The north wind was blowing, snow covered the land, and a bleak stream of cooking smoke rose in the distance. The barracks were littered with filthy ice stains, and Tachi Murbo took a closer look with a clairvoyant mirror given to him by Jerodashi and saw that it was Yelu Yanxi's army barbecuing horse meat. Tachi spat out a mouthful of saliva contemptuously, these people who would rather eat war horses than dare not fight, are cowards. "After a while, these cowards will probably not even have horse meat to eat." He frowned and thought, "Are you willing to starve to death and freeze to death in the snow?" “”

In fact, he blamed the courage of the Liao army on the other side too much. Just a little more than a month ago, more than 100,000 troops in the southern expedition to Youzhou ran out of food and grass. Yelu Zhangnu, the deputy commander of the imperial camp, killed Xiao Fengxian, the privy envoy of the Northern Yuan who stayed in Shangjing, and occupied Shangjing and raised troops to respond to Yelu Dashi. Liao Emperor Yelu Yanxi's back road was cut off by Yelu Zhangnu, and the front was tightly pressed by the Youzhou army, he did not dare to withdraw the army, but he was afraid that the order to withdraw the army would collapse, and only forcibly forced his subordinates to continue to attack the defense line of Yelu Dashi every day. The plan is to first break the hastily assembled army of Yelu Dashi, seize Youzhou to get supplies, and then return to the division to quell the chaos. However, Yelu Dashi only defended but did not attack, this narrow plain was really not suitable for the Liao army's light cavalry, and the Han military camp in Youzhou used artillery to constantly bombard the Liao army's dense horse team. The elite soldiers of the North Courtyard were killed and wounded, and the corpses were piled up in front of the camp of Yelu Dashi, and they still could not seize an inch of land.

The battle situation was stalemate, and the grain and grass in Yelu Yanxi's army had already been eaten. The elite soldiers of the palace division army and the leather room army sent a large number of soldiers and horses out to fight the grass valley every day, but in the cold winter season, there was no grass in this place within a radius of dozens of miles, and the scarce villages had already been forcibly snatched away by Youzhou, and the houses were burned down, and the villagers who stayed behind had already been scared away by the Liao army's grass valley over and over again.

There was a bleak atmosphere on the other side, but the call for war on Yelu Dashi's side was in full swing. Yelu Tiege, Yelu Yanshan, Xiao Chalaa, Xiao Hulira, Yelu Bijie, Guo Baoyi and other fierce generals asked for battle, and even Urgon Murbo, who had originally saved his strength, also took the initiative to attack the north. But all their cries were silenced by Jerodashi.

"Every warrior in the camp is the foundation of the prosperity of my Great Khitan," Yelu Dashi looked at the opposite side and said in a deep voice, "The opposite side is also my Great Khitan warriors, and I would rather wait a little longer if I can shed less warrior blood." ”

"But," Yelu Tiege was still about to fight, but was interrupted by Yelu Dashi, "the enemy won't last long." Brother Tie, Urgon, you are all elite light cavalry, and from now on, let the warriors have their horses ready at all times, ready to pursue the fleeing enemy. Yanshan, Erila, Raa, Bijie, and Baoyi, you must also cheer up and prevent the enemy from dying and counterattacking. ”

The generals were in good spirits and replied yes, and the sound shook the snow on all sides of the Chinese army's lookout to the ground.

Yelu Dashi nodded with satisfaction, took a deep breath of the air with ice and snow, looked up into the distance, his eyes crossed the enemy's camp, and the mountains in the north in the distance were all covered with snow, like a giant snake hibernating, just waiting for the spring thunder to burst, and then turn into a dragon. The snow began to fall again and again, and fell on the big white tower he was wearing.

When the Khitan soldiers passed by the watchtower, they all looked up to look for the figure of Yelu Dashi, and their eyes were full of reverence. Everyone believed that as long as the army struck a blow, the opposite side would definitely not be able to resist it, and Da Shi Linya could successfully ascend the throne and become emperor, but in order to cherish the lives of his Khitan warriors, he was willing to be patient for a while longer, and let the cold winter wear down the enemy's morale and energy. The weather is getting colder and colder, and the branches of the trees near the camp opposite are all cut down, and in a few days, I am afraid that there will not be enough firewood and grass.

The heavy snow fell for three consecutive days, and the smoke of Yelu Yanxi's hundreds of thousands of military camps became more and more sparse and gloomy. On the night of the third day, as several fireworks suddenly pierced the night sky, Yelu Dashi beat the drum and gathered the generals. "Yelu Yanxi, this faint monarch has withdrawn." Yelu Dashi said contemptuously, "He won't be able to take too many troops with him." Brother Tie, Urgon! ”

"In!" Brother Yelu burst into tears, staring at Yelu Dashi without blinking.

"Each of you should lead 5,000 elite cavalry, don't get entangled with the enemy's camp, and only go to pursue Yelu Yanxi." Yelu Dashi looked at Yelu Tiege and said in an accentuated tone, "If you can't be captured alive, bring me the head of the faint monarch back!" ”

"The last general commands!" Jerod turned and ran out of the tent, his iron armor clanging, and Urgon Mulber hurried after him. His Majesty Dashi entrusted such an important task to the Murbo people, and it must not be lost to the Khitans. Barely half a pillar of incense time, the two elite horses galloped out of the gate, with more than a dozen hunting dogs that followed the track, barking as they ran.

"General, are we going to attack the enemy camp?" Yelu Yanshan said in a deep voice.

"All the departments are arrayed, Yanshan, you lead the elite of your headquarters and the Han military camp to guard the camp together to prevent Yelu Yanxi from cheating." Yelu Dashi said in a deep voice, and then turned his head to Xiao Lira and said: "Erila leads the 10,000 cavalry of the Chinese army, and follows me to the enemy formation to spy on the truth. Xiao Lili received the order loudly, and Yelu Dashi handed over the important task of guarding to him, feeling extremely proud in his heart, and the expression on his face was also revealed. All the generals were a little jealous, and listened to Yelu Dashi say: "The rest of the generals will lead their headquarters and go out of the camp to line up." No orders from the generals, no unauthorized attacks! ”

The news that Yelu Yanxi fled with thousands of pro-troops on horseback has spread among the army of the North Courtyard at this moment, and the Liao army, which has been tormented by months of cold, death, fatigue, and hunger, has become a mess at this moment, some of the commanding officers are galloping in the camp with their personal retinues, some have fled towards the north on horseback, and more people are shouting helplessly in vain. Because there was no food in the camp tent, the ordinary Liao army even killed horses to eat. It has just fallen in heavy snow, and if you escape at this time, you will be frozen to death if you can't run for a hundred miles. The snow in the camp had been trampled into mud, and there were soldiers running around like headless flies, and some people were looting the baggage of the Chinese army, but they found that there was nothing of value left, let alone a grain of food. I couldn't help but set the tabernacle on fire in despair. Even if the commanders had the intention to surrender to Yelu Dashi, they could not calm the chaotic barracks. Seeing that the army of hundreds of thousands was about to disperse in a hurry.

At this time, there was a terrifying news from the front, the Youzhou army was out of the camp and lined up!

Xiao Yixue was appointed by Emperor Yelu Yanxi as the privy envoy of the Northern Court a day ago, and he was anxious to straighten out the soldiers and horses in his hands, and now his gratitude to Yelu Yanxi has been swept away. I don't expect to be able to resist the attack of Yelu Dashi, but I just hope to protect myself from the rebellion. The war between the Khitans was extremely cruel, and those who lost had only one way to die.

The Khitan army in the southern camp approached slowly, and the wide army formation was next to the mountain to the west and the sea to the east. The formation is continuous and tight, the advance and retreat are measured, the sound of the beard and the sound of the golden drums are intertwined, as if they are in the martial arts arena, and they give the enemy a sense of desperate oppression. "The Youzhou army is not without the strength to fight, and the reason why they are guarding the camp is to let the weather and hunger defeat the army of the North Courtyard." Xiao Yixue thought bitterly.

"Privy Counsellor, they stopped." The pro-soldiers in front shouted loudly. Xiao Yixue nodded slightly, and he also saw it. Yelu Dashi was cautious in his use of soldiers, even if such a big victory was in front, he was careful not to fall into the trap, "It won't be long before you can see the truth clearly, and you should be attacking." Xiao Yixue touched the handle of the knife, and felt a chill on the back of his neck.

The soldiers pointed to the south and shouted, "Move, the army move!" There was a hint of desperation in his voice. Xiao Yixue's eyes lit up, and about 10,000 horsemen in the front of the Youzhou Army walked slowly and broke away from the big formation. The 10,000 cavalry army is in good shape, the soldiers in front of them are holding up the black wolf flag, and there is a white horse standing in front of the banner, which seems to be the commander of the army. This posture is not like two armies fighting, but slowly approaching like friendly forces.

But seeing a horse holding high the Khitan Japanese flag used in the ceremony, galloping towards the barracks of the North Courtyard, Xiao Yixue's heart moved, and he rose to a burst of hope, and shouted loudly: "Don't let go of arrows!" Under this order, the Khitan army in the front camp lowered their bows and arrows. I saw that the cavalry came to the front of the camp and shouted loudly: "Marshal Dashi has an order, the crime is in the faint king, if the army is attached to Dashi, then forgive its sin and rejuvenate the Khitan together!" ”

As soon as these words came out, the surrounding soldiers all turned their eyes to Xiao Yixue, Xiao Yixue looked back at the camp where the fire was getting bigger and bigger, only tens of thousands of defeated troops were at a loss in the camp, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, took off his helmet, and handed it to his own soldiers. He rode alone in front of the big stone horse of Yelu, dismounted and knelt on the ground, lowered his head and whispered: "The criminal minister Xiao Yixue is willing to belong to Marshal Dashi." ”

Yelu Dashi smiled slightly, leaned down, whipped him on the shoulder with a horsewhip, straightened up again, and said in a deep voice: "You are loyal to the Khitan Emperor, what is the crime?" All the sins are on the faint king, and the villains around him. He paused, pointed at the noisy military camp in front of him, and said in a deep voice, "General Xiao, and accompany me to appease my Khitan soldiers." ”

Xiao Yixue was originally panicked, but at this moment, he was greatly moved, raised his head and said, "The minister is willing to follow Marshal Dashi!" Immediately turned over the saddle and got on the horse, followed behind Yelu Dashi, 10,000 cavalry slowly approached the camp, the Khitan army guarding the camp saw that the privy envoys of the Northern Court had surrendered, and had already opened the gate wide, and the Khitan army guarding the gate knelt on both sides of the road, not daring to raise their heads, and watched the horses' hooves trampling on the muddy ice and snow, slowly passing in front of them. Before long, in the noisy camp, cheers rang out one after another. More than 100,000 Liao troops shouted first, "Long live Dashi!" Then he shouted, "Long live Your Majesty!" "The sound boom is very clear, even more than ten miles away. After this night, the Liao soldiers from the north and south joined forces, although they did not officially ascend the throne, the army only called Yelu Dashi His Majesty, and no longer called the marshal.

On the afternoon of the second day, the head of Yelu Yanxi was brought to the tent, and the man who killed him was Tachi Murbo.

Yelu Dashi looked at the dead head in the tray, his eyes were complicated, and he waved his hand to take it down. Turning his head to Tachi Murbo and smiling: "Sure enough, it is a hero who came out of a young man, very good, at a young age, he has made such a great contribution, what reward do you want from me, just say it!" He looked left and right, and all the Khitan generals were smiling at Natachi, these generals had either followed Yelu Dashi for a long time, or had just just returned to obedience, and they were not jealous of a young man.

Tachi Murbo held back for a long time, unable to speak, and the other generals couldn't help but secretly laugh that he had never seen the world, and Yelu Dashi also liked him for being brave and straightforward, leaning down and smiling: "Have you thought about it?" Tell me what you want, and I will not refuse to give you any reward. ”

Tachi fell to his knees suddenly, raised his head and said in a loud voice: "Don't want anything else, just ask Your Majesty to send troops to Mobei to avenge my Erbo people!" Urgon also fell to his knees and said in unison: "The people of Urb are willing to join your majesty, and only ask your majesty to avenge my father Khan!" ”

As soon as these words came out, the tent suddenly fell silent, and Yelu Dashi did not expect them to bring this up, his eyes instantly became solemn, and he touched his beard with his right hand and groaned. At present, the major events must first be decided to go to Beijing, straighten out all things in the country, and then send troops to Liaodong to wipe out the Jurchen Jin Kingdom. These two cases are all big troubles, and the matter of Mobei is not in the position now.