The vast grassland is also known as the sea of grass. Walking in a sea of grass is no different from sailing on the sea, and it is very easy to lose your direction. Therefore, sailing on the sea requires an experienced captain. Walking on the savannah requires an experienced guide.

Starting from the border between Yanzhou and the Khitan in Liaodong, it took only three days for the coalition army with the black skull flag to leave the Khitan steppe and enter the Turkic steppe. This time, Chen Kefu's target was directly aimed at the Turkic tent and the old nest, so the light cavalry of 70,000 coalition soldiers was a water. In order to move quickly, Chen Kefu did not even dare to bring more of the most elite armored cavalry of the Liaodong Army, and only brought 3,000 sets of armored cavalry equipment. Moreover, when marching, all the heavy cavalry equipment was carried by 6,000 horses in turn. In normal times, these 3,000 heavy cavalry and war horses are also lightly armed, and only when it is most critical, Chen Kefu will plan to use them.

Among the 70,000 soldiers and horses, the 20,000 cavalry of the Khitan and Dahe clans had already lived in the steppe close to the Turks, so they were very familiar with the steppe march. At the same time, the commander of the Khitan soldiers this time, Chen Kefu's sworn brother Abao Cave, specially brought more than a dozen Turkic merchants who often do business on the grassland as guides.

Led by these Turkic guides, it took only three days for the coalition forces to cross the territory of the Xi tribe, and they were not discovered by the people of the Xi tribe along the way. This made the eight chief and deputy marshals of the coalition army very happy, if they could do this all the way, then it would take them less than ten days to reach the Turkic tent, and they would be able to reach the Tucheng of the Turkic tent.

After passing through the Plateau, there were two ways to the Turkic tent. Either go south, cross the desert from the moraine and head northwest to reach the Turkic tent. The advantage of taking this road is that there are basically deserts and Gobi along the way, which are rarely inhabited and not easy to find. But the disadvantages are the same, the road is very difficult, and few guides know the familiar path, if you accidentally get lost in the desert, you may not be able to get out.

The other road is the pasture of the Payeji tribe in the north, where the Wanshui River passes, as long as you follow the Wanshui all the way to the southwest, you can smoothly reach the Turkic tent. This finished water is the Klulun River in later generations, and it enters Hulun Lake to the east, and then it is the Heilongjiang River to the east. This is the smoothest route, but on this road there are four Turkic tribes: the Paiyaji tribe, the Servant Bone Division, the Tongluo Division, and the Sijie Division. These tribes were powerful and numerous, and they dared to break in, but it was difficult to reach the Turkic tent smoothly.

Chen Kefu and the deputy marshals, pioneers, and marching directors sat on the grass and carefully studied the map.

Abao Cave pointed to the desert on the first route and said to Chen Ke, "Dashuai, this sand sea doesn't seem to be very big on this map, but even the most experienced guide will have to take six or seven days to cross this sand sea. Moreover, there are only a few oases in the desert that can replenish water, and if an army of more than 70,000 people and more than 100,000 war horses like ours dares to break into the sand sea, I am afraid that it will be difficult to get out. I once followed my uncle on a trade with a tribe on the west side of the desert, and once we crossed a sea of sand, and that time we encountered a sandstorm and nearly killed the entire caravan inside. ”

There was opposition from the Apo Caves, and the other generals also felt that it was inappropriate to go south. In particular, several guides also said that although they knew that road, the sea of sand was unpredictable, and it was very easy to get lost, and they all advised them not to take this road.

"Marshal, General Zhang's secret letter has arrived," Chen Lei came over to report.

"General Zhang? Which General Zhang? Chen Kefu was still thinking about taking the road to the north, but he was trying to find a safe route among the major Turkic tribes.

Chen Lei said, "General Daniel Zhang of Hedong." ”

"Daniel Zhang? You said Daniel Zhang's letter arrived? As soon as Chen Kefu heard that it was Daniel Zhang, he immediately jumped up. At present, people are in the grassland, and the situation in Hedong is also very important for them. In case the Turks and Yang Guang did not fight, or it would be over after two hits, if the Turks returned early. They stupidly traveled thousands of miles all the way, which was really a sheep's mouth. Only by paying attention to the movements of these two giants at any time can Chen Kefu constantly adjust his steps to successfully achieve the benefits of the fisherman and the fire.

Opening the seal, Chen Kefu carefully read the secret letter, and when he read it several times in a row to confirm that the translation was not wrong, Chen Kefu couldn't help laughing loudly. …,

Deputy Marshal Yu Qinming, Wang Rengong, Luo Zhong and others all came over, "Dashuai, is it that Shibi and Yang Guang have already fought?" ”

Chen Kefu nodded, "That's right, things are really going according to our plan." The secret letter sent by Daniel Zhang shows that just five days ago, the 15,000 vanguard army of Shibi and the 15,000 men of Li Shimin and Sima Dekan fought in the county town of Shenwu in Mayi, and in this battle, the Turkic vanguard army was defeated, only more than 1,000 people escaped, while the Sui army still had more than 6,000 remainers. ”

"Three days ago, Yang Guang retreated to Yanmen, and Sui Huihu'er, Yun Dingxing, and Li Shimin led 50,000 soldiers and horses to stay at Xicheng Pass. The 280,000-strong army began to attack one night later, and the 50,000-strong Sui army was annihilated by Huang, leaving only 4,500 people to retreat to Yanmen under the leadership of Yun Dingxing. In this battle, Rong Guogong and General Youyiwei came to protect the children and died, about 45,000 Sui troops were killed, Li Shimin broke his left arm, was stabbed in the abdomen and other places, and he was killed by 59 knives in his body. ”

"Two days ago, the 150,000 army besieged Yang Guang's 100,000 soldiers and horses in Yanmen City. And then surrounded the Liao King Yang Xuan who led 30,000 soldiers and horses in Lao County, and then broke through the 39 cities of Yanmen. Only the two cities of Yanmen and Laoxian remain. At present, there are 130,000 soldiers and horses in the two cities of Yangguang, Yanmen and Laoxian, and 80,000 soldiers and horses have been discounted at the beginning, and 200,000 soldiers and horses are currently besieging Yangguang. ”

A series of good news made Chen Kefu so excited that he even ignored why Daniel Zhang actually knew Li Shimin's injury so clearly. Big surprise, I didn't expect Yang Guang and Shi Bi to work so hard, and before there was a king to a king, the number of soldiers and horses killed on both sides had reached nearly 150,000. Thinking about it again, next, the two sides will definitely have a big battle, killing more soldiers and horses, Chen Kefu almost had to drink and sing.

Yu Qinming, Wang Rengong and other generals were also very happy, the more powerful the Turks and the imperial court fought, the more advantageous the Liaodong Army would be in the future. It is better to cripple both sides, so that neither of them can threaten Liaodong in a short time.

Wang Rengong turned out to be the Taishou of Ma Yi, and he had been commanding troops at the border for a long time, so he naturally knew how powerful Yanmen Pass, the world's first male pass, was.

"Dashuai, this time the Turks are going south, although Yang Guang has suffered a big loss now, he has already entered Yanmen. As long as the defense is good, then if the Turks blindly want to break through Yanmen, it is very likely that in the end, Yang Guang will defeat the Turks. As long as he persists until the arrival of the Hedong army, then the Turks, who rely entirely on raiding and supporting the war, may be attacked by Yang Guang's imperial army inside and outside, and defeated at Yanmen. At that time, if the Turks are defeated and want to flee, I am afraid it will not be so easy. ”

Chen Kefu understood his concern, if Yang Guang was defeated, it would not only be the Turks who would be unlucky in the end, but also the Liaodong Army. Therefore, the Liaodong Army now feels that it is walking on a tightrope and dancing on two eggs. Be careful all the way, and you can't make a mistake by half-walking.

"I'll think about it again, no matter what, we have to make them lose both, not just let one lose. When it's critical, we can pull the one that is at the disadvantage. All weak and strong, this is also our strategy. Well, now that the situation in Hedong is very clear, the imperial court and the Turks may withdraw at any time. If the Turks pull out, then we will be in trouble, and the steppe will be completely large, and the Central Plains will be in chaos, and no one will be able to control it in ten years. As soon as the imperial court withdraws, then we will be hundreds of thousands of troops facing the momentum of victory by the imperial court and no longer have to worry about the eastward crusade. So, we have to give it our all. ”

After thinking about it, Chen Kefu said to Wang Rengong, "Vice Marshal Wang, immediately send an urgent letter to General Li Jing in front of Linyu Pass, asking him to continue our previous plan to increase troops. The commander demanded that within three days of receiving the letter, he should use a plan to show the Sui army at Linyu Pass that we had increased our army by 70,000 again, bringing it to 200,000. He also asked Li Jing to make some active attack actions to make a sign that the Liaodong Army was going to attack on a large scale. ”

Wang Rengong nodded, "Li Jing has already planned before, and used the plan to make the Sui army in the pass believe that we have increased our troops by 30,000, and this time we will increase by 70,000, I believe he can do it." Da Shuai's move is wrong, as soon as this move comes out, it will definitely make the 100,000 soldiers and horses that Yang Guang transferred to Zhuo County transfer back to Linyu Pass again. If it comes, the strength of Shibi and Yang Guang will be a little more balanced. ”

"There's only so much we can do, and now we're still the old nest we copied before. I hope this trip goes well, and there are no extraneous complications. "This time, as long as the 300,000 troops of the Turks going south are almost the same as the imperial court, then as long as Chen Kefu copies the old nest of Shibi, then the Turks will never have the strength to enter the Central Plains again within ten years. And this is exactly what Chen Kefu wants, he wants to dominate the Central Plains, but he doesn't want to think that when everyone fights to the death, there is a powerful force on the grassland on the side that surpasses all forces.

Since he had chosen this route to the north, Chen Kefu had to give an order to send scouts in front of the army and advance cautiously. Along the way, the whereabouts must be concealed, the troop wrapped the horses' hooves in cloth, and the soldiers were silenced. In addition, it was planned to adopt a day and night marching method, in which the army rested in hidden places such as valleys and rivers during the day, and only set out secretly after dark at night, so as to avoid ......being discovered by the Turkic tribes to the greatest extent.