It snowed heavily, and the wind kept blowing.
Mahamu was caught in a dilemma. God seemed to be blocking the road with heavy snow, preventing him from moving forward.
This snow came at the wrong time!
After three days of suffering, the snow outside was heavy enough to reach the knees. Marching under such conditions was extremely exhausting for both the sergeants and the horses.
Tupolo's suggestion to rest on the spot was opposed by Taiping and Mahamu.
Heavy snow has blocked the road. Waiting will not solve any problem. This is north of Tianshan Mountain, and there is still a cold wind blowing. If we want to wait for the snow to melt, we will have to wait until February or March next year.
The Wala army is not staying in Hangai Mountain and resting as long as they want. When they are hungry, they can eat mutton and beef. This is a large army campaign, and the materials they carry are limited. Now they have reached the point where they have to eat war horses. If they wait any longer, the Wala army will completely collapse.
What's more, the movements of the Ming army are not clear at this time. If someone comes out to attack me unprepared, wouldn't it be a heavy loss?
We must march, and our target is Sailimu Lake above the Tianshan Mountains, and Ili City south of the Tianshan Mountains!
Mahamu spent a lot of time and finally convinced Tupolo. The 30,000 cavalrymen were like a long sword, unsheathed and marching.
Snow is the edge of a sword, dazzling.
Mahamu knew that the Ming army was powerful and that a direct attack on the Ming city would pay a heavy price. He did not go crazy and attack the defenders of Polo City. Instead, he bypassed Polo City and chose another road across the Tianshan Mountains.
There is not only one road over the Tianshan Mountains. It is the easiest way to go south from Polo City and into Sailimu Lake. There are also some roads that are not easy to walk. Hidden mountain roads can also enter the Ili River Valley.
However, this kind of mountain road is rugged and difficult to navigate, and many places can only accommodate one person and one horse. In addition, the mountain is relatively steep, so ordinary caravans will not choose this mountain road.
But now the situation is different. Wala needs to sneak attack the Ming army, so he can only choose the inaccessible mountain road.
Zong Zhe is familiar with the terrain here. A year ago, he came here to investigate, asked many locals and businessmen, and found two hidden mountain roads.
I have walked it myself and found that these two mountain roads are indeed passable.
"It's only three miles ahead."
Zongzhe said quickly to Mahamu and others who were pressing the question.
The horses urged and the cavalry flew.
Three miles away, we'll be there in the blink of an eye.
Zongzhe pointed to the mountain pass in the distance and shouted, "This is it!"
The pass is somewhat narrow.
Looking up, the mountain road is winding and has many edges and corners.
The mountain is silent.
Mahamu did not hesitate. This time, the rise and fall of Wala will be determined!
"Into the mountains!"
Mahamu gave the order, and the guards around him opened the way first. Soon after, Mahamu, Ba Tupolo, and Taiping also followed into the mountain. Because the mountain road could not accommodate too many people, and it was extremely difficult to climb the mountain, the entire army moved very slowly.
Mahamu was panting and his horse could no longer pull, but there were still nearly 20,000 cavalry at the foot of the mountain who had not started to move.
In order to prevent his whereabouts from being exposed, Zhewuduo led his cavalry to blockade the twenty-mile area around the mountain road and kill any living thing he encountered. It's just that the weather was freezing, and there were no cities or residential areas nearby. The Ora cavalry searched for a long time, but no Ming people were found.
This makes it easier for Wala to climb the mountain slowly.
Mahamu was shivering from the cold, and the wind in the mountains was very biting.
A shrill scream came out, and the sound of despair was mixed with the whine of the war horse. You don't need to look back to know that the horse must have fallen while walking on the cliff, and both the man and the horse fell down.
This mountain road is simply not walkable by humans. The narrowest point cannot accommodate two people walking side by side. If the belly of the war horse is bigger, it will hit the rocks, and the rocks are cold and sharp. Yes, but you can't move around. If you make a wrong step, you will die.
Along the way, at least a hundred horses and nearly a hundred sergeants fell to death.
There is no other way but to bite the bullet
He continued until he lost his physical strength and then ordered the sergeant to take a short rest.
High on the mountain, in the cold wind, and without a tent, it was impossible to take a good rest. We could only eat some dried meat, drink some mare's milk to replenish our endurance, and then continue moving.
The mountain is more than 900 feet high, step by step, move forward slowly!
Zongzhe pointed to the mountain peak a hundred feet away and shouted: "After this mountain peak, there is a slightly flatter mountain road. The road down the mountain is also wider and there is no steep place."
Mahamu breathed a sigh of relief, and Taiping also smiled.
It’s not far to the top!
Pa Tupolo gasped for air and asked, "Tell me, don't the Ming people know about this mountain road? Why didn't they send anyone to garrison it?"
Taiping chuckled and said: "The Ming Dynasty may know this road, but the mountain road is so difficult to travel, it is not a marching road. There are at most one or two fleeing people, and the unscrupulous merchants are just walking around, there is no need to put people on guard."
Mahamu agreed with Taiping's view: "Compared to the mountain road at Sailimu Lake, this place is not only three hundred feet higher, but also six miles closer to the mountain road. If there is a large army marching, they will not take such a small road. The Ming army was so arrogant that they would never have thought that the Wala army would come out over the mountains. Ili City has no defense and we can attack it with one blow!"
Taiping thought.
Ili City was the Ming Dynasty's important military town in Western Xinjiang, and it was second only to Urumqi City in Western Xinjiang. It not only stored a large amount of military supplies, but also had a large number of Eastern and Western merchants gathered there, with endless wealth.
As long as the Ming army is caught off guard, Ili City will definitely fall into the hands of Wala!
Ba Tupolo always felt like something was wrong.
You must know that the people of the Ming Dynasty, especially those who came out of the Imperial College, are all monkey spirits. The Ming Dynasty should not give up this mountain road so easily and leave a loophole for the enemy, right?
But the fact is that there is really no Ming army on this mountain road.
Then move forward.
Whether it was Ming's negligence or absolute confidence, this would bring them a fatal threat.
go ahead!
The army moved forward again, and after an hour, Mahamu finally reached the final mountain road.
Then, I was dumbfounded.
Mahamu looked at the mountain in front of him and looked at Zongzhe in panic.
Zong Zhe's eyes widened with fear and uneasiness on his face.
There is obviously an upward mountain road here, but why is it not there anymore and it turns into a wall? Or is it just a stone wall?
Looking at the almost smooth stone wall, Zongzhe shuddered.
Needless to say, it must have been the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty who carved out the rocks here, leaving only a wall!
Yes, the height of one and a half feet is indeed a mountain road!
But, damn it, it’s such a high distance, how do you want us to climb up?
"how so?"
Mahamu was shocked. He looked up at the mountain road above, his eyes red.
The peace hand couldn't help but tremble.
Looking at Tupolo, the mountain wall is almost vertical, and the mountain wall is smooth, with almost no place to stay! It is almost impossible to climb the mountain path above.
No wonder the Ming army didn't send people to guard this place. They dug up the mountain road and sent people to guard it.
In this case, if you want to enter the high mountain road and climb over the Tianshan Mountains, you can only use a rope to hang from a high place and climb up.
But looking at the height, there is no place to throw the rope. It is estimated that the Ming craftsmen also treated the stone surface so that there will be no grappling hook points.
It's not impossible to climb up by one foot and a half by stacking people on top of each other. After all, it's relatively open here.
But the question is, what to do with the war horse?
When people pass by, the horses can't get past them no matter what. You can't drag them up one horse at a time. Not to mention being exhausted, even this time may not be enough.
The army is all high in the mountains. It's so cold and freezing, and it's almost night time. Once we drag up the three thousand war horses, it's estimated that many sergeants will freeze to death tonight, and even the war horses will freeze to death in the mountains.
Ming Dynasty did this
, it can indeed prevent the army from crossing the Tianshan Mountains from this mountain road. Zong Zhe clearly remembers that he could still leave a year ago, but why is it like this now? Doesn't this push Wala to a dead end?
Qian Tupolo looked at Mahamu and said bitterly: "There is no way ahead, we must retreat."
Mahamu looked at the smooth stone wall and looked up to the sky, speechless.
Who would have thought that the Ming Dynasty would pull such a trick?
You want to dig through the mountain road. You can dig it up and down. If you dig it, we can at best not climb up. This is all time-consuming and laborious. It took us nearly a day to climb to the top of the mountain. Seeing that victory is in sight, the future is bright. You Tell me there is no way?
Isn't this playing tricks on people?
You are abusing the craftsmen. Do you know that in such a high mountain, such a steep location, and such an unsafe place, you actually let the craftsmen jingle and chisel stones here!
Taiping also knew that this operation was a complete failure.
The Ming Dynasty must not have cut off only this mountain road. Maybe they also cut off other roads over the Tianshan Mountains. The only way to enter the Ili Valley is the mountain road to Sailimu Lake.
Looking for a way, there is no way.
On this high mountain, there is not even a tree to be found or a ladder to get out. It is a no-brainer for the cavalry to cross the mountain.
Without cavalry, it is not feasible to send only sergeants down the mountain.
Who knows if the Ming army below the mountain will make other tricks?
You must know that the Ili Valley and Sailimu Lake are huge horse farms of the Ming Dynasty. There is no shortage of war horses here. The two-legged Wala sergeant cannot defeat the Ming Dynasty cavalry at all.
Besides, even a few thousand infantrymen couldn't defeat Ili City, and without the help of horses, a surprise attack was impossible.
In the final analysis, climbing this mountain is in vain.
For a moment, Mahamu seemed much older, and he gave the order in a lonely manner: "Retreat."
The way forward is not feasible and we can only retreat.
If we don't retreat, if we are blocked at the foot of the mountain, we don't need to fight, we just block the road, and these tens of thousands of cavalry will die on the mountain.
Wala lost before the war even started.
Mahamu didn't know whether to go to the mountain road in Sailimu Lake. Now it seems that if he goes to go there, he is almost certain to die.
The only channel, the only possibility.
In Daming, he will not give himself the only chance.
Let's go back.
If you can't provoke Daming, then go home. The weather is getting colder and colder. If you don't go back, the cold winter will swallow up all the elites of Wala.
