After the first wonderful experience, the Turkic people, especially the Mugan Khan, were full of expectations for the subsequent gifts mentioned by Li Yunxin, and sent several waves of people to greet them.
Yang Zhong and his party also went to the Turkic army's garrison as planned. Compared with the batch of gifts sent by Li Yunxin, the materials escorted by Yang Zhong were not so flashy and gorgeous, except for a batch of property that continued to lure and deal with the Turks' interrogations.
In addition to the goods, the others are more practical grains and iron agricultural tools, as well as the armor underneath these goods.
Because Yang Zhong and his party had a large amount of cargo, and they deliberately slowed down their journey to give the main army time to prepare for war, even though they had already entered the sight of the Turkic mounted scouts, they were still on their way at a slow pace.
On the way, something very bad happened. That is, Yang Zhong sent a team to escort the goods, but they disappeared without a trace on the way, including the goods they carried.
Not long after the Turks had grown, the Hu tribe, which was not weak in power, was at odds with them. In addition, the Western Wei Dynasty's donation was really generous, and the money and silk were very impressive, so it is not surprising that such a situation happened.
When this situation was reported to the Turkic Khan's tent, Mugan Khan suddenly became furious and sent out his trusted troops to prepare for a thorough investigation. For him, this matter was not only a loss of property, but also a loss of money.
A direct challenge to his majesty!
However, according to the information provided by the envoy from the Western Wei Dynasty, a spring rain passed by not long after the robbery occurred, washing away all possible traces in the environment.
The only ones that have a certain direction are the confessions of some soldiers of the Western Wei Dynasty who were robbed and killed and managed to escape. However, due to unfamiliarity with Turkic personnel, these confessions are also very messy. And because they are worried about the existence of internal thieves on the Turkic side, the Western Wei Dynasty
He also refused to hand over these soldiers to the investigators sent by the Khan to investigate.
Naturally, Mu Gan Khan did not feel that the Western Wei Dynasty had paid such a large price in terms of wealth and was just framed for false accusations. Moreover, the submissive attitude shown by the Western Wei Dynasty also made him unwilling to antagonize it easily.
Therefore, he strictly ordered the Hu tribe members who were not direct descendants of the Khan not to leave the camp without permission, and sent his cronies to the camps of the powerful Hu chieftains for overt and covert inspections. At the same time, he also did not forget to send a troop of thousands of people to escort this group of the Western Wei Dynasty.
The troops headed north to avoid the possibility of being harassed and plundered again.
Things went relatively smoothly next. When the time entered early March, Yang Zhong and his party also arrived at the Turkic camp.
At this time, the atmosphere in the Turkic camp was a little more anxious than when Li Yunxin and his party first arrived.
Not only was Mugan Khan reluctant to distribute the goods donated by the Western Wei Dynasty to the masses, but also the restrictions and investigations on various tribesmen and horses during this period were also due to the fact that as spring came into season, the cattle, horses, sheep, etc. on the grassland
Livestock must also gradually enter a breeding period, with production in spring and sufficient grazing in summer and autumn to maintain the size of the herd.
Nomadic life is inherently more fragile than farming. Although the climate change in recent years has also been reflected in the grassland, which has extended the pastoral period, due to the iteration of hegemony on the grassland and frequent wars, the lives of the Hu herders have also been changed.
The situation has not improved significantly, but has become even more miserable than before due to frequent battles.
Although the Hetao area at the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain is also a pasture with rich water and grass, the problem is that these Hu tribes were recruited to go out to fight. Most of the people who went out with the army were the strong men of the tribe, while the old, weak, women and children still stayed in their wintering places. The most important thing is that
The labor force has not returned, and the old, weak, women and children alone cannot complete the work of migratory nomads, so there is a feeling of anxiety and longing to return home everywhere in the camp.
Mugan Khan can also be regarded as a generation of Turkic heroes. He did not forget his roots because of the growth of his power, and even ignored the most basic nomadic seasons.
He has also sensed the anxiety of the tribesmen, but compared to those short-sighted people who are only thinking about how many more cattle and sheep can be added to the stables, his mind is more ambitious, and he also knows clearly in his heart that he will expand his power to the Yin Mountains.
The south is of great significance to the development of their overall Turkic power.
What is particularly rare is that the new ministers of the Western Wei Dynasty are not confident enough to fight against the Turks, and they have also donated a lot of property as bribes. Of course, Mugan Khan will take this opportunity to completely take over the Hetao area.
, after making this an established fact, there is no need to worry about the recurrence of the situation.
When Yang Zhong and his entourage arrived to show off the goods they had delivered, many Turkic tycoons were disappointed when they saw that they were just mediocre grain seeds and farm tools, not as gorgeous as the first batch of gifts.
But Mu Gan Khan didn't mind this. Instead, he was overjoyed. He held the grains and laughed and said, "Seeing these gifts, I believe that Duke Tang of your country really hopes to get along with me! If it weren't for his respectful heart,
, how can we dedicate the Xia people of the southern country to their own business? It’s just that our people only know nomadic herding and blacksmithing, and are not good at farming, so we have to have the Xia people of your country do the work for us!”
Yang Zhong was not good at this kind of hypocritical response. Although he knew in his heart that this was just a strategy to paralyze the enemy, when he heard that Mugan Khan was asking for the farmer's mouth again, he couldn't help but trembled his eyebrows and became angry.
After staying in the Turkic camp for more than half a month, Li Yunxin, who had become familiar with these Turkic nobles, quickly stepped forward and said with a smile: "Even if my lord is sincere in cultivating, he still needs the Khan's discernment."
Only ambitious people can see clearly!
The Hetao is rich in water and soil, suitable for farming and grazing. If all industries can be developed at the same time, there will never be any famine. The Duke of Tang also deeply hopes that the Khan can stay here for a long time.
It will be here soon. A certain group of soldiers will first burn the wasteland to prepare for cultivation. When the subsequent soldiers move north, they can cultivate and sow immediately!"
Mugan Khan also smiled when he heard this, patted Li Yunxin on the shoulder and said: "I know that Xia people need to keep the farming time when farming. In order to avoid accidentally farming, without further delay, I asked you to find suitable land for farming and cultivate the wasteland immediately.
.If my army can eat new grain this autumn, I will give you a huge reward!"
Li Yunxin naturally nodded in agreement, and immediately arranged for people to demarcate the land and start setting fire to the wasteland along the Yellow River to clear away the messy weeds and thorns growing along the river.
For a time, thick smoke was billowing on the banks of the Yellow River, and many of the cattle, horses and livestock accompanying the army were burned by the fire and became restless. In order to ensure the smooth progress of land reclamation and farming, Mugan Khan ordered all these livestock to be led to
The animals are imprisoned at the foot of the mountain away from the river bank, and can only be fed close to the river at fixed times every day.
Of course, Li Yunxin and others would not honestly help the Turks to reclaim wasteland and farm, but they only used this as a reason to point out the location of the Turkic army's camp for the main army under the eyes of the Turks.
At the same time, the large army led by Li Tai finally passed through the continuous barren moraine and arrived at the south bank of the Yellow River. At this time, the entire army was no longer bright and mighty, and was all covered with a thick layer of sand, including
Li Tai was no exception. Not only his body, but also his mouth and nose seemed to be filled with sand, and his voice was hoarse and dry.
At this time, they did not know the exact location of the Turks. In order to prevent the Turkic scouts from knowing the movements of the large group in advance, Li Tai ordered his troops to temporarily stop at the edge of the desert moraine, and only sent a small group of troops close to the river bank to fetch water.
while looking left and right.
After more than a day of reconnaissance, the Western Wei Dynasty scouts also located the Turkic camp through the fireworks caused by burning wasteland on the north bank. Before officially launching the attack, Li Tai led several generals to sneak into the Turkic camp.
Directly south, look across the river at the distribution of Turkic camps and formulate an attack strategy.
Looking from the south, Yinshan Mountain looks like a long dragon made of earth and rocks lying on the horizon. The Turkic camp is located on the west side of Yinshan Mountain, close to the Houtao Plain. The terrain in front of the camp is flat and open, and behind the camp
There is a huge gap in the mountain on the side and rear. This gap is called Gaoque. There is also a garrison located here, but now it is obvious that Gaoque garrison is also under the control of the Turks.
Because of the existence of this gap, the Turkic army can easily evacuate to the north of Yinshan Mountain even if it is attacked and the war is unfavorable. The Turks themselves are mainly cavalry and have a large herd of horses. Once they retreat into Yinshan Mountain,
To the north, without the restriction of the terrain, it would be difficult to encircle, annihilate and severely damage them, and they could reorganize their troops and fight back at any time.
After discussing with the generals, Li Tai decided to first send a group of troops from the east along the mountain pass directly over the Yin Mountain, and then circled to the north of the Yin Mountain to ambush and block the Turks' retreat.
This task is naturally very arduous. Although the mountain road in Yinshan is not as dangerous as the Shu Road, the mountain is also rugged and difficult to navigate. And although it is spring now, the climate outside the Great Wall is still quite cold, and you can even see
There are still patches of white snow on some of the mountain valleys in the Yin Mountains. But in order to create greater results, this was the only option.
After some discussions, Li Xian took the initiative to volunteer and led two thousand men and horses carrying a small amount of baggage. He first crossed the river at a gentle place in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, then bypassed the Turks' reconnaissance eyes and ears, entered the foothills of Yinshan Mountain, and then began the difficult journey.
of climbing over.
In order to leave enough time for Li Xian and his party, and to allow the soldiers to get sufficient rest before the battle, Li Tai arranged the attack two days later.
During the past two days, while his troops were resting, he had also been observing the enemy's activities in the camp opposite. Unfortunately, he did not have the opportunity to inform Yang Zhong and Li Yunxin on the opposite side. However, both of them were experienced generals.
, after the attack is launched, they will definitely be able to coordinate operations in time.