Chapter 1300: Old Longtan at the foot of Liupan Mountain
"Report... to inform my lord, all the troops of Yuan and Meng Dynasties are in full force, and they are all gathering towards Pingluo County..."
Qin Hao showed a true expression and said with a smile: "It seems that Temujin has also realized the weakness of the Yuanmeng cavalry's inability to defend the city. He knows that if he continues to defend, he will only become more and more passive, so he must concentrate his forces to defeat our army. We are encircling and annihilating them outside Pingluo City. It seems that Pingluo County may not be able to be attacked."
Wang Meng also laughed and said: "Lord, this is a good thing. Although we successfully captured Guyuan County before, we also lost 8,000 troops.
If we continue to attack Pingluo County, the loss of troops will never be less than that of Guyuan County. Before the decisive battle, the greater the loss of our troops, the lower the victory rate of the decisive battle.
Now that the war in Ningxia has progressed, the hundreds of thousands of stones of food and grass in Pingluo County have long been irrelevant to the overall situation. The next thing we have to consider is the decisive battle. "
Qin Hao nodded and said: "What you said is true. Many of the previous calculations were just for this last moment. Naturally, Hao will not be careless at all.
Where is Jiang Juan? "
"The end will be here." Jiang Juan stood up.
"Give me the order to stop heading towards Pingluo County and turn towards Liupan Mountain.
In addition, he once again issued a letter of challenge to Temujin, saying that I would fight him in front of the old dragon pond in Liupan Mountain. "
"promise."
Although the three counties of Hetao are located thousands of miles away, the terrain is mainly plains, but there are also many mountain peaks, such as Liupan Mountain, Helan Mountain, Xumi Mountain, Yunwu Mountain, Tiandu Mountain, etc.
However, due to the large distance between these mountains, the terrain is not too dangerous and difficult to defend against enemies. Of course, Helan Mountain and Liupan Mountain are exceptions.
When he and Murong Ke attacked Ningxia County before, Wang Meng not only defended Ningxia City, but also blocked attacks through the terrain of Helan Mountain, making it difficult for Murong Ke to take advantage of his military strength.
Liupan Mountain is also known as Long Mountain. Its main peak is located in Guyuan and Longde Counties of Ningxia, with an altitude of 2928 meters. The mountain is roughly north-south and is about 240 kilometers long. It is the boundary mountain between the Loess Plateau of northern Shaanxi and the Loess Plateau of Longxi, and the Weihe River and The watershed of Jinghe River is winding and steep.
Liupan Mountain is named after the six layers of ancient winding roads that reach the top of the mountain. In the southeast of the mountain is the scenic spot of Laolongtan, one of the sources of Jingshui River.
The reason why Qin Hao chose the Liupan Mountain Laolongtan location for the decisive battle was not only because Liupan Mountain was the closest to his position, but also mainly because it was a decisive battle location beneficial to both sides. Choosing it here would reassure the suspicious Temujin.
"Lord, in the upcoming decisive battle, the catapult and the well will not be used. It is inconvenient to carry them, and it will also slow down the marching speed." Xue Rengui said.
Qin Hao nodded, and after thinking for a moment, he said decisively: "Then burn it on the spot."
"ah?"
Xue Rengui didn't expect that his Lord's Guild would be so wasteful. He widened his eyes and said, "My lord, those are hundreds of catapults. The cost of each one is very high, and the manufacturing cycle is not short. No matter how much it is destroyed, it will be too much." It’s a pity.”
"Then what do you think we should do? Leave it to Temujin?"
Qin Hao asked back, and Xue Rengui was speechless. In the past, these catapults were weapons for siege, but now they have become a drag on the Han army's decisive battle.
"The most important thing for us now is to defeat Temujin. It's just a hundred catapults. I can't afford to lose them. At worst, we will build more in the future."
Qin Hao said nonchalantly. In fact, he felt very distressed, but in order to ensure the final victory, he was still willing to pay this price.
Xue Rengui was still reluctant to part with it and advised: "My lord, according to the general's opinion, it is better to dismantle the catapult and bury it on the spot in a secret place. After Temujin is defeated, we can dig it out and use it again."
Qin Hao couldn't help but be stunned. He had focused all his attention on the decisive battle, but he didn't realize this method.
"I'll give you five thousand cavalry. Be sure to finish them within half a day, and then catch up with the main army."
"promise."
On the other side, after receiving Qin Hao's third letter of challenge, Temujin did not waver because of the unknown danger this time, but decisively chose to fight Qin Hao to the death.
He is the one with absolute strength, and in the face of absolute strength, any conspiracy and trickery are in vain, so no matter what Qin Hao's plans are, Temujin only needs to see the tricks.
"Liupan Mountain? Old Longtan?"
After seeing these two place names, Temujin couldn't help but chuckle: "Does Qin Hao want to imitate Xiang Yu and Han Xin and have a last-ditch fight with me, Dayuan?
I don’t know where Qin Hao got his confidence. Do you really think that with a back-to-back battle and the Fire Bull Formation, he can defeat my 240,000 refined cavalry with 140,000 foot cavalry? too naive. "
At this point, Temujin pointed at the Han envoy and said calmly: "Go back and tell Qin Hao that we will see you at noon tomorrow."
"yes."
After the envoy left, Yang Silang stood up and said seriously: "Your Majesty, why did Qin Hao choose Old Dragon Pond in Liupan Mountain? Liupan Mountain is majestic and steep, but only the dozens of areas in front of Old Long Pond are flat, which is very suitable for cavalry operations. Is there any fraud here?"
"Could it be that Qin Hao wants to use Laolongtan as a flood plan?"
Wokuotai stood up and said in a deep voice: "Qin Hao used the water attack strategy at the beginning and defeated Xiang Yu by digging out the Han River. Does he want to repeat the same trick?"
Yang Silang looked at Wo Kuotai as if he was mentally retarded, and the Wo Kuotai he looked at was a little baffling. Temujin, who was in charge, explained: "Old Longtan is just a pool of water. The area and flow of the pool are not large. The deepest The distance is only two feet, so it is absolutely impossible to carry out a water attack."
Wo Kuotai couldn't help but blush when he heard this. He was actually not familiar with the terrain of the Hetao. He just had an idea, so he proposed it without much thought, but he didn't expect that it was an impossible method to implement.
Wokuotai, who felt he had lost face, had no shame to continue speaking, so he had to retreat silently.
"You guys don't need to worry too much. You know, I, Dayuan, have 240,000 cavalry, but Qin Hao only has 140,000 cavalry, so he should be the one to worry about, Qin Hao."
Temujin looked at the generals in the hall and said in a deep voice: "Liupan Mountain, Laolongtan, there is nothing wrong with this location. Even if Qin Hao wants to cheat..."
On that day, 240,000 Yuan and Meng cavalry were assembled in Pingluo County, and then all headed for Liupan Mountain under the leadership of Temujin.
At noon the next day, under the leadership of Temujin, 240,000 cavalry arrived thirty miles away from Laolongtan. Qin Hao also set up a formation five miles away from Laolongtan, patiently waiting for the countdown to the final battle. .
