Chapter 536: A Gamble of Life and Death
Altan Khan was speechless for a moment, he had to say this just now in order to show his modesty, he didn't expect Xiao Feng to really beat the snake with the stick.
I used to admire you, but now do you want people not to admire? I asked for your help, but now I can't ask for your help?
Altan Khan looked at the eyes of the leaders of the various tribes exchanging with each other, and knew that the more they broke up on this topic, the more wrong it became, so he simply stopped reasoning with Xiao Feng.
"Xiao Tianshi, no matter how clever your tongue is, it won't work on the grassland. The grassland respects the brave and respects the strength!
Even if it weren't for Ben Khan, there would be other strong people who would be promoted. The steppe cannot be without the Great Khan, just as you Ming cannot live without the Emperor.
Ben Khan just took on this responsibility at the right time. ”
Xiao Feng smiled: "Why can't the grassland be without a big sweat?" Did this be said by Changshengtian? ”
Altan Khan sneered: "If there is no Great Khan in the grassland, the tribes will be scattered, and foreign enemies will invade, who will protect them?" ”
Xiao Feng said loudly: "If there is no Great Khan in the grassland, why will the tribes be scattered? They have become the people of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty will naturally protect them! ”
Altan Khan looked coldly at the clan leaders behind Xiao Feng: "Do you really believe that Da Ming can protect you?" ”
The tribal leaders winced slightly, and suddenly Huhe Khan stepped forward and shouted, "I believe it! ”
Altan Khan gritted his teeth and said, "Do you think the army of the Ming Dynasty can be stationed on the grassland forever?" Do you think your tribe will still have a foothold in the steppe after they are gone? ”
Xiao Feng patted Huhe Khan on the shoulder: "His tribe will not only be able to gain a foothold, but will also become the first tribe in the entire grassland to get rich."
They will get food from the Ming Dynasty, weapons from the Ming Dynasty, and aid from the Ming Dynasty. Any tribe that dares to invade his territory will be annihilated by the Ming Dynasty!
The cavalry in his tribe is the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty stationed in the grassland, and the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty is the cavalry that he is stationed outside and can be adjusted at any time! ”
The tribal leaders are whispering, and these words are really very heartwarming. A few years ago, Da Ming said this kind of thing, it was like a fart, and no one dared to believe it.
At that time, the Mongolian cavalry hit the city, and the Ming Dynasty did not dare to send troops to fight, even if the Ming promised to be a protective umbrella, the umbrella was full of holes.
It's raining lightly outside, it's raining moderately under the umbrella, it's raining lightly outside, it's raining heavily under the umbrella, it's raining outside, so you have to take shelter from the rain outside the umbrella.
But now it's different, I didn't take much advantage of the last time I hit the capital. Now the Ming cavalry has gone straight into the depths of the grassland, coming and going, and Altan Khan has been beaten back again and again.
Xiao Feng added another fire: "Altan Khan, Daming's Guofang has been established, and with muskets like this, Daming will be able to make one or two thousand pieces every month in the future."
When I play against you again this time next year, it will not be these 1,000 muskets, but tens of thousands. How many cavalry do you have, and how many cavalry can you bear? ”
Altan Khan was silent for a long time, and suddenly looked up to the sky and laughed: "Xiao Feng, I believe what you just said, but I don't have no way to solve it.
I launched an attack outside the gate to kill you. Today may be my last chance, and today, let's fight to the death.
As long as I kill you, the changes in Daming will come to an abrupt end, the grassland is still the original grassland, and the Ming is still the original Daming! ”
As soon as these words came out, the already tense atmosphere suddenly became even more tense, and the men and horses on both sides pressed their hands on the hilt of the knife. And the tribal leaders on both sides were somewhat shaken.
The tribal leaders standing behind Altan Khan were somewhat shaken by Xiao Feng's words, and were considering whether to make enemies of the Ming Dynasty.
The tribal leaders standing behind Xiao Feng were also suppressed by Altan Khan's domineering, and they considered whether to fight back for a while.
Xiao Feng and Altan Khan stared at each other deadly, they both found that the camp behind the other party was not stable, and if they really fought for a while, it was likely to turn into a melee, and the outcome was unpredictable.
After a moment of tension between the two sides, Xiao Feng suddenly said: "Altan Khan, in this battle, it is not known who will kill the deer, but these tens of thousands of people are estimated to die on this grassland, do you really want to do this?" ”
Alta Khan sneered: "You have hit my door, what other choice do I have?" On the grassland, it has always relied on fast horses and long knives to decide the winner, not by lip service! ”
Xiao Feng nodded: "As I said just now, as long as the momentum of Daming's development is not interrupted, in a year or two, you will not be Daming's opponent."
So it doesn't matter who wins or loses today, it's really all about whether I can escape, right? ”
Altan Khan was stunned for a moment, and then nodded: "Not bad." If you flee back to Datong, even if I win today, the trend of Daming will remain unchanged.
Although it may not be as you said, Da Ming will win a year later, but it is indeed a major threat to me. ”
Xiao Feng smiled: "But you should know that with my kung fu at this time, it shouldn't be difficult to escape at the beginning of the melee." ”
Altan Khan sneered: "You should also know that a horse on the grassland is not only a horse, but also a rider's skill.
You Han people ride horses, not as fast as us. As soon as the war starts, I will personally lead a cavalry to chase you down, and I will definitely be able to kill you before you reach Datong. ”
Xiao Feng sighed: "But if you only care about chasing and killing me, you will lose your command on the battlefield here, and I am afraid that your chances of winning will become much smaller."
In order to protect themselves, the tribes behind you will definitely lead their troops away, and I am afraid that you will be defeated like a mountain when the time comes. ”
Altan Khan was silent for a moment: "So the current situation is that if I lead my troops to hunt you down, I may be defeated, and you may die."
If I don't lead my troops to hunt you down, and let you escape back to Datong, you can regroup and come back to fight me in a year. But on the battlefield here, I have a better chance of winning,
If you run away first, the morale of the Ming cavalry will decline, and the whole army will be wiped out, and the rebellious tribes will naturally turn against me and return to my camp when they see that the situation is not good. ”
Xiao Feng was silent for a moment: "Yes, no matter how you choose, we both have a dilemma. So I have a proposal to keep these tens of thousands of people from dying. ”
Everyone was originally preparing with a desperate battle, but when they heard Xiao Feng say this, they all suddenly had great expectations.
This is two evenly matched cavalry attack, no matter who wins or loses, those who can survive will rely on the ancestral tomb to smoke from it. Who would want to die if they could do without it?
Altan Khan hesitated: "You say! ”
Xiao Feng pointed at Altan Khan: "This battle has started, how many people can you bring to chase me?" ”
Altan Khan said, "A thousand." If there are more, the battlefield here will be dangerous. I'll only take a thousand people, and after killing you, I'll come back to command, and I still have a chance to win. ”
Xiao Feng nodded: "My cavalry will intercept you and consume you, and you will not be able to catch up with me in the end, no more than a hundred." ”
Altan Khan also nodded: "Very reasonable." Your cavalry will not watch me pursue you, they will intercept the pursuit, and when I get rid of them, these men will be left. But these people are enough to kill you. ”
Xiao Feng took a deep breath: "So we don't need to do anything with the camps on both sides, let's simulate it once."
I'll start running now, and you'll chase me with two hundred cavalry. If I run into Datong City, you will lose this battle.
If you catch up with me outside Datong and kill me, and you come back with my head, you will win the battle. ”
Everyone was stunned, and Qi Jiguang said loudly: "Brother Xiao, don't do this!" We're evenly matched, and we have muskets, and even though we're on his turf, it's not impossible to win! ”
Altan Khan looked at Xiao Feng fixedly, and only after a long time did he ask: "How about you win, what if I win?" ”
Xiao Feng said lightly: "I won, today's tribal meeting is the end of your Altan Khan's rule over the grassland." From then on, there was no alliance between the tribes, and no one was allowed to attack one another.
You won, and Daming will never interfere in the affairs of the grassland again. Anyway, I'm dead, and there aren't many people in Daming who are willing to send troops to attack the grassland.
Today's battle is really fought and fake, and in the end it is all like this, why waste tens of thousands of lives? ”
Altan Khan thought quickly, repeatedly comparing the situation in front of him, and finally had to admit that Xiao Feng was right.
The two sides really fight, and no matter who wins or loses on the battlefield, the winning side will also suffer heavy losses.
If Xiao Feng wins, there will be no Altan Khan and this tribe in the future. If he wins the battle, he still has to lead people to hunt down Xiao Feng.
Because if Xiao Feng escaped back to Datong, as long as Jiajing did not deprive Xiao Feng of his rights because of defeat, the battle between the two sides would continue until he faced tens of thousands of muskets.
Therefore, Xiao Feng's gamble was actually beneficial to Altan Khan. A hundred cavalry, even if Xiao Feng's martial arts are extraordinary, after all, he is not an immortal, even Xiao Qin will definitely not be able to run.
"Xiao Tianshi, I agree. However, how do we ensure that both sides are talking the talk? You and I don't believe in each other, so there's no need to say more. ”
Xiao Feng said loudly: "Please dismount the leaders of all tribes, and everyone will make an oath together today."
If I lose and die without regrets, Qi Jiguang will bring the oath back to the court, and the court will abide by it.
Altan Khan, you have to swear to the immortal heaven, if you win, you will not take revenge on the tribes who follow the Ming today, and if you disobey, all the tribes should work together to kill you and set up another Great Khan.
If you don't keep your oath, the court naturally doesn't need to keep your promise, and when the Ming Dynasty sends troops to help other tribes destroy you, you don't need to complain! ”
Altan Khan nodded slowly, he had already calculated, if he could kill Xiao Feng, although Da Ming was furious for a while, even if he didn't have an oath, he might not dare to send troops to fight.
Without Xiao Feng, Da Ming will soon become the original Da Ming, and he firmly believes in this.
As for vowing not to retaliate against other tribes, this one is even more fine. Even without an oath, Altan Khan was actually unwilling to go to the slaughter of other tribes.
After all, if you fight, you will die, and those who die are all Mongolian cavalry, which weakens their own strength in vain. But the other party has openly betrayed, and if he does not attack, he will lose his prestige and encourage some people to be ambitious.
Now Xiao Feng made himself swear, this was simply a step sent by the Immortal Heaven, and after he won, those tribes would naturally surrender again.
In the name of his oath, he did not retaliate, which not only showed that he was generous and trustworthy, but also reduced internal friction!
"And what if you win, what does the oath say?"
Xiao Feng glanced at the leaders of the various tribes: "If I win, including you, all the tribes will swear together, and there will be no Great Khan on the grassland from now on."
The tribes set up areas, grazed cattle and sheep, loved each other, and intermarried.
If there is a natural disaster, the Ming should be rescued, and if there is a foreign enemy, the Ming should be guarded! If any tribe has ambitions and attacks and annexes other tribes, the Ming Dynasty should be punished! ”
Most of the clan leaders nodded. On the grassland, there are not many tribes that really want to annex other tribes and dominate, and most of the tribes just want to live a good life.
However, because there is no strong government, the law of the jungle has always been the law of the jungle, which has led to the tribes having to be ready to fight at all times.
When you are strong, you don't swallow others, and when others are strong, they will swallow you. Therefore, it is necessary to swallow others while they are strong, and become stronger to be safe.
This kind of reincarnation makes the steppe people brave and warlike, but it also puts every tribe on the brink of life and death. This is the kind of day that only a very few of the strongest and most ambitious tribes are willing to live in, such as the tribes of Altan Khan.
So Xiao Feng knew that everyone would definitely agree, at least for now.
This reason is very simple, just like when a peasant holds a meeting to fight the landlord, under normal circumstances, everyone will agree with it, except for the landlord himself.
Now Altan Khan was the only landlord who would object, but if he agreed to the gamble, he could not object, but took the lead in vowing to lose the gamble.
So Altan Khan could only take the lead in swearing, the landlords had no opinion, and the peasants naturally said that they would double, and a large gamble + oath was completed impassionedly.
After the game, the cavalry of the two camps silently dismounted, indicating that the game was suspended and waiting for the result of the heads-up - Xiao Feng alone singled out the 100 cavalry led by Altan Khan.
Xiao Feng rode a white horse rewarded by Jiajing, because the yellow horse that Zhang Tianci gave him before was lost when he went out to Gubeikou for the first time.
At that time, in order to attract the enemy army, Xiao Feng helped Qi Jiguang break through the siege and took a hundred cavalry to guard the mountain.
After Xiao Feng came back from the dead for the first time, Jiajing rewarded him with this white horse, saying that the white horse only had the demeanor of a real person when he rode it.
Although Xiao Feng didn't object, he always felt that the one riding the white horse was either a prince or a Tang monk, and it didn't seem to have anything to do with the real people of Daomen.
This horse is naturally one of the horses in a thousand, but Altan Khan's heart is secretly proud, the people of the Central Plains really don't understand horses, they only know one and don't know the other.
Although this horse is tall and handsome, it loses in endurance. The short sprint is invincible, but the endurance is not as good as that of the Mongolian horse. Running from here to Datong City is by no means a short sprint.
But this kind of defect is not usually felt, because people's endurance is also limited. When it is not life-threatening, people can't actually ride without waiting for the horse to run.
Therefore, Xiao Feng should have never had the opportunity to test the endurance of this horse, and he finally knew this time.
But by then it was too late, like the bricklayer who fell from the roof, and it was decades before he suddenly understood the girl's words.
Xiao Feng rode on his horse and looked at Altan Khan with a smile: "I am being chased by a hundred of you alone, it's not too much to run three arrows first, right?" ”
Altan Khan nodded, this request is indeed not excessive, if it is surrounded as soon as it comes up, then it will not be called a chase.
Xiao Feng picked up a musket and hung it on the hook of the saddle: "I was beaten by a hundred of you alone, it's not too much to bring a musket, right?" ”
Altan Khan nodded again, knowing that it was useless to oppose it, but would make the tribal leaders look down on him.
One hundred to one, not to mention bringing a gun, but what's too much about bringing a door cannon?
Xiao Feng inserted the embroidered spring knife into the scabbard, then turned around and waved at everyone, slapped the white horse, and galloped away in the direction of Datong City.
Altan Khan pulled out the knife in his hand, raised it into the air, looked at Xiao Feng's distant back, and when he reached the land of three arrows, he pointed the knife forward.
"Kill Xiao Feng, promote ten thousand masters, reward thousands of acres of pasture, thousands of cattle and sheep, and 100 slaves! Pursue! ”
A hundred of the most elite Mongol cavalry galloped out like hounds chasing rabbits.
The leader was Cheng Ge, his appearance was a little different from before, with one less ear and more fierce eyes than usual.
Altan Khan set off last, deliberately distancing himself from the hundred people in front of him, and he did not forget that Xiao Feng had taken a musket.
The hundred Mongol cavalry did not chase Xiao Feng in one line, but spread out into three teams.
One team pursued in pursuit, and the two teams deviated slightly to the sides, moving side by side along the maximum distance that could be seen by sight.
This is not to prevent Xiao Feng from beating around the bush, but to prevent Xiao Feng from getting lost......
In the prairie, as far as the eye can see, there is no reference, people and horses are easy to get lost, although the general direction can be determined by looking at the sun, but the route is likely to run and run.
On a large march, the leading soldiers were the most experienced veterans and carried compasses, so it was not easy for the group to get lost.
But one person and one horse, even if there is a compass, the probability of getting lost is very high. Especially when I come across a grassland, there is an iron ore underneath.
If you go off the rails and go down again, you won't necessarily run anywhere. Altan Khan was afraid that Xiao Feng would get lost, so naturally it was not because he cared about the children, but because he needed to get Xiao Feng's head back to testify.
Imagine if Xiao Feng got lost in the vast grassland, and he and his pursuit team completely missed. He chased him to Datong City, Xiao Feng was still wandering blindly on the grassland, and finally died of hunger and thirst somewhere.
How do you prove you've won? I can't lead all the clan leaders to Datong City, and ask Qiu Luan Xiaofeng if he hasn't arrived home yet, right?
Xiao Feng's figure was faintly in front of him, and Altan Khan could see it with a telescope. The telescopes of the Mongol army were extremely scarce, and Altan Khan got this through Xiao Qin.
But after a while, Xiao Feng may not be visible. Because his white horse is really fast, the distance between the two sides will be wider and wider at the beginning.
But after two hundred miles, the white horse will gradually slow down, and if it is not allowed to rest, it will become slower and slower, while the pursuing Mongolian horses will not change much in speed.
At most, three hundred li, the pursuers will catch up with Xiao Feng, who is still far away from Datong City, and Xiao Feng will fall under the sword rain and long knives of a hundred Mongolian cavalrymen.
He may be able to kill some of his pursuers with his musket and kung fu, but he will definitely be killed eventually, which is the inevitable end!
The actual situation was more optimistic than Altan Khan thought, and after only running more than a hundred miles, Xiao Feng's figure appeared in the telescope again.
The speed of the chasing soldiers is very stable, which shows that Xiao Feng's seemingly handsome white horse has begun to lose energy!
Altan Khan was overjoyed and ordered his soldiers to speed up, rush forward, and kill Xiao Feng!