Chapter 617 Confrontation

it's too cold.

Lothar exhaled a burst of white mist from his mouth, and looked at the sergeants under his command. The knights took off their iron gloves one after another and rubbed their hands. It was really unbearable for these people who were used to being in the hot Egypt to be thrown into such an environment all of a sudden.

Among the mounts carried by many walking sergeants, there were even dromedary camels among the pack animals carrying armor, equipment, food and other baggage.

If the march continues for a few more days, many war horses and pack animals will die of illness on the grassland.

The impact of the Little Ice Age has begun to take shape. In the Middle Ages, Iceland, Greenland and other places were still important fishing areas. When the Vikings first discovered Greenland, they even called it the "green island", which meant that even in Here near the pole, some crops can still be grown and livestock grazed. Vikings often traveled by longship to conduct trade exchanges. The Pope even sent a bishop here.

But at this point in the combat record world, due to the extremely cold weather and frequent storms at sea, these two large islands were almost completely isolated from the world.

Lothar and his party, with the help of the guards from Gubeitai, found a well they usually used, replenished the water source, and set off on the road again.

It's a pity that Jeanna and her party were traveling much faster than them. Since their destination was also Tumu Fort, Lothar had no idea of ​​speeding up the march to catch up with them. Others could not catch up, which would tire the army. Unbearable.

Along the way, they ran into several more marauding Tatar cavalry, numbering no more than a few hundred people. They were all defeated by Lothar's winged cavalry in a wave of charges.

These ordinary Tatar cavalry have very poor equipment. Only a few leader-level figures are equipped with scale armor, zhao armor, and cloth face armor. Most of them just wear leather armor or jackets, and the arrowheads they use hit the chests of the hussars. The armor will only be bounced off and deformed.

After all, "captives cannot be refined and fried." Iron pots are strategic resources on the grassland. How can a small tribe afford good armor?

After annihilating a Tatar ranger, Lothar asked: "Whose tribe are these?"

Ye Bushou, the little flag officer, carefully identified it for a while, and then speculated: "I don't know either, but please know, your envoy, the Choros tribe has tens of thousands of armored horses. They are the elites under his command, and they are not the same as these." language."

He paused and then said: "At this time, those who did not go to Tumubao to join the alliance and ran to the territory of the Ming Dynasty to plunder, except for the Alazhiyuan tribe, are all small tribes - the Alazhiyuan tribe is The Wala clan is very powerful. Looking at their combat power and equipment, you can tell that they are definitely not members of the Alazhiyuan."

Seeing that he was speaking vaguely, Lothar frowned and said, "Tell the truth."

The flag official had no choice but to say honestly: "It must be a Han tribe that took refuge with the Tatars. They may have been driven to the north with the Yuan Dynasty. When Taizu and Chengzu were attacking the Yuan Dynasty, they captured a large number of these people. Everyone is naked and suffering.”

Lothar nodded and said: "I understand. In the future, major military matters must be told truthfully. There is nothing to reserve."

It seems that every generation of the Central Plains Dynasty was at war with the nomads in the north.

Donghu, Xiongnu, Xianbei, Turks, Khitan, and now Tatar (Jurchens are fishers and hunters, not nomadic).

It seems that new barbarians will always emerge on the borders of the Central Plains Dynasty.

But in fact, Lothar felt that the grassland was there, and anyone who lived on the grassland would become a barbarian. Even if the grassland was cleared, nomads from other places would still fill in.

Some Han people who either actively rebelled or passively plundered the grasslands would also quickly integrate into the nomadic people's big dyeing vat.

Just like the Turks in Asia Minor, where did so many Turks migrate from the far east? A large part of the people are just Greeks who were gradually Turkized under the rule of Turkic princes.

It was not until the late Ming Dynasty that large-scale Han immigrants began to immigrate, and this situation was reversed.

At first, it was a group of people who went to the grasslands to help the Tatar landowners farm in the summer. After the weather got cooler, they returned to the interior with their wages for the New Year. They brought back to their hometown the news that much of the land on the grasslands was very fertile.

Just in time for the frequent natural disasters in the late Ming Dynasty, there was no rain in some places all year round, which made the extremely barren land unable to grow any food. This gave rise to a large number of Han people who rushed to the Tatar grasslands.

The Tatar princes were also happy that these Han people who were good at farming and handicrafts came to settle in their territory, and the two sides hit it off.

This is called taking the west exit.

An eagle flew across the sky, and the flag officer exclaimed: "It's the Tatar falcon. They should have discovered us."

The Tatars of this world also domesticate falcons, and nomads seem to have this habit.

"Prepare for battle!"

The "mission" led by Lothar immediately went on alert. According to the experience of fighting the Saracens, wherever falcons are seen, they are not far from the enemy.

The flag officer hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, please send a few people to listen to my instructions and come forward to investigate the enemy's situation!"

"Hans, take a few people with him."

Scouts were sent out.

However, the envoys did not stand still. They helped each other take off the armor from the chariots and horses, equip the weapons, feed the horses fine food, and make preparations for the battle.

About a quarter of an hour later, the night flag ran over with a few cavalry scouts and shouted: "There are well-equipped Tatar cavalry in front of us who are besieging our army's train. Please come to our rescue!" "

Baggage train?

Lothar's expression moved slightly.

"Is it Alazhi Yuan who is leading his troops?"

Ye Bu Shou Xiaoqi said: "It should be."

"How many people are there in the enemy army?"

"A rough estimate is that there are at least 2,000 people."

Lothar frowned and said: "Explore again! If it is Alazhiyuan's troops, there must be at least 10,000 people."

He had to find out where the enemy was first, and then consider whether to swallow up the Wala cavalry that looted the baggage team, or to besiege them and attack the reinforcements.

A large number of scouts were sent out.

It would be great if Fulin was around. She could summon a gargoyle at will to bring a pair of eyes to the army.

The delegation, ready for battle, began to move forward slowly.

"Prepare for battle!"

Hans waved the flag, and the fastest winged cavalry came to the front one after another.

They raised their red-painted lances, with their own swallowtail flags or square flags tied to the spear heads, and the lances were like a forest.

Below, thousands of light cavalry were besieging a baggage team of the Ming army like jackals. They drove their mounts from a distance and shot arrows to suppress the Ming army.

The Ming army numbered only a few hundred, most of them wearing cloth armor, with many shield soldiers, crossbowmen and musketeers, relying on the carriages and horses loaded with baggage for defense. For a while, although the enemy cavalry was numerous, they could not do anything to the baggage train.

As the delegation led by Losa gained a foothold on the top of the mountain, the two sides who were fighting at the foot of the mountain slowly distanced themselves.

On the opposite mountain, several Tatar generals in armor appeared. The leader looked at Losa, and his expression was stunned. He asked the people around him: "Who is the general wearing a golden mask on the opposite side?"

Someone beside him immediately replied: "Looking at the style of their armor, it should be the legendary foreign delegation that was appointed by the emperor of the Ming Dynasty to accompany the army to the expedition."

Ala Zhiyuan laughed.

After a long while, he said: "The Ming Kingdom has no one, so send a mixed Hu Semu to lead the army to fight."

Although there was a sneer on his face, his eyes were full of fear.

Where did this masked man come from?

Even a glance from a distance was enough to make people tremble with fear.

The troops also laughed, but the laughter was really not impressive. Anyone with eyes could see that the enemy was well-equipped, and the masked man riding on the giant magical horse at the head looked even more terrifying than the big demon in the north of the mountain.