The arrival of spring makes the weather more suitable, but in the same way, the light rain keeps dripping, the so-called 'spring rain is as expensive as oil', for the farmers who count on the land to harvest everything, the spring rain is comparable to gold, but for the traveler who walks far away, the rainy day is the most difficult time.

Outside Xi'an, Xi Shoucheng and Duan Jian stood side by side, looking at the carriage that was gradually moving away, and were silent for a long time.

Neither of them wore any rain gear, just stood in the light rain, letting the rain gradually soak their bodies, but still indifferent.

"Go back, Her Royal Highness the Princess did what he should do, and then it's up to us, I hope we will not live up to Her Royal Highness the Princess's trust, fight this battle well, and lay a peaceful northern frontier for the Tang Dynasty, for the capital, and for our children and grandchildren."

It wasn't until the carriage was out of sight that Xi Shoucheng said lightly.

"Lord Duhu, let's go back first, my subordinates want to stay here for a while." Duan Jian said with a blank face.

"Hey, idiot!"

Looking at the dazed Duan Jian, Xi Shoucheng sighed, and then drove the horse away, leaving Duan Jian still standing in the rain, like a stone carving.

At this time, Duan Jian's heart was still in turmoil, and the scene from yesterday, until now, still haunts his heart, making him unforgettable.

"This palace believes that you will defeat the Turks, this palace is waiting for you in Huifu, waiting for the moment when you come to meet this palace with thousands of troops and horses, if you break the appointment, this palace will cut itself off and follow you underground, whether it is life or death, it depends on our fate."

"You entrust your life and death to me, if I don't even dare to bear this responsibility, how dare I call myself a husband, don't worry, soon, soon I will bring you back safely, from now on, I will never let you suffer a little grievance."

Duan Jian in the rain said softly, an oath as heavy as Mount Tai.

........................

In July 685 AD, this time is the hottest time of the year for the people in Guannei, but for the grassland, the grassland is the time when the grass grows and the horses are strong, and this is also the time when the combat effectiveness of the grassland people is the strongest, and at the same time, it also represents the time when the war on the grassland is the most frequent.

Since April, after the Turkic Great Khan Ashina Guduolu issued the decree of conversion, the steppe can be described as a turmoil, willing to submit to the Turks, many tribal patriarchs or elders, have brought the noble treasures of the tribe or a large number of cattle, sheep and horses, etc., rushed to the Turkic camp, to Ashina Guduolu to offer a lot of benefits, in order to prove their willingness to surrender.

Although the tribes willing to submit to the Turks were only a part of it, even so, they helped the Turks to recruit more than 50,000 servants, although these armies were not as elite as the Turkic armies, and they were also very loose, but they were the elite of the tribes, and they were the best at killing people on horseback.

The tribes who were unwilling to surrender to the Turks also took advantage of this time to lead the tribes to migrate around, either to the north to join the Hui, or to migrate to the colder and barren Far North, or to the south to join the Tang Dynasty's sphere of influence, although the power of the Anbei Protectorate gradually withdrew from the northern Xinjiang, but after all, the emaciated camel was bigger than the horse, and before the Tang Dynasty was not weakened, except for the Turks who would occasionally invade the south, other tribes did not dare to attack the Tang Dynasty. And now the Turks are at a critical time to engage in war with the Tiele tribes, and it is even more impossible for them to divide their forces to the south.

At this moment, all the preparations before the general battle could be said to have been fully prepared, so in late July, with an order from Ashina Guduolu, the Turkic army, which had been hovering outside the sphere of influence of the Tiele tribe, pushed towards the Tiele tribes in a mighty manner.

In the face of more than 200,000 Turkic elite troops, all the Tiele tribes along the way turned around and retreated north, in order to avoid the Turkic army's troops, in fact, this kind of thing has already begun to be done, the Tiele tribes have already led some of the old and weak women and children in the tribe to the north near the Hui tribe, and the rest are some spies who are responsible for listening to intelligence.

Candle Dragon State, Yuwu Prefecture, Xuanque Prefecture, Youling Prefecture, Jiankun Prefecture,

In just over ten days, the three prefectures and two prefectures have all fallen, which makes people sigh that the Turks are strong, and they are also a little more confused about whether the Tiele tribes can win this battle.

Fortunately, at this time, the Turks in Gaolanzhou suffered a big loss, Ashinaji, that is, Ashinaji's own brother, the left route army led by Ashina, more than 30,000 people, in the careful preparation of the Hun tribe that had been prepared for a long time, suffered a big loss, although they escaped by luck, but the 30,000 army lost more than 20,000 people, which can be said to be almost from the annihilation of the whole army.

Such a big defeat made Ashina Gu Daolu angry, and almost killed Ashinagi on the spot, but fortunately was stopped by many soldiers and Ashed Yuanzhen, but even so, the Turkic army, which was originally in its prime, had to stop the pace of the crazy march and began to advance slowly and steadily, and this also left a buffer room for the Tiele tribes.

...........................

"Driving ......."

In the waist-deep grass, a pair of fast horses are galloping quickly, the people on this horse team are none other than Duan Jian and his party, from the appearance of the dust on their bodies, it can be seen that their trip must be very far away, even the horses under them are very tired, even so, they still gritted their teeth and continued to move forward without the slightest relaxation.

Seeing that the sun was in the sky and the weather was already extremely hot, they finally stopped by a small river.

"Hoo ........."

After getting off the horse, he sat on the ground, Duan Jian at this time, felt as if he was no longer a person, and his whole body had fallen apart, especially the two thighs, he had already lost consciousness, that was because he had been riding for too long, and after the saddle touched the flesh on his thighs, it formed blood potassium, and then the blood potassium was grinded, and after a long time after day after day, he gradually lost consciousness.

"Lord Changshi, drink some water, I'm afraid we need to rest for a while before we can hurry, although people can persevere, but the horse is really not good, if you run like this, I'm afraid you can't get to the place, this horse will be completely wasted, in the grassland, without horses, we are not far from death."

A Tang Army general handed the water bladder in his hand to Duan Jian and said.

This general is called Li Bing, he doesn't look very old, but he has been a soldier for more than ten years, he can be said to be an old qualification, this time he came out, Shi Daring thought that you were going to rectify the soldiers and horses of the Anbei Metropolitan Protectorate, so he couldn't come, so he could only send his most stable and knowing the path Li Bing to come with Duan Jian.

"Thank you General Li, since you can't move forward, let's rest for a while, but I don't know how long we still need to go to reach the Songmo Governor's Mansion, this time the military situation is urgent, if we can't transfer the Khitan soldiers and horses in time, I'm afraid this time will be completely finished."

At this time, Duan Jian did not stay in the Anbei Protectorate to train soldiers and horses, planned the route of the march, and according to the previous agreement with the Hui people, he flanked the Turkic army back and forth, in order to come to find the Khitans, so as to dispatch enough soldiers and horses from the Khitans to deal the greatest blow to the Turkic army.

No matter how incompetent and sloppy the Tang Dynasty was in the later period, I have to admire that in the early stage of the Tang Dynasty, it was indeed invincible all over the world, and even the once unconquerable north, which has always been the grassland of the enemy of the times in the minds of the Han people, was completely conquered by the Tang Dynasty.

The Turks, the Tiele people, the Murwei people, the Khitans, these tribes, large or small, were all under the blade of the Tang Dynasty in the early days of the Tang Dynasty, trembling and unable to resist.

At that time, it can be said that it was the most golden age for all Han people.

It's just that the iron position itself is hard, and the most powerful enemy of the Han people is never an outsider, but their own people, and the endless internal struggle for power and profit, so that the advantageous position previously occupied, gradually Lunsang, the decline of the Anbei Protectorate, and the rise and strength of the post-Turkic are the best evidence.

Although the rise of the post-Turkic dynasty exceeded the budget of the Tang Dynasty, the Han people were not unable to resist on the grassland, and there were still 3,000 broken ships, not to mention the Tang Dynasty that once occupied the entire grassland, even now, in the face of the powerful Turkic army, the Tang Dynasty still has the confidence to have a head-to-head confrontation with him, and this time the confidence comes from the Khitan tribes.

This was also a guarantee made by Xi Shoucheng to Duan Jian after he proposed to unite with the Hui tribe to deal with the Turkic army.

For the Khitan tribe, the world is most familiar with the end of the Tang Dynasty, as well as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms and the Northern Song Dynasty, which occupied the vast northern grasslands, and even the powerful Northern Song Dynasty had to bow down to the Khitan.

But few people know that in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, the Khitans, as a tribe on the grassland, had entered the stage of hegemony in the grassland, but the Khitan at that time was not strong because it was not strong, and there was no unified strong leader, so it has been reduced to a second-rate tribe on the grassland, until more than ten years later, the emergence of Li Jinzhong, the first powerful leader of the Khitan, finally unified the Khitan.

It's a pity that although Li Jinzhong is capable, he lacks political vision, or his vision is too advanced, after he unified the Khitan tribes, he did not focus on the development of tribes, or the struggle for hegemony in the grassland, but chose to fight against the Tang Dynasty, or the Great Zhou.

Although with Wu Zetian's accession to the throne, the Great Zhou was also in chaos, and those ministers who were loyal to Li Tang and the old and young did not want to make trouble for Wu Zetian in every possible way, thus delaying the handling of many frontier issues, but the Great Zhou, which inherited all the Tang Dynasty in the heyday, was still a lot of shrewd and strong generals, Li Jinzhong was in front of the Great Zhou, and his head was broken several times, and finally he also took his life, and even the Khitan, which had finally risen, returned to that chaotic situation, if it weren't for hundreds of years later, The appearance of Yelu Abaoji put the Khitan on the stage of history, and I am afraid that the Khitan tribe will also disappear invisibly like the tribes that once died out on the grassland.

Of course, these are all later stories, the current relationship between the Khitan and the Tang Dynasty is generally very good, which may also be related to the reason why the two overlords of the Turks and the Hui on the grassland still exist, although the disadvantaged groups are small, but they do know the best way to survive, and relying on the strong is always the only way for the weak to survive.

"Back to Lord Changshi, at our current speed, we will reach the Khitan sphere of influence in three days." Li Bing replied respectfully.

"Three days, so to speak, after three days, we can see the Khitan commander to transfer troops, so it's okay, if we go back a day earlier, there will be many more opportunities." Duan Jian replied visibly relaxedly.

"Hmm....... Well, Lord Changshi, I'm afraid things aren't as simple as you think. Seeing Duan Jian's appearance, Li Bing said with some embarrassment.

"Oh, what, could it be that there is something hidden in this, you tell me, when the province encounters an emergency, so-and-so doesn't understand anything." Looking at Li Bing's appearance, Duan Jian's mind that had just relaxed was lifted again.

"Lord Changshi, here's how it ......."

Under Li Bing's explanation, Duan Jian finally understood what was going on.

It turned out that it was different from what Duan Jian thought, although the Khitan at this time was the most tribal to appear, but like the loose Tiele tribes, the Khitan was just a synonym for a tribe, and the real Khitan tribe was actually composed of many large and small tribes, of course, unlike the loose Tiele tribes, the Khitan people still understood the principle that unity is strength, and the most powerful tribes among them jointly formed a Dahe clan joint name, collectively known as the eight Khitans, The most powerful tribe of Khitan starlings is the elder, and all matters are discussed in a unified manner.

Although they also elected one of them as the co-leader of the Khitans, the co-owner did not have many rights, and the real power was still in the hands of the eight tribal elders.

Therefore, if Duan Jian came this time, if he wanted to persuade the Khitan tribe to send troops to attack the Turks, he must not only persuade the Khitan co-master, but most importantly, he must persuade the remaining elders, only if all these elders agree, Duan Jian's request can be achieved.

"What, eight elders, this .........."

If Duan Jian was just disappointed before, this time he was completely desperate.

The so-called people have selfish intentions, don't say eight people, even if it is two people, their ideas will be different, but this time it is necessary to let eight people agree, even if there is one less person, the difficulty is no less than commanding a big battle, after all, not everyone is willing to fight in a big battle, in case of encountering a brainless goods, Duan Jian's trip to Khitan will be completely in vain.

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