In late October, the cavalry of the Chihu Longxi Capital Administrative Office had entered the Qishan Mountains in the eastern part of Minzhou on a large scale, blocking the passage over the Qishan Mountains and heading north to Qinzhou.
After Xu Guanshan and Zhang Xiongshan led their mules and horses to Wuzhou for a short rest, they could only follow the treacherous mountain road at the northern foot of Minshan Mountain to head westwards to the new habitat of the remnants of the Khitan after they left Qinzhou.
Minshan Mountain is the birthplace of the ancient Shu civilization. It lies to the south of the Longxi Loess Plateau. The mountains are majestic and winding for thousands of miles. The tops of the peaks are covered with white snow and glaciers. The northern slope meets the Longxi Loess Plateau and is crisscrossed everywhere.
There are ravines and hills and the road is difficult.
Braving the wind and snow, the team of mules and horses could not cover the rugged mountain roads for twenty to thirty miles in a day. They trudged through mountains, rivers and ravines for more than a month before entering Lintan County in Taozhou under the guidance of Qiang guides.
On this day, the team of mules and horses emerged from the ravine, and their eyes suddenly opened up. They saw a stretch of grassy beach that could not be seen from the horizon, covered under the white snow, stretching out in the field of vision.
"This is the wild wolf beach? Candida ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
He looked at the map and compared it carefully with the mountains, rivers and grassy beaches in front of him, and said with some uncertainty.
"This is Wild Wolf Beach. Now it seems to be a flat plain with no streams or rivers flowing. The main reason is that the weather is cold and the water is frozen into ice. Not to mention that after winter, there is not much water in the creeks.
"
The old Qiang guide gently stroked the exhausted old horse beside him and said in a hoarse voice,
"However, when spring comes, the ice and snow on the peaks of the mountains melt and flow down, and there are twists and turns of streams and swamps hidden among the grass above the heads, making it difficult for people and horses to pass. Only strong wild wolves can pass through.
It’s called Wild Wolf Beach—I’ve traveled this road countless times when I was young, and I can’t admit it.”
"Commander Sun, the front is indeed Yelangtan, Lintan County, Taozhou," Zhang Xiongshan said. "This area was occupied by the Tibetans in the Qing and Tang Dynasties in the early years. The old marquis and General Wang Ju, and Fan Canjun were just the Jingzhou Jingsheng Army in the early years.
An ordinary general, the Battle of Hehuang that he participated in in the sixth year of Qingyu was one of the few major battles organized by the imperial court in the past hundred years. At that time, a total of more than 150,000 soldiers and horses from the Five Routes of Shaanxi were assembled.
The state advanced more than a thousand miles to the west, and defeated the Tubo royal city of Qingtang in one battle. The territory was expanded for 800 miles, and Lintan County of Taozhou was established here. However, the people of the Tubo tribes were fierce, unruly, unruly and unruly, and rebelled repeatedly.
The imperial court has never been able to effectively manage these areas. After the Chihu people went south, the imperial court assigned Taozhou and the area to the west to Dangxiang and the Nanjun Division..."
Although Zhang Xiongshan had never had the opportunity to set foot in Taozhou and other places before, as an old Khitan minister, he had been paying attention to the living conditions of the remnants of the Khitan in the Tianshui area, and he still knew the situation in Longxi, Hehuang, the upper reaches of the Tao River, and the Daxia River well.
He introduced the scenery and customs of Taozhou and other places in more detail to Sun Yanguan and others who were traveling west with the Zhufengtang mule and horse team for the first time.
Not only the Tao River, the upper reaches of the Daxia River, the western foothills of Minshan Mountain, Jishi Mountain and the Xiqing Mountains, but also the Hehuang River Valley further to the west were once included in the territory of Dayue. It was also the most glorious period of Dayue's military armament. Even Xu
Huai's biological father Wang Xiaocheng, Wang Ju, Fan Yong and others also galloped and fought on the Hehuang battlefield and established impressive feats.
However, after Taozhou and other places were assigned to the Dangxiang and Nanjian Army Divisions, it was not until Xiao Linshi secretly sent troops from Qinzhou the year before last to unite with the last war-fighting generals of the Dangxiang people to suppress the capitulation forces in the Nanjing Army Division by force.
, and then borrowed Taozhou, which is located north of Minshan and Jishishan, from the Henan Army Division——
Xiao Linshi had no intention of using the remaining Khitan troops with a population of less than 100,000 to defend the Tianshui area, including Qinzhou City, for the Gao family. After borrowing Taozhou from Dangxiang and the Nanjun Division, he began to send troops to the Khitan army in the spring of this year.
After moving westward, the relationship with the Gao family became very tense.
In anger, Gao Junyang once ordered to block the passage from Chushan to Taozhou via Hanzhong, prohibiting Chushan from communicating and trading with the remaining Khitan tribes.
It was not until the imperial court officially established the Jingxiang Road, and Xu Huai asked the imperial court to erect no private obstacles on the roads, and prohibit commercial travel, that Zhufengtang's mules and horses could once again carry commercial goods on the road to trade with the remnants of the Khitan.
This was also the first time that the Zhufengtang mule and horse team entered Taozhou. Zhang Xiongshan personally led the team as the right officer of the Military Intelligence Department. After arriving in Wuzhou, he specially invited Qiang people who were familiar with Minshan Road as guides.
However, starting from Wuzhou and heading west to Taozhou via the hometown of Minzhou, it was only more than 500 miles, and they walked for more than a month.
"Where are the herds of the Khitan people?" Xu Guanshan asked in confusion.
Yelangdu is a large grassland stretching for nearly a hundred miles in the northwest of Minshan Mountain. It has a warm climate and luxuriant pasture.
The remnants of the Khitan retreated to Taozhou. If they did not go elsewhere, Yelangdu should be the main pastoral area of the remnant Khitan.
However, when they looked up at this time, they did not see a large herd of cattle and horses on the grassy beach of Wild Wolf Crossing.
Zhang Xiongshan was also confused, but the scout sent out had not returned yet, so he did not understand many things.
Now that the Chihu people's cavalry had entered Tianshui and the Hezhou area to the west on a large scale, they did not dare to rush west again and could only set up camp in the valley on the edge of Yelangdu.
Until dusk, several cavalry scouts who had arrived in Taozhou led a group of cavalry back to the camp.
"Wu Sanrong, where have the tribesmen led by Commander Xiao retreated to? Why can't you see your herds in Wild Wolf Crossing?" Zhang Xiongshan asked suspiciously when he saw that the Khitan cavalry general who came to meet him was Wu Sanrong.
"The Chihu people have occupied the Daxia Valley in the south of Hezhou. The Caotan Valley north of the Min Mountain is no longer safe enough. Our troops have moved to the Taoyuan area between the Min Mountain and the Xiqing Mountain. We just followed Tubo Duo some time ago.
Simabu fought a bad battle!" Wu Sanrong recalled the bad battle he fought some time ago, spat viciously on the grassy beach and said.
"The remnants of the party members in Henan have not played any role!" Zhang Xiongshan frowned and sighed.
The upper reaches of the Daxia River valley is located in the west-sloping valley west of Taozhou and has been affiliated with Hezhou since ancient times.
Theoretically, this should be the place where the remnants of Dangxiang's retreating troops to the south would be stationed, so that the remaining Khitan troops could block the front of the Red Husbands at Xiqing Mountain and north of Min Mountain, giving them a chance to breathe.
Now that the upper reaches of the Daxia River have fallen, it not only means that the remnants of Dangxiang's retreat to the south will suffer new setbacks, but also that the red cavalry can also threaten the passage south from the northern foot of Min Mountain through the upper reaches of the Tao River from the west.
Xiao Linshi was forced to lead the remnant Khitan troops to withdraw from the northern part of Minshan Mountain to the Taoyuan area at the western foot of Minshan Mountain in advance. After all, he still did not want to be forced to fight with Gao Junyang and the Gao family after the valley passage in the upper reaches of the Tao River was cut off by the Red Husband Cavalry.
The Xiqin Road is tied together.
"You have brought a lot of goods this time, haven't you?"
Wu Sanrong asked with bright eyes when he saw the scale of the camp in the valley.
"You are worried about the inconvenience of contact in the future, so you specially asked us to bring more supplies this time!" Zhang Xiongshan said.
The Red Husband Cavalry had entered the upper reaches of the Daxia River, and it was no longer safe to go to Yelangdu. Xu Guanshan and the others broke out of camp overnight, and under the cover of the cavalry led by Wu Sanrong, they crossed directly through Yelangdu, and then stuck to the northwest foot of Minshan Mountain. valley and head to the Taoyuan area.
Zhang Xiongshan and others met Xiao Linshi, Xiao Yanhan, Shi Hai, Sa Luhe and others at a Tubo village in the valley at the eastern foot of Xiqing Mountain.
Zhang Xiongshan first introduced to Xiao Linshi and others the situation of the passing of Emperor Jianji, the recruitment of the Jinghu bandit army, and the establishment of the Beijing-Xiangzhi Department in the past year or so, and then handed Xu Huai's secret letter to Xiao Linshi. said:
"The envoy has already realized that after the Chihu people have initially integrated the surrendered troops and horses of the Dangxiang people, the military front will reach its peak. Qinzhou, Qizhou and Dongchuan Road are difficult to reach in Lantian, Ziwu Valley and other places in the north of the Qinling Mountains. If we stick to the defense, we can only use the deep ravines and dangerous ridges deep in the Qinling Mountains to block the enemy's march south to Sichuan in a short period of time. Next, Beijing and Xiangxiang will most likely face the enemy again in Ruying. ?????There will be a huge battle. Of course, the commander is very confident that Ruying will once again block the enemy's southward movement, but the key lies in what kind of strategy the Chihu people will adopt after the second Ruying battle. Choice - this is also the key to making you come to Xiongshan to see Xiao Shuai again this time!"
"Qingtang, Heishi, Heishui and other places have all fallen into the hands of Chi Hu. Tubo, the tribes of Xiqiang and the remnant tribes of Dangxiang have long been torn apart. No one can stop the blade of Chi Hu's cavalry," Shi Hai frowned. With a deeply wrinkled brow, he asked, "The complete conquest of Dai Viet should be the most important goal of the Chihu people at the moment, and we are also forced to keep a long distance from the West Qin Road. I really don't know how Xu Hou will resist If the Red Husbands go south, what else can they have to do with us..."
Xiao Yanhan, Sa Luhe, Wu Sanrong and others all felt very confused.
At this time, they withdrew to the Taoyuan area, almost across the entire Min Mountain from Wuzhou, where Gao Junyang's Western Qin troops were stationed. They were even considering whether to continue retreating to the mountains of the southwest Tibetan area to further open up the distance. The distance from the Red Hu people.
This also means that they will be farther and farther away from the battlefields of Dai Viet and Red Hu people.
Theoretically speaking, Xu Huai used Jingxiang as his base to resist the Red Husbands from going south, and it no longer had much to do with the remnants of the Khitan.
They didn't understand why Xu Huai sent such an important figure as Zhang Xiongshan to Taoyuan again to contact them, and they didn't know what Zhang Xiongshan wanted to discuss here.
"Does Marquis Xu think that after the Chihu people suffered another setback at Ruying, they might go south from Taoyuan to attack Dali?" Xiao Linshi asked Zhang Xiongshan without rushing to withdraw the secret letter.
"How is it possible?" Shi Hai sat under Xiao Linshi, and his first thought was to deny the possibility of this possibility, and said, "Going south from Taoyuan, you have to detour thousands of miles to enter the territory of Dali, and there are many obstacles all the way. Snow-capped mountains and glaciers - such an arduous march, one hundred thousand troops marching south, even if there is no resistance along the way, half of them may not be able to successfully enter the Dali Kingdom in the end. Even if the Chihu people pay such a high price, they may not be able to succeed in Dai Viet To open up a new battlefield in the southwest direction, it is really better to wait for the opportunity along the Qinling Mountains and the Huaihe River. Now the government and the public in Dayue are extremely suspicious of Beijing and Xiangxiang, and it is impossible for the Chihu people to find good opportunities in the future... …”
