On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month in the twenty-sixth year of Zhenyuan, just after the Lantern Festival, on this day, the Daqian Forbidden Army sent out a large force to launch a tentative attack in the direction of Harlem.
At the same time, troops from the armies gathered in Shuozhou, Jinyang and other surrounding areas also began to break out of camp and move northward at a slightly slower pace.
The strategic intention behind this action is self-evident.
Moreover, after the prince Xiao Yi learned that Xin Qiji had suffered a defeat, he did not blame him. He only fined him a salary and sent the battle report to other generals.
This kind of punishment may not seem big, but for a general, it is still somewhat detrimental to the image.
However, for Xin Qiji, it is natural to know his shame and then be brave.
As long as he can defeat the Meng Yuan thieves, as long as he can continue to fight, even if he loses his position as a general and becomes a captain, he will have no complaints.
Originally, it was because of his carelessness and underestimation of the enemy that he failed to even see the obvious trap, which caused the army to suffer relatively heavy losses in battle, and many of his comrades died.
His Royal Highness sent the battle report to other generals, which was also a warning to everyone.
As long as it can warn them, as long as it can make them wake up, stop making the same mistakes, and save fewer of their comrades from dying, Xin Qiji is willing to accept such punishment and his image to be damaged.
If you can win the battle in the future, remember the lessons, and fight steadily, the shame... can also be washed away.
In fact, the war has now been won for Daqian.
On Xiao Yi's desk, there have been several memorials, all of which requested His Royal Highness to return to Chang'an to supervise the country.
The intention is also relatively simple, that is, no more fighting.
First of all, it is naturally because the war consumes too much. Hundreds of thousands of troops go out to fight. The total consumption and every day's accounts can make Dai Guang bald at the Ministry of Revenue.
But for the sake of the great cause of supervising the crown prince, he could only grit his teeth and persevere, and follow the magic weapons given to him by His Royal Highness the crown prince to increase the width of taxation.
However, the court's insistence is one thing, and the attitude of others is another.
Whether they are aristocratic families, wealthy businessmen, or gentry, they always feel that their taxes are too heavy. They also always feel that the government collects their taxes just for the purpose of fighting. If there is no war, their taxes will definitely be reduced a lot.
As for the national righteousness and the idea that only a country can have a family, they don't know.
For them, their own interests always come first.
These people no longer want to fight.
Secondly, and the most critical point is that everyone knows that the war to destroy the country is not that easy to fight.
Meng Yuan is not Xixia, and Beiyan is not Xixia.
These two are the strongest countries in the North. They joined forces to destroy the gold and easily won.
Now, if Daqian wants to destroy these two countries in one fell swoop, it will be very difficult and dangerous.
Many people know this.
Finally, there is another point. Of course, there are the families of hundreds of thousands of soldiers. They are also worried that if the fight continues, their own people will eventually die on the battlefield.
To put it bluntly, after Dagan won the war very quickly, everyone felt that Dagan was very strong. Since it was very strong, there was no need to continue fighting, there was no need to bear such a huge consumption, and there was no need to continue fighting. More soldiers must die.
Under this circumstance, Xiao Yi ordered the newly renovated Daqian Imperial Army to begin moving northward one after another.
And he also arrived at Xin Qiji's camp on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month.
Its intention is also obvious.
That is... Meng Yuan must perish!
"Xin Qing."
"The general is here." Xin Qiji quickly bowed and responded.
"Sit down."
"Here."
"What's the situation in Harlem now?"
Xin Qiji replied: "Kublai Khan still has two established ten thousand households, plus the ten thousand households that Hulagu retreated and Meng Ge fled back. In total, there are more than one hundred thousand soldiers and horses. "
"According to the report from Tanma, there are ten thousand households stationed in Zuo Yubei, and there are one ten thousand households each to the east and west of Harlem."
Xiao Yi nodded. Meng Yuan's map had been memorized in his mind. After listening to Xin Qiji's description, the specific location had already appeared in his mind.
"So, Kublai Khan has made up his mind to defend Harlem, and there must be a decisive battle between us and Meng Yuan to determine the outcome?"
"Yes." Xin Qiji replied.
Xiao Yi continued: "I remember that you were a soldier of the Longwu Army, right?"
Xin Qiji lowered his head and was startled for a moment. He didn't dare to think what he was thinking and replied honestly: "Your Highness, back then, when the last general failed in the imperial examination, he planned to join the army. After taking part in the military examination, he was assigned to the Longwu Army. .”
Xiao Yi said with emotion: "In a flash, more than a year has passed since the battle at Phoenix Ridge, and I still vividly remember it, because it was the first time I actually led an army in battle."
"In that battle, I saw you among thousands of soldiers. At first, you were no different from other soldiers."
"However, I saw that you are a school captain and seem to be quite respected in the army, so I inquired a little about your past and found out that you gave up your studies and turned to martial arts. You were also able to participate in martial arts and became a school captain. You are very skilled. That’s why I decided to make an exception and promote him.”
Xiao Yi recalled the past, and Xin Qiji, who bowed his head, was also brought to recall the past.
Think about why you abandoned literature and martial arts in the first place?
Naturally, it’s to get ahead.
But after several years in the army, he was just a captain.
During the battle at Phoenix Ridge, he knew very well that it would be an opportunity for him, an opportunity to be appreciated by His Highness the Crown Prince.
Therefore, he was ready to charge into a deadly battle, and he also wanted to show off his abilities through this battle.
But he didn't expect that before the war, he would be appreciated by His Highness the Crown Prince and promoted as an exception.
The decree suddenly came, and he suddenly became a general. He suddenly wanted to lead the troops, defend the road, and became a vanguard general.
The huge surprise did not make Xin Qiji arrogant, but instead made him more determined to repay His Highness the Crown Prince for his support.
Thinking about this defeat again, it seems that because of the victories one after another, I want to gain greater military exploits and become a figure like Wang Yueshan of Yong'an County, so I underestimated the enemy and rushed forward, and was tricked by the opponent.
"Xin Qing?"
Xiao Yi called out twice before pulling Xin Qiji out of his memories.
"Your Highness..."
Xiao Yi then said: "I plan to let you attack the vanguard general of Harlem this time, just like the battle at Phoenix Ridge, how about it?"
However, although he was led astray by His Highness's memories, when he came back to his senses now, Xin Qiji's face was not panic, but became more serious: "Thank you, Your Highness, since I have chosen the vanguard general for this battle, I will definitely do my best." , to repay His Highness’s trust.”
In this way, after Xiao Yi arrived at Xin Qiji's camp, identified the vanguard general, and made some arrangements, the Imperial Guards set a time to attack Harlem. In the next few days, with Yue Hongling and Xin Qiji, , Di Qing as the main force began to advance on a large scale towards the Harlem Third Road.
At the beginning, of course, Xin Qiji launched an attack on the Meng Yuan households in the north of Zuoyu.
On the morning of the third day, Yue Hongling and Han Shi divided their troops into two groups, one from the south and the other from the north, to kill ten thousand households in the west of Harlem.
Di Qing also defeated Mu Huali and directly killed ten thousand households on his horse. After winning a great victory on the eastern front, he stationed himself in the east of Harlem and was ready.
After receiving Xiao Yi's military order, he immediately sent out scouts and then divided them into three armies: front, middle and rear. Thinking of Harlem, he slowly advanced, and with the King of Liao who set out from the Anbei Protectorate (Ulancha) A pincer attack formed from the north to the south.
On the morning of the 20th of the first lunar month, Xin Qiji attacked three times and defeated the Meng Yuan households in the north of Zuoyu with almost the same casualties.
Naturally, the losses in this battle were relatively large, with 50,000 soldiers and horses, and the battle losses reached about 10,000.
Because the Meng Yuan side refused to retreat until there were only less than 30,000 soldiers and horses left in the end, Yu Xiaoyi personally led the troops to Xin Qiji's rear army to suppress the formation, and ordered all Xin Qiji's troops to attack and kill nearly four people. It took more than an hour to defeat all the Meng Yuan households.
More than four hours, in this cold winter, was already considered the limit for most of the soldiers.
So far, the Dagan Forbidden Army has begun the final battle against the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty!
Let's say that at the beginning of the war, the Daqian Forbidden Army was directly divided into three, and then further divided on this basis, with nine commanders: Yue Hongling, Liao Wang, Han Shizhong, Xin Qiji, Di Qing, An Zijun, Su Lie, Wang Zhen, and Zhang Shijie , headed by the Lord General, there are a total of 410,000 soldiers!
Counting the militia and auxiliary troops who followed this time, there should be 520,000 soldiers.
This is why both the government and the public are determined to have a truce, accept Meng Yuan's peace talks, surrender, and then everyone will get back together again and take a step back.
From now on, there will only be two vassal states in the North: Mongolian Yuan and Beiyan.
The policy of hoeing the strong and supporting the weak is gone.
No need anymore.
Daqian will definitely be stronger.
Taking the Anbei Protectorate as the boundary and directly separating Meng Yuan and Bei Yan, it can be said that it can ensure that the border in the north will be relatively stable for a hundred years.
This is a possible and horrifying final figure calculated by the Ministry of Military Affairs.
…
"At least 400,000,000, and at most 600,000,000. In the end, there may actually be more than 500,000..."
Across a field, in the palace of Harlem, after gathering all kinds of information, Hulagu, who was sitting at the base with bloodshot eyes, gave a rough figure.
And just this number made the senior Meng Yuan officials present silence for a while.
"How do you think we should deal with it?" Kublai Khan, who was thirsty and exhausted, asked hoarsely.
Since the attitude of fighting to the death has been adopted, only fighting to the death can have a chance of survival and save Meng Yuan.
Naturally, it is impossible to retreat.
However, facing Daqian's 500,000 men, facing the Daqian crown prince's personal conquest, and facing Harlem, there are only 100,000 soldiers and horses at the end of the battle.
The outcome of this war has actually been decided.
Kublai Khan's question was not answered for a long time.
Hulagu's mouth was also dry and he was also hesitant to speak. He didn't know what to say or how to speak.
If it were in the past, if there were not three defeats in three battles, if the enemy was a gold thief or a Xixia, he would have only one answer, and that is to just start a war.
It was just a matter of a few charges back and forth between Meng Yuan's warriors.
But now, the Meng Yuan warriors may have gone and never returned, and they must have gone forever.
how to respond?
How else to deal with it?
Xu Liewu swallowed and took a deep breath before he managed to calm down and spoke.
"Your Majesty..."
