Chapter 494: It will snow, it will be rewarded, and it will be returned

It hasn't snowed in five days.

It is said that the weather after the snow is the coldest, but now Xinghe is a hot scene. Fearing that the roads would be icy and that it would be difficult to walk in the event of an emergency, all the soldiers had been clearing the snow from the main roads of the city and the frozen thick layer of ice on the roofs after the heavy snowfall that had fallen five days before. This is what Xinghe must do at the end of each year, but at that time, there was no army outside to besiege the city, and the soldiers would even have a snowball fight when they had nothing to do, but now even if they don't have that time, many people are still throwing snowballs in the distance on the top of the city.

Since there was no snow, the traces of the fire were firmly frozen on the snow. Blackened charcoal, cinders, the remains of clay pots, and several charred corpses were clearly visible. That night, the city sent people to attack the camp with rockets, and then Arutai sent a large army to pursue and wanted to take the opportunity to enter the city, who knew that there were a lot of flammable hay and black coal piled up under the city, so the city took the opportunity to return fire with rockets, and smashed out a lot of gunpowder jars soaked in fire oil, and hundreds of people were killed in a fire, and now the city is still a mess. Since then, the besieging Mongol soldiers have pretended to have no morale when they attack the city again.

"I'm afraid Arutai is going to retreat."

Standing at the head of the city looking at the camp six or seven hundred steps away, and hearing Zhang Yue's words, Zheng Pingyuan only felt that the past few days have been really ups and downs. The reinforcements with high hopes did not come, but they not only defended well, but also achieved fruitful results, that is, those soldiers under his command, now in this icy and snowy situation, their hearts are probably like hot charcoals, which is very different from the perfunctory indifference before. kicked the ice cube on the battlement, and he stood up regardless of it, and his heart couldn't help but feel extremely comfortable, even if it was the pleasure of following the Wu'an Hou Zheng Heng to the north to kill the enemy.

"Lord Xiao Zhang is right, the offensive in the past few days seems to be all for show, and it is estimated that Arutai is really going to run."

Zhou Bailing smacked his lips and smiled: "This time it was just an escort to supervise the transport, who would have thought that it would be worth it to encounter such a big scene!" It's a pity that there are too few soldiers in this city, otherwise if Arutai really runs away, we might be able to chase after it...... Hey, Lord Zhang, don't stare at me, I'm not kidding? I was surrounded and beaten for so many days, and I just held my breath. If Arutai's ability to escape for his life dares to recognize the second in the world, no one will dare to recognize the first in the world, so I won't take such a little people to pursue, I'm not crazy yet! ”

Speaking of Arutai's heartwarming matter, the three people present immediately laughed. Of course, Zhang Yue knew that Zhou Bailing was referring to the trip in the eighth year of Yongle, and he also felt amazing about someone's powerful escape ability that could escape under the condition that almost the entire army was wiped out, so he smiled and echoed a few words at the moment. The sergeant next to him saw the three of them talking and laughing there, and they all felt very sure in their hearts. It wasn't until I heard a whining sound in the distance that the relaxed atmosphere on the city disappeared all at once.

"Tartar's Horn!" Zheng Pingyuan has been stationed in Xinghe for many years, and he has always been familiar with the military flags and horns of Tatar Warat, etc., and after listening carefully for a while, his face suddenly became puzzled, "It's a horn to welcome guests, not an attack." It's strange, the captive said that it was Adaitaiji of the Korqin Department who joined forces with Arutai this time. Today's Raushzi Great Khan was set up by Warat, and has nothing to do with Arutai, what kind of guest is he welcoming at this time? ”

Due to the distance, Zhang Yue couldn't see the situation in the distance clearly, and suddenly wondered if crystal could replace glass, and whether he could let the craftsman try to make a telescope. After listening to Zheng Pingyuan's words, he tightened the big grate on his body, and pondered for a while, then remembered the situation he knew when he was in the military department.

Since the Yuan Dynasty retreated into the desert, it had to deal with the Ming Dynasty's continuous northern expeditions, and on the other hand, it had to endure constant divisions and civil strife, just like now Warat and Tatar are facing each other, but there are three forces within Warat, and the all-Mongolian Great Khan has become a puppet. The three leaders of Arutai and Warat all accepted the canonization of the Ming Dynasty as kings, among them, the Shunning King Tuhuan and Arutai had the most grievances, and they are still at a disadvantage in the three Warats.

"Regardless of them, the soldiers will block the water and cover the earth, so many days have passed, don't be nervous for someone else's messenger." Zhou Bailing is open-minded by nature, and when he saw the horn in the Arutai camp, there was no movement, and he immediately stretched, "If you have this time, you might as well go back and make up for sleep, and then kill your mother when you want to fight!" Master Xiao Zhang, leave it to Lao Zheng here, let's go to his hot kang and get a good night's sleep! ”

Hearing this, Zhang Yue smiled and patted Zheng Pingyuan on the shoulder, squinted his eyes and handed it to you, and then went down the city wall with Zhou Bailing. When he arrived at the Qianhu House, one east and one west went to the kang, Zhou Bailing covered the quilt that could no longer see the true color of the bed, and he got into trouble within two minutes, and Zhang Yue Although he only slept for two hours last night, he couldn't sleep at this time staring at the roof.

He is no longer the one he had in his previous life, he has too many worries and too many concerns, plus there is an emperor who is too difficult to serve on his head, it is still light to say that he is cautious. However, in the days when Xinghe was besieged, all he thought about was life and death, and the benefits and losses were not weighed, but they were far less than the impact of life and death.

Moreover, when he was thinking about certain questions, there were already too many sergeants who had died, and now there were less than six hundred people in good health, and even Zhou Bailing had been hit by an arrow in his arm. If he hadn't been loyal to Long Liu Bao, I am afraid that he would not have been able to remain intact even if he often stood at the head of the city. The number of men in the city who were seriously wounded together was five hundred, and the rest were killed in battle.

Fortunately, he finally carried it, and Xinghe was finally safe and sound, but this time, what about the future? Although Daning did not completely cede to Duoyan Sanwei, it is a fact that the Wuliangha people took advantage of the situation to go south. Without Daning, Xinghe Kaiping would be isolated. If Xinghe is lost, Kaiping will be lost sooner or later, and if Kaiping is lost, I am afraid it will be the turn of the Hami Loop, and in the end, the Ming Dynasty will have to take a passive defensive position against Mongolia.

Zhang Yue did not agree with Yongle Emperor Zhu Di's repeated expeditions to the north, but he did not agree with blindly shrinking on the defense, after all, the strategy against Mongolia requires depth. He didn't want to have another civil fort in the future, and put all the nobles and strongest troops of the Ming Dynasty into it. In Zhou Bailing's earth-shattering snoring, he had a thought that came to mind.

How nice it would have been if the sharpshooter had hit Arutai earlier?

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency!"

Interrupted by this low call, Zhang Yue couldn't help laughing at himself for not being satisfied with his luck, and hurriedly sat up, and stood in front of him with Xiang Long with a happy face, he couldn't help but jump in his heart, and hurriedly asked: "Is the reinforcements coming, or is Arutai retreating?" ”

Xiang Long had gone through hard training at the beginning, and after following Zhang Yue, he had a lot of experience, but these were not as thrilling as the siege, he swallowed hard, and immediately reported happily: "It was the Tartars who retreated, and the first to pull out the camp was the Horqin Department to the north!" But the west and the east are also moving, especially Arutai in the west, Zheng Qianhu said that looking at the movements over there seems to be a little chaotic, could it be that the guests who ushered in brought some bad news? ”

"What's the bad news?"

Although Xiang Long's voice was extremely low, Zhou Bailing suddenly woke up from his sleep and repeated the last five words accurately. Seeing Zhang Yue looking at him in surprise, he scratched his head and smiled: "Get used to it, if Lord Xiao Zhang follows the Northern Expedition twice, you can also sleep whenever you have a free time, and wake up whenever there is movement." If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have woken up even more. Because your two guards are really tight, I just slept a little longer. What did you just say? ”

Zhang Yue explained two sentences concisely, so Zhou Bailing, who was still yawning just now, immediately fell asleep, he put on his boots three or two times, and then asked with wide eyes: "Lord Zhang, what do you think?" ”

"Since Arutai has raised troops and rebelled, the emperor's personality is definitely not to send envoys over, after all, he has decided to move troops immediately. In this case, then it is the three parts of Warat and the three guards of Ura Haduoyan that are the most likely. The Warak Lie Yiti Department and the Hui Te Department have not recovered since the original defeat, and the virtuous king Taiping of the Kelie Yiti Department was defeated in the hands of Arutai before, and it is too late to take revenge, so they will definitely not send people at this time, most of them are Uliangha people or Dehuan. Whoever it is, anyway, let's go up to the city first. ”

"It's better for the Tartars to cause civil unrest on their own, if then we'll be able to fish in troubled waters! Hey, I really have itchy hands......"

Ignoring Zhou Bailing, who was muttering non-stop, Zhang Yue picked up the big piece and tied it casually, and then put on a leather hat and leather boots. As soon as he left the Thousand Houses, he found that the whole city was immersed in a festive atmosphere, and the news of the Tartars' withdrawal was circulating everywhere. Listening to the cheers in his ears and seeing the smiling faces, he couldn't help but smile, and his steps quickened.

Worried that the city wall would not be clear, he and Zhou Bailing simply went straight to the lookout. It was easy to climb down the bamboo ladder to the top, and he didn't care about the cold wind, so he looked north first, and sure enough, he saw that it was mostly empty. Looking at the camp tents on the east and west sides, it was also a chaotic atmosphere, as if it didn't look like a show, and he immediately believed it.

Arutai went fast this time, probably because he got some news. This time, Arutai was frustrated by Xinghe, if the Xuanfu sent troops, then if it moved faster, a cover and kill could make it suffer heavy losses, and there would be no need to march north at that time; If it was Warabe's revenge, the outcome would be unpredictable. It's a pity that there is no spare strength in the city to pursue, otherwise he will never want to let go of this great opportunity.

"Your Excellency, look, there's someone coming from the west!"

Hearing the voice of the sentry officer next to them, Zhang Yue and Zhou Bailing suddenly looked over, and saw a rider rushing over, but they didn't stop until they were a hundred steps away from the west wall of Xinghe Fort, but they bent their bows and arrows and shot at the head of the city, and then rode their horses and stood there motionless. Seeing this scene, Zhou Bailing felt inexplicable, but Zhang Yue immediately climbed down the stairs and hurried to the west wall.

"What's the mystery on the arrow?"

Zheng Pingyuan was in a daze, and only then did he wake up, and hurriedly handed it to Zhang Yue with both hands: "This is Arutai's own handwriting, it should be for you Xiao Zhang." ”

Glancing at the crumpled paper, Zhang Yue couldn't help laughing, but it turned out that there were many words written on the paper - the revenge of killing the son, and it will snow on another day. The hatred of destroying the flag will be repaid in the future. The regret of the fire, he will return it one day.