When the snow falls in Luoyang, the divine capital of China, the vast desert has long been covered with snow, the grassland is not half green, the cattle and sheep are gone, and the rivers and mountains have become wasteland at this moment. At this time, even the grassland men who have been fighting against nature all their lives can only shrink into their tents and dare not show their heads.

To the west, thousands of miles away from Xilou, the capital of the Khitan state, at the end of the Qilian Mountains, is where the Uighurs of Xizhou are located, and to the east of the Uighur territory of Xizhou, Yizhou, which is not rich in water and grass, is now entrenched here by a tribe that has recently moved here. This tribe was once prosperous, one of the overlords of the Northern Desert Steppe, and had a glorious history, but now, it is nothing more than a guest under the fence.

The concept of homeland is far from being comparable with the Han people, and people always have inertia, the blood of the past and the present will subside, and the ambition of the past and the present will decay, if life can still continue, in this day of heavy snow blocking the road, no one is willing to feed the wind and snow.

But there are also things that can make people unwilling to be quiet and prefer to risk their lives – at least for a short time – such as hatred.

This kind of hatred is the tragic death of a loved one and the displacement of one's relatives, but in the final analysis, it is the property and good life that we once have, which have been unscrupulously seized and destroyed by the enemy, so that it is not as good as it used to be. This kind of revenge must be avenged, because what once belonged to oneself must be taken back.

Of course, the best result is to take the property and good life that originally belonged to the enemy as your own. It's not about justice, it's just the law of the jungle.

Therefore, the guest wants to go home more than the wanderer, because he can only be the host when he returns home.

The Tatars have always wanted to hate and be their masters again, but the opportunity they have been waiting for has never come.

Ten miles east of Yizhou, there is a Wangdong Ridge, which sounds like a deep mountain, but in fact it is just a low hill that is higher than the ordinary highland, but it is also a rare place with a wide field of vision in Yizhou. Two years ago, Wangdongling was not called by this name, and after the Tatar tribe migrated here, Tubak Khan himself changed its name, and the meaning is self-evident.

Where the terrain is high, the natural wind is strong.

There is a figure wearing a white fur, leading a white horse, facing the east, standing quietly on the ridge, and blending in with the white world.

The white clothes hunted in the wind, and the fluttering green silk was like splashed ink.

The north wind called, the wind and snow filled the city, this figure had a pair of ice crystal eyes, but it was quiet to the extreme in the whistling sound. It was so quiet that it was impossible to figure out how long she had been standing here, whether she was waiting or if she was completely numb from the cold.

The people did not move, but the sky was changing and the stars were moving, and the surroundings were gradually graying.

Finally, another person appeared in Wangdongling. Several horses broke through the snow curtain and came, and after more than ten steps of the white Qiu figure, Qi Qiler's horse stopped, and a burly man in the middle of his prime, with a fierce face, turned over and dismounted, took a few steps forward, bent down and saluted, looked at the figure with full respect in his eyes, and said slowly: "Your Royal Highness Princess, it's not too early." ”

After the man's words were finished, he did not get any response, but he still stood with his head bowed, without a single superfluous word, just waiting quietly. Such a demeanor shows that everything that happens in front of you has long become a habit.

She waited in Wangdongling, looked at Wangdongling, and forgot time. As the princess's servants, they need to appear before dark to remind the princess to return to the city.

"According to the agreement between the Tatar tribe and him, when the wind and snow fall this year, it will be the period of our warriors' crusade. Now that the wind and snow have been going on for several days, his people have not appeared, and our people have been waiting for a long time, but the hope of waiting has not come. Warwick, are you anxious, disappointed or disappointed? It was the Tatar princess's Ahri who exhaled a cloud of white air, and asked softly without looking back.

When Warwick, one of the top warriors in the Tatar Department, heard this, he didn't know what to say for a while, and only said in a half-loud voice: "Since he is the most courageous general of the Tang Empire and a warrior recognized by His Royal Highness the Great Han and the Princess, he will not be untrustworthy." ”

Princess Ahri didn't speak again, and fell silent again, and her eyes, which were more crystal clear than the lychees of the southern country, were full of wind and snow.

If you don't care, it will be chaotic, how can the Tatar princess, who has always been wise and resolute, need to be comforted?

She was silent, and the mountains were silent with her. She stared to the east, separated by thousands of miles of wind and snow, and at the other end of the huge snow curtain, she didn't know if anyone was also looking west.

There is good news in the East, when has it been so far?

It's getting darker.

Ahri stroked the white horse and jumped on the horse's back, moving crisply. With a soft sound, the white horse galloped out, and the horse's hooves flew up to wipe the snowflakes.

The princess Ahri, who was like an ice sculpture with a colder heart, had less than twenty paces on her horse, and suddenly reined in the white horse, and turned back in shock.

Just because Youhu pointed to the east and shouted, "Someone is coming!" ”

In the dim sky, three horsemen climbed up to Wangdongling and were heading this way.

When the three rode closer, Princess Ahri, who was extremely quiet, no longer had half of the ice sculpture breath on her body, her eyes were hot, and her whole person's momentum changed suddenly, like a glowing fire fox.

Li Rong stopped his horse in front of Ahri and the others who came to greet him, patted the snow on his shoulder, and said with a smile: "The wind and snow are across the road, but fortunately, the old horse knows the way." The snow in the desert is too fucking cold, if I don't enter the city tonight, I can't wait for a few frozen corpses tomorrow! ”

The green silk is picturesque, the white fur is sassy, the corners of Ahri's mouth show a warm smile, and in the heavy snow, there is suddenly a spring breeze for ten miles.

Three days later, 30,000 Tatar warriors left Yizhou and marched eastward!

The overwhelming snowstorm around the Spring Festival in the fourth year of Tongguang lasted intermittently for about half a month, and during this half month, there was almost no war in the Bohai Sea, especially no large-scale battles. This is undoubtedly an excellent opportunity for the coalition forces that "rushed" to capture Hezhou before the heavy snow and fought continuously. In the entire coalition army, from the commander Li Congjing, down to the commander and the capital, almost everyone knows that when the heavy snow stops, it is the day when the war starts again. Therefore, I cherish this rare time for cultivation. The 60,000 allied troops temporarily stationed in Hezhou, especially the Bohai Navy, had almost eased up after a series of small victories and a half-year break, and their morale had risen again.

The coalition forces successfully broke through from Shuangtong, Yitai, and Jiuyang, which made Yelu Abaoji completely annoyed and angry, and at the same time, he was more determined to solve the "rear trouble" of the coalition army, especially the Youzhou army, first. The coalition army gathered the latest reports from all parties, and learned that Yelu Abaoji had led the main force of the Khitan Middle Route Army to the south, and only waited for the heavy snow to stop and the road thawed, so they would join forces with the Southern Route Army and fight a decisive battle with the coalition army.

Since Li Congjing went north, the real war has officially begun. The previous series of actions, compared with the future wars, can only be called small fights. Of course, it was this series of small fights that contributed to the upcoming conference battle. At this point, Yelu Abaoji's three-way arrangement to attack and destroy the Bohai Sea has been completely disrupted by Li Congjing, at least for the time being.

"If I am Nayelu Abaoji, seeing that the situation is out of control and getting farther and farther away from the established trajectory, I should decisively withdraw my troops from the Bohai State, suspend the plan to attack and destroy the Bohai Sea, and turn to a long-term plan."

On this day, the wind and snow stopped, Li Congjing took a group of strategists out to breathe, and everyone walked up to the city, looking at the snow-colored Bohai Sea, and cooking tea in the city tower to discuss the road, which was free and did not delay the business. Speaking of the current war, Wang Pu Sui said the above.

"My Youzhou has been planning for today's battle for several years, and the Khitan is to destroy the Bohai Sea, so why not accumulate strength for a long time, and now that the arrow has been issued, which can be easily recovered. Moreover, although the Khitan army suffered a setback in its offensive and lost some troops, it did not suffer a major loss, which was not a big setback. Li Congjing shook his head and said while personally pouring tea for Wang Pu and Mo Li.

"As far as the current situation is concerned, the battle is about to start, and the top priority is to ensure the ability of our army to continue to fight - logistics." Mo Li took a sip of tea, and said leisurely in the full house of tea, "The ensuing big war is not a one-shot deal, but a continuous battle that is very likely to be composed of many large and small battles, whether we want to or not, this head-to-head battle may involve many kinds of battles - in this case, it is very important to ensure continuous combat effectiveness, and the urgency of logistics is more and more prominent." ”

Li Congjing nodded, "There is no shortage of armor for the time being, there are still a lot of treasury in Youzhou, some time ago, thanks to Yelu wanting to conceal 'sending' some, it can be temporarily consumed, and there is no shortage of military food for the time being." Nowadays, it seems that the replenishment of soldiers and the treatment of the wounded are the most important issues. ”

"The most important thing is that during the big war, these things can be replenished into the army unimpeded." Wang Pu smiled, "In the words of the military commander, ensure the thorough and efficient operation of the supply line." ”

Li Congjing put down the tea bowl, lifted the tea kettle from the stove, and placed it on the table to prevent it from overboiling into wastewater, and said with his hands in his sleeves: "In the end, we have to pick a good place for the battle." ”

Wang Pu smiled easily and proudly, "I have been struggling to break the situation after entering the Bohai Kingdom for so long, and now, I finally take the initiative in my own hands, not to mention, this feeling is really good." ”

Mo Li picked up the folding fan and opened it, shook it gently, looked at Li Congjing, and asked leisurely, "Where is Brother Li going to choose the battlefield?" ”

Li Congjing smiled so well, and said something mysteriously, which immediately made Mo Li and Wang Pu nod in agreement. He said: "It's good to enjoy the shade with your back to a big tree, and it's good to fight with your back to your hometown." ”

On this day, the Youzhou and Bohai coalition forces packed up and left Hezhou the next day, taking the initiative to retreat south before the Yelu Abaoji approached.

Many days later, when Yelu Abaoji stepped into Hezhou City, which was already an empty city, he did not have the complacent intention of forcing Li Congjing back in his heart, but faced the south and pondered.

Yelu Abaoji knew that Li Congjing had already chosen a place in the south, polished his horizontal knife, and was waiting for him to go.