choke element

Chapter 1017: Not Enough (Part )

Since ancient times, it has been extremely difficult for the Central Plains regime to try to sweep the grasslands, especially the distance and climate are the most difficult to overcome. The financial support of the Great Zhou Dynasty is the sea, and it is even more impossible to invest the family's wealth in the northern border and launch endless expeditions against the nomadic peoples.

Therefore, the Mongols' previous massive attack on the mountain strongholds on the border and the use of powerful weapons such as iron cannons were not so much a threat to the Great Zhou as they were a perfect opportunity for Guo Ning to fight a war not far from the border and eliminate the threat with short and explosive attacks.

But if Mongolia had any connection with the Southern Dynasty and paid a price high enough to make the Southern Dynasty change its ways, then the battlefield would not be limited to the northern border and the desert!

The main force of the Zhou army has been unable to find the trace of the Mongolian army in the past few days, so they have gone further and further, deeper and deeper into the desert. Just the day before yesterday, Guo Ning personally led thousands of elite troops to try to catch up with the scouts in front and grasp the enemy's movements as soon as possible.

Now it seems that we have gone too far! Not being able to get news from the Central Plains in time is a big problem!

Guo Ning's doubts continued to accumulate, some turning into vigilance, some turning into fear. He suddenly felt that the biting cold wind around him was too cold, making him want to shiver; he suddenly had an urge to jump on his horse and rush back to the Central Plains. But as soon as he said this, he felt that he was being reckless.

With tens of thousands of troops outside, how could the commander just leave like that?

What if the main force of the Mongols is still on the grassland? After the commander leaves, the soldiers will be leaderless. How can they resist? Guo Ning doesn't underestimate the other soldiers, but since ancient times, the commander is the soul of the army and the general is the courage of the army. How can a soulless army fight?

When the Yehuling army was defeated, Guo Ning was one of the fugitives. He witnessed the scene with his own eyes. He also heard with his own eyes how the soldiers at that time cursed the cowardly generals!
Guo Ning was in a dilemma, and finally called Ni Yi: "Tell the soldiers to be on high alert tonight. Our team should pack up as soon as possible. If anything happens, be prepared for a long-distance pursuit."

Ni was overjoyed: "Your Majesty, is there any news?"

Guo Ning smiled: "Soon."

Xu Jin saw through Guo Ning's thoughts and guessed his hesitation: "Your Majesty, by the time we are ready, it will be midnight and we will not be able to travel any further. It is better to set out early tomorrow morning and return to Yehu Ridge to wait for news from the follow-up. If nothing happens, we will return immediately. Here in our team, Xiao Mole and Gao Xin are both veterans. They will command the troops in a short time and there will be no mistakes."

Guo Ning nodded, and then scolded Ni Yi, who was full of doubt: "What are you still standing there for?"

After listening to what Xu Jin said, Ni Yi was frightened, and Guo Ning made him jump up and down after drinking.

After all, he was an old man beside Guo Ning, and he immediately realized that the situation had deteriorated. He immediately saluted, turned around, and strode away. His figure soon disappeared into the night, and there was a slight commotion in various parts of the military camp. It was the soldiers making preparations.

Guo Ning simply washed up, leaned against his warhorse, and wanted to fall asleep quickly.

The weather was very cold, and even with thick clothes, it was still not enough to cover his hands and face. This made the horse seem even hotter, and it was very comfortable to lean his face against it. But Guo Ning had too many things on his mind, and he couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned several times, took the map from the horse's back, and looked at it by the campfire.

The map is very accurate, covering the jurisdictions of the three northern recruiting offices, down to every fortress and every road. Next to some important fortresses, small strokes are used to indicate details such as the number of defenders, who the defenders are, the scale of stockpiled materials, etc.

In the past, Guo Ningruo was always restless, and he always liked to look at the map to deduce the development of the war to relieve his emotions. He grew up on the battlefield since he was a child. Looking at the map, he could imagine thousands of troops fighting each other, attacking or defending, interweaving or raiding. The more he thought about it, the more he enjoyed it.

But at this moment, Guo Ning just felt that he couldn't bear to look at it anymore. Because this map did not cover the border between the Great Zhou and the Song Dynasty, and the problem that might arise right now was outside the map.

Guo Ning threw the map away and forced himself to close his eyes.

That night he was half asleep and half awake, as if he had never fallen asleep, but also as if he had never woken up. He vaguely saw himself on a battlefield, surrounded by blood, broken weapons, and dead bodies and body parts lying all over the place.

He saw soldiers running back and forth, sweating profusely, and from afar he could hear the roar of horses' hooves, the shouts of soldiers fighting bravely, and the miserable screams of wounded soldiers in unbearable pain. He shouted loudly, wanting to take over the command of the battle, but no one listened.

He woke up suddenly. It was already dawn and some soldiers were getting up to wash their horses.

Ni Yi, wearing light armor, stood beside him, looking at him with some worry in his eyes.

The wind blew in the early morning, bringing with it a whistling sound. In the depression upwind of the camp, there was snow that was higher than the calves. At this time, the dirt and ice and snow in the depression were blown up by the wind and fell on the tents and armor, making a crackling sound. Guo Ning heard a special sound from it, and he asked Ni Yi: "Did you hear it?"

This question was asked abruptly, and Ni Yi didn't understand it, but the actions of many soldiers paused slightly, and everyone's eyes turned to him. Obviously, although the generals did not leak the news, the soldiers still instinctively felt that the atmosphere was not right.

Guo Ning asked again: "Did you hear it?"

Before Ni Yi could answer, Guo Ning straightened his back and stood up.

That's right, that was the sound of cavalry approaching at full speed. Guo Ning could even hear the sound of bells ringing along with the horses' galloping hooves. It was the imperial bell hanging on the front bridge of the saddle, representing an extremely urgent matter.

According to the military system of the Great Zhou Dynasty, messages were delivered with gold and silver medals. In order to avoid being intercepted and harassed by the enemy, messengers usually did not carry anything conspicuous. Only when the situation was extremely urgent would a royal bell be hung on the saddle, representing that the knight had the power to requisition horses or ships at any time.

Moreover, according to Xu Jin's judgment, the messenger from the rear should arrive tomorrow evening with the master craftsman. What emergency situation caused the messenger to speed up?

Guo Ning gritted his teeth.

If a person faces a worsening situation, he will inevitably feel uneasy and panic; once he is uneasy and panicked, his mind will waver; once his mind wavers, he will become depressed. But Guo Ning has a strong character. The more adversity he faces, the calmer he becomes, like steel.

He said, "A messenger has arrived. Bring him in."

The messengers arrived in a moment, two people, one in front and one behind, whom they happened to meet outside the camp.

The man in front whipped his horse and galloped to Guo Ning. He had no time to jump off, so he just pulled the reins hard and let his horse spin around.

The last person could only say: "You come from the north, you speak first."

The former reported: "Your Majesty, I am under the command of Zhang Pingliang, the fourth general of the front team..."

"I remember you were a pheasant."

"Yes Yes."

Shan Ji jumped off his horse and said, "General Zhang asked me to lead people back to report yesterday, but I never thought I would meet your Majesty here. Here is the document, which says that when the brothers were on patrol, they encountered a large number of enemy cavalry equipped with armor produced in Xia Country. My general thinks that Xia Country may have some connection with Mongolia, so we must be on guard."

Collude with Xia Kingdom?
Interesting. Xia gave Mongolia a large number of armors to arm the vassal army composed of captives and surrendered soldiers. The Mongols were very patient and did not expose this fact until the army of the Great Zhou Dynasty penetrated deep into the grassland and the military power of the entire country tilted to the north.

"I understand. You've worked hard, so go and have a rest." Guo Ning patted Shanji's arm and turned to another messenger.

The messenger bowed and handed over two letters.

A letter from Yelu Chucai in Tianjin said that he had secretly sent people to capture Shi Miyuan's confidant in Tianjin and tortured him severely. The confidant could not bear the hardship and confessed that his backer in Shi Miyuan's mansion was a steward. The steward had sent a message to him half a month ago, asking him to sell the shares of Tianjin Commercial Bank urgently to avoid the steward's personal interests being damaged.

As for why he wanted to sell the shares... Guo Ning opened the second letter, glanced at it, and laughed in anger.

It turns out that the thing has already happened, and it is too late to respond.

The crown prince of Song was dying, and Shi Miyuan was likely to lose his most important supporter. So he needed a reason to keep all his political enemies at the border so that they would not affect his power in the central government; he needed a fierce war that did not directly affect the Song Dynasty, so that he would have a reason to severely strike those in the court who advocated the recovery of their homeland; he needed a major financial turmoil so that everyone had to admit that the Song Dynasty relied on trade.

All these needs ultimately boil down to the collusion between the Song Dynasty and Mongolia... They were even willing to lend the Mongols their way!
On the one hand, Shi Miyuan's housekeeper was eager to recover his investment in Tianjin, and on the other hand, he secretly communicated with Li Yun, which led to the leak of the news.

This situation was something that no one could have predicted. Even if one had thought about it for three days and three nights before the incident, one would not have thought that the ruler of Song would be so unscrupulous. But since it had already happened, Guo Ning felt that it was natural.

In Guo Ning's eyes, colluding with Mongolia was like seeking the skin of a tiger, which was tantamount to repeating the scene of the alliance with Jin to destroy Liao. It was suicidal. But the powerful officials of the Song Dynasty only had their own private interests in mind. The change of the crown prince was the most terrible thing in the world for them, and they had to solve it at any cost. Apart from that, even if it was a flood and the lives of the people were destroyed, what did they have to do with it?
That’s all.

In this case, the Mongols' movements are clear.

The armaments of the southern border of the Great Zhou were relatively weak, and they were definitely no match for the Mongols. The troops in various parts of Hebei, which were originally heavily stationed, were also withdrawn one after another. Guo Ning had to rush back to Zhongdu as quickly as possible, and then organize troops to go south for rescue. Even so, it was still too late, and the casualties among the soldiers and civilians in various parts of Henan would be tragic!
Thinking of this, Guo Ning felt a fire burning in his chest. He hated such a failure, and felt that it was because of his negligence that the tragic consequences were caused. So he spoke more concisely: "There is a change in the Central Plains, I will return first. Xiao Molu and Gao Xin will lead our headquarters, and they will meet up with Zhao Jue and others as soon as possible and withdraw."

Nanjing Road, Dazhou, not far from Zhongmu City.

It was early morning, the dusk had not yet faded, and the fog was thick.

Liu Ran gave a low order and led a few of his men around the village ahead and turned into a small mountain trail.

Several of them were veterans of the battlefield. They used the dim light to determine the road ahead, crouched and walked silently. They crossed the woodland in one breath and looked at the plains on the opposite side. They could vaguely hear birds singing and dogs barking behind the fog. Liu Ran breathed a sigh of relief and pursed his lips to whistle.

Dozens of soldiers in the back urged hundreds of men, women, old and young to quickly follow. The people were all panic-stricken, sealing their mouths with cloth strips and wrapping their feet with thick cloth to make sure they moved quietly.

When the Mongolian army broke in, Liu Ran was patrolling with several of his men. When they saw the cavalry coming in overwhelming numbers, he led his men to fight and retreat.

Fortunately, his men were few in number, and the Mongolian army was eager to penetrate deep into the enemy's territory, so they didn't pay much attention. He was an expert rider, and his men also had horses. Everyone was determined to escape, so they only went to places with fewer people, and thus they managed to escape.

In the following days, Liu Ran tried several times to gather his companions and counterattack. But the Mongols were so powerful in the open fields that they had an obvious advantage. Every time, the Mongols discovered his intentions in advance and attacked him head-on. After several attempts, more than half of his men were killed, and the rest were wounded and covered in blood. The civilians he saved on the road were also scattered several times.

They could no longer fight, and their only thought was to enter a certain city as quickly as possible and defend it. But who could have imagined that the Mongolian army would invade so fiercely that even the vicinity of Kaifeng City was blocked by Mongolian cavalrymen galloping back and forth, making it difficult for them to move forward?

During the last escape, Liu Ran was shot in the back by an arrow. The arrow didn't penetrate deep enough to kill him, but he hadn't had time to treat the wound. He had been exhausted for days, and his physical strength and energy were exhausted. At first, he felt the pain of the wound, but now it doesn't hurt anymore, only numbness.

The group trudged through the woods, taking one step deep and one step shallow, carefully avoiding branches that could be stepped on or broken.

Not long after they walked, a loud noise came from the thick fog behind them, which made people panic. People stopped but did not dare to look back.

"From the noise, it turns out that the fake camp we left behind was broken into by the Mongols. This will take them a while, so let's leave quickly." Liu Ran explained without changing his expression.

The people sighed a few times and quickened their pace.

Liu Ran helped several people cross a ravine, then turned back a few hundred steps to the west side of the woods and stood behind a big tree to watch.

The fake camp was discovered and so on, which was just a lie to deceive people so as not to panic the people. Liu Ran did set up a fake camp outside Zhongmu City and put some money in the camp to confuse the Mongolian army, but it was not the camp that was captured, but Zhongmu City.

Due to the impact of the Yellow River's multiple breaches, the land around Kaifeng has a high content of sand. The land west of Zhongmu is wide and flat, especially suitable for horse grazing. In recent years, the north-south trade has flourished, and Zhongmu has been used as a place to transport horses and livestock. In order to facilitate trade, the city walls have been opened, which is useless. Liu Ran, the military judge, has repeatedly written reminders about this, but to no avail.

The Mongolian army came here with light cavalry and marched far, rarely attacking cities, but how could they not eat such a piece of fat meat?
That loud bang was clearly the sound of the urgently made wooden fence being overturned. Liu Ran listened attentively and heard the sounds of fighting inside and outside the city pause briefly because of the loud noise, and then the deafening cheers of the Mongols rang out, followed by the screams and cries of countless people in fear and despair.

The Mongols were like wolves, they could smell the blood even from dozens of miles away. Previously, when Zhongmu’s defenses were slightly breached, the Mongol troops would gather from all directions. Now that the city was about to be breached, a feast of killing and plundering was about to begin, and the Mongol troops would inevitably gather in greater numbers.

In a blink of an eye, the sky became much brighter. Liu Ran looked at the endless fog and saw Mongolian cavalry galloping back and forth, appearing and disappearing from time to time. On the backs of their horses, there were either piles of looted property, tied up half-naked women, or strings of gray-white heads that had been drained of blood.