The ancient silk road leading to Asibulai City is located to the west of Qianquan Mountain, which is a branch of the Tianshan Mountains. Looking from a distance, the entire mountain peak has many folded cliffs, causing the snow on the mountain to be cut off into streaks of snow.
It looks like a thousand waterfalls pouring down from the top of the mountain, so it is named Qianquan Mountain.
The slope at the foot of the mountain has been trampled by business travelers all the time, and there is even exposed rock on the ground. It is hard and reddish brown. The weathered rock fragments are scattered on the road. The edges are so sharp that they can almost cut the horseshoes.
There was a light rain in the morning, but it was quickly dried up and evaporated by the sun. Thousands of troops and horses stepped on the ancient road, kicking up bursts of dust. Although the smoke and dust did not cover three thousand miles, there was still some ground for a few miles.
Li Siye tore off a piece of the hem of his middle coat, tied it around his mouth as a mask, and walked in such dust. Before he reached the city of Ashbula, he was full from just eating dirt.
The earthen city wall made of rocks and rammed earth appeared in sight, and what was floating on the top of the city was the flag of Bahna Khan.
Everyone quickened their pace and soon arrived in front of the city gate. The city gate of Ashbulai was wide open, and the tooth flag of the Khan of Bahna was placed in front of the city gate. The Khan and his entourage formed a military formation to welcome the people who came from afar.
Tang Jun.
Fumeng Lingcha got off his horse, greeted each other with Bahna Khan Asilanda, and asked about the situation ahead.
"Did the Khan encounter any resistance when he entered the city?"
Ashilanda nodded and said: "There are only merchants and residents in the city, and they have never encountered an army. I'm afraid the same is true for Kulan City ahead. According to my guess, Erwei Special Qin has reduced its troops and concentrated them all in Talas City."
"It is true," Fumeng Lingcha stroked his beard and said: "According to internal rumors in Tuqishi, Erwei Teqin is not as talented or famous as his brother Fire-Tumbling Immortal Khan. From this, it can be inferred that he collected the people in Talas City.
I'm afraid the tribe is not as good as Suiye City."
"If that's the case, that's not bad. I hope we can reduce the number of killings as much as possible."
"People should be sent into the city as soon as possible to check the truth."
The two exchanged a few words briefly, and Asilanda took the initiative to step back half a step, bowed and said, "Please invite General Fumeng to enter the city."
Fumeng Lingzha also stretched out his hand to invite: "Khan please."
Ashilanda: "General Fumeng invites you."
"Khan please go first."
"The general should invite you first."
Fumeng Lingcha smiled with a blushing face, reached out and grabbed Asilanda's arm and said: "You and I are allies, regardless of priority, the two of us will enter the city together."
After saying that, the two laughed at the same time and walked side by side through the doorway. Li Siye stood in the distance and looked at it, feeling that the most appropriate way for Fumeng Lingcha to get along with the small country in the Western Region was not to be arrogant and domineering like a suzerain empire. Even if he wanted to
When you make people work for you, you should treat them well. Courtesy is the least expensive thing to do, and it is also the best thing to do.
The army rested in the city for a night and advanced to Julan City on the next day. As Asilanda had guessed, there was no Tuqishi army stationed in the city.
Fumeng Lingcha ordered all the regiments of the three armies to conduct a major rest and reorganization. All the logistics and baggage teams stopped and camped in the city to prepare dry food for fifteen days. The non-combatants were required to stay and were reduced to a team of 5,000 people.
Twenty-five regiments, with six regiments as the central army, a total of 1,200 people, and four regiments each as the left and right Yuhou armies, with 800 people in each army. The remaining 2,800 people formed the left, right and front armies.
It forms a small six-flower formation. This can be regarded as a sparrow that is small but has all the internal organs.
Li Siye also took the opportunity to let the fire head in the group fry fried noodles and make compressed biscuits to supplement the dry food consumed in the previous days. He also made a lot of Hu biscuits to change the taste.
The origin of Hu cake is likely to come from dry food for marching. Naturally, the cakes in the army cannot be as exquisite as the cakes in the city. The flour ground from various crops is kneaded into dough. There are not many requirements for cooking utensils. A piece of iron
If there is no iron plate, even the stone slabs in the wilderness can be used as cooking utensils.
The starry night had fallen, and Fumeng Lingcha, leading the Yuhous and guards of each army, and Bahna Khan Asilanda were discussing in the tent the attack on Talas City.
Before that, it is necessary to know the specific number of troops in the city, the morale of the army, the general's intelligence, etc. As the saying goes, know yourself and the enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. This is a very simple truth, but over thousands of years, there have been many tragic defeats like this.
At a loss.
Ashilanda was the first to say: "You Han people are very different from the local Sogdians and Turks in appearance. Why don't I select the strongest warriors from the tribe to pretend to be traders and enter the city to find out the enemy's situation and then report back."
Fumeng Lingcha handed over his hand and said, "In that case, I'd rather trouble the Khan to send someone to go there."
That night, Ashilanda Khan selected ten people and selected the marching camels, dressed them up as a Sogdian caravan, and headed from Kulan City to Talas.
…
The army has been stationed in Julan City for three days, and small groups of cavalry are sent out to patrol around every day, hoping to catch a few cavalry to serve as scouts and obtain some intelligence.
Li Siye volunteered to lead a ranger group. He selected a dozen veterans from the regiment who were skilled in bow and horse, and ran out of the city at a gallop.
He was actually bored in the city and hadn't had any meat for more than a month. He might as well take this opportunity to go out and hunt two antelopes and roast them for a taste.
They cruised along the valleys on the branches of Qianquan Mountain. The mountains were green and grassy, with mountain springs flowing through them. Occasionally, there were a few animals jumping on the rocks.
There are many sharpshooters in the Eighth Regiment, ranging from generals to ordinary soldiers, each armed with a short crossbow or horn bow. The Anxi Army's training requirements for soldiers also require them to be proficient in the use of three weapons, including knives, bows, and spears.
Li Siye was not a top player in bows and crossbows, so he led everyone to hunt down, and he couldn't even touch half of the sheep's horns. He couldn't help but murmur in his heart. He thought to himself that these soldiers really didn't have any eyesight at all.
No wonder I can't get promoted.
They set up firewood by the river, and the soldiers took off their daggers from their belts, skinned and washed the sheep by the river, applied the salt they brought with them, and roasted them on the fire.
The roasted leg of lamb didn't look very good. One part was black and the other was yellow. The traces of smoke were too heavy. It seemed that the brown roasted leg of lamb in the TV series had deceived him for many years.
The two soldiers took the initiative to offer the roasted leg of lamb to him and Tian Zhen. Li Siye felt a little satisfied and took a bite. Although the smell was too strong, the taste was still acceptable.
After killing the two sheep, Li Siye ordered everyone to put out the bonfire and get up to search on the flat mountain road. Coming out would improve their lives, but they couldn't forget about business.
They rode forward for more than ten miles, not to mention the scouts with the surname Hei Tuqishi, not even a ghost. The red sun on the horizon had turned golden, and cast golden light along the mountains.
Li Siye set up a pergola and took a look in the distance, sighing that the sunset was infinitely beautiful, but it was almost dusk. He then pulled the reins, turned the horse's head and said: "I'm not lucky today. I didn't meet the black horse named Tuqishi. I'm going back to the city."
Go, remember to wipe the oil from your mouth before entering the city, so as not to make your colleagues jealous."
"Why?"
Tian Zhen suddenly stopped reining in his horse, pointed into the distance and asked, "What do you think that is?"
Li Siye followed his hand and looked towards the past. There was a faint trace of smoke and dust on the horizon in the distance. If you didn't look carefully, you wouldn't be able to tell what it was.
He put his legs under the horse's belly, waved his hand and said, "Let's go over and have a look!"
More than a dozen riders galloped forward, and the smoke in the distance gradually enlarged. There was a spot in the smoke, no, there were more spots moving forward. Since they were facing the sun, their focus could only distinguish to this extent.
When he was three miles away from the other party, he could see it clearly. A camel was running fast in front of him, and a dozen horses were chasing him behind. The horseman wearing leather armor made a threatening sound.
.
Li Siye was surprised. The camel was running very fast, not inferior to horses at all.