Chapter 202 Don't Lose Face
As the sun shines, visibility across the grassland is extremely high. At a glance, you can seem to see the scene beyond the skyline.

Going north from Xifengkou, there is an important border road called Lulong Pass. The road is long and located between the Lulong Mountains, which is very dangerous.

In the 12th year of Jian'an in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao led his troops out of the Lulong Pass in the north to attack the Wuhuan. The roads outside the pass were blocked, so they dug mountains and filled valleys for more than 500 miles. Therefore, for thousands of years thereafter, this road, together with the important place of Gubeikou, became the throat of Yan's land connecting to the outside of the pass.

At this time, Yelu Abaoji climbed to the top of the mountain and looked out. He could see the grassland outside the Great Wall and the camp set up at the mouth of the valley beside the Luan River. From this side, he could see that the entire camp was set up in an orderly and strict manner.

He was in a very happy mood.

Coming out from Xifengkou, they walked through hundreds of miles of dangerous roads and eliminated thousands of old and weak soldiers. Finally, they managed to organize this group of captured Yan soldiers into an orderly manner. Although they couldn't say that they were disciplined, at least they were well-behaved. The leaders finally listened to the orders and no longer looked like a bunch of fools.

In addition, he selected hundreds of elite soldiers from each camp, gave them some simple training, and established a personal guard force of more than a thousand in the name of Liu Rengong, which was barely considered to be in good shape.

If you ask whether the fort owners of Yandiwu had any objections, of course they did, and there were quite a few, but who could blame Yelu Abaoji for having the support of the Jurchens and a strong army of "Tian Daocheng"? So under the real knife handle, there were no objections, and the journey from Tanzhou was smooth.

At present, their army of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, except for the shortage of baggage, lack of food and fodder, and lack of weapons, is generally considered to be of sufficient scale, which is enough to conquer some small tribes on this grassland.

As long as he could leave the grassland and win over some small tribes to solve the baggage problem, Abaoji was confident that he could conquer most of the Yan army within half a year.

In fact, the so-called conquest was nothing more than eliminating the original fort lords in Yandi and replacing them with his own generals. But at this critical juncture, these fort lords regarded their own troops as their lifeblood, and Abaoji could not do it in a short period of time, otherwise it would inevitably cause internal strife, which was something he did not want to see now.

But at the moment, Abaoji thought he had done his best. At least the camps were willing to obey orders and follow him to the grassland to avoid disaster, that is, to escape from Xiao Yan. With this necessary condition, it was easy for him to gain a foothold on the grassland again.

Especially after seeing this well-organized camp, Yelu Abaoji's gloom of more than half a year was swept away and he was in high spirits.

I think that when he led 20,000 elite cavalry south last year, he was just like what is happening now. He set up a strict camp, and each camp followed the orders. He had countless brave generals under his command. When there was civil strife in Yan, Liu Shouwen even came to greet him in person.

At that time, he led his mighty army south for the first time and began to really intervene in the affairs of the Central Plains. It seemed that he had already seen the rise of Mobei.

Thinking of this, he sighed deeply and pointed at the Great Wall in the distance with regret.

"Last year, I led my army southwards, with elite soldiers and generals under my command. There was also civil unrest in Yan. I came and went freely between the Great Walls of the southerners, and no one could stop me. At that time, I really had the best of time, place, and people. I can still vividly remember the scene of vigorous vitality and the flourishing of all things.

This king is only one step away from success..."

Next to him, Wanyan Agunai smiled nonchalantly and said in his increasingly fluent Mobei dialect: "Why should the Khan be discouraged? Our troops now may not be... uh... everything is golden?"

"Why not?"

Yelu Abaoji also laughed, pointed at the camp at the foot of the mountain with high spirits, and generously embraced Wanyan Agunai's short and strong body, saying: "Having the help of the Jurchen warriors is already better than what I had last year! Isn't this southerner Xiao Yan also a trick played by you and Agunai?"

Wanyan Agunai grinned fiercely, then stroked his messy beard, squinted his eyes and spoke slowly: "After hearing the Khan talk about that southerner several times, I have become interested in him. I really want to let my men compete with him."

"Not urgent."

A Baoji waved his hand casually, took the wine bag from his waist, gulped down a mouthful, wiped his mouth and said: "He is powerful now, we will inevitably suffer losses if we go south."

Then, he threw the wine bag to Wanyan Agunai, put his hands on his waist and laughed: "But if I urge him to go north, he may not dare to come. Southerners can't play on this grassland. Agunai, do you know the difference between us grassland people and southerners?"

"Please enlighten me, Khan."

"The southerners rely too much on baggage and military supplies when they fight." Abaoji shook his head and said, "In grassland warfare, we often have to chase for thousands of miles, with countless horses and sheep. Wherever we fight, the sheep will follow us. But how can the southerners chase for thousands of miles?"

"No." He asked himself and answered: "If the southerners want to go deep into the grassland, they have to be like the champion of the Han Dynasty, Huo Qubing, 'get food from the enemy, travel far and wide without running out of food'. But now Yan is poor and has just gone through a war. Not to mention getting food from the enemy, I think Xiao Yan may even have difficulty equipping a batch of baggage for the expedition..."

Wanyan Agunai seemed to be thinking about something and nodded slowly to show his agreement.

Yelu Abaoji continued to walk back and forth with his hands on his hips. He pondered for a moment and shook his head. "It's not that I don't believe that Xiao Yan doesn't have the courage to send troops, but the disaster in Hebei was caused by him. How can the people in the Central Plains be united and let him do whatever he wants? The people in the Central Plains have always been divided. Not to mention that he barely raised the military supplies, but he has to consider the vast desert and the fire in the rear..."

At this point, he smiled and said, "You must know that not everyone can be like Huo Qubing. If Xiao Yan really wants to fight to support the war and slaughter my people on the grassland to obtain military supplies, I don't believe that the tribes will not unite to fight against him. How dare he go north without any response on the grassland? I believe he is a smart man."

"What the Khan said is well-reasoned and I really admire him." Wanyan Agunai said admiringly: "I understand. Even if Xiao Yan really dares to go north to the grassland, he will eventually retreat on his own because the food route is too long and the baggage is insufficient?"

"That's the truth."

Yelu Abaoji laughed and said, "So, Agunai, if you want to fight him, I'm afraid you have to wait a few years. After we have pacified the grasslands and conquered Bohai, it won't be too late to plan to go south."

Hearing the words "conquered Bohai", Wanyan Agunai narrowed his eyes and said nothing.

Abaoji stared at him, smiled, and said nothing.

Soon, a tall and strong man climbed up from the top of the mountain. He first saluted Abaoji with his arm on his chest, then looked at Wanyan Agunai and said, "Great Khan, brother, the people I sent to Danzhou a few days ago have returned. It is indeed as the Great Khan said. Danzhou is still the same as before, and there should be no signs of large-scale military operations. But their scouts are sent far away, as if they are looking for us..."

Abaoji was the first to smile, but he just leaned forward and said nothing.

Wanyan Agunai once again said to him with admiration: "The Khan's prediction was correct. Xiao Yan really doesn't dare to go north."

"This is what I learned from the Queen." A Baoji laughed, "This is to infer the trend through the situation. Xiao Yan is trapped in Yandi and there is no strong support from the grassland. How can he advance north?"

After these words were spoken, the two Wanyan brothers became more curious about the Queen of Earth, whom they had never met before, and looked at each other.

Yelu Abaoji just laughed, with a yearning look in his eyes subconsciously: "Wait, when the queen comes to meet me, you will know what kind of woman she is..."

Wanyan Agunai nodded and said, "If it is as the Khan said, the Queen still has thousands of elite soldiers under her command, then we can have a decisive battle with the Khan's brother. When the victory is decided, the Khan can return to the throne."

“No hurry, no hurry…”

A Baoji pondered for a moment and spoke slowly: "My brother is quite capable. If he acts rashly, it will be disadvantageous to us. When the queen comes here and lets me know the situation, it won't be too late for us to make further plans."

Wanyan and the other man had no objection. They had brought their tribesmen all the way eastward in order to plan something big. Of course, they were not in a hurry. Now that everything was discussed, Agunai was dragged down the mountain by his brother and returned to the camp.

……

"Brother, two of the men who were injured in Danzhou that day died today." Wanyan Hanpu, Wanyan Agunai's younger brother, said in a low voice as soon as he left the top of the mountain.

Wanyan Agunai frowned, sighed, and waved his hand, saying, "Life and death are determined by fate. We have come here to fight for wealth since we pressed the tiger water, so how can we not die? The situation is about to improve, how many people can't hold on?"

"There are still about forty people."

Wanyan Agunai shook his head and said, "I definitely can't go back. Ask them if they have any last wishes. I will do my best to fulfill them."

Wanyan Hanpu finally spoke after hesitating to speak: "Brother, are we really going to such lengths for Yelu Abaoji? There are only so many warriors in my Wanyan tribe, and we brought most of them with us this time. Three or four hundred of them were killed or injured in Danzhou alone, and we don't know how many more will die in the future. Is it really worth it?"

"How can I not feel heartbroken?"

Wanyan Agunai frowned, looked back at the few Mobei people in the distance, and continued to walk down the mountain with a stern face, saying: "But if not, when will we, the Jurchens, have a chance to rise?
When I was traveling in the grasslands, I heard a saying, 'A lean camel is bigger than a horse.' Now the Mobei is in turmoil. Although the Mobei Khan has fallen from the throne, he is still a grassland Khan several times more powerful than us Jurchens. If he was not in need of help, he would never have looked down on my Wanyan tribe in the past."

Wanyan Hanpu was about to retort, but Agunai waved his hand and said, "Let the dead die! Why should a Jurchen warrior fear death? Now that you have come this far, do you still want to go back and dig for pearls for the Bohai royal family?"

"I, I don't want to..."

Wanyan Agunai snorted coldly: "You don't want to, but how many of our female immortals are dying for this? You know what the weather is like in the Tiger River. How many people will freeze to death in the next trip to the sea? Our ancestors survived by fishing and hunting. Do you think we will have to stay where we are now?"

After that, he pointed to the grassland in the distance and squinted his eyes and said, "This place is a place that even the Bohai royal family can't seize! The great Khan of Mobei asked for our help. This is a once-in-a-century opportunity. How can we not seize it?"

After hearing this, Wanyan Hanpu finally believed his brother's judgment and said no more.

"But what you said makes sense." Wanyan Agunai stroked his chin and said thoughtfully, "We should be careful. Send people to go deep into the grassland to see what the situation is. The Khan keeps talking about the queen. How come there is no news for more than half a month?"

……

On the top of the mountain, a big man from Mobei climbed up.

At this moment, Yelu Abaoji's face did not have the same spirited expression as when he faced the Wanyan brothers just now. His expression was a little more serious: "No news from your sister yet?"

"Indeed, not yet. I sent two groups of people westward, but no news came back."

Abaoji grabbed his long beard and pondered in confusion.

Xiao Dilu, Shuliduo's younger brother, comforted him, "Don't worry, my king. You know my sister's methods best. With that bastard Yelu Lage, there's nothing you can do to her!"

"I'm not worried about that." A Baoji shook his head and said, "What I'm worried about is that Bei'er and Yaoguang are both in the hands of my second brother. I'm afraid that the queen will not be willing to break out. If that happens, I'm really ashamed of the queen..."

Xiao Dilu also pondered for a moment, then rejected the idea, saying, "It shouldn't be like this. Since Shili Qixiang has met the king, he will persuade my sister to break out as soon as possible. Although Yaoguang and the others are in Yelu Lage's hands, this guy will not risk his life when he hears that the king has returned..."

"You can't say that."

Abaoji waved his hands, but he made up his mind: "Alu, you should lead the people yourself. According to what Shili Qixiang said, the royal court has a large army heading south, and I'm afraid the queen will be difficult to deal with... So, I will let Wanyan Hanpu go with you, and each of us will take a thousand people to meet the queen."

Xiao Dilu was startled and said hurriedly: "My king, then there is no one around you who can be used!"

After that, he pointed at the camp at the foot of the mountain and frowned, saying, "These southerners look obedient, but in fact they are fickle-minded. How can we know if they have any evil intentions? If I leave with my men, I'm afraid the king won't be able to control me..."

"What are you afraid of?" A Baoji waved his hand casually and said with a smile: "Helu and Agunai are still here. Even if half of the troops are gone, I can still suppress them. Why, you don't believe it?"

Xiao Dilu waved his hand naturally: "Of course I believe it."

"That's enough." Abaoji patted his shoulder and said, "You are my most trusted brother and the queen's biological brother. I am most relieved to leave this matter to you. Don't worry about me. Bringing back the queen is better than thousands of troops."

Helplessly, Xiao Dilu could only obey the order.

Things could not wait. Having made the decision, Abaoji immediately ordered Wanyan Hanpu to lead a thousand Jurchen cavalrymen to cooperate with Xiao Dilu's thousand Mobei cavalrymen to head west. This trip basically took away most of the combat-capable troops.

However, Yelu Abaoji didn't care. He actually had some control over the captured Yan soldiers and horses.

……

The loud sound of horse hooves in the camp naturally attracted people from other camps to watch, but at the orders of some Mobei cavalry, they retreated to their respective barracks.

In the right army camp that can accommodate tens of thousands of people, there is a camp that is neither too big nor too small.

An old man with gray hair squinted his eyes at the large group of cavalry heading westward, licked his teeth, and chuckled in a low voice.

He returned to the tent and saw a few old men sitting indifferently on both sides.

These old men all have scars of varying sizes on their faces, but they all look terrifying.

The original owner of this camp, a fortress lord who commanded hundreds of Yan soldiers, was kneeling in the middle of the camp, trembling. He turned around when he heard the sound, and when he saw the old man coming in, he was so frightened that his whole body trembled.

"The time has come."

Gong Yangzuo raised his left hand, which had a finger cut off, and patted the fortress owner: "If you can lead your men into Abaoji's camp tonight, I will reward you with great wealth."

"Thank you, Grandpa Gongyang, thank you, Grandpa Gongyang. I don't seek wealth or honor. If you spare my life, I will serve you till death." The fortress owner kowtowed desperately.

"Exit."

Gong Yangzuo grinned, then looked up at the old men, with a fierce look in his eyes.

"Old guys, don't embarrass yourself this time."

(End of this chapter)