In August of the third year of Zhenyou.
At the end of summer, although there is a hint of autumn, the lush and deep grass half a person's height is still there, like an endless green blanket, and the sky is blue. Between the blue and green, there are also clusters of purple, yellow or white wild leeks in full bloom, which makes people feel happy just looking at them.
Standing tall and looking around, the north, south, and east sides of the grassland are surrounded by mountains, and the terrain is not open. However, compared to walking in the ditch of Juyongguan, looking at the mountains on both sides, and the tension that seems to crush people to death, it is always more comfortable to walk on the grassland.
As the queue marched, rustling sounds kept coming from the deep grass, sometimes closer, sometimes further away. It was wild wolves, yellow sheep, hares, and foxes moving in groups, or it might be a badger with a bad temper.
There happened to be a breeze blowing, and patches of green grass bent and stood upright, like undulating water waves. When the meadow to the east receded, two yellow sheep, four large and six small, were revealed. They raised their heads and stared blankly at the marching queue, not knowing how far they could go.
The core of this northward team was fifty cavalrymen from the Dinghai Navy, and then there were the Mongolians who worked hard to drive the convoy. These Mongols were all prisoners who had not been able to catch up with Genghis Khan and Muhuali after the Battle of Zhongdu. As the Ding Navy gradually pushed the control area to the north of Zhongdu, more and more Mongolian prisoners were transferred Come and take on the transportation tasks between the two places.
In the past few years, Mongol troops have often seen large numbers of animals as they moved south along this road. Because the states behind the mountains are rich in water and grass, and the climate is wetter and warmer than on the plateau, there are also many animals, and even if you keep shooting during the march, you won't be able to catch them all.
In the past two months, the Han people in Jinshan Province have been purchasing furs. A complete yellow sheepskin can be exchanged for fifty coins, which is ten bowls of wine. Therefore, many Mongolians looked at the Yellow Sheep with excited expressions.
It's a pity that they are no longer free Mongolian warriors. Who dares to move?
The road from Juyongguan to Jinshan has been dilapidated for many years. The road surface is rutted and has deep grooves, making it almost unusable. Therefore, the team had to leave the road from time to time and walk on some newly created paths in the meadow. At this time, everyone had to be busy taking care of the livestock pulling the cart, or help push the vehicle with stuck wheels, and there was no time for hunting at all.
If you don't want to hunt, but want to run, you might have a chance. In such rolling grass and fields, hundreds of cars and hundreds of people are like shrimps swimming in the sea, not conspicuous at all. If a single person suddenly rushes into the grass and runs two or three hundred steps, no one will be able to see him.
The problem is that if one person escapes, the other nine people in the same category as him will all have to sit together. No matter among those nine people, whether there was a Mongolian ten-man, centurion, Yan, or some noble Qie Xue, it was completely meaningless in the eyes of Ding Haijun, and they were beheaded immediately.
The navy enforces this rule very strictly and never makes any compromises.
The officers guarding the prisoners said on many occasions that this was what Marshal Guo meant. Because killing all the prisoners would be harmful to Tianhe, but the Mongolian army had too much blood debt, and the soldiers felt uncomfortable if they were allowed to live. So whoever wants to escape, just give it a try. Anyway, there is nothing wrong with the soldiers taking advantage of this to become ruthless.
In the past two months, there were really many Mongolians who wanted to escape, and some even secretly formed a conspiracy to start a riot. The officers and soldiers of the Ding Navy just lined up and killed seven or eight hundred people. So at first the Mongols were willing to cover for those who escaped. Later, no matter who showed signs of this, the prisoners of the same group wanted to beat him to death without the guards saying anything.
When all the stubborn ones were dead, the surviving Mongolian prisoners gradually discovered that working for the Ding Navy was not particularly hard. At least, those officers did not treat others more harshly than the nobles on the grassland.
As a result, all the Mongolian prisoners became honest and simple, and they were not lazy at all when they worked.
Assisting in the management of the prisoners was Shi Moye, a Khitan officer among the prisoners.
Shi Mo has been on this road back and forth dozens of times before, and is very familiar with every plant and tree on the road. Every time he gave orders, the Mongols were happy to listen. Half a year ago, this honor would have been truly incredible.
But now, Shi Mo also often thinks that one day he may be able to accumulate enough merit to get rid of his status as a prisoner. Then return to my hometown in Liaoyangfu, Tokyo. There is no need for wealth, just a piece of land for farming or grazing. In his spare time, he would save money to marry more wives and concubines and have more children. When the children grew up, he would teach them to perform the willow shooting act according to the custom of the Khitan people.
Don't think about the rest.
When Shi Moye was young, he heard his father tell the story of the fall of the Liao Dynasty. He said angrily on the spot: "You can restore it."
It’s ridiculous to recall how ambitious I was back then.
Restoration? Why? Since the Han Dynasty, powerful tribes have emerged one after another from the Xiongnu and Xianbei to Rouran and Turks. Where are these powerful tribes now? The Khitan people have suffered countless casualties over the years, and there are not many left, so why rush to lay down the knife point. Live your life!
As for Shi Moya, since he chose to rely on Mongolia that day and bumped into the sudden rise of Han'er power, the current result is not surprising. On that day, Mu Huali fled from the central capital. Shi Mo, who followed him along the way, also fought fiercely at Xuanyaomen to stop the enemy until he was exhausted and captured. He felt that he was worthy of the Mongols.
Later, Marshal Guo took control of Zhongdu, and Yelu Kechou Baer, one of the Khitan people, was given the official position of Qianju because he surrendered early. This kind of behavior that was too weak and too flattering made many Khitan people despise him. Many people, including Yelu Si, discussed privately and denounced Yelv Ke Baer, but only Shi Mo did not participate at all.
Later, the Marshal's Office split up the Khitan tribesmen who stayed on Zhongdu Road and dispersed them into the military household system of Dinghai Navy. Some people are extremely dissatisfied with this. No matter what they say, they are still the tribal leaders of the Khitan people. The premise of choosing to surrender and settle the navy is not only to save their lives, but also to preserve their tribesmen and special status. If the navy wants to deprive it of these, it might as well break up.
Yelusi quickly communicated privately without waiting for anyone, grabbed his followers and fled, but Shi Mo did not participate at all.
Later, the Marshal's Office assigned the remaining Khitans to various departments of the Ding Navy, and Shi Mo also cooperated honestly at first. So much so that some Khitan people thought he was a coward or coward. They insulted him in person and felt that he was not worthy of being a descendant of Daliao.
Shi Mo did not refute this at first.
Soon after, news came that Yelu Si had not only fled to Goryeo, but also occupied several cities there, with the tacit approval of Li Langzhong, Dinghai Navy. So some people secretly said that Shi Mo was too stupid first, otherwise taking everyone to Goryeo to become a city lord would not be better than the current embarrassment.
Shi Mo was also speechless at first.
Recently, he was responsible for transporting supplies from Zhongdu to Jinshan. The journey was very hard, and all the Khitan prisoners with status were against this kind of work.
Shi Mo Yexian was different from them. Every time he received a military order, he set off immediately, leading his subordinates along the way to fully cooperate with Ding Haijun. Same thing this time.
The escort traveling with the convoy this time was a commander named Zhao Xuan. Although he was young, he was a veteran of marching on the grasslands. The orders he issued along the way were all appropriate, which made Shi Mo admire him a little and felt that this journey was easier than before.
"Here we are, here we are!"
Zhao Xuan galloped past Shi Moye first, wiped the sweat from his face, and laughed.
Needless to say, Shi Mo and the Mongols first saw the sudden rise of the military fortress at the end of the wilderness ahead.
That is Jinshan City.
During the Cheng'an period, the boundary trench defense line used by Dai Jin to confront Mongolia was based on Fuzhou as the command center and Changzhou Wushabao as the front line for garrisoning troops. After losing several battles in a row, the border generals retreated first from Fuzhou to Xuandezhou, then from Xuandezhou to Fengshengzhou, and finally to Jinshan.
Because Jinshan is backed by Juyongguan and can advance and retreat freely, the army persisted here for the longest time... as long as nine months. Later, the Mongolian army crossed Zijingguan and later captured Juyongguan. Jinshan could not hold on and was defeated in the first battle. The entire city was massacred.
Until two months ago, Qiu Huiluo, the general of the Ding Navy, led his army northward.
A total of more than nine thousand and nearly ten thousand troops were stationed in Jinshan, and they also controlled the first treasure land with lush water and grass outside Juyongguan. It is not only enough to raise troops, but also enough to cultivate and operate.
However, at this time, most of the soldiers were divided into two groups. One way to the north, to control the mountain fortress Longmen, the other way to the west, preparing to regain the line from Guichuan to Fanshan, and protect Qingbaikou west of Juyong Pass. Therefore, there are only more than 2,000 people stationed in Jinshan. Zhao Xuan came here to take over the command of Jinshan City and these 2,000 troops.
