"The chief soldier has arrived, get up, get up!" With a loud noise, the soldiers and men hurriedly got up from the ground and made a way. As a result of the siege, all men from the age of sixteen to sixty in the city had been mobilized to go up to the city for the night in shifts, with one man on duty at each battlement, and the soldiers resting in watchtowers and sentry huts to conserve their strength for a possible siege. The sleepy-eyed faces were full of fear and hope, and they looked at the pale and haggard man leaning on the soft sedan chair in the ranks, as if the safety of the city was completely tied to him alone.

"Ahem!" Du Wenhuan pressed his right chest with his left hand, trying his best to make himself cough not so badly, in that fiasco, a feather arrow just pierced through the gap in his armor, and shot him in the lungs. With the level of medical care at that time, what Du Wenhuan should do now is to lie in bed and recuperate, and then wait for the arrangement of fate. But he can't do it, after the new defeat, the hearts of the people in the city are shaken, and the eunuch who supervises the army claims to have the wind and cold and does not come out, as the chief soldier of Ningxia Town, the highest military commander of the local area, if he can't come out to inspect once in the morning and evening, boost the people's hearts, I am afraid that without the Tartars outside the city to attack the city, the city will collapse by itself.

"Master General, it's just the north gate, it's windy outside, why don't we go back first!" Seeing that Du Wenhuan was working hard, the Chinese army couldn't bear it in his heart, and asked in a low voice.

"Don't be afraid, I can hold on!" Du Wenhuan's voice seemed to be very low, like a broken candle in the wind, but his eyes were surprisingly bright, and the leader of the pro-soldiers couldn't bear to look at it. I couldn't help but turn my head away. Du Wenhuan finished inspecting the four gates before he came down to the city. Not long after he returned to his lodgings and lay down, the Chinese army ran in excitedly. Said excitedly: "Master General, the reinforcements have arrived!" ”

"What?" Du Wenhuan's pale face turned sickly crimson, and he reluctantly sat up and asked, "Where are the reinforcements?" How many people are there? Who are the generals? ”

"The messenger sent by the reinforcements is outside, he is a sassy Tartar, and he is very strict-mouthed, saying that he can't say anything if he doesn't see an adult!"

"He took on this behead-killing errand, and it is also the duty of his mouth to be strict. Help me up! ”

The Chinese army hurriedly helped Du Wenhuan sit up, put on his robe for him, and then went out to spread the word. After a while, he came in with a tartar in a leather robe, and it was Gesang. Gesang knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Du Wenhuan, and said, "The last general is Liu Cheng, the deputy general of Yansui Town, and the subordinate general Gesang under the command of Lord Liu, see General Du!" ”

"Liu Cheng is already the deputy chief soldier?" Du Wenhuan frowned. I couldn't help but feel a faint jealousy in my heart. It's no wonder that he, Liu Cheng's promotion speed can be said to be angry and resentful, and it takes three or four generations for ordinary people to climb up to the official career, which he only took two years to climb, not to mention that Du Wenhuan himself had just suffered a defeat and was surrounded in a lonely city. He looked the envoy up and down, and saw that although he claimed to be Liu Cheng's general, he was dressed in a leather robe. Bald hair on the top of the head, with many small braids on the temples. There was also a breath of anger coming from his body, and he was a Mongolian tartar alive. It is said that there are many Tartar officers in the army, but the costume is no different from that of the Han people, and it is the first time he has seen him dressed like this.

"Exactly!" Gesang replied: "My family will defeat the two thieves of Lao Hui Hui and Ge Liyan in Huan County, and more than 1,000 people will be captured, and more than 2,000 prisoners will be captured. ”

Du Wenhuan didn't speak, he could only snort coldly, although he already knew about the defeat of this robe, but it was another thing to say it from someone else's mouth, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry in his heart, and after a long time he asked: "Then how many soldiers and horses are under the command of Lord Liu?" Where are people now? ”

"Tell your lordship, my family general is now in Lingzhou, as for the number of troops." Speaking of this, Gesang paused for a moment and replied, "The villain doesn't know either. ”

Regarding Gesang's answer, Du Wenhuan was stunned at first, and then smiled bitterly: "Okay, good, your family general is a careful person, okay, does he have anything to bring to me if he asked you to come to me?" ”

Gesang kowtowed and replied, "Lord Du, my lord asked me to bring a message to let you live well, don't have a chance with the Tartars, wait for the opportunity-"

"Shut up!" When Gesang said this, he was interrupted by the Chinese officer, and he scolded angrily: "You Tartar babbling so much, tell me when Liu Cheng will cross the river!" “

Gesang didn't seem to hear the scolding of the Chinese army, but just kowtowed to Du Wenhuan: "Lord Du, I have already waited for the words of the master general, if you have any reply, please instruct!" “

The Chinese officer was quite fortunate to be favored by Du Wenhuan on weekdays, and when he saw that Gesang was not away from him at all, he was immediately furious, he stepped forward and pressed his right hand on the scabbard and pulled out half of it, and threatened: "Dog-like tartar, I haven't replied, I haven't seen the knife in the master's hand!" “

Gesang snorted coldly and said: "It's true that Gesang is a dog, but it's also the master's dog, is it your turn to teach you a lesson?" As he spoke, he had already grabbed the other man's right hand, and the officer struggled so hard that Gesang's arm was like a cast of iron, and he didn't move. Gesang sneered, stood up from the ground, and sent the knife back into the opponent's sheath with a force in his hand: "It's true that you have a knife in your hand, and you don't see that I also have iron in my hand?" “

"Enough!" Du Wenhuan stopped the Chinese officer, he just let his subordinates do this that he wanted to frustrate Liu Cheng's limelight, but he didn't want this Tartar messenger to be so difficult, and if he continued to make trouble, he was afraid that it would not end well: "You go back and tell Lord Liu that there is still enough food and ordnance in the city, but the people's hearts are unstable, and it was okay when I was here, if there is a case, I am afraid that the situation will not be good." Ningxia Mansion is an important town in the northwest, if there is a loss, the Son of Heaven will blame it, you and I can't afford to bear it, so we still have to think about it. “

"Yes, my lord, the villain must have brought your words!" Gesang knelt down and kowtowed again, before retreating. The lieutenant officer scolded hatefully: "Dogs fight people! “

"Shut up!" Du Wenhuan's voice was not loud, but it was full of the majesty of the superior, and the middle officer hurriedly bowed down to apologize, but still muttered in a low voice: "This Deputy General Liu is really strange. Even if others have a few captives, they will change to Xia with Yi, but he is good, but with Xia into Yiyi! “

"This Liu Cheng is not simple." As he spoke, Du Wenhuan's originally straight waist had collapsed. As if the few minutes of conversation had exhausted his strength, the officer hurriedly held him up. He sighed and ordered: "You go and tell Gonggong Hu that the reinforcements have arrived, so don't worry too much!" Hey, I can only count on this Liu Cheng!

Lingzhou, Xingyuan.

"Here. Here, and here! Liu Cheng held a candlestick in one hand and a brush in the other. According to the instructions of detachment, he made one mark after another on the map, and in the end, there were six or seven marks left on the map, Liu Cheng threw the brush to the side and sighed: "So to speak." All of these ferry Tartars have sentinels? ”

"Exactly!" Tokhtambuhua replied, "The last general has already investigated it himself. There are Tartar scouts on the opposite side of the larger ferries, but there should still be some small ferries that have not been found at the end, and the small ones will be inspected again tomorrow! ”

"Hmm!" Liu Cheng nodded and made a gesture to let the detachment not take off. He took off his hand and bowed. Liu Cheng walked to the map, looked at it carefully, and sighed: "I didn't expect this Lin Dan Khan to know the soldiers!" ”

"That's nature!" A soft body behind him leaned over, but it was Min Min: "When don't we fight on the grassland?" If he didn't even understand this, he would have been killed a long time ago! ”

"Yes!" Liu Cheng sighed. turned around and hugged the girl in his arms: "According to what Du Guoying said, it will take more than ten days for the recruits to complete the training." But you can't drag it out like this! ”

"Why are you in such a hurry to cross the river?" Min Min asked a little puzzled, "Didn't Gesang say it when he came back?" The city is safe and sound, and Lin Dan Khan will definitely not be able to take it in a short time. ”

"I'm not here for Fucheng!" Liu Cheng walked to the map and said in a deep voice: "Lin Dan Khan crossed the Yellow River in the east and entered the Hetao, and there must be many fortresses defending several mountain passes in Helan Mountain in the west and those forts in the north, and there are more than 2,000 people in total. As the saying goes, if you don't defend a lonely city, if you delay like this, I'm afraid that many people in these fortresses will surrender. “

"So what do you mean to do to let them know that reinforcements have arrived?"

"Not bad!" Liu Cheng nodded: "You don't have to cross the river with the whole army, but at least you have to fight." Besides, if Du Wenhuan sues me for sitting back and not saving me in the future, at least I can use this to gag his mouth! ”

"Hey!" Min Min sighed: "You Han people have a lot of ghost thoughts, but unfortunately most of them are not used in the right place." ”

"Really? Then I see that Minmin, you have a lot of ghost thoughts, could it be that you are also our Han? “

"Phew!" Min Min glanced at Liu Cheng, looked at the map, suddenly raised his head and pointed to a place on the map and said, "What do you think about fighting here?" Liu Cheng looked at the place where his finger was pointed, and there was a cross with an ink pen, and three words "Uguru" were written next to it.

Uguru, which means "river beach" in Mongolian, is a shallow beach of the Yellow River, the river is gentle and suitable for crossing, and is located more than 60 miles upstream of the confluence of the Dusitu River. Not long ago, Lin Dan Khan used cavalry to raid several fortresses on the east bank of the Yellow River, Du Wenhuan led the defenders to pursue and feign defeat to lure him into pursuit, and then ambushed the Ming army. Then Lin Dan Khan built a pontoon bridge in Wugulu with inflatable leather bags connected in series, and led tens of thousands of his troops into the fertile Hetao Plain, so that the hungry were fed and the thin were fattened, while the newly defeated Ming army could only hide behind the city wall and sit back. After Lin Dan Khan crossed the river, he set up his royal tent here, and issued an order to the right wing of the troops to cross the river and spend the winter together in the Hetao Plain.

"Da Da Da!"

The piercing brass horn mingles with the sound of the horse-head fiddle, and the performers successfully simulate the rapid sound of horses' hooves with these two rough instruments, and the dancers in the tent continue to gallop to the rhythm of the music, bending bows and arrows, and swinging knives and slashing. The onlookers around the tent were fascinated by the sight, and from time to time erupted in fierce cheers. The descendants of these cowardly Xue (the Chahar tribe was not an original tribe, but developed from the descendants of Genghis Khan's guard) generally had stout necks, short, burly statures, and somewhat looped legs from horseback riding. In order to protect themselves from the terrible sun and wind of the grasslands, they generally apply oil to their faces, which makes their faces appear even darker and brighter, as if they had been boiled leather. As people watched the dance, they gulped down the mare's milk-fermented drink and munched on half-cooked roasted meat, and the air was filled with the smell of scorching and burning animal fats, almost suffocating.

"Bang bang bang!"

A drum beat overpowered the sound of the horse-head fiddle and the brass trump, the dancers retreated to the sides, and the two rows of maidens entered the tent and began to sing, the rhythm of the song was simple, every two lines repeating the previous rhythm, but the key was a little higher, and the lyrics were to the effect that the martial arts of Genghis Khan were praised, which obviously had a special meaning at this time. Stimulated by alcohol and singing, the people in the tent let out rhythmic cheers: "Hutuketu, Hutuketu, Hutuketu (the title of Lin Dan Khan, meaning saint, blessed man, immortal)!" “

Lin Dan Khan stood up, the leader of Chahar Khan and the descendant of Dayan Khan had a face that could be regarded as fair for the Mongols, with a slender figure, a thick breath under the chin according to the Mongol custom, a pair of slender eyes emitted an arrogant and conceited light, he stretched out his hands and pressed down, and the cheers gradually subsided. Lin Dan Khan walked to the center of the tent, raised his glass and said loudly: "The reason why the Southern Dynasty is prosperous is that there is only one Ming Emperor, and everyone respects him as the leader, and the whole is united. I am alone in the north, but I am king everywhere, how can I prosper? Now I have inserted Genghis Khan's Nine Journeys at the foot of Helan Mountain, so that the hungry who follow me will be fed and thirsty, the weak will be fed, and the poor will become rich, and those who are willing to follow me will prosper, and those who do not follow me will perish! ”

There was a slight silence in the tent, and then it boiled. Since Lin Dan Khan led his troops to move westward, although he had won more and lost less than the western Mongolian tribes, because he retreated from the Houjin and changed his surname to the Sakya faction, not only the Mobei and Moxi Mongolian tribes that originally respected him from afar, but even the Monan Mongol tribes that originally worshiped him have also stayed away from him, either taking refuge in the Houjin or raising troops against each other. This weakened the strength of Lin Dan Khan's hands more and more, and before he invaded the Hetao area, there were only more than 60,000 troops and more than 50,000 horses, and the frost of Chongzhen's four or five years came very early, many livestock froze and starved to death, and the Chahar tribe even got to the point of cannibalism. (To be continued.) )