Three or four out of ten of Batu's thousands of troops survived the brutal labor-cut process, but after counting, fewer than a thousand were able to march. Li Xin originally had the intention to let them take the lead, but when he saw the formation in front of him, he beat a drum in his heart, let alone fighting, these people are afraid that even if they are riding horses, they may all fall apart if they are faster.

Lu Jiu pursed his lips and whispered in Li Xin's ear, "Look at these people, can they fight if they are brought there?" When the time comes, we will still be distracted to take care of them, it is better for our three guards to go by ourselves, not to mention the destruction of the withering and decaying, the momentum is like a bamboo, and it is not a problem to subdue the four divisions of the desert! ”

After several major wars, especially after the Battle of Zhangjiakou, Lu Jiu was disdainful of the combat effectiveness of the Mongol army, and in the eyes of others, it was naturally a breeding point of pride, which was not a good sign. As the saying goes, arrogant soldiers will be defeated, and once people are too arrogant, they are in danger of falling.

Li Xin felt that it was necessary to remind Lu Jiu.

"What you and I see of the Mongols' combat effectiveness is just the tip of the iceberg, this time to attack the north, we must be both rigid and soft, otherwise we will not know if the previous achievements will be lost!"

Lu Jiu nodded yes, but he didn't think so in his heart, slandering Li Xin's mother-in-law Yourou.

Li Xinqing knew that he could not persuade Lu Jiu with words alone, so he stopped persuading him, and led Batu to lead the people to follow, and the army would separate and pull out the side wall in the early hours of that night.

Batu asked Li Xin for horses with a bitter face, and Li Xin spread his hands, "Horses are scarce, and even the Three Guards can't supply them, let alone take care of you, but the difficulties are temporary, overcome them, and when the horses are captured along the way, how about giving priority to your department?" ”

Li Xindu said this, what else can Batu ask for, but he and his subordinates are suffering, not to mention the weak body, and they have to follow the large team of men and horses to march quickly, I really don't know if I can hold on to Guihua City!

The army went out of the side wall from the Baiyangkou in the northwest of Zhenyuwei, and went all the way to the Qi'er Sea through the Horse Drying Platform and Maoerzhuang. This sea is formed by the collection of several seasonal rivers, but today the scale of the dry sea has shrunk to an unprecedented size, and only a shallow beach remains, which can be seen as far as the eye can see.

Qierhai, also known as Jining Haizi, originally belonged to Datong Mansion, and later the border of the Ming Dynasty shrank, and a large area of land outside the border wall was abandoned, and this Qierhai was among the abandonment. The surrounding water and grass are fertile, and there have always been countless large and small tribes grazing here, but the locals mostly call it Angurinauer, and the herdsmen of the surrounding hundreds of miles will drive cattle and sheep here every summer.

Li Xin chose this place as the first stop of this expedition, in order not to run the wrong road in vain, as long as the army unexpectedly drove into the Qi'er Sea, it would definitely be able to gain something.

In fact, Li Xin did not hesitate to expect that, despite the severe drought this year, the amount of sea water in Qi'er has dropped sharply, and the surrounding rivers have almost dried up, the herdsmen tribes still camp here in the summer, struggling in the drought, waiting for the end of the dry season. It's just that they didn't wait for the rainy season to come, but they waited for the wolf-like Ming army.

North of the border wall has not been threatened by the Ming court for nearly twenty or thirty years, and over time, the Ming army naturally faded out of the field of vision of the Mongolian tribes, and was replaced by those in the forest savages located in Liaodong, a few years ago, the last bloodline of the golden family was defeated in one fell swoop, it is said that the great Khan of the savage people took over the property of Lin Dan Lao Khan and the women together, until now the shepherds of the various departments talked about it, and kept shaking their heads, sighing when the Mongols fell like this, driven by some forest savages like slaves.

Of course, there are also Mongolians who have a different view on this, who is not driven, is it better not to be driven by savages, and to be driven by those southerners in the Ming court? What they hope for is to let the Ming court and the Qing court fight to the death, and the Mongols are so good that they can't win the war, and they can't hide?

"Look, look, the warriors of the Mongols, the descendants of Genghis Khan, have fallen into such a situation, must the Mongols be born driven by those savages and barbarians? Why can't the Mongols pick up the whip again, trample them under their feet again, and become our slaves? ”

A young Mongolian warrior waved his powerful arms and excitedly accused the herders of being willing to be enslaved.

"Hey! Look, Bekoer is a big hero, of course your Ao Han Department is the descendant of Genghis Khan, of course my Urad Department can't compare with you, you are like the sun on the grassland, we are like the meandering river on the grassland, how dare you compete with you to coexist, let you bask for a few days, I don't know where to go! ”

Another swarthy herder pointed to the dry riverbed, apparently sarcastic.

The Mongol warrior named Bekoer was not angry, but his expression darkened significantly. "Our Mongols have fallen to the point where they are now, and it is because the various tribes attack each other and have no strength to make one place, which allows those savages in the forest to gain the upper hand! If the tribes of the steppe could one day form a rope, the fertile land south of the wall would once again become a pasture for the Mongols to graze, and the wild people in the forest to the east would once again crawl under the feet of the Mongols! ”

"Hey! Wake up, wake up. Now the sun is still overhead, not the time to dream, with this grinding effort, it is better to think, where do we go to graze after the sea is dry? More than a dozen of my sheep died yesterday! Alas! If it goes on like this, it won't be long before it's all gone! ”

Bei Kuo'er clenched his fists and said dissatisfiedly: "Instead of complaining about the sky, it is better to ask for yourself, I heard that tens of thousands of grains and grass have been hoarded in several Ming Ting guards on the south side of the wall, and they can't be eaten for a winter, so it's really not good, let's also find an opportunity to grab one." ”

"Don't just talk big, when Lao Khan didn't die, he never said that he would go to Mingting to strengthen food. Don't be a good guy, your Ao Han Department and the Han Department are also of the same origin, it's better to go to the King of Ezhejun to recognize the sect, or someone to take care of food and housing, and a few Dahai Zi grazing, it's better than wandering outside and suffering! ”

Bei Ko'er smacked fiercely, "Don't mention that kid, the guy who insulted his ancestors, if he lets Bei Ko'er see him, he will definitely ask him three times if he is still a descendant of Genghis Khan, do you still want the honor of the golden family, and will you revenge your father for killing your father?" ”

The leaders of the other tribes obviously did not take Beikoer, a young warrior who had just inherited the position of the dead old Khan, in their eyes, and there were many ridicules and ridicules in their words, but this young man had always led them very sincerely, so he was not disgusted with him, only a little dissatisfied with his outdated Spring and Autumn dreams.

"The influence of the Golden Family on the grassland, I'm afraid it's not as good as the ringing horses of the southerners, don't mention it, let's graze well, live a good life, and don't mix blindly with them! Haven't you heard that Batu Khan of the Tumut tribe went to the south of the border wall to fight grass valleys after the beginning of spring, and what was the result? Thousands of Mongolian warriors were captured alive by those Han people, and they threw themselves into the coolie camp, working all day long without even having a full meal, and they were tortured one by one without human form......"

"Old man Damu, you said that you have a nose and eyes, is it possible that you have seen it with your own eyes? Your lame old leg can't even ride a horse, don't listen to the rumors of those southerners! ”

The old man Damu is an old warrior of the Ao Han Department, who fought with Lin Dan Khan in the south and the north, and fought countless battles large and small, and the right leg was lost in the fierce battle with those savages in the forest.

Beko'er also followed to blame the old man Damu.

"The origin of the few Han people you took in is unknown, and they live for nothing every day, in case they betray us one day, it's too late to regret it!"

The old man Damu was not angry, but bowed his head and said: "Don't be a child, the Han people have a saying, the swallow will grow into an eagle one day, your ambition is as big as the eagle in the sky, but your wings are only like the bird's nest, what do you use to beat the strong and fierce wind?" ”

Don't Kuo'er slammed his fist on the dry grass and didn't answer, the old man Damu continued: "The Tumut tribe is one of the four major tribes in Monan and has ended up like this, our Ao Han tribe is only a thousand people, and the cattle and sheep are not less than 10,000, what can we do to revive the majesty?" Looking around, both tigers and wolves, the Han people have a good saying, Taoguang is obscure, and what he said is exactly what my Ao Han Department should deal with at this moment! ”

"The Han people say, the Han people say, the Han people say everything, the Mongolian wolves and eagles don't need the wheat and rice of the Han people, they only need the blood and raw meat of the beasts!"

Seeing that he couldn't convince Bei Ku'er, the old man Damu didn't plan to continue arguing, and this kind of argument had been going on many times in the past......

The man from the Urad Department suddenly pointed to the southern heaven and earth, and his voice was full of apprehension. "Look, look, what's, what's that?"

The morning has passed, the fog has dispersed, the golden sunlight has already become bright and dazzling, under the blue sky, the grassland is far the line of heaven and earth. A red stream of iron roared forward, like a pack of wolves and tigers.

The steppe warriors had a keen sense of smell, and the herdsmen, who had been complaining and chatting a moment ago, were immediately alert. Finally, a scarlet battle flag was unfurled in the wind under the scorching sun, and several large Chinese characters stood out on it, although the Mongolian herdsmen could not recognize the Chinese characters, but they all understood.

It's the Ming Army! It's the Ming army coming!

How is this possible? The Ming army has not dared to go out of the side wall for more than ten years, half a step to the north, what is this going to do now? The Mongols instinctively felt that there was a bloody murderous aura in the sky above this Ming army, and it must be that those who came were not good, and those who were good did not come!

"Warriors, get on the horse, get on the horse, meet the enemy, it's the Ming army coming!"

Bekoer was the first to react and shouted at the top of her voice. The herdsmen of all tribes who gathered around the sea to graze their cattle mounted their horses, drew their swords and held their bows, and in an instant, they gathered into a galloping Mongolian iron horse, drawing a graceful arc on the withered yellow grassland, and heading straight for the flank of the red iron stream in front.