Chapter 565 Temujin's Intentions

Seven thousand white robes climbed the city, white clothes and silver armor like snow, repelled the enemy soldiers who climbed the city, and recaptured the city wall and the urn city!

Because of the arrival of reinforcements from the general Chu Zimou, the morale of the Yumen Pass defenders rose sharply, and the Mongolian army and their servants retreated to the rear like the ebbing waves.

The Yumen Pass, which was on the verge of collapse, stood firm again!

Within a day, the offensive and defensive battles at Yumen Pass changed repeatedly. It was not until Chu Tian led reinforcements that the Mongolian army retreated.

Xu Fengnian almost sat down on the bricks, panting.

The Mongol Empire's army temporarily withdrew, so that Xu Fengnian could finally take a good breath, otherwise, with Temujin's strength, Yumen Pass might really be captured by Mongolian cavalry.

He looked around and saw that all the Han army regiments guarding Yumen Pass were almost disabled in the fierce battle. Temujin and Ali Haiya's army and servants were killed by 100,000. The vicinity of Yumen Pass was full of corpses and blood.

Zhang Xiu and hundreds of Xiliang soldiers retrieved the body of his father Zhang Ji, all in silence.

In this battle, Jiujiu Lao Qin sent to aid Yumen Pass's general Zhang Ji, who was originally the general of Dong Zhuo's Xiliang Army, died in battle, and Zhang Xiu gnashed his teeth on him.

"The Roman Legion killed my father, and he must pay the corresponding price!"

Zhang Xiu still has hatred for the Roman Legion.

The Roman legions were all high-ranking units. Zhang Ji broke into the Roman legion and was killed by the Roman legion.

Xu Fengnian just shook his head about what happened to Zhang Xiu.

In the Battle of Yumenguan, countless generals were killed and injured, and Zhang Ji was just one of them.

The war will only become more and more tragic, even if the entire army is wiped out, it is not uncommon.

"Why did the shouting stop? Could it be that the Mongolian army has already entered the pass?"

The injured Zhang He hugged his shoulders that were burned by the fire, and tried to get up to fight, but was stopped by his old acquaintance Ju Yi: "Don't worry, the Lord's reinforcements are here, so we don't have to continue fighting."

"It turns out that the lord has arrived. From this point of view, the Mongolian army will probably retreat."

Zhang He heard that Chutian was coming, so he lay down in peace.

At present, various abilities are superimposed,

The only person who is qualified to play cavalry with Temujin is Chutian.

Sure enough, the Mongolian army chose to withdraw as Zhang Yun had deduced.

Temujin is still hesitating whether to fight Chutian.

Temujin also knew that Chutian was the biggest vassal of the Han Empire, and if the decisive battle with Chutian failed, the end of the Mongol Empire would come soon.

According to Zhang Xi's inference, Temujin was still accumulating strength, so he kept avoiding confrontation with Chu Tian.

"Go to meet Chu Zimou."

Xu Fengnian finally got up after panting heavily, and went to see Chutian with Ma Teng, Han Sui, Feng Yi, Xie Ai and others.

If it weren't for the arrival of Chutian's reinforcements, perhaps Yumen Pass would have been turned into ruins now.

Under the offensive of the Mongolian cavalry, not many people could hold Yumen Pass, but this group of people did it!

When Xu Fengnian got up, he almost fell due to loss of strength, but Wang Yanzhang held Xu Fengnian with one hand, so Xu Fengnian didn't fall down.

Chutian dispatched a white-robed army to rescue Yumen Pass.

After the white-robed army dismounted, they could become light infantry, beheading the enemy on the city wall, no less than high-ranking light infantry.

Compared with heavy infantry, although light infantry has low defense, they are faster and consume slower physical strength, making them suitable for continuous combat.

After the Mongolian army retreated, Chu Tian entered Yumen Pass, and found that half of the houses in Yumen Pass had been burned down, leaving a mess, with billowing black smoke billowing from the city walls and nearby houses, obviously after an extremely tragic battle.

The dead numbered in the tens of thousands.

Collapsed city walls, houses, broken battle flags, broken spears, damaged armor...

Chutian has experienced many tragic battles, but the battle at Yumen Pass is rare in his life.

The Mongolian army's catapults used fire to attack and almost razed the entire Yumen Pass to the ground.

In the era of cold weapons, such a large-scale battle is not easy.

"Brother, you are here!"

Xu Fengnian saw that Chutian came as promised, and before Jiujiu Laoqin and Mingguan two princes arrived, Chutian came to help first, which is enough to show that Chutian attaches great importance to Yumenguan and the Western Regions, as well as to Xu Fengnian and others.

Xu Fengnian couldn't help giving Chu Tian a big hug, and patted Chu Tian's shoulder. Not many people can understand the feeling of the rest of his life after the catastrophe.

Chutian saved his life, so he was a friend of life and death.

Originally, Xu Fengnian and Chutian were just trading partners. After going through life and death battles, the foundation of cooperation became more solid.

Tongque and Sun Jian also became friends during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and they became life and death brothers.

Ma Chao looked at Xue Rengui and Zhao Yun who were coming. Ma Chao, who was about to grow up, was almost the same as Xue Rengui and Zhao Yun in terms of strength and appearance. At this moment, he saw two people whose styles were somewhat similar to his own, and he couldn't help being attracted to them.

Of course, Ma Chao hadn't reached the peak at this time, and there was still some gap with the two of them. In Ma Chao's eyes, Xue Rengui and Zhao Yun were regarded as the same seniors as Wang Yanzhang.

"It's good to be alive."

Chu Tian also patted Xu Fengnian on the shoulder to appease the dignitaries in Liangzhou.

Xu Fengnian integrated into the Xiliang family, and as the main representative of the Xiliang family, he was the one that Chutian needed to win over.

At the same time, Xu Fengnian dared to hold on to the Yumen Pass, defending this pass for the Han Empire, and holding back two or three hundred thousand Mongolian troops, it was not easy.

According to the information obtained by Chutian and his own estimates, there are about 200,000 to 300,000 Mongolian troops and their servants entrenched in Dunhuang County, or even more.

Ma Teng took off his blood-stained helmet, and his scalp was injured by avoiding the boulder thrown by the Xiangyang artillery, but Ma Teng, the descendant of General Fubo Ma Yuan, didn't say a word, and asked Chu Tian cautiously: "Xiuer, Tie'er and Lu'er, how are they?"

"They are all in Xiacheng at the moment, even if we are defeated, there is no danger of their lives."

Chu Tian didn't expect Ma Teng to be tall and burly, but also to have strong bones and tenderness.

Chu Tian murmured in his heart that Ma Teng's daughter punched his son, but he didn't care about it yet.

If you really have to worry about it, the daughter's debt is paid by her father...

Ma Teng also has ambitions, but as he grows older, his ambitions gradually fade. When he heard that his children were safe and sound in Xia City, he secretly felt relieved.

"General Zhang He was burned by the fireball thrown by the Mongolian army's trebuchet, so he couldn't come to see the lord."

Ju Yi replaced Zhang He and came to see Chu Tian.

When Chu Tian heard that Zhang He was injured, he couldn't help being shaken. Zhang He was one of the five good generals: "What's so special about the trebuchets used by the Mongolian army that they can actually hurt Zhang He?"

Among the senior executives present, as a player, Xu Fengnian is well-informed, and at the same time, as a player, he knows the names of some large siege equipment: "It is very likely that the Xiangyang artillery used by the Mongolian army to capture Xiangyang City is also a large counterweight. A trebuchet, which can easily throw hundreds of catties of boulders. The city wall of Yumen Pass was destroyed by the Xiangyang artillery because it was in disrepair for a long time."

"Counterweight trebuchet?"

When Chu Tian heard this familiar term, he felt that it was not easy for the defenders.

At present, the most advanced trebuchets in the Eastern Han Empire should be the large trebuchets (production of blueprints) of the Song Dynasty.

Chutian also obtained a large-scale siege weapon such as the eight-ox crossbow, but compared with the Xiangyang gun, it was a little bit worse.

Historically, Xiangyang City and Fancheng resisted the offensive of the Mongol Empire for several years. The Mongolian army had a headache for the solid city defense system of the Southern Song Dynasty. The walls of Fancheng, Xiangyang surrendered.

Later, when the Mongolian Yuan destroyed the Song Dynasty, the Xiangyang Artillery achieved results in a series of fortified battles, and the fortresses of the Southern Song Dynasty were destroyed or surrendered one after another.

It can be said that the existence of Xiangyang artillery made up for the shortcomings of the Mongolian army's insufficient siege, so even if the Mongolian army slaughtered the city, it rarely slaughtered craftsmen.

Temujin's cavalry, coupled with the Xiangyang cannon, the most advanced siege weapon in "The Lord", will make the Mongol Empire invincible no matter in field battles or fortifications.

"Not only that, but the opponent also has generals who can provide bonuses for siege equipment, similar to Liu Ye. Xiangyang Cannon can also use special attack methods such as fireballs and beacon smoke."

Xu Fengnian thought it necessary to inform Chutian of all the information he had obtained.

The information about the Mongolian army was bought by Xu Fengnian and a group of soldiers with their lives.

"You should be talking about those big guys, that is Xiangyang Pao?"

Chutian saw the outline of Xiangyang cannons. Fifty Xiangyang cannons stood tall. Each large trebuchet was several meters high, and the tallest one was even more than ten meters high. The early bronze cannons were no less impressive.

It is estimated that the inspiration of the bronze cannon was also a large projectile siege equipment such as the trebuchet - the original bronze cannon fired solid bullets, which were equivalent to the stones of the trebuchet. The blocks are smaller. Correspondingly, the original bronze cannon is more convenient to use than the trebuchet, and the initial speed of gunpowder propulsion is faster.

"It's no wonder that Yumen Pass has almost turned into ruins... Yumen Pass has only been temporarily reinforced. Usually, it is rarely used here, and the city walls have already weathered."

Chu Tian checked the city wall of Yumen Pass, and the situation was not optimistic.

In the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, wars broke out everywhere, and all the princes were busy with civil wars, and did not care about the fortifications such as Yumen Pass and the Great Wall of Han Dynasty. After all, the nomadic tribes were weak during this period.

Gongsun Kang led 3,000 cavalry to defeat the 50,000 Fuyu army. The Southern Huns cavalry were chased and killed by the Mongolian cavalry who had fewer numbers than themselves...

Yumen Pass was also a majestic pass that was rebuilt after Xu Fengnian retreated here, otherwise, the defense of Yumen Pass would be even weaker.

"The opposite should be Temujin's army. He was chased away by me in Hetao and Monan. In the end, he wants to fight us in the Western Regions."

Chu Tian already felt Temujin's hesitation.

Facing the Han army he led, Temujin was not sure of victory, so Temujin retreated again and again.

The Mongol Empire lost about 100,000 cavalry and 200,000 to 300,000 tribal herdsmen in the defeats of Hetao and Monan, but it was not serious, and Temujin was still accumulating strength.

According to Chutian's deduction, Temujin chose the location of the decisive battle with the Han Empire in Luntai, Tianshan Mountain or Altai Mountain in the Western Regions—in short, a place far away from the Central Plains.

Temujin's strategy was similar to that of Yizhixie Chanyu, the Xiongnu in the Battle of Mobei.

The closer to the hinterland of the Central Plains, Hebei, and Guanzhong of the Han Empire, the simpler the supply of the Han Empire's army.

Even if the Han Empire is defeated, it will soon be possible to raise another large army from these densely populated places to come to a decisive battle with the Mongol Empire.

If things go on like this, it will be the Mongol Empire that will fail in the end.

Therefore, no matter Temujin or Izhixie Chanyu of the Huns, their goal was to use the mobility of the cavalry as much as possible to lengthen the supply line of the Han Empire.

The longer the supply line, the fewer soldiers and horses the Han Empire could send, and the greater the pressure it would bear.

To fight at the gate of the house, the Han Empire can send an army of one or two million.

If you fight across thousands of miles, it will be more difficult to dispatch hundreds of thousands of people.

There is a very typical example. Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty conquered Goguryeo. He mobilized millions of troops, traveled long distances, and encountered severe winters. He was unable to pacify Goguryeo.

Later, Li Shimin only sent more than 100,000 elite soldiers to capture more than a dozen cities in Goguryeo, and plundered hundreds of thousands of people.

The princes of the Han Empire knew this truth, so Chutian would rather fight at the gates of Bingzhou and Youzhou in relatively close places such as Hetao Plain and Monan Grassland, and have the cattle and sheep provided by the Monan lords as food .

However, Temujin and others also knew this truth. The place where he chose to fight was either the Western Regions or Mobei, both of which were very far away from the Han Empire.

Yi Zhixie Shanyu chose Mobei as the location for the decisive battle with the Han Empire. Chu Tian, ​​Xu Fengnian and others who participated in the battle of Mobei knew how difficult it was to march in Mobei, and Temujin...

"Tiemujin intends to use the Protectorate of the Western Regions as a bait to lure us into an expedition, and then annihilate us in the Western Regions. Once the elite of our Han Empire is lost, Hetao and Monan will be its sphere of influence again."

Xia Liang followed Chu Tian and looked at the counterweight trebuchet standing west of Yumen Pass.

Xu Fengnian, Ma Teng, Han Sui and others were surprised at first, but then nodded again.

Chu Tian and Xia Liang's inferences coincided with their faint conjectures, otherwise it would be impossible to explain why Temujin tried to avoid decisive battles in Hetao and Monan.

After losing tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Hetao and Monan, the Mongol Empire retreated immediately, obviously to preserve its strength.

"The Protectorate of the Western Regions is under Huo An's control. Huo An is really unlucky. If there is no Mongol Empire and the Four Great Khanates, maybe he can dominate Central Asia..."

Xu Fengnian finally found someone more unlucky than himself - Huo An, the protector of the Western Regions.

Huo An had already conquered Wusun Kingdom and Dawan Kingdom, prepared millions of grain and grass, and prepared to defeat the Seljuk Empire and Khwarazm and become the overlord of Central Asia, but the fourth national war disrupted his The deployment of the Western Regions Protectorate is in jeopardy.

If the Protectorate of the Western Regions is the bait, then Huo An happens to be the Protectorate of the Western Regions, so there is no more luck.

"If someone else is in Huo'an's position, it is very difficult to destroy the Ogodei Khanate under such circumstances, and his main force does not seem to be completely damaged... No matter who is in this position, we are very Can't be saved."

Chu Tian, ​​Xu Fengnian and others discussed opening up the Hexi Corridor, and when they were heading to the Western Regions, Zhu Jun, whose battle armor was stained red with blood, arrived, with a sad expression on his face: "General Huangfusong, I'm afraid it won't work..."