Taking Lan Yu's report, Zhu Biao quickly summoned Han Du and others.
He handed the report to Wang Yue and told him to pass it on one by one.
Harmony whispered: "You all take a look. Lan Yu sent out sentries to get the news. Timur really mobilized his army and prepared to attack."
Han Du glanced at the report and thought for a moment before saying: "The emperor still had the foresight to send Liang Guogong to guard Jiayuguan in advance. If not, the Ming Dynasty would have been passive."
After a pause, You smiled and said: "But now Daming has the upper hand and can deal with it calmly."
Zhu Biao nodded slightly and said nothing. He was waiting for other people's opinions.
After Qi Tai read the report, his eyes suddenly lit up as if he had discovered something, and he suddenly said: "Your Majesty, according to the report from Duke Liang, Timur is still mobilizing troops. Why not issue an order to Duke Liang while his foothold is not stable? If you send troops to sneak attack, you will definitely gain something."
Zhu Biao was a little moved after hearing this, but he felt in his heart that this matter was not that simple, and he couldn't help but look at Han Du.
"What do you think?"
Han Du looked at Qi Tai coldly and said disdainfully: "It's just nonsense."
"Han Du, I know you can't stand me, but when it comes to national affairs, can you not be self-serving for public benefit?" Qitai shouted angrily.
Han Du smiled contemptuously and said: "Your idea is completely the opinion of a scholar. Timur was just attacked by me and destroyed Yilibaili City. How stupid must he be to not be prepared at all?"
Qitai's method seems very beautiful, but it is simply talk on paper. From Jiayuguan to Yilibali City, there is only a long and narrow oasis channel, with large expanses of desert on both sides. And just like this, the oases are not continuous, there is a large section of desert in the middle.
】
In such terrain, it is not easy for Timur to prepare for sneak attacks. As long as an army of several thousand people is sent to guard the Silk Road, it is impossible not to discover the Ming army.
"And you said Timur has not yet established itself? It is being carried in its own city. Does it need time to establish itself?"
Zhu Biao and other bachelors couldn't help but nod. The city of Yilibaoli originally belonged to Timur. Maybe Timur's army would have to work hard, but there would definitely be no problem of unstable footing.
However, Qi Tai felt that Han Du was targeting him, and couldn't help but said coldly: "Then what Han Shoufu means is that we can only watch like this and don't have to do anything?"
Han Du glanced at Qi Tai, looked at his yin and yang look, and ridiculed: "The war between the two countries is not a game. The strength of the two countries is competing, and the stronger one wins. Rather than relying on so-called strategies and tactics. , you’d better put away your idea of ‘strategizing and winning from thousands of miles away’.”
Then he turned to Zhu Biao and said: "Your Majesty, according to the information obtained by Liang Guogong, Timur is here in full force this time. Three to four hundred thousand troops have been assembled in Yilibaili City, but the number is still increasing every day. Just rely on Liang Guogong's hands. The 100,000 troops here may be difficult to resist. Your Majesty, our most important thing now is to increase the number of troops in Jiayuguan."
Zhu Biao nodded slightly: "Yes, we still don't know how many troops Timur has mobilized. But even the current strength is not something Lan Yu's 100,000 people can withstand. Pass the decree and order the Fifth Army Commander's Office to immediately increase the number of troops. Move 200,000 troops to Jiayuguan to reinforce Lan Yu."
"Yes." Wang Yue quickly bowed
With that said, Zhu Biao looked at Qi Tai again, "As soon as the supplies of food, grass and weapons are received, the Ministry of War will immediately recruit them and send them to Jiayuguan without any delay."
"I accept the order." Qitai bowed his hands and bowed.
...
On Lan Yu's side, after sending people one after another to inquire, it took Lan Yu a full month to find out clearly the situation of Timur's troops.
Tamerlane personally led 300,000 cavalry and 250,000 infantry, known as a million-strong army, and prepared to attack the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, in order to ensure victory in this battle, Timur also conscripted millions of people to farm fields along the way, and also sent millions of cattle, sheep, camels, etc. to the Eastern Chagatai Khanate in preparation for a war Protracted war.
Lan Yu learned that the emperor had mobilized 200,000 troops for him, and the first batch of 50,000 troops had arrived at Jiayuguan. With Lan Yu's arrogant heart and an army of 300,000 in his hands, he even thought about switching from defense to offense and leading his troops directly into Timur's territory.
But after getting Timur's detailed military strength, Lan Yu quickly gave up the idea. He also strictly ordered the Seven Guards of Guanxi to recruit 100,000 troops to defend Jiayuguan together.
The 300,000 cavalry and 250,000 infantry were extremely intimidating. Even Zhu Biao couldn't help but worry about Lan Yu after receiving the news.
When Han Du saw it, he couldn't help but comforted him: "Your Majesty, Duke Liang is the best in the world in his ability to use troops. This is something even Emperor Taizu Gao praised. As long as Duke Liang waits for work, there will be no problem in guarding Jiayuguan!"
Qitai was completely speechless at this time, he had never thought of it. In his eyes, the Timur Empire was just a country in the Western Region. How could it easily send 550,000 troops? Such strength made him deeply feel that when Han Du said before that the Timur Empire was the overlord of the Western Regions, he was not at all trying to increase the prestige of others and destroy his ambition!
Zhu Biao took a deep breath and exclaimed: "In the past, I underestimated the heroes of the world, but I never thought that Timur would be the leader of such a huge empire."
Speaking of this, Han Du regretted it ten thousand times. If he had known that Timur could become a hegemon, Han Du would have killed Timur even at the risk of being beaten to death by Lao Zhu.
...
With everything ready, Tamerlane directly ordered to set out to formally conquer the Ming Dynasty!
The cavalrymen sit on mounted horses, wearing armor and holding round shields and spears. They carry bows and arrows on their backs and have scimitars hanging on their waists. Timur's cavalry included Turks and Mongolians, and their strength should not be underestimated.
The infantry followed behind, carrying their armor on both sides of the camel to reduce the burden, and marched across the desert along the Silk Road towards the Ming Dynasty.
Lan Yu would send out scouting horses every day to inquire about the movements of Timur's army, and he knew exactly where Timur's army had arrived today.
As Timur's army approaches, there is a smell of impending rain in the hot yellow sand.
In order not to waste his strength in vain, Lan Yu even strengthened the walls and cleared the country, and put the cavalry gathered from the Seven Guards of Guanxi into Jiayuguan.
After more than a month of trekking, Timur's army finally walked out of the desert, crossed the large oasis grassland, and pressed towards Jiayuguan.
The location of Jiayuguan is very unique. Although the ground facing Daming is not flat and there are even some small hills and some yellow sand on the ground, there are large areas of green vegetation both on the ground and on the hills. On the other side facing the Western Region, the view is wide and flat, but it is full of yellow sand and not a trace of green can be seen.
The two city walls extending from Jiayuguan are like a dividing line, clearly dividing the desert yellow sand and oasis vegetation.
Lan Yu stood on the tower. The tower had three floors and was four feet high. The field of view was extremely wide. Without a telescope, he could see the slowly approaching Timur army.
At the end of the line of sight, the sky and yellow sand have become one color. The distance seems to be shrouded in mist, and a thin black line suddenly appears in the mist.
"Here we come." Lan Yu smiled faintly.
As Timur's army approached, the original black western front gradually turned into a black and red carpet, covering the entire field of vision.
Anke Timur and others couldn't help but change their expressions when they looked at such a huge army in front of them. Some people were even sweating profusely and their bodies were shaking involuntarily.
After taking a look at Liang Guogong, who was smiling and showing no fear at all, and seeing how calm Lan Yu was, the fear in their hearts subsided and they no longer trembled.
If they were alone, they would certainly not be a match for Timur's army. ??????????????????But with the addition of Ming Dynasty, they can no longer be afraid of Timur's army.
...
Timur was riding on a sweaty horse, looking up at the tall and majestic city wall of Jiayuguan Pass, and couldn't help but sigh: "Jiayu Pass in the Ming Dynasty is such a majestic pass, and this Sultan is here again."
Timur could not clearly see the people on the wall with his eyesight alone.
But Lan Yu held up the telescope and saw Timur clearly.
"Timur...it's really him!"
When Timur came to Beijing to worship, Lan Yu was also there. He also paid attention to the prince-consort of the Western Chagatai Khanate who wanted to embarrass the Ming court.
"Do you know Timur?" Talini, the leader of the Chijin Mongolian Guard, couldn't help but asked curiously.
Lan Yu smiled and nodded, and said leisurely: "This Tamerlane personally went to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty back then, and deliberately raised a difficult problem to embarrass the Ming Dynasty."
"May I ask, sir, what kind of problem is it?" Talini quickly agreed. He was not stupid. When he saw the smile on Lan Yu's face, he knew that Daming must have won this game, otherwise Lan Yu would not have brought trouble to tell the matter.
People only talk about proud things. Who would tell others about their embarrassing things?
Lan Yu smiled broadly and proudly asked the question. Sure enough, this question immediately stumped everyone present.
I saw only seven people, including Talini and Ankh Timur. Even if they racked their brains and thought hard, they couldn't figure out the answer.
"How many years will it take...does it take one year?"
"No, no, no, how much interest is there in a year? I'm afraid it won't be a year, at most a few months will be enough..."
"No......"
The seven people expressed their opinions one after another, but with their poor mathematical skills that could not even count the number of grazing cattle and sheep, the answers they gave were completely guesswork.
Finally, Lan Yu told them the answer. They were so shocked that they opened their mouths at the same time and did not recover for a long time.
They didn't even have the courage to ask questions. Just imagine, if the answer was not correct, would Timur on the other side just give up and admit defeat?
