"Only three thousand?" Yu Lijun said calmly. He just looked a little cold, but he didn't have anything to worry about. Lin Dan Khan's troops had already made a long journey from Guihua City to come here, and they should have been quite tired, and their combat effectiveness would inevitably be greatly weakened. The white-clothed army is the landlord here, and there is nothing to be afraid of.

"Da Da Da!"

Sure enough, half a day later, there was a dense sound of horses' hooves in the north.

Oddly enough, judging by the sound of horses' hooves approaching closer and closer, it seems that the number of cavalry arriving was simply less than a thousand. This made Xu Xingxia's speculation greatly discounted. He couldn't help but be a little suspicious, could this Lin Dan Khan only bring a few hundred people to chase and kill him? It seems that this guy's impulsiveness is as good as his own!

"My lord, Lin Dan Khan's pursuers have arrived! The total strength is about 500 people! Scout Captain Ming Hao soon came to report.

"Only five hundred?" Xu Xingxia frowned quietly.

This Lin Dan Khan, with only five hundred people, dared to break into Zhenyuan Pass, did he really think that the white-clothed army was easy to bully? The knife doesn't hurt if it doesn't reach the meat! Paralyzed, I'll wake you up today! Don't think that you have the potential to be a big boss in the prairie, so you dare to dictate to the people of the Ming Kingdom. In front of the Celestial Empire, you will always have to be a little brother!

A moment later, a large group of Mongolian cavalry appeared in front of Zhenyuan Pass. If he hadn't known in advance, these were Mongolian cavalry, and they were Lin Dan Khan's subordinates, and at first glance, Xu Xingxia would have thought that it was the cavalry of the Ming army that had arrived. Because, their attire is exactly the same as that of the Ming cavalry. The dark red eight-tasseled gilt helmet, the diagonal Jiao pattern looking at the sky and the water-permeable armor, the azure gold flying eagle belt, and the black stupid bear three-layer cotton armor leather boots are all standard cavalry equipment of the Ming army. The only thing that is different is their flag.

Lin Dan Khan received a lot of equipment assistance from the Ming court, and armed his cavalry to the teeth, which made his strength in the Mongolian steppes in the most powerful position. However, this kind of armament is limited, that is, it cannot be used against the Ming army itself. Lin Dan Khan said today that he took his subordinates to the territory of Ningxia Town, strictly speaking, he was already a taboo. It's just that Lin Dan Khan doesn't take it seriously.

Exchanges between countries, or between forces, the so-called verbal agreements and written agreements, are in fact superficial articles and cannot be counted. The final deciding factor is the comparison of the strengths of the two sides. Lin Dan Khan's strength gradually became stronger, and his respect for the Ming Kingdom seemed to be weakening, and he was not as pious as before. This was also the main reason why the Ming court was reluctant to continue arming the other 50,000 Mongol cavalry. If Lin Dan Khan had 100,000 iron lance cavalry, the threat to the Ming Kingdom would be too great.

Five hundred Mongolian cavalry came to the front of Zhenyuan Pass, about three hundred meters away from Xu Xingxia and the others, before slowly stopping and setting up a queue. Looking at the distance from which they camped, we knew that they had not tasted the power of the white-clothed army, and basically knew nothing about the combat effectiveness of the white-clothed army. If it was a Tartar of the Kyllegin tribe, they would never dare to camp within five hundred meters of the white-clothed army. Because, within this distance, it will inevitably suffer a strong counterattack from the white-clothed army.

A short, stocky young man rode out of the queue and walked fifty meters forward before he said loudly: "Xu Xingxia, release Tesna!" ”

In the ranks of the white-clothed army, Wang Qinian said in a low voice: "My lord, he is Lin Dan Khan!" ”

Xu Xingxia nodded and looked at Lin Danhan with interest. Lin Dan Khan is indeed in his twenties, and his appearance is also relatively strong. His limbs are powerful, and the range of the arrows should be relatively long when he releases them. The only thing that was a bit surprising was his height. The Mongols around him seemed to be taller than him. Of course, height doesn't explain anything. Genghis Khan back then, in fact, was not very high.

Riding the horse slowly walked forward for a distance of more than a dozen gates, Xu Xingxia stopped the war horse, stared at Lin Dan Khan for a moment, and coldly spit out two words: "Idiot!" ”

Lin Danhan was suddenly so angry that he scolded: "Who are you scolding idiots? ”

Xu Xingxia smiled slightly, and said in a good time: "You, Lin Dan Khan, are a big idiot. ”

Lin Dan Khan was so angry that he couldn't say a word. Countless cursed words turned in his mind, and he wanted to fight back against the other party fiercely, but when these words came to his mouth, he just couldn't say them. As the great leader of the Mongolian Tumut tribe, as the future Golden Khan, he can't be like Xu Xingxia, who opens his mouth to swear. He needs to pay attention to his image.

However, this is not the main reason. The main reason is that after he was scolded by Xu Xingxia, the first thing that came to mind was not Xu Xingxia's shallowness and ignorance, but the strength behind this guy. In the Mongolian steppe, who would dare to be so disrespectful to him? Those who disrespected him were basically dead. Those who coveted the speed of their tongues and talked nonsense were now the souls of his swords, and their corpses had turned to dust and disappeared into the vast prairie.

Is Xu Xingxia that kind of person? Will he be quick to speak? Lin Dan Khan was deeply skeptical. A guy who once defeated the Hellerkin tribe, could it be a superficial and ignorant person? Of course not! Since it is not, then, it is impossible to use common sense to infer Xu Xingxia's behavior. He definitely has a conspiracy. Or, this guy really has the strength to scold himself. Or, it's the guy who is trying to provoke himself and make himself make a mistake so that he can profit from it.

Before Tesna was attacked, Lin Dan Khan actually didn't pay much attention to Xu Xingxia's existence. He actually has a good understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Ming army. What tricks can a small generation of thousands of households in the Ming army toss? The reason why the Hellerkin tribe has fallen to this point is purely due to their incompetence, and for no other reason. If Xu Xingxia's area of control was next to the Mongol Tumut tribe, he would have been suppressed long ago.

It wasn't until Tesna was attacked and captured alive that Lin Danhan realized that Xu Xingxia was not simple. The believers and guards around Tesna are a group of people who are not afraid of death. Although their number is not large, only about a hundred people, their combat effectiveness is very strong. Whoever wants to deal with them will have to pay a lot of money. They are Tessna's amulet. If the general ministry power holder wants to do something to Tessna, he must seriously consider whether he can succeed, whether he can pay a heavy price, and whether he can do it without leaking the news.

However, it was against this backdrop that Tesna was ambushed. A hundred believers and guards were all killed in the battle, and some of them could not even find their bodies. The scene was a mess. Judging from the situation at the scene, Tessna's followers and guards were all killed with little power to fight back. The combat effectiveness of the attackers is truly amazing.

What's worse is that, according to Sobud, the number of attackers was only forty or fifty. With a force of forty or fifty men, he penetrated deep into the core hinterland of the steppe, attacked the important people of the Tatars, and succeeded in one blow and retreated. With such strength, even if he Lin Dan Khan can't help but look sideways - what if the target of the attacker is him Lin Dan Khan?

After crossing the Pearl Sea, Lin Dan Khan realized for the first time the power of the cavalry of the White Army. Those scattered carve-mounted stragglers caused him a lot of trouble. His subordinates always died under the sudden bullets for no apparent reason. If they catch up alone, they will be killed quickly. If they chase after them in groups, they will not be able to see the enemy at all. Along the way, he was indeed tossed by the white-clothed army.

Originally, he brought a team of three thousand people to chase and kill Xu Xingxia. These 3,000 people are all the elite under his command. Even after a long journey, when they joined Sobud, there were still more than 2,000 people. As a result, after encountering the stragglers of the Eagle Cavalry Army, Lin Dan Khan encountered great trouble. There was no way, Lin Dan Khan had to use a large number of troops to drive away the stragglers of the Eagle Cavalry and prevent them from approaching. Only then will he be able to move on.

However, the stragglers of the Eagle Cavalry Army, like ghost shadows, were stubbornly entangled with them and refused to let go. They fought head-on, not the opponent of the Mongol cavalry, and flank attacks were their strength. Along the way, Lin Dan Khan had to send troops continuously to block the approach of the Eagle Cavalry stragglers. In this way, his forces have been constantly reduced. By the time they arrived at the Pearl Sea, the Mongol cavalry under the command of Lin Dan Khan was less than 1,800 men.

However, their nightmare was not over, and in the Pearl Sea, the Mongol cavalry was entangled by more carve-mounted stragglers. The stragglers of the Eagle Cavalry Army, knowing that the Mongolian cavalry were going to chase and kill Xu Xingxia, how could they easily let them pass? Of course, they tried every means to continue to obstruct the actions of the Mongol cavalry.

There was no way, Lin Dan Khan had to divide half of his forces to drive away those annoying Eagle Cavalry stragglers. The two sides were entangled from the Pearl Sea all the way to the vicinity of Zhenyuan Pass. As a result, there are even fewer people left around him. It's good to have 500 people to follow. Of course, in Lin Dan Khan's opinion, with five hundred cavalry following, Xu Xingxia could also be killed. He didn't know the specific strength of the white-clothed army, how many it was.

Lin Danhan tried to control his emotions and said in a deep voice: "Xu Xingxia, as an officer of the Ming Dynasty, you did not abide by the agreement between the two sides and went deep into the prairie to loot, do you want to provoke a border conflict?" I'm going to officially go to the court and impeach you! ”

Xu Xingxia laughed and said unabashedly: "Cut!" Border conflicts? Lin Dan Khan, are you going to buckle me with a big hat? Tell you, I'm not afraid! ”

The hat that Lin Dan Khan deducted is actually a bit lethal. If it was another Ming army officer, most of them would feel a little nervous when they were pressed by Lin Danhan's words. Or, silently, pretending not to hear. Or, it is a fierce rhetoric to argue. However, this is only for others. For Xu Xingxia, such a rhetoric is not as loud as a fart. Border conflicts? What border conflict is he worried about?

At that time, the Ming court did have a clear order, strictly prohibiting the Ming army in the nine-sided important towns to take the initiative to provoke border conflicts. The purpose of this is, of course, to avoid triggering more incidents, triggering more wars, and thus putting a heavier burden on the country. At that time, the Ming court was most worried about spending a lot of money. In the late Wanli period, the country's finances were already in danger. Less income, more expenses, and negative every year. If it weren't for the fact that there was no talk of a fiscal deficit at the time. Otherwise, in the later period of Wanli, there will be a fiscal deficit every year.

From the perspective of the imperial court, there is a certain reason for this. At least, after the order was issued, the fighting in the important towns of the Nine Sides was indeed greatly reduced, and military expenditures were saved. To a certain extent, it helped the country's finances to tide over the difficulties. However, if it is from someone else's point of view, such an order, there is a lot of controversy. Because, this order actually made the Ming army restrain its hands and feet and put it in a position of being passively beaten.

The most affected by this order was the burning of the wasteland. In the past, every quarter, as long as there was suitable weather, there would be a so-called burning operation on the border, that is, all the dead grass on the grassland would be burned to prevent the Tartars from using it. The war horses of the nomads need a lot of forage, and after the grasslands are burned, the development of the nomads' combat effectiveness can be greatly limited. Without the abundant pastures, the existential crisis of the nomads comes.

Especially in autumn, the autumn is high and cool, the climate is dry, and the grassland fires are dozens of days, stretching for hundreds of miles, or even thousands of miles, which is a very big blow to the nomads. Faced with a scorched black grassland, the nomads can only cry their noses. In some cases, some nomads have even been forced to migrate farther away.

However, after the relevant orders of the imperial court were issued, the nomads immediately demanded that the Ming army stop burning the land on the grounds of taking the initiative to provoke border conflicts. As a result, the Ming court really agreed, and strictly forbade the border army to continue to burn the wasteland. Without the raging fires, the prairie is naturally a continuous extension. A few years later, the horses, cattle and sheep of the nomads had been grazing under the noses of the border army. If they were going to attack the Ming army, it would be too easy.

In fact, in Xu Xingxia's view, the so-called border conflict without initiative was just a manifestation of the weakness and incompetence of the Ming court. You don't take the initiative to provoke border conflicts, thinking that there will be no war? Will others take your affection? Of course not! When did the fighting on the border completely cease? Not to mention anything else, when has there been no battle in Ningxia Town in the past few decades? Almost every month, there are Tartar cavalry who go south to loot!

The experience of later generations has fully proved that the more you show weakness and the more you take the initiative to back down, the more others will bully you! A sheep is always a sheep and a lion is always a lion! A sheep can never become a lion, and a lion never becomes a sheep! Only when you show your scimitar, tooth for tooth, blood for blood, and violence against violence, will others dare not say anything.

(To be continued)