Mount and Blade Central Asia

On the fifth day after Qinggeli and Li Rufeng had a secret talk, Tulike, the former chief guard of Taierbahe, slipped back in disgrace. He had not completed the task assigned to him by Li Rufeng. When he arrived, many tribes had already responded to Qinggeli's call and sent out their young and strong soldiers. In many tribes, the patriarchs themselves led the troops to the battle.

By the time Tulik went to visit, the tribe was either left with only a group of old, weak, sick and disabled people, without even a leader, or they had left their traditional pastoral areas to avoid the impending war, and no one was left.

Tulik was chased by the cavalry from the river twice on the way. Those bullies who only bullied the weak and feared the strong saw that Tulik had fewer people and chased him like crazy. Doste offered a bounty for the Mongol heads that was not worth the money.

Fortunately, after going through untold hardships, Tulike successfully returned to the tribe. It was a pity that the Li Rufeng tribe had already completed its integration. He had solved all the troubles, especially after gaining the recognition of Qinggelinayan. The entire Li Rufeng tribe had become like an iron barrel, and even Mrs. Medinatah didn't want to pay attention to him.

Fortunately, Li Rufeng was just trying to intimidate him. He gave him one of the two remaining vacant militia captain positions, and chose a soldier named Hadanerba from his own tribe for the other position. He was also one of the first confidants selected to become a full-time soldier.

The author says:

Author's words: I updated less today because I had some work to do and came back late.

Chapter 90: March (I)

Until Li Rufeng's troops set out on the expedition, Li Rufeng still hadn't waited for Haishaer. The one-month deadline he had mentioned had already exceeded five days, and there was still no news. Li Rufeng couldn't keep waiting for him, so he could only tell Wuerhun to keep an eye on the house. If a man named Haishaer or a knight from the Eagle of Order came to visit on a tall horse, let them catch up and find him themselves.

In addition to this incident, Li Rufeng also sighed and kept the magic sword with him for safekeeping. Due to the dangerousness of the sword, he was really worried about leaving it alone in the tribe.

It seems like heaven

However, it is very attractive to those brave people. If it is thrown somewhere alone, away from Li Rufeng, it will continue to strengthen its presence, and even if it is buried in the ground, it will be dug out.

Only when it was next to Li Rufeng did it behave like an ordinary weapon. Well, actually it wasn't that ordinary. At least it still had a very amazing burning effect, and it could cut through iron like mud.

Li Rufeng hung this very conspicuous sword diagonally on his horse's back, just as Parisa had carried it in the past.

This time, Li Rufeng's troops can be said to have come out in full force. Discussing important matters with Qinggelinayan is not without cost. The other Mongol tribes can just do their best, because they only plan to have a sip of soup at that time, but the chef who is responsible for making the cake bigger and rounder must go all out.

So is Qinggeli, and so is Li Rufeng.

There were a total of nine hundred soldiers, seven hundred cavalry, and two hundred infantry. In addition to the elderly, the weak, women, and children, there were only one hundred militiamen and less than one hundred armed herdsmen left in the tribe. Fortunately, Li Rufeng's tribe was located in the southwestern edge of the Mongol territory. Dosite's cavalry responsible for harassment were unlikely to penetrate deep into here. They only needed to prevent the tribe from being robbed by horse bandits.

Before leaving, Li Rufeng specifically instructed Wuerhun: "If someone attacks your tribe, don't leave anything behind except people. Remember not to focus on dead things. Even herds of livestock can be left behind."

As the saying goes, if you save the people but lose the land, both the people and the land will save; if you save the land but lose the people, both the people and the land will be lost. In this land, although the Mongols do not care about the gain or loss of land, they will really fight you to the death for two sheep. This is also true for Guder, the largest sheep farmer in the tribe.

"You can ask Bao Rizhebu more about military matters," Li Rufeng said finally. "When the weather is nice, have him take him out to bask in the sun and have him teach those little boys archery. Also, the children's daily lessons must not be interrupted."

"I understand, Rufeng. I will make them go to class even if you whip me." Wuerhun may not understand why Li Rufeng forced education, but he absolutely and unconditionally supports all of Li Rufeng's decisions and implements them meticulously.

The shaman said that the children had to learn to read, so they had to learn to read. Being able to write their own names and do simple arithmetic was better than playing around outside.

No matter how reluctant Li Rufeng was to leave his tribe, which had just started to show signs of improvement, he had to set off. He was now a general in charge of an entire team of a thousand men, and he had to be responsible for the soldiers under his command.

Mongke's team of a hundred men was sent by Qinggelinayan to Li Rufeng, making up a team of a thousand men. According to the normal process, when each Mongol tribe gathered 900 people, a standing team of a hundred men would automatically take over the command of the team of a thousand men, and Mongke would be directly promoted to a captain of a thousand men.

The Mongol cavalry in the standing hundred-man team are not only the elite spearheads in the charge, but also the grassroots officers of the thousand-man team. They will be evenly distributed to serve as squad leaders, and above the squad leaders will be centurions, who will be responsible to their superiors one level at a time and quickly form combat effectiveness.

Among the thousand men in Li Rufeng's army, there were only two hundred real Mongol cavalry. Including the one hundred brought by Mengge, it was less than half. Therefore, Mengge could not be a centurion. He was Li Rufeng's deputy, and his men did not need to be divided into grassroots officers. That group of people could not even speak the same language as the Kurds, and there was a lot of hatred between them, so it was difficult to integrate them. It would be better for them to fight separately. Li Rufeng would just think of it as having an elite hundred-man team under his command.

Mengge's mentality was also good. Although he was the first person to find Li Rufeng to "discuss important matters", Li Rufeng rose like a rocket in the blink of an eye. He was willing to be a deputy and serve as Li Rufeng's military adviser.

After all, they were old acquaintances, and Mengge knew very well what Li Rufeng's military level was. He was just a rookie and had no help. When the army went out, they didn't even know when to give the order to set up camp.

"Shaman Rufeng, you should be my deputy." Mengge rode on horseback, slowly walking beside Li Rufeng, and teased, "Qinggeli, what did you two talk about in the tent later? Can't you reveal anything?"

"Can you keep it a secret?" Li Rufeng asked calmly. After receiving an affirmative answer, he nodded and said, "I can too."

Mengge was stunned for a moment, laughed and cursed, then rode forward to inspect the troops. The march of an army was a big event. With a huge army of thousands of people, every day, feeding the people and horses, eating, drinking, defecating and urinating were all problems, and there was a lot of knowledge involved.

Li Rufeng has been studying hard, and the most intuitive manifestation is that his tactical skill proficiency has increased by two points and is now (19/25).

Because of the problem of water sources along the way, their team was located about five kilometers to the right wing of Qinggeli's main force. For the cavalry on horseback, a round trip would take only minutes. The difficulty was that there were two hundred infantrymen in Li Rufeng's team.

Li Rufeng originally planned to let Piri Reyes just do it for the sake of showing his respect. His two hundred men were not enough to delay the journey. However, Qinggelinayan was in dire need of infantrymen and insisted that Li Rufeng take the two hundred infantrymen who barely managed to wear armor with him. In addition, Piri Reyes himself also had a strong desire to fight. He felt that the Mongols were invincible and he had to take some benefits back from this battle.

So, when night fell and they began to set up camp, the scouts who went to report to the main force of Qinggeli came back and reported that they had been left behind by Qinggeli Nayan's team.

Nearly ten kilometers.

Li Rufeng was helpless because Piri's two hundred infantrymen had relied on their legs for the entire journey and were almost exhausted. The carts were loaded with seven or eight wounded soldiers who had not been able to keep up with the march, and this was only the first day of the team's expedition.

But as the actual controller of this team, Li Rufeng's troubles had just begun. Before he could finish a bowl of vegetable soup, Saladin brought people to him to seek justice.

The author says:

Author's words: I will draw a map of Aleppo's trade routes when the time comes

Chapter 91: March (II)

Li Rufeng knew without even thinking that there was a conflict between the Kurds and the Mughals, and it was most likely the hundred or so people brought by Mongke.

As expected, Saladin walked up to Li Rufeng with two angry centurions and said in a very restrained tone: "Lord Rufeng, those Mongols insulted us, and we want to fight them fairly!"

"What exactly happened?" Li Rufeng hurriedly finished the food in his bowl. He was not surprised at all. He had already prepared himself mentally for this.

"Centurion Mongke's warriors taunted us, saying we were defeated and unworthy to accompany them. They also injured two of us," Saladin explained briefly. "They were outnumbered at the time, and when we approached them, they huddled together and threatened us with bows and arrows. I was so angry that I wanted to have a fair fight with them. Since we injured two people, we chose two people to fight, regardless of life or death."

The one hundred regular cavalrymen of Mengge were the elite among the elite, and were proud and brave soldiers and generals. In Sandezi's era, those people were the elite old national defense forces, and were secretly cultivated as military seeds. When the war broke out, they were all grassroots officers.

However, when assigned to Li Rufeng, these elite soldiers were just ordinary cavalrymen. They lost an opportunity to advance to a higher level out of thin air, so they inevitably felt resentful. What's more, those people looked down on these foreign cavalrymen and thought they were good-for-nothings.

But in the eyes of the Kurds, they had fought a brutal civil war first, paid the price of blood and brought their own dry food to help the Mongols fight. Li Rufeng promised them to treat them equally. Now that they have arrived, Li Rufeng should fulfill his promise.

As a time traveler, a very significant third party, a modern person who has learned to think from other people's perspectives and has a basic understanding of psychology, Li Rufeng can figure out the little thoughts in the minds of people on both sides in the blink of an eye.

Didn't Mengge know the resentment in his men's hearts? Of course he knew, he just couldn't solve it. In addition, he also had resentment and thoughts in his heart, so he chose to sit back and watch, leaving the problem to Li Rufeng to deal with.

In Li Rufeng's eyes, this is the extent of Mengge's political wisdom. He is ambitious and dares to take risks, but he values ​​his immediate interests too much, so he behaves in a double-edged way, which is far worse than his uncle.

Didn't Saladin Muhet know that Li Rufeng was in a difficult position? Of course he knew it, but Saladin had to stand up for his people. No matter which side Li Rufeng ultimately favored, his reputation among the people would be preserved.

Moreover, he also wanted to save face for himself and his people in front of the Mughals. If the Kurds wanted to stand up, they needed not only military achievements and promises from those in power, but also the beliefs in their own hearts.

Timur exploited the "indigenous people" of this land so harshly that there were constant rebellions and wars for many years. Li Rufeng was able to borrow 500 cavalry from the Kurds with his personal prestige, relying on the good foundation left by the old shaman and the reputation he had cultivated over the past nearly three years by keeping his word.

War is the crucible that tests all promises, and the promise he made before must have an impact tonight.

Li Rufeng wiped his mouth, picked up the magic sword, looked around, and finally selected two "generals" Habashibuhua and Hulucierjia to go and talk to Mengge.

Saladin Muhet also wanted to follow, but was stopped by Li Rufeng. Just kidding, if he led the Kurds to attack Mongke's formation, the two sides might go to war directly. "Wait here, I will give you an explanation for this matter."

At this moment, Li Rufeng missed his fierce general brother, Haishar, immensely. His original plan had been to take advantage of Haishar's return to deal with the subsequent issues with the Demon Sword and use his powerful general's fighting power for free. With Haishar still around, Mengge's forces wouldn't be able to cause any trouble. Now, he only had the reckless Huluchirjia to use, and the ultimate effect was uncertain...

Saladin Muhet remained silent, agreeing with Li Rufeng's words, and watched Li Rufeng set off for Mongke's camp.

That's right, they actually camped separately. Mengge's hundred-man team had its own camp, and even the food was fresh blood food sent from Qinggeli. Li Rufeng could smell a faint smell of alcohol from a long distance away.

This made his face look grim. The Mongols were forbidden to drink alcohol on the march and before the battle. Only after winning the battle were people qualified to drink. For any army, drinking casually during the march was a taboo.

"Stop!" A sentry on duty shouted, but he didn't start shooting arrows right away. After all, this place was still in the area controlled by the Mughals, and the other side came with torches.

The camp of Mengge's centurions was set up very carefully, occupying the highest position around. There were torches at the four corners of the camp, and there were double sentries for light and dark. There was a larger tent in the middle, surrounded by several smaller tents.

The tents were kept separate from the people and the war horses were looked after by special personnel on one side of the camp.

Normally, the tent is for sleeping, and the place outside the tent, not far from the warhorse, is for taking a nap. Soldiers taking a nap are only allowed to take off their outer armor, and they must keep their swords and bows at their sides, and they must get up and be on guard at the slightest sign of trouble.

Soldiers who take long naps and short naps alternate every day.

Now, except for the sentries and the grooms who took care of the horses, almost everyone in Mengge's camp was resting in the open space surrounded by the tents. Li Rufeng, standing outside the camp, could hear people laughing from time to time, and some were singing heartily, having a very happy time.

"I'm Li Rufeng, I'm looking for Mengge." Li Rufeng moved the torch closer so that the sentry could see his face clearly.

The sentry did not make things difficult for Li Rufeng. Many of their team of a hundred people had been hospitalized with Li Rufeng before, so they had some feelings for him. So he turned around and shouted to his companions, then made way for him.

In name, Li Rufeng is still the commander of this thousand-man team, and Mengge is only his deputy. Unless they have a falling out, they have no right to stop Li Rufeng from entering.

When Li Rufeng entered Mengge's camp, Mengge, his face flushed, stood before him and said enthusiastically, "Shaman Rufeng, did you hear the singing of Wulutu and want to join us?"

"I'm here to deal with the conflict between you and the Kurds." Li Rufeng said bluntly. He could see that Mengge had also drunk a lot of wine, but he was still sober.

"What kind of conflict is that?" Mengge was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, stretching out his hand to indicate the distance of an arrow. "My people just said a few truths, and they got so angry. Their hearts are as small as the tip of a needle!"

The author says:

Author's Note: Forgot to click the publish button, Wozhi

Chapter 92: March (3)

For Mongke, conflicts among his subordinates were no big deal. The term "arrogant soldiers and brave generals" has always been a two-way street, not to mention that Li Rufeng's subordinates were all Kurds.

The cause was that several Mughal warriors did not want to fetch water themselves, so when they saw the Kurds coming back from fetching water, they simply snatched their water bags to save themselves the trouble. As for the small conflict that broke out in the process, the Mughals themselves did not care at all. For them, it was considered humble that no one was killed.

"They want to challenge us to a duel?" Mengge laughed wildly as if he had heard a joke, and a large circle of Mongolian warriors around him also laughed heartily, as if the rabbits on the grassland had just learned to tell jokes.

"I personally think this is a bit ridiculous. I gave them too many preferential treatments, and since there were so many of them, they started to have some inappropriate thoughts. It's just right for you to send a few people to help me teach them a lesson." Li Rufeng agreed with a smile, his eyes scanning the Mongols gathered together drinking and having fun. "Just send three people, and it's a best-of-three game."

All the Mongol warriors seen by Li Rufeng immediately puffed out their chests and raised their heads. They were all very impatient. Finding this kind of fun during the march was as rare as picking up money while riding a horse.

"One on one? That's boring. How about... forget it, then there will be three people, and that one..." Mengge agreed without saying a word and started to call out the names of his men, but was stopped by Li Rufeng.

"Don't bully people too much. You know your people too well. Why don't you let me choose? I believe none of these powerful Mongol warriors are cowards." Li Rufeng teased with a smile. After a few words, those rough guys wanted to stand up and perform a three-person-and-a-pig show to Shaman Rufeng.

"You, you, and you, just the three of you. I always think that the warrior who can drink the most is the warrior who can fight the best. The warrior who dares to violate military discipline and drink heavily on the march must be the most confident and confident person." Li Rufeng sneered and pointed at the three drunken veterans.

What Li Rufeng said was true. In the military camp, the guys who could eat and take more were definitely the elite among the elite. These Mongols had only set up camp for an hour, and these Mongols who were good at holding their liquor were already drunk to the point of being unconscious. They were really good drinkers.

Only now did Mengge realize that Li Rufeng had come with ill intentions, and his face became a little gloomy, but he could not say anything. Drinking during the march was indeed a taboo. They had been at peace for a long time, and in recent years, apart from daily training and going out to rob, they gathered together every day to drink, so he did not react for a while.

"Oerlehek! What's this?" Mengge stepped forward and stood in front of one of the chosen people. He slapped the man twice with both hands, making him see stars. Then he stretched out four fingers and shouted loudly.

"Boss...why did you hit me?" The man called Ozhelehek's cheeks swelled up instantly, but he remained numb and asked, "Is there something we can't talk about in private?"

In Mongolian, Oerlehek means brave, but this brave warrior is obviously not brave at the moment.

"What's this?" Mengge felt that his face was even more swollen than Orileheke's, and asked loudly again.

Oerleheke stared at Mengge's hand with his eyes wide open. After a while, he tentatively replied, "Four?"

Mengge punched Oerleheke in the stomach, causing him to vomit all over the floor. He then said coldly, "Send some men over to put armor on him and draw swords!"

"Sir, you can't do that!" A soldier who seemed much more sober advised, "Ojele and Keta are simply

Not ready! Let me go to the adults, I can beat the three of them alone! "

Mengge looked back at Li Rufeng, but Li Rufeng just smiled and said nothing. He could only push the soldier away with a cold face and walk towards the next selected warrior.

"What about you! Su Ritu, can you hold the knife steadily?" Mengge asked loudly, and slapped the other's shoulders twice, while Su Ritu stood steadily.

"I can! Let me go, I can kill them and make them bleed like a river!" Su Ritu glanced at Li Rufeng, his voice as loud as a lion on the grassland. His name means "mighty", and it is obvious that he lives up to his name.

What Li Rufeng didn't know was that it was Su Ritu who took the lead in robbing the Kurds' water bags, and it was also him who cursed people afterwards. It can be said that Su Ritu was the culprit of today's conflict.

"Okay, don't embarrass me." Mengge took off his sword and handed it to Su Ritu, who was the most conscious among the three.

As for the last one, Mengge can only hope that the first two can perform exceptionally well and not give him a chance to play, because the third person is called Aduqinfu, which means the son of a horse breeder.

The son of the horse breeder was being forced to drink horse urine by several of his quick-witted companions. The horse urine, as the name suggests, can refresh the mind and relieve all worries. The only side effect is that it can easily cause physiological nausea.

In the end, Mengge only nodded to the horse breeder's son and said, "Show them some of your strength, Aduqinfu, don't let me down!"

Aduqinfu, lying in the mud, stretched out his arms towards Mengge as a response.

"Don't say I didn't give them a chance. A quarter of an hour later, at the camp gate." After saying this, Mengge left without looking back. He didn't give Li Rufeng a chance to refute, and tried his best to delay time for his own people.

"Teacher, why do you force Centurion Mengge and others like this?" After leaving Mengge's camp, Bater asked somewhat puzzled.

If it were him, he would prefer to make a big deal out of a small matter, rather than provoke conflicts. Li Rufeng has the ability to make Centurion Mongke's men apologize directly.

But now if someone dies in the duel... it will be a serious blow to Li Rufeng's prestige. People will say that Li Rufeng is helping outsiders bully his own people.

Bartel didn't understand, so he asked directly.

"Do you also think that we are sure to win this war?" Li Rufeng asked back, and Bater's face showed obvious confusion.

Obviously, he had never considered the possibility of failure. This was also the idea of ​​almost all Mughals. Mardin was a problem, but apart from that city, the actual war might be more like some kind of armed spring outing to them, and the enemy would flee at the sight of it.

"If we lose, and this army is defeated, do you think anyone will take the Mongol opinions seriously anymore?" Li Rufeng continued. "Mongke's men are definitely not an exception. I'm afraid the rest of Qinggelinayan's army isn't much better."

His face was a little gloomy, and Bartel's was even gloomier. He considered the number of men left in the camp and began to realize the seriousness of the problem.

The author says:

Author's Note: I've been slow to update these past two days, I'll update when I'm better...

Chapter 93: Building Momentum

Saladin Muhet, along with a group of Kurdish cavalry, stood outside the cordon of the Mughal camp, seemingly waiting for Li Rufeng's final "judgment."

"Three people, one-on-one, best of three games, starting here in a quarter of an hour." Li Rufeng didn't waste any words. He could indeed understand Saladin's response, but that didn't mean he was willing to tolerate Saladin's somewhat extravagant provocative behavior.

Compared with the Mughals, the Kurds were more like wolves that could not be tamed. He knew very well that without the suppression of the Mughals, he would not be able to control these Kurds no matter what.

The only problem is, if Li Rufeng wants to grow bigger and stronger in this land in the future, who will be his base?

The biggest problem of this land is that there is no so-called dominant ethnic group. There is no ethnic group that can be suppressed in terms of numbers. These people wish that every tribe and every village should be clearly divided from each other.