Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

It didn't take much effort to sweep across the counties and prefectures in the southeast of Datong Prefecture. The military strength under King Melas of Qi was not weakened by the war. On the contrary, it increased greatly because of the large number of surrendered soldiers, from 30,000 to 45,000, including more than 3,000 elite Eight Banners cavalry.

"Mr. Chen, please draft a military report for me to present to my father, telling him that I intend to seize the whole territory of Shanxi while I am victorious. Haha, my brother is stuck at Guishui and can't move forward. This time I want to be the first one." At this time, Mailas had actually completed the task ordered by the Great Khan Lianhua to cut off the connection between the Qing army in Shanxi and the Qing army in Xuanfu. With his greatly increased strength, he was not satisfied with just such a small achievement. He also wanted to win a greater victory and show his face in front of his old father, so he thought of seizing the entire province of Shanxi. Although the idea is good, it is also very difficult. Before rescuing Beijing, Emperor Xihe Doni left behind 20,000 elite Eight Banners troops of Beile Shangshan, plus the Manchu, Mongolian and Han troops under the command of Shanxi Governor Bai Rumei, Taiyuan Town General Li Haoxian, and Red Banner Manchu Mele Zhangjing Chahatai, the total force reached 100,000. Even though the Wei army annihilated nearly 20,000 Qing troops in the battle to capture Hunyuan Prefecture and other places, the Qing army in Shanxi still had more than 80,000 people, which still exceeded the Wei army in terms of quantity.

"Your Highness, Shanxi is not only the gateway to Dadu, but also one of the rare fertile lands in the world. Shanxi banks are the best in the world, and the pseudo-Qing Dynasty has stationed many troops here. It is difficult to swallow it all in one go!" Chen Hongzhu kindly reminded him not to be proud.

Melas laughed. Shanxi's business was indeed developed. In recent years, major merchants donated a lot to the guards. The fact that he had money to expand his strength was also largely related to the merchants' filial piety. This made His Highness more determined to seize the entire province of Shanxi. He said word by word: "Cai Lu was able to capture the entire Henan province with a small army of 10,000 people. Now I have tens of thousands of troops, but am I not as good as a mere general? I should leave the Shanxi governor Ji Ji's troops to guard the newly captured prefectures and counties, and I will lead the army south."

"No, Your Highness, if you do not plan to go south, then so be it. But if you are determined to go south, you should put all your strength into it. Admiral Ji's subordinates are very elite, how can you divide them?" Chen Hongzhu frowned and said slowly: "Your Highness should make use of the strength of others and hand over the newly captured counties to E'linqin Batur. He is the general of Datong, and it is his job to guard the entire territory of Datong."

"Great!" Melas immediately understood what his confidant meant. E'linqin Batur was the queen's uncle and was not on the same page with him. Letting him stay in the newly occupied area would not only avoid dispersing his own forces, but also allow him to use the Qing army in Xuanfu to eliminate dissidents. It was really killing two birds with one stone.

"Even if Your Highness gathers all his troops, there are no more than 45,000 of them. It is better to join forces with Your Highness the King of Liao to take Shanxi together," Chen Hongzhu suggested again.

"Join forces with my uncle? His prestige is greater than mine. Wouldn't the credit for capturing Shanxi be taken by my uncle?" Melas hesitated.

"Your Highness, you are worrying too much! With the great merit of capturing Hunyuan and other counties, who can overshadow you? Moreover, the King of Liao is the brother of the Khan and your uncle. If you don't let him share some of the credit, I'm afraid not only the King of Liao, but even the Khan will be unhappy," Chen Hongzhu laughed.

Melas understood what he meant. He did not want to let the King of Liao share the credit because his own achievements were not great enough. Now that he has completed the task given by his father Khan to cut off the connection between the Qing troops in Shanxi and Xuanfu, he should give some credit to others to avoid being envied. The King of Liao is his uncle, who treats all the princes equally. He is a neutral faction with high power and should not be offended easily. He nodded silently and said, "I will write a letter to my uncle and ask him to lead his troops to Hunyuan Prefecture to join him."
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In the Liao Palace in Shuozhou City, Liao King Sumur was wielding a broadsword, looking very vigorous. Unlike many Mongolian men who like to grow long beards, this prince shaved his beard very short, looking neat and tidy. Although he looked handsome, his sword skills were really amazing, and every move was full of murderous intent. I don't know how many lives he had taken on the battlefield.

"Eqige, a letter from the King of Qi has arrived." She was dancing vigorously when her third son, the general Halaqi, came to her and took out a letter from his arms.

Ha Laqi sheathed his sword, opened his nephew's letter and read it. He said to Ha Laqi, "The second son asked me to lead the troops to Hunyuan Prefecture to join forces to conquer Shanxi. What do you think about this?"

Wars bring forth heroes. Like his elder brother, the Great Khan Lianhua, Sumur's three surviving sons are all extraordinary and have made military achievements. The second son, Nagat, was granted the title of Tucheng County Prince, the third son, Haraqi, and the fourth son, Qiaoji, were all granted the title of Generals of the State. Haraqi was calm, intelligent, and valued by his father. Seeing his father asking, he thought for a moment and said, "I think you should go. First, the Khan ordered the King of Qi to command all the troops in Shanxi. If you don't go, it would be a violation of the military order. Second, the King of Qi has already launched a war, but he asked Eqige to send troops to take Shanxi together. This is to show goodwill to you and to share the credit with you. If you don't go, it would be equivalent to offending the King of Qi. Third, if the King of Qi really seizes the entire territory of Shanxi, and you stop your troops in Shuozhou without any achievement, wouldn't you lose your prestige?"

"Well, it's just that the second son is very ambitious. What should I do if the prince misunderstands that my father and the second son are together?" There was no need to hide things from his son, so Su Mur expressed his concerns.

"Eqige is worrying too much. This is wartime, and it is common to fight together. How can we divide the camps because of this? And even if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has doubts, as long as the King of Qi is still there, he will not dare to offend you. Instead, he will work harder to win you over. By then, you can make friends with the Crown Prince on the one hand, and fight with the King of Qi on the other. You won't offend either side, so why worry?" Halaqi was confident.

"My son has really grown up!" Su Mur patted his son's shoulder with satisfaction and said with a smile: "In this case, you will take 5,000 soldiers to guard Shuozhou, and I will lead the army to meet the second son. After I leave, you have few soldiers, so you only need to defend the city tightly and don't go out of the city to fight." In fact, some days ago, because of the disadvantage in military strength, the King of Liao had been shrinking his troops, and took the initiative to give up Ningwu Pass and concentrate his troops to guard Shuozhou. Now there are only 5,000 soldiers left in Shuozhou, so he is naturally worried about his son's safety.

"Don't worry, Eqige. After you leave, I will seal the gates of Shuozhou and will never go out of the city to fight," Halaqi assured his father.

"In this case, we will set out tomorrow. You and I are about to part, so we should drink a lot." Su Muer was a wine lover, and that night he ordered wine to be served and drank with his son. The strong liquor did not interfere with the march of the prince at all. The next morning, he led the general Qiao Ji, the lieutenant general of the Pianguan Camp, Yang Fanglin, the guerrilla commander of Jiaocheng, Hui Chongde, the guerrilla commander of Lan County, and 10,000 soldiers to Hunyuan Prefecture.

"Pass on my military order. All soldiers and horses must stay in armor and saddles. We must reach Hunyuan Prefecture within five days!" Su Muer raised the whip in his hand, and his gentle eyes suddenly became fierce. (End of this chapter)