Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 363 Lure the enemy deeper

"Buzz rumbling..."

On June 15th, as the sound of horse hooves came from the vast grassland, tens of thousands of cavalry surged into the gradually rolling hills from a distance like a giant wave.

The banners of the Ming army were fluttering in the wind, the armor of the Ming army on the horses shone coldly, and the sound of horse hoofs rumbled, giving people the feeling that the earth was shaking and the mountains were shaking.

They marched north along a river, and gradually the vast grassland disappeared in front of them, replaced by rolling hills.

After marching like this for a day, the road ahead became increasingly rugged and winding, with no end in sight.

The cavalrymen kept adjusting their formations and marching with frowns on their faces, following the trail of excrement heading north.

After walking an unknown distance, the hills on their left gradually began to rise, forming a series of mountain ridges.

These mountains are towering into the clouds, and the road ahead is obscured by them and the winding Onan River, making it even more difficult to walk.

However, faced with such a situation, the Ming army did not stop. They kept their heads down and continued northward. From time to time they encountered large river valleys that could accommodate tens of thousands of people, but occasionally they encountered winding valley roads less than a hundred steps wide.

It was two days since the Ming army pursued the Arutai headquarters from Kuoluanhaizi to the northeast. At this moment, they had eaten 30% of their army rations. If they could not find traces of Arutai in the remaining five days, they could only wait until Meng Zhang sent food and grass. , or the whole army retreats, replenishes the army and then pursues it.

"But I didn't expect that Zhu Di would be leading the troops this time, so we retreated to Beishan Gorge."

Most of them wore rough armor, held bows and arrows, and stepped on solid horseshoes. They had firm eyes and marched slowly between the river valleys.

"Our army walked for three days, but he caught up with us in just two days. It seems that we will have to fight with them tomorrow."

For example, the map in front of Zhu Di gave him a clearer understanding of the situation south of Beishan Gorge.

"Yes!" Wang Yi and others took the order, and nearly 30,000 cavalrymen set up camp on the spot. Simple defenses were deployed at the north and south entrances of the valley.

It is now mid-June. The flood season of the Onan River in the 14th century is different from the long period of May to August in later lunar calendars, but only lasts less than a month of May.

While they were setting up, a wide river valley more than forty miles away from them was bustling with activity.

In this way, this northern ravine is a deep ravine near the hill.

In the handsome tent, Zhu Di made a brief analysis before continuing;

"But no matter how he set up an ambush, the only methods he used were flooding and surprise attacks."

At the same time, Zhu Di from Feiniaohe also sent Tangqi to collect surrounding intelligence.

As soon as he spoke, everyone stopped cutting and eating meat and looked at Arutai.

Compared with Alutai's Mongolization, his elder brother Alitai still maintains his colorful eyes and face.

Beishan Valley is located in the southwest of Beishan Mountain. After the flood season, the entire valley becomes a vast expanse of grassland. It is more than thirty miles long from north to south and more than ten miles wide from east to west. It is enough to accommodate millions of cattle and sheep grazing leisurely on the valley grassland.

Although Zhu Gaoxu could draw maps for any army, Zhu Gaoxu was not a printer. The maps he drew only had a rough outline of the mountainous areas and water flows. Detailed information on the ground still required the Ming army to send Tangqi to add to the map he drew.

Therefore, he thought about it and decided to move the battlefield to the Beishan Gorge. After luring Zhu Di into the Beishan Gorge, he relied on the speed of the Mongolian cavalry to achieve a roundabout outflank, cutting off the Ming army's north and south retreats.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di did not order to continue marching, but looked at the wide valley where the Ming army was currently located, and then said after confirming that there was no possibility of an ambush:

"This Tatar knows this place better than I do. The place where he can set up an ambush must be a place that ordinary people cannot find."

As early as when Qiu Fu was lured by thousands of Tatar families, Arutai knew from the banners of the Ming army that the coming general was Qiu Fu. However, since Qiu Fu only had less than a thousand cavalry, he did not make a rash surprise attack.

Between the river valleys, Zhu Di stopped his horse and looked at the map Zhu Gaoxu had drawn for him before the expedition. Wang Yi, who was beside him, analyzed and pointed to a place on the map based on their marching distance these days.

"Yes! Alitai didn't say much, he agreed directly, walked out of the tent, and set off under the cover of night.

After finally waiting for Wang Yi to arrive, he saw that Wang Yi's front army actually had the flag of the emperor's front army, which made Arutai hurriedly retreat with his troops.

"Where is the front?"

Arutai frowned and said straight to the point: "I originally thought Qiu Fu and Wang Yi were leading the troops, and I wanted to lure them to set up an ambush in Feiyun Mountain and Feiyun Valley."

As time passed, the herders on their way to the north began to set up camp, and the cavalry protected them from being attacked by wild beasts.

With this narrow terrain, it is impossible for tens of thousands of people to spread out to fight, and since there is no way to go down the mountain on the west side, it is impossible to make a surprise attack.

After the tent in Arutai was set up, he took the leaders of the tenth battalion of Yongshebu into the big tent and took their seats.

To the west is a treeless mountain range, completely bare, but the slope is too steep to charge, so this arrangement is safe enough.

One million cattle and sheep and nearly 200,000 tribesmen headed north, grazing as they went.

Arutai couldn't just run away, he must have a backup plan to counterattack.

"This Zhu Di is really chasing after me!"

Not long after the goat's milk wine and mutton were delivered, footsteps could be heard outside the tent.

"Beishan Gully..." Zhu Di murmured the place name. From the place name alone, Gully generally refers to terrain such as valleys and deep ditches.

"You take 10,000 cavalry, take the Beiqiu detour in the northwest at night, and go down the mountain through the place I told you before. After Zhu Di and others pass by, you can cut off their retreat according to the situation!"

During the flood season, the water of the Onan River will spread from the river channel into the valley. Therefore, after the flood season, as the sun rises, the valley will also be covered with green grass.

"More than forty miles ahead, we'll see the Beishan Gorge on the map."

"Set up camp on the spot and march to the Beishan Valley tomorrow!"

To their south, closest to the Ming army, tens of thousands of cavalry slowly moved northward.

"Alitai!" Arutai shouted to his brother Alitai, and soon a man about fifty years old with a tall nose and deep eyes came out.

A member of the Qianhu family walked into it and bowed: "Grand Master, the sentry cavalry encountered the Ming army's sentry cavalry eighteen miles away to the south."

"The place where Zhu Di and the others are stationed should be Feiniao Valley. The hillside there is steep and we cannot get behind them. The only place suitable for outflanking is the Beishan Valley at our feet."

He did not want to fight Zhu Di in the plains. Although the plains were the home ground of the Mongols, the casualties in such a fight would be too great. Even if they defeated Zhu Di, the Tatar headquarters would suffer heavy casualties and would be unable to deal with the invasion of Oara in the west.

"It's not the flood season right now, flooding is impossible, so the only thing left is a surprise attack."

"If I were him, I would definitely send troops to take a detour and cut off our retreat."

After Zhu Di finished speaking, Qiu Fu also bowed and said: "Then we should focus on arranging the rear army."

"No." Zhu Neng rejected Qiu Fu's proposal and pointed to the path the Ming army came from and said, "We have no supplies. Even if he cuts off the food road, it will be useless."

"Besides, unless the hills shake and the incoming route is cut off, our army can directly destroy the defense line built by some Lele vehicles with artillery."

"Therefore, it is better to give him this opportunity. While he divides his troops to cut off our food road, the whole army rushes forward and annihilates Arutai first, and then annihilates all the soldiers and horses who cut off the food road to the south!"

Zhu Neng didn't want to go through so many twists and turns at all. With the field artillery in hand, they were not afraid of not being able to break the formation. What they were afraid of was that Arutai and the others would leave their herds, women and children behind and run away.

Once the herds, women and children were abandoned, the Mongols could even reach a speed of about 150 miles per day, while the Ming army, carrying artillery and carriages, could march no more than 80 miles per day.

Even if they abandon their artillery and carriages and march one hundred and fifty miles a day, they will still be limited by lack of food and turn back after a few days of pursuit.

A head-on decisive battle to completely cripple or even annihilate the Tatar tribe is what Zhu Neng wants.

If you want to achieve this, you must give Arutai the illusion that he can completely annihilate the 30,000 Ming army cavalry.

Cutting off the way forward and retreat is the beginning of giving Alutai this illusion.

"Zhu Neng's idea coincides with mine. What I want is for Aru Taineng to compete with me, and I even think that I am certain."

Zhu Di planted the flag representing the Ming army in the Beishan ravine: "We will be here tomorrow to defeat the Alutai tribe!"

"Yes!" The generals saluted, and Zhu Di waved his hand: "The whole army has a good rest, and all the strength is reserved for the battlefield tomorrow!"

In his greeting, the generals retreated one after another. Upon seeing this, Zhu Di also stroked his beard and prepared to rest.

However, in his eyes, there was a person sitting in the corner who had not left, so he asked: "Why don't you leave?"

"Your Majesty, I still want to record military information for you."

The Qianhu official spoke and at the same time dried the ink he had just written.

"What's there to record? I'm at the frontier. I just know the military information. Why record it?"

Zhu Di was a little helpless, but the Qianhu official said: "His Royal Highness has told us that if we do not record the details of this Northern Expedition, I am afraid that future generations will say that His Majesty is too aggressive and has no results."

"Well, just remember that, if you feel sleepy, change someone else."

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu had said this, Zhu Di didn't bother to pay attention, turned around and went to rest in the tent behind the tent.

Like the dead silence before the storm, the two armies, which were only forty miles apart, were preparing for tomorrow's battle. The difference was that Alitai sent by Alutai arrived behind a low mountain at dawn.

There is a road down this short mountain, but it is obscured by shrubs because it has not been traveled for many years.

As long as the Ming army crossed here, Alitai could cut down the bushes and lead thousands of troops to cut off their retreat.

"As long as we win this battle, Nanfang can be honest for at least ten years..."

With this thought, Alitai fell into a drowsy sleep.

A few hours later, he was shaken awake by his personal guards. He vaguely remembered his mission, so he immediately cheered up.

He lay on the mountain and looked down the mountain carefully, only to see a large army slowly passing through the valley at this moment.

"I'm afraid this number will not be less than 20,000 cavalry. I'm afraid all the cavalry the Southerners have accumulated in the past fifteen years are here."

Alitai is fifty-four years old, so he has naturally fought against the Ming army in the past fifty-four years, and he also knows that the Ming army lacks cavalry since the Battle of Lingbei. Although Zhou Xing also conquered the Tatars in Mobei in the 25th year of Hongwu, the main force of the Mongols was entangled in Moxi at that time, so he did not encounter too many opponents.

Calculating the time, this is the first time since the Battle of Yuerhai that the two sides have fought with more than ten thousand people.

But the result of this battle will belong to them...

Alitai squinted his eyes, and when he observed the Ming army, the Ming army had already seen the heads on the top of the mountain through the telescope.

Tang Qi reported the news to Zhu Di, but Zhu Di waved his hand: "Let the whole army pretend not to know and give them a chance to cut off their retreat."

"Yes!" Wang Yi bowed, and then ordered the whole army to ignore the barbarians on the mountain and just march to the north.

About three hours later, when the time came to Shen Shi (15 o'clock) in the afternoon, Tangqi of the Ming Army also entered the Beishan Gorge.

Facing the valley grassland that suddenly opened up ahead, the Tangqimen searched vigilantly and soon found the migrating Tatar tribe in the north, and Arutai also began to order a counterattack.

The Tatar cavalry came to fight against the more than a thousand Tangqi. The leader of this Tangqi was Anping Marquis Li Yuan. However, he was not greedy for military glory. Instead, he turned his horse's head and led the Tangqi to retreat, extending the pursuit distance of the other party's cavalry.

Three thousand Tatar cavalry and more than a thousand Ming army cavalry launched a pursuit battle in the river valley grassland, while more than 20,000 cavalry from Arutai headquarters formed a formation around a low hill in the northern ravine to prepare for the enemy.

Arutai climbed the low hill and waited for the arrival of the main force of the Ming army.

Soon, the main force of the Ming army entered the valley plain from the south entrance of the Beishan Ravine. Upon seeing this, the cavalry chasing Li Yuan immediately turned their horses and retreated, while Li Yuan turned their horses and led his cavalry in pursuit.

For a moment, the hunter and the prey changed positions, and compared to the arrows of the Tatar headquarters, the Ming army responded with sharper weapons.

The large flintlock gun that had been loaded with gunpowder in advance was raised. The Ming army stationed its horse about fifty steps away from the Tatar cavalry, formed a stable shooting platform, and then ignited and pulled the trigger.

"Clap clap-"

Dozens of large matchlocks fired successfully. Although they lost their accuracy due to the lack of a gun mount, five or six lead bullets hit the Tatar cavalry at a distance of sixty or seventy steps.

"What's that? A firecracker?"

Seeing a puff of white smoke suddenly coming out of the grassland, Arutai was confused for a while, and then realized that it might be the Ming army's firecracker.

"It seems to be of average power."

Seeing that only five or six cavalrymen fell down, Arutai did not take the matchlock gun seriously.

Soon, nearly three thousand cavalry fled less than a hundred steps away from the formation. Li Yuan also quickly reined in his horse: "Beep beep——"

He blew his wooden whistle and ordered the whole army to stop pursuing, apparently because he was worried that the Arutai cavalry would come out in full force.

While he was waiting, the returning Tatar cavalry counted their number. During the pursuit just now, there were only fifty-six of them who fell off their horses.

This number was not large, and Arutai did not take it seriously, but quietly waited for the arrival of Zhu Di's main formation.

Time passed little by little, and as Zhu Di himself arrived with more than a thousand cavalry, nearly 30,000 cavalry from the Ming army's main formation appeared only two miles behind him.

"so much……"

"I'm afraid there are 20,000 to 30,000 cavalry."

"I wonder if there are armored knights..."

When the Ming army formed its main formation, the Tatar nobles on the low hill began to speculate on the number of the Ming army. Arutai only took a rough look and confirmed: "Thirty thousand cavalry, but it doesn't matter, their retreat has been Lost.”

As if to verify his words, Zhu Di, who arrived at the front line in person, had just used a telescope to look at the situation of the Tatar headquarters. Zhu Neng from the rear army came on horseback and bowed to Zhu Di in front of the battle line:

"Your Majesty, as you expected, our retreat was blocked. There were no less than 5,000 barbarians blocking our retreat."

"Hmm..." Zhu Di responded, then pointed his riding whip at the Tatar headquarters and said: "There are more Tatars here than we expected. They are about the same as us here alone. Counting the soldiers and horses behind them, I'm afraid there won't be many." Less than forty thousand.”

"Thirty thousand versus forty thousand..." Zhu Di pursed his lips and said unceremoniously: "That's it."

His informal appearance made the nervous generals relax.

The senior officers of the Ming Army in the Northern Expedition were of low quality. Except for Zhu Di, Wang Yi, Zhu Neng, and Meng Zhang, there was a question mark as to whether the rest of them could command more than 10,000 cavalry.

Because of this, Zhu Di personally led the front army, leaving Zhu Neng to lead the rear army, and Wang Yi, who was most secure in leading the middle army.

"Let's sit down and see how Zhu Di wants to fight."

In the Tatar formation, Arutai spoke confidently, and the other nobles also looked at the Ming army with sneers on their faces.

"Since the place is surrounded by mountains, it must be a place for birds and clouds. To place birds and clouds, both yin and yang are prepared, either as yin or yang. When the yang of the mountain is placed, the yin of the mountain is prepared; when the yin of the mountain is placed, the yin of the mountain is prepared. The sun of the mountain; if it is on the left of the mountain, be on the right of the mountain; if it is on the right of the mountain, be on the left of the mountain. If the enemy can mausoleum on the mountain, prepare troops on the outside. The thoroughfare leads to the valley, and there must be no military chariots. Put a banner high. , I would like to order the three armies not to let the enemy know our feelings. This is called a mountain city. The ranks have been determined, the soldiers have been arranged, the decree has been carried out, and the special posts have been set up. Each of them has set up a charging station on the mountain surface. Wherever the troops are, they divide their chariots and cavalry. As birds and clouds stand in the way, the three armies fight quickly, and although the enemy is numerous, their generals can be captured."

This is the description of how the army should fight in the mountains in the ancient military book "Six Tao". Translated into modern language it is:

"When stationed on the south side of the mountain, be on guard against the north side of the mountain; when stationed on the north side of the mountain, be on guard against the south side of the mountain; when stationed on the left side of the mountain, be on guard against the right side of the mountain; when stationed on the right side of the mountain, be on guard against the left side of the mountain. Whenever Troops should be posted to guard the mountain where the enemy can climb. The main transportation routes and passable valleys should be blocked with chariots. Flags should be hung high to facilitate communication. The three armies should be organized and prepared to be in a tight formation to prevent the enemy from knowing the situation of our army. This makes it a mountain city.”

An army that takes advantage of the mountainous terrain must set up defenses on all sides.

To launch an attack against such an army, it is impossible to defeat it without deploying multiple attack directions.

At this time, Arutai's troops numbered 30,000, and the Ming army was comparable in size to them.

If you include the 10,000 Alitai cavalry who cut off their retreat, then Alitai undoubtedly won the harmony of the three harmony of heaven, earth and people.

Because of this, there was no debate similar to the historical debate between the ten leaders of Yongxiebu. They were all thinking about how to deal with Zhu Di and capture this true dragon from the south alive.

At this moment, the two sides entered a state of confrontation.

Zhu Di saw that Arutai did not engage in any means of ambushes from the north to the south. After confirming that there were only thirty or forty thousand people in the Tatar headquarters, he immediately took the initiative to speak:

"The front army marched fifty steps and assumed a charging posture."

As soon as Zhu Di opened his mouth, Xu Zengshou and Zhu Quan looked at each other and bowed: "Your Majesty, why don't you mount the artillery first?"

"If we use artillery first, Arutai will definitely run away after seeing the power of field artillery." Zhu Di had an insight into the Mongolians' idea of ​​bullying the weak and fearing the strong due to insufficient population.

Even though the Ming army had been surrounded and had a larger army under its control, Arutai still did not take the initiative to attack.

In Zhu Di's view, this was because Arutai was worried about taking the initiative and causing the Ming army to dismount and form a formation.

Arutai, who was born in Asuwei, has a deep understanding of the pikemen of the Ming army. If the front army of the Ming army is pikemen disguised as cavalry, then he is likely to suffer heavy losses if he attacks rashly.

He wanted to wait for the Ming army to attack on its own, so as to judge whether the front army was infantry with spears and horses disguised as cavalry, or real cavalry.

If it is infantry with spears and horses, he will choose to encircle rather than attack, slowly wearing down the Ming army.

If it is a cavalry, he can launch a surprise attack after defeating the front troops of the Ming army to expand the results of the battle.

After understanding his thoughts, Zhu Di knew what to do:

"Charge forward, don't use all your strength, and pull back after three consecutive battles. If they pursue, don't fight back, just pull back honestly. During this period, use bows and arrows against the enemy, and don't use matchlocks."

"Yes!" Upon hearing this, Xu Zengshou and Li Yuan immediately led more than 10,000 cavalry from the front army to charge. Everyone put on their riding bows and arrows, and set their bows and arrows.

"It's the cavalry!" After seeing that the Ming army's front troops had their hands free and no spears on their horses, some nobles in Yongxiebu began to speak excitedly, and Arutai also raised the corners of his mouth.

"Don't worry, let's change to the bow and prepare."

Arutai gave the order unhurriedly, and soon some Mongolian cavalry dismounted and put on their rifles.

They stretched their bows and nocked arrows, and shot arrows twenty steps ahead of the Ming army's charge.

"Uh-huh!"

"Hissing..."

Thousands of arrows from the front army fell like a sudden rain, hitting many horses. At the same time, the Ming soldiers on horseback also fell off their horses. More than a hundred people fell off their horses.

Falling off a horse in such an environment is a narrow escape.

However, even so, the Ming army's cavalry still rode together, and arrows fell into the Tatar army like a shower of arrows.

The horses of the Tatar front army were taken away in advance, and the falling arrows clattered on the armor, causing no major casualties to the Tatar cavalry.

This scene is in sharp contrast to the previous scene where the Ming army fell from their horses.

Seeing this, the nobles of the ten tribes of Yongshebu grinned almost to the back of their heads, and Arutai also gained confidence.

"It's the cavalry..." He smiled and narrowed his eyes: "The front army continued to fire arrows, and the left and right armies attacked the cavalry in a pincer. Once they retreat, they will immediately pursue them!"

"Yes!" Under Arutai's instructions, the two nobles rode down the low hill. At the same time, the Ming army and the Tatar front army began to show their intention to retreat after three formations of arrows intertwined.

Arutai was keenly aware of this intention to retreat, and said sternly: "The left and right armies and the central army will go into battle together, don't let them escape!"

"Uuuuuu——"

The horn sounded, and nearly 20,000 cavalrymen from the left and right armies and the central army began to move out. Upon seeing this, the Ming army retreated and fled like a "lost dog".

The faster they ran away, the more excited the Tatar cavalry became in three formations.

Just as excited as them was Zhu Di, who was observing the battlefield with a telescope.

He licked his chapped lips and grinned:

"Wang Rong, prepare field artillery shells!"

(End of this chapter)