Lin Dan Khan's victory over the Ming army and the successful invasion of the Hetao region not only relieved the original economic embarrassment, but more importantly, increased his prestige in the steppe. Frost and hunger were treated equally, not only on the Chahar tribes, but also on the heads of other Mongol tribes in the north and south of the desert, and if someone could lead them south to obtain food and pasture, he would undoubtedly be a real hero, let alone if that person happened to be a direct descendant of Genghis Khan. This time Lin Dan Khan showed a rare flexibility, and he made only one request to the other tribes to whom he had defected - to recognize his status as the Great Khan of the Mongols, and given his lineage, the vast majority of the tribes would happily accept his request. And in the following winter, he had enough time to digest this increased strength - of course, there was a premise for this, if he could repel the counterattack of the Ming army!

Lin Dan Khan was still quite confident in this, and through the mouths of merchants and fugitives, he already knew that a fierce civil war was breaking out in the northwestern part of the Ming Empire, with officials and soldiers on one side and deserters suffering from hunger and arrears on the other, which undoubtedly involved the main energy of the imperial border guards. Through several tentative attacks, he judged from the actions of the Ming army that the strength of the Hetao area was very limited - although the border barriers and fortresses on the first line were still strong, the mobile forces on the second line were tired and weak, like a hard-boiled egg, although the surface was still very hard, but there were only soft whites and yolks inside. In the following operation, Lin Dan Khan adopted the tactics that the nomads had tried and tested for thousands of years, probing, retreating, probing, and retreating. Until the defenders' patience is exhausted, they rush out to try to solve the problem in one fell swoop, and then lure them to some area where they can use their cavalry advantage. Surround on all sides, then solve the problem with hunger, thirst, arrows instead of hand-to-knuckle combat. This time, the old ploy worked again, and the generals of the Ming Dynasty fell into a trap, and in order to escape, they had to leave behind their heavy armor and weapons and flee into strong castles, leaving the rich fields and pastures to the enemy. Now the warriors of Chahar can also wear sturdy iron armor. Picking up sharp weapons, they stormed the farmhouse, collecting iron tools and turning them into arrows. Feeding the fatless horses with beans and millet, the hearts of Genghis Khan's children and grandchildren were already full of confidence in victory.

But this alone was not enough to bring Lin Dan Khan back to the throne of the Great Khan, and the herdsmen took control of the wilderness, and the cities and fortresses protected by the towering walls remained in the hands of the Ming army. The largest part of wealth is in it. Lin Dan Khan needed to use this wealth to reward his warriors. The Mongols also knew the role of wealth in warfare, not to mention that these forts also controlled several strategic points in the Hetao region, and only by capturing these forts could they be regarded as truly controlling this fertile and rich land. But Lin Dan Khan did not intend to use the blood of the Chahar tribe as a price to obtain these fortresses, these are the bones of his bones, the blood of his blood, how can they be wasted under the walls of the Han people? He plans to use the newly defected tribe as cannon fodder, exchange the lives of men for the food needed by the tribe, and then annex them one by one, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

Lin Dan Khan, who had finished speaking to his subordinates, did not return to his seat. But he left the king's tent and came to a large tent not far from the king's tent. Unlike other tents full of laughter and singing. The tent was a strange quiet, and there was a large open space around it, and the weeds on the ground were removed, and people who came and went by, intentionally or unintentionally, avoided it, as if there were man-eating monsters hiding inside.

"Great Khan, are you outside?" A deep voice came from the tent. Lin Dan Khan replied in a low voice: "Master, it's me, are you ready here?" ”

"Come in!"

Lin Danhan took a deep breath, lifted the door curtain, and walked into the tent. There was no other light source in the tent except a faint oil lamp, and only a lama could be seen sitting cross-legged on the ground, and on the altar behind the lama was enshrined a statue of Buddha, which was about a foot high, with his legs half-squatting, his arms crossed on his chest, and his feet on the demon. The right hand is a crescent axe, the left hand is holding a gelaba, and a magic pestle is placed in front of his chest, and his eyes are wide with anger. Compared with the common angry King Kong statue in the Central Plains, the craftsmanship of this Buddha statue is quite crude, but it has a special magic power, which makes people unconsciously afraid when they see it. Lin Dan Khan didn't dare to look at it more, saluted the lama, and kowtowed to the Buddha statue twice before sitting down.

"You ask 'Maha Kala', what is the result?" Lin Dan Khan asked the lama carefully, this "Maha Kala" is Sanskrit, that is, the meaning of the great black god, this great black god is the god of war in Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism has a deep relationship with India, and this great black god has become the god of protector of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. After the Mongolians believed in Tibetan Buddhism, this great black god became the protector of Mongolia. This golden statue of the Great Black God is hundreds of years ago the Great Yuan Empire National Teacher Eight Sipa Lama raised a thousand gold casting, and personally blessed it, the Yuan Taizu Kublai Khan enshrined it in the tent, and with the protection of this Great Black God, the East and the West are invincible, and the Great Yuan Empire was established. Later, the Mongolian nobles enshrined it on Mount Wutai, hoping that it would protect the national capital. When the Yuan Dynasty was defeated, this golden statue also remained in Wutai Mountain, and it was not until more than ten years ago that the Sakya monk Shalhutuktu retrieved it from Wutai, and this golden statue returned to the hands of the descendants of the Golden Family.

Shaerhu Tuketu did not answer immediately, but just closed his eyes and prayed, and Lin Dan Khan did not dare to ask, so he had to bow his head and wait. After a long while, Shalhutuktu opened his eyes and whispered, "Great Khan, I feel it, danger is approaching you!" ”

"In danger?" Lin Dan Khan's face showed a nervous look: "Is it the Ming army in the walled city or other tribes?" ”

"No, I can't see that!" Sharhhutuktu shook his head, he looked tired and old at this time: "I am not a Phags-pa Guru, even if I have 'Maha Kala', it is useless, my mana is too limited. ”

"To do 'that'?"

"Hmm!" Shalhutuktu nodded and said in a low voice: "If you want something, you must give something!" ”

"Good!" Lin Danhan nodded, and he stood up and walked out of the tent. After whispering a few words to his attendants, he returned to the tent, and a few moments later several women were sent into the tent. Shalhutuktu stood up and circled around the women, choosing the youngest one, and Lin Dan Khan motioned for the rest to stand down, leaving only the chosen woman behind.

"Let's get started!" At the command of Shalhutuktu, two young lamas pressed him to the golden statue, and the woman realized that great calamity was coming, and hurriedly struggled. But the two lamas were strong, and they twisted their arms, and they couldn't move. Shalhutuktu walked up to the golden statue. Lighting the incense burner, he knelt down and recited tantric mantras, his voice was not very high at first, but then he recited faster and faster. The sound is getting higher and higher. In the end, it was like a shout, and the light of the star shook violently, and it was even more terrifying to shine on the face of the golden statue, Lin Danhan didn't dare to look at it, so he could only kneel down and close his eyes and pray, the mysterious aroma, the crazy prayer, and the woman's panting were mixed together, so that he quickly entered a semi-comatose state.

"Ahh

A terrible scream woke Lin Danhan from his semi-comatose state. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the woman had fallen to the ground. Her eyes widened, her body twitched violently, her throat had been cut, and blood was pouring out of it, Sharhu Tuketu carefully filled a golden bowl with blood, reverently placed it in front of the golden statue, knelt down and recited the mantra for a while, then got up and dipped his fingers in the blood in the golden bowl, licked it, closed his eyes and thought for a while. Lin Dan Khan looked at Shaerhu Tuketu nervously, as if his fate was decided by this bowl of blood.

"Great Khan, rest assured, victory will be yours!" Shalhutuktu opened his eyes and replied serenely.

On the dark surface of the river, a gentle breeze blows, bringing with it the smell of livestock. Du Gu tried to keep his eyes open to see what was on the riverbank, but it was in vain, and the night was like a huge woolen blanket that enveloped everything. Dugu's efforts led to nothing but his eyes full of Venus. He sighed and sat down, the boat swaying under his feet, to be honest, this section of the river was actually very gentle, but it was enough for Dugu, who rode a horse all year round. His stomach was upset, and the food he had eaten for dinner was tumbling, which made him want to vomit it. But Du Gu endured it, it was not a good idea to vomit on a small boat that could only hold thirty people, especially when the others were also seasick.

Du Gu couldn't help but regret that he recommended himself as the general's earliest subordinate (Du Gu usually ignored Xu Hecheng, in his opinion, the other party was Liu Cheng's brother-in-law, not a subordinate). Du Gu often regarded himself as Liu Cheng's first confidant, and the running around the main general also confirmed this. But as Liu Cheng rose step by step, Du Gu was surprised to find that the official positions of those who were far less qualified than his own gradually surpassed himself, if Du Guoying and Du Ruhu, the two old superiors, could still tolerate it, the promotion of Totobuhua, Tang Muyao and even Bai Wang made Du Gu's heart have a sense of crisis. Dugu realized that if he continued to be a guard captain by Liu Cheng's side, he would face the dilemma of being thrown off by his colleagues, so when Liu Cheng decided to launch this night attack, he immediately asked for help, and in order to snatch the task from Totobuhua, he even lied that he was a fisherman, which became the most advantageous weight over Totobuhua, which was even more unbearable as a Mongol.

"Sir, take a sip and refresh yourself!" The soldiers next to him saw a little bit of Du Gu's embarrassment, took out a skin bag from his waist and handed it over, Du Gu pulled out the cork, and a strong smell of wine spurted out of it, although he couldn't drink alcohol before the battle, but he didn't blame his subordinates. He poured himself a sip of alcohol, the strong alcohol rushing to his head, making his head hurt a little, but this temporarily suppressed the stomach turmoil. Du Gu returned the sac to his men and walked to the bow of the boat to look into the distance.

"My lord, after the bend ahead, it's Uguru!" The guide whispered, and Dugu nodded, and he could feel the river flattening out.

"Speed up the row!" Du Gu gave the order, and the herald picked up a torch, ran to the bow of the boat, waved two circles, and sent the order to the ships behind him, and Du Gu immediately felt the rhythm of the sound of the wooden oars hitting the water. He looked at the sky and prayed silently, "God help, don't come out of the moon!" ”

Perhaps God heard Dugu's prayers, and the moon was always covered with dark clouds, and the river was pitch black. But there were bonfires on the shore, Du Gu knew in his heart that it was the old camp of the Mongols, for the convenience of drinking water for people and animals, the Mongols generally chose to camp next to the lake or river, plus the importance of the pontoon bridge, Liu Cheng deduced that Lin Dan Khan's royal tent should be not far from the pontoon bridge.

"Pontoons, pontoons for Tartars!" The guide shouted as he pointed to the darkness ahead, and Dugu tried to look in the direction of the guide's point, but could see nothing but darkness.

"Fetch the rocket!"

Du Gu took a bow from the hand of his own soldier, and put a feather arrow wrapped in cashmere soaked in clear oil on the bowstring, and the personal soldier hurriedly lit the arrow, Du Gu drew a full bow, and shot the rocket into the night sky. A little spark flew diagonally upward, and when it reached its end, it slowly set, and with the help of this faint light, Du Gu could faintly see a dark shadow across the river more than a hundred paces ahead.

"Light the fire and speed up the paddle!" Du Gu shouted loudly, at this time there was no need to scruple to be discovered by the Mongols, and the shouts echoed on the surface of the river, and a series of fires rose on the surface of the river, with the help of which more than a dozen boats of various sizes could be seen, each pulling a raft, which was piled with various flammable materials. The Ming soldiers threw torches onto the raft, then cut the ropes they were pulling, jumped up with a flash of fire, and slowly slid towards the pontoon.

After a while, there was an exclamation from the shore, apparently a certain Mongol on duty found these attackers coming from the river, and the panic spread quickly like an epidemic, the sound of gongs, horns, and shouts floated over the camp, and the attackers on the boat could even see many **** figures running on the shore with the help of the firelight.

Soon, the first fire raft hit the pontoon, and by this time it was already burning like a floating volcano. At the moment of collision, the flames were like living objects, and they quickly licked on the pontoon, and the flames spread rapidly. (To be continued.) )