The fire burned brightly, lighting up half of the sky of the steppe. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

The whole village was suffering the same fate as those villages in the Central Plains, the women who staggered forward were driven out, and even their children and the old and weak who remained in the village were all blocked at the entrance of the village by the cavalry who came and went, and no matter how the women shouted, those cavalry were like iron walls, unmoved.

The fire grew bigger and bigger, and the swords in the hands of the cavalry kept waving, and any figure that tried to rush out was cut down in a pool of blood without hesitation, causing these people to retreat helplessly back into the village. There was an enemy in front, a fire in the back, and for these people, in fact, it had come to the end of their lives.

In the vast grassland in the dark, the sound of horses' hooves trampling the earth and the terrible screams of the village herdsmen before they were burned to death were endless, and even mixed with the cries of women and children.

"Hold on to your guys." Ba Ra waved his hand a little impatiently, and looked at the few generals around him, "This withdrawal of troops, no one can take it, just kill them directly after the incident." ”

Several generals looked at the group of women with some regret, but their movements did not stop, and they urged their horses to rush into the crowd first. Without them giving orders, seeing the generals as an example, the rest of the soldiers who had already killed the red-eyed soldiers naturally understood what they should do. These days the horses are bumping on their backs, constantly killing people and setting fires, and everyone's hearts have long been raised, and now of course I don't want to let go of such an opportunity.

One after another figures rushed over in the woman's exclamation, and in the beating firelight and in the deep night, many uncomfortable soldiers didn't even look at what the woman they were holding looked like, and directly stepped forward to tear their clothes.

And Yara sat on horseback, looking at the intertwined bodies in the fire and darkness in front of him, listening to the sound of tearing clothes, the men's lewd (harmonious) laughter, and the sound of miserable crying, and he couldn't help but have a smile on his face. For these lowly women, Ba Ra naturally does not have much interest, you must know that just yesterday, he just led the army to sweep away a tribe that was divided into Kublai Khan's son Odu Chi, because Odu Chi led the troops outside, so Ba Ra helped him "comfort" several wives and concubines who stayed in the tribe, especially one of the concubines of Odu Chi Xinna, who had a graceful posture and a beautiful appearance like a flower, so that Ba Ra relaxed a little.

So as a "gratitude" to Aoduchi, Bara did not kill her, and threw this naked woman into a pile of corpses of men, women, and children of the Odukchi tribe and left her to fend for herself.

When the captain of the guard beside Ya Ra heard this voice, he couldn't help but lick his lips, and the eyes of the guards around him lit up. Stay in the army for a year, sow race sable. Although the Mongolian army has never cared much about this kind of thing, and sometimes there are even military (harmonious) prostitutes who accompany the army, but after all, at this time, the Ba Ra Department is running for a long time, and it is naturally inconvenient to carry women, so in fact, these Mongolian soldiers have been holding back for a long time, and the main thing is which tribe they pass by, and the rest of the soldiers can take turns to relax, but these guards must guard the safety of Ba Ra, and it is no wonder that they are not uncomfortable for a long time.

"Go too." Yara said impatiently.

The guards were overjoyed, but before they could move, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly sounded ahead.

Ya Ra was slightly stunned, and then yelled, "Enemy attack!" The surrounding guards all drew their sabers.

Thousands of Mongol cavalry poured in from the south and west, and the banner of Namuhan could be clearly seen with the leaping cavalry holding torches aloft.

Obviously, the raging fire on the steppe had made these Mongolian cavalry lose their minds, because many of them were from this tribe, and seeing their tribe being burned clean, the cattle and sheep that they had worked so hard to raise were being cut down by the enemy, and their own women were screaming in countless swarming figures, even the most persevering people, it was impossible not to react at all.

What's more, these days, Namuhan and his troops have always been unable to catch up with Bara, and he can only keep seeing the tribe that Ba Ra is burning and raging, so he has long been angry, and now he naturally refuses to let Ba Ra go. Not to mention how to explain to his father Khan that he has not been able to solve the problem of Bara, just because the Oduchi tribe was razed to the ground by a fire of Ba Ra yesterday, Na Muhan felt that he would not take revenge, and he would not have the face to go back to see people at all.

It's just that Namuhan was anxious, but he forgot a question, how did Bara, who was not superior in strength, have the courage to slow down the pace of his troops, and constantly sweep the surrounding tribes to constantly provoke the anger of the Mongol cavalry?

In the firelight, the smile on Yara's face had completely dissipated, replaced by a kind of coldness that was difficult for others to see. And the captain of the personal guard who had been by his side for a long time knew very well that his own Great Khan was murderous.

After all, the Great Khan of the Chagatai Khanate was defeated by Namuhan, a hairy young man, by the Hongliu River, and he was already very face-saving, and now he was chased and killed by Namuhan on the grassland, knowing that Xingxingxia had fallen into the hands of the Ming army, but there was no way to return to help, embarrassed like a lost dog, of course he couldn't swallow this breath.

The easiest way is to let him, the disgraced man, die completely.

As he got closer to the village, Namuhan suddenly realized that something seemed wrong. It seemed that there were only two or three thousand cavalry around Ba Ra, and Na Muhan knew very well that it was impossible for Ba Ra to have only such a small number of people, at least seven or eight thousand people who had disappeared out of thin air in just two or three days.

There is only one possibility, and this is a complete trap!

The grasslands are vast and boundless, and the most unsuitable thing is ambush warfare, but it is not impossible to fight ambush warfare and encirclement warfare on the actual grassland. Although there are no trees or tall hills to hide from ambushes, sometimes the night itself is the best tool for concealment.

Bands of the Eight Rakbu cavalry appeared on the flanks and behind the Namuhan tribe.

And those soldiers of the Eight Tribes, who were still venting, also quickly lifted their pants and got on the horse. The soldiers who were still queuing up had already pumped their horses and rushed out.

In an instant, the tide of battle was reversed, and there were cavalry of the Eight Tribes on all sides.

Na Muhan secretly sighed, this situation is not good for him, but it is definitely not a dead end. Because the right wing of the Bara Department is still holding back the attention of the Mongol army such as Oduchi, there are actually only the left flank and the forward under the command of the Bara Division, and the number is not large, which also makes it impossible for the Bara to carry out a counter-encirclement of the Namuhan Department, there are not enough troops at all, which means that there must be many flaws in the encirclement around the Barak Department.

What's more, compared to the tired army of the veterans of the Eight Divisions, the sons and daughters under the command of Namuhan won the battle of Hongliuhe, and then witnessed the tribes and relatives who were burned and killed, so now the fighting spirit of the Namuhan Department is high, even if it is a battle against the wind, Namuhan is also confident.

"Spread out to the south and attack to the north!" Namuhan ordered in a cold voice, and the two captains under his command agreed at the same time,

The two Mongol cavalry detachments suddenly scattered into four and rushed into the Ba Rabu cavalry at the same time. Because he didn't expect that Na Muhan would make up his mind to break through so quickly, the cavalry that rushed up from the periphery of the Eight Tribes was obviously taken aback, and was soon penetrated by the whole er. Without the slightest pause, the Mongol cavalry turned around again and re-scuttled into the cavalry of the Eight Tribes.

In the face of the cavalry of the Namuhan Division, which came from all directions, the soldiers of the Eight Tribes were completely disorganized. However, fortunately, Bara had already led the cavalry that was originally surrounded in the middle to rush over and block the attack path of the cavalry on the south side of the Namuhan Department head-on, and with Bara in charge, it was obvious that the minds of the cavalry of the Bara Department were also stable, and they all instigated their war horses to catch up with that banner.

Naturally, the soldiers of the Yarabu also understood what they had done these days, and they also knew what fate they would face if they failed, so they could only hope that Yarabu would lead them to victory now.

Two or three thousand cavalry of the Eight Rakan Divisions suddenly joined the battlefield, and the entire army on the southern side of the Namuhan Division was once again surrounded, and finally they could not hold on and completely collapsed, and began to disperse and break through. Correspondingly, the cavalry of the Eight Tribes on the north side was also suffering the same fate.

The cavalry of both sides roared and roared in the darkness, and finally looked at each other through the villages where the fire had gradually subsided, like two wild beasts licking their wounds after a fierce fight, and they both gathered their strength and waited for the final blow to kill each other.

However, to Namuhan's surprise, the opposite Ba Rabu did not rush to collect the defeated troops on the north side, but after hastily gathering the army, they went west without looking back.

Suddenly, Namuhan's eyes widened as he watched the cavalry of the Eight Tribes leave quickly.

"King Khan!" Several commanders stepped forward anxiously, wanting to urge Namuhan to pursue.

"I didn't expect that so-and-so still didn't leave him after all." Namuhan took a deep breath, and there was a strong anger hidden in his voice. Bara went on a killing spree on the grassland, and it stands to reason that his best way was to carry his head to make amends to his father Khan, but Namuhan still underestimated Bara.

Although Bara has a violent personality and likes to kill, he is definitely not a fool, otherwise he would not have been able to sit in the position of the Great Khan of the Chagatai Khanate, let alone be used as a sharp weapon by Kublai Khan to deal with Haidu. So maybe Bara really wants to kill and fight Namuhan to the death now, but he also knows very well that there is a gap between himself and Namuhan's troops, and the fighting spirit of the army is also insufficient, so he is not Namuhan's opponent at all, so there is no difference between killing him and sending him to death in vain.

On the contrary, the two sides faced off from each other in the south and the north, and for Ba Ra, it was the first time that Na Muhan gave way to the road to the west, and perhaps it was the last opportunity for Ba Ra, and Ba Ra naturally would not let go. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Bara can finally get rid of Namuhan's entanglement.

After all, for Ba Ra, the foundation of the Xingxing Gorge and the Chagatai Khanate is what he is most concerned about, you must know that now the Ming army has occupied the Xingxing Gorge, and Haidu has also raised troops to the east, and there is a great posture for a decisive battle with the Ming army. Not to mention that the throat entering the Western Regions was controlled by the Ming army, and it was even possible that the Chagatai Khanate would be swallowed by Haidu in one bite. Yara believes that the sea has this opportunity, so he will definitely not hesitate.

Therefore, what is more anxious about Yara now is to keep his foundation.

If there is no foundation, no matter how many battles you win, you are just a lost dog.

"King Khan, let's hurry up!" Several commanders looked at Namuhan.

Instead, Na Muhan waved his hand and looked at the cavalry who finally disappeared in the darkness with deep eyes: "Someone is going to clean up the Ba Ra, we can't chase west anymore." ”

"But ・・・・・・"

Na Muhan Huo Ran turned his head, his eyes were full of coldness: "Now that the Southern Barbarians are on the Northern Expedition, we have to let go, Cangshengtian and Father Khan need us to go south!" The Southern Barbarian is our biggest opponent! ”

All the commanders were silent, and slowly clenched their sabers as they looked south with Namuhan's gaze.

――――――――――――――-

The Northern Expedition was a century-old plan for the Song and Ming dynasties in China, and naturally they did not dare to take it lightly.

What's more, this time it was Ye Yingwu who was personally driving as His Majesty the Emperor, even if he was not on the front line, it meant that Ye Yingwu would sit in Heluo or even Shandong, and deal with the entire frontline war and political affairs at any time. It is even necessary to give appropriate instructions on the major events that are happening in the rear.

So unlike the last time Ye Yingwu toured the north, he was light and simple, and even the affairs of the DPRK and China were all handed over to Wen Tianxiang, just to let Lu Wanyan listen to the government to show the imperial power, this time Ye Yingwu not only took a dragon boat, but also went north under the layers of the water division of Zhenjiang Mansion on the river and the Praetorian Guards and the Divine Guards on the shore, and also carried six officials, among the six departments, Wang Lixin, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, Xia Shilin, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and Guo Shoujing, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, all came with the car, and because considering that this palace test is likely to be held in Luoyang Palace, Therefore, the Academy and the Hallym Academy also have many bachelors accompanying them.

In addition to the officials of the rest of the ministries, this time Ye Yingwu can even be said to have taken away half of the imperial court, which can also ensure that Ye Yingwu does not need to personally deal with a large number of government affairs, and does not have to worry about any emergencies on the front line, Ye Yingwu has no way to make a sufficient response because he does not have enough manpower around him.

What's more, this Northern Expedition is a matter of great importance and related to the fortunes of the Ming Dynasty, so it is necessary for important ministers of the imperial court to sit on the front line, not to mention, the political hall and the rest of the yamen who stayed in Nanjing also need to make every effort to dispatch grain, grass and soldiers from all over the country, and naturally there is no way to deal with the political affairs of the rest of the places in a timely manner, so in order not to distract Wen Tianxiang and them, it is still necessary for Ye Yingwu to carry this burden over.

Of course, there are deeper reasons, which can only be understood but not spoken.

"See Your Majesty." Wang Lixin and others walked in together. Ye Yingwu waved his hand, and they stopped bowing down, after all, the cabin was narrow, and it was indeed a little difficult for so many people to bow together, and it would inevitably be embarrassing when the time came.

Ye Yingwu shook the battle report in his hand: "The Mongolian Tartars finally didn't blindly escape, and now they have begun to gradually deploy troops. You can take this battle report and take a look, the Mongolian Tatar soldiers are divided into two routes, all the way to assemble on the Mongolian steppe, and they can go south at any time, along the Lan army, Lanzhou, Xinzhou, and Fenzhou to Taiyuan Mansion, so that they can block the Tianwu army head-on. It is likely that this army was led by one of Kublai Khan's sons or even by him himself, and was the last main force of the Mongol army. On the other hand, the Mongolian army in the north is constantly curling up, under the leadership of Shi Tianze and Boyan, the old and the young, the Han and Mongolian generals, to defend the land of Youyan, protect the flank of the main force in the west, so as to avoid the main force being outflanked by the back road, and naturally want to prevent us from copying his Mongolian hometown. ”

Wang Lixin and the others hurriedly looked up at the map, in fact, since the car, they have long been familiar with the map of the north, at this time it is just to confirm again, and they can also give themselves a short chance to think. At that moment, Wang Lixin said in a deep voice: "It is not unreasonable for the Mongolian Tatars to attack like this, the Tianwu army is divided into two ways to attack along the east and west foothills of Taihang Mountain, and our Ming army in the area of Taiyuan Mansion has fewer troops, so the Mongolian Tatars concentrate all their strength to break through here, and it is easy to threaten the flank of the main force of the Northern Expedition or even point directly at Heluo." And as long as Boyan and Shi Tianze can contain the main force of our Ming Northern Expedition in Youyan, then we will neither advance nor retreat, and there will be no choice but to retreat to meet the main Mongolian force. ”

"What Wang Xianggong said is extremely true," Xia Shilin next to him stood up and responded, "So the subordinates think that judging from the posture of the Mongolian Tatars retreating and shrinking, the Tianwu Army should quickly join forces to meet the main Mongolian force, otherwise I am afraid that there is no way to defend the front line of Taiyuan Mansion, and when the time comes, it will be difficult to guarantee the safety of His Majesty." ”

Ye Yingwu Huoran stood up, stretched out his hand and knocked on the map behind him: "If the Tianwu Army faces the main force of the Mongol Tatars head-on, even if it is a victory, it will definitely be a disastrous victory." And at that time, it will be difficult for Da Ming to gnaw the bone of Youyan with the two Huai armies. For Daming, it is by no means the best policy. The Tianwu Army is to join forces, but it is definitely not to transfer all the troops from the east to the west! ”

Many officials below were stunned, but Wang Lixin understood, took a step forward and said with some concern: "Your Majesty, is this a bit risky?" (To be continued.) )