Defend the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 86 Lead the snake out of the hole
The Mazha Ministry provoked, and Yele Town and Baisha Shouzhu City could not back down.

Now Yele Town and Baisha Shouzhu City have reported revenge. In the past night alone, five tribes were bloodbathed, two to three thousand people were killed, and so many cattle, horses, sheep, and slaves were robbed.

Maza Tata can't back down either, he can only bite the bullet and fight, otherwise the warriors and small tribes who are attached to him will be alienated.

And he is hanging out alone. If there are not enough followers, let alone get involved in Yele again, I am afraid that this thousand households will not be able to do it for long.

But the logistics are limited in the cold weather, and the soldiers and horses he can dispatch will not exceed seven or eight thousand if they die.

If he really came out in full force like before, he wouldn't be able to hold on for long due to logistical reasons.

Han Pingan looked at the map again, stroked his chin and said, "The hole is dug, now it's up to him to jump."

Su Dasushi said without hesitation: "He will definitely go straight to Yele City, maybe he will divide his troops to attack Baisha City, and he probably won't come here to fight us to the death."

"It's hard to say. The weather is so cold and the road is so difficult to walk. How can he transport the siege equipment? Without siege equipment, what can he use to attack the city?"

"You don't need a siege engine to attack Baisha City, just a few ladders are enough."

"It is."

Han Pingan nodded, sat back on the mat and sighed: "This is actually a battle between the general, my father and General Wang. We are just joining in the fun. If we can beat that old bastard Maza Tata to death, we can Ansheng for a few years. If we don’t hurt him, then our life will be difficult.”

Su Dasushi asked in a low voice: "Madman, you mean that there will be rebellion in Anleshan, and the emperor will really send troops back from Anxi to quell the chaos."

"In the past two or three years, if the elite of the town army really leave, then we will have to rely on ourselves."

"If you say that, you want to take this opportunity to hurt the old bastard Maza."

"It's a pity that those wealthy Sogdian merchants who are determined to assist An Leshan are too loosely organized and too far away from us, otherwise the fake Han Ping'an's move will come in handy."

Su Dasushi, the director of the intelligence agency for the past two months, did not do anything in vain. Through Bai Xianning's news from Guishu and the torture of Bai Shuode, he basically figured out that those rich Sogdian businessmen who supported Anleshan's rebellion were purely disorganized.

Some of them donated treasures and money to Anleshan, some helped to scout for information, some sent their nephews and warriors to serve under Anleshan, and some thought about it like the high priest Miphatai.

There is no mutual affiliation, and no one even obeys the other. It is difficult to get some benefits from them under the guise of Han Ping'an.

Su Dasushi didn't know what to say when a Sogdian personal guard sent a letter.

"who?"

"Old man Chen sent someone to send it, saying that my sister and brother-in-law came back, and said that my sister and the others found the Flame Mountain. There is a lot of sulfur there. But it is not close to us. He asked my sixth uncle to send someone to Salt Lake to replace Liu Sangen. , Let the false Taoist priest and Liu Sangen take people to mine."

"How far is the flaming mountain with sulfur from Daocheng?"

"More than 300 miles."

The so-called Huoyan Mountain is an open-pit pyrite, accompanied by a lot of natural sulfur, because it was ignited by lightning and left many legends.

In fact, people in this world have discovered many mines, but they don't know of other uses.

For example, metals include silver ore, copper ore, iron ore, tin ore, cinnabar (mercury), calamine (zinc), steel mother (manganese ore) and so on.

Another example of non-metallic materials are coal (coal), sulfur, realgar (arsenic, mainly used to extract arsenic or refine cupronickel), alum, gypsum, asbestos (used to make Huohuanbu), lime, phosphorus, rock salt, etc. wait.

Therefore, it was not for Yinniang and Qu Tong to search aimlessly before, but to confirm on the spot based on the information they got from Sogdian merchants and craftsmen, and to check whether the reserves are large and whether it is worthwhile to send people to mine.

There are mines, there are people, and there are local methods to turn waste into treasure.

What is needed most now is time and a peaceful environment.

Han Ping'an quickly finished writing the letter, asked the guards to send it away quickly, and asked back, "Su Da, do you have any news from there?"

Su Dasushi smiled and said: "I received a message from Udamu and his son in the morning. A few days ago, they sent three trusted warriors to report to the old bastard Mazha. You have explained it before, so my people did not Stop them, and tell them that You Yi's scouts will be outside to help them."

"Good job, give the old bastard Mazha a reassurance, so that he can send troops with more confidence."

"Madman, are you, Mr. An, really attacking the Grolu tribe?"

"The Ge Luolu tribe betrayed my father-in-law before, and now my father-in-law is serving as a Jiedu envoy, of course we must punish him."

Guishu was at war, but Yele could only rely on reinforcements from his father Khan.

Su Dasushi didn't ask any more questions, but said with a look of embarrassment: "Madman, I married a woman, and I never bothered to tell you."

"Married again, whose daughter?"

"Shi Xiuchang's third daughter, Shi Xianning's granddaughter, she is sixteen this year, and she looks pretty."

"The rabbit doesn't even eat the grass beside the nest, how can you marry a subordinate's daughter."

"A man can't be without money, and he can't be without a woman. If I marry Shi Xiuchang's daughter, I will not only have a woman but also have money."

Han Ping'an asked curiously: "How much dowry did Shi Xiuchang give?"

Su Da Sushi grinned and said, "Twenty thousand silver coins."

Han Pingan asked, "Where's the money?"

"At home, you can't take that much money with you."

"Lend it to me."

"That's my money, it's my mother-in-law's dowry!"

"I won't let you act as the governor of Dudu, and I won't let you also be the director of intelligence. Can people marry their daughter to you? Besides, I borrowed it from you, and I didn't ask you for nothing. I will pay you back if I borrowed it."

"When are you going to pay it back?"

"This time next year."

"What's the interest rate?"

"It used to be a half-brother, but now you worship my father as a adoptive father, we are like brothers. Brothers borrow some money to turn around, and you have the nerve to ask for interest!"

Su Dasushi regretted telling him this, but thinking that he was really short of money, he said helplessly, "Okay, I'll write a letter to my mother-in-law and ask her to send the money to the delivery team."

If you have money, you can buy more cattle, sheep and Han Chinese slaves from the chiefs of the Jumi tribe who are burning, killing and looting outside...

Han Ping'an couldn't help laughing and said, "Mitiff doesn't have much money, and he doesn't seem to have a daughter. Brother, how about I ask Bai Zuojian if they have any daughters and granddaughters, and would they like to marry you?"

Su Dasushi laughed and said, "You want to cheat the dowry, why don't you marry yourself!"

"I already have two wives, and both of them have backgrounds. I can't marry again. If I marry, I can't live a life like this."

"I'm not afraid of having too many wives, it's just that Bai Zuojian and the others have climbed onto Wang Qingxiang's high branch. They don't look down on you, the nameless King Yele, and even less of me, the nameless Inspector of Duandu. They won't marry their daughters. Give it to me, not to mention the dowry."

"This group of snobs is disgusting."

"When they were involved in the Miphatai rebellion, you were too soft-hearted, you should take this opportunity to clean them up."

"There are plenty of opportunities. Sooner or later, my nameless King Yele will have a real name. Wang Qingxiang will leave Yele sooner or later, but I will not leave. It will be up to them to do it then."

……

At the same time, Maza Tata just received the news that the two tribes were attacked, and is convening cronies to discuss countermeasures.

"Dongdai (the respectful name for Qianhu), it seems that the news sent by Utumu is true. Anu Shi and Yuan Jingang don't want to live anymore, but they are willing to be driven by Wang Qingxiang!"

"Counting the warriors of Wudu and other tribes, Wang Qingxiang and Han Shimei have at most three or four thousand soldiers. Such a small number of soldiers dare to leave the city and attack our Maza tribe. They are too courageous."

"These two tribes must not be the only ones who were attacked. Dongdai, we can't wait any longer. Hurry up and gather all the tribes to fight!"

Maza Tata was on fire, pacing up and down the hall with his scimitar clutched tightly.

A head of a hundred households said eagerly: "Dong Dai, Wu Tumu made it very clear in his letter that An Fuyan was fighting with the Ge Luolu tribe in Guishu, and he couldn't get out of Yele at all."

Master Pazhuo is a wise man of the Mazha tribe, he sees farther than these warriors, thinks more than these warriors, and said with a frown: "Wang Qingxiang and Han Shimei dare to fight at this time, just because we can't drive out many sheep." , can't send out many soldiers."

"Kill the sheep and bring it with you. It's so cold outside, no matter how much meat you bring, it won't spoil."

"A dead sheep can't walk."

"Tied to the horse's back."

Master Pazhuo stared at him and asked, "A dead sheep can be tied to a horse, but what will the horse eat?"

The head of a hundred households was stopped by the question, and was so anxious that he didn't know what to say.

Mazha Tata stopped in his tracks, turned around and said, "Master, we can bring barley fodder like them!"

In such a cold day, if there is nothing to eat, the army will starve to death and freeze to death, but the Tang army cannot be allowed to burn, kill and loot.

Master Pazhuo thought about it silently, raised his head and said, "Dong Dai, we can bring the highland barley fodder, but how much can we bring?"

"Like Tang Jun, let people change their luck!"

"In this way, only [-] soldiers can be dispatched at most."

"Only ten thousand?"

"The Tang army has 1 people fighting, and 4 to [-] people are needed to transport food."

"Yele Town and those Jumi tribes only have three or four thousand soldiers in total, 1 is enough!"

"Dongdai, what if they avoid fighting and go around in circles with us in Yandu. If they dare to start a war at this time, they are sure that we will not be able to drive out the sheep."

Maza Tata pulled out his knife sharply, and pointed at the sheepskin map: "We will divide into two groups, one to attack Yele City, the other to attack Baisha City, and see if they come back to help!"

Master Pazhuo shook his head: "There are not many soldiers, and it is not appropriate to divide them."

Maza Tata gritted his teeth and said: "Then go and attack Yele City, as long as Yele City is captured, they will be the ones who are starving and freezing!"

"They must be prepared."

"It doesn't matter if you are prepared. Yele City doesn't even have soldiers, only some young and strong people, and there are only more than 2000 old, weak, sick and disabled left in the military city."

"Dong Dai, I don't think it's that easy for them to start a war at this time."

"Master, are you saying that there is an ambush and they have reinforcements?"

The head of the Ram Bai family said eagerly: "Guishu is so far away from Yele, even if An Fuyan can spare his body to help, it is too late. There are not many warriors in Wudu, Wunushibi and other tribes, and they are all harassing Wang Qingxiang. I'm messing around with the ministries, where can they bring reinforcements from."

While we were talking, one or two small tribes might have disappeared.

As for the transfer of luck that the master said, how many warriors should be left to do these things, what if those slaves take the opportunity to run away?

Moreover, it is impossible for Tang Jun to be unprepared, maybe he had ambushed the curious soldiers and waited for the road to run out.

Maza Tata didn't want to make such trouble, and didn't think Yele City was so difficult to attack, so he ordered with a gloomy face:
"Lam, send people to order the various ministries in the northern region to take precautions; Duoji, order the centurions to gather warriors and slaves, slaughter enough cattle and sheep for a month, bring enough fodder for horses for a month, and go out with this thousand households! "

(End of this chapter)