Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 254 The Battle of Wolf Mountain
The wind and snow in Hetao did not get smaller with the passage of time, but got bigger and bigger.

The unusual climate made the Ming army and Huo Luochi feel weird, but they didn't have the heart to pay attention to it right now.

In the middle of the night on the [-]st day of the first lunar month, Huo Luochi led his troops across the frozen Yellow River carefully, and then chose an open area as a place to rest.

Such a place is not an excellent camp for the Han Chinese who are mostly infantry, but it can be said to be an excellent camp for the five major ministries who are now frightened.

After sending out the sentry cavalry far enough away, Huo Luochi and the others also fell asleep overwhelmed. The strange thing was that no one came to chase them until they slept until noon.

"Didn't the Ming army come after them? Where was the Ningxia Ming army last night?"

When Huo Luochi woke up drowsily from his sleep, he had only slept for three hours, his eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion.

In response to his question, Qianhu from the tribe also said: "It's very strange, the Ming army didn't come after them, I'm afraid they've shrunk."

"From this point of view, the Ming army is not that scary. It should be that Zhu Youjian and Mangui are the elite and the main force." Hearing Qianhu's words, Huo Luochi didn't think much about it.

There is also a reason why he thinks this way. The four towns in the northwest are not valued by the Ming court, so it is common for them to be short of quota.

If there are too many spaces, there will be problems in defense.

Therefore, since Huo Luochi could remember, the Ming court's defenses in the northwest for nearly half a century can be said to have been almost non-existent.

Except for Wanli's launch of the three victories in Huangzhong and the launch of Wanli's three major campaigns in Ningxia, the entire four towns in the northwest can pull out less than [-] troops from outside the pass.

This also caused Huo Luochi to often take soldiers and horses to and fro around Hexi, and no one dared to stop him.

If the Ming army did not transfer troops and horses, the soldiers and horses in the three towns of Ningxia, Guyuan, and Gansu should still be the same as before.

"Now you just need to avoid Zhu Youjian and Man Gui."

Naturally, Huo Luochi, who felt that the Northwest Ming army was still the same, didn't think much about it, and he relaxed a lot.

"Is it still snowing outside?"

After relaxing, Huo Luochi also heard the sound of wind and snow outside the tent, so he couldn't help asking.

"It's still going down, and it's much bigger than a few days ago. It is estimated that the Ming army in Ningxia was also afraid of being attacked when they went out of the fortress, so they retreated and did not go north."

Qianhu replied, and Huo Luochi nodded slightly after hearing this, and explained:

"I'll sleep for a while. If there is any trace of Man Gui or Zhu Youjian, immediately notify the five armies to break out of the camp and break out to the northwest."

"Yes!" Qianhu agreed, and Huo Luochi simply lay back on the bed.

After Qianhu left, he soon fell asleep again.

In the dream, the soldiers and horses under the banner of Zhu Youjian and Mangui were staggering in the snow, and the journey was difficult.

Such a picture made Huo Luochi's sleeping face reveal a smile...

"Fire mutton head and hoof, salty mustard mutton tripe dish, garlic vinegar mutton blood soup, yuan juice mutton bones, spicy mutton kidneys, haggis soup, military rice..."

"What is this for? Is it a holiday?"

When Huo Luochi thought that the Ming army was drinking the wind and eating the snow, Zhu Youjian was sitting in a big tent in a leeward valley of Langshan, frowning as he looked at the dishes served in front of him.

He looked at Yu Chu who was constantly wiping sweat in front of him, and the other party said helplessly:

"Your Highness, these sheep were brought by Cao Zongbing when he went south from the back. There are more than [-] sheep, and the whole army has enough to eat. You can eat them with confidence."

"..." Hearing that the whole army had something to eat, Zhu Youjian's brows gradually relaxed, and he could only wave his hands and say:
"Understood, let's go."

"Yes..." The royal chef accompanying the army wiped his sweat to avoid being caught by the wind and snow when he left the camp.

After he left, Zhu Youjian was also a little speechless looking at the whole sheep banquet in front of him.

Naturally, the whole army couldn't eat as well as his food. Most of the soldiers probably only had one or two catties of roast or stewed mutton.

If the whole army is to eat according to this standard, it is estimated that the army must be followed by more than a dozen carts of condiments other than sheep.

After clearing up his mood, Zhu Youjian picked up the chopsticks and started eating.

To be honest, the army ration rice has no other fragrance except for the full stomach, but with the dishes of the Quanyang Banquet, this meal is still the best meal Zhu Youjian has eaten since the fourteenth day of the first lunar month.

It was rare for him to have a big appetite, and he ate all the dishes on the table, and he couldn't help but miss the dishes of the palace and Yumajian.

"This battle is about the same. Although I can't go back to Beijing, I can rest."

Wiping his mouth, Zhu Youjian thought in his heart, and the next second Cao Wenzhao's voice came from outside the tent.

"Your Highness, I will report back later."

"Come in." Zhu Youjian wiped his mouth clean and said to the outsider.

As soon as he opened his mouth, Cao Wenzhao also opened the big tent and walked in, shook off the snow on his body, and then said:
"Your Highness, the snow is getting bigger and bigger. I really saw a ghost."

"In previous years, even in the twelfth lunar month, there was no such heavy snow. I don't know if it is easy to snow in the back cover."

"Hmm..." Hearing Cao Wenzhao's words, Zhu Youjian nodded slightly.

If others don't know, how can he not know?He has prepared more than anyone else for the upcoming disaster of the Little Ice River.

Not to mention the heavy snow now, even if there is a sudden drought tomorrow, he will not be surprised.

"Where are Sun Chuanting's troops?"

Zhu Youjian asked, and Cao Wenzhao also said: "We have already detoured northward from the northern part of Helan Mountain to Langshan Mountain, and deployed ambushes at all the mountain passes that can break through along the way."

"According to Tang Qi's report three hours ago, they should be less than a hundred miles away from here."

"One hundred miles..." Hearing this distance, Zhu Youjian calculated, unless Huo Luochi directly abandoned his troops and led troops to break through, otherwise he would not be able to attack three hundred miles within two days.

What's more, in this snowy day, even Shangzhi with four horses alone is not sure that he can run three hundred miles in two days, let alone Huoluochibu.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian was very relieved and did not have too many worries in his heart.

For him, it was only a matter of time before Huo Luochi was captured or killed.

Even if they were able to break through successfully, but in the vast desert, the cavalry of the Ming army prepared dry food for ten days, how much dry food did they prepare to carry with them?
Not to mention that Mei Zhihuan and the others are heading north to attack Juyanhai and Yibula Mountain.

Therefore, at this time, Zhu Youjian was sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai without panicking.

Not only him, but even Sun Chuanting, Man Gui, Yang Zhaoji and many other reconciled generals who braved the heavy snow and marched forward never panicked.

The very simple reason is that it is too easy to repeat the first battle.

Originally all the generals thought that Su Nang would be the last opponent, but they didn't want Su Nang to be captured alive by Zhu Youjian.

This kind of feeling, there is a feeling of following Li Jing in the Tang Dynasty to send troops to fight.

To put it simply, everyone thought that Zhu Youjian was going to entangle with Su Nang for a period of time, and the final battle would determine the outcome, but he went up and cleaned up Su Nang.

In this way, it not only makes people feel that Zhu Youjian won easily, but also makes people doubt Su Nang's ability.

"what……"

Feeling a little cold in the tent, Zhu Youjian breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the Northwest map on his desk, his brows were furrowed, showing no sign of relaxation.

Seeing this, Qianhu of Jin Yiwei in the tent boldly asked: "Your Highness seems to be worried about something, is he worried about Huo Luochi?"

"Huo Luochi has nothing to worry about..." Zhu Youjian pinched the root of the mountain with his hand, closed his eyes and meditated, and said:

"I'm really worried about the people, as well as the people in Hexi, Shanxi, and Shaanxi."

"This heavy snow fell so suddenly, no one knows how long it will take to stop."

"If it keeps going down, once the spring plowing season is delayed, the people will have to wait until next year to move Hetao and start reclamation."

"Probably not?" Qianhu said cautiously, obviously he was also a little worried.

Only Hexi, Shaanxi, Hetao, and Datong and Taiyuan in Shanxi were affected by this weird snowfall, and Xuanfu and Beizhili in the east were completely fine.

Even Liaodong, which is known as bitter cold, is already sunny and the snow has melted.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian looked at the tent door worriedly, he didn't know what he was thinking, and the wind and snow in the northwest also became more and more worried as his worry...

Time passed by little by little, and soon the sky gradually became dark, and Huo Luochi, who was on the bank of the Yellow River, also began to break out of the encirclement to the northwest with five major troops.

Based on the experience of meeting Tangqi of the Ningxia Ming Army before, Huo Luochi was a little worried that the Ming army would send troops to set up an ambush at the mountain pass in the south. As for the north, his Tangqi ran northward for fifty miles without seeing a single Ming army. Tang Qi, this reassured him a lot.

It can be said that the wind and snow helped Zhu Youjian. It covered up the traces of the Ming army very well, and things that were easily exposed, such as horse dung and human dung, were also actively buried by Shangzhi soldiers and horses.

Comparing them, Huoluochi's five major divisions seemed less careful.

Human and horse feces are all along the way. If it were Zhu Youjian who chased them, I'm afraid they would be surrounded and wiped out within two hundred miles.

This is also the war habit of the grassland nomads.

But right now they were escaping, and they also believed that the Ming army did not have as many horses as them, so they did not intend to cover up, but continued to march northwestwardly.

Perhaps because of the existence of Langshan Mountain and Helan Mountain, most people who broke through felt that the West Tao was much warmer than the East Tao, so they slowed down.

However, if you look closely at their number and team length, you can still see that there are not a few downsizing caused by their rush these days.

Because of this, many people began to complain.

They didn't see any traces of the Ming army, so they thought that Huo Luochi and the others rushed too fast.

Such a heavy snowstorm made it difficult for even them to march, let alone the Han people.

At this time, you should find a leeward place to rest for a few days, and wait for the wind and snow to stop before you go on your way.

This is the simplest and most straightforward thought among the members of the lower class, and they think so because they can't bear it anymore.

However, they could think so, but Huo Luochi and the others couldn't.

They knew that the dried meat and beans in the tribe could be eaten for a few days, and if the wind and snow delayed them here for ten days and a half months, they would not need the Ming army to pursue them after that, and they would simply go south and surrender.

"Speed ​​up the march, we must arrive at the foot of Wolf Mountain and set up camp today."

"Hurry up! Hurry up if you don't want to be beheaded by the Ming army!"

The wind and snow make people grumpy, or the hunger caused by too low body surface temperature makes people grumpy.

In short, the soldiers and horses of the five major tribes urged all the tribes furiously, but Huo Luochi and the others did not stop them.

However, it turned out that such actions were effective, because before dawn, Huo Luochi led them for another [-] li or so.

It's just that it doesn't come without a price...

Hundreds of old and weak were killed by the cold, as were thousands of horses.

There was no time to bury them. After arriving at the camping place, everyone immediately started camping in a hurry, and then got into the tent.

Some people burned what could be burned to keep warm.

The warmth made them fall into a deep sleep, and Huo Luochi, the leader of the alliance, lay down and continued to sleep after the sentry reported that the radius of fifty miles was safe.

But at the same time as they were lying down, a Jin Yiwei who was all dressed up was explaining everything to Wu Lie who was under great pressure.

"Tonight, all your tribes are wearing red cloths around their arms. It is best to hide in the tents and not come out. Be the last tribe to evacuate."

"But Caritas and they are going to be the rear army." Wu Lie immediately became anxious when he heard that, and Jin Yiwei also comforted:

"If he wants to be a rear army, let him do it. You slow down your pace. When Caritas sees the mountain pass in front of you, he will naturally speed up."

"Okay..." Wu Lie could only bite the bullet and agree when he heard the words, and the Jin Yiwei also said:

"I'll disguise myself as a sentinel and go out later, and I'll show you my merits when I get to His Highness."

"Thank you, General." Wu Lie immediately began to compliment him as soon as he heard the meritorious service.

Regarding the safety of this Jin Yiwei, he was also very concerned about ordering his personal guards to pretend to be Tiqi and send him out.

Due to the exhaustion of driving all night, the sentry cavalry near the camp did not strictly check, but after knowing that they were sentry cavalry from Zasak's department, they let them go decisively.

This kind of behavior is enough to show that the spirits of the five major ministries, whether they are the ministries or the soldiers, are on the verge of collapse.

Under such tension, with the passage of two hours, Jin Yiwei Tiqi successfully found the camp of the Ming army, and was brought to Zhu Youjian's tent by Cao Wenzhao and Saihan, and confessed to He Wu Everything that Lie talked about.

"In other words, Huo Luochi's position is now [-] miles northeast of our army?"

Looking at the map and Tiqi in front of him, Zhu Youjian also became energetic, and Tiqi also replied:
"According to Huo Luochi's plan, they should go out of the fortress through the Langshan Pass, so I came here to report to His Highness."

"Well, if that's the case, we've bumped into each other." Zhu Youjian nodded slightly, and Cao Wenzhao also stood up and said:
"Your Highness, if this is the case, we need to withdraw the Tiqi back in advance, otherwise if the Tiqi from the two armies meet, Huo Luochi will inevitably flee from other mountain passes."

"Sun Chuanting sent a letter half an hour ago. He has already blocked other mountain passes except Langshan Pass. Don't worry about that." Zhu Youjian interrupted Cao Wenzhao's words and added:

"However, there are six roads at Langshan Pass, and these six roads need to be arranged."

"Your Highness, the three roads to the north of Langshan Pass do not need to be arranged." Suddenly, Saihan said:

"The three roads in the north are very narrow. Even if thousands of people pass by, it will take four hours to get out of Wolf Mountain. And they are so narrow that only two people can pass side by side."

"So there are still three roads to the south that need attention, and be careful."

Having said that, Saihan pointed to the three southern roads on the map and added:

"Huo Luochi went to Xitao many times and took the Langshan Pass. Of these three roads, he often took the widest and best "Halgei Hashangou"."

"If you take this ditch, you can reach Xitao within an hour and a half at the earliest."

"As for the other Wulangou and Harsagou, either they are prone to avalanches or the roads are rough."

After Saihan finished speaking, he took the initiative to retreat, and Zhu Youjian looked at the map, and after calculating that the distance between Wulangou and Harsagou was only a dozen miles away, he finally chose to believe in Saihan's judgment. Pointing directly to a path, he said:

"Since this is the case, then deploy [-] men and [-] artillery pieces in Wulangou and Harsagou respectively, and the remaining [-] cavalry and [-] artillery pieces in the army will be deployed in Hargai Hashangou."

"If Huo Luochi leads people to the other two valleys, don't hesitate to bombard the two mountains in the valley immediately, causing avalanches and landslides..."

After the voice fell, Zhu Youjian looked up at Cao Wenzhao, Saihan and others, and explained with a torch-like gaze:

"This battle is coming to an end! Regardless of whether Huo Luochi breaks through or not, those who see him don't need to receive my general's order, and they will go after Huo Luochi with all their strength. Those who kill Huo Luochi will be promoted to three ranks and rewarded with three thousand taels of silver!"

"Yes—" Hearing Zhu Youjian's words, everyone responded loudly.

"Exit the camp!" Following Zhu Youjian's order, the Ming army, which had rested for a day and a night, began to withdraw from the camp.

Cao Wenzhao led [-] people to march towards Wulangou and Harsagou respectively, while Zhu Youjian led Saihan and [-] cavalry to Hargai Hashangou.

Heavy snow fell all over the sky in the vast Langshan Mountains, and the Ming army marching in the snowy mountains took advantage of the sky before it was completely dark, and raised the speed of the rapid march in the mountains to the highest.

The heat exhaled by the soldiers and horses turned into white mist and spread out in the snow, and the haggis soup and beans in their stomachs provided them with a small amount of heat.

The continuous march made their stomachs start to growl, but no one chose to stop.

Compared with hunger, the military situation is more urgent.

The long wolf mountain and the wind and snow blowing like a knife became their biggest enemy. The soldiers of the Ming army in the mountain road held the sun and moon flags that were rolled by the wind and snow, and crossed one danger after another.

The entire army became active during the rapid march, and two hours after they pulled out their camp and dispatched their troops, Huo Luochi, who had almost rested, finally gave the final order to break out of the encirclement.

In the silent darkness, the strong wind constantly harassed the pedestrians on the snowy ground from all around. The gloomy sky covered all the sun, moon and stars, making the surroundings pitch black.

Under such harsh weather, more than [-] surviving tribes, soldiers, and lords of the five major tribes were all rushing to break through.

At this time, the night was cold, the wind and snow were blowing heavily, and the wind blew the flag and the flag was so loud that the flag bearers couldn't even fight against it. Finally, the flag broke in the struggle between the two parties.

Looking back, people and horses froze to death looking at each other on the road, including the old and the weak, women and children, children who couldn't bear it, and thin men.

It's just that right now, no one cares about their life and death.

Survival became the last belief and idea of ​​others.

The "huhu" wind and snow was getting bigger and bigger, and Huoluochi, who was walking on thin ice, felt very cold, but until he was about to break out of the encirclement, he did not dare to order the whole army to light the torches.

Facing the wind and snow, he could only carefully lead the army to explore the way at the position of the former army, looking at the wolf mountain in the distance.

Langshan in the snowstorm looks like a black giant lying sideways on the land of Hetao, covered with snow-white bedding, majestic and terrifying.

In his long life, Huo Luochi had walked through the Langshan Pass many times, but this was the first time he felt such fear.

He led more than [-] people to the foot of Wolf Mountain, but he suddenly encountered a problem in the choice of breaking out of the valley.

"Abu, what's the matter? Don't you want to go to Hargai Hashangou?"

Faced with the stop of his father's horse, Baltu asked Huo Luochi next to him, but Huo Luochi felt flustered, and finally said:

"I'm a little flustered. This time we will not go to Halegai Hashangou, but to Ulangou."

"Okay..." Hearing Huo Luochi's words, Baltu immediately sent sentry cavalry generals to pass the news to the entire army, and such an order made Zasak Taiji Wulie, who was in the army, feel tight.

There was a change in Huo Luochi's breakout route, which caught him unexpectedly.

It's just that he didn't have too many choices at the moment. The more than five hundred Ming soldiers in the dark night had been sticking to the pasture cart where their armor and weapons were hidden, and Wu Lie was also very anxious.

He originally wanted to let the Zasak tribe gradually drop out of the team as agreed, and finally leave the team completely.

But Ming Ai also seemed to distrust Huo Luochi's route very much, so as soon as Ming Ai saw Zasak's men slow down, he immediately asked his men to slow down as well.

As a result, Wu Lie was caught in the penultimate part of the five major parts.

Such a position is very embarrassing, because if they are the last troops, then when the Ming army launches a surprise attack, they can also respond from the tail of the team, and finally attack back and forth, killing them all.

But it is different now. Once the Ming army raids, the people in the first three departments will flee to the back, and if the Caritas in the back tries to reorganize the army to fight back, then the Zasak department will be coerced.

In addition, the more than [-] hidden Ming troops need to change their armor.

If they are the last one, then this time can be said to be very abundant, because as long as the Zhasak troops walking in front provide cover, the five hundred Ming troops can easily put on armor.

But now they have Caritas monitoring behind them, which makes it impossible for Wu Lie and Ming Jun to make small moves.

Amid the tension and apprehension, Wu Lie could only follow Huo Luochi's team and walked step by step into Wulangou at the Langshan Pass.

The valley, which is more than forty miles long, and the surrounding darkness and snowflakes constantly blowing into the valley, only made Wu Lie feel that time passed very slowly.

ten miles...

Twenty miles...

Thirty miles...

When the distance shortened little by little and the army was about to break through successfully, Wu Lie could even hear his own rapid breathing.

"Where's the Ming army? Where's Zhu Youjian? Where's the person?"

Wu Lie kept asking himself in his heart, because he knew that if the Ming army didn't show up right now, then when the Zasak tribe succeeded in breaking through with Huoluochi, there would definitely be informers in the tribe who would report that he had joined the Ming army as an internal response. things.

At that time, he will die...

Thinking of the picture of himself being beheaded, Wu Lie's breathing almost stopped, but the facts proved that he was not wrong...

"put!"

"Boom boom-"

When Wu Lie was still worrying, before Huo Luochi, who was leading the former army to break through the siege, hadn't had time to be young, the booming artillery sounded at this moment.

At this moment, stone bullets hit the mountain walls on both sides of Wulangou in an endless stream, and at the same time countless torches appeared on the high places of the two mountains, and with the appearance of the torches, the sound of "rumbling" and the existence of white waves began. Sweeping down, pointing directly at the three tribes of Huoluochi in the river valley.

"Avalanche—"

　Four o'clock and one more

　　
　
(End of this chapter)