Late Tang

(Thanks to Jiuye Tianzi, ermaozhao, Duqi Xiaowei, Haizuotianxia, ​​and Wuren for their support!)

Holding the silver wolf-head handle of the scimitar hanging from his waist, A Baoji said with a wry smile: "At the beginning Li Jing attacked Liaodong from Fuhai, Shandong, but it didn't take long to take down Liaodong and Liaoxi. I remember facing Didn’t many people in the tribe say that the Qin army’s attack would directly beat the Qin army to the ground in the bitter cold of Liaodong?”

When Yelu Yanmu was still trying to answer his nephew's question, another cavalryman appeared in the thick fog, and he shouted at them immediately: "Yu Yue, Shali, please go to the commander's mansion of the Chinese army immediately."

"what's the matter?"

The Khitan wolf rider who reported the news shook his head, and the wolf-skin helmet on his head immediately shook accordingly.

"Yi Li Jin hastily summoned all the generals to discuss matters, and there is a big trouble."

"What's the trouble?"

"Qin people, the Qin people have increased their troops again. According to the news just received, the Qin people have sent a large number of troops to the northwest of us. It is said that there are 10,000+ troops, and there may be 20 horses."

A Baoji took a deep breath, feeling a surge of fear in his heart, the thing he was most worried about finally appeared.

Under the leadership of Yelu Yanmu, Abaoji and the knight galloped on the plain shrouded in white mist with his horse.

The Marshal of the Left Army of the Tribal Allied Forces, Khitan's actual No. 1, the father of the current Khitan Khan, is now the tenth time as Yelv Tiesai of Khitan Yili Jin, and he is 64 years old this year.He has a black beard, his eyes are still sharp, and he is full of the confident military style that can boast that he has served as the tenth Khitan military commander.He has a tall head and a big horse, with a thick back and a waist.When he was 12 years old, he officially followed his father to the battlefield with the tribal army, and captured nine enemy heads in his first battle. At the age of 13, in a great battle with the Shiwei people, he led his centurion, broke into the middle army of the Shiwei army, beheaded the general and captured the flag, and won unanimous praise and awards from all Khitan tribes. At the age of 15, he was officially promoted to When he was a commander of thousands, he had already become one of the few dozen or so commanders in the Khitan army.As early as 30 years ago, he had commanded a [-] Khitan coalition army.

This former Khitan warrior is now living in a big house made of ice and snow in the Mansion of Momo. In the cold winter, living in a house made of ice and snow is actually better than living in those wooden houses that are ventilated everywhere. Much warmer.But at this moment, the number one warrior in the hearts of the Khitan people had a serious expression on his face, and A Baoji even keenly noticed that his uncle's hands were trembling slightly.

A burly man fully clothed was standing on one side. He was the son of his uncle Tiela, Yeluqisi, the great king of Khitan Nanyuan.This is also a newly created official position after the Khitan has ended several chaos in recent years. They are the two deputies of Yi Lijin. The king of the North Court is in command of the Khitan tribe army, and the king of the South Court is in command of the slaves of other tribes under the Khitan tribes. An army composed of soldiers, prisoners of war, and mercenaries also commanded other tribal affairs.The power is great, and now it is occupied by the Tiela family, and his two sons are in charge.

Yeluqisi is not only the great king of the Southern Courtyard, but also one of the 24 chiefs of Khitan today.According to the old rules, among the twenty Khitan tribes, each tribe has a ten thousand head, who is generally held by the tribe's Yi Li Jin, who leads the tribe's soldiers and horses during wartime.As the most powerful Diela tribe, they have five ten thousand heads, except for one who is held by Yi Lijin of Dadie Liefu and Yili Jin of Diela tribe, there are four more.Yeluqisi was the youngest of the four chiefs of the Diela tribe. There were three more, namely Yelu Shilu, Yelu Satri, and Yelu Fu Guzhi.Now these three positions are occupied by Yelu Wansi and Yelu Yanmu, and there is one vacancy left. It is said that Yelu Tiela intends to choose between Yelu Abaoji, the son of Yelu Saci, and Yelu Huage, the son of Yelu Shilu.Whether it is Brother Hua or Abaoji, if they can be elected as Chief of Ten Thousand Commanders, they will become the youngest Chief of Ten Thousand Commanders in the history of Khitan.

Yeluqiu is the chief of ten thousand husbands, and he is also the chief of ten thousand cavalry.Under his command are [-] Diela cavalry, real Khitan cavalry.The grassland tribes have always been heavy cavalry and light infantry. In addition to the general cavalry, there are auxiliary soldiers, and finally infantry.In Khitan, not all cavalry, but also infantry.The infantry is basically served by slaves, prisoners of war, and other tribesmen.

Wanqichang, there are only eight in the entire Khitan.

Yeluqiu thought of a great king of the Southern Court, whose subordinates were mainly soldiers from tribes other than the Khitan, but he was a commander of ten thousand cavalry.It can be seen that this person is not simple. In fact, he is also the youngest Wanqi commander in Khitan in the past century. The most elite cavalry in the assassination department.

"Once upon a time, is your news reliable?"

Shi Ren Yili Jin Yelv Tiesha's lips were trembling slightly, and the two hands that were pressing on the table were also trembling.

"[-] new soldiers and [-] civilians have been gathering in Fuyu since autumn. Now, they are suddenly moving northward, approaching the Qin army in Da'an, where Nanshui and Sumoshui meet." Yelu Occasionally said with a flat expression.

"[-] new soldiers and horses, [-] civilian husbands." A Baoji's face became more and more ugly, shaking his head lightly. In this season, Qin Jun suddenly added so many soldiers and horses to Da'an behind them. Braving the bad weather to send troops has been able to fully reveal their intentions.They want to stabilize Daan's line of defense and trap them.

"Yi Li Jin!" A Baoji stepped forward and spoke loudly. "The general thought that we should break through the siege immediately, and we must disperse our soldiers and horses. It is best to disperse into small troops of about a thousand people to disperse the siege. The Qin people have completely blocked our rear passage, so even if we can survive this Winter, but there is still spring and summer. We can't wait for the best season of next autumn. In the current situation, it is completely impossible to defeat the Qin army in Bohai Sea. We prepared early in the morning, since we can't beat them , then we should retreat as soon as possible, and retreat now. Although it is risky, the Qin people can't stop us all. The army has a one-pot end that does not leak."

Yelu Tiela glared at Abaoji with some dissatisfaction, and the saddle in his hand slapped the ground with a slap.

"Chu Lizhi, you were extremely brave and famous in the Battle of Daibei, why, now you are possessed by the ghost of a coward, and I heard the words "retreat as soon as possible" from your mouth. It hasn't started yet. It's too early to tell who will win and who will lose between us and Qin Jun." His cousin, Yelu Hua, sneered at Abao.Brother Hua is eighteen years old this year, six years older than A Baoji, and he is also very brave, but there is a gap compared to A Baoji, who once made a big name in the Battle of Daibei, and his age has instead become his weakness.Right now, the two are competing for the position of the last ten thousand commander, so he is getting more and more at odds with this little brother.

"Yi Li Jin, it's not cowardly to make such a suggestion."

Brother Yeluhua refused to let him go, "Soldiers avoid fighting and only want to retreat. This is nothing but cowardice. Could it be courage?"

"Yi Lijin, please think about it carefully. Our tribal army is indeed very strong, but in the nine battles in autumn, we fought them desperately, but in the end we paid more than 10 casualties. Now, the Qin army is still fighting We are continuously replenishing soldiers, but we have no more soldiers to replenish. Among the remaining 20 people, there are less than [-] strong fighters who can fight, and all kinds of supplies are getting less and less. If this continues, the enemy will be more and more As we become stronger, we become weaker and weaker. The result is predictable. Our retreat at this time is not cowardice, but the timing. It is like a fist. When the fist is exhausted, the smart way is to immediately put the fist back Take it back, so that you will have strength when you hit it again. Let's retreat to our own territory, accumulate strength, and fight against the Qin army in the future. Yilijin, distance is the best defense. To deal with the attack of the Central Plains, our biggest The only weapon is for the enemy to advance and retreat. When they go deep alone and the food and grass run out, then we will besiege them like a pack of wolves, chase them, and annihilate them. This is our strength. We must not give up our strengths. , playing positional warfare with the Qin people here, a war of attrition. The last battle between the Central Plains and the North is a lesson from the past!"

Yelu Abaoji ignored Brother Yelu Hua, but Brother Yelu Hua was not willing to let him go at all, and continued with a very hurtful mocking smile, "Chu Lizhi, when did your mouth become bigger than your bow and knife? Li, I think you said so much, it was because you were beaten to the core by the Qin people during the Battle of Daibei."

Yelv Tiela glanced at the young commander of the guards and sighed, "Shali, do you know how bad the weather outside is? In this seasonal weather, don't say retreat, just march calmly. Countless people will freeze to death. Now you want us to abandon this sheltered camp, and you have to disperse the soldiers and horses into countless small teams to break through surrounded by hundreds of thousands of Qin people? There are interceptions in front, and pursuers in the back , there is fog and heavy snow, cold wind and severe cold, do you know how thick the snow outside is now? In some places, when a horse steps on it, it goes directly over the horse's belly. In such a season, we don't need the Qin people to chase and intercept us. Most of them froze to death. Shali, you must know that our coalition forces are not all soldiers, but there are still many women, children, old, weak and wounded soldiers. You know what it means to withdraw now, can I make up my mind?"

Yelu Abaoji is very clear about what it means. It means that no more than one-third of them can be withdrawn to the north in the end. It means that at most 20 of them can evacuate from the Bohai Sea.Even if all the evacuated were soldiers, and those left behind were old and weak, this would be a huge loss to the tribe.What's more, facing the Qin army that has blocked the two main routes with heavy troops, it is still a question whether they can withdraw one-third of the people.

But A Baoji felt that he should go, even if he could only withdraw one hundred thousand soldiers, it was worth the risk.At this time, the strong man cut off his wrist, it is better than everyone being killed here by the Qin people in the end.If they leave now, they still have a chance to take revenge in the future. If they don't leave now, they won't even have the chance to take revenge.

"Grandfather, I think Chu Li is just too alarmist. We still have supplies, and we haven't run out of food. Besides, even if we do run out of food, we still have millions of people. Bohai people, kill them to make military rations, it will be enough. If we spend money with the Qin army, even if we want to leave, we have to wait until next autumn. We are afraid of consumption, but the Qin army is not afraid, they are no less than us, Moreover, the Southern Barbarians are not used to the severe cold in the Bohai Sea, so they will fight on. Besides, Li Jing transferred the main force to the Bohai Sea, will his hometown in the Central Plains be safe? I heard that the Huangchao in the Central Plains has been wiped out, and now Li Jing Ke Yong occupied the Central Plains with that group of people. Their alliance has more than 20 feudal towns. I'm afraid Li Jing wants to withdraw his troops earlier than us. Let's see who can't hold on now. Anyway, we have no worries in the rear, just follow Qin Jun Consumption, wait for Li Jing's backyard to catch fire. At that time, Li Jing will be withdrawn, and the entire Bohai Sea will be ours, and maybe even occupy Liaodong and Liaoxi outside the pass."

Yelu Huage's words were exactly the thoughts that Tiela and many other tribal generals still had in their hearts.It is very difficult for the tribal army to fight Li Jing alone.But they are still looking forward, looking forward to the changes in the Central Plains, looking forward to the fire in Li Jing's backyard, and the situation will be different in that era.

Withdrawing now, the loss is too great, which is tantamount to directly admitting defeat, and it is a crushing defeat.But if you persist, although the hope is slim, there is still a glimmer of hope.The Khitan and coalition forces are now in a difficult situation, they are like gamblers who have lost their eyes, they will never leave the table without losing their last chips.

Yelu Tie stabbed out the scimitar, everyone was startled.

However, he didn't slash at anyone with his knife, but handed the knife directly to Brother Yeluhua.

"I am now granting you the title of Khitan No. 20 four ten thousand commanders. Hold this knife. This is the ten thousand commander's golden wolf head scimitar, and it is also your ten thousand commander's proof!"

Brother Yelu Hua stepped forward to hold the knife in great surprise, already a little overwhelmed with excitement.Yelu Abaoji stood aside without saying anything. He looked at the boots on his feet, but his heart felt sore. In fact, he cared about it very much, and he really wanted to win the position of the ten thousand commander.

Although he knew very well that the position of Chief Ten Thousand was not based solely on strength, and he and Brother Hua both had their qualifications for this competition because of their father's status in the tribe.But seeing Brother Hua, a brave and foolhardy guy, win this position, he still has a lot of dissatisfaction in his heart.

In the regret of missing Mr. Wan, a deep worry rose in his heart.

It is too dangerous for everyone to sit and wait for the enemy to cause trouble.How can we place the future hope of Khitan in the hands of Li Jing's enemies?

This feeling of not being able to grasp his fate made him sigh inwardly! (To be continued.)