Just when Tang Tong returned to Southeast Asia after signing the agreement with the Turkish Emperor Ibrahim, the forces of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were basically destroyed. Their million-strong army was wiped out by Li Yan and Chen Zilong. Li Zicheng began to escape with dozens of his men, while Zhang Xianzhong once again used his surrender strategy, thinking that Tang Tong would give him, Zhang Xianzhong, a chance to make a comeback, just like those officials of the Ming Dynasty.
Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin stood on a small hill, looking at the leisurely white clouds in the distance, their hearts were filled with confusion. After fleeing for so many days, they were really tired. The world was vast and bleak. The two who had been so prosperous just two months ago were now like stray dogs, and had to flee for their lives.
"Damn it, that Li Yan is such a piece of shit that he actually defected to that guy surnamed Tang. He spared no effort to get rid of that guy surnamed Tang." Liu Zongmin said angrily. This man was originally a blacksmith with great strength. He was Li Zicheng's right-hand man. In the past few days, after Li Zicheng and his men occupied a place, they lived a very comfortable life. Liu Zongmin was used to this kind of life. Every day he had endless women to seduce and killed people whenever he wanted. He never thought that the power they built would collapse so quickly, which made Liu Zongmin very depressed.
"I didn't expect that Li Yan would actually join forces with that Tang guy. Originally, his strength was above ours. We each occupied our own place and lived in peace for so long, but they suddenly turned against each other. Alas, I don't know if we can escape from their pursuit this time." Li Ziyu sighed. Li Ziyu was originally a very tough person, but the comfortable days in the past few days had made his toughness degenerate. The days of enjoying himself on a woman's belly every day had worn away a lot of Li Ziyu's original ambitions, and made Li Ziyu particularly unable to tolerate this kind of exhausted escape.
"Why didn't that Tang guy go and fight that dog emperor Zhu Youjian, but instead attacked us first?" Liu Zongmin suddenly asked Li Ziyu in some surprise. You know, they had dealings with Tang Tong's forces in the past. Some weapons were obtained from Tang Tong, and a lot of supplies were transported by the Tang family caravan. It seems that the relationship was not very good. Therefore, Liu Zongmin couldn't understand why Tang Tong should have stood with the rebels and suddenly changed his face and attacked them. Could it be that this Tang guy defected to the court?
Li Zicheng did not try to guess what Liu Zong was thinking. He glanced at the fleshy Liu Zongmin. This man was his confidant and an unruly fellow. He was far more ruthless than ordinary people. Although he looked rough on the outside, he was actually a man with a lot of evil in his heart. So on the one hand, Li Zicheng wanted to employ Liu Zongmin, but on the other hand, he was also wary of Liu Zongmin occupying one side for a few days. This Liu Zongmin was very restless.
"Actually, there isn't any. It all comes down to fighting for the world. That Tang guy saw that the court was about to collapse, but he was afraid that our power would grow stronger. So this time we sent troops to get some territory, but ended up angering that Tang guy. That Tang guy seems to have regarded it as his own." Although Li Zicheng's tone was calm, he felt very bitter in his heart. After his defeat, even if he escaped this time, he was afraid that he would not have the chance to make a comeback. In the past few days, except for himself and the people under Zhang Xianzhong's rule, they could not survive.
In the areas occupied by Li Yan, Chen Zilong and others, the lives of the common people were getting worse day by day. From now on, not many people would follow Li Zicheng to rebel. And the territory that was originally occupied by them would fall into the hands of Tang Tong. The people here would no longer have to worry about starving to death. It was said that there was a lot of food overseas. Under the hands of Tang Tong, they would not have to worry about starving to death. And as long as the common people had a meal to eat, who would bother to rebel?
Liu also sighed. It was not that he really did not understand. He naturally knew his future fate, and this was also what he was very unwilling to accept. He had been used to enjoying himself in the past few days, and suddenly lost that enjoyment. He, Liu Zongmin, could no longer be the same as before. In the past, he, Liu Zongmin, was just a poor man, a man with nothing, so he, Liu Zongmin, was not afraid of anything. It was nothing more than a worthless life. But now, he, Liu Zongmin, is no longer a worthless life. He, Liu Zongmin, is no longer the man who is not afraid of death.
"Hurry up, those damn cavalrymen are catching up with us again." Li Ziyu said helplessly, and rode his horse to hurry up first. All along the way, he had no time to breathe because of those pursuers. This time, Li Yan dispatched nearly 10,000 cavalrymen to search for Li Ziyu and his fellow cavalrymen who had escaped the net, setting up a tight net.
Liu Zongmin and dozens of other soldiers who were still following Li
He glanced behind him. A hundred men approached from five or six miles away. Judging by their attire, they must be Mongols. The Mongols now served under Tang Tong. Those who disobeyed had long been annihilated by his men. During the attack on Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, there were 100,000 Mongol cavalry and 20,000 Jurchen cavalry. These soldiers were Tang Tong's cheapest troops, not required to serve in normal times. They were only called up temporarily in times of war.
Under normal circumstances, Li Ziyu and his men wouldn't have had to fear the hundred or so Mongol cavalrymen. Those who had escaped with Li Ziyu were his most elite and valiant men, capable of defeating ten with one. The problem was, once engaged in battle, the cavalry from other locations would quickly converge. Once surrounded by such a large force, no matter how formidable Li Ziyu's men were, they would be killed. Therefore, for Li Ziyu and his men, there was no other option but to flee. Tang Tong's forces had already offered a hefty bounty. Those pursuing Li Ziyu and his men would not let them go. Even the civilians, given the chance, wouldn't let them go easily for the bounty.
The small group of Mongolian cavalry had already spotted Li Ziyu and his companions standing on the hillside. Seeing them trying to flee, they spurred on, chasing them. The reward for capturing or killing Li Ziyu would be enough for their small group to live happily for a lifetime, not to mention the rewards of official positions and land. Almost everyone involved in the hunt for Li Ziyu was driven by the bounty. Tang Tong and his companions had also invested heavily in capturing Li Ziyu and his companions. Each of these Mongolians rode two horses. These men, who had lived on horseback since childhood, seemed tireless once they mounted. They pursued Li Ziyu and his companions relentlessly for days and nights, giving them no time to rest.
The Mongolian leader, Jibudil, was one of the first to join Tang Tong's Mongol mercenaries. Over the past few months, Jibudil had lived a good life. The money and rewards he earned from serving Tang Tong were enough to support his family. Therefore, in Jibudil's heart, he preferred to consider himself a member of the Tang family. Although he was a century older now and had retired from the mercenary army, after returning to his tribe, he was appointed by the government as captain of a thousand Mongol households. This time, Tang Tong was preparing to attack Li Zicheng and his men and had recruited a group of temporary soldiers from Mongolia. Jibudil personally led a hundred young men from his own brigade into the battle.
Jibudir participated in this attack on Li Zicheng's men, not out of military gain, but out of fear that his young men might violate the rules established by Great Khan Tang Tong, thereby bringing discredit upon Jibudir. In the eyes of many Mongols, Tang Tong was their Great Khan. Since Tang Tong's occupation of the entire grassland, he not only eliminated the constant tribal warfare, but also made life on the grassland more comfortable.
Although some Mongols did not know how to express gratitude to Tang Khan, Jibudir was truly grateful to Tang Tong. In the past, Jibudir had fought many battles desperately, but apart from the danger, Jibudir did not gain much from those battles, and his family lived a very hard life. However, this Tang Khan gave Jibudir too many benefits, and Jibudir also received many honors that he had never received before. This was enough to make the simple-minded Jibudir agree in his heart that Tang Tong was the Khan of their grassland and a person worthy of his service.
Li Ziyu and his group fled very quickly, even though they were very tired after running away for these days. After all, they were elite soldiers who had survived bloody battles and were much more resilient than ordinary people. Moreover, each of them rode two or even three horses. It was not easy for Jibudil and his group to catch up with them. After chasing for a while, Jibudil realized that if he continued like this, the other party would escape, so he fired several flares into the sky.
This signal flare was developed by Tang Tong's research institute half a century ago. This time, in order to hunt down Li Ziyu, the Mongolian cavalry were equipped with a large number of them. This was not the first time that Li Ziyu and his entourage had seen signal flares in the past few days. When they saw the pursuers behind them firing these things into the sky, they knew that things were not going well. They urged their horses to run faster and faster, no longer caring about whether their horses could withstand it. Because if they ran too slowly and were surrounded by the pursuers, Li Ziyu would have difficulty escaping no matter how capable he was. Not even someone like Liu Zongmin, who was known for his courage that could withstand ten thousand men, could do that. ()
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