Chapter 188: I Sentence the Prisoner to Death, and Hold the Sword

If Xuzhou is the gateway of the two Huai and the Central Plains, then Taizhuang is the gateway of Xuzhou, after Taizhuang, you can go straight to the Yellow River, and Xuzhou across the river to confront.

Zhao and Ju were right about Temujin's strategic judgment, Temujin did not expect a single attack to destroy the Great Song Dynasty, what he hoped was to open the gateway between the Central Plains and the Great Song Dynasty, that is, to capture Xuzhou. This time he went south, he prepared for five months, transferred many craftsmen from the Western Regions, cut wood in Yanyun to make equipment, prepared to conquer Jiancheng, and according to it - if he could capture the extremely powerful artillery in Li Quan's mouth in the process of conquering Xuzhou, then he would copy it on the spot.

In his mind, he thought that as long as he used a leather whip and a woman to motivate his artisan slaves, there was nothing he could not make.

On April 21 of the first year of Yanhuang, the Liuqiu army, which had won the battle of Xiacun, slowly retreated, and Temujin, who received the news of the disastrous defeat of the vanguard, was not discouraged, on the contrary, he urged the army to advance at full speed and catch up with the Liuqiu army at Taizhuang. The numerical inferiority of the Liuqiu army was completely exposed, and the advantages of the strong mobility of the Menghu cavalry were also fully demonstrated, although the artillery caused a certain amount of damage to the Menghu, but for the scattered moving targets, this weapon could not play a full role, which also strengthened Temujin's confidence in defeating the Liuqiu army.

Riding on top of his beloved horse, he looked to the south and smiled slightly.

"We have the best warriors, the best marksmen, but we only have the Gobi Desert, which doesn't even grow grass...... At that time, your mother and I had enough to suffer. He glanced back at his young son, who was the heroic young man Li Quan had seen outside his tent. In Menghu's habits, the adult son was out on the battlefield, and the younger son was at home, so he followed Temujin from a very young age, and although he was still in his early twenties, he was already experienced in a hundred battles.

Moreover, Tuo Lei is different from Temujin, in addition to being able to gallop on horseback, Tuo Lei also knows how to govern civil affairs, and knows that robbing and slaughtering is not beneficial to Menghu's long-term plan. Therefore, he had a very good relationship with Polu, and he also approved of Polu's ranch in Yanyun Enclosure, shepherding sheep and shearing wool, so as to trade with the Han people.

But he also agreed with Temujin's point of view, since the Nanren had such a good thing, they should grab it.

"When my father Khan reaches his 80th birthday, the land of the Nanren will be ours, they will cultivate for us, and their craftsmen will become our slaves." Tuo Lei replied with a smile: "And our Mongol warriors will be the leader who rules them!" ”

"What do you think...... What is the difference between the Song Kingdom and the Jin Kingdom? Temujin nodded, convinced of his son's prophecy. Ever since he met with the Daoist Qiu from the Kingdom of Jin, he began to think about the way of health preservation, looking for a way to make himself immortal, and he hoped to borrow another five hundred years from the Immortal Heaven to let him invade to the end of the sea.

"It's all the same."

Tuo Lei said with some contempt, after entering Jingdong, the performance of the Great Song Zhongyi Army and the Menghu army when they fought made him feel that the Song State was even inferior to the Jin State, and it was no wonder that he was forced by the Jin State to pay tribute every year. As for Shi Tianze and Li Quan's defeat in Xia Village, he didn't care about it at all, because most of the soldiers led by Shi and Li were soldiers of various ethnic groups who were attached to them, and they were not real Menghu warriors at all.

Moreover, after Shi Tianze's fiasco, it was the Menghu Tanma Red Army who followed Li Quan to retreat from the pursuers.

"It's all the same." Temujin said slowly and nodded: "Let's let those Han people take the lead in this battle." ”

The "Han Chinese" that Temujin refers to are not referring to the new annexed army that defected to Menghu, but to the people of Jingdong who they forced and captured along the way. This is a common trick used by Menghu when attacking the fortifications, forcing the enemy people to join the siege city, which can not only damage the morale of the enemy country, but also consume the materials of the enemy country to defend the city, and if necessary, throw the dead bodies of these people into the enemy city to spread the disease. If they were still there after the war, they would have become the driving force of the Mongol princes.

Somewhat reluctant, he preferred to take these Han Chinese people into slavery, and since Liuqiu cut off trade with Menghu, there has been a shortage of many of the materials they need in their daily lives, the most important of which is tea, which is a necessity for the fishy Menghu. He originally wanted these Han people to grow tea for him, so he hesitated a little and said: "For some reason, the number of Han people driven here is not much, only a few thousand, Father Khan, it is better to keep them to grow tea." ”

Temujin snorted: "As long as you defeat the enemy, you can have as many slaves as you want, and if you can't defeat the enemy, what's the use of relying on these thousands of slaves?" ”

Hearing this, Tuo Lei replied with a respectful yes. In a brief conversation between father and son, the fate of thousands of people was decided.

"Go back and drive those slaves over, and order Poru to bring the instruments...... Two days later, I was ready to attack. Temujin looked at it again: "We must end this war before the weather heats up." ”

The Hu people were intolerant of high temperatures, and the weather in May was enough for them to seek refuge, so Temujin hoped to return to the north by mid-May. In his opinion, the Song people only had more than 10,000 troops, and they camped on their backs, relying on artillery and fortresses to hold on. This trick can be used against Shi Tianze and Li Quan, but it is a little stupid and ridiculous to use it against him. He personally commanded the main force here, ready to eat this main force of the Song people, while the rest of the generals divided their troops to the east and south, and his forward troops had even reached the north bank of the Huai River, and fought two battles with the Song people reinforced from Huainan on the bank, and both times defeated the enemy.

He urged Polu to transport the equipment, not to deal with the Song army here, but to prepare to attack Xuzhou City.

On April 23 of the first year of Yanhuang, the weather was cloudy and the wind was very cool, which was a good weather for fighting. When he woke up in the early hours of the morning, Temujin ate half a leg of lamb and drank two bowls of mare's milk, feeling as if he had returned to his prime. He pushed away the woman who served him and strode out of the tent, and a moment later the horn of the bull that summoned the generals sounded.

The great camp, which had been quiet all night, came to life, and countless people watched eagerly as one after another captains and commanders rushed to the camp of the Great Khan, knowing that this was a sign that a great war was about to begin.

There was a dampness in the air, and it looked like it was going to rain. This made Temujin very happy, and if it rained, even if the Song artillery could still be used, the power would be halved. Moreover, the rainy day was cool, and for Menghu, who was not tolerant of extreme heat, this kind of weather was more conducive to their killing.

Li Ye stood on top of Diao Dou to inspect Menghu's camp, and when the strange sound of bullhorns came from Menghu's tent, he understood that the moment of decisive battle he had been waiting for for had arrived.

Menghu's camp is about five miles away from Taizhuang, and the distance is so close that Menghu's arrogance can also be seen. Between the two armies was a flat field, but interspersed with small hills, on several of the hills, the Liuqiu army originally had strongholds, but in the outpost battles of the past few days, these strongholds were either taken by Menghu, or abandoned by the Liuqiu army on their own initiative.

"All associations have paid attention, today is the decisive battle!"

After judging the enemy's movements, Li Ye summoned the officers, and swept over everyone with their eyes full of authority.

"I led you to conquer the grasslands, conquer the Gobi, and conquer the desert." Temujin squinted, and in his deep wrinkles, the age spots were clearly visible, and although he was still able to stand up straight and speak in a voice as loud as a bell, the wrinkles and age spots still made him look old.

It's just that his gaze is deeper and wiser. Forty years ago, his gaze was like a wolf in the desert, savage and cruel, thirty years ago, his gaze was like a jackal in the hills, greedy and cruel, twenty years ago, his gaze was like a tiger in the jungle, fierce and cruel, ten years ago, his gaze was like a lion on the grassland, majestic and cruel, and now, his gaze is like a poisonous snake lurking in the grass, gloomy and cruel.

The only constant is cruelty, he can cut off the heads of women and children without mercy, he can see thousands of innocent people bleeding without changing their faces, he can tear babies apart in front of their mothers without frowning. He doesn't see others as people like him, or he doesn't see himself as people like others. He thought he had the right to destroy everything, cities, countries, lives, and civilization.

But he can't resist the power of time, and as he ages and deals with the increasing number of women in his harem, he already feels powerless, and can only rely on conquest and killing to maintain his pleasure.

"We fought all the way to the far west, to the far south, and no one could stop us." Temujin continued.

In the past fifty years of his war, he has suffered many defeats, and the worst time was when his sworn brother Zamuhe took him in, provided him with food and clothing, and gave him his own pasture to graze his horses. However, because this righteous brother wanted to stop him, he had already killed him.

"Our victories again and again have proved that we are the chosen ones, we are the masters of this earth, and all the seas are our pastures."

Just before this expedition, he made an expedition to the Western Regions, and fought all the way to India in later generations, destroying countless large and small countries.

"I once said to Borshu that the bliss of life is nothing more than to defeat the enemy, chase the enemy, take everything from him, wash his face with tears when he sees his loved ones, ride his horse, and accept his wife and daughter!"

Among his four Erduo, there were countless women, all of whom he had taken from the enemy, among whom there were twenty-three with the title of "queen" alone, and countless with the title of concubine. Among these women, there are the women of the Menghutong tribe that he invaded, the women of Central Asia in the Western Regions that he plundered, and the princesses of the Jin Kingdom and the Western Xia that he threatened.

"The Jin State has bullied me for many years, so there is no need to say more, the Song State originally had an alliance with us, but it reneged on the alliance and took refuge in our enemies, what a shame for us Mongols!"

He didn't mention at all that in the process of attacking Western Xia and Jin, the Mongols invaded the Song Kingdom many times, extorted grain supplies from the Song Kingdom, and even went directly to Jingdong and other places to loot property and people. He didn't mention it at all, before the Song-Jin Alliance, he had already contained Li Quan, the rebel general of the Song State.

"I need warriors to wash away my shame, are you willing to be ashamed of me?"

"Yes! Willing! Willing! ”

The sound spread from Temujin's tent, and the warriors outside the tent also shouted angrily, at first only near his tent, and then the entire Menghu military camp, whether it was the real Menghu or the attached tribes, shouted hoarsely.

"Our enemies are there, go, kill them, take their horses and women." Temujin pointed to the south.

"Kill! Rob! Kill! Rob! ”

A louder voice rang out, and Temujin's deep eyes shone with joy, and he was glad to see that the people around him had become beasts, and this inhuman roar aroused his instinctive desire, and he reached out and grabbed the woman who was serving him beside him, overturned her, stepped on her, and stood up straight and said to his subordinates:

"Go ahead."

"Yesterday, the Son of Heaven came from Xuzhou, and the Son of Heaven gave me a secret decree."

Li Ye unfolded a sacred edict in front of everyone, and all the officers present were the officers of the Liuqiu army, and they faced this secret decree with the etiquette of Liuqiu, that is, they stood tall with their heads held high, and when the heels of their leather boots touched together, they made a loud "horn" sound.

"This secret decree is a handwritten letter from the Son of Heaven, not a crepe thing that has been modified by the scholars of the Hanlin Academy." Li Ye didn't have much respect for the officials of the court who restrained the Son of Heaven, and he said slowly: "The Son of Heaven doesn't write many sentences. ”

"For the crime of destroying the lives of the people and exterminating the civilization, I sentenced the chief of Menghulu to death with only a pound of Temujin, who will execute me with a sword?"

Sure enough, it's concise, and sure enough, there are not many sentences, although it's a Liuqiu escort who is used to seeing new things, and I don't understand what the crime of "destroying lives and destroying civilization" is, but I still feel enthusiastic.

"Hold the sword for the Son of Heaven!"

Luo Anqiong, who is newly from Tamna Island, roared angrily, he is a classmate of Wang Yu in the fourth phase of Yixue, and he only led the army to join Li Ye more than ten days ago. He brought cavalry, and most of the people who made up the bulk of this cavalry were herdsmen bought from Menghu.

These herdsmen, who had been Menghu's enemies and were tortured at the hands of Menghu, replenished the cavalry of the Liuqiu and were sent to the mainland only after their loyalty had been confirmed.

"Hold the sword for the Son of Heaven!"

Tian Jiehu, who was born in the Loyal and Righteous Army, roared angrily, he didn't know what the crime of Bai Zi sentenced Hu Lu was, but he felt that after listening to Li Ye's will, blood poured up on his head, and he roared so loudly for the first time, as if he was shouting for the sage of this land of Qilu 1,600 years ago.

"Hold the sword for the Son of Heaven!"

Wu Fang didn't say his mantra, he was a veteran oilman, but at this time, he felt that this was as excited as he was when he was in the first battle, recalling his experience over the years, if it wasn't for the Son of Heaven, if it wasn't for Liuqiu, he would have been crushed into dust under the iron hooves of a foreign country like tens of millions of people.

Compared with the shocking voices coming from the Menghu military camp, their voices were low and deep, and they did not have the momentum of the other party. But their voices were more determined, more like the earth beneath their feet, deep, restrained, resolute, and in silence there was an incomparable flame. When they do roar, the flame of rage will be ignited and become a fire of death that will consume all intruders.

Before them, Zu Di had lit it, Ran Min had lit it, Li Jing had lit it, and Yue Fei had lit it. Seven hundred and twelve years after them, in another plane, right under their feet, the fire was kindled.

Seven hundred and twelve years later, it was called "Taierzhuang".