The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 210 Dilemma
The 100 troops led by Xieli and Qin Qiong chased and fled for two days. The distance between the two sides has been shortened from the original 50 miles to more than [-] miles.

On this day, the two armies rested on the north and south sides of a place called Yemachuan. Although Yemachuan is named "Chuan", it is actually a plain. It is unique in that it is sandwiched between two Gobi deserts. Its diameter is only about one mile, and it is more than a hundred miles long from north to south!

After running for two days in a row, Ke Jieli, the Turkic Khan, not only did not feel any fatigue, but was full of energy, as did the big and small Khans beside him.

It has to be said that the nation on horseback has a unique advantage in terms of physical fitness, especially for them for a long time on horseback. It is common for them to chase after two days and one night without any discomfort.

But people can bear it, but war horses can't bear it.

The war horses of the Turks are tall and strong horses from the Western Regions, which have the same bloodline as the Hequ horses. They are much more delicate than the small Liaodong horses. This kind of war horses is very strict in domestication, and they are very particular about horse feed.

Generally speaking, there are three types of horse feed: one is concentrated feed, which is carefully prepared horse feed. Its main materials are beans, bran and miscellaneous grains. These foods have high nutritional value.Containing protein and fat, horses like to eat it, it is good for digestion, and it is particularly strong after eating.

The second is coarse material, coarse material is actually common pure natural 'green food' such as grain grass, straw, wheat orange and wild grass, but there is a premise that it must be hay.The army needs to raise a large number of war horses, so naturally it is impossible to use all the fine materials extravagantly. Therefore, the coarse material has become the main feed for the war horses. Of course, the grass is also particular.

The third is miscellaneous materials. This miscellaneous material is weeds, weeds, leaves and other messy things that can be seen everywhere. If a person is hungry, he can still eat these things to fill his stomach, let alone a horse?It’s just that if war horses eat miscellaneous ingredients for a long time, they will suffer from indigestion, diarrhea, and lack of physical strength!Liaodong horses are much easier to raise, as long as people fill their stomachs, they can run with all four hooves.

Jieli Khan and his army consisted of 20 troops, one man and two horses, or at least [-] horses. Naturally, it was impossible to run with a large number of horses and grass.Most of the horses eat miscellaneous materials along the way.Their marching speed also decreased due to the lack of physical strength of the horses.

Arriving near Yema River, the physical strength of the war horse has also been exhausted to a certain extent.

Jieli Khan had to stop and let the war horse eat some fine food to supplement it, so as to restore the horse's physical strength.

Although he wished to spread his wings and fly beside Ashina Simo, and slaughter those tens of thousands of traitors, Jieli Khan still understood the principle of sharpening a knife and not mistakenly chopping firewood, so he could only rest patiently.

The king's tent of the Chinese army.

"Great Khan!" Jieli Khan's bodyguard came in a hurry. He put his hands on his chest, bowed and reported, "Chief Qibi is here."

Jieli Khan was taken aback for a moment, then nodded and said, "Please come in."

Not long after, Qibi Heli strode in, saluted and said: "See the Great Khan."

"Great Chief, please sit down!" Jieli Khan seemed very satisfied with Qibi Heli, who seemed to have suddenly opened up and surrendered to him, as if he was a corporal.

"Thank you for sitting!"

After Qibi Heli sat down, Jieli Khan said with a smile: "The great chief doesn't take care of the soldiers, but comes here, is there something important?"

"Back to the Great Khan!" Qibi Heli bowed slightly, and said with a serious face: "Our fodder is almost approaching, so it must be the case with the Great Khan. I'm worried that if we continue this time, our supply of grass and food will not be enough!"

Jieli Khan, who was distressed by this matter, nodded and said, "Does the great chief have a good solution?"

Qibi He Li said: "There are two ways, one is to fight quickly, but Ashina Simo is determined to escape, it is hard to say when the decisive battle will be, if we continue to chase, we will all reach Wuyuan, and we will not be able to supply food and grass by then. In fact, the situation will be very dangerous. For this, what I mean is to chase at night, shorten the distance again, put the horse nearby, and send some people to guard it. Then concentrate the grass and food on another horse, and in a short period of time fight the enemy inside."

Jieli Khan was noncommittal and asked, "What about the second method?"

Qibi He Li said: "Withdraw the troops!"

Hearing the word "withdraw troops", Jieli Khan's heart jumped involuntarily. If he ran back in a desperate manner, the whole Turkic people would laugh at him, which would greatly reduce his own prestige. At that time, how many tribes would still listen to his orders?
However, he also knew the facts Qibi Heli said. Generally speaking, it was a bad move for him to gather the army in Yudujin Mountain. It scared Ashina Simo away. In this way, the consequences of insufficient preparation appeared out.

He thought for a while, then asked, "Which option do you prefer?"

Qibi Heli said: "Abandon the horse for a decisive battle, and after annihilating Ashina Simo, you can either rest on the spot and have someone send supplies; or win a big victory and return!"

Knowing that Xieli didn't want to return empty-handed, he came up with this best-of-both-worlds solution.

Jieli Khan nodded slowly, and said: "Rest for three hours before starting. After closing the distance, abandon your horse and fight Ashina Simo for a decisive battle. You go and prepare. I will inform the others."

"Yes!" Qibi Heli said without hesitation: "Then I will prepare."

After Qibi Heli left, Jieli Khan immediately summoned the leaders and made his decision.

On the other side, Qibi Heli also ordered the decision to let the [-] soldiers feed their horses and rest.

And he discussed matters with Tenggeri, chief of the Uighur tribe, and Mu Zong, chief of the Hun tribe, in the big tent, but the faces of the latter two were very ugly.

Qibi Heli sighed and said sincerely: "I know that the two brothers are dissatisfied with my submission to Jieli Khan! But I can't help it... Our father and clansmen died at the hands of Shibi and Yi Shibo... I hate the Turkic people as much as you, anyone in the Ashina family, and at the same time, I hate the shameless villain Yi Shibo even more."

Mu Zong's expression softened slightly, and he said: "Since you also hate, why do you want to be with the enemy?"

Qibi Heli hammered his chest heavily with his fist, and said in pain: "Do you think I want to? I don't want to, I don't want to at all. But I can't help it. We only have [-] warriors in three parts, and Yi Shibo After annexing the Tongluo warriors, the number of warriors who can fight has reached [-], which is twice as many as ours. In addition to Xue Yantuo himself, there are five other people: Pugu, Bayegu, Sijie, Geluolu, and Baximi. The tribe, how can we be his opponent? Now, Yi Shibo has become the father-in-law of the Great Khan. If we do not submit to the Great Khan, we will be rejected by the Turks and Xue Yantuo, not only will we be driven out of the grassland, I am afraid that there is no room for us in the entire grassland. Even, we were exterminated!" He glanced at the two of them, and said slowly: "If I hadn't surrendered to the Great Khan that day, the three of us and the [-] people of the clan would have died. Become a cold corpse."

Tengger and Mu Zong's complexion changed drastically. It was only at this moment that the two of them understood Qi Bi Heli's difficulties, and also did not know why this good man with strong bones suddenly became servile. It turned out that everything was for the sake of the three Ministry of survival.

"In the past, our fathers were too strong, so we were plotted by the Turks and Xueyantuo people. Now we are so weak! We can only pick up meat and bones to eat by following the wolf's back!"

Qibi Heli's outburst of rage instantly stunned Tengger and Mu Zong. Now Qibi Heli is like a mad wolf, forcing Tengger and Muzong to retreat After a few steps, he stared at the two of them, and paused every word: "Now, you should know my difficulties, right?"

"Understood!" Tengger and Mu Zong nodded.

"It's just..." Mu Zong frowned and said, "The [-] clansmen are already [-]% of my strength, if the Great Khan makes us work hard, what should we do?"

Qibi Heli said dejectedly: "This is also the reason why I offer advice, hoping to dispel the suspicion of Great Khan."

"is it possible?"

"Not necessarily!" Qibi Heli said slowly: "We are so weak that we are no longer a threat to anyone. The Great Khan is naturally relieved, and he also needs a loyal dog to watch over Yi Shibo. And we took the initiative Taking refuge in him, if the Great Khan kills us, the hearts of those who defected to him will be chilled. Therefore, he will not embarrass us! Besides, if my predictions are correct, Yi Shibo will be the first to fight, Because Yi Shibo's strength is already comparable to that of the Turks." At this point, his mind gradually became clear, and he continued: "This is a battle of the Great Khan, and he attaches great importance to it. This must be the only way to win. In an undefeated war, as long as our clansmen are a little more lazy and decadent, they can escape disaster."

"The great chief is right!" Mu Zong thought for a while, and couldn't help but admire Qibi Heli's thoughtfulness. After hesitating for a moment, he looked at Qibi Heli and said, "That servant bone, Ba Yegu, Sijie, Ge Luolu and Baximi, should we contact them in secret? Now that Xue Yantuo’s family is dominant, I’m afraid these five tribes are also worried about being swallowed up by Yi Shibo. Yi Shibo has done such things a lot. If we can pull When one or two families advance and retreat together, perhaps we can take advantage of the fact that Yi Shibo and Ashina Simo are both injured, and we will be stronger, so as to have the power to protect ourselves."

"Don't even think about it! We are in danger now, who wants to advance and retreat with us! These five titles are too big, if they join us, they will arouse the suspicion of the Great Khan, but after returning, they can use their allegiance to the Great Khan In the name of the Great Khan, he cannibalized the small and medium-sized tribes who refused to accept the Great Khan."

Among the three, Qibi Heli is undoubtedly the one who has been most influenced by the Han culture, and he admires the Han culture very much. He also has his own ambitions, and he doesn't want to live in the shadow of Jieli and Yi Shibo all his life. Next, if he can gain the trust of Ji Li Khan this time, it will undoubtedly be a good opportunity. Even if he fails, he must pass on his experience to his two brothers and let them lead the tribe to continue.

(End of this chapter)