The scout cavalry are indeed working hard.
After Tian Xiong led people to replace the front team, his subordinates dispersed into groups of five cavalry, replacing each other in turn, and the furthest sentry was two hundred and fifty miles away.
The knights on sentry duty worked hard, and Tian Xiong was not idle either. He led his direct subordinates to advance slowly, using smoke and thunder to indicate his position. At the same time, he continued to accept the returning sentries and collect the information they reported. Every hour, he compiled the information using words and diagrams and sent it to his team.
The distance between Zhou Jun's sentinels was much further than when they were fighting in the Central Plains. The cavalry of various grassland ministries are running around, often driving for hundreds or hundreds of miles. It is really difficult for our sentry to have a good grasp of the surrounding situation if it is not harder.
The ordinary Central Plains Han army, lacking specially trained officers, could not achieve this level. Zhou Jun always regarded the northern grasslands as the main direction of operations, so he formulated targeted drills and attached great importance to the collection and transmission of battlefield intelligence.
Because he was riding on the road, sending and receiving orders, and leading his subordinates to make records and summaries, Tian Xiong's robes quickly became soaked, and his lips were chapped, even if he kept drinking water.
Outside the queue, several guides were discussing the team's next move.
In fact, Zhou Jun itself had a detailed map. In the past few years, merchants have traveled to various places behind the Monan Mountains, covertly and covertly, and have uncovered a lot of information.
But the map is dead and may not be accurate. The road that Tian Xiong and others traveled must be used by the main army in the rear, and it has requirements on terrain, water sources, etc. Combine the guide's advice with the map to ensure you don't choose the wrong path.
They discussed for a while and came up with something in mind, so they rejoined the advancing cavalry. Their ears were immediately filled with the sound of hoofbeats, the clang of weapons, and the clang of light armor leaves shaking.
The scout cavalry protrudes far away from the main team, and everyone must maintain the highest level of combat readiness, so everyone has two horses, bows, swords and armor. Because they had been on the road for a long time, almost all the soldiers were sweating. The sweat mixed with the dust and gravel blown up by the wind, forming a thick layer on their faces and necks.
But no one left the line to get a drink of water, no one complained.
Experienced knights know that the more you talk, the more saliva you consume. When fighting, maybe the extra water consumed will make people less energetic, so no one talks much.
The ordering of the team's advance, the control of the horses, or other trivial matters only require eye contact. Some soldiers have already scheduled to go out at night to reach the outermost area covered by the scouts. They put the felt blanket on the horse's neck and held the horse's neck while marching to build up their energy.
Even if the guides are not familiar with military matters, they can still feel how well-trained the army is from these details.
They are all experienced people who often travel to Northern Xinjiang. When passing through Yehuling, they had dealings with Tian Xiong's troops several times. When I usually see these soldiers, it is inevitable that they will be a little loose because of the relationship between the sky and the emperor. But once the war is about to start, their postures after cheering up are completely different. It's like a dog that usually looks after the house suddenly turns into a ferocious beast, which makes people feel a little scared.
The guides exchanged glances with each other and asked the oldest among them to report to Tian Xiong.
"General, we are here now..."
The guide pointed at the map with rough fingers, and then drew a line to the north: "We have just passed Huang Gainao, and to the north is Baita Nao. After passing here, speed up and go north. One hundred and fifty miles away is the Gou Luo Qingchang. Our people There you will meet your comrades coming from the Jinlian River direction."
The guide turned to point to the west, and then gestured to the northeast: "This is the boundary trench built by Dajin. General Zhao Xuan's troops fought and retreated along this route. They should reach Usha Castle today. The Mongolian brigade is in hot pursuit."
Tian Xiong looked at the map: "The key is here. We have to keep an eye on the Mongols' movements on this front line, how their troops are distributed, where each thousand households are, and what the available strength of each thousand households is, especially the Golden Family We need to find out how the main force will act."
"Then you might as well go to Hopol, which is near Jiannao. The water here is rich and the terrain is complex, which is perfect for cover.
Our sentries and cavalry are in and out. In addition, if there is a fight, we can lead a small group of Mongolian cavalry to the surroundings of Shuizhu, and then..."
The guide made a stranglehold.
Using Han cavalry to monitor the movements of Mongolian cavalry, or even ambush small groups of Mongolian cavalry, was completely unimaginable a few years ago. The Mongols come and go like the wind, making it difficult to track. Different tribes do not use flags to mark them, so outsiders cannot tell them apart. Their agility and cunning are enough to avoid any crude planning.
Therefore, the Jin Kingdom has been blind to the Mongolian grassland for a long time. It can only mobilize its huge civilian power to build long boundary trenches, countless forts and passes to wrap itself up. In the two dynasties of Sejong and Zhangzong alone, people were recruited to build boundary trenches as many as fifteen times.
This kind of conscription actually consumes the accumulation of the Jin Kingdom in the past dynasties. No matter how perfect the defense system is, it will be blinded, deafened, and passively beaten throughout the whole process, and it will be broken sooner or later.
But Dazhou is different from Dajin. Dazhou has a large cavalry team and enough supplies to support these cavalry. The cavalry have also received sufficient training and generally have superb tactical qualities.
"Hopper?" Tian Xiong hesitated for a moment.
Zhang Peng rode over, holding a detailed map he had drawn urgently an hour ago: "The terrain of Hopol is roughly the same. There are many exits on all sides, which is suitable for cavalry to run around. The grass and reeds inside are lush, which is also suitable for us to hide."
"Okay, that's settled."
Tian Xiong carefully collected the map in his arms, thought about it, and said to Zhang Peng: "Take Hopper's detailed map and go there to arrange the camp first. I will personally be responsible for the exploration along the boundary trench!"
"yes!"
Tian Xiong said to the guide again: "You guys don't hesitate to take the risk and follow me. After the war, I will give credit to you and I will never let you suffer any loss!"
Following Tian Xiong, we have to get closer to detect the Mongols' movements. Needless to say, there are dangers.
The guide grinned: "We have done a lot of things for the imperial court in the past few years, and we have never suffered a loss... We have all seen the world, General Tian, wait and see how generous you are!"
"My hands can scare you to death!" Tian Xiong laughed.
Everyone laughed.
"Haha, hahaha!"
late at night.
In Usha Castle.
Ado saw his favorite hot air balloon in his dream. He couldn't help laughing and jumped on it, holding the balloon and flying into the sky. While he was smiling happily, someone tapped his shoulder hard to wake him up.
Ado glared angrily, his eyes gleaming with coldness, startling the boy who woke him up.
He usually follows Lu Shu and seems a little slow. But in the past few days, he had guarded the Yehuling Pass and led his men to fight in several battles. He was full of violent anger. Even if the Han slaves around him had developed courage, they were still in awe of him.
Hodor quickly sobered up. He rubbed his eyes, the look on his face was no longer so fierce, and he yawned again: "What should I say? Is it my turn so soon?"
"Brother Lu said that he went to bed first. Nothing happened in the first half of the night, but in the southeast direction of Haizi, a flock of crows screamed for a while. If there was any movement, it was probably there." The young man said cautiously.
A Duo pondered for a moment and suddenly trembled violently.
This action made the young man even more nervous, and his face instantly turned pale: "What...what's wrong? Is something wrong?"
"Um……"
Ado didn't pay attention to the young man's face at all, he was just in a hurry to urinate.
Wusha Castle is located deep in the grassland and surrounded by the remaining veins of the Yin Mountains. Although the steep walls formed by millions of years of weathering are not high, they are difficult to climb. The undulating terrain naturally surrounded a valley, and the ruins of Tunbao blocked the exit of the valley.
Due to the influence of the highlands on both sides, the wind in Tunpu is very strong at night. There are no decent buildings to shelter from the wind in the ruins, which makes people feel very cold.
A Duo was so cold that he almost peed his pants and shivered uncontrollably.
He leaned the straight knife in his hand against the city battlement, then walked to the edge of the city wall, lifted up the corner of his robe, and peed.
After urinating, he slowly looked around the outside of Tunpu, paying special attention to the one Lu Wusi reminded.
direction.
As morning approached, the wilderness was dark everywhere, and the light from the crescent moon and stars in the sky seemed to be swallowed up by the wilderness. Only the southeast direction was lit by flames, which seemed to be moving back and forth.
It was the Mongols who were adjusting their camps again.
If one group of people couldn't attack, they would change to another group. Every time they changed the group, they would have to adjust their starting positions and rearrange new positions, making a lot of noise. This performance is really inconsistent with the reputation of the Mongolian army.
A few days ago, Lu Shu and his party plundered the old land of Wu Xian Ulugu Group Pastoral Station and made a huge fortune. Not only did they get countless cattle and sheep, but they also replenished a lot of supplies.
This move made them famous among the thousands of tribes in the eastern grasslands. In just a few days, hundreds or more slaves defected from all over the country every day.
Naturally, it was impossible to go south quickly with these slaves. Lu Shu was also a little stubborn and did not want to repeat the scene of his embarrassing escape from Wusha Castle. So they gathered their people in Wusha Castle, repaired the city defenses, and waited for rescue.
Naturally, the surrounding Mongolian tribes were unwilling to suffer losses and dispatched manpower one after another in an attempt to capture Usha Castle and recapture their livestock and slaves.
Wusha Fort has long been in ruins, and the temporarily repaired city defense cannot be regarded as a golden city. However, when the main force of the Mongolian army marched westward, they took away a large number of soldiers who had fighting experience and knew how to attack cities. The Mongolian tribes who stayed behind in the grassland talked about The level of siege was simply too poor to be improved upon.
A few days passed, and the two sides fought several battles in a messy manner. There were not many casualties, and neither side could do anything against the other.
