Hearing Temur's words, Kuaibai felt his eyes go dark and his body swayed twice, almost as if he didn't fall off his horse.
During this expedition, what Kuaibai was most worried about was his own camp. There, he kept the gold and silver treasures he brought from Ningxia City, as well as thousands of herdsmen in the tribe and their cattle and sheep. These properties and the herdsmen
, is his capital and the foundation for his survival and development on the grassland.
After learning the news that Kuai Chengen was killed in battle, Kuaibai had the intention to quit. He realized that Xiao Ruxun was a difficult opponent to deal with. He had not yet accumulated enough strength. If he wanted to fight against Xiao Ruxun, he would not be able to fight against him.
What a chance of winning. He made a prompt decision and left Tu Wenxiu to stop Xiao Ruxun. He led more than 3,000 people out of the mountain in a hurry. The purpose was to return to the camp, pack up his treasures, and then threaten the herdsmen and flee further to the grassland.
Avoid Xiao Ruxun's sharp edge.
Who would have expected that the camp would have been lost before he even left Helan Mountain.
"Tell me quickly, how did the camp get lost? Which tribe's people took advantage of the heart of a bear and the guts of a leopard, and dared to attack my head while I was away!" Kuai Bai roared.
"It's not us Tatars, it's the Ming army..." Temur replied.
As if to testify to Temur, a loud "boom" sound suddenly came from the front of the team, followed by the sound of musket fire like exploding beans. A soldier from the forward troop ran back panting and reported: "
Report to the prince that the Ming army has blocked the mountain pass and we can’t get out!"
"Where did the Ming army come from? Why didn't I get a report!" Kuaibai looked around in surprise, his mind going blank.
The story has to start when Kuaibai led his army to Luyugou to intercept Xiao Ruxun's troops.
When Kuaibai left the camp, Temur was left behind with five hundred soldiers as guards. Temur was a serious man. After sending Kuaibai away, he distributed his soldiers around the camp and made arrangements.
The order of patrol requires all soldiers to maintain a high degree of vigilance day and night.
Everything was normal on the first day. The herdsmen drove their cattle and sheep to graze around as usual. After dark, they returned to the camp, ate and slept, without feeling any danger coming.
Early the next morning, when it was just dawn, a burst of rapid horse hoofbeats suddenly came from the east, heading towards the camp of the Kuaibai tribe. After receiving the report from the sentry, Temur came outside the camp with his clothes on.
Just then, seven or eight cavalrymen in Tatar costumes rushed to the camp.
"Stop, who is it!" Temur shouted loudly, and at the same time ordered his subordinates to draw their bows and arrows, aiming at the uninvited guests ahead.
"Don't fire arrows, it's one of our own!" shouted the leader of the cavalry on the opposite side.
"One of our own? Why haven't I seen you?" Temur asked.
The leader said: "I am the leader Hasullah. The day before yesterday, I went to Luyugu with Prince Kuaibai to stop the Han people."
"Chief Has'ullah?" Temur had some impressions of this name. Some time ago, he kept asking the surrounding tribes to surrender to him, and one of them was the Has'ullah tribe. The other party spoke Tatar very fluently, obviously.
They are not pretended to be Han people.
"Since you went to fight with the prince, why did you come back?" Temur asked.
Hasullah shouted in an anxious tone: "Something serious has happened. The prince and his troops were ambushed by the Ming army as soon as they entered the mountain pass. The young prince and General Tu Shen were surrounded by the Ming army in a ditch and are now fighting hard. Ming Dynasty
The vanguard of the army has bypassed our army, broken through the mountain pass, entered the grassland, and will arrive here soon. I came back specially to report to you."
"What? The prince was ambushed by the Ming army!"
Before Temur could say anything, all the surrounding soldiers were stunned by the news.
"Oh no, the prince is surrounded by the Ming army!"
"Did you hear that the prince was killed in battle?"
"The Ming army has passed Helan Mountain and is heading this way!"
"The Ming army committed murder, arson, and all kinds of evil..."
In just the blink of an eye, the terrible news brought by Has'ullah spread throughout the entire Kuabai tribe. Some people rushed to the camp to hear the news from the messenger with their own ears. More people began to pack up their belongings.
, ready to escape.
"Don't be chaotic, calm down!" Temur was beating a drum in his heart. It was the first time for him to take on such an important task, and he encountered such a huge change. He didn't know how to deal with it for a while. He subconsciously said
Has'ullah asked: "Chief Has'ullah, didn't the prince ask you to bring any message?"
Hasiullah said: "I had no chance to see the prince at all. Before the Ming army surrounded me, I took a few of them and ran out quickly. If I had been slower, maybe I would have become the Ming Dynasty like the prince now.
The army has made dumplings. You are the guard of the camp, right? What are you waiting for now? How many men and horses do you have? Hurry up and order them all, and go rescue the prince."
"I only have 500 armored men under my command. Even if I bring them over, I'm afraid it will only be a drop in the bucket." Temur replied.
"There are only five hundred soldiers in the camp?" Hasullah asked in disbelief.
"Yes, the prince has taken away the main force." Temur said honestly.
"If I had known this, why would I be talking nonsense to you!" A rider beside Hasullah muttered, and Temur could tell that this man actually spoke Chinese.
"You are Han!" Temur exclaimed.
"I am Deng Kui, an officer in the survey camp!" the rider shouted, urging his horse forward, pointing the big gun directly at Temur's chest.
"My life is over!" Temur quickly dodged, and the tip of Deng Kui's spear grazed Temur's ribs. Temur was shouted out from his sleep, and he had neither armor nor weapons.
Knowing that he could not fight against Deng Kui, he could only drive his horse to escape into the camp desperately.
Many soldiers of the Kuaibai Army were a little doubtful about the news that Kuaibai was besieged at first. But now they saw the real Ming army appeared in front of them, and no matter how much doubt they had, they disappeared. The commander was surrounded by the Ming army, and everyone in the camp
The general fled without fighting. These ordinary soldiers had no fighting spirit. They all turned around and ran wildly behind Temur.
At this time, behind Deng Kui and others, thousands of cavalry came galloping, including the Ming army led by Hu Zizi and Xiong Minyang, as well as the Tatar cavalry from the Hasulla tribe. After several days of running in, these
The Tatar cavalry and the Ming army had formed an alliance. Everyone shouted in unison and rushed into the Qibai tribe camp.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The Ming army's grenades continued to explode in the camp, knocking Temur's soldiers to their knees. The cavalry of the Hasulla tribe waved their sabers and hacked and killed these Kuaibai warriors mercilessly.
I don't know how many Ming troops came, but I didn't have the courage to turn around and resist. They just ran away desperately, only regretting that the horses under their crotches were missing a few hooves.
As for the herdsmen in the Kuaibai tribe, they have lived on the grassland for generations and have never seen even ordinary firearms, let alone such grenades that sound like thunderbolts. Amidst the bursts of loud noises, the herdsmen fell to their knees one after another.
He lowered his head to the ground, kept chanting the names of gods and Buddhas, and did not dare to take any hostile actions.
The Ming army and Hasulla tribe cavalry entered from the east of the Kuaiba tribe camp and reached the far west of the camp without encountering any obstacles. Temur escaped from the camp with dozens of cavalry, and the rest of the Kuaibai tribe
Except for the dead and wounded, the remaining soldiers abandoned their weapons and knelt down to ask for surrender.
Deng Kui commanded his men to tie up the surrendered soldiers of the Kuaibai Army one by one, and then began to recruit the herdsmen of the Kuaibai tribe. The cavalry of the Has'ulla tribe were more experienced in doing this kind of thing. They rode horses and waved broadswords.
After wandering back and forth in front of the herdsmen for a few times, the herdsmen recognized them as their new masters. On the grassland, if a tribe's team was wiped out by other tribes, then the old men, women and children in the tribe who had no fighting ability would be killed.
It is common for everyone to become the slave of the other party.
After Temur and others escaped, they didn't know where to go. Temur ran for a while and his mind began to calm down. He thought that since Hasullah was in cahoots with the Ming army, what he said before
If so, it may not be the real situation. Maybe Kuaibai was not surrounded, and these Ming troops just detoured from other places, and they fell into the opponent's scheme.
Thinking of this, he decided to rush to Helan Mountain Pass to find out the truth. If Kuaibai was really besieged or even killed, he would flee far away and go to other tribes. If Kuaibai was not besieged,
He could at least send a message to Kuai Bai and let Kuai Bai lead his troops back to recover the camp.
In this way, Temur took dozens of horsemen around him in a big circle and came to the Helan Pass. He walked along the valley and met Kuaibai leading his army coming out of the valley, so he went up
The process of reporting the loss of camp beforehand.
Speaking of Deng Kui, after capturing the Kuaibai camp, he left a small group of troops to help Hasullah integrate the Kuaibai tribe, and he led the rest of the people to rush to the Helan Pass. That is, together with Temur, he
During the gap, Deng Kui's troops also entered the valley where Kuai Bai left.
Hearing the sound of horses neighing from the people in front, Deng Kui guessed that the Kuai worshipers were coming out of the mountains. He immediately ordered everyone to cut down tree branches on both sides and block the mountain road. Then he led his troops to climb up the hillsides on both sides and finished the work.
Preparation for attack.
Although the vanguard of the Yibai Army had heard from Temur that the Ming Army was active on the grasslands, they did not expect that the Ming Army would enter Helan Mountain so quickly and block their retreat. They hurried out of the mountain and ran into it.
The ambush circle set up by Deng Kui. When Deng Kui gave an order, the Ming army on both sides fired grenades, muskets, and bows and arrows. The forward of the Bai army was caught off guard, and seventy or eighty dead bodies were dropped in an instant. The remaining troops retreated quickly, not daring to do so.
Move on.
"Your Majesty, the Ming army has powerful weapons and has blocked our retreat. What should we do?" The leader of the forward team came to Kuaibai injured and asked for instructions.
"The Ming army wants to attack us from both sides and put us to death. Now if we stay a moment longer, we will be in more danger. At this time, we can only rush out to survive. Come on, pass on my order and leave it alone.
The firearms of the Ming army, rush out together!"
Kuai Bai made a desperate move and issued the order to break out. (To be continued.)