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To reach Gao Baoning's territory, you can only pass through the Khitan grassland. Although the army was traveling in a relatively remote place, most of the grass on the grassland had dried up in October, it was inevitable to encounter Khitan herders.

The Khitan has a population of hundreds of thousands, with nearly 100,000 young and middle-aged people. However, because it is divided into eight divisions and there are many small divisions under the eight divisions, it is rare to see nearly a thousand troops operating. Now, I suddenly saw a soldier of nearly a thousand people carrying a rolling smoke, and I was stunned. When they wanted to escape, they were already surrounded by the army.

Yang Yong did not want to be angry at the Khitan tribes for the time being. At present, the Khitan tribes are in a mess, which is in line with the interests of the Great Zhou. If they are forced to unite, there will undoubtedly be another strong enemy in the northern part of the Great Zhou. All the herdsmen passing by on the road are surrounded by the army and are forcing each other to advance together. Fortunately, the Khitans grew up on horseback, and they are proficient in riding, both men, women, young and old, and they are not worried that they will drag down the army.

These Khitans did not have the courage to fight against the regular army of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Without guaranteeing that they would not be killed, they had to temporarily abandon their grazing livestock and follow the army's actions. In one day, more than 900 cavalry had already conquered more than 200 Khitan herders.

The speed of the army marched could not help but be depressed. At night, the entire army rushed for more than 150 miles and found a place to go against the leeward to camp and rest. Many soldiers began to take out dry food to eat.

If you are fast riding from Yingzhou to Gao Baoning's base, it will only take one day to ride. Even if you are threatening herders, two days will be enough. The army prepared seven days of dry food, so that it is possible to pursue Gao Baoning's remaining troops on the grassland. However, these threatened herders were not prepared for anything. Yang Yong had to instruct the soldiers to take out some of the dry food and distribute it to the threatened herders.

"Sir, there is a Khitan who wants to see you." Yang Yong just took out the dry food and wanted to eat it, but a personal soldier hurriedly came to report.

"See me? What did the Khitans say?" Yang Yong was very surprised. These Khitans stayed honestly, what did they want to see him?

The personal soldier shook his head: "Sir, he refused to say it, he just asked to see you."

"Okay, bring him up."

After a while, a Khitan man with a beard in his twenties was taken up by two personal soldiers. Although the Khitan weapons were captured, Wei Chong and Zheng Xiong stood behind Yang Yong with their hands on the hilt, as if they were facing a great enemy. When Wei Chong was about to set off, he had been told by his brother Wei Shikang many times that he must protect Yang Yong's safety.

"You are the commander of this army." The Khitan man saw Yang Yong's age and had a look of disappointment in his eyes, but he hid it very well.

"That's right, you have anything to say." Yang Yong replied indifferently.

"Do you want to fight Gao Baoning?"

Yang Yong glanced at the Khitan in surprise. The eight hundred people selected by Wei Shikang were undoubtedly the most elite soldiers in Yingzhou Prefecture. Judging from the march along the way, everyone can strictly abide by discipline and will never reveal the goal of this march to the Khitan, and even more so, Yang Yong's personal soldiers will not.

Seeing that the Khitans guessed, Yang Yong's suxing no longer covered up: "Yes, Gao Baoning repeatedly invaded the Great Zhou Dynasty, and this time he was to eliminate him. You already know the purpose of the army, and you are not afraid that I will kill you."

Hearing this, the Khitans showed a little nervousness on their faces, and they relaxed in a blink of an eye: "Sir, I won't kill me."

"Oh, are you so sure?" Yang Yong didn't know where this Khitan got such great confidence. In fact, when the Khitan asked him just now, he had a murderous intention towards him. This son was so keen, he thought that he was a smart person in the Khitan. Killing him would not only reduce the risk of leaking secrets, but also lacked an outstanding person.

"I heard that the Central Plains dynasties were all conquering people with virtue and etiquette. I, Wutu, admired the Great Zhou and wanted to help you defeat the enemy. How could the lord kill me?" Wutu said this in a humble and arrogant manner. He praised the Great Zhou, but did not belittle himself, and expressed his own feelings.

"You want to help us defeat the enemy, why do you want to help us?"

"Sir, Gao Baoning is an enemy of Da Zhou, and he is overestimating his abilities. The Khitan troops have long wanted to get rid of Gao Baoning, but they are suffering from insufficient strength. Now that we have an adult leading the team, we can naturally do our best."

In fact, after Gao Baoning arrived at the grassland, he not only invaded the Great Peripheral Frontier at all times, but also caused a lot of harm to the Khitan tribes. At the beginning, Gao Baoning had tens of thousands of troops. Even if the Khitan tribes were combined, they were not against Gao Baoning. They had to let Gao Baoning ask for big cats and sheep and other property, and they had to cooperate with him to harass the Great Peripheral Frontier. Sometimes each division had to directly send troops to help him invade the Great Peripheral Frontier.

The Khitan tribes got the most benefits from the Great Peripheral Trade. If there was no need, each tribe was unwilling to be an enemy of the Great Zhou. Two years ago, after Gao Baoning was defeated and returned under the attack of the Great Zhou, the Khitan tribes saw the facts clearly that Gao Baoning was not the opponent of the Great Zhou, and each tribe would no longer lend troops to Gao Baoning.

Gao Baoning's own strength was greatly weakened and could no longer suppress the Khitan divisions. He had to dispel the idea of ​​sending troops from each division. However, the cattle, sheep and other property he asked for every year were required. Each division did not have the strength to face Gao Baoning alone, so he had to give it to Gao Baoning, which also aroused the anger of many young and strong Khitans towards Gao Baoning. Why should the cattle, sheep he raised be given to Gao Baoning for free?

Yang Yong looked at Wei Chong, wondering if he should believe the words of the Khitan man in front of him. Wei Chong nodded gently. He was familiar with the Khitan tribes and knew that many Khitans also hated Gao Baoning to the core.

"Your name is Wutu, which tribe is it?"

"Sir, the younger one is the Rilian tribe." Wutu reported loudly.

"Well, how many of the Khitans in our army this time are from your Japanese army? Are they willing to help me capture Gao Baoning in the Great Zhou?"

"Sir, half of them are from my Rilian Division this time, and a small half are from the Li tribe. As long as the adults can agree to defeat Gao Baoning, they will divide his pastures into the Rilian Division and Li tribes. The villain promises that they can help them serve the Great Zhou together."

"Okay, you can try it, but whether you are willing to help the Great Zhou destroy Gao Baoning or not, you must accept the supervision of our army at present." The power of the Great Zhou could not expand the grassland for a while. If Gao Baoning was destroyed, the Great Zhou could not occupy this grassland. As long as these two works really contributed, it would be fine to give them.

"Yes, thank you sir." After Yang Yong's promise, Wutu seemed very excited. Whether a tribe can prosper depends on how many people the grassland he occupied could support. Gao Baoning occupied a lot of water and grass. The Japanese army only needs to get half of it to double the population of the tribe without worrying about the livestock without forage. Moreover, he is confident that as long as the Great Zhou supports, he can occupy most of the grassland.

Looking at Wutu's back, Yang Yong sighed: "This person is very ambitious."

"General, should we kill him after the matter is done?" Zheng Xiong said viciously.

Yang Yong shook his head: "No, he is more ambitious. Now the Turks are dominant. It is better to have an ambitious race on the grassland to benefit the Great Zhou."

Wutu was the second son of the leader of the Japanese army. When he went back, he incited the other Khitans, as expected, all agreed to help the Zhou army wipe out Gao Baoning. However, the army did not relax their surveillance, and the weapons they collected were not returned. Who knew that there was no one among these herdsmen who were inclined to Gao Baoning, so be careful of nothing wrong.

The next day, the army continued to advance as soon as the sky was dawn. At this time, it was only more than 80 miles away from Gao Baoning's base. If you were to rush to the road, you might arrive at about the hour of Si in the afternoon. However, after rushing, there was at most an hour left after the sky was dark. If Gao Baoning was dragged until dark, it would be easy to let him escape while it was dark. It would be better to wait until dawn to launch an attack, so the army's itinerary began to slow down.

The vanguard sent by the army this time was the backbone of the Japanese company team selected by Wutu himself. These more than ten people were all people who were patted with their chests to ensure there was no problem. Yang Yong temporarily believed him. Since Wutu was the second prince of the Japanese company team, he could run away and could not run away from the temple. Yang Yong did not believe that he dared to offend the Great Zhou and reported to Gao Baoning, but he still sent more than a dozen personal soldiers to follow him closely.

One day, the people from the Corps persuaded him that the herdsmen he met on the road cooperated surprisingly. Not only did they agree to follow the army to marches to prevent the news from leaking, most of them also agreed to join the attack on Gao Baoning's army.

By the time of Chen, the army had marched to a place that was only more than twenty miles away from Gao Baoning's army. They had to find a secret place and stopped. If they moved forward, they could easily be discovered by Gao Baoning's scouts. The vanguard of Wutu on the road had met Gao Baoning's scouts. However, they were fooled by Wutu. They were originally Khitans and drove cattle and sheep. Gao Baoning's scouts just scolded them a few words and asked them to return. They also picked several good horses as compensation. Wutu and others just smiled.

Gao Baoning occupied too large grassland, and his subordinates could not use up all cattle and sheep. Every year during the grass desertification season, many cattle and sheep from Khitan herders entered Gao Baoning's pasture. Gao Baoning only sent people to collect some cattle and sheep and horses as compensation. Therefore, Gao Baoning's scouts had no doubts about Wutu and others.

Gao Baoning was worried about a piece of news at this time. The Turks had decided to attack the Zhou Dynasty next year. For some reason, he Bo Khan accepted the bribes from the envoy of the Great Zhou Dynasty and actually captured the Qi State's nominal monarch, Gao Shaoyi, and gave it to the envoy sent by the Great Zhou Dynasty, Marquis of Jianwei, He Ruoyi. Now Emperor Zhong Gao Shaoyi is on the way back to Chang'an.

It is all false to say that Gao Baoning is so loyal to Gao Shaoyi. It is just that the Turks turned against each other so quickly, and it is still unknown whether the Turks can send troops next year. Moreover, even if the Turks send troops, without Gao Shaoyi's name, how could he control the hearts of the people in Qi? Could it be that he can only be independent?

If he could become an emperor, he would be the best, but his strength was too weak and he was afraid that he would be betrayed by the Turks. Not to mention becoming an emperor, he would not know how to die even if he died. Gao Baoning would definitely be restless after receiving this news. In contrast, it was only a trivial matter to be allocated a stronghold in Yingzhou.

There was a burst of people outside. Gao Baoning walked out of the camp and saw several scouts pointing around a few tall horses, shouting in a deep voice: "What's going on?"

A scout replied: "Report to the Prime Minister, we found dozens of Khitan barbarians driving cattle and horses into our grassland on the way, and picked a few good horses."

Gao Baoning looked at it and saw that these horses were indeed good horses, tall and evenly shaped, making it rare to see them on the grassland, and he was happy: "These barbarians always covet our grassland, so they can get a few horses to buy him."

"That's right, there are dozens of these barbarians, and we only have three of us, but we dare not say anything if we choose. If we hadn't had too few people, we had to pick a few more of them, so we would have to heartache these barbarians." After that, the few laughed.

Gao Baoning felt a vague feeling in his heart. It was the sixth feeling he had learned from more than ten years of experience in fighting. This feeling had saved him several times: "Where did you meet them?"

"Go back to the Prime Minister, it's twenty miles away."

"Twenty miles away." Gao Baoning murmured to himself. He drew his own grasslands fifty miles away. These Khitans had already reached twenty miles away.

Seeing that something was wrong with the Prime Minister, the scout hurriedly said, "Prime Minister, my subordinates have driven them away. These barbarians have lost several horses. I guess they are heartbroken. Now they have probably walked thirty miles away."

Hearing the scout's explanation, Gao Baoning burst into laughter. Isn't it just dozens of Khitans? Is there anything worth making a fuss about? It seems that today's news made me nervous, making me fight all over the country.

He put the matter back, but out of caution, Gao Baoning ordered: "Tonight, the military law will be doubled."

"Follow the order."

Tonight, the Khitans were about to raid tonight. The Khitans who joined the way were all excited. In the past two days, there were more than 600 herdsmen who had collected cages. Removed the old men and children, and more than 400 soldiers could fight. The Zhou army had returned all their weapons and were now trying hard to test the weapons.
Chapter completed!