The rise of the prince

Chapter 858 Breakthrough
Before you know it, it is another autumn, but the grassland has been blocked by severe cold.

It was frighteningly cold in the morning and evening. If it wasn't for the Mongolian horses, they wouldn't be able to endure the bitter cold.

The white tents of the army stretched for several miles, spreading along the flat and open river, and some soldiers who got up early went to the river south of the tents to fetch water in an orderly manner.

Then, those stationed in the north began to kill sheep and prepare food for the army.

The Mongolian army has dried meat, but these flocks were snatched from the Jin people in the south, and it is better than dried meat.

Most of the people responsible for preparing meals are slaves. On the grasslands, those who lose the battle will be reduced to slaves.

Most of the slaughtered sheep are grilled directly, and a few boiled food is prepared for the big people, and because of the scarcity of iron, iron pots are also rare, and pottery is mainly used for cooking.

When the cooks were busy, there was a commotion in the distance, and everyone knelt down quickly. They were slaves and had to kneel.

"Khan!"

Temujin smiled and nodded, "Get up, can I eat meat?"

"Khan, you have to wait for a while until the sun comes out before you can eat." He quickly replied.

Temujin nodded profusely and said with a smile, "That's good. If the soldiers can't eat well after the sun comes out, I'll kill you."

Everyone was frightened.

"Go to work!"

Temujin said, and beside him was the tall Mu Huali.

"The people of the Kingdom of Jin definitely didn't expect me to be here. They thought I was in the south." Temujin looked to the south, and there were mountains on the grassland in the distance, and a wide passage could be seen vaguely between the two mountains, where the army was stationed. forward.

"The Great Khan is smarter than the people of the Kingdom of Jin, they won't be able to hold on."

Temujin smiled triumphantly: "When my army reaches the city, they will wake up!"

At this time, the Jin people thought that his army was in the direction of Wushabao in the south. In fact, half a month ago, he had led an army of [-] to circle westward, then quietly went north, then westward, and set up a camp at the current position.

This road goes west, and then goes south. It takes two or three days to reach Shangjing.

Temujin pointed at the mountain pass in the distance with his horsewhip, "Mu Huali, you are my vanguard, I entrust the most elite 1 people to you, and you will open the way for my army!"

"Your order!" Mu Huali saluted with his hands on his chest.

When the sun rose and illuminated the entire grassland, the head of the cook had already lost his head, and his head was sacrificed to Changshengtian on the mound because he did not give the soldiers food in time.

After eating their fill in the morning, the most elite troops began to assemble amidst the sound of long horns.

After the founding of the Great Mongolian Kingdom, Temujin began to reform the grasslands.

He set up a head of ten households for every ten households, a head of hundreds of households for every hundred households, and a head of thousands of households for every thousand households. He commanded from bottom to top.

There are three parts to an army when fighting a war.

The first part is the companion, which can be understood as the entourage of officials at all levels.

Temujin led 95 thousands of households, each of which had 10 hundreds of households under his command, and each hundred households had 10 ten households under his command.

The three levels of thousand households, hundred households, and ten households are all allowed to bring a certain number of soldiers.

Each thousand households brought 12 soldiers, each hundred households brought 7 soldiers, and each ten households brought 5 soldiers.

Therefore, there are more than 5 guards or private soldiers of officials.

The second part is the local army. Genghis Khan sealed [-] noble households and asked each household to send one person to fight to form a temporary army. After the war, he returned to his hometown.

The local army has about 5000 people.

The third part, and the most important one, is that the strongest combat power of the Mongol Empire is the imperial guards formed by the warriors selected by Genghis Khan. The transliteration is called Qixue Army, which means "Fan Zhi Su Wei" in Mongolian. mean.

It's similar to the Jinwu Guard, Yulin Army, and the Crane Control Army of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms in the Han Dynasty.

An army selected, formed and directly commanded by Genghis Khan has a total of about 8000 people, with 95 thousand households, each with five hundred soldiers.

The difference between the Fanzhi Suwei and the former companion army and local army is that they are standing, except for training, they do not need to farm or herd, and they are professional soldiers supported by the state.

The companion is a private soldier, and the local army is temporarily summoned according to the order during the war. Usually, it has to farm, graze, and support the family.

This is a system that combines military organization, administrative and production organization with grassland characteristics.

Most of the herdsmen have to pay money and goods to the state and slave owners at all levels in normal times, and perform regular military service and various labor services. Standing Army (Fanzhi Suwei + Companion).

If the war requires, He can assemble local troops according to orders, and can gather another army of about 5 people, with a total strength of 15.

If the war is tight, you can also expand your companions and ask the localities to send more troops. It is also feasible to gather another 5 people, and the total number of troops will reach 20.

If you are still not satisfied, when it comes to the decisive battle, you need to do your best. You can also call some tribal leaders in loosely managed areas to lead troops, such as some tribal leaders in the western grasslands and northern grasslands.

It is estimated that an army of more than 30 can be assembled!
This kind of mobilization ability was unimaginable on the grasslands in the past.

It is precisely because of this that Mu Huali is full of admiration for Genghis Khan.

However, fighting does not mean that the more people there are, the more powerful they are. The tribal coalition forces will not gather profusely until the critical moment.

The ones who are really reliable are about [-] Fanzhi Suwei, about [-] companions as guards, and about [-] local soldiers. These troops absolutely obey Temujin's command.

After a while, the army was assembled. This was the elite Fanzhisuwei army, but it was only one of them, with a total of ten thousand households.

Each thousand households led 500 direct guards, plus a total of 297 soldiers from thousands of households, one hundred households, and ten households. In other words, each thousand households actually led 797 soldiers.

There are ten thousand households and an army of about 8000 people.

These were the former armies that the Khan gave him.

Mu Huali ordered the army to assemble on the flat ground outside the mountain pass, and then he rode his horse and walked in front of everyone.

Regarding this road, he had already inquired clearly. Before the main army besieged Wusha Castle in the south, the officials who led the local army had already launched several attacks, but they were all defeated by the Jin people.

The Khan has already killed two officials who were disadvantaged in combat.

From the first day Mu Huali arrived here, he did not despise and look down on the defeated local army like his soldiers. He took the initiative to ask the dejected soldiers about the situation and understand the details.

This probably has something to do with his identity. Although he followed Temujin all the year round, he was actually a slave of Temujin, and his identity was incomparable with other generals, officials and relatives of the emperor.

It is also because of this that he has no barriers of status and rank, and he can best mingle with ordinary soldiers, and the soldiers in the army love him very much.

After careful investigation and questioning, he understood the reason why the Jin people were able to prevent them from going south.

After more than 50 miles from the entrance, the valley turns from east to west to north-south. The valley turns into a river valley.

The people of the Kingdom of Jin dispersed the army, stationed about 200 people on each hill, shot down with strong bows and crossbows, and beat people with earth and rocks on the hills, making them suffer.

The most terrible thing was that the horses could not climb the hillsides on both sides, and there was a long and narrow terrain in the valley. The huge cavalry units could not be deployed and could only advance one by one, so the losses were heavy. There is nothing they can do to fight from the east of Shangjing to the city of Shangjing. The gates of the opponent's city are closed, and they can't attack the city. Instead, they are trapped there to death.

Mu Huali immediately understood what was going on, and comforted them at the time: "It's not because you are not brave, but because you were too brave that you failed."

Mu Huali handed ten thousand households in front of him, and everyone respected him. First, he was a close friend of Temujin, and second, Mu Huali's style was liked by everyone in the army.

"I've already asked them, and I know why they failed." Mu Huali said.

"They're too cowardly!"

"My lord, let's just rush over there, there is no battle we can't win!"

"Yes, the tens of thousands of troops of the Naiman tribe can't beat us thousands of people, so what are the Jin people? If they don't have a strong fortress, they are vulnerable!"

"."

The more people talked, the more excited they became, but Mu Huali didn't say anything, he waited until everyone had finished talking before starting.

"I understand everyone's pride, and I have also experienced those wars. Wherever the brothers and sisters of the Great Mongolian Kingdom go, no one can resist our soldiers!
But we can’t get too proud and get carried away because of this, the soldiers of every family are also our brothers, they have also fought many victories, fought side by side with us, and bravely killed the enemy. How many people have saved our lives?

They suffered a big loss this time, should we laugh at it?Could it be that ordinary rabbits were ambushing on the way to the south, causing them to suffer heavy casualties? "Mu Huali asked back.

Only then did everyone quiet down, the sneer on their faces disappeared, and some people lowered their heads.

It is true that the local army is not like their direct guard troops, but over the years, from east to west, from south to north, in the big and small wars to unify the grassland, everyone fought together, and the local army rescued them a few times. killed them.

Seeing everyone like this, Mu Huali continued: "I think this time, if the southern army were to fight, they would have won already, why can't we win?

It's not that we are more timid than the southerners, nor are we less able to fight than the southerners, but that we rely too much on horses! "

Everyone looked at each other left and right, a little puzzled, "Horse is our half life!"

"That's right, but it won't work if you go south." Mu Huali went on to say, "From here to the south, there are river valleys within a hundred miles, and there are high mountains on both sides. , so they suffered a big loss.

But if you don't go right away, people can! "

Everyone immediately understood what it meant.

"We set out on horseback, and when we got to the northern part of the valley, we camped for the night. After nightfall, we gave up our horses and walked over the mountains to attack the people of the Kingdom of Jin!
Horses can't climb mountains and people can, horses have to walk the road, but people can walk everywhere! "

The eyes of the ten thousand households also became enthusiastic: "My lord, we are willing to follow you!"

That morning, the news did not leak out from the high-level. The soldiers still gathered in the style of the Mongolian army in the past, everyone rode horses, and then began to march towards the valley between the two mountains, and then headed east.

After crossing a meandering river, the mountains became gentle, and the two sides became desolate land again, and then continued eastward.

Until the sun was shining at noon, the soldiers were drinking horses at the mouth of a Sancha River.

The river flowing from the northwest is divided into two by a large mountain, one flows east and the other flows south.

The army also changed its marching direction on this triangular river beach, stepped on the sand on the river beach, and went south along the southward tributary. The two sides were no longer flat, but turned into high hillsides.

According to the soldiers' reports, from here along the river valley all the way to the south for about 150 miles, you can reach the east of Shangjing.

They continued southward that day and reached another river crossing in the evening.

The rivers from the west merge into the north and south rivers, and the confluence flows out to wash out a large flat river beach.

That night, they camped on the west bank of the river beach.

But this time the camp was not for rest, it was just to confuse the scouts of the Kingdom of Jin.

After dark at night, Mu Huali began to gather an army in the dark, and by moonlight and starlight, instead of taking the river valley road, he marched south along the west side of the mountain over the mountain.

"I'm not mistaken. The entire bottom of the valley is full of Tatar tents. There are countless tents behind the mountain, definitely more than [-]." The young scout argued vigorously.

The older scouts didn't take it seriously: "You have poor eyesight. Those people are at most seven or eight thousand, definitely not ten thousand! Don't look at those big tents, they are Tatars with thousands of households or more. Only people can live there, there are not many people inside."

The commander on the top of the mountain frowned when he saw them arguing. He belonged to a family of ten thousand people from the Jin Kingdom, and they were in a temporary stone fort built on the top of the mountain to prevent the passage of the Mongols down the mountain.

Looking from the window of the stone castle, there are fires everywhere on the hills in the distance. On the top of the five-mile-long hillside on both sides, there are [-] troops from the Jin Kingdom, and there are [-] households sitting on each side.

He is the Wanhu officer on the west side of the valley. They have defeated the Tatar army several times here, and the most was along the valley. million people.

After all, when advancing along the river valley, the team was long and separated, and the number of people could not be determined, but the scouts saw the camp where they camped halfway, so they could guess how many people there were.

This kind of victory gave him a lot of confidence, so although the two had been fighting, he didn't care too much.

Whether it is seven or eight thousand or more than 1, as long as they continue to implement the previous tactics, they can repel the Tatars.

"Okay, you go to rest, I understand." He waved his hand.

Then he beckoned to the herald and asked him to tell the soldiers to rest well. If the Tatars camped in the Three River Valley tonight, they should arrive around noon tomorrow. If the soldiers were fully prepared, they would wait until the next day. Heaven breaks the enemy army.

Later, more than 200 auxiliary troops were sent down the mountain to move all the stones that could be moved up to the top of the mountain.

Then organize the staff to prepare bows, arrows and fire oil in person, all of which must be completed tonight.

The conductor had been busy for most of the night, and he fixedly looked down at the valley below. Under the moonlight, there were still hundreds of Tatar corpses piled up in the valley without any treatment. Those who dared to come tomorrow would be like that, he laughed.

Just turning around, there was a whistling in his ears, the soldier behind him suddenly covered his neck, blood gushed from between his fingers, and then fell to the ground.
(End of this chapter)