While Li Luo was conquering Guanzhong, the 200,000 army of Wen Tianxiang's troops, which had crossed the Huai River, were confronting the heavy army group of the Central Plains Yuan Army in Yancheng (Luohe), Henan.

Wen Tianxiang crossed the Yangtze River in mid-August, and 200,000 troops advanced steadily, posing as crossing the Huai River to attack Kaifeng and Luoyang, and headed north with a swagger, only marching forty miles a day.

Wen Tianxiang's troops had 20,000 firearms and 30,000 cavalry. He surrounded artillery and baggage in the formation, arranged the cavalry on both wings, chariots and slingers on the periphery, and musketeers and archers behind the slingers.

Moreover, he would never divide his troops, nor would he take the initiative to fight with the Yuan army, nor would he occupy any city, and he would wholeheartedly focus on the Beishan Mountain.

The Yuan army had more than 100,000 cavalry attacked repeatedly, and Wen Tianxiang was unmoved, like a hedgehog, making it difficult for the Yuan army cavalry to get out of his mouth.

If an infantryman with strict defense and sufficient food and supplies does not have tactical tasks and just march on his own, the enemy cavalry will have no choice.

Use the iron cavalry to charge. The Tang army has strict defenses, the infantry and cavalry are coordinated, the firearms are sharp, and the cluster charge is too disadvantageous.

Let’s use the kite flying tactic, but the Tang army ignored it and continued to march according to the established route.

Let's block the Tang army's 200,000 troops can be suppressed without fear.

It will be useless to harass you repeatedly. If you approach the Tang army's bows and muskets, you will fight back. If you go far away, the Tang army will not chase you.

There was no way out.

The casualties on both sides are increasing every day, but not many, only a few hundred people every day, which is a non-contact battle. The fastest update is PC::/

The Tang army went north along the plain east of the Funiu Mountains, causing more than 100,000 cavalry to be able to follow, but could not attack the Tang army, and watched the Tang army cross the Huaihe River.

When the Tang army crossed the Huai River, the Yuan army finally couldn't help but launch a cluster charge. As expected, they were bombarded by Tang's ammunition weapons, and more than a thousand cavalry were lost in vain. They no longer dared to charge in groups.

From then on, the Yuan army learned an iron lesson: they could not launch a cluster charge against the Tang army with luck.

After a month, the Tang army advanced thousands of miles northward, restraining a large number of Yuan troops.

The Henan Jiangbei Province was a major financial and financial place in the Yuan court, so there must be no mistakes, especially Kaifeng and Luoyang. Therefore, the Yuan army could not reinforce Guanzhong at all.

It was not until Wen Tianxiang's army confronted Yancheng that both Yuan and Tang dynasties received news that the Tang army had occupied Chang'an.

"Taiwei, Your Majesty has occupied Chang'an and Tongguan is already in the hands of our army. Have you withdrawn as planned?" asked Xiao Bei, the general who followed Wen Tianxiang's northern expedition.

The Central Army had an army of 200,000, and was the strongest, but its strategic purpose was not to capture Luoyang, Kaifeng, but to support the Western Army to capture Guanzhong and restrain the heavy army of the Central Plains Yuan army.

Now that His Majesty has occupied Guanzhong, the Central Army should withdraw its troops.

"Retreat." Wen Tianxiang had no choice but to withdraw his troops as planned.

Why can't the cavalry with more than 100,000 yuan have the ability to use his army mainly for infantry? That's because he doesn't divide his troops, doesn't have to conquer cities or even fight actively.

But if you really conquer the city, that would be another matter.

Although the Yuan army did not gain any advantage in the past month, Wen Tianxiang and others deeply experienced the difficulties of the Yuan army's cavalry.

In other words, they just don’t fight with the Yuan army. If they take the initiative, it would be too difficult.

Once the Tang army divided its troops to capture four places, it would be difficult to win. It would be impossible to control the local area and establish rule.

All fools know that it is not possible to rely on infantry to fight north. No matter how strong the infantry is, it cannot be.

If the main force of the Yuan cavalry is not eliminated, the local area will be unable to be actually controlled. The Tang army will conquer a prefecture and county to establish a regime, and once the front foot is gone, the regime will be destroyed by the Yuan cavalry.

The Yuan army could completely rely on the maneuverability of the cavalry to concentrate its forces to defeat them one by one. Once the Tang army was scattered in various places, it would be difficult to concentrate.

This is an unsolvable situation.

Unless the main force of the Yuan army's cavalry is eliminated, how can the Tang army do without powerful cavalry assistance?

"It's hard!" Wen Tianxiang frowned. He knew very well that the reason why His Majesty could destroy tens of thousands of Guanzhong Yuan cavalry was a strategy. But such a strategy could not be used all the time.

In the end, the Northern Expedition still had to rely on cavalry to fight head-on. The strategy could only be used for a moment, but in the end it was still based on strength to speak.

Wen Tianxiang thought about it and wrote a letter that he asked someone to disguise himself and send it to Guanzhong.

In early October, the Tang army's central line of the army began to withdraw.

When the Yuan army saw the Tang army withdrawing, they confirmed that Wen Tianxiang did not mean to occupy Luoyang, Kaifeng. But now it is certain, it is meaningless.

They had known this possibility before, but Kublai Khan had told them that the rebels might just support Li Luo in the middle to capture Guanzhong.

The problem is that they knew nothing. Because if the Yuan army in the Central Plains drew their troops to support Guanzhong, Wen Tianxiang could have completely turned into a real Northern Expedition, and conquered Kaifeng and blocked the Yellow River without doing anything.

That is definitely not a consequence that they can accept.

…………

On the fifth day of Wen Tianxiang's withdrawal, he landed in Haizhou (Lianyungang). Chen Shuzhen's East Route Army, who had already stationed in Xuzhou, was also preparing to withdraw his troops.

The Eastern Army had 100,000 people floating in the sea, captured Xuzhou, the important town of Zhelim Army, and threatened the Yuan court. They restrained more than 100,000 troops from the west and did not dare to reinforce, for fear that Chen Shuzhen would block the Yellow River and meet with Wen Tianxiang to guide the Central Plains.

It can be said that the main force of the Yuan army in Henan and Jiangbei were restrained by Wen Tianxiang and Chen Shuzhen from the east and west, and it was difficult to make a difference.

Although the Tang army had no choice but to deal with the Yuan army, the Yuan army had no choice but to deal with the Tang army.

It lasted for more than a month until the Tang army withdrew from Xuzhou, retreated to Haizhou, and set sail to sea.

At this point, the Tang army had a huge momentum. The "Three Routes Northern Expedition" that lasted only more than a month finally came to an end with the Tang army in the west and the Tang army in the middle and east, and the Tang army in the middle and east routes.

Strategically, the Great Mongolian Kingdom not only lost Guanzhong, Hanzhong and southern Shaanxi, but also made the Tang army swagger into the Central Plains, causing the Han people in the Central Plains to rise greatly.

The Great Mongolia lost all its face and its power, which was ruined.

The Tang court completely competed with the arrogant Great Mongolian Kingdom with an unstoppable rise, aggressive and pressed step by step without any disadvantage.

Kublai Khan, who was in trouble, was furious, but he was helpless.

The Han ministers were even more silent as if they were crouched, as if they were beheaded. The atmosphere in the entire capital was very solemn and depressed, which made all civil and military officials feel extremely depressed.

The bleak autumn wind in late autumn blew, and a few autumn rains, the fallen leaves were all over the ground, making it even colder. Coupled with the news of the defeat in Guanzhong, the Mongolian Seme nobles, who have always been arrogant, have become a little gloomy.

Qiexue Khan, who was already 72 years old, could only get off the horse and let him hunt to relieve his depression and anger.

Mongolian nobles used hunting as their daily entertainment, and hunted five big hunting days after three days. Civil and military ministers, including palace concubines, all followed the emperor to hunt in fields and had dinner and banquets in the wild to maintain Mongolian tradition.

Kublai Khan is a person who likes to be lively, but this time, he only brought the prince's real gold and a few of his most trusted confidant ministers to hunt. It is obviously not as simple as hunting.

Prince Zhenjin personally shot a wild goose, and after baking it, he sent it to Kublai Khan's tent, and respectfully knelt down and offered it, "Father's Khan, these autumn geese are the most plump, please taste it."

In the original history, Prince Zhenjin had already died of depression because of Kublai Khan's suspicion. However, due to the influence of Li Luo, he was still alive at this time.

However, because of Li Luo, he was no longer the real gold that devoted himself to the Han law in history. At this time, the real gold was like his father Khan, regressing to a conservative and stubborn Mongolian noble.

He no longer believed in any Han law and had alienated the Han ministers who had been surrounding him and had great hope for him.

Kublai Khan took the geese roasted by the prince himself, tore off a roasted oily leg, and suddenly said, "It's really gold, do you know why the geese fly around? Why do they fly north in spring and south in autumn?"

Zhen Jin seemed to understand what Father Khan meant and replied carefully: "The north is the real home of geese, but in autumn and winter, the weather is cold and there is less food, so they can only move to the south. Wait until the weather is warm before returning."

"That's right." Kublai Khan nodded, his meditative appearance was like a sculpture in the autumn wind. "The geese are like Mongolians, flying north and south for survival. We Mongolians continue to live and wander around for survival."

"Where can provide food and slaves for the Mongols, where is the place where the Mongols should go. We cannot guard a piece of land for generations, never move, and never know where there are better water plants."

"Just like this Central Plains, it was originally the ancestral land of the Han people, but we occupied it. After decades of blessing, the Han land became the water and grassland of the Mongols. What can we do?"

"The pseudo-Tang occupied Guanzhong and was completely overwhelmed. The pseudo-Tang was not the Jin and Song dynasties, so how could it be destroyed? The pseudo-Tang has a large population, sharp firearms, but few cavalry. However, if Li Luo occupied Guanzhong, it was difficult to protect Longdong, Longxi, Shaanxi and northern Shaanxi. He will no longer be short of cavalry in the future."

"When Li Luo's northern expedition, we may not be able to occupy the Central Plains. Although the Han people in the northern region have braids and shave their hair, most of them still go to the south, hoping that Li Luo will come to call every day."

Zhen Jin saw that Father Khan looked very serious and asked carefully: "Father Khan means giving up the Han area?"

Kublai Khan snorted coldly, stood up with his tall body, looking at the vast forest, "Why give up if you don't have the last step? The Han area was fought by the warriors of the Yuan Dynasty with great effort. If Li Luo wanted to restore the Central Plains, then he would fight. The northern area was scorched earth, and nine out of ten rooms were empty, so I didn't feel sorry for it."

"If the Han area is really unstoppable, it is not too late for us to throw it to Li Luo. However, we must make plans to be unable to defend it before winning or losing. Boyan!"

"Sister is here!" Boyan immediately bowed and stood in front of Kublai Khan.

Kublai Khan said expressionlessly: "The Privy Council recruited another 200,000 Han troops to expand the Kerchin army and the Zhelim army. As for soldiers, the Hedong people (Shanxi) and Youyan people will be given priority. As long as they are strong and brave, slaves can also be in the army!"

Boyan frowned and said, "Shank you, the 200,000 new recruits are not a small amount, so the money and food are very tight."

Kublai Khan sneered, "Let the Han tribes pay the money and food. If they don't leave, they will wait for Li Luo to call them to raid their homes and divide their land."

"Also, tell the Han army that I will give them land. As long as I defend the northern land, the land will belong to them. As long as I am loyal to the Dayuan, I will not treat them unfairly."

"Zha!" Boyan took the order, "There are large families like the Kong family, some money, grain and land, so that they can make some blood. They dare not listen."

As Li Luo's power became stronger and stronger, Kublai Khan became increasingly disregarded the so-called face of the emperor and became more and more like a barbarian chief.

If the Han area can be defended, it will be defended. If it cannot be defended, more Han soldiers and horses will be kidnapped and taken to the west to expand the territory.

It was like the Jin Dynasty’s “loss of north and south” back then.

"Prince, after the New Year, you leave Dadu and go to Xijing Apple City (Yili)." Kublai Khan looked at the real gold, "I am old, and you will have to do the major things in the future. You can stay in Xijing and manage them well."

Apple City (Ili) is in the Western Regions and was originally the capital of the Chagatai Khanate. After the Chagatai Khanate was destroyed, Kublai Khan set Apple City as Xijing.

"You will guard the six provinces in the west, and the King of Yunnan and Anxi will assist you. You must look at the west side for me."

The Prince of Zhenjin was not surprised at all. Speaking of which, the six provinces in the west had such a large territory, and tens of millions of people from Semi-Mi, and they really needed a person of weight to take charge.

There is no more suitable candidate in the court except for himself as the prince.

It is obvious that Father Khan regards the West as his biggest retreat.

Why not be outside the hometown?

Because there are too few people outside the Great Wall and too few slaves, it is no longer enough to support the Great Mongolian Kingdom.

Firmly control the west, whether it is the Dayuan or the Dayuan. If there is no west, then the Dayuan will become a tribe on the grassland, no longer the Dayuan.
To be continued...