Chapter 217: Steppe Wolves

Early the next morning, a team of fourteen people left Chang'an City, and those who went out of the city were generally not inspected, so they did not encounter any obstacles when they went out of the city gate with weapons and pretended to be merchants. The group drove the carriage away, and Prince Zhong stayed in Chang'an City for the ten people, plus the big dog, the unicorn, the iron slave and the night owl.

This time, there was only one sinking fan left by Fang Jie's side, especially without the big dog, which seemed a lot more deserted. Back in the shop, Fang Xie didn't want to go out again.

"Hopefully, they don't have any strong opponents this time."

Fang Xie sighed, he still didn't have any confidence in his heart. He didn't know much about the ten people of Chungu, so he was not sure if he could protect Wu Yinyu with the strength of their fourteen people. Wu Yinyu is in Qingle Mountain, and now that he thinks about it, he can't say that he is absolutely safe. Those Taoists don't take special care of a little girl, and if the killer pretends to be a tourist and goes up the mountain, it is impossible to prevent it at all.

"The lame man said that ten of them are very strong."

Shen tilted fan comforted Fang and explained.

Fang Xie nodded: "There is only so much that can be done now, and there are still too few people around me." It seems that in the future, I will really pay more attention to the people who can be used in secret, and more helpers will be necessary after all. There are a few people in the martial arts academy who are suitable, but at least they can't help me for two years. So if you want to find people, it's better to touch in the rivers and lakes. Gyeonggi-do is the place with the fewest visitors and of course the place with the most great practitioners. But those great cultivators, who wants to follow me? ”

Shen tilted his chin and raised his chin: "I am also a great cultivator now. ”

Fang Xie smiled at her words, and took her hand to sit down on his lap. Holding the *** that Shen Tilt Fan was holding and smelling the faint body fragrance on her body, Fang Xie buried his head in her chest and muttered, "Actually, I should be content now, right?" ”

"Contentment makes a man lazy."

Shen Tianfan smiled and said, "This is what you said." ”

Fang Xie shook his head: "If only I didn't have to get involved in so many things, I would be promoted and made a fortune in a plain way." ”

Shen Tianfan's fingers brushed lightly on Fang Jie's cheeks: "The ordinary promotion and fortune is like a pipe dream. Those adults in the court seem to be infinitely beautiful, who doesn't have troubles behind them? Sometimes they have to stand in line and have to express their attitude, but in fact, most of them don't want to provoke, and they are all thinking of being promoted and making a fortune. ”

"It's a bit of an extravagant idea."

Fang Xie suddenly thought of a question: "You haven't told me yet, what was the name of your original sect and where is it?" ”

"The largest mountain range in Nanyan is called Moshan, and my division is on Moshan. The division is called Huachi Yuan, and they are all women. It is said that the ancestor who founded the sect was a concubine of the Shang Kingdom, and after being deposed by the emperor from the cold palace, she read and wrote every day, and later because she had read too many books, she actually figured out how the great cultivators recorded in these scriptures and historical classics practiced, and in this way, she was locked up in the cold palace for 16 years, and she was very high in self-cultivation without a teacher. ”

Sixteen years later, she escaped from the cold palace, and when she saw injustice along the way, she reached out to take care of it, and saved seven women, and she took these seven people as disciples. On the hill, the eight of them built a wooden house by themselves, because there was a pond not far from the place where they lived, so she called this place Huachi. Later, there were more and more disciples of the sect, and the name of Huachi Yuan gradually became louder in Nanyan. ”

"However, within Nanyan, there is another sect that is also all women and is stronger than my Hua Chi Yuan, and since that mysterious man seriously injured the master and several elders in the sect, Hua Chi Yuan has lost its former glory. The other sect is all women, called Ethereal Palace. ”

"It's a strange woman."

Fang Xie sighed with emotion: "Zhuo Buyi has been meditating in the copper wall for ten years, and realized that painting the ground is a prison. The patriarch of your sect studied in the cold palace for sixteen years, and finally became a great cultivator. But I'm not the kind of person who can calm down, and if I were to be trapped in one place for ten years, I was afraid that I would probably become a fool. ”

Shen Tianfan shook his head: "What I haven't experienced, no one can be sure." Moreover, I have always believed that even if people all over the world are living in difficult situations, you must be the best one to find a way to live. ”

"The lady values me so much, I am grateful."

Fang Xie said with a smile.

"It's because you're shameless enough to be shameless."

Shen Tianfan explained seriously.

Fang Xie pursed his lips and patted her on the buttocks: "You say, if something really happens to Sanjin Hou, if I go to ask the lame master, will he help?" You two Jiupin masters, he doesn't know how sure he is when he was rescued from Chang'an City. As long as he doesn't die, as for the goods to go all over the world...... Nine times out of ten, it can't be saved. ”

"Fang Jie, don't you think the emperor is a very paranoid person?"

Shen asked the fan.

"Feel"

Fang Xie nodded: "From the beginning, I thought he was a paranoid and terrible person, especially later, knowing what he did for this expedition to the northwest, I felt that he was even more terrifying. The responsibility of the successive emperors of the Great Sui to expand their territory is where his obsession lies. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Fortunately, the emperor is not a person who does anything for the sake of the desires in his heart, he has been preparing for this war for more than ten years, and who knows how many years this war will take? ”

"Don't you think the Great Sui can win?"

Shen Tianfan frowned and asked.

"Win?"

Fang Xie slowly shook his head: "If I am an authentic Sui person, if I hadn't been in Fangu for three years, maybe I would be as sure as the people would think that the Great Sui would win, but it is precisely because I know some things about the Mengyuan people and some things about Buddhism, so I always feel that I will not win this war so easily, even if I win, maybe ...... It was also a pyrrhic victory. ”

Shen Tianfan was silent, thinking that it was really so important to be the emperor to expand the territory and leave a name in history?

……

……

Northwest steppes

The general Li Yuanshan personally led nearly 20,000 cavalry to pursue the remnants of the Mandu Banner, and the men and horses of the Mandu Banner were defeated and retreated all the way to Tumu Fort. This is the second largest city in the Mandu Banner, second only to Zhicheng. However, this place is really not big, because the Mengyuan people have never been in the habit of building big cities. The civil fort is next to the Keqin Banner, and less than 20 miles to the west is the camp of nearly 60,000 iron horsemen personally led by the Keqin Banner Banner's owner, Keqin Lelang.

Perhaps now Keqin Lelang is already regretting why he didn't send troops to help Mandu Ratu in the first place. He really didn't expect the Sui people's offensive to be so fierce, and the belligerent Mandu Ratu was defeated so easily. The Mandu flag is finished, and the banner owner Mandu Latu and his son Mandu Teller are dead. The eldest son in the royal court was lonely at this time, like a wild goose that had escaped from a flock.

The battle on the grassland was originally cruel, and although a family that had been destroyed was a shame for the Mengyuan people, no one was willing to help Mandu Qi get back on his feet.

Mandu Yong may have rushed back with the royal army, but by the time he returned, the family's pasture had become enemy territory.

The reinforcements sent by the royal court were camped about thirty miles away from the Keqin Banner, and this time the troops were led by Meng Ge Dahan's younger brother Kuoketai Menglie, who led the royal court's 200,000 troops to arrive in advance. By the time they left the royal court, the second group of reinforcements had already gathered, probably reaching the easternmost part of the steppe no later than they did.

The Sui army swept the Mandu banner, and most of the territory was occupied by them. The 700,000 Sui army marched westward for 1,700 li and began to build a defensive line, and before His Majesty's will came down, the first task of the army to the west was to hold the nearly 2,000 li of grassland that had just been taken.

For Da Sui, this is more than just a number.

Great Sui Qi lacked war horses, and Mengyuan was the country with the most war horses in the world. With these two thousand miles of grassland, the Great Sui was able to establish its own horse farm and train its own cavalry. As long as the Mandu flag can be held, ten years later, the Great Sui will have a strong cavalry team. At that time, in the comparison of strength with Meng Yuan, the Great Sui will have an advantage.

The reason why neither the Great Sui nor the Meng Yuan were willing to go to war easily before that was because the monarchs of both countries were not sure to win the war. It is impossible for the infantry of the Sui people to fight deep into the grassland, and it is impossible for the cavalry of the Mengyuan people to conquer so many large cities densely packed in the Great Sui.

But now, the scales seem to be tipping.

As long as the Great Sui held the victory, then when the cavalry of the Great Sui became stronger, the Sui people would have the strength to further conquer westward.

Tumu Fort is a small city built on a dirt hill, and there were less than 4,000 herdsmen and more than 1,000 cavalry living here. When the rout of the Mandu wolves entered here, the already small city became even more crowded. About 8,000 people were crammed into the earthen city, and food and weapons were their first concerns.

Because the west side of the Tumu Fort was the territory of the Keqin Banner, the Sui army only surrounded the south, northeast and south sides of the Tumu Fort. The Sui army was not willing to easily put a group of men and horses in the gap between the Mengyuan people, and the terrain here was not suitable for encirclement on all sides.

Mandu Wolf stood on the west side of Tucheng, looking at the camp of the Keqin Banner army faintly visible in the distance, frowning slightly. The old fox of Keqin Lelang refused to take his men and horses forward, he was worried about being attacked by the Sui people and wanted to preserve his strength. But if there are no reinforcements, this small civil fort will definitely not be able to hold on for long.

He killed Mandu Ratu to avenge his father, to regain what should have belonged to him. But he didn't expect that the royal court's reinforcements would also stand still forty or fifty miles away. That despicable fellow of Koktai Menglie must not have any good intentions.

While he was pondering, suddenly a group of men galloped to the west. It seems that there are not many people, about seventy or eighty rides. When I got closer, I saw that it was the banner of the Mandu Flag.

The seventy or eighty horsemen and horses arrived outside the civil fort, and the leader shouted: "I am Mandu Yong, the warriors of the Mandu Banner defending the city, open the city gate and welcome your new banner master into the city!" ”

Hearing his shouting, Mandu Wolf's brows furrowed even deeper.

"General, please open the city gate, it's really the young banner lord who has returned."

A commander shouted excitedly.

Mandu Wolf's eyes lit up, and he nodded to Agudam, who understood what he meant, and led his own soldiers down from the walls of Tucheng.

"Welcome back, my bannermaster!"

The Mandu wolf shouted on the city walls.

The city gate creaked open, and Mandu Yong poured into the city gate with seventy or eighty cavalry soldiers. Man Duyong looked at the herdsmen and soldiers who had gathered around, and he was so sad that he even wanted to cry. As soon as he opened his mouth to say something, a wolf's tooth arrow passed through his mouth, and a bloody arrow came out of the back of his head, and there were some white **s on it.

In an instant, hundreds of wolf-tooth arrows poured down, and the seventy or eighty cavalry soldiers were shot to the ground before they could react.

This mutation surprised everyone, and they looked at the Mandu wolf standing on the city wall, with fear and anger in their eyes. The Mandu Wolf laughed loudly, glanced at the crowd below and asked loudly, "Now, is there anyone who opposes me inheriting the banner master of the Mandu Banner?" If so, you can stand up and speak. ”

Agudamu stood with hundreds of his own soldiers armed with bows and arrows, and the originally angry people began to retreat. Mandu Yong is dead, what else can they do? Help Mandu Yong take revenge? They don't have the courage. The herdsmen did not dare, and neither did the soldiers. The strict hierarchy made them full of fear for the people of the Mandu family, and now ...... There is only one Mandu wolf left in the Mandu family.

"Kids, bury him. Next, we should think about how to repel the Sui talents. ”

The Mandu wolf smiled, his expression flat as if he had just killed a flock of sheep.