At the beginning of July, the soldiers of the Mongolian Western Expeditionary Army had already gathered at Baiying Mountain from all over the country, which made the foot of Baiying Mountain a huge military camp.

At the same time, the soldiers of the Mongol tribes in Moxi have also gathered in Urumqi, and the city of Urumqi is full of soldiers, preparing to fight to the death with the Mongolian Western Expeditionary Army and the Ming Army.

Naturally, the Turghut and Dulbert tribes also sent soldiers to participate in the battle, and now outsiders did not know that the Great Khan of these two tribes had signed a letter of alliance with Bahat, and this kind of thing was naturally carried out in secret.

In other words, the soldiers of the Turgor Department and the Dulbert Department were in Cao Ying's heart in Han, and they were the two bombs that Li Hongyu planted next to the Dzungar Department and the Heshute Department, which would explode at a critical moment, so that the Junggar Department and the Heshute Department who were not prepared at all would be shattered.

It is worth mentioning that the main general who led the soldiers of the Dulbert Department this time was ******, as a young man with great ambitions, he did not want to die of old age in Moxi, a place with a big palm, and the great achievements of the Mongol Empire in the past inspired him.

Therefore, ****** succeeded in convincing his father to seize the throne of his grandfather, the Great Khan of Rubat, and secretly signed a letter of alliance with Atai.

In ******'s opinion, Moxi Mongolia can't fight the Mongol Western Expeditionary Army and the Ming Army at all, even if they win this time, then with the support of Li Hongyu, Bahat and the Ming Army will launch a steady stream of attacks, making Moxi Mongolia tired of coping.

So the best option was to form an alliance with Bahat, which he believed would be in the best interests of the Dulbert Ministry.

White Eagle Mountain.

Surrounded by a group of guards, Li Hongyu rode his horse on the grassland, and he liked the feeling of galloping, and at the same time, it was also a kind of self-release pressure before the war.

Because the sound of galloping horses' hooves disturbed the prairie hares hiding in the grass, Li Hongyu saw some yellow-furred prairie hares running quickly in the grass, looking for a place to hide.

Seeing this, Li Hongyu took off the bow and arrow hanging on the horse's back, aimed it at a running grassland hare in the distance, and as soon as he let go, the sharp arrow flew over with a whistling and pierced directly into the hare's body.

The hare rolled over, and then fell into the grass on the side, Li Hongyu smiled slightly when he saw this, put away his bow and arrows, and galloped away, ready to pick up the hare and go back to roast and eat.

However, before Li Hongyu could get close to the hare, a petite figure suddenly appeared in the grass, reached out and grabbed the hare's ear, pulled out the arrow inserted in the hare's body, and ran away.

"Huh?"

Li Hongyu didn't expect someone to dare to snatch his prey, so he looked intently and saw that the petite figure was a grassland boy in tattered clothes, not about twelve or thirteen years old, and ran away in a panic.

Seeing this situation, Li Hongyu chased after him as soon as his legs clamped the horse's belly, he didn't care about the hare, but he wanted to tell the boy not to snatch those things that didn't belong to him, otherwise he would be lawless when he grew up.

The horse Li Hongyu was riding was naturally a good horse, so he quickly caught up with the young man who fled with a rabbit and blocked his way sideways.

The young man was taken aback when he saw this, then turned around and ran back to avoid Li Hongyu.

However, he was followed by the guards who chased after him, which made the boy plunge headlong into the encirclement, surrounded by guards on horseback.

The boy realized that he could not escape, so he gritted his teeth and pulled out a delicate short knife from his bosom, looking at the guards around him with some nervousness.

The guards couldn't help but laugh when they saw this, but they were just a little kid, and no one took him to heart.

"The hare in your hand is mine." Li Hongyu rode up to the young man and said with a smile to the young man who was a little thin and had a dirty face.

"It doesn't have your name written on it, so why does it say it's yours?" The young man glanced at the hare in his hand, licked his lips, and then glared at Li Hongyu and asked.

"It's simple, because I shot it, and the wound on its body is an arrow wound, and if you have an arrow then this hare is yours."

Li Hongyu immediately laughed when he heard this, he felt that this young man was very interesting, and his courage seemed to be quite big, if he were another teenager, he might not be able to speak now.

Hearing this, the young man couldn't help but look at the wound on the hare's body that was still dripping with blood, and then looked at the short knife in his hand, with an embarrassed look on his face, the type of wound on the rabbit's body was really different from the short knife in her hand.

"I made a mistake, give it back to you!" Then, the young man threw the hare he was carrying on the ground with a shake of his hand, looked at Li Hongyu vigilantly and said, "Can I go now?" ”

"Absolutely." Li Hongyu smiled when he heard this, and waved his hand to the guards surrounding the young man, and those guards got out of the way one after another.

Seeing this, the young man reluctantly glanced at the hare on the ground, swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva, and walked away, while a strange sound came from his lower abdomen.

"Wait a minute!"

Li Hongyu naturally heard the sound, and immediately realized that it was a hungry cry made when he was on an empty stomach, and it seemed that the child was already hungry, so he groaned for a while and called out to the young man.

"What are you going to do?" The young man was taken aback when he heard this, and after stopping, he looked at Li Hongyu vigilantly.

"As the saying goes, those who see have a share, since you picked up this hare, it means that we are destined, anyway, I can't eat so much, so let's share it together."

Seeing the young man staring at him vigilantly, Li Hongyu immediately laughed, glanced at the hare on the ground and said.

"Hmm!" The young man was stunned for a moment when he heard this, he didn't expect Li Hongyu to make such a proposal, he subconsciously licked his lips with his tongue, and after thinking about it, he nodded to Li Hongyu and agreed.

This made Li Hongyu feel that this young man was more interesting, so he rode over with a smile, leaned over and stretched out his hand to the young man.

The young man hesitated, reached out and grabbed Li Hongyu's big hand, Li Hongyu pulled him onto the horse's back with a force, sat in front of him, and then walked away with his legs between the horse's belly.

At noon, at the foot of Baiying Mountain, on the banks of the Yifen River.

Li Hongyu methodically put the hare on the shelf of the fire and roasted it, adding cumin and other seasonings from time to time, and the aroma was overflowing, so that the young man who was squatting in front of the fire with his chin on his hands and his chin swallowed saliva from time to time.

"If you're hungry, go eat first, and I'll be here for a while." Li Hongyu knew that the young man must be hungry, so he said with a smile while flipping and roasting, and the table next to him was full of hearty food.

The young man shook his head when he heard this, although he was indeed hungry, how could he eat alone, that would be too rude.

"Where is your home, I'll send someone to take you back later." Li Hongyu smiled slightly, glanced at the young man and asked quietly.

"I don't have a home!" The young man's eyes couldn't help but turn red when he heard this, and he shook his head at Li Hongyu and said, his expression was a little gloomy.

"What are your plans for the future?" Li Hongyu smiled and asked seemingly casually.

The boy shook his head again, the expression on his face became even more sad, and his eyes became moist, as if he had thought of something sad.

Seeing this, Li Hongyu knew that the young man was uncomfortable, so he didn't ask again, and after the roast rabbit was roasted, he beckoned the child to sit around the dining table next to him and feast together.

Although he was already hungry, the boy did not gobble it up, but used a knife to cut off the rabbit meat on the plate in front of him little by little, and his demeanor looked quite elegant.

Li Hongyu secretly paid attention to the young man's words and deeds, and he felt that this girl was definitely not a child of an ordinary family, and she was well-educated at first glance.

That's right, this young man who looked a little thin was a girl, Li Hongyu didn't know it at first, but when he pulled him onto the horse, he smelled a faint fragrance on the young man's body.

Later, Li Hongyu found that his skin was fair and his earlobes were pierced, and he immediately realized that the boy was actually a girl, but it had not been broken.

"You go and take her to the bath and get a new dress."

After lunch, Li Hongyu glanced at the girl who was leisurely drinking mare's milk tea there, and said to the Mongolian maid standing beside her.

"I don't have to bathe, thank you for your hospitality, I will definitely repay you if I have the opportunity in the future." The girl was taken aback when she heard this, and hurriedly put down the mare's milk tea in her hand, bowed to Li Hongyu and said, "I have something to leave now, and we will have a date later." ”

"Where can you go as a homeless girl?"

Li Hongyu smiled slightly when he heard this, drank the mare's milk wine in the wine glass in his hand, and then said to the girl with a smile, "In this way, there is just a maid next to me, that is, to help me fold the bed or something, I don't know if you want to?" ”

"You...... How do you know I'm a woman? The girl was stunned when she heard this, but she didn't expect Li Hongyu to see the identity of the woman dressed as a man, which surprised her, and she thought she was hiding it well.

"This is our Ming Taibao, how can you hide from him with that little bit of caution?" At this time, a guard standing nearby couldn't help but proudly say to the girl, when it comes to scheming, ten girls are not Li Hongyu's opponents.

"You...... You defeated the Yarkand people in Kansai last year? The girl was taken aback when she heard this, and looked at Li Hongyu in disbelief.

"You know me?" Considering that the girl might be from a wealthy background, Li Hongyu was not surprised that she knew him, so he asked with a quiet smile.

"The war in Kansai has spread to the grasslands, and I thought you were about the same age as my father, but I didn't expect you to be so young." The girl nodded when she heard this, in her imagination, Li Hongyu should be at least a middle-aged man in his thirties and forties, but now it seems that he is only in his early twenties, which is beyond her expectations.

"Anyway, you have nowhere to go, so it's better to stay here, and I'll help you find your relatives later."

Li Hongyu smiled when he heard this, he knew that the battle of Dunhuang had already spread to Moxi, and the identity of the person who could know about it must not be simple, so he said quietly.

"Hmm!" The girl thought about it when she heard this, and then nodded solemnly to Li Hongyu, firstly, she really had nowhere to go, and secondly, she was also full of curiosity about Li Hongyu.

"By the way, I don't know your name yet?" When the girl followed the maid and was about to leave the bath, Li Hongyu remembered something and couldn't help asking, he didn't know what the girl's name was.

"Nomin." The girl hesitated for a moment, then slowly spoke two words.

"Nomin?" Li Hongyu couldn't help but bow slightly, in Mongolian, "Nuomin" means jasper, which is a commonly used name.

When Nomin was brought to Li Hongyu after bathing and dressing, Li Hongyu was in his yurt to discuss the military situation with Bahat.

"What a Peugeot girl!" Nomin has changed into a woman's clothes, and when he saw her appearance clearly, Bahat couldn't help but show a look of surprise, this Nomin is simply an out-and-out beauty embryo, very pure and beautiful.

Although Li Hongyu also thought that Nuo Min was handsome, after all, he was well-informed and had dealt with many women with extraordinary appearances, so he didn't stare at Nuo Min like Bahat, and he couldn't help but blush with shame on Nuo Min's cheeks.

What Nuo Min did was very simple, that is, to serve tea and pour water for Li Hongyu, as for what Li Hongyu said before, there were other maids to do it for him.

Since Li Hongyu and Bahat were discussing military affairs, Nuomin quickly followed the maid with her out of the yurt, and a look of disappointment could not help but appear on her face.

"Lord Taibao, our forward troops have arrived at the Yinma River and are now building fortifications, and the Moxi Coalition Army is stationed five miles away from us."

After Noni left, Bahat pointed to the map hanging on the wooden shelf and said to Li Hongyu, "I have ordered this forest to be sealed off, and we can hide the Hongyi cannon inside." ”

The place Bahat was referring to was marked on the map as a grove of trees on a hill, small enough to hide thousands of soldiers.

Of course, Li Hongyu didn't want to set up an ambush in this grove, for this big battle with a total strength of nearly 300,000, it was difficult for thousands of people to play any role, and the surrounding area of the grove was an open area, which was not suitable for ambush.

However, if you hide artillery units such as the Hongyi cannon in a small forest, this is a good choice.

On this visit to Moxi, Li Hongyu brought over the firearms unit of the Ming Army of Guanxi, including 10 Hongyi cannons, and there were more than 60 artillery pieces of various types.

Li Hongyu is naturally bound to win the battle of Moxi, and if there is artillery to help the battle, it will be a big blow to the cavalry of the Moxi coalition army.

In order to prevent the Moxi coalition army from discovering these artillery, Li Hongyu wanted to hide them in that grove and give them a head-on attack by surprise.

"The future pattern of Moxi will be determined by this battle, and I hope everything goes well." Li Hongyu glanced at the groves on the map and said to Bahat with a serious expression.

The Moxi Mongols mobilized nearly 200,000 troops this time, and almost all the young and middle-aged men from the Moxi Mongol tribes were evacuated, so this battle was related to the fate of Moxi, and the Dzungar and Heshute tribes hoped to defeat Li Hongyu and Bahat in one fell swoop, and Li Hongyu also hoped to use this battle to defeat them.

"Lord Taibao, our westward expedition conforms to the mandate of heaven this time, and we will definitely be able to achieve the final victory!"

Hearing this, Bahat smiled and said to Li Hongyu that he was full of confidence in this war, in addition to the secret support of the Turghut Department and the Dulbert Department, he was full of confidence in his army and the Ming army, this is a baptized army of war, and it will definitely not let him down.

(End of chapter)