Lin Ye reined in his horse, raised his clairvoyance and looked ahead, and then ordered the entire army to rest.
The Kitano Army was right in front, and the distance between the two sides was not that far.
The number of cavalry of the Beiye Army was not enough to deter the cowardly army. Of course, Lin Ye would not rush in and fight so recklessly.
One walked and the other followed, not fighting, but just keeping such a distance, and there seemed to be some tacit understanding that made people feel heavy.
The map in Lin Ye's hand no longer has much meaning. This is the southwest of Dongbo, and it is also the most wild place in Dongbo.
This place is so remote and wild that there is only one county, but its county area is equivalent to at least six or seven counties in the prosperous Dongbo area.
Generally speaking, people who commit serious crimes in Dongbo will be sent here to work on wasteland.
Going southwest from here, you will reach at least 700 miles of desert without any human habitation.
After walking these seven hundred miles, you can enter a small country in the Western Region called Zhuhu.
Because the Western Region is located on a plateau, there is far more desert than green space, so basically no crops can be grown.
Fortunately, it is deserted enough, so no one wants to knock this place down.
Even though Tuoba Lie has no advantage at all now and looks down and out, he somehow seems to fit in with that place.
With the 60,000 Beiye elites in his hands, he should be able to plow a small country like Zhuhu several times.
This depends on whether he is satisfied or not, whether he accepts his fate or not.
The official map of Dongbo is very unclear, because there are many mountains and dense forests here, and it is difficult for many people who have always lived in the deep mountains and old forests to count.
According to the current itinerary, Lin Ye estimated that Tuoba Lie's leading team had arrived at the county seat by now.
This place is called Fuyuan County. Even if it were placed in Dayu, this county would rank among the top three in terms of geographical size, but in terms of population, it might rank at the bottom.
It is impossible to get the food and grass needed by Tuoba Lie's army here. If the people here do not get the food allocated by the Dongbo court every year, they may be hungry for a long time.
"General."
Xu Haoran asked: "It seems that Tuoba Lie is leaving the Western Region and does not dare to go further south."
Lin Ye didn't say anything, but he didn't believe that Tuoba Lie would give up so easily. If he gave up, something would be wrong.
Moreover, Tuoba Lie knew Emperor Jade better than anyone else. If Tuoba Lie was within the Emperor's plan, it would be useless for him to escape to the ends of the earth.
If Dongbo failed to defend the capital and Tuoba Lie occupied Xiantang, Emperor Jade might let him live for a few years and let him fight against the Loufan people.
"Send a scout over to take a look."
After Lin Ye gave the order, he found a relatively clean place to sit down and rest.
But at this time, Tuoba Lie couldn't rest.
"Report!"
The scouts ahead sent back news, and it was not good news.
"General."
The scout said in a slightly panicked tone: "On the wall in Fuyuan County ahead, it looks like there are a lot of defenders. The city gates are tightly closed, and the city wall has obviously been heightened and reinforced."
Tuoba Lie asked: "Is there a Dongbo border military flag on the city wall?"
The scout replied: "No...the flags on the city wall are very messy, and they don't look like people from Dongbo."
"Um?"
Tuoba Lie frowned slightly, then urged his horse forward, he wanted to see for himself.
Arriving not far from Fuyuan County, Tuoba Lie raised his clairvoyance and observed for a while, the more he looked, the deeper his frown deepened.
Judging from the messy flags on the city wall, the people guarding the southwest border city of Dongbo are indeed not Dongbo people, but people from the Western Regions.
After thinking for a moment, Tuoba Lie immediately urged his horse towards the county seat, and his personal guards quickly followed.
When he arrived at the city, Tuoba Lie looked up and saw that the defenders on the city wall all had faces from the Western Regions.
"I am Tuoba Lie, the general of Dayu's border army. I have been ordered to put down the rebellion. I want to leave from here. You open the city gate!"
Tuoba Lie raised his head and shouted.
A Western Region general with a beard shouted loudly: "General Tuoba, go back, we can't let you out here."
Tuoba Lie said: "How dare you stop me?"
The general of the Western Regions said: "Half a year ago, we received the order from Emperor Yu, and ordered our seven-nation coalition to send troops here to seize the Fuyuan border. No matter who wants to leave from here, they are not allowed, especially you, the general."
Tuoba Lie's heart tightened. When he saw the people from the Western Regions on the city wall, he had already guessed that it was the emperor's arrangement. But when he heard the answer, he was still shocked.
With his careful planning, this was certainly a retreat.
So starting a few years ago, Tuoba Lie always thought about this southwest border pass that the Dongbo court often forgot about.
Tuoba Lie sent people here and bribed the guards and officials of Fuyuan Pass with heavy sums of money.
Now it seemed that the escape route he had planned so hard was blocked by the emperor's random decree. Everything he could think of, the emperor had thought of.
The emperor could not trust the people of Dongbo, so he would not send anyone to deliver orders to the generals in Fuyuan.
With just one word, he can get the seven countries in the Western Region to jointly send troops.
Others can't do it, but he can, because he is the Son of Heaven, the common ruler of the world, and the Holy Emperor in the eyes of all the countries in the Western Regions.
The emperor did not even need to say what benefits he would give to the people of the Western Regions, he gave the order directly, and the countries in the Western Regions did not dare to show any slights.
The Seven Kingdoms Alliance's army is estimated to be no more than 100,000 people, but it is enough to defend this Fuyuan Pass.
The bearded general shouted: "General, please go back. If there is a fight, the general may not be able to successfully capture this place."
Tuoba Lie sat on the horse and said nothing, just looked up.
There was fear of him in the eyes of those people, but they were even more afraid of Emperor Jade.
Compared to their country, Dayu was too big, like an ancient beast, while they were as weak as ants.
Tuoba Lie rode his horse back, but he couldn't rush out here. According to his speculation, it wouldn't take half a month for the team dispatched by Emperor Jade to come up from behind.
What's more, there is always a dog-skin plaster following the team, and they can't get rid of it.
Tuoba Lie's general Xiao Jindong asked for orders: "General, my subordinates are here to attack Fuyuan Pass. They will be able to break it within three days."
General Yan Dongzhi said: "General, leave Lin Ye's cavalry behind to my subordinates."
Tuoba Lie still didn't say anything.
He does still have 60,000 elites in his hands, but how could they bring heavy siege equipment with them when they left Xiantang City?
To put it nicely, they are retreating; to put it more bluntly, they are running for their lives.
Who needs to carry a ladder, a carriage, or a battering ram when escaping?
"Detour south."
Tuoba Lie gave the order in a heavy tone, which made his subordinates a little unwilling.
"Report!"
At this time, another scout came back from the south and rushed towards Tuoba Lie.
"General, if we find enemy troops fifty miles due south, raise the flag of Xiangshan Camp."
These words startled everyone, even though they were generals who had experienced hundreds of battles, they were frightened by this sudden change and became nervous.
Tuoba Lie was also shocked, because just now, he had speculated that it would take about half a month for the imperial army to catch up with him.
The soldiers and horses of Xiangshan Camp returned to Yunzhou under the emperor's order, but they did not enter Dongbo from Yunzhou.
Instead, head northwest from Yunzhou and wait for Tuoba Lie to come here.
The Xiangshan Camp can be called the Forbidden Army without a Forbidden Army designation, and it is the strongest soldier who defends Geling.
There are at least 100,000 troops in Ning Shehai, and they are waiting for work here.
"Report!"
Another scout came from the east, and his expression looked even worse than that of the scouts who came back from that way.
"General!"
The scout panted and said: "An enemy army was found fifty miles due east, and the flag of General Ning was raised. I don't know where the soldiers and horses came from."
The scouts were not sure, but Tuoba Lie was sure who else could it be besides the famous female general Ning Haitang.
No wonder these two armies never arrived at Liyang City. They had been waiting here a long time ago.
They had already prepared a pocket, just waiting for Tuoba Lie to get in.
"Report!"
Another scout came back, flew up to Tuoba Lie, clasped his fists and said, "General, enemy troops have also been spotted in the northeast. Looking at the flags, there should be no less than 80,000 troops."
There are more than 10,000 people in the army. It is not that difficult to judge the size of this team.
It's just not clear who leads this army and where it comes from.
Tuoba Lie had just arrived in Fuyuan and had already entered the pocket array set up by the emperor.
"General, do you want to break out from behind?"
Yan Dongzhi clasped his fists and said: "My subordinates can lead the cavalry to clear the way for the general. The only pursuers behind us are Lin Ye's cavalry battalion. Lin Ye probably wouldn't have guessed that we would counterattack at this time."
Tuoba Lie thought for a moment and nodded: "Go ahead."
Yan Dongzhi took the order and hurried back to his cavalry camp. This battle was really a matter of life and death.
If they can kill Lin Ye's team, the Beiye army can retreat and find another chance to break through.
If we don't hit the forest leaves, we will definitely be surrounded from all sides in this poor place.
However, not long after returning from the winter solstice, I received news that a cavalry team was coming from the other direction and had joined Lin Ye's cavalry.
Now, the blocking force of the rear team was no longer just Lin Ye's seven or eight thousand troops.
Behind Beiye Army, twenty miles.
A young general, who looked to be in his twenties or seventies, rode up to Lin Ye.
He looked Lin Ye up and down. He couldn't say he was very polite. The cold and arrogant aura of this man was enough to make people feel uncomfortable.
"General."
The man crossed his fists.
Lin Ye cupped his fists and asked in return, "Excuse me, who are you?"
In terms of appearance, this young man is not inferior to Lin Ye. His sharp-edged eyebrows are the most eye-catching, and his face is a bit colder and arrogant.
"My name is Xumi Jinghong."
The young man said: "According to the emperor's order, we prepared to build the Qilin Guard in the Western Regions three years ago. We obtained 40,000 war horses from the Western Regions and trained our troops for three years. Now, the Qilin Guard has 28,000 elite cavalry here waiting for the arrival of the general."
He looked at Lin Ye: "Half a year ago, I received the emperor's order to lead the army out of the Western Regions and waited for the general here. I have been waiting here for three months."
Lin Ye turned his head and looked at the cavalry team behind Xumi Jinghong, and there was something obviously different.
The war horses of the Western Regions are taller and look more majestic than the war horses of Dongbo Gongxian.
The war horses presented to Dayu by the Dongbo nomadic tribe were relatively small in size, but Lin Ye had also heard that the war horses in the Western Regions were more explosive and charged faster, while the war horses in Dongbo had better endurance and were more suitable for long distances.
Three years ago...
Three years ago, the emperor secretly selected such a young man to train cavalry in the Western Regions.
Three years ago...
At least three years ago, the emperor deduced the situation and calculated that Tuoba Lie would arrive here.
Suddenly, Lin Ye's mood became extremely complicated.
Xumi Jinghong said: "The emperor ordered that after I arrive here, my cavalry will be under the control of the general."
He looked at Lin Ye and asked: "General, when will we attack?"
This young man's aura, even if he doesn't release it intentionally, is as cold as a blade.
Lin Ye knew that the emperor was always looking for outstanding young people to train, but he didn't know too much.
More than ten years ago, General Liu Jigong delivered a memorial to the emperor.
This memorial contains thousands of words and is a thick volume, but it only says one thing.