My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 668 The blow to morale
In the Battle of Qingshui River, Chang Wei wiped out more than 7000 enemies in one battle. Most of them were trampled or drowned, but only a few actually died at the hands of the Han army.

This battle also boosted the morale of the Han army. In contrast, after Timur's main army in the rear learned the news, Ulugh Beg, the general, was furious and immediately ordered the army to speed up. However, this incident This incident will inevitably affect the morale of the army under his command. Many people are secretly worried when talking about the Han army.

"Brother, everyone in the army is talking about the disastrous defeat of the former army. The Han army annihilated tens of thousands of us with only three thousand cavalry, and only more than 2000 remaining soldiers escaped. This has a great impact on our morale!"

In the tent of Timur's army, a bearded Turk said to the middle-aged man sitting at the head.

The middle-aged man was Shaharul's eldest son Ulugh Beg, and the bearded man who spoke was Ulugh Besunhu's third brother. The two brothers had been stationed in Samarkand before, and their relationship was quite good.

When Ulugh Beg heard his brother's words, he couldn't help frowning. Previously, he sent his confidant Toukan to lead 1 people as the vanguard, but he did not expect that not only was the opponent defeated miserably, but even Toukan was beheaded by the generals of the Han army.

The more than 2000 defeated soldiers who escaped back were all frightened. Some even said that the Han army was a devil. Although he ordered those who spread rumors to be beheaded in public, these rumors had shaken their military morale.

"What are the troops saying now?"

Ulugbo was silent for a long time, and finally raised his head and asked his brother.

"You can say anything, especially the Han army defeated the many with a small number. Even our cavalry was no match for them. Some of the defeated soldiers who were frightened and crazy even said that the Han army could fly if it grew wings, and could also be thrown down from the sky. Huo Lei, it’s just nonsense!”

At the end of the sentence, Bei Sunhu angrily slapped the table and said angrily.

Of course, he didn't know that when Chang Wei defeated their vanguard army, there were indeed hot-air balloons from the Han army in the sky, and he even joined in the fun by throwing some grenades down. As a result, they happened to be seen by the defeated soldiers who fled back, so the rumor turned into There are rumors that the Han army will fly into the sky.

"This big man comes from the same origin as the Ming Dynasty. We don't know much about them. When my grandfather went to the east, he died before reaching the border of the Ming Dynasty. However, according to the Mongolians in the east, the Ming army was indeed very powerful, especially with firearms. Extremely sharp, much stronger than Dayuan back then!"

When Ulugh Beg said this, he also frowned.

At first, their brothers were sent as envoys to the Ming Dynasty, but they only saw the prosperous side of the Ming Dynasty and did not come into contact with the Ming Dynasty's army. However, just from the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty's people, one can feel the power of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, in Ulugh Beg's heart, he actually did not want to be an enemy of the Han, but this time it was the Han who took the initiative to provoke them, and they had to fight back, otherwise the southeastern direction of the empire would become unstable.

"Brother, don't worry about whether the big man is really powerful. The most important thing for us now is to suppress the rumors in the army and stabilize the morale of the military. Otherwise, let alone the war, we may not even reach Peshawar. Our military morale It’s already broken!”

Beisun suddenly heard that his elder brother mentioned the power of Ming Dynasty, and he couldn't help but remind him with a wry smile.

"Yes, yes, third brother, you are smarter, but in this situation, there is nothing I can do about it, right?"

Ulugh Beg said helplessly with his hands spread out.

In history, Ulugh Beg was called the "scholar on the throne". He was very knowledgeable, built a very famous observatory, and was very capable in governing the place, but he did not achieve much in the military. On the contrary, his younger brother Beisunhu was a very outstanding general.

Therefore, Ulugh Beg was nominally the commander of this troop dispatch, but in fact the real commander was Besunhu.

"If it doesn't work, we can only increase the reward. When I first went to the Ming Dynasty as an envoy, I once learned an old saying from the Ming Dynasty, which is that under a heavy reward, there must be a brave man!"

Beisun suddenly said with burning eyes.

"A big reward? How about a big reward?"

Ulugh Beg still doesn’t understand the problem. The Timurid Empire already attaches great importance to military merit. After all, although they are Turkic Mongols, they also inherited the Mongolian system. Almost all the nobles in the country started their careers by relying on military merit. of.

"It's very simple. We just need to promise not to seal the sword within ten days after taking Peshawar, or even send troops directly to Tianzhu. Although Tianzhu is a bad place, it is still rich. As long as we allow our soldiers to loot, we will definitely make everyone Few people are willing to sacrifice their lives!”

Beisun suddenly said with a sinister look.

Looting and plundering after a great victory is also a Mongolian tradition, but it has only been since the founding of the Mongols. Otherwise, why would they develop from a small tribe into a large empire across Europe and Asia?At that time, the Mongols fought for money and military glory.

"Isn't this...a bit too cruel, especially since Peshawar is our territory?"

Ulugh Bo also showed a somewhat hesitant expression when he heard this. His character was more like a scholar, with a certain kindness that belongs to a scholar. This was also the main reason why he could not lead troops. "There is nothing cruel or cruel. As far as I know, the reason why Peshawar was occupied by the Han army so quickly was because the nobles in the city colluded with the Han. Since they have surrendered to the Han, they are our enemies. We must not treat the enemy in any way. Any mercy!"

Bei Sunhu insisted.

After hearing what his brother said, Ulugh Beg hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded and said: "Well, since you think this method is useful, then go for it, but after arriving in Peshawar, I still hope that you can exercise some restraint. If you can kill Tianzhu, then it’s up to you!”

In Ulugh Beg's heart, Tianzhu does not belong to Timur, and his kindness is only for the people of Timur's empire.

"Brother, don't worry, I will be careful!"

Besunhu said coldly, for him, as long as he can achieve his goal, no matter how high the price is, it is worth it.

Sure enough, when Besunhu spread the order in the name of Ulugh Beg to the entire army not to seal the sword after defeating the Han army, the entire Timur army's originally low morale suddenly cheered up.

The soldiers who were still discussing how terrifying the Han army were before started talking with gleaming eyes about the wealth of Peshawar and Tianzhu, and what was the difference between the women in the two places?
Feeling the morale of the army rising, Ulugh Beg and Besunhu also ordered to speed up the march and strive to reach Peshawar as soon as possible.

In fact, there was no need for them to give orders at all. The entire Timur army was in a hurry at this time, hoping to defeat the Han army as soon as possible. By then, the wealth and women of Peshawar and Tianzhu would all be theirs.

On this day, Ulugh Beg's army finally arrived at the Qingshui River, which was the only place to go to Peshawar. Their previous vanguard army was also ambushed by the Han army here, resulting in heavy losses.

Although Bei Sun suddenly felt that it was impossible for the Han army to repeat the old plan, for the sake of safety, when the army was crossing the river, he sent a dozen small teams to cross the river first, and then explored the surroundings to ensure that there was no ambush by the Han army around.

However, not long after the team was sent out, a team suddenly came back in panic to report that they found some "things" left by the Han army on the downstream river bank.

After Ulugh Beg and Besunhu confirmed that there was no danger on the other side, they crossed the river together, and then came to the other side of the river. They saw several hills standing here. To be precise, they should be hills built with human heads.

These heads were all from the vanguard army that had been defeated in the past. After their death, their heads were beheaded by the Han army, and a hill was built on the river bank, which is the "Jingguan" in the ancient books of the Central Plains.

When Ulugh Beg saw these densely packed heads, his vision went dark and he almost fell off his horse.

Bei Sun, who was next to him, had a gloomy expression on his face. He did not expect that the Han army would be so ruthless. They would just kill their people, but they would also chop off their heads and build them up like a hill. This was simply a naked intimidation to them.

"quack~"

A group of carrion birds circled around Jingguan, flying down from time to time, landing on people's heads and pecking at the flesh on their heads. The entire river bank was filled with a putrid smell. The double impact of sight and smell made people feel sick. .

"Wow!"

Ulugh Bet was the first to not hold back and vomited on his horse. Even some experienced soldiers turned pale with fright, and the horses couldn't help but retreat.

At this time, the following armies also crossed the river one after another. When they saw the Jingguan on the river bank, these people were also frightened. Many people even talked in low voices, and some soldiers even looked through the heads of the people. When relatives or friends arrived, they cried bitterly on the spot, and the atmosphere suddenly became sad and depressing.

"The whole army sets off, aiming for Peshawar!"

Besun suddenly felt that something was wrong in the atmosphere, and immediately issued an order. He was afraid that these heads would affect the morale of the army that had finally been boosted.

However, Beisunhu's reaction was still a little slow. The tragic situation in Jingguan had spread throughout Timur's army through the mouths of many soldiers. Especially those soldiers who had seen Jingguan with their own eyes spread the word even more The horror of the Han army.

Even after leaving the Qingshui River, the discussion about the Jingguan in the army continued. Although Besunhu ordered several times to prohibit the army from discussing this matter again, it had no effect at all. The sergeants were not only afraid of the Han army, but also It didn't get better, but got a little worse again.

Faced with this situation, Ulugh Beg once considered temporarily withdrawing his troops and letting the army recuperate for a period of time. After calming down the impact of Jingguan, it would not be too late to send troops again.

But after crossing the Qingshui River, we had actually entered the Peshawar area. It was already too late to retreat, so Besunhu was also very opposed to it. In addition, Besunhu had been angered by the Han army, and now he was full of food. It was out of revenge that he naturally refused to retreat.

So under this contradictory situation, the entire Timur army finally reached the gates of Peshawar. Zhu Gaoxu had reduced his troops and relied on the strong city to confront Ulugh Beg's army. Both sides were very cautious, and no one took the initiative to launch an attack.

(End of this chapter)