When Hao Shaoqi heard Liu Cheng's words, he couldn't help but be dumbfounded, and asked, "Then, what you said to that guy is true or false?" “

"It's true or false!" Liu Cheng said with a smile: "I have this plan to be true, since the old slave Wanli 11 years with his grandfather's thirteen pieces of armor to start the army, Wanli 44 years to change the Yuan usurpation name, Wanli 46 years of public rebellion, it can be said that the attack is invincible, the children are the choice of the moment, the officials are a hundred battles. In a field battle with it, even if Han Bai is resurrected, it will be difficult to win. But the two countries competed with each other, not only in the field of victory, although the East captured many good generals elite soldiers, but after all, the people have the difference between the Manchu and Han, the territory is small, the lord of the country Emperor Taiji ascended the throne for a short time, and the letter is not fulfilled, if the Ming Dynasty has many enemies, so that it runs in the road, the enemy works hard and I escape, it will not take a few years to win, you can win without a fight. But this is after taking down the Mongol tribes in Southern Mo and repelling the Eastern Capture Army, after all, if you can't even do this, those East China Sea Jurchens are not fools, how can they form an alliance with a weak person who has been defeated in successive battles? “

"It turns out that what the adults said is true, no wonder that Chechen Taiji can't tell the truth from the false."

"That's nature!" Liu Cheng smiled and said: "Wave the flag, I'll teach you a good one, if you want to deceive smart people these days, you have to tell the truth, and then let him lie to himself!" ”

Zhao Modo, Tushetu Khan Tooth Tent.

The door of the tooth tent is sandwiched between two three-zhang high wolf's heads, and the top blade of the tooth tent reflects golden light in the sun, as if announcing to everyone the noble blood of the owner of the tooth tent "Golden Family", and the sound coming from the tent indicates that a religious ceremony is being held inside. This Gunbunai is a descendant of Dayan Khan, who unified the north and south of the desert back then, and is from the same ancestor as Lin Dan Khan, but the relationship between the two sides has long been estranged for more than a hundred years. Since his grandfather Abadai entered Tibet to practice Buddhism, successive generations of Tushetu Khan have been known for his devotion to Tibetan Buddhism. Compared to their ancestors, the cloth was much more civilized, or rather much more decayed, and he learned to wear the underwear of fine silk or fine wool woven into the fur; decorate their dwellings and maidservants with all kinds of utensils and jewelry made by skilled craftsmen; Admire the various secret arts, religious ceremonies and dances performed by Tibetan monks; reciting profound sutras and debating the topics of study among the monks; In particular, taking a shower every two or three days and putting incense on your clothes is a luxury in the water-scarce Mongolian plateau. You must know that most Mongolians at that time only took three baths in their lives: once after birth, once when they got married, and once before they died.

Precious spices burn in the gilded incense burner, releasing seductive aromas, drums made of virgin skins rumble, and sixteen dancing girls wear ivory crowns and jewels, long and short red silk dresses, gold silk jackets, cloud-shouldered sleeved robes, ribbons, and hand instruments. One of them holds an ivory pestle adorned with gold bells, which embellish the ivory pestle in her hand to a rhythmic sound that echoes the rumbling drums. The dancers dance gracefully, the body is sexy, but the face is solemn, not smiling, the expression on the face is in stark contrast with the seductive dancing, but there is a special charm.

Gonbu sat on the throne in the middle, admiring the "Sixteen Heavenly Demon Dance" in front of him, he was a rare big fat man, his fat chin almost covered his neckline, and a pair of eyes on his round face did not leave the dancing girl in front of him for a moment, and he didn't even notice a dense layer of sweat oozing from his forehead. The "Sixteen Heavenly Demon Dance" he was watching was originally a women's group dance when Dayuan held a ritual in the court, and its name came from the dance of the heavenly demons seducing the Buddha in the Buddhist scriptures. After the Mongols entered the Central Plains, the tantric monks in order to win the favor of the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty, they took this dance that was originally used to entertain the gods for the use of the lewd pleasure of the son of heaven in the world, and the legend said that the Yuan Shun Emperor was confused by this "Sixteen Heavenly Demon Dance", and spent all day in the deep palace, ignoring political affairs, causing the country to fall into the hands of others. Gunbu's grandfather, Abadai, went to Tibet to study Buddhist scriptures, but did not learn anything else, but learned back many of the hedonistic means of Tibetan Buddhism.

"Great Khan, Great Khan!" An abrupt voice interrupted the dance music in the tent, and Gunbu, who had been awakened from a sweet dream, widened his eyes in annoyance, and shouted to his subordinates who rushed into the tent, "Go out, don't you see what is going on here?" Can you afford to collide with the gods and Buddhas? ”

"But, but, Great Khan, there is an urgent military situation!" When the visitor saw the alluring scenery inside the tent, he hurriedly lowered his head. Gun Bu snorted coldly, got up from his seat with some difficulty, and shouted: "Emergency military information, where is there so much emergency military information?" You go out first, and I'll call you in later!" ”

"Yes, Great Khan!" The person who came had no choice but to kowtow and withdraw from the tent. In a different tone, Gunpo said to the lama who was beating the drum, "Guru Geluo, please forgive me, we will continue later!" ”

"It's okay to sweat profusely, it's important to get down to business!" The lama put down the drum in his hand and said to the dancers, "Go down first!" “

A moment later, when the messenger re-entered the tent, the dancer was gone, leaving only a lingering scent. Gonbu sat on the throne with the red-robed lama on his side, and he asked with impatience on his face, "What is the urgent military situation, tell me quickly!" ”

"Yes, Great Khan!" The messenger was already sweating in a hurry, and he kowtowed before replying: "Great Khan, the Dzungars have called!" ”

"Dzungars? Baturtaiji called? "Gunbu was so frightened that he almost rolled off his seat, no wonder he was like this, in the past few years, Baturtaiji has been conquering the east and west, and his reputation is great, especially the recent defeat of the Kazakhs, and it is even more worried about the Mongolian tribes in the north and south of the desert (the Dzungar people belong to the Erut people, and the descendants of the golden family in the south and north of the desert are world enemies), but he has always used his main troops in the direction of the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains and the Seven River Valleys, and the Khalkha Mongol tribes located in the east of the Dzungar people have adopted a peaceful strategy, and Gunbu heard the news from his subordinates, I thought that after Baturtaiji defeated the Kazakhs, he planned to restart the great cause of the ancestor Taishi to unify the Mongolian tribes first, and returned to the east.

"Not really!" Seeing this, the man hurriedly explained: "According to the news brought back by the sentinel sent, it is only one of Baturtaiji's sons who has moved westward, named Chechen Taiji, who has just set up his own door and moved east to the source of the Wengjin River. At this, he paused slightly, as if he was a little embarrassed. Seeing this, Gon Bu couldn't help but say angrily: "What do you have to say, what are you doing?" “

"Yes, Great Khan!" The man kowtowed and replied, "The spies caught a doll who went out to graze, and the doll said that there was a Han general with Chechen Taiji, who brought a lot of horses and many firearms. “

"Han Chinese generals?" Gunbu was a little confused by the spies' answer, and the lama on the side whispered: "Great Khan, it is said that Naba Turtaiji betrothed his beloved daughter to a Ming general surnamed Liu, and it was that person who defeated the Chahars a few months ago. ”

"The Jungars have united with the Ming Kingdom?" Gonbu's whole body was trembling, sweat was constantly dripping down his fat cheeks, and he scolded angrily and fearfully, "Master Gro, what should we do? ”

"Great Khan, this should be the private adventure of that Ming general and Chechen Taiji." Gro thought for a moment and replied in a low voice: "Baturtaiji is surrounded by enemies to the west, north, and south, and it is impossible for him to go to war with us again, in fact he has been trying to make good relations with us all along; As for the Ming Kingdom, they have been fighting with the Jurchens in Liaodong, where is the spare strength to cross the Hanhai Sea to attack us? “

"So that's what the Guru said!" Listening to the lama's explanation, Gonbu breathed a sigh of relief: "In that case, should we send a messenger to Baturtaiji to tell him about his son's deeds?" “

Gro listened to Gunbu's answer, and couldn't help crying and laughing: "Great Khan, Baturtaiji's royal court is at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, even if you hurry up, it will take a month to rush over, and when his messenger returns, the fight here will already be over." Besides, Baturtaiji doesn't want to be attacked on all sides, but if we can't even defeat his son and son-in-law, what do you think he will think? “

Gunbu thought for a moment and replied hesitantly, "Then the master means to fight?" “

"Well, and to win, after winning, whether it is war or peace, it will take the lead!" Geluo's tone was very resolute: "Great Khan, we should immediately gather our troops and ask the Chechen Khan for help, we are very friendly with them on weekdays, if we are finished, it will be their turn to deal with this evil neighbor, Shuolei (Chechen Khan) will definitely send reinforcements!" ”

"That's what the guru said!" Hearing this, Gunbu had already made up his mind, he stood up from his seat, and shouted: "Come, give orders, gather your troops, and prepare to meet the incoming enemy!" “

When the combined forces of Liu Cheng and Chechen Taiji arrived on the banks of the Tushu River, it was already an evening in September of the sixth year of Chongzhen (1633), although it was still the autumn tiger season in the Central Plains, and the first snow had fallen in Mobei. The fine snowflakes fell on the woods on both sides of the Tuthorn River, and soon accumulated a thin layer of white, and the breath of people and horses soon turned into a steaming white mist in the air, Liu Cheng drove the war horse, climbed a hill on the riverside, and the Chechen Taiji on the side pointed to a gray-black in the northeast direction and said: "Brother-in-law, you look at the direction of my finger, there is Zhaomoduo, the royal court of Tushetu Khan is there, and it is seven or eight miles away from here, and the sentinel sent to say that the army of Gunbu is over there, The big war should be tomorrow. ”

"Hmm!" Liu Cheng nodded slightly, he carefully looked at the surrounding terrain, only to see the mountains in the distance such as a barrier, endless and endless, under the mountain Ma Pingchuan, stretching for dozens of miles, vaguely you can see a lot of trees, the river runs through it, the camp of the Tushetu people is next to the river, the terrain gradually decreases from north to south, there is a saddle-shaped hill uplift in the south, just in the center of the descending trapezoidal zone, more than ten miles around, all under it, a small river bypasses, both sides face the water, the terrain is very critical.

"What's the name of that place?" Liu Cheng pointed to the saddle-shaped hill and asked, and the Chechen Taiji on the side smiled and said: "Brother-in-law really has good eyesight, I also take a fancy to here, tomorrow's battle, the mountain will be the most important!" “

"Not bad! I have come from afar, and the enemy is outnumbered, and if I do not take a high place, I am afraid that the enemy will besiege me on all sides, then it will not be good! Liu Cheng said in a deep voice: "Without further ado, when the advance department will occupy this place, and then follow with a large army!" ”

"Preemption?" Chechen Taiji hesitated a little: "It's getting late, even if you want to fight, it's tomorrow, that hill is only four or five miles away from the camp of the Tushetu people, and the thieves will definitely attack when they see it, but I'm afraid it will be difficult to defend tonight." ”

Liu Cheng's brows furrowed: "If there is a war tomorrow, this mountain is a place that must be fought, if the thieves are guarding it, the movement of our army will be clear to the thieves, and its situation is dangerous!" If you're afraid that you won't be able to keep watch at night, why don't you just set up camp at the bottom of the mountain? ”

"This-" Chechen Taiji looked at the sky: "It's getting late, if you set up camp in front of the enemy again, if the Tushetu people attack with horses, I'm afraid it's not good." Brother-in-law, I heard that you have sharp firearms, even if the thieves occupy the mountain, tomorrow they will bombard them with firearms and drive them down the mountain! ”

Liu Cheng saw that Chechen Taiji was always reluctant to send troops to grab the mountain, so he simply ignored him, waved his hand to the Ozir on the side, and ordered him: "Since ancient times, you can't give the enemy in high places, I'll give you a foot team, two hundred cavalry, and you must hold the mountain in your hands before dark!" ”

"Yes, sir!" Ozir responded, saluted Liu Cheng with his crossed hands, and was about to turn around, but was stopped by Liu Cheng, he saw the general facing a Mongolian knight next to him with a little face: "Ah Gui, you are his deputy this time, let's go together!" ”

"Me?" Ah Gui responded a little stunned, he immediately realized that Liu Cheng was giving himself a chance, and he hurriedly owed Liu Cheng a debt: "Yes, my lord!" And he went down the mound with Ozir. After a while, Liu Cheng saw a team of men galloping towards the mountain. Seeing Liu Cheng's actions, Chechen Taiji was a little embarrassed and called Borza: "Anda, you lead 300 people as the rear, if the situation is unfavorable, you will cover the return of friendly troops!" ”

"Drive, drive!" Ozil watched as the sun set, the distant hills gradually dimmed, and he couldn't help kicking the horse twice more in the horse's stock, and the war horse under his crotch was stimulated by the spurs on his master's shoes, neighed, and rushed forward violently, if it weren't for his skillful horsemanship, he almost fell off the horse's back.

"Chief, chief, slow down! The equestrian team behind is not good, and I can't keep up! Ah Gui's voice came from behind, and Ozil was a little overwhelmed by this deputy who didn't know the details, and he turned his head as Ah Gui said. In order to enhance mobility, Liu Cheng was so extravagant that he gave his infantry a horse and a mule, the horses were used for riding, and the mules carried the baggage of the soldiers, which were actually mounted infantry. (To be continued.) )