Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1637 Showdown!

After lunch, the two sides held another meeting, but the difference in their ideas was too great. Xun Ke said that he did not recommend a forceful attack, while Dari Achi wanted to launch a forceful attack. In the end, neither side could convince the other, so they could only choose a compromise plan.

The next morning, after breakfast, tens of thousands of Luobei soldiers went out of the camp and formed a battle line under the order of Dari Achi.

On the Daqian side, under Xun Ke's command, the army formed a battle line and pushed out dozens of artillery pieces that they carried with them.

The Cuman camp several miles away became alert when they saw the movement from the Daqian and Luobei coalition forces, and the soldiers came behind the camp wall fully armed.

Seeing that the battle array had been formed and all preparations were complete, Dariyachi said no more words and simply waved his hand. Tens of thousands of Luobi soldiers charged towards the distant Cuman camp amid howls.

After Luo Bi's soldiers charged, Daqian's soldiers also followed, pushing their artillery.

Makhachev, who was standing on the watchtower in the camp, observed through a telescope for a while, then said to Slutsky:

"The ones rushing in the front are all Luobi people! Those Central Plains people are following behind. It seems that the Central Plains people and Luobi people are not of the same mind!"

"This is where we can take advantage. If we put enough pressure on them, they will fall apart!"

Makhachev smiled and said:

"Then Slutsky, let your artillery put some pressure on these bastards first!"

"No problem! Our Roman's artillery is the best and can blow them all up into the sky!"

After saying this, Slutsky glanced at the adjutant beside him, and the adjutant immediately took out two small flags and pointed them towards the artillery position on the uphill slope.

The artillery positions that received the order immediately began to adjust the firing parameters. A moment later, with a short Roman word, one shell after another hit the charging Robe cavalry.

These shells landed on the charging Luo Bi cavalry, immediately causing countless shock waves. Dozens or hundreds of Luo Bi cavalry were torn to pieces along with their horses in an instant. In addition to those who were directly killed by the explosion, dozens of Luo Bi cavalry were hit by shrapnel from the broken shells and lay on the ground wailing in pain.

Seeing their brothers, friends, and neighbors falling in a pool of blood, none of the Robe people stopped. They continued to charge towards the Cuman camp.

Although the Cumans' artillery bombardment caused considerable casualties to the charging Robe cavalry, the commander Dariachi did not even blink an eye. However, when the charging team entered the range of three miles of the enemy camp, Dariachi looked at Xun Ke standing aside!
Xun Ke, however, remained expressionless. The Daqian soldiers who were charging with their artillery stopped immediately when they saw that the distance was almost right. The gunners also began to calculate the parameters of the artillery fire and then loaded the artillery with ammunition!
"put!"

At the command, Daqian's artillery began to roar, and more than 20 shells were fired towards the Cuman camp.

However, compared to the Roman artillery that fired shrapnel, the Daqian artillery fired solid bullets. The Kipchaks were a people from the grasslands, and they were good at mobile warfare. So even if they built a camp to resist the attack of the coalition forces, the camp they built was not very solid. When these solid bullets hit such a camp, several gaps were immediately made in the wall...

Dariyachi, who was observing the situation with a telescope from behind, was immediately surprised when he saw the enemy's wall being blown open. He immediately said to Dana beside him:

"The enemy's camp wall has been blown open! Send a message to Tumendeng Beile to lead the army to attack and try to capture the enemy camp today!"

"Yes!"

Compared to Dari Achi's surprise, Xun Ke on the side seemed very calm, and he didn't show any surprise at all because of the explosion of the enemy's stronghold wall.

Seeing Xun Ke's expression, Dariyachi could not help but speak:
"General Xun, your Daqian artillery is indeed powerful. I hope we can have dinner in the enemy camp tonight!"

Feeling the optimism in Dariyachi's words, Xun Ke was somewhat puzzled as to where Dariyachi's confidence came from, but he still echoed it on the surface:

"I hope so!"

While Dariachi and Xun Ke were talking, the Roman artillery also started an artillery battle with the Daqian artillery. Although the Roman artillery positions were high up and had the advantage of terrain, the Daqian artillery was able to compete with them with their higher military qualities!

On the watchtower of the Cuman camp, Slutsky watched as his side failed to gain an advantage in artillery, and his expression was no longer as relaxed as before.

Makhachev, who saw this scene, also said in a deep voice:

“The artillery of the Central Plains people and ours have their own merits, but their gunners are of high quality and can run and shoot very accurately…”

Hearing what Makhachev said, Slutsky said nothing and went straight to the artillery position on the hillside. Slutsky, who came from the artillery, now wanted to experience Daqian's artillery in person!

The artillery of both sides was fired back and forth, but as Xun Ke analyzed yesterday, with no advantage in numbers and artillery, the two sides soon fell into a stalemate. The Roman artillery, which had the advantage of terrain, gradually suppressed the Daqian artillery under the personal command of Slutsky.

The artillery was suppressed, and the ones who suffered were the Luobi soldiers who were charging in the front. Seeing the Luobi soldiers who were charging in the front falling one after another, Dari Achi, who had just been optimistic and wanted to have dinner in the Cuman camp, immediately became gloomy!
As the casualties gradually increased, the Luobi soldiers who had been fighting could no longer hold on. As the first person ran back, the second and the third followed one after another. A few seconds later, as the number of retreating people gradually increased, the Luobi people also retreated like a tide.

Makhachev, who was observing the battle from the watchtower, waved his hand and said:

"Attack! Hunt down the Robe people!"

Following Makhachev's order, the gate of the Cuman camp was opened, and thousands of Cuman soldiers rushed out to kill...
Seeing that the Kipchaks were about to kill him, Daryaqi ordered Dana to lead his troops to intercept the pursuing enemy troops while looking at Xun Ke.

Although Xun Ke rejected Dari Achi's proposal of a joint attack at the meeting yesterday, he only agreed that the Daqian army would provide artillery support for the charging Luo Bi soldiers today!

But at this time, Xun Ke did not insist on his promise of only providing artillery support yesterday, and immediately instructed Ye Zhengkun beside him:

"Take your men to stop this pursuing enemy force!"

"Yes!"

After receiving the order, Ye Zhengkun immediately led thousands of his troops to the battlefield. The Kipchaks who were originally chasing the Luobi people, seeing the Daqian troops entering the battlefield, also behaved very restrained and did not entangle with the Luobi people and Daqian, but withdrew to their own camp. With the help of Ye Zhengkun's troops, the Luobi people also withdrew smoothly.

Although the large army withdrew smoothly, Dariyachi was not happy at all after counting the casualties. In the battle that just ended, he deployed nearly 10,000 troops, but in just one attack, he suffered more than 900 casualties!
Although he felt very distressed, Dariyachi's expression remained very stern.

At this time, Xun Ke also came to Dariachi and preached very seriously:

"Prince, we have no advantage in manpower and artillery. It will be very difficult to capture the enemy's camp through a frontal assault!"

"We should be more flexible. Believe me, the Kipchaks don't just want to repel us, they want more!"

"As long as we retreat, the Cumans will definitely follow us! They won't let us go back so easily!"

"As long as it's a field battle, we have a chance of winning..."

In the face of Xun Ke's admonition, Dari Achi still asked the same question as yesterday.

"What if the enemy doesn't catch up?"

When faced with this question from Dari Achi at the meeting yesterday, Xun Ke did not give a clear answer, but emphasized that he believed the Cumans would follow!

But feeling Dari Achi's gaze at this moment, Xun Ke felt that he could no longer avoid this issue. He needed to confront Dari Achi on this issue!

Thinking of this, Xun Ke met Dari Achi's gaze and said:

"If the enemy doesn't catch up, then we will retreat!"

Darachi was not at all surprised by Xun Ke's answer. He glanced at Xun Ke's somewhat sarcastic speech:

"General Xun, you finally spoke the truth from your heart! After all, you still want to withdraw your troops!"

"Grand Prince! The situation has reached a stalemate. We don't have many good opportunities to fight, and we have already penetrated deep into the heart of the Golden Horde. Our logistical supplies are running low!"

"We have already achieved certain results in this war. There is no need to continue!"

Seeing Xun Ke had revealed his true colors to him, Dariyachi no longer concealed his emotions and immediately said:
"General Xun, you are becoming more and more cowardly. Have you forgotten how you wiped out Jamukha back then?"

"Where did General Xun, who wiped out Jamukha, go? Did he disappear among the wine and beauties of Yijing?"

Hearing that Dari Achi started to attack him personally, Xun Ke was also a little angry, but reason made him stay calm and did not quarrel with Dari Achi...
Just when Xun Ke was thinking about how to persuade Dariyachi, Dariyachi started to speak:
"General Xun, one of your words just now is correct. It is difficult to capture the enemy's camp by frontal assault. So I plan to try a night attack tonight. Do you want to join us?"

Xun Ke heard this and advised:

"With our two armies facing each other, the surprise of a night attack has been largely lost. Even if we attack at night, it will be difficult to achieve good results!"

Just as Xun Ke was about to continue speaking, Dariyachi rudely interrupted him and said angrily:

"Xun, I've seen through it a long time ago! You don't really want to help us Luobei people! You're just a coward!"

"You Central Plains people have legs on your bodies! If you want to leave, I can't stop you! If you want to leave, just take your people and get out. We Robe people are all warriors, and we will fight the Cumans to the death!"

After making these harsh remarks, Dari Achi no longer paid any attention to Xun Ke, and simply turned his horse's head and headed backwards!

Looking at Dari Achi's leaving back, Xun Ke couldn't help but shook his head helplessly. Although Dari Achi was somewhat brave, his temperament was like a stubborn bull. Once he made up his mind to do something, he would not turn back until he hit the wall!

Although he had the urge to ignore Dari Achi and lead his troops back immediately, reason told Xun Ke that he could not do that. If he did so, the main forces of Dari Achi and Luo Bi would probably be lost here!

If the main forces of Darachi and Luobi were gone, the imperial court's strategy of maintaining a balance between the Luobi and the Cumans would fail. The Cumans who dominated the grassland would put increasing pressure on the imperial court in the north!

Therefore, considering the overall situation, he must not let the main forces of Dari Achi and Luo Bi be lost here. Thinking of this, Xun Ke also had a headache about how to persuade Dari Achi, this stubborn donkey...
·············
·············
Yijing, the Imperial Palace

In the morning, Ye Mingsheng dealt with memorials in the imperial study, and in the afternoon he went to inspect the factory. After working for four hours a day, he dragged his tired body back to the palace. Instinctively, Ye Mingsheng came to Pei Zhixiu's courtyard, ready to let Pei Zhixiu give him a good massage!
Especially the acupuncture points on the waist and legs. After walking in the factory for an afternoon, Ye Mingsheng felt sore in his legs. Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but sigh that he was not young anymore.

However, as soon as he entered the room, Ye Mingsheng saw the palace maid beside Pei Zhixiu sorting out some of Pei Zhixiu's jewelry.

Because Pei Zhixiu always wore plain makeup and rarely wore gold and silver like other concubines in the palace, Ye Mingsheng, who saw this scene, asked curiously:

"What are you doing?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, the maids were about to speak, but Pei Zhixiu came over and said first:

"Your Majesty, they are fine. It's just that these jewels have not been used for a long time. I took them out to have a look!"

Hearing Pei Zhixiu say this, Ye Mingsheng frowned slightly, but didn't say anything.

After dinner, Pei Zhixiu saw that Ye Mingsheng was a little tired, so she didn't let Jingxuan stay with Ye Mingsheng for too long, and then she started to massage Ye Mingsheng's legs.

Just as Ye Mingsheng was lying on the bed enjoying his lover's massage, Pei Zhixiu seemed to have noticed something, and immediately her slender hand was placed on Ye Mingsheng's wrist.

Feeling Pei Zhixiu's movements, Ye Mingsheng also opened his eyes. As soon as he opened his eyes, Ye Mingsheng saw Pei Zhixiu's serious expression...