Yang Peng led the army to rush to Hu Si, and when he arrived in Montenegro, he met the 100,000 Byzantine army transferred by Empress Cynthia. The two sides fought a big battle at the foot of Montenegro, killing the dark ghosts and howling gods, regardless of victory or defeat. In the evening, both sides withdrew their troops. The Ming army retreated ten miles to the village, and the Byzantine army retreated to Montenegro. Frank, the leading general of the Byzantine army, did not dare to be careless in view of the amazing power of the Ming army, although the two sides were already very tired from a big battle just now, Frank still personally arranged the defense matters, cheered up the soldiers under his command, and was busy until midnight.

Wrapped in armor, Frank leaned his long knife against the head of the bed and fell asleep.

As soon as it was light, Frank woke up. Seeing that the sky was already bright, he immediately ordered his soldiers to gather all the soldiers and prepare for battle. Soon after, the army assembled, and Frank personally led the army down the hill and approached the Ming camp. The army lined up a large formation outside the Daming camp, only to see that the army was like a mountain and murderous! At the front are the shieldmen and the long squirmers, the spears are forested, followed by the huge crossbowmen, dense layers; Tens of thousands of horsemen were on the wings, ready to go. The 100,000-strong army of 100,000 wolves, although they had not yet attacked, had already exuded a terrifying murderous aura that made people's hearts palpitate.

However, there was silence in the Ming military camp, and there was no half of a figure in sight, which looked very strange.

When Frank saw this scene, he couldn't help frowning, and immediately made the horn thunder and the war drum, and for a moment the drum horn sounded in unison. This is the meaning of the challenge, generally speaking, the other party will definitely fight when he hears such a movement, but at this moment, there is still a silent scene in the Daming camp, the wind is shaking the bell, the flag is waving, and there is no trace.

The sound of trumpets and war drums stopped after a while, and everyone felt inexplicable and incomprehensible.

Frank hesitated for a moment, and ordered his commander Zorro to charge five hundred horsemen into the enemy camp. The fierce general Zorro, the prancing horse and the dancing knife led 500 horsemen to break through the gate and enter the camp, galloping vertically and horizontally, and the iron hooves rumbled. However, even so, there was still no movement in the Ming military camp. Soon after, Zoro returned to Frank and reported: "General, this is an empty camp, and there is not even a ghost in it!" ”

Although Frank had already expected it, he was still very surprised when he heard Frank's report, frowning and muttering, "The Ming Army actually ran away silently?" Where will they go? Zorro laughed mockingly: "They must have fled to the west, they don't dare to fight us!" ”

Frank shook his head slowly, "No, it won't be like this. The Ming army is strong and proud, how could they flee like this? You must know that we have wasted a lot of strength to break through the guards of the military army, not to mention that now we are facing the elite led by their emperor! Puzzled, Zorro asked, "Then where will they go?" ”

Frank pondered for a moment, then suddenly his expression moved, and he said urgently: "Not good! They must have gone to the jade key! They must have planned to go east along the Amu Darya River to support Hu Si's ears! "The so-called 'Yuli Key' is the name of a fortress located on the banks of the Amu Darya River near the southern bank of the Khorezm Sea, which was originally one of the important border fortresses in the western part of Western Liao. In the west of the Western Regions, there are two important passages, one is the Black Mountain located in the northwest of the Khorezm Sea, which is called the North Dahai Road, and the other is the road connecting the east and west through the Yuli Key, called the South Dahai Road. Generally, the merchants and travelers from east to west and even the army are mobilized by the north sea road, because the north sea road is much smoother and easier to walk, and different regimes over the years have invested in this road and built a lot of infrastructure so far; The South Road lacks infrastructure, and it is very inconvenient for business travelers to move their troops, and the road has to pass through steep mountains and rivers, as well as terrible deserts, so few people have taken the South Road since ancient times.

Frank hurriedly ordered 20,000 soldiers and horses to guard Montenegro, while he himself led the main force along the coast of the Caspian coast towards Yuli Jian in the south.

Zorro rode to Frank's side and said loudly: "General, the jade key is so dangerous, and there are many soldiers and horses guarding it, it is impossible for the Ming army to capture it in a short time, so we don't have to be too anxious!" ”

Frank frowned and said: "Yesterday, you also saw the strength of the Ming army, our army has so many more troops than them, and after a field battle, it is not a victory or defeat!" Other armies must have no way to take the Yuli key, but it's hard to say if you change to the Ming Army! Besides, although there were 20,000 defenders in Yulijian, only 5,000 of them were trustworthy imperial troops, and the other 15,000 were only local surrender troops, so the defense force was not very strong. Now facing an opponent like the Ming Army, there is no way to reassure people there" Zorro couldn't help but worry when he heard this, and nodded.

The army hurried all the way. This is not a short journey, hundreds of miles, and along the way, you can clearly see the traces left by the march of the army, and occasionally you can see some debris left behind by the enemy. Seeing this, Frank affirmed his judgment, and was even more worried about Yuli Key.

A few days later, on the banks of the great river, between the mountains, a majestic Xiongguan appeared in front of him, and the most important fortress on the southern shore of Khorezm Sea, Yuli Key, arrived. Frank hurriedly led the army to the city of Yulijian, only to see that it was very quiet above the city pass, and the fluttering flag was still the flag of the empire; If you look carefully at the soldiers on the city gates, it is clear that they are all your own soldiers, and there is nothing abnormal. When everyone saw this scene, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and then doubts came to their hearts.

At this moment, a Byzantine general appeared above the city pass and shouted, "Is General Frank below?" ”

When Frank saw that it was Chino, the general in charge of guarding the Yuli Key, he raised his voice and said, "Chino, it's me!" ”

Seeing that it was indeed Frank, Chino immediately ordered someone to open the city gate. With a stomach full of doubts, Frank led the army into the fortress. Chino personally came down to greet him and asked puzzledly, "Frank, why did you suddenly lead a large army here?" At this time, Chino's subordinates came up to receive Frank's men.

Frank and Chino walked side by side, and Frank said, "I came here after chasing the enemy." Chino was surprised: "Enemy troops? What enemy troops? Is it Yan Yunjun? ”

Frank frowned and asked, "Haven't you seen them?" ”

Chino shook his head and said, "I've always been quiet here, not to mention the enemy army, even business travelers rarely see it. ”

Frank frowned and muttered, "That's weird! There are obviously traces left by the march of the army along the way, they should be coming to Yuli Key, why haven't you seen them? Chino laughed, "You must be mistaken." ”

Frank shook his head and said, "How is this possible?" Not only should they be here logically, but the traces of the march of the army left on the ground cannot be fake! As soon as the word 'fake' was spoken, Frank's heart suddenly moved, and he muttered, "Is it fake?" Is it a deliberate illusion created by the enemy? At this point, combined with the current situation, I only feel that I seem to have been deceived by the enemy.

Thinking of this, another question arises. If this is really an illusion made by the enemy, then what is the purpose? What do they want to do? Suddenly, his heart moved, his face turned pale, and he said to Chino urgently: "I may have fallen for the enemy's tricks!" I have to rush back! Ignoring Chino, he conveyed the order and returned to Montenegro. The army hurriedly left the Yuli Jian Fortress and hurried back along the way they came. Until this moment, Chino was inexplicable, and he couldn't figure out what was going on. An officer next to him teased: "Did General Frank take the wrong medicine, he was nervous!" The crowd burst out laughing.

It is said that when Frank led the main army to Yulijian, he left his general Francesco to lead 20,000 soldiers and horses to guard Montenegro. The originally noisy battlefield quieted down, and the soldiers who stayed behind only felt very comfortable. However, Francesco was cautious and did not dare to be careless, and still arranged enough vigilant patrols every day, and personally inspected the defense situation everywhere from time to time.

At dusk that day, it was getting late, and the sentry in charge of the lookout suddenly saw a large army approaching rapidly from a distance. The sentry immediately became vigilant and blew the horn. The loud whining sound was particularly harsh in the twilight.

When the officers and men of all armies heard the siren, they were all startled, and then they all reflexively picked up their weapons and gathered to prepare for battle.

Francesco hurried up the watchtower and looked down the hill, and sure enough, he saw a large army rushing from the south. Frowning, he immediately ordered the whole army to prepare for battle. The crossbowmen rushed to the fence, drew their arrows and fastened their bowstrings, waiting for the general to give the order to shoot. At the same time, the knights mounted their horses, the bed crossbows were wound, and the defenders of the barracks were all ready for battle.

Soon after, the army came down the mountain. Francesco couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw that it was his own flag and army, and turned his head to raise his head from his soldiers and said, "It's the general who has returned, don't worry." The soldiers were also relieved.

After a while, I saw the army coming up along the hillside, and when the first knight rode his horse straight to the gate of the gate, he shouted: "The general is back to the camp, open the camp gate quickly!" Francesco immediately ordered someone to open the camp gate, and he personally led several generals out of the camp to greet him.

Soon after, the army approached. Francesco was about to step up to greet him. Suddenly, he was stunned, because he saw the faces of the knights in front of him who were very unfamiliar. It's just a stranger, and although those are dressed in Byzantine armor and cloaks, all the faces are Oriental, what's going on?

Francesco couldn't help but be stunned when he saw that the knights wearing Byzantine armor were all Orientals. However, Francesco is a veteran of the battlefield after all, and after a short period of confusion, he immediately reacted, his face changed suddenly, and he exclaimed: "Not good! It's the enemy! Go back! With that, he turned and ran to the barracks. The officers and soldiers under him didn't react for a while, but they heard his words and saw his movements, and subconsciously followed back to the barracks.

At this moment, the cavalry at the front suddenly launched, and the iron hooves rumbled straight towards the gate, and at the same time, those cavalry raised their steel crossbows and sent out a dense rain of arrows towards the gate. Francesco was directing the officers and soldiers at the gate to close the gate, when the rain of arrows whistled and flew down, and the Byzantine officers and soldiers at the scene were hit by arrows and fell to the ground, Francesco was also hit by an arrow, and the two soldiers quickly put him down.

I saw that those war horses poured into the gate like a strong wind, raising steel crossbows and shooting in all directions, and the Byzantine soldiers who were caught off guard fell to the ground one after another. Francesco was supported by his own soldiers and retreated sharply, shouting and directing his army to fight back.

The Byzantine cavalry rushed up and tried to hold off the enemy cavalry. The two war horses collided in the barracks and sacrificed their lives to fight, seeing the swords, swords, shadows, horses' hooves trampling, flesh and blood flying on their backs! However, the Byzantine cavalry soon couldn't resist it, and only felt that the opponent's war horses were simply like crazy beasts constantly rushing up, and although they tried their best, they were knocked to the ground by the opponent one by one. Although he was still trying his best to resist in fear, the situation was getting more and more unfavorable.

At the same time, the wave of the Ming infantry army and the wave of heavy cavalry poured into Yuanmen, divided into several teams and attacked from all sides, and the Byzantine army hurriedly resisted, but was killed to the point that the corpses were bloodied, and the banners were in turmoil.

Francesco commanded his men to resist desperately, but the overall situation became more and more unfavorable. I saw that the Ming soldiers stepped on the blood of the corpse and sacrificed their lives forward, making bold swords, and the iron hoof blade was rarely invincible; The Byzantine soldiers, on the other hand, were terrified and retreated, and the officers and soldiers continued to fall in pools of blood. At this moment, I saw a great Ming warrior general straddling the black dragon horse leading several fierce generals to rush in with their blades, and the cold light flashed, flesh and blood flew sideways, and the Byzantine soldiers were unstoppable, just like harvested wheat and were cut down to the ground by the other party one after another. The Byzantine army was already unable to resist, and at this time, it was so rushed by the other party's fierce generals who were like tigers and dragons that they could no longer hold on and completely collapsed. I saw that the Byzantine army turned around and ran one after another, and the Ming army roared and chased and killed, killing more than ten miles, killing the corpses of the Byzantine army everywhere and bleeding into the canal! The remnants of the Byzantine army fled in a hurry, and all the grass and trees along the way did not dare to stop for a moment.

The Ming army captured the Black Mountain camp in one fell swoop and captured a large amount of grain and grass that Frank's troops had hoarded here. Yang Peng ordered the army to take a part of the grain and grass to supplement the military supplies, and then ordered people to set a fire, a moment later, I saw the black three on the fire raging, illuminating the entire sky, from a distance, the black mountain seemed to have become a mountain of flames.

The Ming army left Montenegro and hurried east along the North Dahai Road.

On the other side, after guessing Da Ming's intentions, Frank led his army to leave the Yuli Jian Fortress in a hurry and rushed back to Montenegro. But by the time they arrived, the entire Black Mountain camp was in ruins! The fire had not yet been extinguished, and it was burning in all directions, and everywhere there was a flickering fire, and thick smoke billowed out.

The soldiers of the army could not help but be stunned when they saw such a scene, and Frank exclaimed angrily: "Bastard! Bastard!! He then calmed down and ordered people to find Francesco and his officers and soldiers who remained here. Then Francesco issued an order, ordering the army to retreat ten miles back and set up camp, carefully guarded.

Soon after, Francesco and thousands of defeated soldiers were found and brought to the barracks.

Francesco saw Frank and was ashamed, bowed with the support of a personal soldier and said, "General, I, I ......"

Frank said angrily: "A big camp is completely in ruins! Of the 20,000 soldiers and horses, there were only three or four thousand left! Francesco, how are you going to tell me? You've always been cautious, how could you lose so badly this time? Even if the enemy comes to attack, can't you hold it with the help of the dangerous terrain? Francesco hurriedly said: "When the enemy arrived, the forward cavalry was all disguised as our cavalry. I thought it was the general who had returned, so I opened the camp gate to greet him, but they suddenly launched at this time! When Francesco said this, he was resentful and palpitating, and then continued: "I found out that something was wrong, and immediately led the army to resist desperately!" But ......"

Frank snorted and said angrily: "They have all been rushed into the barracks by the enemy, what's the use of resisting desperately!" Francesco was speechless.

Frank said, "Let's put this matter aside for now." Let me ask you, where did the enemy army go after destroying the Montenegrin battalion? ”

Francesco hurriedly said: "The enemy army has been going east!" ”

Frank pondered, "Don't they know that Tiger Si's ears have been captured by us?" Then a question came to mind, and immediately ordered his soldiers to fetch pen and paper, wrote a letter, and then folded the letter and handed it to his soldiers, ordering him to send it to His Majesty immediately.

As soon as he had done this, a soldier came in and reported: "Your Excellency, Marshal Lambert's army has arrived. ”

Frank couldn't help but say angrily: "They only arrived at this time, more than ten days later than the enemy army!" Zorro couldn't help but say angrily: "If Marshal Lambert could have arrived a few days earlier, the enemy would have been trapped under Montenegro." Francesco hurriedly said: "General, Marshal Lambert is the generalissimo of the Empire, and we should go out to greet him." ”

Frank snorted in displeasure, but still stood up and shouted, "Everyone go out with me." Then he walked out of the tent, and the people followed. When he came to the outside of the barracks, he saw that Field Marshal Lambert had already led a large army, and immediately stepped forward to greet him. Lambert returned the salute, and then ordered his generals to lead the army to camp nearby, and he himself took more than 100 personal soldiers and a few generals directly into Frank's barracks.

Arriving at the tent, Lambert walked straight to the top and sat down. His generals stood on the left, while Frank and his generals stood on the right.

Lambert looked at Frank and asked in an unhappy tone, "I heard you failed to hold off the enemy?" ”

Frank was already angry, but he didn't dare to make a mistake because of his dignity and humility, but when he heard Lambert's accusation, he couldn't bear it anymore and said: "My men are desperately resisting the enemy army, and only three or four thousand of the 20,000 horses are left, and they have fulfilled their duty!" But Your Excellency Marshal, didn't Your Excellency Marshal pursue the enemy all the way under the orders of His Majesty's army? How did they arrive more than ten days later than the enemy army? If the marshal could arrive even a day earlier, Emperor Yanyun and his elite would definitely be trapped and die at the foot of Black Mountain! ”

Lambert's generals were furious when they saw that Frank dared to accuse the marshal! General Enzo stepped forward, pointed at Frank and shouted, "Frank, you dare to speak to His Excellency the Marshal like this!" Frank glanced at Enzo and said loudly, "Your Excellency Marshal can do it, can't I say it?" ”

Enzo was so furious that he pulled out the sword at his waist with a sonorous sound, and he made a gesture of wanting to make a move. Seeing this, Frank and his generals also drew their swords. Lambert's generals saw Frank draw their swords and confront him. The atmosphere at the scene was tense, and a fight was about to break out. Frank glared at Enzo and shouted, "Enzo, you dare to draw your sword and use force in the army, don't you know that you have violated military law?" ”

Enzo thought of military law at this time, and couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, but he thought about it so much, so he immediately glared and shouted: "Isn't it a violation of military law that you are disrespectful to the marshal of the empire?" When Frank heard this, he was also in his heart. However, now that he is riding a tiger, he is unwilling to back down, so he continues to confront Enzo. However, the atmosphere at the scene was obviously much more relaxed than just now.

Lambert shouted angrily, "Enough! Do you still look like soldiers of the Empire? When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but feel ashamed in their hearts.

Lambert shouted, "Draw your swords and put them away." When both sides heard this, they put away their swords. Frank bowed to Lambert and said, "I'm sorry Marshal, I was so rude just now!" Lambert sighed and said, "It's no wonder you, I'm really ashamed of Your Majesty!" Then he looked at Frank and said, "The reason why I have been delayed for so long to arrive here is not because I deliberately delayed, but because our army was constantly harassed by enemy ambushes along the way, so I delayed time!" ”

Frank asked in surprise, "Aren't the main forces of the enemy army all over here?" Is there another main force? ”

Lambert waved his hand, "No. Along the way, I also saw that the total number of enemy troops was only a few thousand. ......" Frank said incredulously, "A few thousand people can actually contain the marshal's army?" ”

Lambert frowned, "They're not fighting us by conventional means. These people are hidden in the mountains, always resting when you are tired, or suddenly sneaking out and attacking when the night is dark! And the offensive often lasts for a short time, and by the time our troops react, they have disappeared without a trace! When our army was in a tight position and was invulnerable, they attacked your logistics baggage team, and by the time you received the news and rushed to the rescue, they had already infiltrated the mountains and forests! Alas, we have been miserable all the way! It's as if there's a ghost haunting around you, constantly harassing you, constantly inflicting losses on you, and you can't do anything about it, you can't catch it, you can't fight it!

After all, what happens next, let's see how it will be broken down next time.