At that time, Ye Yingwu and Liang Yanwu, who were drawing up the alliance, still had to think about taking precautions, so they maintained a buffer zone of more than 100 miles on the border between the two countries. This kind www.biquge.info of buffer zone is not the first time in history that this kind of buffer zone has appeared in history, and it plays a great role in military affairs, which can give timely news of the attack of the defending country, so that it can make an adequate response.

Anyway, in this more than 100 miles of land, there are mainly some small tribes that do not obey Zhenla or the Delhi Sultanate, Ye Yingwu was in a hurry to go north, and the Ming army in Nanyang also needed to maintain local stability, so naturally there was no effort to take care of these small tribes, so it was better to directly vacate this piece of land. For the Ming Dynasty, who swallowed the entire South Seas, it was better to have less trouble in this chaotic place.

Although Ye Yingwu is not the kind of person who is content and happy, he is a person who knows the limit. And apparently the Delhi Sultanate had about the same intentions, so they agreed. After all, their main opponent was the Ilkhanate, and it was true that they did not have an army to clean up the small tribes here.

This also makes the middle part of the area an out-and-out three-way zone.

The world is bustling, all for profit; The world is crowded, all for profit.

Driven by profits, businessmen often have a lot of perseverance to go to places where others are unwilling to set foot in order to seek higher profits, and some merchants are even explorers themselves.

In another time and space, the "Age of Discovery" and the "Great Discoveries" were in fact the process of expanding trade routes, and the purpose of Columbus's voyage was to find India and China, which Marco Polo described as "full of gold".

At this time, the merchants of the Ming Dynasty and the caravan with the red dragon flag were obviously equivalent to Columbus and his fleet in this era to a certain extent. The Delhi Sultanate is an ally of the Ming Dynasty, and it is also a well-known big country in the north of Tianzhu, where there is a country, there is business, but it is a pity that the location of the Delhi Sultanate is north, it is difficult to reach it directly by sea, and there is no decent port on the coastline on the south side of Tianzhu that can be used to transfer goods, so some caravans simply pass directly through Xihui Town, and continue westward through the buffer zone of only 100 miles, to the Delhi Sultanate.

Although the small tribes in this buffer zone are quite resistant to the occupation of the Delhi Sultanate and the previous Chenla, it does not mean that they do not welcome people who come to do business, after all, they also need to survive, and the poor living conditions are not terrible, but there are many items urgently needed in this barren place, because of the blockade and oppression of the Delhi Sultanate and Chenla before, there has always been a shortage, but now the Ming caravan has brought these items, and it is not to bring the items to rule them, these small tribes naturally welcome. As long as they are sincere in exchanging goods, they will not do harm, and will even send people to protect and send the caravan to the next tribe.

As a result, what Zhenla and the Delhi Sultanate did not do with their armies, they instead allowed the Ming caravan to exchange goods. Although these small tribes did not explicitly require it to be attached, their trust and dependence on the Ming Dynasty was no longer necessary to express - after all, the goods and living standards of the Ming Dynasty were not at the same level as their mountain savage tribes, and even the ceramics and silk that European nobles flocked to were enough for these small tribes to fall for them.

So even if they are not Da Ming's own people, they are also friends of Da Ming. For these simple mountain people, the word friend is not easy to say, and saying it means sticking a knife in both sides.

For this situation, the Nanyang government and army of the Ming Dynasty also couldn't laugh or cry, but the meal saved a lot of effort. Because of the needs of the war in the north, a large number of people were transferred to the north, so the Ming Dynasty did not have enough people to explore the road and situation to the west of Xihui Town, and since this situation happened, these tasks fell directly on the shoulders of the caravan.

The Daming caravan and the imperial court are grasshoppers on a rope, without Daming and Ye Yingwu, there would be no today, so let alone probing some intelligence and feeling the shape clearly, even if they really let them contribute money and strength, and attack forward with real swords and guns, they may not hesitate to do it, after all, there is a place where the red dragon flag of Daming is fluttering, which not only represents safety, but also represents rolling money.

The sand table now placed in front of Lou Yong is built according to the intelligence and news collected by the Ming caravan, and after the Ming army fully entered Xihui Town, a very small part of the modification was made according to the re-arrangement of the front-line sentry cavalry, and it has to be said that the ability of the Ming caravan in this regard is still good.

"General, now in this area of hundreds of miles, there are about twenty small tribes, which add up to twenty or thirty thousand people, and the number of soldiers who can fight is no more than eight thousand, but these eight thousand people must not be underestimated," Su Gree is a Zhenla person, and his familiarity with this area is stronger than Sun Jun's after all, "Before the Delhi Sultanate and Zhenla both wanted to swallow this area as their own, so they sent a large army to crusade many times, but unfortunately every time they returned with a feather, although the last general did not experience the crusade, but he also knew, These tribes can stop the army, definitely not only because of the terrain, because of the advantages of the terrain, they may be able to use it for the first time, but after they have experience, they will naturally not continue to be fooled, so although these tribes only have 8,000 soldiers to fight, they are definitely elite soldiers who have experienced bloody battles. ”

"Eight thousand, that's a lot." Lou Yong nodded, "But if it can't be used by me, no matter how many people there are, it's useless." ”

"The general should also know," Sugree said with some embarrassment, "These small tribes have been suppressed by the big countries on both sides before, so they also have a certain degree of wariness against our Ming Dynasty, before the Ming Dynasty passed through in caravans, they could not be vigilant, but now that the Ming want to use them to deal with the Ilkhanate, they may not be so easy to agree." After all, these small tribes stood up against the Delhi Sultanate and Chenla, in fact, they were afraid of being dragged over as cannon fodder. ”

Lou Yong raised his head to look at the situation outlined in the picture hanging on the wall on one side, and rubbed his chin: "If you want to say that they are not a little guarded, it is impossible to support them until now, even His Majesty felt that they were tricky and did not start." But that's why we're able to use those 8,000 for our own use. ”

"Please also make it clear to the general!" Sun Jun hurriedly said. Now the Ming Dynasty is facing a dangerous situation in Nanyang, they are obvious to all, if they can have 8,000 more people, it will naturally be better. It's just that these 8,000 people may be difficult to completely obey the deployment of the Ming army, and it may even cause turmoil at a critical time, so Sun Jun, Su Geli and others have never had the courage to attack these 8,000 people.

"As long as we can treat each other with sincerity, they will definitely return the favor." Lou Yong squinted his eyes, he had been in southern Xinjiang for a long time, so he naturally understood the state of mind of these small tribes. These small tribes are often oppressed by the big tribes, otherwise it is impossible to give up the fertile land and beg for a living in the deserted mountains, they have suffered too much deception, so as long as someone can treat them as a sincere friend, they will naturally give them a helping hand.

"This ・・・・・・" Su Gree and Sun Jun both took a breath lightly, the four words "treat each other with sincerity" are not easy to say, because this is the slogan and basic principle of the Ming Dynasty for the three Buddha and other vassal states, it is precisely because the Ming Dynasty has fulfilled these four words, so the three Buddha Qi and other countries obey the words of the Great Ming, instead of the previous yin and yang.

Lou Yong nodded, stretched out his hand and drew a circle in this area: "This piece of mountainous and lowland land is barren, and it is not conducive to farming, for the Ming Dynasty, even if it is taken, there is no benefit, it is better to divide this place and hand it over to these tribes to govern themselves, as a vassal state capital or sweet potato country of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming will help them train their troops, their treatment is the same as that of the Three Buddhas and other countries, and the Ming will also teach them basic farming techniques, so that whether it is farming here, or trading with the caravans along the way, It is a good choice, with the support of the Ming Dynasty, even if it is a barren land, it can still make people full! ”

"Well said the general!" At this moment, a loud voice came from outside the door, and the sound of footsteps followed the voice.

"Di Er was stunned, did you come here to shout, is there a certain Dali army commander?" Lou Yong couldn't help but look back and laugh and scold, he really loved and hated himself, a big but thick general.

The ability to fight is first-class.,But this straightforward character who always likes to cause trouble is also a headache.。 If it weren't for this reason, I'm afraid that he would now be at least the head of one of the two armies under the Dali Army.

Di Meng scratched his head a little embarrassed, and put the hat he was holding on the table - in a place like Nanyang, if you want to avoid being exposed to the wind and rain, then this hat is indispensable - strode to the side of the sand table: "The last general will see the general!" ”

"Okay, it's all my own brothers here, so you don't have to come here with so-and-so." Lou Yong waved his hand impatiently. Di Meng nodded, he knew that this was not for him, but for Su Gree and Sun Jun next to him, and sure enough, after saying this, a smile appeared on both of their faces, who doesn't want to be with the Lord will be their own brother.

"The last general has just returned from the gathering place of those small tribes outside Xihui Town, and has preliminarily tested the meaning of these small tribes," Di Meng said with a smile on his face, grabbing the water cup next to him and pouring most of his own cup of water, "I have to say that our Daming caravan is really good, at least a certain is the first soldier to enter these small tribes safely and come out intact." ”

Sun Jun and Su Gree couldn't help laughing, while Lou Yong stretched out his hand to support the table and said in a deep voice, "Let's talk about it, what do these small tribes mean?" ”

"The last general's idea is not much different from that of the general, but after all, the last general is only a division commander and has no right to make such a big decision, so he just has an idea in his heart," Di Meng's expression also became cautious, "And although these small tribes have not spoken explicitly, but they have already figured out their thoughts, obviously they have not been too wary of Daming after they have been trading with the Ming caravan for so long, and they can even be said to regard us as friends, not to mention that it can be seen, They are already impatient with this kind of life. At the beginning, it was a choice between life and death, of course they did not want to be conquered and enslaved, and now that Chenla has perished, and the Delhi Sultanate has no time to look eastward, if the Ming can stand up and accept them as allies at this time, they will definitely succeed. ”

After a pause, Di Meng came to a conclusion: "So so-and-so agrees with the general's proposal." ”

Lou Yong rubbed his chin lightly and looked up at Di Meng: "This is true, but you must also know that the Ming Dynasty is now at war in the north and south at the same time, plus Youyan, Shanxi and Liaodong and other places need a lot of money, grain and materials for reconstruction, so there is no superfluous thing at all, good steel should be used on the blade, and the Ming Dynasty has no shortage of allies in Nanyang, so what I want to know is, once these small tribes are used by me, what can they do, or rather, what can they give to them?" If this is not clear, there is no way to explain it to the court and His Majesty. ”

Sun Jun and Su Gree both nodded, and looked at Di Meng at the same time, although they knew more or less about these tribes, but they mainly relied on hearsay, so they were still very curious about Di Meng's own opinion. Di Meng nodded:

"A certain walked around their village, and then according to the description of the previous caravan, it can be seen that these small tribesmen are fierce, and what they are best at is to break them into pieces, relying on their own knowledge of this mountain forest, to harass and attack the enemy, and finally the enemy is exhausted, and has to give up the attack. The mountains and forests in this area are quite dense, and there are frequent heavy rains, so the roads are muddy and difficult to walk. It may be difficult for these small tribes to confront the Ilkhanate's army, but I believe that with them, the Ilkhanate's food routes will not be able to live in peace. ”

"The army of the Ilkhanate is coming from afar, if the grain route is cut off, the natural army will be unstable, and then we will have a lot of room for maneuver whether we are attacking or defending." Sun Jun nodded and said, "Without food and grass, the army of the Ilkhanate has only two choices, one is to forcibly collect grain from these small tribes, but this will only cause more resistance from these small tribes, and it will be difficult to supply the army, and the second is naturally to pat the ass and leave." ”

Lou Yong raised his eyebrows: "Don't think about things too optimistically, although the Ilkhanate came from afar, but according to the fact that they were able to send a large number of envoys to provoke Zhenla and Bo Ni to oppose my Ming Dynasty, they have also coveted this land of the South Seas for a long time, so they must have been fully prepared for a long time, and they can't be unexpected, so we are too hasty to conclude victory now." ”

Sun Jun showed a look of shame on his face, and Su Gree stood up to excuse Sun Jun and said, "General, in fact, Brigade Commander Sun is just a little ill-considered, and please don't blame the general." The whole army stationed in Xihui Town is somewhat afraid and worried about the upcoming Ilkhanate army, and if Brigade Commander Sun can bring this optimism down, it should be beneficial to the soldiers. ”

Lou Yong didn't have much intention to scold, after all, Sun Jun was just a brigade commander, and he couldn't ask him with the eyes and vision of a military commander or even a general, otherwise he Lou Yong would not have rushed over himself after sending his beloved general Di Meng to this place, just to prevent this kind of lack of vision of the generals under him from causing the enemy to be underestimated.

And Sun Jun glanced at Su Gree slightly, this Zhenla brigade commander showed a sincere smile on his face, and for a while he couldn't figure out whether this guy really wanted to exonerate himself, or was trying to find a way to discredit himself, after all, what Su Gree said just now always made people feel a little weird, I don't know if it was because Su Gree didn't have a good grasp of the Chinese language, or because Su Gree really had other meanings in it.

However, Sun Jun also knew that now was not the time to ponder, so he took a step forward and said loudly: "General Qiqi, there was a lot of inappropriate consideration by the last general just now, and I ask the general to forgive me." The last general thought that we still have to beware of the Ilkhanate's cavalry as the vanguard and directly forward to break through our army's defenses in Xihui Town, which will cause these small tribes to be ineffective, which is also a possibility. ”

Lou Yong sighed, although he didn't say it, all the generals present knew in an instant that for the Ilkhanate, which had been prepared for a long time, this possibility was very likely.