The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Northwest, the heart of the grassland.

After nightfall, the army set up camp in a stretch of several miles. Troops from various groups came and went, and the patrolling troops did not rest at night.

Inside the central army tent, Tang Yin and Xu Jing were studying the map in detail to prepare for the next march.

"This war is really rich, but apart from the abundance of soldiers, weapons and food, there seems to be nothing else." Xu Jing was already a little sleepy, and he couldn't understand why Tang Yin was in such a good spirit now.

What he didn't know was that Tang Yin's high spirits were all supported by pressure.

After all, Xu Jing was not a real commander, so he could not feel the tremendous pressure in Tang Yin's heart.

It was like a huge rock, almost enough to make Tang Yin unable to breathe.

Tang Yin said, "Isn't this enough? Where are the Tartars? I am not as good at calculating as Duke Cai, nor as lucky as Marquis Jingshan or Marquis Anbian, nor as brave and fearless as Earl Xinjian or Marquis Pinglu. In front of me is just a grassland. I can't find where the main force of the Tartars is."

This was a very troublesome thing for Tang Yin.

It has been nine days since the army entered the grassland and they have marched six or seven hundred miles. This speed is actually not slow, after all, the troops and horses are carrying a lot of baggage.

But precisely because they were not moving very fast, the Tatars were on guard against them. At the moment, Tang Yin had no way to force the main force of the Tatars to fight him.

Xu Jing said: "Hasn't there been a fight among the Tartars? As long as we can find the right place, we will have a chance. We can even take advantage of their conflicts and divide them."

"How to find it? Where is it?" Tang Yin's question left Xu Jing completely clueless.

As the head coach, you can't find it yourself, and you expect your friends to help you find it?
I am just your aide now. All the credit belongs to you. I am just trying to gain some seniority. Who told you that I have the ability to help you?
"Bo Hu, are we going to continue heading north tomorrow? If we go further north, we're probably going to get close to the desert. We should be here now, right?" Xu Jing said, pointing to a place on the map.

Tang Yin said, "Although we have guides, they may not be trustworthy. According to them, we should not have reached there yet. We should be around here... Another hundred miles ahead, there will be a desert. If we go east for more than 200 miles, we will reach Guanshan. Right now, the troops of Pinglu Hou and Chengguo Gong should be approaching that direction."

"The further we go into the grassland, the further we drift westward, right? How come the troops in Ningxia are further east than us?"

Xu Jing looked at the map and discovered that the starting point of Ma Yi and Zhang Rui's troops was to the west of them, and the estimated marching speeds of the two sides were just staggered, which made Xu Jing puzzled.

Tang Yin said: "According to the established plan, Pingluhou's troops are crossing in the direction of Datong. They have already traveled this road twice. They are not on guard against the area north of Ningxia. Of course, this is just a plan. I can't say where they are exactly now."

Xu Jing sighed, "There's really no need for five armies. It's better to gather them into one and destroy wherever they go. We haven't set fire yet..."

"Let's set it off when we get back." Tang Yin sighed, "Even if we set it on fire, it may not burn too far. There is a lot of rain on the grassland this year, which is a good thing for the Tatars. Their grasslands are growing wildly. The only right thing to do is to find the main force of the Tatars."

……

……

Just when Tang Yin was worrying about where the main force of the Tatars was, the other troops basically encountered the same problem.

The most worried person among them was Duke Chengguo Zhu Fu.

The troops he led went to the Hetao area, and it was he who took the initiative to propose the idea, saying that he wanted to see the current development of the Hetao area. According to his idea, he was going to "search the area", but when he arrived at the Hetao area, he found that it had become the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty's border, and the Tatars had not dared to come to the Hetao area to graze for two years.

Then Zhu Fu led his troops across the Hetao area, headed north across the Yellow River, and then entered the grassland. After nine days of marching, his troops were the closest to Guanshan.

The news Zhu Fu received was that a mutiny had occurred among the Tatars, and the location was near Guanshan, so after crossing the Yellow River, he immediately ordered his army to march towards Guanshan.

Although he himself did not know where Guanshan was, he had to rely on people in the army who were familiar with the road to lead the way, and even Ye Bushou was there to explore the way. But even so, the soldiers under his command still felt very tired, and even Zhu Fu himself felt that he could not hold on any longer.

"My Lord, we'd better rest for a day or two before we set off. The soldiers' feet are all blistered. Besides, there is still no news about An Bianhou's troops. They said they can come to help us from the right wing. But if we continue like this, the two troops will be getting farther and farther away, and it will be difficult to meet them in one place. If we encounter a Tatar main force that is several times larger than ours, I'm afraid..."

Zhu Fu encountered the same problem as Zhu Hui and Zhang Mao.

That is, plans cannot keep up with the speed of change.

He followed his son's advice. He also knew that after entering the grassland, the only way was to march quickly, and he could only rely on his own bravery to remain invincible.

But it is useless for him to have such determination alone. The soldiers under his command cannot be dispatched at will. They will not torture themselves for the ideals or ambitions of the coach.

In general, we understand your feelings, Zhu Fu, but why do you ask us to do the same thing that only benefits you?
Besides, when it comes to committing suicide, it's not you who's charging in the front. We wouldn't be happy if you used us as cannon fodder.

Whenever Zhu Fu opened a military meeting, a bunch of people would remind him to rest, which made him fully feel the strong malice of the middle and lower-level generals... It seemed that everyone wanted to see him in trouble, and it seemed that everyone was his enemy.

This made Zhu Fu feel that he had the will but not the strength, and probably... he had to follow the crowd and choose the same tactics as Zhu Hui and Zhang Mao.

"Pass the order down. Tomorrow... rest for half a day, let the soldiers eat and drink enough, and rest for a while before leaving. We will soon reach Guanshan, so that we can recuperate and gather our strength."

Zhu Fu was not a man with strong determination, and after marching for several days in a row, he also felt tired.

Seeing that his soldiers were not obeying his orders, he could only settle for the next best thing. He took a break first, gained the support of the army, and then made other plans.

As a result, the army showed a very slack appearance that night, but Zhu Fu himself seemed to be unable to care, because he didn't even have the habit of patrolling the camp. He had no idea about the situation in the army. At most, he relied on the summary of a few people around him every few days. Moreover, he thought that this was to firmly control the military power in his hands, and he was in control of the whole army...

Then that night the camp was attacked.

……

……

"Report..."

Just when Zhu Fu was sleeping soundly, he heard a noise coming from outside, but he didn't take it seriously at first.

But when the messenger rushed into his tent, he realized that something big had happened.

"The Tartars dare to come and kill us? Are they really that bold?"

When Zhu Fu said this, his body was shaking involuntarily, and he himself couldn't tell whether he was shaking out of excitement or fear.

He made lofty ambitions, saying that he was coming to fight the Tartars, but when he actually encountered the Tartars, he realized what kind of psychological trauma that was and that it was very likely that he would... go there but never return.

The messenger said, "The enemy suddenly shot arrows at the northwest corner of the camp and set a fire. We didn't find anyone, but we have sent troops to chase them! A few miles behind, someone also set a fire... Today the grassland is dry and the enemy is looking for an opportunity to attack us with fire!" "What?"

Zhu Fu didn't quite understand.

It seems that the Tartars are not the main force attacking, but are just here to sneak in and create some chaos in their own army?

The messenger continued, "Sir, please go to the central tent. There are several generals waiting for you."

"I know, I know."

Zhu Fu was about to leave the tent when he remembered that he had forgotten his sword.

After grabbing the sword in his hand, he remembered that he hadn't even put on his armor yet. When he was about to put it on, he remembered that the Tatars hadn't attacked yet, and it seemed that he didn't need to go into battle. Wearing armor would be a bit superfluous, so it would be better to just go.

After wasting a while, he put on his boots, still complaining: "I should be ready for battle at any time, otherwise I will die of exhaustion if I continue like this."

……

……

The central army tent was right next to them. When Zhu Fu went in, there were already five or six generals waiting there.

"Sir, the Tartars are using fire to attack."

"It's more than just a fire attack, it's simply... unreasonable... They set fire all around us, and didn't dare to come forward. People set fire to us from all sides. Ye Bu Shou reported that they also used kerosene, but we don't know where it came from. But after they set the fire, they fled in a panic, and you didn't give any orders, so I don't know whether I should chase them!"

Zhu Fu heard this and said angrily, "What are you chasing after? The Tartars are coming to set fire to us. Are we going to throw away all the food, fodder, and weapons, and even artillery, in our army? They can travel freely with light equipment, but what about us? If we rush forward, I'm afraid we won't be able to protect both ends."

"Master, please give us some advice. We have been targeted by the Tartars! They are probably picking on the weak."

"Bullshit!" Zhu Fu said angrily, "You guys, do you know how to talk? Are you soft persimmons?"

The generals present looked at each other, and they all seemed to feel that they were not a tough nut to crack.

Zhu Fu said: "Let the soldiers return to the camp and have a good rest. They will not leave tomorrow and will stay here. If we decide to rest for half a day, then we will rest for half a day."

"My Lord, I'm afraid that won't work. The Tatars could come at any time, and the surrounding areas have been set on fire. Next, they might use smoke and dust to set fire from our upwind direction. By then... I'm afraid the soldiers won't even be able to rest. The Tatars are harassing us, preventing us from resting in peace. When we are exhausted, they will take the initiative to fight us!"

Zhu Fu shouted, "Isn't this a good thing? If the Tartars are willing to come, we can bombard them with artillery! Do you have any common sense? The Tartars are only trying to cause trouble for us now, and they will never dare to attack us!"

When these words came out of his mouth, few people believed them.

It is not Zhu Fu’s fault that he has a bad character, or it is because he has no great achievements, so he cannot win the support of the people.

It can only be said that the two dukes who came to lead the troops before Zhu Fu, Zhu Fu and Zhang Mao, both behaved like laymen leading professionals. If Zhu Fu wants to blame someone now, he can only blame Zhu Hui and Zhang Mao for starting off badly.

Of course, it also has something to do with the fact that he didn't perform well.

……

……

Zhu Fu tried his best to calm the soldiers and let them have a good rest.

However, the Tatars' night attack also caused a great psychological shock to the soldiers in the army... because this was not within the borders of the Ming Dynasty, so it was no longer the comfortable environment of hiding behind the high walls and battlements and eating porridge that they were familiar with.

These people are in a foreign land, and they feel that they are surrounded by crises, which makes them feel that they have no future.

If they were fighting with Zhu Feng or Ma Yi, they might have been more confident, but now that the one leading the troops is Zhu Fu, they feel like they have put their trust in the wrong person.

When it comes to fighting a war, it is better to follow a famous general. Even if there is no guarantee of victory, you can basically retreat safely. Once you follow a bad commander... like Liu Jin before, you will most likely die in a foreign land, and no one will bring their bodies back to Ming for burial, and they will eventually become wandering ghosts.

All night long.

Even Zhu Fu himself only dozed off a few times and finally fell asleep when it was almost dawn.

Just as he fell asleep for a while, a general ran in and said, "My lord, great joy."

Zhu Fu nearly fell to the ground. He finally supported himself on the ground with his elbows and got up. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the person in front of him. He seemed to be in a daze and it took him a long time to realize where he was.

"what?"

"We have defeated the bandits. The Tartars suffered heavy casualties..." The general was very excited.

Zhu Fu looked over with a sad expression and said, "You are talking in your sleep in broad daylight? Oh, it's not even daytime yet, it's just dawn."

The famous general Zhu Shun said excitedly: "It's true. We captured more than 400 Tartars and killed more than 100... There are more than 6,000 to 7,000 livestock, and they are coming here."

"What did you say?" Zhu Fu thought he had misheard.

Did the weather change after I had a good sleep?
No matter how I listen to it, it sounds like the person in front of me is making fun of me.

Zhu Shun said: "It's hard to believe. When it was almost dawn today, the southeast of the camp was attacked. The cavalry rushed over and captured a group of Tartars a few miles away. It turned out that their cattle and sheep were also blocked by the fire last night. They had nowhere to go, so they could only... be trapped in one place and finally surrendered."

"Ok?"

Zhu Fu frowned and said, "The Tatars set a fire last night. They didn't hurt us, but they trapped their own people? Are they...sick? Quick, take me to see it!"

Zhu Fu also became excited at this time.

I finally felt like I wasn't being teased.

And he felt... as if he had God's help. He was still thinking, could it be that Duke Cai was secretly helping me cast a spell and lending me a helping hand from thousands of miles away? (End of this chapter)