Forty miles west of Suzhou City is the Jiayuguan Pass, the end point of the famous Great Wall.
Before the Ming Dynasty, there was only one sentry in the valley where Jiayuguan Pass was located to check merchants, but there was no city gate, because the military center before the Tang Dynasty was at Yumen Pass.
By the Ming Dynasty, because the ecology near Yumen Pass had been completely destroyed, it was unable to afford the daily supplies of the garrison.
Therefore, the famous general Song Guogong Feng Shengcai in the early Ming Dynasty had no choice but to shrink his defense line and built the Jiayuguan Pass, known as the most majestic pass in the world, on the narrow flat land between the Qilian Mountains and the Beishan Mountains.
As for the situation where Yumen Pass already belonged to the Guiyi Army, why didn’t the Ganzhou Uighurs build a city at Jiayuguan Pass?
Haha! As for the 300,000 Ganzhou Uighurs, if they really want to build a city at Jiayuguan, I'm afraid that before the Guiyi army comes to attack them, they themselves will go bankrupt because of the waste of people and money.
In the city of Suzhou, Prince Jingqiong of Ganzhou Uighur was caught off guard.
Jiuyanquan, which was the site of the fortification of Jiayuguan in later generations, had not yet entered the city, but You Yiqi, the Guiyi army behind, arrived.
Prince Jing Qiong was so frightened that his heart was pounding, because the Youyi Cavalry chasing the Jiuyanquan Sentinel Cavalry were very fierce. Prince Jing Qiong saw at least five of them who could shoot their bows left and right.
This is not easy. A rider's arm strength is limited. Generally, he needs to take a break after shooting six or seven times.
And those who can shoot left and right are equivalent to six or seven more shots than ordinary knights, and their combat effectiveness is naturally doubled.
Of course, what makes these fierce knights unusual is not that they can shoot their bows from left to right, but that they are very determined in fighting.
Although there were only thirty-seven riders, after discovering that there was a possibility of seizing the barrier, they rushed over without hesitation.
Fortunately, the head of a hundred households beside Prince Jing Qiong was alert and quickly led more than a hundred cavalry and rushed down without even having time to put on their armor.
After more than a hundred people were shot and killed by nearly a third of the group, the fierce knights on the opposite side retreated.
When he retreated, he also took with him the body and war horse of a companion.
‘Dong dong dong dong!’ The rhythmic war drums beat, and the broad Beida River turned into a bay outside Suzhou City.
The turned bay became the natural moat of Suzhou City, and of course it also provided a wide bay for residences for the enemies attacking Suzhou City.
Accompanied by the sound of war drums, the troops carrying the Guiyi Army's Sun, Moon, Star and Three-Chen Flags came out of the valley of Heishan in a steady stream, and a large flag with the Chinese character Luo gradually appeared in the eyes of Prince Jing Qiong.
When he saw these flags clearly, at least 800 light cavalry stretched out from the black army like giant pincers.
They were divided into two groups, the north and the south, and directly surrounded Suzhou City. The pontoon bridge on the Beida River was occupied by these cavalry before they could be destroyed in time.
"Hurry up! Send someone to inform Father Khan! The Shazhou bandits and Han army have arrived. There are at least 6,000 people, and they should be the main force!"
....
In the southeast of Fulu County, at the foot of Kongtong Mountain, Khan Hirohito of Ganzhou led more than 6,000 cavalry and received an urgent report from Prince Jingqiong.
The Ganzhou Uighurs have actually had a very difficult time over the years. After Cao Yijin captured Ganzhou City ten years ago, the Guiyi Army completely washed the city, killing thousands of people and taking away a large amount of gold and silver.
appliance.
After that, the Ganzhou Uighurs, like the previous Guiyi Army, fell into constant internal fighting.
In the past ten years, he has become the third khan. The first two khans both died suddenly and suddenly at a young age.
Of course Renyu Khan knew why he died suddenly, because he personally led the soldiers to kill the previous Khan, his brother Aduoyu.
After Cao Yijin conquered Ganzhou, Aduoyu married Cao Yijin's daughter as his queen. This was intolerable in the eyes of other tribesmen.
So five years ago, Hirohito Khan launched a coup, killed his brother Aduoyu, proclaimed himself Khan, and then quickly received the canonization of the Central Plains and established a firm foothold.
During this period, the Guiyi Army had several minor frictions with the Ganzhou Uighurs, but because neither side could do anything about the other, Cao Yijin also obtained a guarantee from the Ganzhou Uighurs not to block trade routes in order to ensure the safety of his daughter and grandson in Ganzhou City.
After that, it all stopped.
However, this time it was different. After all, Ganzhou was closer to the Central Plains than Shazhou, and the land was more fertile than Shazhou. Moreover, there were nearby Minmo tribes that could plow grass and valleys. Their strength recovered quickly and gradually surpassed the Guiyi Army.
Four years ago, that is, the year when Zhang Zhao went to Anxi, Renyu Khan forced Cao Yijin to go to Suzhou City in person to meet with him for an alliance. In fact, it was a disguised surrender of the Guiyi Army.
After four years of development, Renyu Khan believed that his strength had further grown. His original idea was to indirectly control the Guiyi Army by supporting his aunt Tian Princess Li's seizure of power, and then devour it step by step.
But before his plan could be put into action, his aunt and several cousins were completely eradicated. How could Renyu Khan endure this?
Moreover, if the aunt had an accident, there was only one possibility. Cao Yijin, the governor of the Guiyi Army, had serious health problems and had even passed away.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. With the name and opportunity, take advantage of their illness and kill them!
"Accelerate our advance, we must reach Suzhou in two days, and send thousands of people from the imperial account to You Yiqi to conduct reconnaissance and search!"
.....
Gu Zhong
Just as Renyu Khan was speeding towards Suzhou from the vicinity of Kongtong Mountain, Zhang Zhao had already led two thousand light and heavy cavalry to the vicinity of Jinta County, eighty miles north of Suzhou.
A little further north here, there is a famous but not famous lake called Baitinghai.
The reason why he is famous and not famous is because there were two Baitinghai in the Tang Dynasty, one was north of Suzhou, where Zhang Zhao is now.
One is north of Liangzhou, which is the famous Baiting Lake and Qingtu Lake in Minqin County, Gansu Province in later generations.
Baiting Lake in Minqin is known as the lifeline of the Hexi Corridor. During the Republic of China, Baiting Lake disappeared and Qingtu Lake was once in danger.
At that time, the Badain Jaran Desert had occupied almost the entire lake area, and the Hexi Corridor was almost completely cut off by the desert.
In that case, it would be disastrous for the northwest border defense and even the whole country. Fortunately, after the rescue efforts of the whole society, Qingtu Lake finally began to slowly recover.
Baitinghai in Suzhou, where Zhang Zhao is located, is much smaller than Baitinghai in Liangzhou. It has long since disappeared, and it can be said that it has no reputation.
But it is still a very nice place, with green grass, rippling blue waves, no shortage of green fodder and water, and the surrounding mountains are good for hiding traces.
Zhang Zhao also took a break from his busy schedule and caught a big fish weighing more than ten kilograms from the Baiting Sea. He set up a barbecue grill, prepared some mutton, and prepared a barbecue. He also mixed some shallots to relieve the greasiness.
The sound of horse hoofbeats was heard, and soon Ma Shacai and Li Cunhui ran over, breathing heavily.
Zhang Zhaozheng was carrying the big fish caught from Baiting Lake and disemboweling it, and without even raising his head, he said to Murong Nobunaga, who was wearing military uniform next to him.
"Nobunaga, what I said is right! The Ganzhou Uighurs were able to suppress our rebel army because of the credit of this Renyu Khan.
How can this kind of Khan, who can also be considered a hero, be easily ambushed? We have been there with more than two thousand horses, so we are not sure who will attack whom?"
Murong Nobunaga curled his mouth, his face suddenly turned red, and he almost gritted his teeth and spat out a few words from between his teeth.
"Envoy Zhang, please don't call me Nobunaga. I am your cavalry general now. You can call me General Murong!"
"Why is this kid always so stubborn? Left and Right is just a title!"
Zhang Zhao's smile was anything but formal, but when he saw Murong Nobunaga blushing like a master, he could only put on a serious face.
"Since you don't want me to call you Nobunaga, let's do this. You call me yours, and I call you mine. I won't call you Nobunaga anymore. Let's call each other his own."
"Is what Zhang Jun said true?" Murong Nobunaga was doubtful. Looking at Zhang Zhao's pretended serious face, he felt a little uneasy.
"What does it mean to call each his own?"
"Everyone has his own name!" Zhang Zhao raised the corners of his mouth, showing a matter-of-fact expression.
"Look at the relationship between us, you can't change it, so let's call you according to the actual situation. You will be called so-and-so, and so-and-so will call you Alang!"
"I, he..." Murong Nobunaga was still stunned for a moment, and then he realized what kind of disadvantage he had suffered, and he immediately became angry.
If he hadn't been in the army, he would have had a fight with Zhang Zhao today.
"Shacai, Cun Hui'er! How about it? Did you take advantage?"
Seeing that Murong Nobunaga was about to go berserk, Zhang Zhao put the fish on the iron shelf and started grilling it. Then he loudly asked Ma Shacai and Li Cunhui who had not approached yet.
Li Cunhui gave Zhang Zhao a strange look. Although his great-grandmother was Zhang Zhao's aunt and Zhang Zhao was his cousin, he could indeed be called Cunhui'er, but it still felt a little weird.
"Of course I got the advantage!" Ma Shacai's nostrils were raised in the air, "Returning to the army, he only killed me, three of the enemy's cavalry, and Li Dutou also killed one person.
However, these Uighurs are indeed much more difficult to deal with than Karakhan's Uighur cavalry. They are all good at searching, spying, and covering the army.
If we want to use 2,000 cavalry to surprise them with 5,000 or 6,000 cavalry, the danger is indeed great, and even if we can defeat them, the casualties will definitely be huge."
"That's natural. Pang Teqin, the ancestor of Karakhan Bugla Khan, was defeated in Ganzhou and had to run to Anxi. Let's repair it here. Now let's see who is more resilient."
With that said, Zhang Zhao shouted while applying dogwood oil on the test.
"General Murong, I heard that Governor Murong said that you are quite familiar with the situation in Suzhou, and the knights of the Murong family are also the most elite, so the important task of communicating with Suzhou is left to you. Battle reports must be sent every two days. What can you do?
Are you here?"
After Zhang Zhaojun gave an order, Murong Nobunaga, who had been showing off his face, immediately put away the temper teased by Zhang Zhao, and immediately crossed his hands and sang.
"Of course it can be done. If there are any mistakes, I will lead the army!"
Zhang Zhao grabbed Murong Nobunaga, who was about to mount his horse immediately, and said, "Eat the grilled fish before leaving. I grilled it myself. And you must remember that we are not willing to lead the army in the rebel army."
Because you have to know that whether you can deliver the battle report in time is related to the lives of your five thousand soldiers and the future of all of us in the Rebel Army. You must do it after receiving the order. If you can't do it, you must mention any difficulties and lose.
Without war, any military law would be redundant."
