Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 189

"Meh..."

On the Qiuhuang grassland, a low mountain protruded, becoming a hill independent of the Harawen Mountains.

This hill, which is more than a hundred feet high, is the Wuliangha Mountain where the Wuliangha people have taken refuge all year round.

There is a small river running down the mountain. Although the runoff is not large, it is enough for hundreds of thousands of people to drink water and graze their animals every day.

At the foot of the mountain, at the entrance of a wooden village built by herdsmen who cut down trees, a member of the household looked at the setting sun, then looked at the rope on the wooden frame beside him, turned around and asked:
"It's been three days, why haven't they come back in Ulan Bazhi?"

"They must be grazing too far away, so don't worry about them." Sitting at the gate of Muzhai, a member of the Qianhu family didn't care.

After all, the Mongolians are nomadic people. Sometimes there is not enough pasture nearby, so they naturally have to graze farther away.

Some people graze too far and are worried that they will have to walk that far the next day, so they will set up tents on the same spot and will not come back until the cattle and sheep are full.

Going out to graze for three days and not coming back is nothing. Calculating the distance, it is only a few dozen miles of grazing at most.

"I heard there was a war in the south, and many people ran north."

After hearing what Qianhu said, the hundreds of households also sat on a mat and talked about things in the south: "Looking at it, many people probably don't have fat cattle and sheep, so they will be punished by the Taiji."

"What do you care about what they do? If they die, go north and catch them!" Qianhu said with a grin:
"It's a pity that the southern soldiers in the south are difficult to deal with, otherwise the southerners would be the best slaves. They are tall and strong, and are good at work."

"I've met people from Oirat (Wara) before. They said that tribesmen in Qinghai often plundered from the mountain passes. The people who came back from the plunder, whether they were Mongolians, Huihui, or Han, were all tall and had strong limbs. .”

"Using them to farm the land is better than our serfs..." As he said that, Qianhu looked towards Muzhaili.

I saw thousands of acres of fields opened up in the wooden village, and grains were grown on these fields.

In the fields, many serfs who had just finished their work for the day were leaving with stone farm tools.

They are short and thin, not only thinner than the Han people in the south, but also thinner than the Jurchens in the northeast.

"I wonder if I can eat mutton this winter..."

Looking at the group of serfs, Bai Hu couldn't help but yearn for the taste of meat.

It is different from what the Han people in the south think of Mongolians eating meat every day. On the grasslands, people who can kill a sheep a day are the treatment of Taiji. Like ordinary herdsmen, they can only eat one or two sheep throughout the year, even if it is a hundred People with official positions such as Hu and Qianhu can only eat one sheep per month.

In ordinary days, their main food is all kinds of wild vegetables, fungi, small prey obtained from hunting, and various dairy products obtained from livestock herds.

As for cattle, whether they are in the south or on the grasslands, they are precious labor force, so they will not be slaughtered easily.

To use a loose metaphor, the livestock is the principal, and the milk provided is the interest. There are few prodigal sons who take the principal without caring about the interest.

After all, it is not that agriculture does not exist on the grasslands, it is just that it cannot be popularized on a large scale due to the climate.

Even if they are nomads, they still need to consume carbohydrates. Once the carbohydrate intake is insufficient, not to mention that it will become difficult to give birth. The malnutrition of the infants and young children born alone is enough to make a tribe extinct.

The Mongols went south to destroy the Jin Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, and they only occupied Hebei and the whole country for more than 100 years. However, in these more than 100 years, the Mongols rapidly expanded from 10,000+ people during the Genghis Khan period to more than 400 million people.

The stability of traditional farming areas is the basis for the Mongolians to rapidly expand their population.

Unfortunately, with the uprising of the Red Turban Army and Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expedition, the Mongolian population began to decrease.

Especially when Emperor Hui of the Yuan Dynasty fled north, a large number of Mongolians in the pass were left behind. In the end, there were not as many Mongolians under the rule of the Northern Yuan Dynasty as there were under the Ming Dynasty.

The Mongols living in the Ming Dynasty were still able to thrive normally, but many of the Mongolians who fled back to the north had their families destroyed by the Ming army's repeated Northern Expeditions.

Because of this, despite the current period of mutual discrimination between Han and Mongolia, there are still Mongolians going south to join the Ming Dynasty, because comparing the two, the situation in the Ming Dynasty is obviously much better than that in Mobei.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, due to internal corruption, a large number of Han people fled north to join the Mongols, because the Mongols did not exploit them so hard.

The relationship between the two is very complicated. There is not so much national loyalty between the people, and what they expect is to live a good life.

Therefore, during the Hongwu period, the phenomenon of northern Mongolians fleeing south was very serious. Many Mongolians were strictly guarded in order to prevent them from successfully escaping.

Sitting at the entrance of Muzhai, it seems that hundreds of households can smell the aroma of meat eaten by the nobles in Muzhai.

After swallowing, he continued to sit with Qianhu at the gate of the village. Outside the village, there were ordinary herders who were isolated.

Since it was still late autumn, many herdsmen were still nomadic in the south. There were not many Mongolians in Ullianghashan. The total number of soldiers and herdsmen was only about 8000-[-] people.

Their vigilance was very weak because Wuliang Hashan had not encountered war for many years.

Because of this, when it got dark, many of them lazily returned to their tents. Even Qianhu only arranged for 100 people to patrol the camp and took the rest of the soldiers to rest.

While they were lazy, Zhu Gaoxu and the others had already eaten and drank enough, and followed the excrement grazed by Ulan Bari and others to Wuliang Hashan Mountain.

Walking from Youshi to Zishi, they finally saw a piece of fire on the horizon.

"The whole army retreats five miles to rest, and we will send troops at Yinshi!"

On horseback, Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand to signal the entire army to retreat, because they were too close to the Mongolian camp at the foot of Wuliangha Mountain, so it was easy to scare the enemy.

Due to proper nutrition and the bright night light tonight, night blindness rarely occurs in the Bohai Navy.

However, the Wuliangha people are often unable to launch night attacks due to night blindness. During the last battle at Hadaling, many Wuliangha people also looked for the firelight of Zhang Chun and others. Afterwards, when the two sides fought in the woods, many Wuliangha people No one dared to step forward because of night blindness, so Zhang Chun and the others were able to get Ping An's support.

After learning that the Wuliangha people had night blindness, Zhu Gaoxu naturally would not let go of the night attack method.

Last time Haragu attacked Hadaling with a night attack, this time he attacked Harawu's hometown at night.

After ordering the army to retreat and rest, Zhu Gaoxu led Lin Su and Zhang Chun forward carefully and stopped about three miles east of the Wuliangha camp.

"Looking at the firelight and the number of tents, there should be more than 5000 people."

Looking at the camp, Zhu Gaoxu judged the situation of the camp. At this time, a Bohai soldier spoke in Mongolian. Zhang Chun and others could not understand it, but Zhu Gaoxu got a general idea.

He and Zhang Chun and others explained: "Gan Bala said that the people outside are all ordinary herdsmen. There is a wooden village surrounded by them. There are thousands of acres of land there and this noble family lives."

"The number of troops guarding this place is usually around two thousand to three thousand."

"That's it?" Zhang Chun heard the words and grabbed the handle of the knife: "Then what are we waiting for? We can just lead the troops to surround him!"

"There's no rush..." Lin Su held down Zhang Chun. He glanced at the camp, and then said to Zhu Gaoxu:

"Your Highness, it's easy to attack here. The only problem is how to prevent the herdsmen from escaping and informing the people in the south."

"Well..." Zhu Gaoxu looked at the camp for a while, and then said: "Two thousand cavalry are roaming outside. Don't let anyone go. More than two thousand cavalry infantry rush to kill. The people outside this wooden village are ordinary herdsmen, including soldiers. I can’t get many men out.”

"Let's go back and have a good rest. After a while, it will be time for us to make a fortune."

Zhu Gaoxu stood up and walked back, followed by Zhang Chun, Lin Su and others.

After spending a quarter of an hour returning to the Bohai Navy camp, Zhu Gaoxu and Fu Rang told Fu Rang about the situation in Wuliang Hashan, and ordered Zhang Chun and Lin Su to lead a thousand cavalry each to patrol outside at the time of Yinshi.

As for him and Fu Rang, they led more than [-] horse infantry to directly attack the camp while Zhang Chun and Lin Su were cruising.

After discussing everything, Zhu Gaoxu and the others lay down and rested.

During this period, some people fed the horses, others groomed the horses, and many people were making preparations.

As time passed by, the sounds in the camp became smaller and smaller.

Although they couldn't sleep, many people were wrapped in felt blankets and wondered what they were thinking.

Zhu Gaoxu fell asleep wrapped in a felt blanket, but he woke up from time to time and looked to his side.

Beside him, an hourglass was quietly flowing sand.

The sand on this hourglass has almost drained away. When it drains away, it will be the time for Zhu Gaoxu to send troops.

Zhu Gaoxu took a nap and rested. It was not until the hourglass was completely drained that Zhu Gaoxu lifted the felt blanket.

He patted Fu Rang and others who were still sleeping beside him and asked them to wake up the brothers.

Half an hour passed slowly, and when everyone woke up and began to put on their armor, it was already the sixth hour of Chou hour, approximately 02:30 in the morning in future generations.

I have to say that it is indeed very torturous to wake up after sleeping at this time.

Many soldiers put on their armor impatiently. Among them, the two thousand cavalry led by Zhang Chun and Lin Su were the first to put on their armor and set off first.

A quarter of an hour after they set off, Zhu Gaoxu and the others also put on their armor and mounted their horses to set off.

The autumn wind was biting and hurtling on the grassland. The autumn wind in the early morning was like a knife, constantly scraping the flesh on the face.

Many soldiers wore visors, including Zhu Gaoxu.

"Beep!!"

Suddenly, a rapid whistle came from the front, and Fu Rang rode his horse to Zhu Gaoxu's side: "He's been discovered!"

"It's okay, it's been arranged anyway!" Zhu Gaoxu glanced at both sides of the Wuliangha camp. In the dark night, two thousand cavalry led by Lin Su and others had completed the outer circle encirclement.

"Blow the horn! Charge!"

Zhu Gaoxu drew his bow and arrow, and shot a dynamite.

With the harsh sound of the hammer ringing in the air, more than [-] horse infantry escorted Zhu Gaoxu and rushed towards the Uliangha camp.

"Rumble..." The sound of thousands of horses galloping like thunder sounded on the gray grassland.

Due to eating a lot of beans and resting for a few hours, all the draft horses seemed to have broken free of their reins and galloped away.

"Enemy attack!!"

"Woooooo!!"

"Set fire and kill!"

In the Wuliangha camp, countless people rushed out of the tents, and the Bohai Navy also rushed into the undefended camp.

Zhu Gaoxu raised the iron spear in his hand and thrust it into the air ahead, as if piercing Haragu's body, igniting the suffering suffered by all Bohai Navy officers since the Battle of Jilin.

"kill!"

Galloping like a dragon, like a long fiery dragon rushing towards them, the more than two thousand horse infantry instantly turned into more than a hundred teams and began to kill the Ulliangha people outside Muzhai.

The horn kept sounding, reminding all the Uliangha people, but it was too late.

The men skillfully grabbed their waist knives, put on their thick fur clothes, and then ran out of the yurt.They got on the horses beside the door and started to kill towards the outside.

"Zhenmu, come back safely!"

A Mongolian man ran out of the ger, got on his horse, was naked to the waist and holding an iron knife, and was ready to set off. His woman, disheveled, ran out of the ger to remind him.

But he didn't have time. With his legs clamped, the war horse rushed to the outside.

He passed countless yurts, saw countless panicked people, and countless questions flashed through his mind.

Who is the enemy?

Where do they come from?

Have the soldiers and horses in the south been defeated?
Are they the barbarians in the woods from the north?
He went through these questions in his mind, but when he rushed out of the ger group, what he saw was the most familiar and terrifying group of people.

The familiar Zhajia appeared, and the flag fluttering under the fire reminded Zhen Mu of the disastrous defeat and escape he suffered in Jilin City last year.

"Bohai Navy, how did they..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhen Mu's body suddenly softened and he fell off his horse.

An arrow comparable to a javelin penetrated him, and there is no doubt that the only one who can shoot such an arrow is Zhu Gaoxu.

"Kill them all, leaving no one behind!"

After experiencing what happened during the day, Zhu Gaoxu knew very well that he must not be kind to a woman if he wants to lead troops.

If Wu Liangha is not completely disabled, he will not be able to participate in the Jingnan War with peace of mind in the future!
"kill!!"

The cry of killing resounded through the night sky, the sound of arrows piercing the air, the sound of blood and flesh splashing as the blade slashed, and the heart-rending shouts and begging for mercy...

Countless torches were thrown out, lighting up each yurt.

In just a short cup of tea, most of the yurts outside Ulangha Village were set on fire, and they are still being implicated.

The autumn grassland is accompanied by strong winds, which fuel the fire. In an instant, the temperature in the area increases, and countless people are drowned in the sea of ​​​​fire.

Zhu Gaoxu was in such a hell on earth, but the iron gun in his hand took away lives one after another without mercy.

This is not a peaceful and healthy modern era, this is an era where the blade of a knife licks blood, and either you kill me or I kill you.

If you want to avoid being killed by others, you have to kill others!

"kill!!"

Zhu Gaoxu wielded his spear and stabbed left and right, killing many people.

The nobles in the village reacted. The low gate could not stop the Bohai Navy, so they led hundreds of armored soldiers to rush out of the Wuliangha village in an attempt to break out.

"Stop them!"

Zhu Gaoxu took the lead, but what he didn't expect was that the group of Mongolians shot arrows at him. During this period, Zhu Gaoxu also heard the words "stop that prince."

Unknowingly, he had become famous among the tribes of Ulliangha. Everyone knew that the prince of Jilin City was a brave general.

However, their arrows could not penetrate Zhu Gaoxu's armor. If he were not worried about Chi Huan, who was not wearing a vest, being injured, Zhu Gaoxu would have even wanted to charge directly into the battle.

He turned the horse's head, and just by looking at each other, seven or eight arrows were inserted into his chest.

On his left and right, hundreds of horse infantry swarmed up and fought with these hundreds of Uulianghajia soldiers with short soldiers.

This is the case with the soldiers of the Bohai Navy. They don't like riding and shooting, but prefer to directly charge into the battle.

Having experienced the Battle of Jilin, they knew very well that they were no match for cavalry and archery, but compared to hand-to-hand combat, one Bohai navy could defeat two or three Uliangha Hu soldiers.

Faced with such an offensive, many Hu soldiers who had participated in the Battle of Jilin City and survived seemed to be thinking of the tragic battle, and some people kept trying to escape.

"Don't run away!"

"Break out to the left!"

A man who looked like a noble was commanding hundreds of armored soldiers to break out of the encirclement. Zhu Gaoxu saw this scene and saw that the Uliangha armored soldiers were unable to target him with their bows and arrows. He immediately rushed towards the nobleman with a gun in one hand.

Thousands of armored soldiers were fighting in an airtight group, but Zhu Gaoxu forced his way out and pressed in front of the noble.

The noble was still thinking about how to break out, but suddenly he saw a tall figure as tall as a wall appearing in front of him.

"stop……"

The iron spear swept across, and Zhu Gaoxu, who regarded the Hu soldiers on the left and right as nothing, knocked the nobleman off his horse and clamped his legs on the horse's belly.

Chi Huan understood the idea, raised his hooves and stepped down hard.

After just one encounter, the noble vomited blood, convulsed and died.

But even so, Zhu Gaoxu still did not stop his movements. He fought hard from left to right in the melee, and countless people fell off their horses.

It wasn't until he started to pant that all these hundreds of armored soldiers were wiped out under the encirclement and suppression.

When he turned the horse's head, the entire perimeter of Wuliangha Village was already a sea of ​​fire.

"withdraw!"

Zhu Gaoxu, who did not want to be engulfed, led his team to retreat, and the officials from Qianhu and Baihu beside him blew their wooden whistles one after another.

The troops retreated following the sound of wooden whistles. During this period, they saw brothers who had fallen from their horses in the previous battle. They dismounted, helped them onto their horses, and helped them out.

Even if it was a corpse, they didn't leave it alone.

When more than two thousand horse infantry rushed out of the sea of ​​fire, corpses were already lying outside the camp.

Thousands of Uuliangha people escaped and were shot dead by Lin Su and Zhang Chun.

When he looked back at this scene, Zhu Gaoxu was no longer as hesitant as before, and he took action himself and shot and killed an Wuliangha man who wanted to escape.

Thousands of Uuliangha people died in the sea of ​​fire and arrows. On the Bohai Navy's side, according to Zhang Chun's statistics, 27 people were killed and 85 were injured.

Zhu Gaoxu arranged for military doctors to take care of them and ordered Zhang Chun to send them back to the ship after dawn.

"Extinguish the fire with water before dawn, and don't let the smoke rise at dawn."

"The seized cattle and sheep will be counted after dawn. Remember to clean the battlefield and don't let anyone go."

Zhu Gaoxu rode his horse to Fu Rang and explained everything to him.

In the dark night, the fire smoke in Wuliangha Village is nothing, but in the daytime it is very conspicuous.

Zhu Gaoxu has to continue going south and cannot be exposed early.

"Don't worry, you should go and rest first." Fu Rang knew that Zhu Gaoxu had not slept well, so he rode off after explaining.

Thousands of burning tents illuminated the surroundings. Once the fire spread to the cattle and sheep fences, Fu Rang would lead people to put out the fire.

As time passed, Zhu Gaoxu took off Chi Huan's saddle and lay on the ground to rest.

When he felt some warmth on his face and opened his eyes again, it was already three o'clock in the morning.

He frowned and stood up. Zhao Mu, who was guarding him, saw this and quickly handed over the kettle.

Zhu Gaoxu took it, took a sip, and washed his face with it.

When he looked up, the thousands of tents had turned into black debris, and the low wooden walls of Wuliangha Village were also burned to carbon.

"Has the livestock been counted? Are there any other seizures?"

Zhu Gaoxu frowned and asked Zhao Mu next to him, and Zhao Mu said truthfully: "We haven't finished counting yet. It's still the fourth quarter of the hour. Fu Du commanded Qian Shi to have just led people to put out the fire and is now transporting the seized items in the stronghold."

Seeing Zhao Mu say this, Zhu Gaoxu sat there and rested for a while with his eyes squinted.

About half an hour passed before Fu Rang and the others came on horseback and said to Zhu Gaoxu with a smile:

"There are more than 3 stone millets in this wooden village, and there are thousands of acres of millet fields in the wooden village. It is estimated that the harvest will be ready in a few days."

"The whole army is harvesting the millet fields and transporting the millet to the east first." Zhu Gaoxu's eyes lit up when he heard Fu Rang's words.

"Don't worry, I've made arrangements." Fu Rang got off his horse and continued: "This place is indeed rich. You chose the right path."

"I went to take a look. There are at least [-] horses locked up in the col, as well as tens of thousands of sheep and thousands of cattle."

"Let me tell you, we don't have to continue going south, we can live comfortably with just this amount!"

The wealth of the Wuliangha camp indeed exceeded the imagination of everyone in the Bohai Navy. Even Zhu Gaoxu did not expect to capture so many things in one battle. The key point is that this battle was not difficult and it was very easy to win.

"How about it?" Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu didn't speak, Fu Rang continued: "If you want to take them away, you only need to go northeast and take a detour through the mountains and forests to the north."

"We can return to Zhaozhou City in two months at most."

Fu Rang thought about giving up as soon as it was good, but Zhu Gaoxu shook his head after hesitating for a moment and said: "Wuliangha must be crippled in this battle."

"In this way, you select 700 draft horses, and then leave [-] cavalry and [-] horse infantry. You send people to take away the remaining [-] people and wounded soldiers, and escort these cattle and sheep to the east."

"You want to transport it by ship?" Fu Rang frowned: "There are so many things, and ten ships can't transport them."

"No..." Zhu Gaoxu shook his head. I will lead the troops all the way south from the east, and you will go all the way south along the riverbank on the east.

"I will lead the troops in front, and you will follow behind. When we get to Wulianghatu City, I will attack Wulianghatu City. You will take the opportunity to cross the river to the mouth of the Sacha River and transfer horse boats from Zhaozhou City to transport it. The cattle and sheep go to Zhaozhou City.”

It is difficult to walk along the east bank of the Wenwen River, but if you go south to the mouth of the Sachakhe River, you can use horse boats with a cost of [-] to transport cattle, sheep and livestock.

With the number of horses and boats in Zhaozhou City, it would only take a few days to escort all the tens of thousands of cattle and sheep to the other side of the river.

As for why Zhu Gaoxu didn't let them go northeast, it was because the people in the forest in the north often plundered, and a few hundred people simply couldn't protect so many cattle and sheep.

Fu Rang also knew these things, so he did not hesitate: "Okay! When will we set off?"

"Tomorrow!" Zhu Gaoxu said, turning and looking to the south: "There are still many cattle, sheep and horses waiting for us in the south..."

(End of this chapter)