After sending the men who had been beaten black and blue back, Fat Cat eagerly offered to go into the royal city to get them medicine.
The guards had just met Fat Cat and knew who he was working for. When they heard that Fat Cat was going into the city to get medicine for his companion, they mocked him mercilessly.
The fat cat smiled ingratiatingly, said a few kind words, and successfully sneaked into the royal city.
The Tatar capital, though called a capital, was actually inferior to Tianshui City of the Great Qi Dynasty.
The city walls and gates were built of mud and straw, and were about two people high and one meter thick.
The main gate and gate tower were both made of wood. In the Great Qi Dynasty, this size was at most considered a mountain stronghold gate. I wonder if there is something more inside.
Since it concerned his own brother's life, Fat Cat dared not be careless in the slightest. After entering the city, he brought up the incident of those suckers being challenged and beaten, made a bunch of friends, and carrying a few packets of medicine, told the Tatar king about what had just happened from the city gate to the vicinity of the king's tent.
With this novel trick, he traveled all over the capital city.
After figuring out the size of the royal city, its guards, its skilled generals, its pro-war faction members, and all the other information they needed, they left the royal city with the medicine to meet up with Daozi and the others.
As mentioned before, the reason why the Tatars have reached their current size is entirely due to the fact that the Tatar king led his people to subdue the six tribes of the grasslands just two years ago.
Therefore, although the Tatars had an army of 200,000, they were actually not united.
Among these people, some tribes dislike war and simply want to live a peaceful life on the grasslands, raising cattle and sheep.
Some, like the Tatar king, were ambitious. They had always envied the Central Plains for its fertile land, where grains and various vegetables could be grown. This year, the introduction of glass, bean curd, and spirits into the grasslands further fueled their ambition to conquer the Central Plains.
Meanwhile, Knife, Leg, and Water Snake took advantage of the chaos to sneak into several tribes. Although they all lived together after being ruled by the Tatar king, they actually retained their original lifestyles, so the people of each tribe lived together in clusters.
The three of them strolled around and got a general understanding of the situation of each tribe, so they could predict who would go to the battlefield, who would advocate peace, and whether they could be turned to defect.
Another thing is to keep a good record of the troop strength and routes in each direction, so that you can escape unscathed if the mission fails.
It wasn't until late at night, around 1-3 AM, that the four of them managed to get a pretty good idea of the situation.
Considering that they still smelled strongly of mutton and mutton from trying to sneak in today, they couldn't let Xie Yushu come in like that too. So, after discussing it, they decided to take some more clothes out.
But there were four hundred people outside, and no matter how they tried, the four of them couldn't take four hundred sets. Fat Cat remembered the wizard robes and masks he had seen when he got the medicine in the royal city, and thought that using this identity would be a good idea.
There are dozens of people at a sacrificial ceremony, and they are all dressed up in fancy colors. Who can tell who they are?
Anyway, the grassland people are quite superstitious about shamans. Even medicine is under the care of the great shaman, who frequently performs prayers and sacrifices. If there's anything wrong, they'll throw a tortoise shell or something to ask for advice.
It's estimated that news of the death of the Sukhbaatar tribe and the defeat of the Tatars should have reached back by now. With such bad luck, the Tatar king will surely hold a grand sacrificial ceremony, which may be their opportunity.
I had this idea in mind, but I needed to carefully consider how to implement it. Besides, it would be too abrupt to return to the capital at this time. Considering that I was now wearing Tatar skin, I decided to go out and report the situation to my master before making a decision.
After making their decision, the group slipped away under the cover of night.
By the time they groped their way back to their camp, it was already dawn. Xie Yushu was relieved to see them return, her heart finally at ease after a night of worry.
"How are you four doing? Is everything going smoothly?"
The fat cats all nodded.
"It went very smoothly. I guess they never expected us to find their hideout so quickly, so their defenses weren't tight. Plus, with us wearing these skins, no one noticed us!"
"Tell me in detail what's going on inside."
"yes!"
The four of them, including Fat Cat, squatted down on the ground, randomly picked up a pebble, and started drawing a map of the terrain while talking about the situation inside.
First, Fat Cat started drawing from the moment they stepped into the Tatar tribe. The front was a layout shaped like the Chinese character "器" (qì), with four "口" (kǒu) characters representing four large sheep pens, and several tents in the middle representing the shepherds' quarters. There was almost no danger in this area.
Further in, you'll find the first heavily fortified military stronghold, with about 60,000 men. Their leader is Wanyan Amu, a very brave and skilled warrior, said to be on par with Suhebalu.
He led over 60,000 men, all of whom were young and strong elite soldiers, making them extremely powerful and known as the Tiger Head Army of the Tatars.
Beyond the Tiger Head Army lies the former six tribes of the grasslands, which were subjugated by the Tatar king a few years ago.
It takes about 45 minutes to walk through these six areas.
This area has the largest population. The main road is lined with young and strong people who look like a garrison, ready to go to the battlefield at any time. However, they currently live mixed with ordinary herders, so they are both soldiers and civilians, making it impossible to estimate their numbers.
Beyond the former Six Ministries lies the Tatars' elite army, the personal guard of King Yelü Ying of Tatars, numbering approximately 40,000. They are stationed around the capital and represent the Tatar king's trump card.
The royal city was twice the size of Tianshui City, and besides the various Tatar leaders, it was mostly inhabited by the elderly, women, and children.
Moreover, the steppe people tend to worship shamans, and among them, apart from the chieftain and the Tatar king, the shamans hold the highest status.
This is basically the situation along the central axis.
After Fat Cat finished speaking, Knife, Leg Bro, and Water Snake stepped forward and drew their respective reconnaissance locations based on Fat Cat's drawing.
The knife drew a shape resembling the character "吕" from the Six Ministries eastward.
"These are the former Turkic and Xianbei tribes. These two tribes are quite brave and fierce. I heard that they rebelled a few times at the beginning. Later, I heard that Yelü Ying was going to enter the Central Plains and seemed to have promised to make them kings. Now they are in cahoots with Yelü Ying."
Moreover, although they have been subdued, they are still quite powerful and retain a high status here.
Behind their camp were several thousand warhorses, which they drove to graze on the eastern pastures during the day. So, our hiding from the south was a lucky accident; otherwise, we would definitely have been exposed.”
Xie Yushu's eyes lit up when she heard this: warhorses! Thousands of them!
Didn't this make a fortune?
But now is not the time to study warhorses. After Daozi finished speaking, he asked Leg and Water Snake, "What's the situation on your side?"
The water snake touched the stone at the left third of the royal city.
"This is a drainage ditch. There's only a small squad of about a dozen guards nearby. We can take care of them quietly. Go in from here."
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