Just when Jia Ke was living his own little life leisurely and leisurely. Two hundred miles north of the Gubeikou of the grassland, flags gathered, people shouted and horses neighed, and this place has become a sea of people and horses.

Countless people and horses on the grassland have gathered here. In addition to the cavalry on the steppe, there were also some soldiers from the Western Regions, who served as servant troops this time, carrying supplies for the Tatars and doing some logistical things.

Arslen Khan had gathered 200,000 men here, and although Arslen Khan had become a little arrogant now, he was still a little resourceful, knowing that he could not pose an essential threat to the Southern Dynasty at present.

So this time he went south, and his goal was to plunder. He wants to take a good walk in the most prosperous place near the capital of the Southern Dynasty and bring all the wealth here back to the grassland.

At the same time, he was also the emperor who shocked the Southern Dynasty and let him know that his Great Khan was coming, and from now on he could only obediently offer wealth and beauty. Otherwise, he will destroy his country.

If the emperor of the Southern Dynasty can compromise and send a lot of wealth and beauties every year, he will save himself and lead his troops south every year, not only will he lose a lot of grain and grass materials, but also the warriors who go south will also be more or less damaged.

When Arslen Khan had gathered his men and horses and was about to go south, the only pass in front of him was Gubeikou. In the past, the Tatars also led troops to attack Gubeikou, but each time they returned with a feather.

The terrain of Gubeikou is dangerous, in the middle section of Shanhaiguan and Juyongguan, the mountain is steep and the road is dangerous, it is only two hundred miles away from Beijing, and it is the key to Kyoto since ancient times. Since ancient times, it has been called Xiong Danger, and it is known as "the earth chokes the throat and tends to the desert, and the sky leaves the lock and key pillow Xiongguan". Such a majestic pass is naturally heavily guarded and heavily hoarded.

Arslen Khan's current problem is how to break through this pass at the lowest cost.

Since ancient times, it is necessary to break through the strong pass, that is, those few methods, either the ants are attached to the siege of the city, or the plan is sneak attacked, or the inside and outside should be combined.

Arslen Khan thought about these methods, and finally decided to make a sneak attack first, if it didn't work, he could only attack, as for the military fortress like Gubeikou where the Tatars were joined by the inside and outside, they did not have the ability to install people. A military fortress like this is simply not inhabited by ordinary residents. The fortress was filled with elite soldiers of the Southern Dynasties, as well as their relatives, and the Tatar spies could not penetrate here at all.

As soon as Arslen Khan made up his mind, he immediately sent someone to find Battle, one of the four foals

Since the last time he was defeated by Jia Ke in Kaiping Town, he was snubbed by Arslen Khan for a period of time after returning to the grassland, but after all, Arslen Khan was employing people, so he quickly let Batel come back.

After his comeback, in order to regain the trust of Arslen Khan, Batel took the lead in every battle in the war with the tribal alliance, and with his personal bravery, he saved the situation several times in times of danger. The steppe tribes that were killed were terrified, and on several occasions they broke through the enemy's large array of 10,000 or tens of thousands with one or two thousand people.

Arslen Khan was impressed by his performance, and Battle quickly regained Arslen Khan's trust, and this time he was at the forefront of the ranks as a pioneer officer.

When Batel heard the summons of the Great Khan, he did not dare to slack off, so he walked three steps and two steps quickly to the outside of the big tent of Arslen Khan, and the soldiers at the gate saw him and hurried in to give him a reward.

Soon the soldiers came out and asked Batel to enter, and when Batel entered the horde, he saw Arslen Khan thinking on the map.

Battle clasped his fists and saluted: "Great Khan, Battle was ordered to come, I don't know what admonition the Great Khan has?." ”

Arslen Khan seemed to know that Battle had come in at this time, raised his head from the map, turned to him, and said: "Battle you are here, my sharpest sword, this time I will go to Gubeikou, I'm afraid you will have to go there yourself." ”

Battle immediately said: "The Great Khan has a life, and Battle will not give up." ”

"Okay, what Battle wants is what you say, and only your martial arts in our army can do this." Arslen Khan was still very satisfied with Battell's martial prowess.

Arslen Khan then ordered Battle: "You send a team of warriors to pretend to be merchants, prepare more wolf smoke in the accompanying vehicles, and send this team of people to the gate of Gubeikou tomorrow to open the city gate, once Gubeikou opens the city gate, you will immediately release wolf smoke to warn, you take a thousand cavalry to ambush five miles away, see wolf smoke must rush to the gate of Gubeikou within half an hour, and assist the warriors to seize the city gate." When the time comes, I will lead the army to ambush ten miles away, and see the wolf smoke rushing towards Gubeikou together, as long as you hold on for another half an hour, my army will go to the city of Gubeikou. What do you think? Can you do it? ”

Battle didn't dare to agree to Arslen Khan easily, but silently calculated for a while in his heart, feeling that the Great Khan's plan was feasible, and they had not invaded the south for three years, the defense of Gubeikou was not very tight, and from time to time there were merchants coming and going between Gubeikou and the grassland, with the current defense situation of the Southern Dynasty, the chance of success was very large, even if it failed, there was no loss.

After thinking clearly, he bowed down and clenched his fists and said to Arslen Khan: "Great Khan, I think this plan is feasible, as long as the warriors sent out to seize the gate can hold out until I arrive, I think that coming to Gubeikou must be in the bag of the Great Khan." ”

Arslen Khan was very satisfied with Battle's words, when Battle's thinking just now, he was impressed by this subordinate who only knew how to fight and kill before, and now Battle's is already a brave and resourceful general, it seems that the last setback gave him a great touch, so that he knows how to think. is no longer the reckless man who only knows how to fight and kill.

After hearing his assurance, Arslen Khan said: "The warriors who go to seize the gate this time, you yourself look for them in the whole camp, and the horses that the thousand cavalry you lead must be the best in the whole army." You go and prepare now, and I'll see you tomorrow morning. ”

Battle once saluted Arslen Khan, "Don't worry, the Great Khan, I will use my life as a guarantee that as long as I, Battle, am alive, the gate of Gubeikou will not be closed." ”

After listening to Battle's assurance, Arslen Khan went up and patted him on the shoulder and said, "Okay, as long as you complete this task, our army will be able to reach Kyoto in the Southern Dynasty smoothly." When the time comes, I will reward you with 300 herdsmen, and if you behave better in the capital this time. I can even let you lead a small tribe. ”

After listening to Arslen Khan's promise, Battle's blood boiled all over his body, although he was a general under Arslen Khan, but he led a tribe alone, and he never thought about it. Now that he has received the promise of Arslen Khan, he naturally has to fight to the death and lay a foundation for himself and his family.

When Batel came out of the Great Tent of Arslen Khan, he searched the whole army for the warrior who would carry out the seizure of the gate this time. Instead of looking for the strongest, Battle sought out a hundred or so Tatars who were about the same size as the Central Plains.

Then he chose seven or eight die-hard people from among the slaves of the Southern Dynasty who had been plundered before, and these people had been on the steppe for a long time, and because of their flexible hearts, they had taken refuge in the Tatars early, so they were now all small stewards who managed the slaves, and they could not return to the Southern Dynasty, so they had no problem in loyalty.

Battle ordered them to disguise themselves, and when the time came, the little stewards of the Southern Dynasty would talk to the elite soldiers of Gubeikou, and the remaining Tatars would pretend to be young men and lead the convoy to Gubeikou early tomorrow morning. After blowing open the city gates, it is important to defend the city gates with all your might.

Battle had already made a promise to the Southern Koreans who had taken refuge that if they succeeded this time, they would all be freed from slave status. And each of them gave them five herdsmen. This is to reassure their hearts, fearing that they will suddenly report to the Southern Dynasty that this major incident has been ruined.

And Battle himself, with a selection of 1,000 cavalry, ambushed in the middle of the night into a small forest less than five miles from Gubeikou. Just waiting for the wolf smoke to be released at Gubeikou, he led the team to rush out.

The morning of this day was sunny, and Li Yuan, the imperial guard of Gubeikou, came to the city gate leisurely, waiting for the passing merchants.

In recent years, the Tatars and the Southern Dynasties were relatively peaceful, so there were more merchants coming and going, but the imperial court forbade the sale of goods to the Tatars, so the smuggling of merchants became a profitable business.

Since it is smuggling, then the individual joints must be opened. One of the most important is the Gubeikou Imperial Guard Thousand Households Li Yuan, because Gubeikou is the only way to the grassland in the capital, so Li Yuan has been making gold every day during this time. Of course, the money he got can't be swallowed by himself, Miyun's garrison, his top boss will take more than half. In addition, the generals at all levels under him will also be divided. In this way, it is possible to ensure that this interest group does not disintegrate.

Li Yuan's favorite thing to do now is to drink tea at the city gate early in the morning, while waiting for the merchants to bribe him. At this time, he was in a good mood, knowing that much of the money was his own.

Today's arrival at Li Yuan is no exception, after the opening of the city gate of Gubeikou, Li Yuan sat at the table at the city gate and drank tea, but today he was a little unlucky, it was almost midday, and he didn't see a caravan passing by.

Li Yuan was very dissatisfied with this result, and wondered if all the customs clearance money of the passing merchants today would be increased to make up for the loss caused to him by no one passing in the morning.

When Li Yuan was thinking, he suddenly heard dense footsteps, and he looked up to see that it was his henchman Li Quan running over quickly.

Li Yuan, when you see Li Quan running over, you know that something good is coming. Sure enough, Li Quan rushed to Li Yuan's side, and said to Li Yuan regardless of his breathlessness: "Master, great joy." There is a large caravan that wants to cross the Gubei Pass and return to the capital, and is now waiting for the master outside the gate. ”

As soon as Li Yuan heard this, he immediately became excited, and immediately took Li Quan and a few soldiers to the city wall to look down, and sure enough, there was a caravan waiting at the gate of the city, about a hundred people, with twenty or thirty carts were tightly wrapped, it seems that this time he made some money in the north, and the carts were loaded with gold and silver. A caravan of this scale can only be handled by those dignitaries and nobles in the capital, where do other people dare to be so blatant.

Although Li Yuan wants to make money, he also values his own head, so every time there is a caravan, he has to go to check it in person, for fear that any weapons such as knives and guns will flow into the grassland, and there will be any spies in the grassland to get mixed up in the Central Plains. This time Li Yuan was no exception, after seeing the scale of the caravan outside, he came to the city gate with a hundred-person caravan and ordered people to open the city gate to prepare for a personal inspection of the caravan.

And the gate of this majestic city was slowly opened.