Putting aside the Ming Army's movements, in Hot Springs Town, Tualik was hiding in the best building in the town. His face was extremely gloomy as he drank wine and looked at his subordinates standing in a row in front of him.
"Still haven't found Liu Xi?"
Tualik gulped down a bowl of wine and looked fiercely at the group of people in front of him.
"No! That man seemed to have suddenly disappeared. We've already turned the entire town upside down. We didn't miss any of the basements, but we still couldn't find where he was hiding. Your Majesty, did that cunning Han man already escape? Otherwise, it's impossible that we can't find him … "
"Impossible!!!"
Tualik roared and smashed the wine bowl in his hand on the ground.
"He brought me here. All the entrances and exits are guarded by us. Without my permission, he can't leave! He can't leave! He's such a big living person! How could he disappear into thin air? Could it be that he knows magic?! I don't believe it! I don't believe it! "
Lalik stood up and overturned the table in front of him with great force.
The one who led him south was Liu Xi. Liu Xi led him south, looting as he ran, saying that they would definitely be able to escape the pursuit of the Han army. Although they were defeated twice by the Han army, the core of the army still managed to escape together with Lalik.
Those who stayed behind to die were not Tualik's core force. These ten thousand people were the true core force of Tualik. They had the most gold, silver, jewelry, and loot. They were his absolute confidants. Therefore, Tualik was not worried that Liu Xi would do anything to him. If he dared to act recklessly, he would be killed.
Liu Xi liked to take detours, he liked to beat around the bush. He said that if he walked straight, he would be easily chased by the Han soldiers, but if he walked in a roundabout way, he would be able to avoid their pursuit. His words were not wrong. After several days of not seeing any traces of the Han soldiers, they decided to stop at Hot Springs Town.
After wiping out the hundreds of families here, killing those who should be killed and those who should be toyed with, they rested here for a night. In the end, when they woke up the next morning and were just about to leave, they discovered that all the roads leading out of the hot spring town had been blocked by the Ming Army.
The Ming Army actually caught up during the night and used more soldiers to surround the entire hot spring town of La Malik's men and horses. They surrounded them but did not attack. They set up a defense line. When La Malik sent people to attack the Ming Army's defense line, they were repeatedly repelled by the Ming Army's firearms and fierce cavalry. They could not rush out at all.
Just one night! Just one night! He actually caught up? There had been no trace of them for several days! How could he catch up in one night?
What was more frightening was that Liu Xi had disappeared. The night before, Liu Xi had analyzed the current situation and the way forward for La Malik, but he had disappeared early in the morning. The soldiers guarding him said that after he entered the house, he fell asleep and did not come out again. The next morning, they found that the house was empty and Liu Xi had disappeared.
Tulik was furious at that time. He turned the whole house upside down but did not find any clues. After interrogating Liu Xi, he found out that the seven or eight soldiers who guarded Liu Xi had all fallen asleep because they had been drinking.
It was very likely that Liu Xi had escaped in this way.
La Malik did not believe it. In his opinion, Liu Xi was a traitor who had betrayed the Han people. The Han people would not continue to accept him. He had to die. If he did not follow him back to the grasslands, he would die. Since he knew this would happen, why did Liu Xi leave him?
He could not figure it out, so he thought that Liu Xi was still in Hot Spring Town. While sending people to attack the defense line of the Ming Army, he was also looking for Liu Xi everywhere. Basically, he tore down all the houses in the town and searched carefully.
However, after two days, he still could not find any trace of Liu Xi. But because hundreds of his soldiers had died in the battle, they had not been able to break out of the encirclement. Now, the morale was low and people were in a panic.
More importantly, they did not have enough rations. They had been fighting to feed themselves. In order to make more space to bring gold, silver and jewelry, they did not pay attention to bringing food. They ate wherever they fought. Now, there was only one day's rations left. If they could not break out of the encirclement, they could only kill horses to maintain their lives.
However, warhorses were the lifeblood of the grassland people. Without warhorses, how could they play mobile warfare with the Ming Army? Besides, the weather was so cold that there was no grass on the ground. The fodder for the horses was very limited. Now, it was almost used up. Some people began to fight with the horses for food. If this went on, the horses would starve to death.
Even so, they still could not find Liu Xi. La Malik, who had always trusted Liu Xi as his advisor, panicked. He used brutal actions to cover up his uneasiness and panic. He killed seven or eight of his trusted subordinates who had messed up his plan. He even led people to attack once.
In the end, besides the fact that his mount was shot to death by the Ming Army, he fell to the ground and was almost captured alive by the Ming Army, there was no other result.
The weather was still so cold, and there were only two rations left. He had no choice but to issue an order to gather all the rations together. He used his prestige to intimidate everyone and limited the rations a little, barely enough for one more meal.
However, this meal could only last until tonight. If they could not break through today, they would have to decide whether to kill the horses to satisfy their hunger tomorrow.
At this time, a strong smell of meat came from outside the hot spring town. Someone came to report that the Ming Army had cut off the meat of the warhorses that they had killed these days. Some of them were barbecuing and some were cooking meat soup. They were eating heartily. What was worse was that the wind was blowing towards the town. Soon, the town was filled with the smell of meat.
The Northern Barbarians who had not eaten their fill for a few days were tempted by the smell. A little rice was not enough to fill their stomachs, but it was a very important ration for them. They did not know how much rations they had left. Anyway, they had handed over all their rations.
At the moment, other than the horses beside them, they could not find anything else to eat. However, horses were their second life. Unless it was absolutely necessary, the grassland people would never kill and eat the horses. Everyone was clear that it was time to fight to the death.
La Malik smelled the smell of meat and suddenly flew into a rage. He destroyed the only good house left. Then, he pulled out his sword and mounted his horse. He was about to lead his men to fight to the death when a sentry suddenly came to report the military situation.
The Ming Army had increased their troops!
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