The Mongols began to retreat.
But the soldiers who were waiting in full formation remained motionless, and the entire military formation was like a rock. Only occasionally someone cursed contemptuously. There was also a soldier in iron armor who fought twice. He was soaked to the skin and his lips were so dry that they stuck together. However, his water bottle was already empty, so he quietly gestured to Ali Xi who was beside him for a drink of water.
The soldiers have all experienced hundreds of battles, and they have fought against the Mongolian army more than once. They knew very well that the Mongolian army was accustomed to making large advances and retreats, and its tactics were unpredictable. Its offensive and defensive momentum could not be judged based on the experience of the Central Plains campaign.
Therefore, the soldiers remained calm and on alert. They watched the Mongolian battle flags retreat; they saw a group of elite cavalry divided into seemingly loose groups of four or five. Some people dismounted directly to rest, but maintained the covering formation; they watched the Mongolian light cavalry on both sides withdraw first, and then the elite cavalry Get on your horse again, take turns to retreat, and slowly go to the end of the river beach.
The soldiers still did not relax.
Guo Ning waved his hand, and Aduo brought the war horse over. He mounted his horse and continued to look out, and at the same time said in a deep voice: "Wait a minute."
After a while, in the distance covered by the continuous reeds, the sound of a large number of horses swimming came from the water. And in several key directions deep in the reed marsh, the regular and melodious calls of certain birds also sounded at the right time.
The Mongols have gone far, and they lost this game.
Guo Ning untied the silk ribbon under his chin, took off his helmet and held it in his arms.
He looked around at the soldiers who were slightly injured but working hard. He saw Li Ting staring at the uncleaned battlefield ahead, his eyes shining brightly; he saw Han Xuan's hands holding the handle of the gun trembling slightly due to lack of strength; he saw Ni Yi's body and face covered in blood, but his hands were still tight Holding the military flag tightly.
Guo Ning smiled and said, "We won."
Hundreds of people breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, and their long exhalations gathered together, like a wave of air passing through the gaps in the military formation. Then everyone started cheering. The soldier who was drinking water shouted and threw the kettle in his hand into the air. Some soldiers followed his example and threw their helmets to a high place. When they fell, they hit their companions, causing a group of people around them to laugh loudly. .
These soldiers are all true warriors. On their way back to Hebei, they repeatedly fought fiercely with the Mongolian army. They were by no means powerless to fight back, and they also won. But at that time, the scale of victory was usually extremely limited. Most of them relied on the bravery of some soldiers to launch sneak attacks on three or five Mongolians who were alone, and at most they could temporarily force back thirty or fifty Mongolian sentries.
It has never been possible to defeat the Mongolian army head-on on a battlefield with thousands of people like now.
Then the soldiers cheered one after another and never stopped. Gradually, more and more people raised their weapons towards Guo Ning, shouted loudly, and some started to cry.
Amidst the noise, a soldier shouted: "Two Mongolian envoys are coming!"
"Are you here to die?"
"One of them is a Han! He said that his centurion brought a message from the fourth prince of Mongolia!"
The shouts in the crowd suddenly stopped, and then someone yelled angrily: "Kill them! Just kill them! What's there to say to the black Tatars!"
Almost all of the people present had a deep hatred for the Mongols, and after a fight, everyone rushed to the front with passion. Hearing him shouting like this, many people responded, and the surrounding area became a mess.
Guo Ning glanced at everyone calmly. After a while, the soldiers regained their composure.
"Bring them here." He said to the soldier who reported the news.
And Li Ting strode up to the soldier who had made the most noise just now, raised his leg and kicked him: "Shut up! Do you have the right to talk about this? Line up for me, cheer up and show the Black Tartars!"
The soldier was kicked in the chest and fell to the ground. Then he got up laughing and squeezed into the queue of his companions.
Two Mongolian envoys rode through the military formation one after another until they came to Guo Ning. Some soldiers came out of the queue and tried to pull them off their horses, but were stopped by their superiors.
Guo Ning looked at the two people calmly.
One of them is older and has braided hair. The eyelids and eyelids of one eye have shrunk, and his eyeballs are popping out. He wore a robe trimmed with lambskin, half of his arms were bare, and a leather armor was tied around his waist. Beside his horse, there was a vigorous hound following behind.
At this time, Li Ting came back from his own unit. When the dog saw Li Ting, he immediately bared his teeth and barked twice fiercely.
The other person was the Han'er attendant. He was relatively young, and his robes were very shabby. He didn't even have shoes, and only had animal skins wrapped around his feet.
The older man spoke Mongolian first, and then the man followed suit:
"His Royal Highness Tuo Lei, the fourth prince, ordered his centurion Naminfu to come to pay tribute to the heroic Jurchen general and ask for your name. His Highness Tuo Lei said that he admired the general's talents, but the Great Mongolia The army is as strong and brave as hounds, and the Jurchens are just deer in the paddock after all. When the Jin Kingdom falls, the Jurchens will either die or become slaves, but your highness is willing to accept the surrender of the general. At that time, you can do With a thousand households, Your Highness is still willing to marry you, and we will live up to each other."
There were dozens or hundreds of people gathered around Guo Ning who heard this. Their eyes immediately focused on Guo Ning's face.
"I am Guo Ning of Changzhou. You can tell your fourth prince my name. In addition... I am not a Jurchen. The soldiers fighting here today are not Jurchens. We are Han people."
Guo Ning controlled the horse with one hand, struck the saddle halves a few times with his whip, and continued unhurriedly:
"For thousands of years, the Huns, Xianbei, Rourans, Turks, Khitans... who once unified the grassland...are now the Mongols. However, the Han people are always there. Go tell the fourth prince that the former For thousands of years, and for thousands of years to come, the Han people will always be there."
Wearing heavy armor, he fought twice in a row. He suffered several minor injuries and lost a lot of blood. He was very tired and his voice was not loud. The soldiers on the border were all rude people. To them, the meaning of Guo Ning's words was not easy to understand, but all the soldiers listened quietly.
The expression on Han'er's entourage was a little complicated. He bowed his head slightly and relayed Guo Ning's words to the Mongolian centurion.
The centurion sneered twice and turned his horse back.
The wind on the meadow also carried Guo Ning's words farther away.
Jing Anmin, who was walking quickly towards the military formation, stopped for a moment.
Monk Luo walked beside Jing Anmin, holding an iron rod and holding his head high. Inadvertently, he found that he had gone to the front. He quickly stopped and turned around: "What's wrong?"
Jing Anmin looked at Monk Luo with some emotion, and then at Du Shisheng walking on the other side.
In the past two days, Du Shisheng set out from Pinglu Village with a few followers, riding fast horses to several gathering places deep in the pond. He almost never rested at all. At this time, he lost a lot of weight. , The eye sockets were severely sunken, and both eyes were bloodshot. Because his legs were worn by the saddle, his walking posture was a bit weird.
But Du Shisheng's demeanor was not embarrassed at all. Instead, he had a strong and shrewd demeanor and a special sense of confidence. That kind of confidence had disappeared for decades after he was wanted by the court and lived in the lakes and rivers.
Seeing Jing Anmin's attention, Du Shisheng smiled and said, "Brother Anmin, are you really not going to see His Highness King Sheng?"
Jing Anmin quickened his pace: "Let's negotiate with Guo Liulang first!"
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