A winding river quietly flowed into the distance. By the riverside, some people were washing their horses while others were bathing naked in the waist-deep river. Occasionally, they would splash up the water to tease their companions and let out hearty laughter.
By the riverside were weeping willows. Their slender branches spread out patches of green like a lake. Many horses, cows, and sheep could be seen in the forest. Many people were also going in and out of the forest.
Suddenly, a rider galloped over from afar, kicking up a trail of dust on the fine white sand. Some people by the riverside put up their sunglasses and looked in the direction of the winged rider. They quickly relaxed their vigilance and continued with their own business. There was only one rider, and he wore the same clothes as them. Clearly, he was not a soldier of the Great Zhou imperial court.
That person quickly came to the side of the green willow thicket and nimbly jumped off the warhorse. He tore the worn-out sheepskin mattress from the horse's back and threw it on the ground. There was no saddle on the horse's back. After pulling off the sheepskin mattress, only the horse's back was left. That person patted the horse's neck and let it search for fresh weeds on its own while he quickly walked into the willow forest.
"Supreme Khan, Grand Marshal, the imperial court has sent troops!"
The burly man who had just run into the willow forest found their commander. In the middle of the willow forest, there were a few sheepskin mattresses spread out. Several burly men were sitting cross-legged on the mattresses and talking about something. When they heard his voice, they all stood up.
An old man with long, thin cheeks, a grizzled beard on his chin, and a large, grizzled braid on his head. It was almost summer, and he was wearing a sheepskin coat. The sheepskin coat was very shabby, and the wool was half gone. It looked like the skin of a leech dog. This person was the military governor of the Pine Desert Military Office and the leader of the Khitan Great He tribal alliance, Li Jinzhong. Now, he had rebelled and proclaimed himself the Supreme Khan.
Beside him stood an old man who was about the same age as him. He was also around sixty years old. This person was slightly taller than Li Jinzhong and had a square face. His hair and beard were all white, but his thick eyebrows were still black. His messy eyebrows gave off a fierce aura. This person was Sun Wanrong, who had been appointed as Grand Marshal by Li Jinzhong. The burly men at the side were the leaders of the various Khitan tribes that had attached themselves to them.
Li Jinzhong untied the water pouch at his waist and threw it to the scout. He said calmly, "No hurry, drink some water first!"
The scout caught Li Jinzhong's water pouch and gulped down a mouthful of water. Wiping his mouth, he said, "Khan, Tang has dispatched one hundred and sixty thousand troops. The Left Eagle Guards' Great General Cao Renshi, the Right Jin Wu Guards' Great General Zhang Xuanyu, and the Minister of Agriculture's Shaoqing Ma Renjie will be the first line of defense. They will lead the imperial guards and recruited troops, a total of one hundred thousand troops to advance.
In addition, Yan Banshi was appointed as the Chief of the Marching Army, while the Left Guard Great General Li Duozuo was appointed as the Deputy Commander, leading the elite Prefectural Army and the supply troops as the second army. The distance between the two armies was about two days.
I also heard that their Empress intends to appoint Prince Wu Sansi of Liang as the Yuguan Road Pacification Ambassador, and Yao Chi of Nayan as the Deputy Envoy, to lead the Third Army in support. It's just that the Third Army hasn't set off yet, so we don't know how many people they're planning to send. "
When the chiefs heard that the Imperial Court was going to send three Generals, and that the first one to arrive was one hundred and sixty thousand people, they couldn't help but panic. Many of them looked timid. Li Jinzhong saw their reactions, but he was not moved at all. He only smiled faintly and said mockingly, "The Imperial Court really thinks highly of us! We have no more than seventy thousand people, we lack clothes and armor, our weapons are not complete, yet the Imperial Court is actually sending so many soldiers and horses! "
He suddenly turned around and looked at the chiefs, saying loudly, "Tang people don't treat us Khitan people as human beings, they treat us worse than their own livestock. Last winter, when we were hit by a famine, what did Zhao Wenren do? Not only did he not give us a grain of rice, he even took the opportunity to force us to sell our children.
Our beautiful women, who are as pretty as flowers, were raped and humiliated by them, forced to work like cattle and horses! Our cattle and sheep were traded by them at a low price. It was not easy for us to survive the winter, but this spring we don't even have enough cattle and sheep to graze. What should we do? This autumn, we will continue to be exploited by them, until our bone marrow is squeezed dry! "
Li Jinzhong's words reminded the tribal chiefs of all kinds of bullying and oppression they had suffered. Each and every one of them was filled with anger, their chests rose and fell, their breathing quickened, their faces turned red.
Li Jinzhong waved his hand and said, "We Khitan people have submitted to the Tang dynasty, but the Tang people have never treated us as their own people, they don't even treat us as human beings! Other than bullying and humiliation, there is more bullying and humiliation. In front of their border generals, even the chiefs of the various tribes can only lead the horses and fall off the stirrups, they can only serve as slaves and maids. We have endured, endured again and again, endured until our tribes are about to be exterminated, we have no way to live! How can we continue to endure? "
Sun Wanrong said, "Khan is right! If we continue to endure, we will die. If we continue to fight, perhaps we still have a way to live! At the very least, we must let the Imperial Court know that even if they treat us like livestock, they must give us something to eat. When a rabbit is anxious, it will bite. We don't want to be those sheep and horses that meekly accept adversity, we want to be wolves on the prairie! "
Li Jinzhong loudly said, "The Imperial Court is sending an army, are you afraid? Yes! I am also afraid, but what's the use of being afraid? If we don't rebel, we will still die! When we started the war, we knew in our hearts how powerful the Imperial Court is. It is not surprising that they sent 160,000 soldiers, even if it was a million soldiers, the Imperial Court can still send them! We only have this one life, it is like using a chicken to hit a rock, but at least we have fought. Our women, our children, our descendants, they will not stab us in the back! "
The furious chief and the surrounding tribesmen roared, "Khan is right! If we fight, we will die, if we don't fight, we will also die! We Khitan men would rather die standing than be cowardly and cowardly slaves! "
Li Jinzhong nodded his head in satisfaction and relaxed his expression. He laughed in a clear voice and said, "Speaking of death, of course we must have the belief that we will die, but if we really fight, we may not necessarily lose! Didn't we conquer Yingzhou, didn't we also conquer Chongzhou?
A few days ago, when we attacked Danzhou (near today's Beijing), the Deputy Chief of Qingbian Road, Zhang Jiujie, used the thick city walls to repel us. But it was only a repel, does he dare to send a single soldier to chase after us? They sent an army of 160,000. Whether it's 160,000 wolves or 160,000 sheep, we'll only know after we fight. Whoever wants to be a coward, I, Li Jinzhong, won't stop you. You can leave now! "
The chiefs said angrily, "Khan! Just give the order, we Khitan people do not have cowards who are afraid of death! "
Sun Wanrong called the scout over and said, "Come, tell the chiefs the details of the Tang army, we will discuss a countermeasure!"
It was easy to find out the movements of the Tang army. But the Khitan people were different, they were nomadic tribes, they were originally wandering, divided and united, they were good at sealing themselves off from the outside world. In addition, the Han people at the borders generally saw them as inferior, they rarely interacted with them, so their understanding of them was limited.
The scout explained in detail what he knew about the Tang army, and said, "Khan, Marshal, the Empress of the Tang even gave the order to change Khan's name to Li Jinmie, and Marshal Sun's name to Sun Wanzhan!"
Sun Wanrong sneered and said to the chiefs, "I was a hostage when I was young, I lived in Chang 'an and Luoyang for a long time, so I know this woman very well. This woman has three hobbies, killing, changing her era name, and changing the surname of others. After Empress Wang was killed by her, the Wang family changed their surname to Mang, after Consort Xiao died, the Xiao family changed their surname to Xiao.
King Yue, Li Zhen, rebelled against her, and the Li family was changed to Xiao. This woman poisoned her own sister and niece to death and framed her four cousins. After killing the four cousins, she changed their surname to Wei! Heh! Look, how is this different from those women who have a grudge against others, gritting their teeth and cursing others at home? Is this the Tang Emperor or a witch? Hahaha … "
The chiefs roared with laughter, and Li Jinzhong said with a smile, "Alright, alright, let her say what she wants! Whether I, Li Jinzhong, am destroyed or not is not up to her cursing. Whether Sun Wanrong is Sun Wanzhan or not, it depends on whether they can win the war. Let's discuss how to fight this war. "
The Khitan chief Luo Wuzhen suggested, "The Tang army has the advantage, why don't we avoid them, retreat into the grasslands, and lead them by the nose. They have 160,000 troops, and the supply is a big problem. As long as we delay them for a few months, and find an opportunity to cut off their food supply, they will collapse without a fight. "
Li Jinzhong shook his head, and said, "After the famine last winter, and being extorted by those damn border generals, our cattle and sheep are not enough to ensure the survival of our people. The food we robbed is not enough for us to eat until winter. If the Tang army arrives, they will be stationed at the important cities, and refuse to follow us around the grasslands. We only need to endure until winter, and we have nothing to eat, and we can't take down their cities. At that time, we will freeze to death even without the Tang army killing us. "
Another Khitan chief, He Axiao, pondered for a moment, and used a willow branch to draw the terrain on the ground, and said, "If that's the case, why don't we gather our troops and stop them at the Yellow Deer Valley? The Yellow Deer Valley is narrow, and we can't deploy our troops. As long as we can guard the valley entrance, they won't be able to come over. "
Luo Wanzhen retorted, "What's the use of that? The Tang have 160,000 troops, if we guard the Yellow Deer Valley, even if they can't come over, we will be dragged to death there. There are still Tang troops in Danzhou, Zhuo County, and other places. If they know that reinforcements have arrived, they will gather their troops and attack us from behind. We will be attacked from all sides, and trapped in the Yellow Deer Valley, unable to escape even if we want to."
He Axiao thought about it, and could not help but feel discouraged. He threw down the willow branch and said, "We can't avoid them, and we can't stop them either. What should we do?"
Sun Wanrong stroked his beard, frowned, and pondered for a while, and suddenly said, "Axiao's idea, I think it's not impossible, but we need to be flexible!"
Li Jinzhong knew that Sun Wanrong was full of schemes, and hurriedly asked, "What good idea do you have?"
Sun Wanrong said, "The Tang have always been arrogant, and do not take us seriously. This is called arrogant soldiers. My idea is to take advantage of their disdain for us. If we use it well, we may be able to take down all the Tang troops along the way. But if we fail, the troops as bait will not return! So, I need a group of soldiers who are willing to die! "
Sun Wanrong's gaze swept across the leaders, and said coldly, "Who is willing to take on this responsibility?"
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