Juyanhai, Gorge Mountain!
Shachi Zhongyi swung his broadsword, which was as thick and heavy as a door, and cleaved both man and horse in two. Drenched in blood, he savagely grinned and charged at a second Turkic. His bodyguards hurriedly chased after him to prevent any accidents from happening to their general.
"Pu!"
With a single slash, a Turk soldier was cleanly cleaved into two. Leather armor and shields were of no use against such a terrifying saber. The upper half of his body fell off his horse, his hand still tightly gripping the reins as he was dragged away by the horse. The lower half of his body was still on the horse, a terrifying sight to behold.
Shachi Zhongyi wiped the blood off his face and roared: "Kill! Kill! Kill! "
A person covered in blood brandished a blood saber. His appearance made him look like a blood demon. Shachi Zhongyi was a Sha Tuo man and had a ferocious nature. His ability to deploy troops was not as good as the other famous generals of the Tang dynasty, but he was more than enough to be the vanguard commander.
This time, the garrison of Juyanhai had gathered together with the reinforcements from various places when the Turks attacked Juyanhai, forming a total of twenty thousand cavalrymen. They did not have enough warhorses, so they transferred them from the Juyanhai horse farm and set up an ambush at Gorge Mountain.
The two Turkic armies, Zhu Tu and Mu En, were in hot pursuit of each other. After a long and arduous journey back to the Khan's court, they were exhausted. They also had to stay on guard against the enemy's night attack, so they were really exhausted. As a result, when they arrived at the Gobi Desert in front of the gorge, the Tang army, who had been waiting for a long time, poured out of the gorge and cut the dragon-like Turkic army in half.
The Tang army charged forward invincibly, breaking through the middle and quickly expanding to the flanks. The Turk army belonged to the two camps that were at odds with each other, and the entire formation stretched for dozens of li. Their formation was extremely loose, and there was no effective way to command the three armies. The twenty thousand Tang soldiers were like a pack of wolves charging into a flock of sheep, slaughtering without restraint.
On this battlefield, the failure of the command system was a fatal blow. The brave and tenacious Turkic warriors were thrown into disarray and could only fight their own battles. On the other hand, the morale of the Tang army was greatly boosted. Under the leadership of Sha Chi, they broke through, outflanked, compressed, destroyed, and broke through again …
In this manner, the Turks continued to nibble away at the Turkic army. The enemy was no longer able to form an effective counterattack. Now, it was just a matter of how much strength the Tang army had and how many people they could kill.
Less than eighty thousand of the one hundred thousand Turkic soldiers had returned, and after the battle of Xikou Mountain, only sixty thousand managed to escape back to the Turkic steppe.
It wasn't that Mu En and Zhu Tu were too careless. It was because they were on guard against each other. Even if they were prepared for the Tang army's sneak attack, they wouldn't be able to do much. Moreover, the Tang army at the frontier fortress had always been on the defensive and had never taken the initiative to attack the invading enemies.
Now that the impossible had suddenly become possible, they were bound to suffer a loss.
The remnants of Zhu Tu and Mu En's armies chased each other and fled to the Khan's court. In the end, the Khan's court was calm and peaceful. Although Khan Gu Dulu was critically ill, he was still breathing. Mo Ci had not ascended to the throne, and there was no internal strife between the tribes.
Thus, a war of words began again.
Mu En accused Zhu Tu of cowardice and retreating on his own. Zhu Tu accused Mu Si of winning over his subordinates and spreading false news of Mo Ci ascending to the throne. Mu Si could defend himself, but he could only complain of being wronged.
Finally, some smart people figured out that there might be someone who looked like Mu Si, so he pretended to be Mu Si and provoked a war between the tribes of the steppe. But when this theory was brought up, it was sneered at and condemned as absurd. Then, Xiao Mu Mu brought up the old case of Mu Si abducting his tribe to continue his condemnation.
Gu Gulu was really dead. He was seriously ill, and he had died of anger!
Thus, the tribes that were quarreling and cursing each other had an even more important topic: who would inherit the throne?
At this critical moment, in order to win over the hearts of the people, Moto had no choice but to punish his son who had been complaining of being wronged. Regardless of whether Mu Si was the culprit who had abducted the Ashid tribes, or whether he had really spread false news of the Khan's death, Mo Ci decisively punished him by tattooing his face and sent him to the North Sea to herd sheep.
Mu Si and Mu Heyue's marriage naturally fell through. Almost immediately, Mo Ci remarried Mu En and betrothed Mu Heyue to his other son, Ashina Yaju. According to the marriage customs of the Turks, after the death of one's father, elder brother, or uncle, the son could take all the other stepmothers, aunts, and sisters-in-law as his women, so it truly wasn't a big deal for one to be married off to another son.
Then Mo Ci urgently married the cousin of the Ashid tribe's Great Yehudu Zhutu and promised that once he became Khan, he would immediately make her the Khatun (Empress) in order to win the support of the Ashid tribe.
Mo Ci's sons were also fighting for support everywhere, but unfortunately, they were not united. Everyone wanted to fight for the position of Khan, so their strength was scattered and Mo Ci defeated them one by one. But if Mo Ci wanted to obtain the final victory and unify the strength of the tribes of the steppe, it would still take a long time.
The storm on the steppe could not be calmed for a while.
… …
After the Turks retreated, the Ming Wei garrison regained its former peace and tranquility. Those who had fled with the old and the young returned to their hometowns, and the small town became lively once more.
Tin Aino walked alone through the streets, choosing a belt in front of a shop that had become prosperous again. Yesterday, she had found that Yang Fan's belt was so worn out that the edges were frayed. Today, when she was strolling around, she happened to see all kinds of leather belts for sale and wanted to help Yang Fan choose one.
Just as she was carefully choosing, a person suddenly appeared beside her. The vigilance that Tin Aino had developed since she was a child had not disappeared. That person's sudden approach did not seem like a normal passerby looking at goods. Her hand immediately tightened around the sword at her waist, but when she turned around and saw that person's appearance, she couldn't help but be stunned.
That person was a middle-aged man in his thirties. His appearance was very ordinary, and it was hard to tell what kind of physical characteristics he had at a glance. He was wearing an ordinary Han robe with a slanted collar and his hands held behind his back. He looked with a smile at the various belts on the stall and then at Tin Aino before turning and leisurely walking away.
Tin Aino's face was somewhat pale. She bit her lip and followed behind that person.
In an alleyway, two people stood still.
The sun shone warmly on their bodies and the icicles hanging from the walls were dripping with water. Spring had come.
"Situ Liang, why are you here?"
"After you arrived in Longyou, there was no news of you for a long time. Young master was very worried and sent ten people to investigate your whereabouts. Hehe, I am just the luckiest one among them."
"Young master is looking for me?"
"That's right! Since you are fine, young master must be very happy! Come back with me now! "
"This … … The task that young master gave me hasn't been completed yet. Shen Mu is in this city, do you know that?"
"Of course I know. The Tu Jue have already retreated and he has so many things to do. How long will he stay here for? He will return to Chang 'an very soon, and once he returns to Chang' an, you won't have anything to investigate anymore. You should immediately return to Hua Mountain with me!"
"Uh … … Okay then, I still have some things in the inn … …"
Situ Liang said in a carefree manner, "What important things can there be here? There's no need to take them!"
Tin Aino's eyebrows slightly twitched and said, "What if it's related to the task that young master gave me?"
Situ Liang muttered to himself for a moment and smiled, "Okay! I'll go with you! "
In the inn, Tin Aino carried a small bag and said to Situ Liang, "Let's go!"
The two of them had just walked out of the door when Tin Aino suddenly said, "Ah! Wait a moment, let me wash my face first! "
She handed the bag to her disciple and returned to her room. She opened the door wide and washed her face in a basin by the wall. After wiping it clean, she walked out and smiled sweetly at the impatient Situ Liang, saying, "Let's go!"
… …
Yang Fan and Shen Mu were in the same carriage and were happily rushing back to the inn.
They had already received news of the great victory at Juyan Sea. As for the storm that had happened in the Turkic Khaganate, they still didn't know.
Shen Mu smiled and said, "This crisis has finally been resolved. I have stayed in the Western Regions long enough and will return to Chang 'an in a few days. Zhang Yi has already escorted Ye An to Huang River. I will have him send people to protect you and escort this important witness back to Luoyang. I have already arranged things in Luoyang. You only need to follow our previous agreement. When you need help, there will naturally be people to help you. "
Yang Fan replied with a smile.
Shen Mu glanced at him and said, "I see that you are very close to Miss A Nu! She is someone by Young Master Jiang's side. What do you plan to do? "
Yang Fan's smile disappeared and he rubbed his forehead with a headache.
Shen Mu smiled and said, "Haha, I really like to help people achieve their goals. Do you want me to help you?"
Yang Fan smiled bitterly and said, "It's not like that, it's really … to tell you the truth, Brother Shen, this little brother already has a good woman in Luojing."
Shen Mu disapprovingly said: "It is not a big deal for a man to have three wives and four concubines. You have returned to the capital this time. Based on your contributions, the position of a general is guaranteed. So what if you have another wife?"
Yang Fan hesitated and shook his head, saying, "That girl's status is really … forget it! I don't want to wrong A Nu. There are many good men in the world. When men and women depend on each other, they will naturally fall in love with each other. If they separate, after some time, her feelings will naturally fade. "
Shen Mu was surprised and said, "Oh? That girl you have a good relationship with in the capital has a high status? Haha, Erlang is really good! I didn't notice at all! But in this case, it is indeed not good to be entangled with Miss A Nu. She is a good woman. Being a concubine will inevitably wrong her and she may not be willing to be a concubine. Looking at you, you seem to love that girl in Luojing very much. If she doesn't want you to take a concubine, I think you may not be willing to go against her wishes. "
Outside the window, there was a recruitment sign hanging on the corner of the street. Many soldiers at Mingwei Garrison had died in battle and needed to be replenished. The Tang dynasty's official military system had gradually collapsed since the reign of Emperor Gaozong. Due to the situation, the frontier regions had now begun to adopt the recruitment system.
Shen Mu pointed to the queue of people signing up for the army and said with deep emotion, "Our dynasty's law states that a man must get married at twenty. The recruitment is also at twenty years old! What does this mean? It means that being a husband is not easier than killing; living is not easier than fighting a war; women are not easier to deal with than the enemy! If the two girls are equally outstanding, it is better for you to only choose one, otherwise … you will have a headache, a headache … "
…
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