Late Tang

The sun should have risen long ago, but the dense fog in the morning in winter shrouded the plain, and the morning sun could not penetrate the layers of fog.

It was cold winter, the sun seemed weak and powerless, and the whistling north never stopped, but it still couldn't blow away the thick fog, instead blowing thicker and thicker veils of fog.

The commander of the left coalition army of the tribal alliance, the grandson of the tenth Khitan Dadielie Mansion Yilijin's brother Yelu Tiesai, and the Khitan tarma tribe's tamarin Sari Yelu Abaoji, patted the slightly uneasy mount with his palm.This is not the first time he has participated in the war. In the battle that his father, Uncle Shilu and others went south to the Central Plains to replace the North two years ago, he has already fought bravely many times.But that time, their entire army was almost wiped out. His father died in battle, and his uncle Shi Lu and his cousin Fu Guzhi are still imprisoned in the Yanjing Prison in Hebei, Central Plains.

If he hadn't been seriously injured in the battle against Yunzhou, with more than a dozen broken bones on his body, and had been unconscious for a long time, he might have died in the Central Plains just like his father, and it was impossible for him to escape by luck.Even if he escaped by chance that time, he had spent more than a year recuperating in the tribal tent by the Huangshui River for more than a year, and there are still many old wounds on his body that have not healed.

After the death of the father, the Khitan experienced a lot of changes after the death of the father. His uncle Cong, who was not looked down upon by others, actually sat on the Khitan Khan while everyone was away. He died of illness, and now Yili Jin is his uncle Tiela, Yuyue his uncle Yelu Yanmu, and his other two uncles, Yelu Qisi and Yelu Wansi, respectively serve as kings of the northern and southern courts. Elder Brother Hua, the son of Shi Lu, served as the commander of the palace tent army and guarded the new Khitan Yili Jin Tieci, while he inherited his father's position as Tama Tamarin Shali and became the head of the Khitan Yuyue's bodyguard.

Yelu Abaoji's heart and surname have changed a lot since his uncle Yili Jin Tiesa came to Bohai Sea and put on his armor again to go into battle.He even gave himself a Han Chinese name, Liu Yi.The Chinese name he took has connotations. When Khitan originally accepted the title of Li Tangce of the Central Plains, he had received the surname Li from the country.But A Baoji took a Chinese name, but he chose Liu. This is because during his injury, he read many books in the Central Plains, especially history books.After he read the history books of the dynasties of the Central Plains, among the emperors of the Central Plains who achieved hegemony and created dynasties, the only one he admired the most was Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty.

In his opinion, at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang was nothing, whether it was literature or martial arts, but it was such a character who finally killed Xiang Yu, the hero and overlord recognized by everyone, and even led those who were more powerful than others. He wanted to strengthen his subordinates, and finally created the Han Dynasty.Liu Bang's talents are limited, and sometimes he is not as good as his wife Lu Shi, but such a character finally won the world alone.He respected Liu Bang very much and believed that such a character is a real hero.In his opinion, in today's world, Li Jing of the Central Plains is like Xiang Yu, majestic and domineering, invincible and invincible.He wanted to be Liu Bang. Although the strengths of the two sides were very different at the beginning, Liu Bang was able to beat Xiang Yu in the end.

Therefore, he named himself Liu Yi, and also gave his newly married aunt's daughter Yue Liduo a Chinese surname, Xiao.Xiao is Xiao He's Xiao He, an important minister of Liu Bang. He reads history books and feels that although Liu Bang has many capable ministers, among them he admires Xiao He the most. He hopes that his new wife can become a good helper like Xiao He. Not a woman like Liu Bang's wife Lu.

Since he was injured, A Baoji had thought about it for a long time, reflecting on why they would lose again and again in Li Jing's hands.

In the end, he came to a conclusion, which was a proposition put forward by Chao Cuo, an important minister of the Wen and Jing dynasties in the Western Han Dynasty, that to fight against the outside world, the inside must be settled first.

In his view, the tribes outside the Great Wall have a vast territory and a large population.In history, the Xiongnu in the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Rouran in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and the Turks in the Sui and Tang Dynasties were all extremely powerful, making the Central Plains a giant, and even a powerful steppe country that negotiated peace with relatives.The key to the ability of these prairie empires to overwhelm the Central Plains dynasty is that they unified the vast beyond the Great Wall, from Haidong to the Western Regions, tens of thousands of miles away, hundreds of thousands of tribes were integrated into one, the Xiongnu, Ruan, and Turks, every A prairie empire can dispatch 50 million iron cavalry at any time. They are real iron cavalry, not the tens of 10 people who count men, women, and children together.

If the tribes outside the Great Wall want to defeat the Central Plains, they can only wait for the Central Plains to disintegrate, or unify themselves.

Today's Central Plains seems to be in turmoil, but a Li Jing was born out of nowhere, occupying the front line in the north and guarding the portal of the Central Plains. They couldn't go south to plunder and gain benefits.Even their idea of ​​playing Bohai, Li Jing refused.

Li Jing is their old enemy, which makes it difficult for them to develop. Instead, they have been bleeding continuously in the past few years, and their vitality has been seriously injured.

To fight outside, you must first be safe inside.

This is not just what the Central Plains people need to do, but also their tribes.If Khitan can truly integrate the land beyond the Great Wall from east to west, instead of just occupying a small area in the northeast as it is now, and still have a loose tribal alliance, they will definitely be able to break through those grassland empires like the Xiongnu. Pressing the Central Plains Dynasty under his own iron hooves, trembling.

He feels that the upper echelons of Khitan are not so clear-headed, or that they are a little outdated and can't see the situation clearly.They are still using the idea of ​​tribal struggle to face this great battle that is related to the life and death of Khitan.Now is not the time to continue fighting with the Qin army. They should understand that they have already lost this battle with the Qin people, and once they lose to the end, they will lose completely.What they have to consider now is not how to defeat the Qin army, but how to preserve the remaining strength.

Sitting astride the horse, he seemed very silent, with deep uneasiness in his heart.

A sound of hoofbeats came from behind, and a middle-aged knight in full body armor appeared.Liu Yi glanced back, it was his uncle, now Yuyue Yeluyanmu of Khitan.Originally, after Yelv Pugu became seriously ill, it was agreed within Diela that Shilu would take over the position of Yi Lijin. .But who would have thought that Shi Luhui would be defeated in the Central Plains, and finally became a captive of the Southern Manzi.Pugu died so suddenly that the entire Deira Yelu family was unprepared. According to reason, Yelu Yanmu should succeed Yilijin. Then the old man made Yi Li Jin, and in the end, out of compensation, Iwaki, the original new Yi Li Jin, had to take over Yu Yue's position. Yu Yue's temporary surname has now become a permanent position. Yue and Yili Jin have equal positions and powers. Khitan now has two military and political leaders under the noble but powerless Khan.

However, although Yu Yue and Yi Li Jin of the Dadie Lie Mansion have almost as much power, Tie Si is Yan Mu's uncle after all, and he has served as the ninth Yi Li Jin, and now he is the tenth, no matter in terms of seniority or prestige , Yelu Tiesai is the real No.1 in the entire Khitan today.

But Tiela was already very old, and among his several sons, only Pugu died, Fugu became a captive of the Nanman, and Xiadi became the Khan again, and the remaining two sons occasionally Si and Wansi are now the kings of the North and South Courtyard.According to the old rules, after the three-year term of Yelu Tieshi expired, Yilijin's position had to be inherited by Abaoji's grandfather Yun Deshi.Yelu Yanmu is in his 40s, in his prime.His body, which has been fighting outside for many years, is still very strong when riding a horse.

"Chu Lizhi, are you here? Your body is still not ready. It's too early to wake up in such a cold morning. With such strong wind and such thick fog, once you get lost, it's no fun."

"Uncle, is there such a fog here often?"

Yelu Abaoji has grown a lot taller in the past two years. At the age of 12, he is already eight feet tall (Chinese ruler, about 1.8 meters).His strength was even greater, and he could already use a strong bow of two hundred catties. He lifted his helmet down, like pupils the color of a clear night sky.

"Well, there is often such a heavy fog in the winter mornings in the Bohai Sea. The fog is so thick that you can't see your fingers clearly. Sometimes the fog doesn't clear until the afternoon." Yelu Yanmu opened his mouth and smiled: "But no matter whether it's thick fog or heavy snow, it doesn't matter. We can't stop our tribal cavalry. In fact, the worse the weather in the Bohai Sea, the more beneficial it is for us. Anyway, most of our coalition forces grew up outside the customs. Zibing is much stronger, and many of them have never seen snow since they were young!"

A Baoji is not as optimistic as his uncle. The Qin army may not be as adaptable to the severe cold outside the Great Wall as they are, but the Qin army has sufficient equipment.They had fur coats, padded jackets, sweaters, coal and charcoal, and they had all the equipment to keep out the cold. Although it was cold, they stayed comfortably in the fortresses and igloos.Didn't my uncle just say that it's easy to get lost in dense fog?If they withdraw their troops in such weather, severe cold is already a great enemy, but now with thick fog, the retreat will be really fatal.

"Hey, you are too blind. Our coalition forces are all tribes outside the pass. They are no strangers to the severe winter in the Northeast. On the contrary, those southern barbarians of the Qin army traveled four to five thousand miles. The distance, running to fight in this ice and snow field that they have never experienced before, they simply ran thousands of miles to dig their own graves. To fight here, it is not enough to have more soldiers. Back then, Yang Guang launched a million-dollar campaign against Liao, but The result was nothing more than ruining his own Sui Empire." (To be continued.)