Realm of Power

The gap in the mountains in the distance that is the dividing line between Yanzhou and Daizhou is like a giant dragon being cut off by a lazy waist.

The fire and smoke of a stone castle located here are rising into the sky. Even at such a distance, the stern face of the imperial general Wu Mu on a hill is clearly visible. The mountain wind blows towards his face, making the sound of fighting in the distance disappear. Faintly, since the end of the Southwest War, the 80,000 cavalrymen in the East Courtyard except for 20,000 are temporarily on the southwest front line. , forming a military suppressive force on the Long family in the southwest. The remaining 60,000 grassland cavalry did not return. Instead, under the emperor's arrangement, they sneaked into Yanzhou from the extremely desolate northwest. These two places, because of the Long family and the grassland Yelu During the war between the two families, the original Central Asians either fled with the Long family or froze to death in the last winter.

The mountains of Yanzhou are the most conducive area for hiding troops. It took more than half a month for the 60,000 Dongting cavalry to arrive in Yanzhou. Only a few of them knew about it, including Yue Shan, the former Yanzhou Army general who was in charge of the Yanzhou area. , Yue Shan is a senior general in the Yanzhou system, and he can understand the large and small geographical environment of Yanzhou. It can be said that he is quite familiar, otherwise he would not have been trapped and killed by the grassland people. He led tens of thousands of subordinates to fight all the way out from the grassland people, taking away 30,000 to 40,000 Yanzhou military family members along the way, and finally escaped. Entering the wilderness in the north and arriving at the Yue Valley, it is considered the largest remaining branch of the Yanzhou Army.

This time Yue Shan returned to Yanzhou. Among the tens of thousands of subordinates, in addition to some who had settled in the empire area, there were still more than 5,000 people who followed Yue Shan back to Yanzhou. It was these people who also moved in from the northwest of the empire. In the past few months, Yue Shan, a grassland man, went to Beijing, the core of Yanzhou's strategy. After all-out repairs and tidying up, this Yanzhou core has gone through many battles, especially the decisive battle between Longyang and the Yelu family. Almost half of Upper Kyoto was reduced to ruins. Even after the Prairie Royal Court took over Yanzhou, They all deliberately avoided Yanzhou and went to Beijing, and had no intention of repairing it.

The Yanzhou barrier was already in name only. During the retreat, the Prairie Royal Court also caused considerable damage to the Yanzhou defense system. The ruins of the barrier, the barren barrier, and the large sections of collapsed stone were reflected in the blood-colored sunset. There was not enough Manpower cannot restore the defense system to a usable state in a short period of time.

It is not easy to fully repair it, but without repair, Yanzhou is sandwiched between Fengtai Department and the Royal Court in the north, and may face the danger of attack from the north and the south at any time. Over the past few months, Yueshan has tried his best to do all he can, that is, to The original Shangjing City Wall is being repaired and built, but the progress is so slow that it may not be completed within three to five years.

Without manpower, this is where Yueshan feels the most miserable. The people from the northwest are all dead, and the people from Yanzhou are all dead. Although the empire has occupied these two areas, there has been no increase in manpower. What's the use of just having land? , what needs to be repaired is manpower, craftsmen,

In the report submitted to the emperor, Yue Shan said that if he could have 100,000 people in his hands, he could guarantee that Yanzhou would be restored to Beijing within a year. If he had 200,000 people, Yue Shan was confident that he could restore Yanzhou to Beijing within half a year. Yanzhou's fortress system with dozens of miles of mountains was once again established, forming a condescending barrier to the grassland people south of Yanzhou. By then, the entire south of Yanzhou would be under the nose of the empire.

The idea is great, but the timing is wrong

This is how the fat man replied. The empire's focus is still on stabilizing and controlling the west road of the Imperial Capital, and it cannot spare any extra energy to move the population to Yanzhou. Moreover, since it is necessary to move, there must be an area where it can be moved. Yanzhou is located in the Fourth War. The land is bordered by the North Grassland on the top, Yanzhou of the Fengtai Department on the bottom, the dead northwestern Zhongbia to the west, and mountains to the east. Even if the empire is willing to invest financial resources, there will be no population to move nearby.

Of course, Yanzhou is not completely without the possibility of migration. There are manpower in Daizhou below Yanzhou, and there are quite a lot of them. Yueshan has been coveting it for a long time.

The Long family entered Daizhou and drove millions of refugees to attack Longshi Castle, which shocked the world. In the end, the Long family quietly retreated and took away 200,000 young people in one go, and the remaining hundreds of thousands of Central Asians. In the end, they fell into the hands of the Fengtai tribe. Uncharacteristically, the Fengtai tribe did not completely deport these Central Bians left by the Long family as slaves. This policy is to gather these Central Asians into a few fixed cities, and then appoint the Central Asians as management officials, and draw a large amount of materials and property from these cities every month. As long as If these Central Bians do not escape or resist, they will not send troops to suppress them. It seems that they must have reached some secret agreement with the Long family.

These Central Asians who were fixed in several cities did not escape. However, after finding out in despair that they were surrounded by grassland people, they finally had to flee back to the city. Although they were severely exploited by the grassland people, they still had no choice but to escape. At least they are much stronger than those Central Bians who are treated as slaves by the grassland people. The status of these hundreds of thousands of Central Bians is almost equal to that of the lowest servants among the grassland tribes. The demi-humans have relatively acquiesced to the Fengtai tribe's rule.

Suddenly, the sound of cheers for the capture of the fortress came from ahead.

Yue Shan took a deep breath, looked away from a distance, and said, "It seems that the information is true. Mongolia has drained Daizhou's troops, otherwise it would never be so easy. I personally supervised this Lingu Pass back then." It took two full years and five thousand migrant workers to complete the construction. It is located in the gap of the mountain range and is made of solid stones made from local materials, which is enough to withstand stone throws. Although the attack of the weapon is not an important pass with one man in charge, it cannot be broken with one blow. Mongolia actually did not even have time to defend such a pass. After entering Daizhou this time, he also asked Governor Wumu to be able to For my own sake, be more tolerant to our Central Bians. If those captured Central Bians can be sold to me in Yanzhou, I am willing to pay a full price to buy them."

"What Governor Yueshan means is that he is willing to pay ransom for these Central Asians? This is not a small amount of money!" Wu Mu blinked his eyes and couldn't help but tighten his grip on the riding whip. After a while, he pretended to move his head. The pass in front of him was already there. After being captured, it was so easy that Wu Mu was indeed surprised. If he hadn't known that Mongolia from the Fengtai tribe had mobilized a hundred thousand troops to attack the imperial capital, Wu Mu would have doubted whether what he saw was a trap, but if he came from Yueshan, It still moved his heart a little bit

"Let's put it that way, Lord Wumu, don't forget that the porcelain produced in our Yueshan province is sold well throughout the empire. Half of it will be handed over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the empire, and the rest should be enough to pay for it!" Yueshan gritted his teeth. , said with a shrug of his shoulders. .The fastest update. Although Wumu is from Dongting, in Yue Shan's eyes, the Dongting grassland people are actually no different from the northern grassland people. They are both grassland people, and they are all murderous. They are more likely to massacre cities and so on. It is a common occurrence, and only a man as majestic and powerful as the Falcon Emperor can control these bloodthirsty eaters. In Yanzhou, Yue Shan has been fighting with the prairie people all his life. Naturally, he knows very well that the only way to get these butchers to let go of the fat meat is to buy this piece of fat. The prairie people are here The spirit of the contract is still very sincere like that of the primitive era, and basically anything promised can be done.

Yue Shan let out a wry smile and continued, "I believe Master Wumu has also seen it. Your Majesty handed over Yanzhou to me, but the land of Yanzhou is almost no one's land. There is not enough labor, even basic labor is not possible. So I need people, a lot of people, the more the better. I believe that even if His Majesty knows, he will not pursue this matter too much."

"Understood. What are your opinions on Governor Yueshan's proposal?" Wu Mu was silent for a moment, looking like an eagle at the Dongting tribe chiefs behind him.

"Since they are prisoners of war, they should be dealt with like this," a Dongting clan leader replied with a twinkling look.

"What if King Khan asks?" Some people also expressed concern.

"What King Khan wants is for us to defeat Daizhou within three days. As for the Zhongbia people in Daizhou, he didn't say anything in particular!" Someone said categorically, "And don't forget that the empire has prisoners of war who have redeemed themselves. According to the custom, since Governor Yueshan is willing to help them pay for their ransom, it is reasonable and reasonable for these Central Bian people to be handed over to Governor Yueshan."

"It seems that everyone has no objections?" Wu Mu's eyes flashed and he asked again. The tribal chiefs were obviously tempted by Yue Shan's proposal. It is said that there are millions of Central Asians in Daizhou. Even according to the most ordinary The ransom money for prisoners of war is calculated as one silver coin per person, which is also hundreds of thousands of gold coins. This is definitely not a small amount. They are all going to fight against Daizhou anyway. Prisoners of war are just an easy thing. If you can get money, why bother? No,

"Then let's do it!" Wu Mu glanced coldly. As the commander-in-chief of the Dongting Army this time, and as the governor of the empire, he thought that without touching the emperor's bottom line, he thought that these There is no big problem in handing over the Bians to Yueshan. Even if the emperor knew about it, he would just keep talking about it. Would he really pursue it? If Yue Shan really did something cruel, the Imperial Supervision Department would naturally take care of it, and it would not be the turn of a regional governor like me to worry about it.

Moreover, Wumu knew very well how eager the various tribes in Dongting were for loot after being suppressed by the emperor for a year. After finally looking forward to this battle with the southwest of Zhongbia, although there were some gains, it was still far from the level expected by the ministries. It was at the strong request of the ministries that the emperor secretly transferred them to Yanzhou. Although He guessed that he would definitely take action against Daizhou, but could he No one knows how much oil and water there is, and these Dongting clan chiefs have been in Zhongbia for two or three months. They are no longer completely blind to the situation in Zhongbia when they first came. Daizhou Grassland Phoenix The base camp of Taibu is located, and Fengtai is the most popular grassland area in recent times.

It is said that the cavalry's combat strength exceeds 100,000, which has faintly surpassed the original Yelu family of the Imperial Capital, and has become the largest military group of the grassland people in Central Asia. If the empire goes to war in Daizhou, and the grassland cavalry fights against the grassland cavalry, no one will have much success. There are many bargains to be gained, this will be a fierce battle! Before the war, it would be better if you could improve your morale

Seeing Wumu agreeing, the nervous faces of the tribal leaders suddenly showed smiles.

"Okay, the gate of Daizhou has been opened. How much you can get depends on your own ability!" Wu Mu pulled out the saber on his waist and pointed at the fallen fortress in front. Eighty thousand Dongting cavalry poured forward like a tide. , the earth is ferocious, with flying vines and grass. Mongolian Luo has indeed wiped out most of the entire Fengtai tribe this time. Together with other tribes who have gathered, more than ten Ten thousand cavalrymen went south, and less than 20,000 people remained in Daizhou. The Fengtai tribe was not unprepared for the empire. Ten thousand of the 20,000 Fengtai tribe’s cavalry were pressed against the Yanzhou line. According to According to intelligence, the Fengtai Ministry knew that Yanzhou only had a few thousand people in Yueshan, and they could barely protect themselves, let alone force their way south. No one expected that 80,000 elite prairie cavalry would suddenly appear.

Eighty thousand Dongting cavalry poured into Daizhou, and were even commanded by generals like Wu Mu. In just one day, the 80,000 Dongting cavalry led by Wu Mu directly defeated the northern line of the Fengtai Department, as if they were overwhelming. The defenders of the Fengtai tribe who had time to react were attacked by the Dongting cavalry at almost the same moment, and were instantly wiped out on the defensive line.

The strong bows of the Dongting Cavalry are as dense as leeches, and their crossbows are as dense as leeches. Not only do they have a longer range than their prairie bows, but they also break armor even more significantly. The Fengtai troops who stayed behind in Daizhou are not elite at all, and they are used to using them. They used bows and arrows to bully the Zhongbia people, but now they met the Dongting people who were stronger than them, and they were immediately fooled.

Under the clusters of arrows, countless Dongting infantrymen climbed up the city wall as many as ants. Although the grassland people were not good at attacking cities, the Dongting people had already made siege and plundering cities a common practice in the empire's several wars. Zhouben is only the rear supply center of the Yanzhou barrier. Except for Longshi Castle, the center of defense, the walls of other cities are not tall. In addition, the tug-of-war between the Long family and the Fengtai tribe in Daizhou has put a lot of pressure on Daizhou. The walls were damaged

After the Fengtai tribe took control of Daizhou, they never thought that one day they would be invaded by others. Naturally, they were not willing to spend money and manpower to repair these defects.

"To deal with the enemy, scimitars and longbows are naturally the best. City walls are only used by cowards in Central Asia."

The proud Fengtai people have never paid attention to the city wall repaired by the Zhongbia people. They believe that if the city wall was useful, the imperial capital of the Zhongbia people would not be attacked twice in a row, and tens of millions of people would be killed. The Central Asians would not become slaves on the grassland. But now, facing the large influx of Dongting cavalry, the Fengtai defenders realized how wrong they were.

Without the cover of a solid city wall, they had no chance to resist in the face of the opponent's advance like a blazing prairie fire. The opponent's cavalry were like a cloud floating in the sky, with countless arrow clusters coming across the sky. Crossbow suppression, light infantry charging into the city, in the hands of these Dongting clan chiefs, their cooperation is even more powerful There is no trace of unfamiliarity. The Dongting Archers are recognized as the number one archers even in the Imperial Army. The Dongting Archers wearing heavy armor are the nemesis of all long-range shooters. In the Obaro area, It’s not like they haven’t fought against more solid and towering fortresses. They are no longer the Dongting Army who are not good at attacking cities.

At noon the next day, when Luduo, the fourth city north of Dragonstone Castle as the dividing line, fell, the news that the empire launched an invasion war against Daizhou spread from Daizhou.

Staring at the slightly dark red color on the majestic and tall city wall in front of him, Wu Mu's eyes narrowed into a straight line. He knew the name of the fortress that looked like a giant dragon lying in front of him, Dragon Stone Castle. Millions of Central Asian refugees are here After the Fengtai tribe was defeated, the name of Dragon Stone Castle spread throughout Central Asia. Even Wu Mu had heard of it. The tall barrier in front of him gradually became consistent with the Dragon Stone Castle in Wu Mu's heart. Together, with our backs against the mountain wall, we form a frontier moving forward. It stretches to two lines, like the mouth of a giant dragon, so it got the name Dragonstone Castle. You can imagine how many arrow clusters flew out from the two lines coming from the front lines on both sides when the Dragon Breaker drove millions of refugees to attack. How many refugees died on this city wall? Under the city, corpses lay everywhere. It is said that the corpses were piled from the city wall to the bottom of the city. One theory is that there are 200,000 refugees, and another theory is that it is 150,000. This even caused the Fengtai tribe's archers to shoot out their arrows, and had to fight with the attackers. The Chinese and Belgians who came up were fighting hand to hand.

No matter which one it is, it proves that this city wall is a strong wall that can truly swallow the flesh and blood of the enemy (To be continued.)