The most critical elements for the Central Plains dynasty to fight against the northern nomads were cavalry and war horses.
Now Zhao Tai dominates the world and even regained Yunyan, but the lands of Hetao and Longxi were not included in the territory.
This means that Qi State has no reliable supply of war horses.
At present, the wealth of Qi's cavalry army is mainly captured by Zhao Tai through battles in the Qimeng War.
If this horse army suffers huge losses, it will affect the pattern of the Qimeng War.
Although Xu Degong led the cavalry and entered Shuozhou City, the Mongols were unable to do anything to them for a while, but Zhao Tai decided to fight in person.
Zhao Tai defeated the Southern Song Dynasty and was about to ascend the throne as emperor.
This is his golden day, and Meng Ge is causing trouble for him at this time, which is another big problem.
Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Central Plains has been in decline. Under the suppression of powerful enemies in the north and the compromise and suppression of the internal ruling class, the national spirit of the Han nation has gradually withered.
If Zhao Tai wants to create a new era and reshape the national spirit, he must be supported by everyone when he ascends the throne.
Therefore, no matter what, Zhao Tai must repel Meng Ge who caused trouble for him, and even teach the Mongols a lesson.
Zhao Tai gave an order and 20,000 troops were quickly assembled near Kaifeng.
At this time, the main generals of Qi were stationed in the south to prevent rebellion in Song.
During this expedition, the generals under Zhao Tai were generally relatively young, and many of them were second-generation generals from Qi.
These young officers may lack battlefield experience, but their enthusiasm and courage are no less than those of their fathers.
They belong to the young and strong faction in the army. Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers. With 20,000 men, they dare to challenge Meng Ge's 100,000 men.
Even Zhao Tai didn't notice that at some point, the Qi army dared to fight decisively against the grassland peoples without having any advantage in strength.
The era when Tang general Li Ji dared to face Xue Yantuo's army of 200,000 men with 6,000 men and killed 3,000 enemies and captured 50,000 enemies seems to be coming back soon.
"Your Majesty, the Mongols first attacked Yunzhong but failed. They wanted to besiege the city for reinforcements, and then asked Xu Du to lead his troops to break out. Now they are besieging Shuozhou. It can be said that they are a hammer in the east and a stick in the west. They don't know how to fight. I think the Mongols The army has been invading the invaders for more than two months, but has made no progress, and is already exhausted of men and horses. If the king takes me as the vanguard, and I kill Shuozhou City in one go, and the defenders in the same city should cooperate with each other, they will definitely defeat the Mongols!"
"Your Majesty, I am also willing to be the vanguard! I will definitely kill the Meng people and throw away their armor!"
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In the military tent, a group of generals asked for battle. Qi's continuous victories on the battlefield made them more confident and regarded the Mongols as nothing.
Zhao Tai did not expect that the morale of the generals was so high.
He thought that if he sent 20,000 troops to rescue Shuozhou, his subordinates would lose confidence.
The reaction of the generals surprised Zhao Tai, but he had been in battle for a long time, but he did not get infected by anger.
Although the Mongols were driven out of the Central Plains, their strength remained.
The strength of this steppe empire that swept across the Eurasian continent should not be underestimated.
Therefore, Zhao Tai did not adopt the suggestions of the young generals, but smiled and waved, and waited for everyone to calm down before speaking loudly: "This time, Mongolia took advantage of the absence of Gu's main force to sneak attack on Hedong Province, hoping to embarrass Gu. Brother Meng is bad at Gu. Good thing, Gu must teach him a lesson. Qing and others' suggestion is very good, but the Mongols have many cavalry, and our army is mainly infantry. This means that even if Qing and others cooperated with Shuozhou defenders inside and outside and defeated Meng Ge, It’s also difficult to keep him.”
Many generals heard this and started talking about it.
Li Yanjian, Li Fen's eldest son, went out to ask, "What does the king mean?"
Zhao Tai only had 20,000 soldiers and horses, so naturally he would not fight with Meng Ge. He walked to the map and pointed to the land of Youzhou. The Sanggan River enters the Yunzhong Basin. The Mongols are focused on the east of the river and lack preparations for Xuande to the east. The army goes from the east and quickly recaptures all the passes of the Yunzhong section of the Great Wall, giving Meng a hard time."
Zhao Tai has 20,000 soldiers and horses, but he does not have the strength to fight Mengge decisively. His plan is to close the door for him, and the subsequent troops will be responsible for beating the dogs.
After hearing Zhao Tai's words, many generals' eyes lit up and they sighed in their hearts, the king is the king, and his appetite is much greater than theirs.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to be the vanguard to recapture the pass!"
A group of generals asked for battle.
Zhao Tai ignored them and looked at Meng Gong standing aside.
After Meng Gong was captured by Zhao Tai, Zhao Tai did not force him to participate in the war against the Southern Song Dynasty.
His subordinate Liu Zheng served as a vanguard in the battle to destroy the Song Dynasty and made great achievements many times. However, Zhao Tai not only did not let Meng Gong participate in the battle, he did not even let him write a letter persuading him to surrender.
"General Meng!" Zhao Tai suddenly looked at Meng Gong.
Meng Gong felt Zhao Tai's gaze. He didn't expect that Zhao Tai would call him. He felt something in his heart and was a little excited unconsciously.
When Zhao Tai persuaded him to surrender, he once said that his talents should be used to deal with foreigners and wipe out the barbarians for the world.
Could it be?
"I'm here!" Meng Gong came out to salute.
Zhao Tai looked at him, "General Meng, are you willing to serve as a vanguard and let the Mongols know your reputation?"
Meng Gong did not refuse this time. He was even a little moved. He immediately knelt down on one knee and said, "I will definitely fulfill my mission!"
A group of second-generation Qi generals couldn't help but whisper when they saw Zhao Tai choosing a defeated soldier to be the vanguard.
At this time, they had doubts about Meng Gong's ability, but soon they would see how a famous general like Wei Qing and Li Jing could shake up the grassland.
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Shuozhou City.
Countless military tents like tombs surrounded the city.
Brother Meng had no interest in Shuozhou.
Although this is also an important town in the northern border of Qi State, its status is far less important than Yunzhong.
Meng Ge thought of taking Yunzhong, but the arrival of Qi cavalry at Yanmen forced him to change his mind.
The city of Yunzhong is strong and the city has sufficient supplies. No matter how the Mongolian army attacks at any cost, it is vulnerable to a sneak attack by the Qi cavalry army.
Therefore, Meng Ge adopted the suggestion of the mastermind Yang Weizhong to besiege the city and mobilize reinforcements.
If the Qi cavalry comes to help, then they will ambush the Qi cavalry. If the Qi cavalry does not dare to come, then they will directly capture Yunzhong.
The plan was perfect, but there was a fork in the middle.
Xu Degong led 30,000 cavalry out of Yanmen Pass and was always on guard against an ambush by the Mongolian army.
For this reason, Meng Ge could only put various troops away from Xu Degong, and then retreated into Yanmen Pass without Xu De noticing.
After Xu Degong came out of the pass, he found no ambush. When the Qi army continued to advance, the Mongolian troops ambushing outside Yanmen Pass decisively attacked, blocking Xu Degong's way back to Yanmen.
The Qi army's retreat was cut off, so they were waiting to be surrounded and killed by him next.
What Brother Meng didn't expect was that in order to prevent Xu Degong from finding out, the ambush troops in all directions were too far apart from each other, and the gaps between the various departments were too large.
Xu Degong feinted a shot to lure out the ambush, and then forced his way out from the gap between the two ambush troops.
Now that Xu Degong has entered Shuozhou, Brother Meng's situation immediately becomes embarrassing.
Yunzhong fought half of the battle, and the Mongolian army surrounded Shuozhou again.
Now for Meng Ge, he was faced with a choice, whether to go back and continue to fight against Yunzhong, or to start fighting against Shuozhou again and destroy Qi's elite cavalry.
