Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1122 1117 [Telegram in Mobei]

When the Ming Dynasty captured Coconut City, the war in Mobei had actually ended.

Han Shizhong and Liu Qi joined forces and won three battles in Mobei.

They defeated Toli and forced him to flee to Mongolia with more than a thousand remnants, and drove the Naiman tribe, who wanted to get a piece of the pie, back to the Altai Mountains. The chieftains and tribesmen of the Kerey tribe who were still alive surrendered and accepted the arrangements of the Ming court.

At this time, a military general who had no power to command troops was sent by Han Shizhong to protect him as he marched north.

This general was named Yelu Dongzhen. He followed his father Yelu Yudu to join the Ming Dynasty. The father and son also made military achievements in their cross-sea raids on Liaodong.

Now, Yelu Yudu has passed away, and Yelu Dongzhen has inherited the title at a lower level. Although he was promoted to the Privy Council and did not have the power to command troops, he has been slowly rising in seniority and has now become a third-rank military official.

The North Sea, also known as Lake Baikal.

Yelu Dongzhen arrived in the southeast of the lake and soon encountered the army of the Balahu tribe.

A few years ago, the Balahu tribe colluded with the Kereyids and Mongols and stabbed their ally the Merkit tribe in the back. They took the opportunity to occupy a large area of ​​land around Lake Baikal and were also canonized by the Ming emperor.

Now that the Kereyid tribe has been defeated, the Balahu tribe has taken action again, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity to swallow up the southeastern part of Lake Baikal.

Balahu, which can also be translated as Barhu or Barhuzhen, literally means "people in the forest".

Barhuzhen is Barguzin!
"Little Wang Hushila, kowtows to the Ming angel and greets him."

The chief of the Balahu tribe and the King of Beihai appointed by the court, ran over in a panic and knelt down before Yelu Dongzhen.

He spoke a Turkic language that originated from the northern desert. Since they had been separated not long ago, Yelu Dongzhen could barely understand it.

"Get up and talk." Yelu Dongzhen said.

Hu Shila was a little surprised when he heard this. This Ming official could actually speak Turkic.

Yelu Dongzhen introduced himself and said, "My name is Yelu Dongzhen. My aunt was the concubine of Emperor Tianzuo of Liao. My father was the general of the Left Jinwu Guard of Liao. And I am a third-rank military official of the Ming Dynasty!"

When these identities were displayed, Hu Shila was instantly filled with awe.

The ancestors of the Balahu tribe were a branch of the Rouran people. They first submitted to the Tang Dynasty and later to the Liao Dynasty. Thirty or forty years ago, they lived in the southeast of Lake Baikal, but were later forced by the Merkit tribe to migrate to the Gulbazin River basin.

Regardless of his identity in the Liao Kingdom or in the Ming Dynasty, Yelu Dongzhen is Hushila's master!

Yelu Dongzhen said: "The land under your feet can be given to you by the imperial court."

"The little king kowtows to thank the Khan!"

Hu Shila was overjoyed and kowtowed to Emperor Zhu from a distance towards the south.

This is the southeastern part of Lake Baikal, which was previously occupied by the Kereyid tribe. Although Hushila took the opportunity to lead his troops to attack, if the Ming court did not allow it, he would not be able to live in peace even if he occupied it.

Yelu Dongzhen said again: "Immediately organize the troops and head east to look for traces of the Mongols!"

Hushila immediately patted his chest and said, "I will definitely obey the order of the Heavenly Khan and find the Mongols out of the mountains and forests."

If we trace back to the origin, the place where the Mongols were hiding at that time was the ancestral land of the Balahu tribe, but it was several hundred years ago.

Yelu Dongzhen said again: "Choose an adopted son and send him to Luoyang to study."

Hu Shila readily obeyed the order and called a boy of seventeen or eighteen years old to follow Yelu Dongzhen to Luoyang.

Yelu Dongzhen continued, "You need to set up an inn by the North Sea. This inn will be used for Ming envoys to stay, and Ming merchants will also go there to trade. The court will set up the Yanran Protectorate in Mobei, and you can send tribute items to the Protectorate in the future."

"I understand, little king." Hu Shila agreed quickly.

He had to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty before, but because the journey was too long and there was a barrier of the Kerait tribe, he never actually sent tribute.

From now on you must pay tribute honestly.

This kind of tribute was equivalent to paying taxes in disguise. The Ming court did not collect much, and occasionally gave back cloth, salt and other items.

Yelu Dongzhen also mentioned other rules, such as that every three years, the chief of the Balahu tribe must personally report to the Yanran Protectorate. If he fails to report without a reason, it is tantamount to treason. Even if he is sick, he must send a son to report.

……

After accepting the hunting dog of the Balahu tribe, the balance of war continued to tilt towards the Ming Dynasty.

Hushila sent a large number of his people to the mountains and forests in the north of Hulunbuir grassland. They were a nomadic and fishing tribe that could migrate with tents and livestock, and even stay in place for the winter when encountering heavy snow.

With the continued search by the Balahu tribe, a Mongolian tribe hiding in the mountains was soon discovered.

While Hu Shila was gathering his troops to harass, he informed Han Shizhong who was moving eastward. As for Yue Fei's troops and the various tribes in the south of the desert brought by Yue Fei, they always firmly occupied the Hulunbuir grassland.

When Han Shizhong led his troops there, the Mongolian tribe had already moved away.

The large number of people and livestock moving through the mountains would inevitably leave various traces. The old hunters of the Balahu tribe, led by Han Shizhong, continued to pursue and caught up with the Mongols in half a month.

Han Shizhong won a great victory, capturing or killing more than 3,000 enemy soldiers, nearly 10,000 old, weak, women and children, and 200,000 heads of livestock of all kinds. Another 4,000 to 5,000 Mongolian soldiers broke through and escaped.

Han Shizhong and the Balahu tribe continued to search eastward, and compressed the hiding places of the Mongolian tribes to the western foot of the Greater Khingan Range. At this time, a light snow fell from the sky.

It snowed just as autumn began.

Han Shizhong's troops brought a lot of cold-resistant supplies, and under the instruction of the warriors of the Balahu tribe, they learned many strange ways to keep warm.

……

"Father Khan, this is not a solution." Hutula said anxiously as he looked at the snowflakes outside the tent.

Kublai Khan held the knife handle in his hand, his eyes sparkling, and he said nothing.

Balidan, Genghis Khan's grandfather, who had just come from another hiding place, was also extremely anxious: "It snowed so early this year, and many livestock may freeze to death. If we don't return to the grassland to graze next year, the Ming army won't even have to come to attack us, and many of us will starve to death."

An Bahai looked depressed: "Hadan's people were caught up by Han Shizhong, and only more than 4,000 warriors escaped. All the women, children, livestock, food, and felt were gone."

Hebula Khan looked at one of his grandsons, Hutuhei, and asked: "What does your father think?"

Hu Tuhei said, "We must fight. We can't hide in the mountains forever. Two days before my grandson came here, more than a hundred traitors escaped. Father personally led the troops to hunt them down, but more than a dozen traitors still escaped. They will definitely attract the enemy, so father was busy moving his troops and didn't come to the meeting."

"Hadan suffered a defeat and the news reached my headquarters. A traitor also escaped from my place," said Anbahai.

In the past few years, the Mongolian tribes expanded too quickly and annexed many neutral and hostile tribes.

It is inevitable that some people in the annexed tribes harbor resentment. They may not dare to jump out at ordinary times, but now that the Ming army is on the Hulunbuir grassland and the Mongols are forced to hide in the mountains, naturally some people want to escape.

Not only did he escape, but he also served as a guide for the Ming army!
A bunch of Kublai Khan's brothers, descendants and grandchildren kept complaining about the situation of their tribe. They had only one meaning from beginning to end: either fight or surrender, otherwise they would be doomed if they didn't have to fight until next year.

After thinking for a long time, Kublai Khan said: "This snow has come at the right time, not too heavy or too light, so we can march. We should first raid the tribes that have surrendered to the Ming army and win a few small battles to boost the morale of the army."

Yue Fei's headquarters is currently stationed in the prime area of ​​Hulunbuir, and the surrounding grasslands have also settled many Tatars, Khitans, and Tanguts who migrated from the south of the desert.

These tribes from the southern steppes of the desert occupied the Mongols' pastures and sent out a large number of light cavalry to patrol the more distant pastures. Even if the Mongols quietly grazed on the edge of the mountains, they would be discovered by the light cavalry of various tribes.

However, it has been snowing intermittently in recent days, reducing the number of light cavalry sent out on patrol and shrinking the patrol range a lot, giving Kubula Khan the opportunity to lead his troops in a surprise attack.

Kublai Khan certainly did not dare to raid Yue Fei's headquarters. His target was the Tatars who were closest to the Greater Khingan Range.

Those Tatars were originally driven away by him, and fled to the south of the desert to seek refuge with Yue Fei, and were now brought back by Yue Fei. Not only did the Tatar cavalry return, but they also brought women, children and livestock with them, and it was obvious that they would never leave again.

There was still light snow in the sky, and Kublai Khan summoned 30,000 cavalrymen and gathered them at the western foot of the Greater Khingan Range.

Among them, 10,000 cavalrymen, led by his brother An Bahai, went north to raid the Khitan tribe brought by Yue Fei, and were responsible for distracting Yue Fei's attention and luring him to chase north.

The remaining 20,000 cavalrymen were led by Kubula Khan himself, and their combat goal was to destroy the Tatar tribe!
……

"Protector General, the Khitan Zhu Zhongming's troops are asking for help. They have discovered a large number of Mongolian troops attacking."

“How many Mongols have gone?”

"Zhu Zhongming said there were 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers, and they had already reached the lower reaches of the Yeliguna River."

"He is sure that the enemy number is 20,000 or 30,000?"

"determine."

"Nonsense. If he really encountered 20,000 or 30,000 Mongolian troops, he would have been so scared that he fled to me. He must not know the enemy's strength and was afraid of encountering the enemy's main force, so he lied about the number of enemy troops and asked me for help."

"Please give your instructions, Protector General."

"Order Zhu Mingyi's troops to select brave warriors to join Zhu Zhongming's troops and hold back no matter how many Mongols come. Send a telegram to Han Duhu (Han Shizhong) and ask him to lead his troops south to cut off the enemy's retreat route between the Onon River and the Yeliguna River."

Han Shizhong is now stationed on the edge of the northern mountains. He has built three temporary signal relay stations between his and Yue Fei's bases, so that both sides can quickly transmit messages via telegraph.

As for Zhu Zhongming and Zhu Mingyi, they were all Tatars and Khitans who changed their names.

The Tatars, in particular, were particularly loyal.

Historically, the Tatars had always been dogs of the Jin Dynasty. They used the weapons and food provided by the Jin Dynasty to successively split the Kereyid and Mongolian tribes into pieces.

Now, the pastures were annexed by the Mongols, and the remnants fled to the south of the desert to seek refuge with Yue Fei. Living under someone else's roof, they naturally had to be more obedient. All the Tatar nobles requested to change their surnames to Zhu, and took the initiative to learn from the Han people to wear right-side-opening clothes.

Some time ago, the Balahu tribe led Han Shizhong to search the mountains and forests, forcing the Mongols to hide in the western foothills of the Greater Khingan Range.

As long as the Mongols dared to come out of the mountains and attack from the direction of the Onon River and the Yeliguna River, Yue Fei could immediately send a telegram asking Han Shizhong to move south.

Yue Fei's own troops did not move. Han Shizhong could handle the north, so there was no need for him to compete with Han Shizhong for credit. Moreover, he always felt that something was wrong, and guessed that the enemy from the north was not the main force of Mongolia, so he had to stay here to guard the east.

Hebula Khan's intention was simple. He asked his brother Anbahai to go around to the north to lure the enemy, and then mobilize Yue Fei's army to attack from the east. Moreover, he also asked Anbahai to retreat after one attack, and use the time difference to withdraw before Han Shizhong went south.

But the Han and Yue armies were communicating by telegram, so where did the time difference come from?

(The Battle of Mobei will be over in two chapters. Please finish it as soon as possible.)
(End of this chapter)