The Huangnan Xiaohetao occupied by Xiao Lazun is the most fertile area in Qinghai with a radius of 400 miles, except for a corner of Xining.
No one could have imagined that at this juncture, Xiao Lazun would give up Huangnan Xiaohetao without even firing an arrow.
Moreover, Lazun did not leave in a hurry. Chooktu violently beat his brother Guru Taiji on the west bank of the Yellow River, while Lazun set up defenses on the east bank of the Yellow River and had time to move the old, weak, women and children of his tribe to Xining and Juerwan.
The huge task of moving tens of thousands of people around and distributing goods from cattle to sheep was done in an orderly manner.
So much so that Liu Xiangyu and Liu Chengzu didn't realize that Xiao Lazun was going to run away, and they thought that this Qinghai-Mongolian guru was going to fight with his back against the enemy.
Who knew that the final work of the population migration was completed, but there was no news for a few days. Finally, someone was sent to say that the Huangnan territory would be handed over to the Qinghai Generalissimo. Lazun would cross the river from the south and go to Luhuo County via the Ruoergai Prairie. Walking, finally entering Tibet from Qamdo.
After hearing the news, the Liu family and his son were stunned for a long time. In anger, Liu Chengzu wanted to send troops to chase him, but Liu Xiangyu stopped him: "The territory's population is gone, how can you still chase him back? Prepare for war. Lazun withdraws his defenses from the Yellow River. This It’s a difficult battle to fight.”
Liu Chengzu punched his fist on the table with the map in hatred, looked at the Xiaohetao from Guide to Hezhou on the map, and cursed fiercely: "This idiot!"
The Marshal's Mansion has concerns about the Marshal's Mansion. It is true that the Xining Guards have troops, but they are garrison camps. To prevent a fire in the backyard toward the imperial court, the troops cannot move.
He worked hard to assemble troops, persuaded the sergeants at Zhenhai Camp and Fuqiang Fort, and persuaded several chieftains to send troops together, and finally managed to gather 3,000 mobile troops that could support Lazun. However, little Lazun, who needed support, did not fight. And escape.
And Lazun obviously didn't want to be recovered by him. It was already too late when the Marshal's Mansion knew the news. Choktu Taiji had been sending troops to the other side and learned the news earlier than them. They had probably already stationed in Huangnan.
Forty thousand Mongolian troops marched from the west and south to surround the core hinterland of the Marshal's Mansion surrounding Qinghai Lake.
Outright betrayal.
"Even if I have to leave, I should wait until my troops are stationed at the Yellow River defense line before leaving. It's damn good now." Liu Chengzu laughed angrily and clapped his hands: "Don't worry about the troops being unable to move, just fight at the door... this You idiot!"
Liu Xiangyu looked at it openly and shook his head: "He is not a fool. I just came to my senses now. Lion, La Zun, Bao Yan, they all said that we are like a family, and we really think that we are like a family. In fact, these three people who said this don’t believe it.”
Liu Chengzu was confused by this and was stunned: "Da, what do you mean?"
Liu Xiangyu shook his head and said nothing more: "I understand, I don't want to be a shield for us."
Mr. Liu could probably understand Lazun's thoughts now. Running away was not a panic-stricken move, but a well-thought-out expedient.
Each family is taking care of their own affairs, and it is not good for Lazun to stay in Huangnan.
Just rely on Lazun's thousands of people to protect the tens of thousands of family members of the Huoluochi tribe. They can't protect them and they can't defeat them.
Now that it was said that Taiji and his expeditionary force were going to settle in Uszang, and Guru's tribe was crushed and dispersed, Lazun had no choice.
It would be good for the Marshal's Mansion to stay here and fight to the end, but Huangnan will inevitably become a battlefield between the Marshal's Mansion and Khalkha for the title of Qinghai.
Chuo Ke Rabbit's 40,000 troops came here to grab food, and what they were grabbing was Huo Luochi's food. If they win over there, Lazun will not have a good end; but if the Marshal's Mansion wins, will Lazun have a good end?
At most, he can win himself the status of being rewarded by Liu Chengzong for his merits.
This also involves the issue that Liu Shishi is not interested in religion and may not be rewarded based on his merits.
By then the tribe was defeated, and I was worshiped by hundreds of monks all day long in a temple. I had to worry about when my religious influence would offend Liu Chengzong, and I didn't even have the ability to protect myself.
But forget it.
If Liu Chengzong conquered Kangning Mansion in one year and Chuo Ketu defeated Gu Ru in half a month, it can bring any enlightenment to Lazun, it is that ordinary people are not guilty of carrying a jade.
How much land can they occupy? The two brothers have been pecking each other in Qinghai for several years. Suddenly, they found that the guys who poured into Qinghai were stronger than the others, and each was competing with the other... How could they not have a sense of crisis?
Instead of being shameless and being kicked away in the end, it would be better for me to go to Uzang now. Instead of fighting for power and profit with you secular rulers, the Buddha can go to Tibet to pay homage to the Buddha.
As for offending Liu Xiangyu and Liu Chengzu by withdrawing their defenses and moving south, Lazun didn't care. It was impossible for them to go to Uzang to catch him and kill him.
Liu Chengzong was the one who might have rushed into Uzang, caught him out and killed him, so all the land and people were given to the Marshal's Mansion.
Moreover, Liu Chengzong returned to support from the west, and Lazun went south from the east. I would rather take a long detour and miss the opportunity to meet. If I can't go back and get some rubies from Uzang, I can send them to you.
Liu Xiangyu adjusted his mood, waved his hand and said: "Don't worry about him, just run away. It just makes room to spread out the Tatar army. You can calculate when the lion will come back. We don't need to be greedy for credit. We just want to find out the enemy's situation." Lord, wait until the lion sees the enemy soon, and then attack in full force to contain their forces."
Liu Chengzu nodded and said: "My son thinks so too. The enemy is outnumbered and we are outnumbered. It will not be easy to attack until Chuoketu is found. This will be done by Yang Shen who is staying in the camp in the future. General Wei Qian has many Tangqi under his command."
After that, Liu Chengzu scolded Xiao Lazun again: "Father doesn't know something. I hate this Lazun. If I don't hate him for running away, I hate him for giving up to Huangnan. Now the Xikang official road has no inn, and the east side passes through Songpan Grassland. The route to Luhomakang is also cut off.”
"Years ago, the lion sent a message back, saying that he was celebrating the New Year in Dajianlu. It is much closer to Chengdu than to Nangqian. If the lion moves quickly enough, it will take eighteen days from the time the message is received in mid-April to return to Nangqian. Troops from all over the country are gathering and preparing supplies. If possible, they will set off on May 15th...but we have to wait a little longer for reinforcements, on May 20th."
Liu Chengzu said while calculating, and looked up at his father: "Even if the north bank of the source of the Yellow River is not occupied by the Tatars, it is almost the same. From Xining to Nangqian Station 22, the road is divided into two sections. The eleven stations in Henan are high in the mountains and cold. On the road, I think a lion will not walk too fast but not too slow either. Forty miles a day, resting every nine days..."
Liu Chengzu was very familiar with Liu Chengzong's marching speed. It took Liu Chengzong more than three months to travel from Xining to Nangqian, but it was not a march, but accepting tributes from various places, and by the way, he also conducted a census.
Two months is enough to return to Xining from Nangqian.
Liu Chengzu said here, and Liu Xiangyu took notes next to him. These things are the experience of the grassroots military officers. The elders can know all the treasures based on experience, but Mr. Liu can only have a general impression, so he needs to write down these things.
As Liu Chengzu spoke, he involuntarily pinched his knuckles with his left hand to make quick calculations. After a moment, he looked at his father, clenched his fist and said, "Da, today is the tenth day of June. I estimate that the lion will reach the source of the Yellow River within fifteen days."
Liu Xiangyu listened and took notes. He suddenly raised his head and said in surprise: "So fast? There are still eight stations from the source of the Yellow River to Yanchi. Can he fight directly when he comes here?"
"Yes, and these eight stations will be very fast." Liu Chengzu said firmly: "The Lion March has never been on horseback, and most of the troops of General Yang Yao have also seen it. It is not a problem to lead a horse for a long distance of sixty miles a day on the official road. , it’s not surprising that a man in a hurry can sleep on the back of a mule and travel hundreds of miles in a day...it just depends on which troops the lion brings back."
After having a rough idea of Liu Chengzong's marching speed, the father and son prepared for the next war.
Now that Lazun has run away and the battle is going on at home, Yang Yao's remaining camp stationed in the Haibei camp can be slightly mobilized. Therefore, Liu Chengzu plans to surround the Yellow River and divide the battlefield into east and west sections.
Yang Yao, the remaining battalion of the Hexi Lion Army, served as a partial division and went out of Nanshan Pass for the purpose of harassing, killing and containing the enemy.
Yang Yao was good at using horse soldiers, and he had three generals under his command, Wei Qian'er, Han Shiyou, and Yang Chengzu. Most of them were veterans who had followed Liu Chengzong to fight in Shaanxi Mountain. They had extremely strong combat effectiveness and could easily be considered the main force by the enemy.
In Hedong, Liu Chengzu led the Zhenhai Camp, Fuqiang Fort and the local soldiers from returning to De Qianhu to seize the fortress in Xiaohetao. Seizing the fortress itself was of little significance, but it was important to prevent the enemy from seizing the fortress.
Especially the Bajiao City in the southeast, which guarded the Gansu-Qinghai Corridor and was an important military area that had always been competed for by the Central Plains dynasty and the northwest regime. Liu Chengzu could not let others take it no matter what.
If it's occupied by Chuk Rabbit, it's just a matter of grabbing it back. If it's been occupied by the Ming army for a while and a half, I'm afraid I won't be able to get it back.
Just as the Marshal's Mansion launched an east-west campaign in the north, a new battle had also begun at the source of the Yellow River in the south.
Liu Chengzu overestimated Liu Shishi's marching speed. In fact, Liu Chengzong could only cover thirty miles in one day.
Considering the physical strength of the Lion Soldier, walking eighty miles a day is tiring, but walking fifty or sixty miles a day can maintain a high fighting spirit.
But sleeping in the open air in such a high-mountain and cold place would be too much for the Lion Soldiers to travel thirty miles a day.
The Lion Soldiers are accustomed to military life, endure hardships, and are good at marching. One pair of feet can walk more than four hooves. They do not have high requirements for living standards. For six hundred miles, they consume ten pounds of fried noodles, plus one pound of dried meat and three taels of pickles, supplemented by donkey meat. Fire also provides a speed boost.
But everything has two sides. Their cultural level and military knowledge have improved over time, and they don't want people to waste food... A road that can be walked in fifteen days has to be walked for a month, and the food consumption has doubled. Having to suffer in the cold, morale was very low.
So much so that grassroots soldiers complained about this speed.
No way, it's not just the Lion Soldiers who are marching in the group. The marching speed never depends on who walks fast, but on the one who walks the slowest in the team.
The physical fitness of more than half of the soldiers in the left camp could not keep up with the long-distance march. After fifteen days, more than 600 soldiers were left behind. The morale of the nobles in the right camp was already low. If these nobles had more confidence in their survival skills, they would have to run. Seven or eight hundred.
Fortunately, Liu Chengzong gained a few days by running all the way from Dajianlu back to Nangqian, so his marching speed was similar to Liu Chengzu's estimate.
The large army was still marching slowly behind, and Dai Daozi at the front was very happy. He was walking fast.
Moreover, after receiving a request for help from Huang Yuanyi from the inn, and with the commander's permission, Tangqi moved forward at full speed, and early started a confrontation game with the Mongolian division that had crossed the Yellow River.
The No. 100 Tang soldiers marched towards hundreds of Mongolian cavalry at a distance of one mile each. They were so frightened that they quickly retreated and went north to lie about the military situation, saying that the Marshal's Mansion army was coming to kill them.
Two days later, I found that there were still so many Tangqi, so I mustered up the courage to chase them and beat them up, but I couldn't catch anyone, so they all ran away. I quickly reported the military information to the north, saying that they were not the army of the Marshal's Mansion. Just a hundred or so stragglers.
However, these hundreds of stragglers also caused them some losses.
The equipment of the Northern Tangqi was trained with the Mongolian army. They are professional opponents in dealing with them. They will never fight head-on, but they will never suffer a loss when fighting alone.
The three-eyed gun is not as powerful as the bird gun or heavy musket in large army battles, but it is still an excellent self-defense weapon for soldiers in encounters.
The courage of these herdsmen warriors from Mobei is commendable, but they are not as familiar with this method of warfare as the Mongolians from Monan.
When they saw Tang Qi advancing, they wanted to fight. When they saw Tang Qi retreating, they wanted to chase him. When Tang Qi stood still, they didn't dare to attack. During the pursuit, the team was pulled out of the gap, so that the fight didn't start in the end. Our own formation was ruined.
Dai Daozi rushed here not to destroy the Mongolian army on the south bank of the Yellow River, nor did he have the ability. He mainly came to cover the battlefield for the post soldiers so that they could retreat backwards.
But it was a few days late. Dai Daozi wandered along the Yellow River for two days without seeing anyone. He was worried that the Mongolian soldiers would come back. He was about to retreat in despair when he heard the sound of gunshots coming from the Xingxing Sea. Two ships sailed out of the big lake. The ferry was equipped with a gun, and the postmaster Zou Feng, who had an iron stamp on his waist and stepped on the bow of the boat, cried with joy: "Reinforcements, reinforcements are coming!"
On the other side of the lake, at the foot of the mountain three miles away, thousands of people ran out of the valley, jumping and waving to Dai Daozi's Tangqi.
Nearing the shore, Zou Feng jumped from the boat and ran quickly through the knee-deep lake water, one foot deep and one foot shallow. He almost fell twice. He ran to the shore with a musket and said: "General, I'm Huangyuan Postmaster Zou Feng, sir. Is Shuai going to conquer the north to regain the lost territory?"
Dai Daozi was stunned when asked, regaining lost ground?
To be honest, he has been following Liu Cheng. In his mind, the outline of Kangning Prefecture is between Yushu Baihu Territory and Qamdo, Xining Prefecture is between Chaka Salt Lake and Qilian Mountain, and the area between Xining Prefecture and Kangning Prefecture is not It doesn’t feel like territory.
They have at most a few inns here, but Dai Daozi heard that even the walls of those inns haven't been repaired yet.
However, Dai Daozi quickly replied: "Zou Yicheng, the commander-in-chief is leading the army behind. We should come over tonight."
Zou Feng nodded heavily: "I will go to greet you. I will take the postmen from Kuhai and Huangyuan Second Post to greet you."
In the evening of that day, the right battalion first arrived at the south bank of the Yellow River, followed by the left battalion. The Chinese army escorted by Liu Chengzong and Zhang Tianlin descended to camp ten miles south of the Yellow River and met Zou Feng who asked to see him.
Zou Feng led nine post soldiers into the camp and bowed down heavily: "Zou Feng, the humble postmaster of Huangyuan Post, led the Kuhai Second Post to pay homage to the commander-in-chief. Eight hundred and seven Mongolian people from both places took refuge in the Western Mountains of Xingxinghai. Kuhai Post Cheng Xie Baixing led the Eleven Kuhai post soldiers cut off the rear for the common people; Huangyuan post meng Xiao, Du Maocai and Ma Jianghan blocked the enemy on the river and were all killed in Hebei."
Liu Chengzong didn't say anything. He stepped forward and grabbed Zou Feng's shoulders: "You did a good job. You are all heroes. From now on, a county guard will be set up in this place. Warriors and heroes will be invited to the City God's Temple... Can we still fight?"
Zou Feng bowed violently again and said loudly: "There are two hundred and twelve Huangyuan Kuhai post soldiers and Mongolian soldiers. I am willing to be the commander-in-chief's vanguard!"
"Okay, your troops will be temporarily assigned to the convoy and follow me." Liu Chengzong pulled Zou Feng up and looked north: "Revenge."
