Daming: Brother, there is no future for monks, let's rebel

Chapter 244 The New Conqueror of Europe

After Xu Da received Zhu Yuanzhang's transfer order, he immediately led his elite soldiers to Lanzhou to preside over the overall situation at an accelerated speed of eight hundred miles.

Changing horses and resting along the way, never staying overnight, finally arrived in Lanzhou in ten days.

At this time, a large number of materials and troops transferred from Guanzhong to Lanzhou had not yet arrived, and the officers, soldiers and common people of the Lanzhou Xingdu Division were in chaos.

A large number of victims flooded outside the city, and many warehouses of the Ming army were also damaged in the earthquake.

Many people were worried that Wang Baobao would take this opportunity to attack Lanzhou, and many people fled their homes and poured into the city.

Many generals in the Ming army were afraid of Wang Baobao's attack, so they took the initiative to shrink the defense line, abandoned some badly damaged fortresses, and gathered soldiers and horses in several big cities, but after Xu Da arrived, he had a completely opposite view on this. , He felt that the Mongolian Yuan army must have gotten the news of the Lanzhou earthquake disaster before himself.

However, he has not come to attack Lanzhou for such a long time, which shows that Wang Baobao must have other plans.

On the one hand, Xu Da presided over the affairs of the Lanzhou Xingdu Division, and on the other hand, he sent people to inquire about Wang Baobao's movements.

Sure enough, as Xu Da expected, Wang Baobao's Mongolian Yuan army did not come to Lanzhou to attack, but turned to the west to fight the Golden Horde Khanate.

"God helped me too! To regain the Western Regions, the opportunity to conquer Huozhou is at hand!"

After Xu Da got the news, he immediately started to shoot the case happily.

However, his words shocked the generals under his command.

The Ming army has now suffered a lot of losses, and the reserves of various weapons and food and grass are seriously insufficient.

Under such circumstances, how could it be possible to attack Huozhou, where Wang Baobao is strictly defending?

"Marshal, think twice..."

"Marshal, this might be a trap set by the Tartars, just wait for us to catch it!"

"Yes, Marshal, we can't take risks easily now. Once the attack on Huozhou fails, Lanzhou will also be in danger!"

……

Regarding the opposition of these generals, Xu Da insisted on his own opinion.

In the end, in the name of Marshal of the Lanzhou Metropolitan Government, he stood up to all the opinions and made the decision to personally lead the army to Huozhou to attack.

Xu Da's attack this time was a surprise attack, so it was naturally impossible to advance with great fanfare.

Everything highlights a fast word.

Therefore, the army Xu Da dispatched was not large. Lanzhou Xingdu had [-] soldiers and horses, and he only took away [-] of them.

These Ming army elites all have one man and two horses. Apart from the necessary weapons, armor and gunpowder, they only brought a small part of the food and grass they needed.

This does not mean that the elite army is not human and does not need to eat, but that Xu Da has his own way to solve the problem of feeding the 1 people in the Ming army.

When Xu Da presided over the Lanzhou Xingdu Division, he had already secretly bribed a large number of fearful people.

Uyghurs, that is, Uyghurs, their ancestors were Uighurs living on the grasslands.

Originally, they also lived a nomadic life of living by water and grass. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, they moved to the southern part of the Tianshan Mountains. They gradually merged with the local ethnic groups and formed an ethnic group engaged in farming and trading.

Uyghurs have extremely high business talents and are an important link on the Silk Road.

They had frequent exchanges with the merchants of the Ming Dynasty here in Lanzhou, and naturally gradually realized the strength of the Ming Dynasty.

In the eyes of the Uyghurs, it is only a matter of time before Wang Baobao's Mongolian head of state court perished.

So after Xu Da extended an olive branch to them, these Uighur businessmen actively greeted them.

Now Wang Baobao led the army to go out to fight, and the interior was very empty. As long as Xu Da led the elite Ming army to the outside of Huozhou City, they could get the support of countless Uighurs.

After all, Xu Da has already made a promise with the Uyghurs to guarantee their property and life safety on their own land, and after surrendering to the Ming Dynasty, the Uyghur merchants will enjoy the same tax benefits as the merchants of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, as long as the Ming army approached the city of Huozhou, there was no need to worry about logistics and food.

Xu Da led [-] elite troops of the Ming Dynasty to rush forward in light clothes. After leaving Jiayuguan, he quickly wiped out the scouts scattered around by the Mongolian and Yuan courts with lightning speed.

When Tuyin Timur and Empress Dowager Qi of Huozhou City got the news that the Ming army was coming to attack, the Ming army led by Xu Da was less than [-] miles away from Huozhou.

The distance of two hundred miles can be reached in two days if the infantry marches desperately.

If the cavalry moved forward quickly, it would only take a day.

For the Mongolian and Yuan courts in Huozhou, the sudden appearance of the Ming army led by Xu Da can almost be described as a divine soldier descending from heaven.

"What to do? What to do? Come up with a solution!"

Empress Qi was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

None of them thought that the Ming army in Lanzhou would have the courage and ability to attack Huozhou after being hit by an earthquake.

Moreover, they also knew that the general who led this Ming army was the famous Xu Da.

In the entire Mongolian and Yuan courts, except for Wang Baobao, no one could have survived two rounds under Xu Da.

Facing the flustered Empress Dowager Qi, her brother-in-law Toyin Timur also had no way to deal with it.

"Why don't you quickly order the surrounding soldiers to come to Huozhou for rescue? The Ming army will definitely retreat after the attack is blocked. I heard that they don't have many soldiers, only 2 at most!" Tuo Yintie When Mu'er said this, she was a little unconfident.

Because the Huozhou city wall is not as tall and strong as the Central Plains, it may be difficult for the Mongolian and Yuan troops to resist the artillery attack of the Ming army.

"No, no! The whole army is defending Huozhou. Once the Ming army breaks through the city wall, if you want to run, you won't be able to!"

A person next to him immediately objected loudly.

This person is none other than Kong Kejian, Duke Yan of the Yuan Dynasty.

As an official representing the Han people, Yan Sheng Gong Kong Kejian's right to speak in the Mongolian and Yuan courts became more and more important.

What's more, Kong Kejian, who is a master of wind with family background, has now grown into a master of escape.

Kong Kejian's words immediately won the approval of many Mongolian nobles and generals.

They had already been terrified by the Ming army, and their successive failures made them extremely afraid of the Ming army.

Even if Xu Da led more than 1 people to attack, most of the Mongolian generals would not dare to stop.

What's more, in their eyes, even sticking to the city is extremely dangerous, lest they be dumped by the Ming army and end up annihilating them all!

But without even seeing the shadow of the Ming army, it is a bit embarrassing to give up Huozhou City and run away.

Tuoyin Timur himself was a little embarrassing, and had no intention of agreeing to Yan Shenggong Kong Kejian's proposal.

However, a series of news came after a while, so Tuoyin Timur immediately changed his mind.

Because of successive reports, rebellions broke out in many Uyghur towns outside Huozhou City.

These Uighurs killed the generals and officials of the Mongolian Yuan garrison, unfurled the banner of the Ming army, and shouted to welcome the Ming king.

Obviously, the Ming army dared to take the initiative to attack Huozhou City precisely because of the internal support of these Uyghurs.

The Uighurs belong to the largest ethnic group here, and their attachment to the Ming army means that the Mongolian Yuan has lost its basic foundation here.

"Huozhou City will be finished sooner or later!"

Tuoyin Timur knew that Huozhou City would not be able to hold on, so he could only order the Mongolian Yuan court to pack up the treasures and prepare to run away again.

The Ming army came fiercely and marched extremely fast. In order to delay the pace of the Ming army and buy time for escape, Tuyin Timur sent thousands of cavalry to stop the Ming army.

It's just that the morale of these thousands of cavalry is low, knowing that their mission is close to death, they naturally refuse to obediently die.

These thousands of Mongolian cavalrymen left the east gate of Huozhou City with their front feet, and ran to the west of Huozhou City ten miles away with their back feet.

After learning of this situation, Meng Yuan in Huozhou City was even more flustered.

Tuoyin Timur protected the Empress Dowager Qi and the little emperor Bayan, and escaped from Huozhou City first.

Before leaving, Tuoyin Timur ordered to set fires everywhere in the city!
All the houses, food and supplies that could not be taken away were all burned!
Resolutely do not leave anything useful to the Ming army.

Soon, the number of Meng Yuan's fleeing team increased to nearly [-]!

Those fearful towns and fortresses along the way had planned to beat the dogs in the water, but they were too frightened by such a huge scale to move at will.

Toyintimur commanded this huge fleeing team all the way west. In order to prevent the Ming army from chasing behind, Tuyintimur ordered to destroy the local wells and ditches immediately before leaving a place, so that the following Ming army No access to drinking water.

Wang Baobao was busy sweeping thousands of troops in the Hezhong area, and those Tianfang believers were like a group of lambs waiting to be slaughtered in front of him, and they had no power to fight back.

Just when Wang Baobao was in a good mood to kill, he didn't expect that his old den would be taken away by the Ming army again.

Tuoyin Timur led the fleeing army in a panic and met Wang Baobao.

After hearing the news, Wang Bao was so angry that he almost fell off his horse.

If it weren't for the soldiers next to him who had quick eyes and quick hands to support him, I'm afraid he would have fallen like a dog.

"Xu Da, you despicable villain!" It took Wang Baobao a long time to regain his sanity, and he was furious again immediately.

This news really shocked him.

He originally wanted to use the Yili area as the foundation, and then expand the territory around, at least copying the appearance of the Xiliao Empire back then.

It's all right now, even the old nest has been taken away by the Ming army.

Don't talk about Xiliao, now I can only be a rogue and embark on the road of escape again.

Wang Baobao was angry and hated his younger brother Tuoyin Timur and the Empress Dowager Qi who were incompetent, but he had nothing to do with them.

The most important thing now is to unite all the remaining tribes and find a new way out for them.

Otherwise, once these 10,000+ people lose confidence while fleeing, they will easily collapse.

Enemies are everywhere in the Hezhong area. Once the Tianfang Cultists see their internal strife, they will definitely launch an attack and let them die without a place to bury them.

"The world is so big! Is there no place for me, Da Yuan, to go?"

Wang Baobao looked at the more than [-] subordinates and family members who were in a panic and confusion, and he lost his mind for a while.

Just when Wang Baobao was worried, a voice came from beside him.

"Your Highness, you have just defeated the Golden Horde, why not take advantage of this opportunity to pursue the victory and fight until you reach Sarai, the capital of the Golden Horde. As long as you take down Sarai, we will have millions of Slavs at that time." People are under your command!"

The person who said this was none other than Andrei, the Slav captive who surrendered to the Yuan army not long ago.

Andrei's full name is Andrei Vasilyevich, and he is a lord of the Nizhny Novgorod Principality.

The Principality of Nizhny Novgorod and the Principality of Moscow are the two most powerful countries among the many Slavic states under the rule of the Golden Horde.

In order to compete for the trust of the Golden Horde, the Principality of Nizhny Novgorod and the Principality of Moscow not only helped the Mongols oppress other Slav compatriots, but also disliked each other, and small-scale battles often occurred.

According to what they have done, the Principality of Moscow and the Principality of Nizhny Novgorod are proper Slavic traitors.

Now Andrey Vasilievich began to want to give advice to the new Mongolian master.

"Lao An, if you have any good ideas, tell them quickly!" Wang Baobao said with a dignified expression.

In these days, the Slavic soldiers like Andre performed very well in the process of massacring the Tianfang believers, which was appreciated by Wang Baobao.

It's just that the names of these Slavs are too long, and no matter how they are pronounced, they are very convoluted. Wang Baobao didn't bother to remember their long names, so he directly called Andre Lao An.

After studying for some time, Andre quickly mastered a lot of Chinese.

He was able to speak some Mongolian, but now he can communicate with Wang Baobao more smoothly.

He often uses his rude image to say some flattering words. The contrast effect shows that he is rude, straightforward and reliable, which is very pleasing to Wang Baobao.

Now, Wang Baobao appreciates him even more, and has put Andre by his side as a member of the personal team.

"Since there are powerful enemies in the east, let's go directly to the west!"

Then Andre said his suggestion.

It turned out that Andre wanted Wang Baobao, the Eastern Mongols, to attack the Western Mongols, that is, the Golden Horde.

The rule of the Golden Horde was brutal and corrupt, and many Slavs could no longer bear it.

Now if there is an Eastern Mongols to replace the rulers of these Golden Horde, then the Slavs will definitely not work hard for the Golden Horde.

However, Wang Baobao has many doubts about this suggestion.

Whether it is the Mongols of the Golden Horde or the Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty, aren’t they all the same Mongols?

Why would the Slavs really welcome the Mongols in the East?
"Your Highness, of course it is because of religion! The Golden Horde has chosen the evil Tianfang Sect, and they are proper pagan conquerors. If Your Highness can drive out and defeat these Tianfang Cultists, and establish an Orthodox Church as the state religion country! The millions of Slavs will obey you obediently!"

Andre knew in his heart that if these Eastern Mongols could not be killed back to the Slavic steppe, then these Slavic captives would never have the chance to return to their homeland.

In the eyes of the Slav captives at this time, the Mongols were invincible.

Although the Golden Horde failed, it was defeated by another, more powerful Mongols.

And Andre had seen with his own eyes how powerful Wang Baobao's army was.

He had no idea of ​​seeking independence for the Slavic nation at all.

All he could think of was to use these new conquerors to his own benefit.

Andre felt that if these Eastern Mongolians could be persuaded to convert to Orthodoxy.

That would not only help them return to the plains of Eastern Europe, but also allow them to gain supreme glory in the church.

for any Christian denomination.

It is a great credit to convert a powerful conqueror who has no faith to his own religion.

After spending this period of time with Andre and other Slavic captives, Wang Baobao already had a good understanding of the so-called Orthodox Church.

(End of this chapter)