***

The city of Zhidi Dao in Lintao Prefecture has become the focus of the attack of the Heshuo special army, while at the western end of the Hexi Corridor, Li Dingguo's 25,000 men and horses, and Batur's 60,000 troops, have no focus at all.

In frontal combat, the Qin army's Type 68 rifles could be said to be a one-sided slaughter against the cavalry. Out of scruples, Batur and Sangge, father and son, adopted all the tactics of scattered attacks, rapid running, and flexible mobility.

Using deserts, grasslands, woods, passes, swamps and other terrain that could be used to counteract the power of the Qin army's firearms, it also launched night attacks from time to time.

The key point is that outside Jiayuguan, almost all of them are nomadic tribes, of which the Mongols account for half. The seven guards of Chijin Mongolia, Handong, and Anding set up by the Ming Dynasty west of Jiayuguan were almost all Mongolian tribes.

The reign of Great Qin was too short, and these alien races did not return to their hearts, but instead helped Batur Khan, who was also a Mongol, everywhere. After several fierce battles, Li Dingguo repelled more than ten surprise attacks from the enemy and barely held the Chijin City west of Jiayuguan.

Chijin City is the location of the Chijin Mongolian Guard in the Ming Dynasty, the city is low, but because it is located in the middle of Jiayuguan and Guazhou, it is about 300 miles apart from the two places.

Don't look at these 300 miles, there is this stronghold, which will play a very important role in sending troops to regain Guasha and Guasha in the future, otherwise the Qin army will have to cross 600 miles from Jiayuguan to reach Guazhou.

For this 600-mile journey, the infantry had to walk for more than ten days, and the enemy could set up ambushes and sneak attacks everywhere. Therefore, Li Dingguo would rather bear the notoriety and wantonly purge the Mongols in Chijin City than give up this strategic stronghold.

Suzhou, also known as Jiuquan, legend has it that Huo Quai's crusade against Hexi was victorious, in order to celebrate, a pot of wine given by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was poured into the spring water, and the soldiers drank together. This is where the name Jiuquan comes from.

Li Dingguo was under heavy pressure for a while, and before coming to Hexi, the emperor summoned him and placed high hopes on him, and he also swore an oath of "repaying the king's will on the golden platform and carrying the jade dragon to die for the king".

The last time he gave up Shazhou, in the end, he did not realize the plan to catch turtles in the urn, and the emperor did not reprimand, not even a word, but the more so. Li Dingguo was more uncomfortable.

He had already heard about the situation in Longyou, and even the invasion of the Hetao by Chitate had already learned that this piece and every pile were all whipping for him, and they were straight in the face.

On this day, when drinking the water of Jiuquan and remembering the heroic deeds of the champion Hou that year, Li Dingguo was suddenly inspired. A bold idea was born.

However, as soon as this idea was proposed, it was questioned by some of his generals, especially Guo Ning, who was the most fiercely opposed.

Generally speaking. The officers of the Qin army were not allowed to interfere in combat operations.

But on the other hand, the power of the military servants is actually very large, and Li Dingguo lost several cities and hundreds of miles one after another. Fortunately, he is one of the governors of the five armies, and if he is an ordinary general, he has the right to deprive him of his command.

In the big tent of the governor of Suzhou. Guo Ning's voice was so loud that even the soldiers fifty paces outside the tent could hear it clearly.

Guo Ning was not afraid of Li Dingguo's authority at all, and scolded him for painting a tiger and not becoming an anti-dog, and even raised the emperor to pressure Li Dingguo: "The governor of the capital wants to be compared with His Majesty, and His Majesty commands the battle, which seems to be dangerous at first glance, but in fact, he is well planned everywhere, and the time, place, people and calculations are not satisfactory, so that there are great victories again and again."

On the other hand, Li Dudu, if you hadn't taken the initiative to give up Shazhou City, why would you be so passive today? Even if you gave up Shazhou City because you wanted to catch turtles in the urn, did you take the time, place, and people into consideration?

You didn't take into account this desert weather, this northwest frontier is vast and sparsely populated, and you didn't take into account the enemy's cavalry maneuvering, and you didn't take it into account the mixed living in this place, and the people are complicated. If it were Majesty, would you ignore these factors? Do you want to learn from your majesty, can you learn it? ”

Guo Ning's words, although mean, can be said to have hit the key point of Li Dingguo's failure in the front, and he is using the emperor to oppress people, Li Dingguo is not easy to refute.

Li Dingguo was silent, Guo Ning probably realized that his words were a little excessive, and he also stopped talking, and the needles in the tent could be heard suddenly, and several generals in the tent looked at each other without saying a word.

Who knew that after a while, Li Dingguo still said in a deep voice: "Guo Yanshi, your words have been taught by the superintendent, the responsibility for the previous defeat is indeed mine, and I will ask His Majesty for the guilt in the future."

However, until His Majesty did not remove me from the post of Grand Governor, I was still the commander of the army, and it was up to me to decide how to fight. If it is because of the previous failure, I will shrink my hands and feet, this is definitely me Li Dingguo. Don't forget the past, the teacher of the future"

Guo Ning interrupted him and said, "But when you do this, you are obviously sending these two thousand men and horses to die!" ”

Due to repeated defeats, Li Dingguo repeatedly tolerated it: "Guo Yanshi, you listen to the governor finish speaking"

"I don't listen! Although this officer is not allowed to command the battle, but he is not a military idiot, the enemy's 100,000 army is infested like tigers and wolves, you send 2,000 men and horses, along the way are full of desert Gobi, snow-capped mountains and deserts, the enemy only poisons a few critical water sources, you can kill 2,000 men and horses without fighting, to borrow this sentence from Your Majesty, never think that the enemy is stupid. ”

Li Dingguo saw that Guo Ning was so stubborn, and he was secretly angry in his heart, and then Yan Yingyuan, who had always spoken little, suddenly said: "The last general thinks about it carefully, Li Dudu's plan may really be able to achieve miraculous results."

"Marquis of Jiangyin, you" Guo Ning couldn't help but be angry when he saw that Yan Yingyuan also stood up and agreed with Li Dingguo's risk.

Li Dingguo was planning to use his own power to enforce it forcefully no matter how Guo Ning objected, when he suddenly saw Yan Yingyuan standing up to support him, so he asked, "General Yan, what do you think?" ”

"The Grand Governor, the last general is thinking that if it is to go to the Hami line, this plan is indeed not feasible."

When Li Dingguo heard this, a smile appeared almost invisible at the corner of his mouth, he was worthy of being the king of Yama, and he saw things thoroughly.

"General Yan, please continue."

Yan Yingyuan nodded and said: "To go to Hami, you have to face the enemy's nearly 100,000 troops, and you have to cross the Gobi for 800 miles.

But if you change the route that the enemy can't detect, it will be different, please see, Hexi Fort, through the Rabbit Pass, along the Zhangye River all the way to the north, and then west through the desert Hanhai, you can enter the Moxi grassland. ”

The other generals in the tent came back to their senses, and they began to talk about each other.

Guerrilla Deng Sanqiao said: "General Yan, although you can avoid the enemy's army in this way, but the desert and the sea, the sandstorm is impermanent, and there are no traces, it is very easy to get lost, and the whole army may also be wiped out." ”

Yan Yingyuan said: "As the Metropolitan Governor said, there must be risks, but if it succeeds, it will definitely make Batur and his son cry, and his subordinates will be in turmoil. ”

Li Dingguo smiled indifferently: "General Yan, don't think so well first, tell me, how to cross this desert sea?" ”

Yan Yingyuan said: "Governor, the last general is willing to take this mission. ”

"Okay, as long as you have a well-thought-out plan, the Governor will hand over this mission to you."

"Governor Xie. Ladies and gentlemen, although the desert and the sea are terrible, they are not completely impassable, abandon the war horse, and replace the camel, and it is three horses for one person, one of which is used as reserve military rations. It's really not okay to find a few good guides, as long as you bring enough water, guide you with a compass, go straight west, and you can always cross the past."

In terms of food, one camel is used as a reserve food, and there is no need to worry about eating, and this food preparation camel can also be used to camel a lot of water in the early stage, plus the other two horses, even if it is brutal, it is indeed possible to cross the desert and the sea.

The difficulty of this plan is also that after crossing the Hanhai, if the war horse is quickly obtained, although the camel can also run, it is difficult to compare with the war horse.

Two days later, Yan Yingyuan, who had made sufficient preparations, took 2,000 Qin troops and thousands of camels and set off quietly at night (to be continued......