zhao Wei handed it over after selecting the honey fruit, and said, "Big brother, you drink a few sips first, and give me the rest." ”

Wang Keming took it and drank a few sips of honey water, Zhao Wei said with a smile: "The flesh is sinking underneath, big brother, you shake the jar, shake the pulp up and eat a few pieces, don't just drink sugar water." ”

Yiyan shook the flesh and poured it into his mouth, Wang Keming ate two pieces, and handed the jar back to Zhao Wei. Zhao Wei muttered: "Big brother, this battle is like just drinking sugar water, I haven't eaten any meat, and I'm bored." ”

Even this rough man knows that if you want to truly pacify the Northern Desert, you have to kill a large number of desert people, break up the big tribes in the Northern Desert, and the wolves will be leaderless and fight each other, so that Zheng Guo will be peaceful. The population of the Northern Desert is about 4 million, large and small tribes are as inconspicuous as mushrooms sprinkled on the grass, and there are millions of people around the royal court, about 300,000 can go on horses to fight, and the most courageous detachment of the army Golden Wolf, Blue Wolf and Black Wolf are among them.

In terms of numbers, the light cavalry of the Northern Desert has an advantage, but Wang Keming is not very worried, firstly, the desert people are composed of large and small tribes, like scattered sand, and it is difficult to command, and secondly, the Zheng army has the upper hand in equipment and equipment. Now the problem is that the main combat power of the Northern Desert is shrunk in the area of the royal court, and it is good to think of a way to lure the snake out of the hole and let the desert people take the initiative to find the Zheng army for a decisive battle. ()

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