I

Handu, the actual ruler of Kham and the eldest son of the fifth son of Gushri Khan, was angry and anxious at this time.

Although Gushri Khan conquered Kham, his ruling foundation was weak, and rebellions broke out everywhere. And Handu is the most brave and intelligent person among the three generations of nobles.

Therefore, Handu was sent to manage Kham, and he almost re-strikes Kham, brutally suppressing all the conspiring rebels. Then, the religious reform was carried out. It is inconvenient to say more about this content, otherwise it will definitely be blocked.

After the reform was finally completed, Gushi Khan died suddenly, and officials were sent from Lhasa to harvest the fruits of the reform.

In a fit of anger, Batang Zongdui, appointed by Lhasa, was expelled from Kham by force by Handu.

The eldest son and sixth son of Gushi Khan actually didn't fight at all. After only a few small-scale frictions, the sixth son surrendered, and the two brothers had to join forces to deal with the local rebel forces.

The main reason is that Gushi Khan's arrangements during his lifetime were too weird.

The eldest son in charge of Tibet was thrown to Qinghai to graze. The six sons in charge of Qinghai were thrown to manage Tibet.

The eldest son is good at fighting and has the priority of inheritance.

The six sons are good at governance and have a great view of the overall situation. Facing the local rebel forces in Qinghai-Tibet and the Datong Army that was about to move, he voluntarily gave up the struggle for power and assisted his elder brother to clean up the rebel army.

The current situation is that the eldest son is communicating with various forces in Tibet. The six sons returned to Qinghai to appease the interior, because the other brothers were fighting for grass. In particular, the fifth brother was the fiercest contender, because the fifth brother's son, Handu, actually controls the entire Kham area.

Internal and external troubles!

"Has the Han army approached Dajianlu (Kangding)?" Handu asked.

The subordinate replied: "Half a month ago, it was already close to Dajian Furnace, and now I'm afraid it has been shot down."

Handu said, "Did Seqinnai vote for the Han?"

The subordinate replied: "Not sure."

Seqinnai is the Batang Zongdui who was expelled by Handu.

Zongdui, the local administrator. In the important area, there are two Dzongdui, one monk and one layman. In the secondary area, there is only one dzong, either monk or layman.

"Go and find out more information." Handu ordered.

"yes!"

For the Mongols, Kham was divided into upper, middle and eastern (Western Sichuan Plateau). The core territory of the Mongols was the Kham area in the central part, while the Tibetan nobles in the upper part and the eastern part had fierce conflicts, and the Mongols could maintain their rule through mediation.

Handu's strategic plan is to directly abandon the Western Sichuan Plateau. One can stretch the supply line of the Changtong Army, and the other can choose to fight at higher altitudes.

When the Mongols arrived in Qinghai-Tibet, they were overwhelmed by the plateau climate, and Handu also wanted the Datong Army to have a taste of it.

The commander-in-chief of the southern troops of the Datong Army was Huang Yao, who marched all the way from Sichuan to Dajianlu (Kangding) and all the way from Lijiang to Zhongdian (Zhongdian). The number of people is not too much, there are 5,000 soldiers in each of the two routes, and the rest are all logistics troops.

It went surprisingly smoothly, without encountering any resistance along the way.

The troops starting from Lijiang quickly took Zhongdian, and then went to Shangri-La. Continue up the valley and capture Batang with little effort.

The troops led by Huang Yao were in the same situation. They fought all the way from Dajianlu to Gandosi (Garze), without even seeing the shadow of Mongolian soldiers.

"It's so abnormal, there must be a trick!" Huang Yao frowned.

Se Chin Nai said: "The general must be careful. Handu is resourceful and brave. In fact, Kham was brought down by himself. He also suppressed the rebellion in Kham for more than ten years."

"Hmph, it's nothing more than luring the enemy to go deep." Huang Yao sneered.

Immediately afterwards, he ordered to suspend the march, and stationed in Gandosi (Garze) to rest for a few days.

During this period, the non-combat attrition of the entire army is counted.

This is just the plateau in western Sichuan, and the altitude is not too high. The soldiers brought by Huang Yao were stationed on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau all year round, and they had no fart response in the western Sichuan border. But those logistics troops, some farmers and soldiers have abnormalities, but they haven't died yet.

Separate the peasants and soldiers from the logistics force, occupy the key points along the way, and settle the food stations along the way, and then Huang Yao continued to move forward.

On the way to Zaquka (Shitang), at an altitude of 3,000 meters, a few Datong troops suffered from altitude sickness, and two of the logistics troops died suddenly.

This situation is acceptable. After all, the army does not go there by plane, nor by train or car. Increase the altitude little by little, the human body has enough time to adapt, and the altitude sickness will not be too serious.

Arriving at Zaquka, at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters, dozens of Datong soldiers fell ill, and three of them died one after another.

The Mongols here also ran away!

Huang Yao held back his anger, he couldn't wipe out the vital forces of the enemy army, so what's the point of occupying so many plateau territories?

Seqinnai said: "Handu must be in Jiegu (Yushu). There are many small flats in the mountains, which are convenient for cavalry to fight, and it is difficult for outsiders to breathe."

The average altitude of Yushu is above 4200 meters.

This Seqinnai belonged to the leading party, and after being expelled from Handu, he ran directly to Sichuan.

All you need to know is that Seqin Nai is from Lhasa, and he is a deadly enemy with the local nobles in Chang District.

"Stop the army to rest and wait for the opportunity." Huang Yao decided to station in Zaquka (Shitang) to allow his soldiers to adapt to the plateau environment.

This time, the troops were dispatched from the north and the south.

The Shaanxi army must have reached Qinghai, but it is uncertain whether the news has reached Handu.

Seqin Nai continued: "General, Handu has built many temples in Kham, and he can expel the monks there and obtain the treasures in the temples."

Huang Yao sneered: "Don't play tricks, once I attack the temple, all the occupied rear areas will be messed up."

Se Qinnai bowed his head and remained silent.

This is a battle between the Datong army and the Mongols. As long as the temples are not moved, the Tibetan nobles are happy to watch the show. They resented the high-handed rule of Handu, and at the same time they didn't want the Datong Army to come over. It would be best for the Datong Army to lose both with the Mongols.

Knot ancient (yushu).

"Taiji, the Han army will not leave at Zaquka."

"knew."

Han Du was not in a hurry, as long as Huang Yao continued to advance, he was absolutely sure of victory. Even with a few small defeats, you can continue to retreat, continue to lengthen the supply line, look for opportunities to cut off the food road, and directly starve the Datong army to death!

"Da da da da!"

Several horses galloped here: "Taiji, there are a large number of Han soldiers entering Qinghai, Batur Taiji ordered you to quickly lead the troops to help."

Batur is the sixth son of Gushi Khan, and also the one with the most overall perspective.

"Go back and tell my Sixth Uncle that I also have Han soldiers here, and I really can't get away, let him deal with it by himself." Handu flatly refused, he was still thinking about the Qinghai friendly army coming to save him.

Handu is entrenched in Kham, so carefree, he will never leave here.

However, the situation in Qinghai also made Handu feel worried. In case the Han soldiers occupy Qinghai, they will be double-teamed, and they must make a quick decision. After defeating the Han soldiers here, and then rushing to help Qinghai, after making great military exploits, it is impossible for anyone to take his seat.

But the Han general on the opposite side stood still halfway, did he take the initiative to kill him?

The terrain of Zaquka (Shitang) is more fragmented than that of Jiegu (Yushu). I have all cavalry in my hand, so it is very disadvantageous to take the initiative to fight.

Huang Yao really didn't want to leave. He didn't have many cavalry, and they were all southwest cavalry. It was a disadvantage to fight against Mongolian cavalry. The terrain of Zaquka is pretty good, wait for the Qinghai side to fight slowly, and the friendly troops will come to support after they finish fighting Qinghai. His title is already the Duke of the state, so what if he makes meritorious deeds? Keeping the troops is a credit.

Huang Yao, who used to be good at rushing and rushing, was good at risky pursuit, but now he has calmed down.

This is the influence of status, what about the Duke of the State, is it necessary for jade to be smashed against earthen pots?

It was Ma Hongjie who sent troops from Lijiang, and the fighting broke out first.

Ma Hongjie served in the Burmese battlefield and is Qin Liangyu's grandnephew. He has been promoted to deputy division commander.

He led his troops towards Qamdo, and when passing through Chaya (Chaya), he collided with the local army of Tibetan aristocrats.

The commander of the army is called Nanse, and his position is Qamdo Zongdui. Although this man is a Tibetan aristocrat, he has completely surrendered to Khandu, and his relationship with Lhasa is extremely bad.

The two sides met on the banks of the Maiqu River.

There are many mountains here, and the march can only rely on the river valley.

Nanse chose a relatively wide area. He wanted to use the large number of people to wipe out Ma Hongjie's soldiers.

Ma Hongjie has 5,000 soldiers under his command, and the rest are all peasants (farmers and soldiers).

These civilian men can not only transport food, but also become soldiers at any time to occupy the key towns that have been captured. They followed the war and also received military pay. Every time they recruited civilians, farmers and soldiers enthusiastically signed up. Military pay can make money faster than farming, and you can get rewards for meritorious service, and you will be recruited first in the next conscription.

Comparison of the strength of the two sides: Ma Hongjie has more than 8,000 troops, and Nanse has more than 14,000 troops.

The more than 3,000 peasants around Ma Hongjie all led the Southwest pony, and the worst Southwest pony. It is useless except for pack transportation, but pulling goods is really powerful. The horseback is full of food, ammunition, armor and other items.

There are more folks on the grain road along the way.

There is a small station for ten miles, and a large station for sixty miles. The supply line is more than a thousand miles long. This kind of broken terrain is still a plateau area. There are as many as 40,000 civilians who provide logistics for 5,000 soldiers, and there are tens of thousands of mules and horses in addition.

Ma Hongjie observed the situation with binoculars, and then sighed: "The enemy general...is very courageous."

Of the 14,000 Tibetan soldiers under Nanse's command, only a thousand were in iron armor, and less than 3,000 were in leather armor. What are the rest? Wearing cotton clothes, with a shield hanging on the back (which can be worn as a hat), the only weapon is the spear in his hand.

The armor of those armored soldiers is also very shabby, only the key parts of the upper body have armor plates.

But Nan Se was very confident. The Han army had very few cavalry, and he was only afraid of cavalry. As for the infantry, he was not afraid of anyone. As long as these outsiders ran vigorously, they would be out of breath from exhaustion, and they would even fall to the ground and die while running.

Hmm... Nan Se still doesn't know what a musket is.

"Surround the past and kill the Han army!"