The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

The sun rises in the east.

The war was coming to an end. After the disastrous defeat on the river bank, some of the Tatars were killed and routed, some fled the battlefield in advance, and more were resisting stubbornly in Fuyu. However, as the war progressed, the weapons and ammunition of the Ming side showed no signs of depletion, so the Tatars tried to turn the tide but failed.

Tang Yin personally led his 4,000-plus remaining troops and pursued them all the way from the west bank of the river. The number of Tatars captured by this group alone amounted to more than 10,000 or 20,000.

At this time, Zhang Zhou's troops were besieging the central army of Tatar Khan Batu Mongke. They had become the last force resisting on the battlefield. The total number of soldiers and horses was still seven or eight thousand, nearly three times that of Zhang Zhou's troops.

While the two sides were fighting, Tang Yin had given up pursuing the remaining troops westward, and instead led two thousand soldiers across the river in an attempt to assist Zhang Zhou in the final battle.

However, after Tang Yin led his troops across the river, he discovered that the war on this side was basically over. He trapped the enemy with one third of the enemy's troops, and then gradually eroded them. In the end, only a small number of Tatars managed to break through.

The troops under Zhang Zhou had abandoned the slow-moving chariot mode and instead used cavalry to pursue and intercept the enemy in a mobile manner to ensure that the main force of the Tatars did not completely flee.

……

"Duke Cai..."

When Tang Yin appeared in front of Zhang Zhou with heavy steps, the once handsome and elegant Tang Bohu now looked like a vicissitudes of life old man.

Without a horse, he could only walk on his own two legs, which was why Tang Yin gave up the pursuit.

The men under his command had been suffering terribly, and some had even been hungry for several days. They finally had some strength left and were able to help complete the battle. It was already very good that they did not retreat in the face of danger. It was almost impossible to expect them to complete more battlefield tasks now.

The air was filled with a strong smell of blood. Tang Yin could hardly open his eyes because of the pungent smell. His eyes felt burning.

Zhang Zhou got off his horse, and next to him was Wang Mingshan, who was wearing silver armor.

In this battle, Wang Mingshan protected Zhang Zhou. Although she did not encounter much danger, she also won enough respect from the soldiers on the battlefield. It is incredible to have such a heroic female general on the battlefield.

"Junior brother, are you okay? I have asked people to set up camp and build a fire. When the people you bring come over, let them eat first." Zhang Zhou seemed very considerate. He had already prepared eating utensils, vegetable soup, rice soup and other things for the soldiers under Tang Yin's command.

Perhaps they knew that after experiencing such a bloody battle, they would not be able to eat meat for the time being.

Tang Yin looked at the smoke not far away and asked, "The main force of the Tatars..."

"They have been defeated." Zhang Zhou said, "The little Tatar prince, Batu Mongke, is leading his troops to flee to the desert in the north. I have sent troops to pursue him and try to capture or kill him!"

After listening to this, Tang Yin couldn't help but feel extremely envious. He asked, "Why are you taking this risk this time? The troops you brought with you are not many."

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Quality is more important than quantity. If I bring more than 10,000 soldiers, the Tatars may not fight me. Doing so will give them confidence and make them feel that there is an opportunity to take advantage of."

"Then your side..."

"The losses are not small," Zhang Zhou said. "According to the report just now, at least 600 people were lost. Fortunately, we were not completely defeated along the way. If so, the final outcome would be hard to predict. The bravery and fearlessness of the Tatars also made me see it."

Tang Yin sighed inwardly, how much result was achieved with the loss of only 600 people?

"grown ups!"

At this moment, Zhang Rui also came on horseback. He jumped off the horse and knelt on one knee to salute Zhang Zhou.

Zhang Zhou said, "General Zhang, why are you so polite? Stand up and talk."

Zhang Rui seemed very excited. He already knew that his old father had gone to sea. He had felt a little misunderstanding towards Zhang Zhou before, but it was far from being resentful.

After all, it was Zhang Zhou who saved his life.

After this battle, his negative opinion of Zhang Zhou completely disappeared, and was replaced by endless admiration.

Zhang Rui said: "Brothers, we cannot pursue them. Please send troops to the west. There are 10,000 or 20,000 Tatar stragglers over there. Together with those in the northwest, there are at least 30,000 or 40,000 people."

Zhang Zhou sighed, "We have won this battle, and the overall situation has been decided, but it may take several more years to completely pacify the grassland. This requires the cooperation of General Zhang and others."

"Yes."

Xu Jing also ran over and looked familiar. He said, "After this battle, the Tatars lost all their fighting spirit. I wonder how many enemy bandits they killed?"

Sun Shangqi came over and said, "At least 60,000 people were killed, and not many were captured... only 4,000 to 5,000. In the end, the Tatars... surrendered. Adding the 20,000 killed in the previous battle... after two consecutive battles, the Tatars have lost around 90,000 people."

When Tang Yin heard this, he almost couldn't stand.

How many Tatars are there in total?
Two consecutive wars caused the Tatars to lose 90,000 soldiers and generals. The remaining Tatars were probably like frightened birds. One war lost more than half of the elite forces of the grassland, and it was indeed difficult for them to turn the situation around.

"Sir, we have sent troops into the Tatar camp. We have captured at least tens of thousands of their livestock, cattle, sheep, women, children, and property..."

At this moment, new battle reports came in.

Winning on the battlefield is not the most important thing. The key is to plunder the Tatars' wealth.

Even if the Tatar cavalry could escape, they would not be able to move their belongings, and their families, property, livestock, etc. would gradually be plundered by the Ming side.

Zhang Zhou got back on his horse and said to Tang Yin, "Brother, I have a lot of horses for you. We have to race against time. Let your brothers finish their meals and have strength. Then quickly change horses. We will continue the pursuit for a few days. I will also find someone to inform His Majesty Yu of the battle situation here."

Xu Jing asked, "Where is your Majesty?"

Zhang Zhou said, "Your Majesty is leading the expedition in person this time, and I am just the vanguard. If I am right, Your Majesty is almost at Weining Sea now. If Your Majesty wants to continue north, he will be able to meet us in about ten days."

"His Majesty is here too! That's great." Xu Jing was very excited.

He escaped danger again, and this time he even helped win the battle, which meant that he had a chance to be promoted to the imperial rank and even leave his name in history.

……

……

The next two days were a pursuit battle.

Zhang Zhou does not have many soldiers under his command, so he has to rely on Tang Yin's soldiers in the pursuit. However, the biggest problem at the moment is that the fighting will of Tang Yin's soldiers is obviously not that strong.

This is a tired army.

There were enough horses. Even if the horses Zhang Zhou brought were not enough, there were 20,000 to 30,000 looted Tatar horses, all of which were excellent war horses. Even if some could not be tamed, most of them could be plugged and played. There was not enough food to go around, but with the end of this war, the Tatars' rations were plundered, so there was no need to worry about food and grass. The remaining baggage... was not needed either. Then we had to send some men and horses to pursue, and the rest was to recruit some Tatars who were willing to surrender, let them be traitors, and help the Ming Dynasty manage the huge livestock and wealth.

In just one day, five of the six main camps of the Tatar Chahar tribe were captured, and the population captured in the five camps reached as much as 40,000 to 50,000, most of whom were women and children, and some were even Han people they plundered from the Ming Dynasty.

Two days later.

Zhang Zhou's troops had already left the Sosuo River for about 200 miles. After a long pursuit of two days and one night, except for a few who fled, more and more Tatars surrendered, especially those whose tribes were not strong. Some fled the battlefield in advance, and then found that they could not escape with their people before the arrival of the Ming army. In the end, the entire tribe simply surrendered to the Ming.

At this time, in addition to the number of troops of the Ming Dynasty, there was already a fresh force of nearly 20,000 Tatars, not counting the five or six thousand captured Chahar soldiers.

As a result, the Tatars' actual remaining force that escaped from the battlefield might be only 50,000 to 60,000 cavalry, a loss of nearly two-thirds compared to the 200,000 before the war.

However, there are more than just these military forces on the grassland. There are also some that have not joined the battlefield, such as the Three Doyan Guards that had been defeated by the Ming Dynasty many times before, some marginal tribes, and some tribal forces that are stationed elsewhere... The cavalry that the Tatars can use has dropped from 300,000 at its peak to less than 100,000.

The war has achieved a phased victory.

After setting up camp that night, Zhang Zhou was still resting in the central army tent when a messenger came to report.

"My Lord, great joy... the little Tatar prince... has been captured alive!"

When Sun Shangqi brought the news, his voice was trembling.

Before the end of the war, Batu Mongke fled the battlefield with a part of his personal guards. This was also the reason why the Chahar tribe failed to fight to the end. It was not that Batu Mongke was willing to be a deserter, but that he planned to retain his manpower and try to make a comeback.

Unexpectedly, his plan of having all the troops withdraw from the battlefield with him did not come true. The Ming Dynasty surrounded the remaining tens of thousands of troops with only a few thousand troops, which also prevented most of the troops from withdrawing.

He originally planned to go west and get closer to the tribes there, and even thought about recruiting Huoshai...

Unexpectedly, they were still caught up by the Ming army.

It didn't matter whether others caught up with him or not. The Ming army kept chasing him all the way. There were more than a thousand cavalrymen who chased him for a whole day and a night. After almost all of Batu Mongke's close followers were killed, Batu Mongke's own horse was exhausted to death, and he was finally captured.

"This battle will go down in history." Tang Yin said.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Bo Hu, you have worked hard. You have lost a lot of weight after this trip. There are still many things to be done in the Tatar camp. What do you think of sending you there?"

Tang Yin said: "I just want to return to Daming as soon as possible."

Obviously, Tang Yin was very tired at this time.

In this battle, he experienced various difficulties and finally waited for the arrival of Ming reinforcements as bait. He also lost nearly half of his own troops, which made him, as the commander-in-chief, feel extremely guilty.

As they were talking, the two had already arrived at the camp.

At this time, a large number of Tatar men, women, young and old were held at gunpoint by Ming soldiers and escorted to the camp, where they were resettled in batches.

The Ming soldiers were very proud at this time, and some even whipped the Tatars with whips.

"What's going on?" Zhang Zhou asked.

Sun Shangqi said, "To answer your question, sir, some people wanted to cause trouble but were suppressed. When the Tatars raided the border, some of our comrades lost their parents and brothers, and they are even more resentful now."

"This is not the time for revenge." Zhang Zhou said.

Tang Yin, who was standing next to him, saw this scene and seemed to be thinking about something.

Zhang Zhou said: "The hatred has been buried. No matter what we do, it cannot be changed. Only by moving them to other places and letting them accept the king's teachings, after a few generations, the hatred will disappear and the grassland will be completely stable."

Tang Yin nodded and said, "A victory achieved through killing is not considered a victory."

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "From what you say, you sound like a philosopher. It seems that you have grown a lot. When you return, I will recommend you. Your contribution in this battle is enough to make you a noble."

"Congratulations." Xu Jing said hurriedly.

Tang Yin didn't seem to care, because he seemed to be tired of it now.

"Sir, another group of Tartars have come to surrender, bringing with them several thousand soldiers and tribesmen... It seems that they did not come from the river bank, but from the direction of Guanshan."

"Yes." Zhang Zhou nodded. "The Tatars originally gathered together to fight us to the death. After discovering that the situation had reversed, these later tribes decided to join us."

"How do we place them?" Tang Yin asked.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "The winner has the right to make the rules. Some of the Tatars will continue to stay in the border areas, some will be resettled in Liaodong, and some will be resettled in the southwest. The strategy we decided to resettle the Jurchens before is the same as the strategy we will use to resettle the Tatars now. It will take 30 years to eliminate the impact of this war."

……

……

night.

The tents were connected together, stretching for more than ten miles.

The Ming cavalry shuttled back and forth, and most of the people in the camp were Tatar captives. Their men and women were separated. The men had their hands and feet tied and were guarded with heavy firepower. If anyone dared to make trouble, they would be slaughtered as a whole.

After suffering defeat, the Tatars seemed to have recognized the current situation and, at least for now, have not caused any major trouble.

The remaining women and children were also under custody.

The Tatar tribes that came over were responsible for helping the Ming Dynasty to send troops to pursue and communicate, and some tribal leaders also came to show their courtesy to Zhang Zhou.

"The Ming envoy, I heard that besides Batu Mongke, there is also Yibula... He is not dead yet! Should we capture him first? He has 20,000 elite soldiers under his command... Sooner or later, he will cause harm to the Ming Dynasty."

What these tribal leaders feared most was that after the Ming army withdrew from the grassland, those former tribal leaders would lead their troops to take back all the territories.

However, because they suffered huge losses in this battle, they found it difficult to compete with tribes such as the Yongxiebu tribe of Yibula.

Zhang Zhou said: "The troops have been sent to fight. Don't worry, everyone. What you need to do now is to go to the emperor and get his forgiveness. Maybe you can be enfeoffed on the grassland. Otherwise, you can only be like those defeated tribes and be exiled to various border areas to defend the territory for the Ming Dynasty." (End of this chapter)