Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen

After arriving at Yanmen Pass for a short rest, Mu Yu and other personal guards who had been waiting there rushed to join Yang Hao, and the group left the pass and headed northeast. At this time, Beyond the Great Wall is another imperial civilization.If we say that the previous Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Turks were all demoted to barbarians by the Central Plains, they had neither standardized national breeding, nor a sound organizational structure, nor a mature ideological system. Their organizational structure was just a tribal alliance, but when the Khitan was founded Since then, the situation has changed.

After the unification of the eight tribes of Khitan, Jier brought the tribes of Xi, Shiwei, Wugu, Uyghur, Jurchen and other countries under the rule of Bohai, abolished the tribal system, established an imperial system learned from the Central Plains, set up a prime minister, three provinces and six ministries Taiwan's bureaucratic system and administrative units such as prefectures, counties, and counties established a national system similar to the Han and Tang empires, vigorously recruited Han people, encouraged farming and business, introduced Han civilization, and built Confucius Temples...

One country, two systems, with the Han people in the sixteen prefectures of Youyun as their subjects, not as slaves. This kind of imperial civilization is precisely the powerful empires such as the Khitan, Xixia, and Jurchen who can surpass the nomadic tribes of the previous generation in the future and become the strongest opponent of the Han nation. key factor.When the Central Plains was still at war, the Khitan country was gradually maturing, so that the northern grasslands, the Western Regions, the Arab world and even Europe felt the influence of the Khitan Empire’s civilization. Many Western nations mistakenly believed that the Khitan Empire was the legendary Chinese Empire. .

However, the Chinese civilization has thousands of years of heritage. Although it has experienced long-term chaos and wars, it immediately regained its strong vitality after it was unified. The trend of transcendence began to gradually regain the Central Plains' proper position in the eyes of the world. Yang Hao traveled all the way and found that most of the people here are mainly farming, supplemented by grazing, which is roughly the same as the border people in the Song Dynasty. If you get closer to talk, you will find that they also wear Hanfu and speak Chinese, just like the Central Plains. .Before Shi Jingtang handed it over to the Khitan people, this place was originally the territory of the Han people. Most of the people living here are still Han people. You can hardly see any difference between them and the Han people in the pass.

It's just that fifty years of separation and the Khitan's rule have artificially erected a barrier between them.Under the banner of the Song Dynasty, Yang Hao could not see the pictures left to future generations by some Song Dynasty propaganda materials: the Han people in the north were excited and weeping, cheering and admiring the envoys of the motherland they had been thinking about day and night, their eyes were vigilant and indifferent, There is even a hint of hostility. When you see them, you will understand that the gap between them is not just the barrier of heavy troops and pass, but exists in their hearts.

More than 50 years ago, when the princes from all walks of life in the Central Plains used the people of the world as fish and meat to kill each other, the people in the sixteen prefectures of Youyun were ruled by Khitan at that time. Song Kingdom, the people of Song Dynasty and Youyun Sixteen Prefectures didn't have any sense of belonging or affection. To them, Song Kingdom was a completely unfamiliar country in their memory. There are nine frontiers in the world, and Yanmen is the leader.Surrounded by mountains and dangerous, it sits high on Gouzhu Mountain.On the east and west wings, there are undulating mountains.The Great Wall on the ridge is winding. If you go east to Pingxing Pass, Zijing Pass, and Daoma Pass, you can reach Youyan directly; It was faster, but they set off from Luoyang, and the people sent by Yang Hao first were waiting outside Yanmen Pass, so Yang Hao used the excuse to go to Yanmen Pass to find out the situation first, get more favorable information, and then go to Beijing from there, so I chose another road, but the same goal by different routes, and I still have to go to Guihua Prefecture in the end.

After leaving the customs, they had already contacted the Khitan defenders. The Khitan defenders sent a team of 500 people to escort them on the road together, and quickly reported to the South Courtyard and Shangjing. This garrison is affiliated to the South Courtyard, which belongs to the Wuzhou Township Army. Eighty percent of the soldiers in the army are Han Chinese, and the commander of the garrison sent to escort is also Han Chinese, named Feng Biwu, and there is no problem in communicating with them in terms of language. Along the way, Yang Hao and Feng Biwu often searched for opportunities to chat and learn about various aspects of information. They learned that since the civil strife in Shangjing, the Prime Minister of the Khitan Southern Court strictly restrained his troops from conflicting with the Song people. Surprised and inexplicable, I don't know which group of people violated the ban.

Yang Hao also learned that after his tribal hometown was attacked by the officers and soldiers of the South Court, King Qing had given up on the capital, which he could not conquer for a long time, and migrated to the Jurchen domain. After the direction of Jurchen, they had already abandoned the old and weak, and quickly interspersed westward, fleeing to this side. Although this area is under the jurisdiction of the South Court, because of the large area and sparse population, the area for activities is wider, and it is not the exclusive activity area of ​​the Khitan main force, and the South Court cannot mobilize enough people to block their way, so they like Like every grassland tribe that failed to fight for power in history, they tried to cross the prairie and go to the northwest where Khitan's control was weaker, and establish their own territory there. Line, do your best to stop this rebel army.

Yang Hao was secretly delighted when he heard this. Khitan and Song Guo stood together, like a burly man in ragged clothes and a handsome young man in deep clothes. When it comes to aggression and threat, they are obviously more aggressive than any other People are strong. If King Qing's troops can successfully break through the siege and establish a regime in the northwest that is comparable to Shangjing's anti-thirty regime, it will be able to restrain the entire Khitan army from being unable to go south. His survival would obviously be more beneficial, and he was already looking forward to King Qing's success.

On this day, I was still walking on Xijing Road, and the front was getting to a desolate place with few people. Feng Biwu pointed to the white space beside the road with his horsewhip, and said, "Look, Master Yang, this kind of grass is what our horses like to eat outside the pass. The pasture is called Chickweed, Chickweed has big roots and is plump, and it is the most delicious to horses, and my horses outside the pass are fat and strong, relying on this grass, the horses will be full after eating ten volumes at a meal." Yang Hao heard the sound and saw that the grass was 80% similar to the reeds in the pass. Unexpectedly, this unattractive weed was the main food for the northern war horses.The northern peoples have pastures with rich water and grass suitable for large-scale grazing. The nomadic tribes growing on this grassland have strong mobility and can go south to invade the Central Plains at any time. It can be said that it can be said to be able to advance and retreat freely when the front is slightly reduced, and it can return to the rivers and lakes.

Their Mongolian horse breeds are much inferior to Arabian and Nordic horse breeds, but they are easy to breed and raise, so it is easy to build a large number of cavalry troops. Once the Han people lose their reliable horse source, they cannot If you form a more powerful cavalry army to compete with it, it is difficult to win a frontal battle with infantry alone. Even if you win, it is difficult to pursue and expand the results of the battle. I don't know how hard it is to be a soldier, and it's hard to be the owner of the Central Plains if you don't pay attention to farming. If he wants to control the Northwest, he has to pay attention to animal husbandry. Yang Hao was about to ask his subordinates to learn more about this aspect, when suddenly there was a sharp whistle Suddenly passing by, Feng Biwu was startled, and he picked up his horse and galloped forward. Feng Biwu rushed up a low slope in front of him, looked into the distance for a while, and shouted: "Stop where you are, defend, and protect the Song envoy." The 500 Khitan cavalry immediately dispersed to protect 1,000 Song soldiers in the middle. The Song army saw that these Khitan soldiers were only 500, but guarded them like women and children. How can a heroic man with a gun in his hand be so despised? Zhang Tongzhou, the commander of the army, immediately stepped forward and said to Yang Hao: "My lord, do they want to protect us with just five hundred people? They have an enemy situation, but they are not allowed to protect us." Let's use force, isn't it too arrogant?" Yang Hao said with a smile: "Commander Zhang, be safe and don't be impatient. This is their responsibility. We are imperial envoys. Now that the situation is unknown, naturally there is no need to use swords and guns?" He glanced at Zhang Tongzhou and said with a smile: "You put up another defense in the inner circle for safety." "Yes!" Zhang Tongzhou got the order, and immediately gave the order loudly. The Song army moved urgently. These well-trained soldiers quickly formed a circular formation, moved forward and backward, and rowed down neatly. Especially better than the five hundred Khitan soldiers, they are all the elite of the forbidden army, although there are only a thousand of them, they are like one, their power is naturally extraordinary, this small retaliation immediately attracted the attention of those Khitan soldiers. "What happened?" Feng Biwu yelled at the scouts galloping back. "Lord Feng, there is a sentry ahead. At least a thousand people are galloping here. The subordinates fired arrows to warn them. Their momentum has not slowed down, but their speed is even faster. It seems that they have malicious intentions." "What kind of banner is this person playing?" "There are so many banners, it's hard to guess where they came from." Feng Biwu couldn't help frowning when he heard that. At this time, the sound of hooves in front of him was like thunder, and a cavalry had rushed forward. Feng Biwu shouted: "Warning, don't stop, report your identity, and serve with bows and arrows!" Looking at the people in front of him, Feng Biwu turned his head and said to Yang Hao: "Master Yang, don't worry, the banners are scattered and the formation is not neat. They look fierce, but they are difficult to coordinate with each other. They cannot be an army or a powerful tribe. If the soldiers of the clan really harbor malicious intentions, someone will definitely make this mob never come back!" Seeing that the enemy was only in front, he gave a loud order, and the formation of the Khitan army changed again, leaving 200 people to protect the Song army's flanks, and the other 300 people had already rode their horses forward, forming a sharp arrow formation, and immediately the knights took off their hands. The bow is set on the arrow, and the arrows are rising, ready for battle. The warning arrows were shot out, and the people rushing in front did not stop at all, but began to sprint with shouts. Feng Biwu's expression changed slightly, and he gritted his teeth and grinned grinningly as he looked at the team with teeth and claws: "It's horse thieves, they are so big!" Courage, shoot arrows!" A row of sharp arrows was shot out, and the horse thief team running wildly was in chaos. Some hurriedly took out leather shields to cover them, some hid in stirrups, some fell off their horses, and immediately they responded with countless sharp arrows. The soldiers of the Song army immediately raised their shields to protect themselves. Yang Hao took the leather shield from the guards and stared intently at the enemy ahead. Although there are many people coming, they are nothing more than horse thieves. They are brave against ordinary tribes and merchants, but a regular army like Feng Biwu may not pay attention to them. Before that, Feng Biwu immediately shouted: "Rush up, tell him the son of a bitch has no eyes, and slaughter them all!" Three hundred Khitan warriors rushed up immediately, shouting, and when the two sides were within a hundred steps, they slapped the horse's butt with the back of their sabers, and accelerated their speed abruptly. The steel knives were sharp, judging by the momentum, if they were to cut him in the head, even the horse and man would be cut in half. The two sides collided with each other with a bang, blood and broken flesh and blood surged in the air, and the Khitan soldiers were like sharp knives, protruding from the team of horse thieves.The cavalry must charge quickly to show their power. Even if they enter the enemy's line, they will not stop and charge forward without stopping. If they rein in the reins and fight on the spot, their power is not as good as that of infantry. Both sides are well aware of this. Reasonably, Feng Biwu led his men to split the horse thieves with steel knives, and rushed forward like an arrow off the string. He didn't stop for a moment, passed them by the side, clashed weapons along the way, rushed towards the Khitan soldiers and Yang Hao's troops who were standing by with clangs. Seeing them rushing forward, the two hundred Khitan soldiers roared and rushed forward like challenged wolf dogs. At this moment, a horn sounded, whining and rushing straight into the sky, and another team came out from the back. , the number of people is at least a thousand, one by one, screaming and screaming. If you can't take advantage of your own cavalry and let the enemy rush in front of you, you can only be slaughtered. When Zhang Tongzhou saw it, he immediately ordered the rear team to be alert, and was ready to wait for the enemy soldiers to rush to the ground. Soldiers generally launched a counter charge, and Yang Hao suddenly felt something was wrong when he saw it. The horse thief is mercenary, why attack yourself?If they mistook themselves for a caravan, they should know that it is not a soft persimmon at this time, why are they still so desperate?In particular, this team of horse thieves actually split up into two groups, first leading the Khitan soldiers away, and then raiding their own headquarters. Obviously, they came prepared. They even found out their whereabouts and the number of people. I'm afraid they are not just as simple as horse thieves. . At this moment, countless sharp arrows suddenly shot out from the reed-like thickets of chicken-breathing grass, and shot down many people from the Song army who was holding their breath and waiting for the enemy's rear, and then a group of men and horses rushed out. With a sharp three-pronged steel fork, he is burly, with a black eye patch on one eye, but he is a one-eyed dragon. He waved the steel fork, and roared loudly from a distance: "Kill Song Dynasty envoy Yang Hao, kill! Kill! Kill!" "It really came for me! Grandma, if someone else is an envoy, it's a good job. Why do I always have to fight and kill the errands I take?" Yang Hao sighed, pulled out his sharp sword suddenly, and shouted: "The whole army, kill!" After speaking, he led his own army and rushed out first.What he rushed was not the rear, nor the flanks, but the horse bandits who were fighting with the Khitan soldiers in front.