Previous Chapter: Chapter 483 Where is the Boundary Between Friend and Foe Next Chapter: Chapter 485 If You Have a Benefit, You Will Take It

Li Mao explained with a smile: "There are no eternal friends, whether they are friends or foes, it depends on interests, and those barbarians do this better than us, we are too faithful, and we are often teased by them when dealing with them." ”

The purpose of cutting off the funding for the Murwei people and instead subsidizing the Khitans in the name of Yingju was to stabilize the northern border and avoid falling into the disadvantageous situation of being attacked on both sides in the face of a showdown between Liaodong and Silla.

The people of Murowei were really furious, and the leaders of the six tribes, in front of Li Mao's envoys, openly threatened to go south to conquer the two prefectures of Dong and Gao, kill all the men, rape all the women, and plunder the children and livestock back to the tribe.

The great leader of the Murwei people, Spike Hua and the deacon of the Elder Alliance, Meng Dun, sat still, and the fierce shield was closed to raise his spirit, and Spike Hua waited for everyone to shout a little quieter, and then interjected and asked the messenger: "Why do you want to stop funding us, are we no longer allies, are you planning to form an alliance with our enemies, the Khitans?"

The envoy replied respectfully: "The great chief, Rong Yu, it is not that Dongju is unwilling to fund the allies, but it is really beyond his strength, and the Silla people covet our iron ore and want to send troops to seize it. We had to recruit soldiers to guard our iron mines. The big leader must know that the reason why Dongzhou has the strength to fund your ministry is entirely due to this iron mine. Now, however, we have to use the money we have given to our friends to build up our armaments against the Sillas. ”

Hearing this, the leaders of the six tribes subsided slightly, and then began to greet the ancestors of the Silla people in unison.

When Li Mao opened a coal and iron mine in Liaodong to smelt iron and steel nearby, the big leader Xue Bihua once expressed the intention of partnership, he heard a Han adviser say that it was profitable to do so, he sent an envoy to Li Mao to ask for advice, Li Mao did not refuse, and personally took his envoy to visit the iron ore area and the iron-making plant.

After the visit, the chief gave up the idea of partnership, and according to the envoy, mining was too hard and iron-making was too cumbersome, and instead of boiling his brain to do these things, it was better to take some dry shares, sit on the ground and divide it and do nothing.

The wishful thinking of the people of Murowei is that the cow Li Mao is raised and milked slowly, and everything is easy to say if the cow cooperates, and the cow is stingy with the benefits and is unwilling to share, hehe, when the time comes, he will lead his troops south, kill the cow and eat meat.

In his heart, the masters of Liaodong have and only one family, and the only strong opponents of the Murwei people are the Khitans, as for the Tang people, their country has declined, and Donggaozhou, which has no support, is just a spark that can be extinguished at any time.

Based on this understanding, completely defeating the Khitans has become their primary goal, as for the iron factory, in their opinion, it is originally in the bag, whatever time he goes, when he will slow down, when the foal grows into a horse, his, everything is his.

Sprite said: "Since our allies are in trouble, as friends, we are willing to help. I plan to lead six elite troops south to assist you in guarding the ironworks and striking at the Silla people. ”

The messenger was overjoyed and said, "In this way, it is my luck in Liaodong." ”

"Still." The Great Leader of Murwei changed his words, "Our department is short of grain and grass now, you have to prepare enough food and grass for us." ”

The messenger said, "That's natural, our two families are allies." ”

After sending the envoy, the leaders of the six divisions of Murowei looked at each other and laughed, the Qi Dao barbarians were stupid, and one of the leaders asked Xue Bihua: "If Silla sends troops to Liaodong, how should we deal with it?"

The big leader said: "Their country is thousands of miles away, and there is the king of Bohai in the east, even if they occupy Liaodong, they will not be able to hold it after all." Read the latest chapter of this book, please go to Tanghua and let the Silla people go to defeat Li Mao first, and while they are both defeated, we will expel the Silla people and force Li Mao to submit, then Liaodong will still be our territory. ”

Everyone shouted in unison, only the deacon of the Six Ministers and Elders' Alliance, who had been silent, snorted a trace of disdain in his nose.

The people of Murowei felt that their plan was perfect, and it was not until the moment before they sent their troops to the south that they realized how stupid this plan was, and the remnants of the Khitan who had been beaten by them and were no longer able to resist suddenly took the initiative to walk out of the dense forest and launched a strong counterattack against them.

They attacked the two small tribes of the Murwei people head-on, killing them by surprise, once they succeeded, the murderous nature of the Khitans was undoubtedly exposed, they killed everything they could, burned everything they could, robbed everything they could, and then left an insulting text to leave.

After receiving the report, Sprite inspected the battlefield, and after only one glance, she concluded that the plan to go south must be aborted, and the cruelty of the Khitans had aroused great hatred among his people.

"The Khitan people are not far from the day of destruction, the area north of the Liao River will definitely be the world of the Murwei people, we are invincible, and Changshengtian is on our side. We want revenge, revenge" Sprite finished boosting her morale and looked at the south melancholy, feeling a little unwilling, but helpless.

The Khitans' elaborate battle of the Liangdan River yielded little to no avail, except for the capture of two stinking empty camps, and the defeat on the battlefield caused a huge political crisis, and the Khitan internal opposition violently attacked the incompetence of the rulers, forcing the Yaoran and Yelu clans to abandon their previous grievances and unite closely to stabilize their rule.

But internal unity does not completely eliminate the crisis, they also need a victory, a big victory to get out of the crisis, and it just so happens that such an opportunity has come.

There is a slang saying among the Han people that as soon as you want to doze off, someone sent a pillow, Qin Mo came here to send them a pillow, Qin Mo still came as a businessman this time, but it was not a leather merchant in Donggao Town, but a leather merchant in Yingzhou, as for what vest he was wearing, it didn't matter, anyway, the Khitan people already knew his true identity.

The Khitans were overjoyed to learn that Li Mao was going to dissolve the alliance with the Murwei people, but they couldn't believe it, Li Mao was more cunning than ordinary Han people, and his words were really not credulous. In order to find out, the Khitans sent their secret weapon, Yeluao's frost wife. After the all-night battle, the Qin leather merchant was exhausted, his consciousness was in a state of travel, and his bed companion took the opportunity to obtain his information, and the Khitan people thought that what Qin Mo said this time was true:

Li Mao couldn't bear the demands of the people of Murowei, so he had no choice but to turn his face with them. He was weak in strength and cowardly in temperament, and he didn't dare to fight against the Murwei people alone, so he was looking for allies.

Now that they have seen the hole cards clearly, it is impossible for the Khitans to agree to the request of the Yingzhou leather merchants so easily, and they slaughtered the fake Yingzhou people ruthlessly

Qin Mo jumped like thunder and walked away, ignoring even his lover.

After avenging the revenge of an arrow, the Khitans, who were in a happy mood, immediately organized a battle against the Murwei people, which was not only related to their hegemony in the grassland, but also related to their status in the clan, so they were naturally carefully prepared and went all out.

Li Mao was very relieved to learn that the Khitan and Murwei people were fighting in the area of Huangshui and Tuhuzhen River in the upper reaches of the Liao River.

After stabilizing the northern border, Li Mao categorically ended his training plan in the forest, and he gathered the main force of the slave army and secretly marched south.

The target of this battle is the Sand Boss of Beisha City, Li Mao needs to stop the Silla people in Yalushui, and the Sand Boss is unreliable, so Beisha City must have a new owner.

Sha Boss once detained the steward of Haidong Trading Company and tortured and killed six sailors, this is a blood debt, but Li Mao has not freed up his hand to ask him to pay it back, and now the opportunity has come, the new hatred and old hatred are counted together, and Sha Boss will definitely die.

The two prefectures of East and Gao have a total of two cities, four towns and eighteen forts, and it takes 5,000 people to divide the troops to garrison, and there is also a premise here that the Murwei people do not have a far-reaching and broad strategic view, and will not end their blood feud with the Khitans, and take advantage of Li Mao's southward journey to stab a knife in the back.

If they had excellent strategic vision, none of the garrisons in the east and Gaozhou would be able to mobilize.

How many military horses are needed for the southern expedition to Beisha City, Li Mao's calculation is that 2,000 soldiers and horses are enough, but there is a problem that he has to defend Xue Qingyu to the east and guard against the Zhu clan in Yingzhou to the west, so that there are no 10,000 soldiers and horses that cannot be moved, and 10,000 soldiers and horses, even if the female soldiers are counted, they can only barely be gathered.

This battle was undoubtedly a great adventure, and Tutu Chengxuan was very worried and persuaded Li Mao: "Silla is a vassal of our Tang Dynasty, what dare he dare to compete with the Shangguo for Liaodong, let's take such a big risk to fight with the Silla people, is it worth it?"

It was the first time that Tutu Chengguang was the military envoy who had argued with Li Mao on a major strategic issue. Li Mao took him to the huge sand table, pointed out the location of the two states of East and Gao, and said: "Liaodong is now a father who does not love his mother and does not love, and the two states are lonely. The masters behind Liaodong City are the Silla people, and they are the pawns who seize the interests of Liaodong for the Silla people. If I want to gain a foothold in Liaodong, I will inevitably pull out this nail, and this is non-negotiable."

Li Mao pointed to a piece near the sea and said: "This is the Nanhai Mansion of the Bohai State, also called Nanjing, which is the border between the Bohai Sea and the Silla State, and the two countries have fought for nearly a hundred years in order to fight for this place. In the past ten years, Bohai has been in turmoil, and it has the upper hand. However, since the end of last year, Silla has taken the initiative to withdraw its troops, and it is reported that the king of Silla sent a secret envoy to the capital of Balhae to meet with the special envoy of the king of Balhae, and the two countries made a secret agreement: Silla recognized that Namhae Province was the territory of Balhae, and promised not to raise troops again. As a condition, the Bohai State was also not allowed to station heavy troops in Nanhai Prefecture, and lifted its support for Pyongyang's Zhao Fengcheng, and the two countries turned hostility into friendship. This spring, the Silla State sent an envoy to escort the prince and princess into the Bohai Sea, and signed a marriage contract with the son of the powerful Zhongshu Ling Damu of the Balhae State, and the two contracts were one family. ”

Tu Tu Chengguang said: "Then what does he want?"

Li Mao sighed: "Ill-intentioned. I received news that the king of Silla had gathered a heavy army south of Ap Seo and was attempting to go north. It's not that I want to fight him, it's that he wants to beat me, and I have to fight. ”

Tutu Chengguang said: "Since it is to deal with Silla, why do you have to travel thousands of miles to fight Beisha City, isn't this the opposite of the north?"

Li Mao said with a smile: "Brother Tutu, please see, this is Yalushui, which is the only place for Silla to go north, this is Beisha City, from Beisha City to cross the sea and go upstream, you can form a defense line in Yalushui, I dare not say that I can prevent the Silla army from crossing north, but it is still possible to attack its baggage." The soldiers and horses did not move the grain and grass first, and Liaodong was a barbaric land, and without domestic logistics supplies, they could not afford to fight this battle. ”

Tu Tu Chenghuang said: "I don't understand the war, it's good if you understand, but when the main force goes out, the rear always has to stay behind to guard the military horses, in case the Wei people take advantage of the situation to enter, these barbarian slaves, how can he have faith at all." ”

Li Mao said: "The troops are insufficient, so we can only go south with all our might, and the rear can only learn from Zhuge Kongming to sing the empty city plan." When the time comes, you will have to rely on the prestige of Brother Tutu to deter those barbarians. ”

Tutu Chenghuang swallowed and spit, and said: "This is our family ordered to come to supervise the army, supervise the army, naturally have to be with the army, where you are the commander, I will be there, you can choose someone to take charge of this rear pacification, I will not participate." ”

Tu Tu Chenghuang's words are in Li Mao's mind, and he is also worried that Tu Tu Chenghuang will not go to the front line for fear of the hardships and dangers, after all, the situation in Liaodong is a bit special, and Li Mao is also afraid that he will make some small moves behind his back.

According to the original plan, the Anton Army was divided into three groups:

The first group, with the second and third divisions as the main force and Kim Do-an as the main general, has the strongest military strength.

The second group, with the first division as the main backbone, Zheng Xiaozhang as the main general, Wen Cheng as the deputy general, Zheng Xiaozhang is also the director of the whole army's grain and materials, and the main department is the rear guard.

The third group, with the newly formed Fourth Division and the mercenary army "Slave Bondage" as the main backbone, and Ma Hedong as the main general, is the general reserve of the whole army.

Li Mao's Southern Expeditionary Group was not among the above three groups, and its strength was mainly composed of the guards and the newly built "slave binding army", and the troops of the first and second groups were appropriately transferred, with a total strength of 3,500 people.

In terms of generals, there are mainly Mao Taigong, Shi Kong, Ma Xiongan, Wei Xiangcheng, Wei Guanhai, Hu Nanxiang, grain director, Mao Dayou, deputy director, and Tutu Chengxuan, the military envoy, and Chen Xiaoyi, the military envoy.

Li Mao has the smallest troops, but the members are all veterans of battle, and their combat effectiveness is very strong.

Li Maojian's commander Lingqi was in Gaozhou, announcing that the camp was closed to practice soldiers and horses, and Jin Daoan, Zheng Xiaozhang, Xie Biao, and Qin Mo were left to preside over the daily affairs of the rear.

Even if the Silla people did not covet Liaodong, Li Mao would sooner or later seek to take Beisha City, which was located in the area of today's Dalian and Lushun, and had a natural excellent port, which was the main link between Liaodong and Ziqing, and the geographical location was extremely important.

Of course, if the Silla people did not send troops to Liaodong, the plan to capture the city might have to be delayed for a few years, waiting for Li Mao to clear the Khitan and Murwei people on the northern border.

Based on various intelligence, it was learned that not long ago, there was a civil strife in Beisha City, and the four major families who controlled the city fought because of a trivial matter, and now although the smoke of gunpowder has dissipated, it is still tense, and a fire is in full swing, and Sang Rong, who is one of the parties involved, is not sure to have the last laugh in this fire, so he has to ask Li Mao for help.

This was really just about to doze off when someone sent a pillow, and Li Mao decided to immediately seize Beisha City.

How to encourage his subordinates to work hard to fight, Li Mao is now familiar with the road, he portrayed Beisha City as a paradise on earth full of gold and beautiful women, where there is an inexhaustible supply of gold and silver, cattle and sheep, and beautiful women and wine, and the internal strife in Beisha City is imminent, and the city defense is lax, which is a golden opportunity to break the city.

The subordinates were soon agitated, especially the mercenaries of the slave army, one by one, eager to fly over with their wings, snatch him and kill him happily.

They petitioned in groups, demanding that they march to Beisha City day and night, and for this reason they did not hesitate to offend Li Mao's tiger power, and while he was asleep, they dismantled his sleeping tent, "invited" him to be on a stretcher, and carried him in turn.

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