From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 646

Eighty thousand cavalrymen had emptied the foundation of Mongolia in the north and south of the desert. Although there were still many people on the grassland, even if they organized a few thousand people to resist, their combat effectiveness could be ignored.

Zhou Yuan led the Five Army Camps, the Northwest Army and the Xuanfu Army, totaling 190,000 people. Excluding the 20,000 or 30,000 people who were lost in the previous battles, there were still more than 160,000 people. They were invincible and unstoppable on the grassland.

They went north to the grassland and finally arrived at the Luqu River after more than ten days of travel. They stayed there to rest. Zhou Yuan led the soldiers of the Five Army Camps to the east to Barshetan and swept away the tribes and cities here.

According to the principle he set before, "Don't chase those who flee, kill those who defend", they cleaned up the stubborn factions on the grassland one by one, and burned all the towns and cities before withdrawing to the west.

The back and forth trips took another ten days. Fortunately, during this period, Xu Dasheng and Xue Changyue had already wiped out and burned the nearby Sariqier and Kangharihai.

So the army joined together and headed east again to the Hulanhushiwen area.

As the core area of ​​Mongolia, Hulanhushiwen is located in the Aluhun River Basin, with fertile land, lush grass, herds of cattle and sheep, and has also formed the most important city in Mongolia in recent decades-Kulun.

Kulun is also known as Da Kulun or Urge, which means "palace" in Mongolian. It is the place where the Mongolian royal court is located.

There are less than 20,000 troops left here, most of which are cavalry, with good combat effectiveness, but facing Zhou Yuan's more than 100,000 troops, they have no chance of winning.

Looking at the end of the grassland in front, the city in the distance gradually came into view. Zhou Yuan said slowly: "Sabdan, do you think the defenders of Da Kulun will protect their holy land or flee?"

In the prison car, Sabdan had disheveled hair and looked haggard. He no longer responded to Zhou Yuan's words.

In the past twenty days, he had used all means and said all the good things, but he still watched Zhou Yuan's army continue to destroy Mongolian towns and massacre Mongolian people.

He was desperate, and his heart had long been dead.

And Zhou Yuan didn't care whether he responded or not, but just smiled and said: "If they resist stubbornly, I will massacre the city."

The two words "massacre" were too heavy, and Sabdan's heart trembled after all.

Zhou Yuan looked at him and squinted his eyes and said: "Sabdan, I'll give you a chance. If you can persuade Da Kulun to kneel down and surrender, and hand over Wen Tieli and other traitors, I can not massacre the city."

Sabdan glared at Zhou Yuan fiercely and didn't say anything.

Zhou Yuan said: "You can refuse, but I tell you clearly that this is the holy city of Mongolia. I will not treat it like other cities. I will surround it with a large army first, and then bombard it with Portuguese cannons to completely raze it to the ground."

"I can guarantee that after thirty Portuguese cannons bombard for a whole day, there will not be any intact walls left in Da Kulun."

"As for the people inside, let alone survive, even their bodies will be rotten to slag."

Sabudan's face was distorted, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Devil! You are a devil! You will be cursed for doing this!"

Zhou Yuan said: "I don't care. In order to prevent Wen Tieli from hiding among the people and escaping, I think it is necessary for me to blow up all the lives in Da Kulun."

In fact, the Portuguese cannons ran out of shells on the day of the Battle of Saynshand.

And even if there were enough shells, the barrels could not withstand a full day of bombing.

Unfortunately, Sabdan didn't understand this. He only knew that the falconet was a weapon that could destroy the world and could not be resisted.

"As long as you surrender, you won't kill?"

Sabdan finally asked the question he was most concerned about.

Zhou Yuan said: "Of course, as long as you kneel down and surrender, burn the royal flag in front of the people, and hand over Wen Tieli and other traitors, I promise not to kill people."

Sabdan roared: "Kneel down! Surrender! Burn the royal flag! Even if you promise not to kill people, the Mongolian faith will be gone!"

Zhou Yuan said lightly: "If their faith is so fragile, then they'd better die."

For Zhou Yuan, the promise not to kill people was not out of mercy, but killing more than 10,000 cavalrymen was no longer meaningful.

The core cities of Mongolia were almost destroyed by them. Within decades, they had no ability to move south.

And Zhou Yuan was unwilling to let his brothers be buried in a foreign land at the moment closest to their ideal.

To kill more than 10,000 cavalry, even if the military advantage is huge enough, it is inevitable that tens of thousands of casualties will occur.

This is not what Zhou Yuan wants to see.

After comprehensive consideration, he gave Sabdan this opportunity.

And the other party has no right to refuse.

Along the way, Sabdan's backbone and courage have long been gone.He dared not refuse, because he knew Zhou Yuan would really massacre the city.

"Kneel down, surrender and burn the royal flag, okay, okay..."

He burst into tears and choked up, saying, "Okay, I, Sabdan, will be the eternal sinner of Mongolia. The warriors did nothing wrong. They failed only because of me."

He raised his head, looked at Zhou Yuan, and shouted, "Let me into the city! I'll go! I'll do as you say!"

The prisoner's car opened, and Zhou Yuan gave Sabdan a horse.

This Mongolian Khan, respected by all the people in the south and north of the desert, walked alone towards his holy city like a beggar who had been wandering for a long time.

He did not let Zhou Yuan down.

About two hours later, just at noon, the gate of Da Kulun opened.

Teams of cavalry rushed out, all of them looked ashen and knelt on the ground.

Countless Mongolian people saw this scene in the city, and saw their royal flags being ignited by the flames and turned into gray smoke.

The wind blew, and countless wails and cries were heard in the air.

This was the most humiliating day for Mongolia.

But they had no choice. In order to keep this place and for the last bit of foundation, they had to endure such insults.

The soldiers of the Five Army Camp, the Northwest Army and the Xuanfu Army raised their weapons high and roared with suppressed and happy anger.

After countless years, they finally saw this scene.

"Duke Weiguo! Duke Weiguo!"

Wen Tieli was escorted by a group of Mongolian soldiers, including the six generals who surrendered with him. They were all his confidants from the nobles.

"You finally came to save me!"

Wen Tieli wore Mongolian clothes and a Mongolian hat, crying and shouting: "It's really worse than death here! These grassland barbarians are simply beasts! Kill them quickly and avenge your brothers!"

The Mongolian soldiers left them behind and walked straight back.

Wen Tieli took off his hat, threw it on the ground, and yelled: "Finally I don't have to wear this shit anymore."

Everyone just looked at him quietly, but didn't say anything.

Wen Tieli panicked for a moment, staring at me and saying, "You...you should say something, why are you looking at me like that?"

Xue Changyue said coldly, "Wen Tieli, you betrayed your country, what crime should you be punished for!"

Wen Tieli's face changed, as if he had already thought of this link, so he hurriedly said, "Absolutely not! I, Wen Tieli, am also an old man who fought on the battlefield. I achieved my title by military merit. How could I betray my country!"

"I endured humiliation and waited for the army to come, and then I dealt a fatal blow to the Mongolian barbarians."

"You say I betrayed my country, what evidence do you have? When I return to Shenjing and meet His Majesty, I will report the truth. Even if His Majesty wants to kill me, I am willing!"

Zhou Yuan raised his head and said in a deep voice, "Return to Shenjing? You can't go back."

He drew his sword and strode towards Wen Tieli.

Wen Tieli quickly stepped back, his face pale with fear, and tremblingly said: "Zhou Yuan! Don't mess around! I am a marquis personally conferred by the previous emperor! How dare you kill a marquis who was conferred for military merit!"

Zhou Yuan did not stop.

"I did not commit treason! I was just a temporary measure!"

Wen Tieli shouted anxiously: "You, you can't kill me, I have shed blood for your majesty, I have made contributions to the country..."

Zhou Yuan had a cold face and swung his sword!

A head flew up, with a lot of blood, and rolled to the ground.

Wen Tieli's body swayed and finally fell down.

"I, Zhou Yuan, will kill any traitor who betrays the nation, and I will never tolerate it."

He looked at the other six people with a cold face, raised his sword and killed them directly.

Six heads fell to the ground, and countless soldiers gritted their teeth, watching this scene, and felt relieved.

Zhou Yuan shouted, "Set fire! Burn the city!"

Sabdan opened his mouth, but finally sighed and hung his head to the ground.

Zhou Yuan promised not to kill people, but he never said not to burn the city.

At this moment, begging was meaningless.

Amid the crying and wailing of countless Mongolian people and soldiers, the temple in their hearts was completely devoured by the flames.

The thick smoke seemed to cover the sky, and the weather changed in an instant, and it seemed that it was going to snow again.

In the howling cold wind, Zhou Yuan slowly said, "From now on, the Hu people dare not go south to herd horses, and the soldiers dare not bend their bows to complain."

Through the thick smoke, he seemed to have seen the mountain in the north.

Fenglangjuxu was right in front of him.

"Let's go! Go north! Climb Langjuxu Mountain! Fengshan!"

He roared, and more than 100,000 troops marched north.