Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 429 Three Conquests of Mongolia
"brat!"

At the end of April, with the arrival of summer, the Gobi desert in the western part of Mobei also became slightly green.

Of course, in this land, it feels more like a vast expanse.

In the Gobi, shouts and the sound of horse hooves echoed, and from time to time there was the sound of wheels running over the Gobi.

"This Alitai has actually started to be the Han people's dog!"

Several burly Wala nobles were yelling and cursing on horseback. Compared with them, most of the soldiers behind them were very thin although they were also riding horses.

Mahamu, Taiping, Ba Tubo... these are the three most powerful leaders on the Moxi Grassland.

Wala is what the Han people call them. In fact, they don't think that everyone is one ethnic group. The three tribes all work on their own. They will only unite when they encounter threats, as they are now.

Sitting on horseback, Mahamu walked side by side with Taiping and Ba Tubo. Behind them were Tuohuan, the thirteen-year-old son of Mahamu, and Benya Shili, the self-proclaimed Great Khan of Mongolia who had been imprisoned for three years.

"Fortunately, Guilichi has been destroyed. The Han people probably don't know the news yet. We can catch them off guard."

At this time, a crowd of people surrounded a concrete city on the grassland.

But Mahamu is not stupid. If he is handed over alive, who knows if Zhu Di will fight against Mongolia under the banner of Yuan Yi.

Standing on the arrow tower, a general looked at the east with a telescope. After a while, he seemed to have discovered something. He decisively put down the telescope, picked up the horn around his waist and started to blow.

While they were heading north, the sentinels from the Tatar tribe in Eastern Mongolia also crossed over to Hulanhuwenwen, inspected the situation in Oara, and passed the news back.

"It's already the end of April. According to the time Zhu Di spent cleaning up Alutai, he will be able to arrive in Hailar in about mid-May."

There are nearly ten thousand of them, and although there are many horses around them, most of them are relatively thin.

Therefore, even if he had to hand himself over, it would probably be a disaster...

It has been several years since Shaharul ascended the throne, but Mahamu and the others have just received the news now, which makes Benya sneer in his heart.

Now they are leading the more than 10,000 tribesmen and 30,000 troops on their way back north to Hangai Mountain.

Although there are rumors that the Ming Dynasty planted rice in the Jurchen land and could transport grain northward from the Bohai Sea area in the Jurchen land, it was at most a few hundred miles farther than Quaningwei.

Before May, they brought the news to Hailar City, and Zhu Di also led the main force of the Northern Expedition to Hailar.

During these hundreds of miles, it is questionable whether the Ming army can support the Ming army in defeating Hulanhu.

Benya couldn't help but look disappointed, but the Wala army continued to march northward.

Mahamu talked about the situation to Taiping and Batubo, and at the same time glanced at Benya Shili.

In addition to these tens of thousands of cavalry, there were tens of thousands of infantry armed with flintlocks and tens of thousands of auxiliary soldiers armed with lances.

If it weren't for the flags fluttering in the wind among the troops, as well as the simple jackets and linen clothes they wore, others might just think that they were Han people fighting against the Hu people, and not think that this was an army.

Among the teams, there is another team that is very conspicuous. They are wearing coarse linen clothes and dressed in Mongolian style.

Mahamu no longer had the idea of ​​​​fighting the Ming army in Hulanhuwenwen. This was because the situation had changed.

Although Mahamu is arrogant, there is not much problem with his mind.

"I think so too, but before that we have to deal with Alitai first, or at least severely injure him. Otherwise, if we keep him, he will become Zhu Di's hunting dog and tell Zhu Di all our traces."

"I heard that Shaharul in the west has stabilized the tribe, and we missed a chance."

Logically speaking, he can indeed have a chance with the Ming army, but the problem is that he already knows the power of the Ming army's firearms from the Mongolians who fled the Tatar tribe.

"Woo...Woo...Woo..."

The concrete city is two feet high and more than three miles in circumference. There are many bungalows built inside.

What's more, Hailar'er cannot grow food well at all, and even if it could, it wouldn't be possible to grow large tracts of food.

They stood on the ground, leading their own war horses and two riding horses beside them, wearing mandarin duck war coats.

"That's right!" Batubo also added: "There is no need to fight him. Anyway, it is at least more than two thousand miles from Hailar to the pastoral area of ​​our three tribes. I don't believe Zhu Di can fight him."

Therefore, now he wants to fight but does not dare to fight. He is very worried that if he cannot succeed in the battle, he will be eaten by the wolves behind him.

If Zhu Di dispatches 30,000 cavalry like last time, then he will need at least 400,000 civilians and 100,000 auxiliary troops this time.

With this intelligence capability, it's surprising that they could defeat the Ming army.

Since learning about Zhu Di's preparations for the Northern Expedition at the beginning of the year, Mahamu, Taiping, and Tubu have united together, and took advantage of the warm spring days to go south, and killed Guilichi, who only had more than 10,000 tribesmen, in a surprise attack, and recruited of his tribe.

In addition, he was also very doubtful about the words of those Eastern Mongolians. After all, in his impression, firearms were not that powerful.

Therefore, in this war, Taiping and Tubo tried their best to avoid it and moved the battlefield to the Shaanxi Xingdu Division in the future.

Now he has Benya Shili in his hands, and he has also destroyed Guilichi, surrendered many small tribes that the Tatar tribe had fled, and the overall strength has greatly increased.

Taiping looks ordinary and is not very powerful, but the words he speaks now are very powerful.

According to the Tatar Mongolians they took in, Zhu Di mobilized more than 100,000 people the last time he sent troops to the Beishan Valley.

Of course, it would be better if he was handed over alive. After all, his status as a Yuan descendant was a good banner for the Ming Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Benya Shili couldn't help but worry about himself. He was worried that Mahamu would hand him over because of the unfavorable outcome of the war.

Taiping heard this and said nonchalantly: "If we destroy the ghost Lichi this time, we can go straight to Gan and Su towns next time."

For more than two thousand miles, for the three people who were familiar with the Han's supply methods, they knew very well what Zhu Di's expedition across such a long distance meant.

"Now there is news from the north. Alitai is like a mad dog, acting as Zhu Di's pawn, constantly searching for our traces."

The melodious horn sound sounded, which then triggered an endless stream of horn sounds from the city.

When thousands of horns sounded, they gradually played a complete and deafening horn sound, which spread into the distance.

"Buzz rumbling..."

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves sounded in the eastern hills, and thousands of armored cavalry came running from a distance, guarding a large banner.

As the team gradually approached, the Mongolian, Jurchen and Han characters written on the large scroll also came into view.

Although it is written in three different languages, the meanings expressed are very similar... Emperor Yongle (Khan) of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor's holy emperor.

Under the banner, Zhu Di led the generals on horseback. Each of them had dazzling armor and a radiant face.

They crossed the road left by the army, rode on tall horses, and slowly slowed down their speed, as if reviewing the army.

"Long live Long live Long live!!"

In an instant, the army shouted long live, and the voices came and went, shaking people's hearts like thunder.

Zhu Di had a look of joy on his face and glanced left and right, his eyes firm and high-spirited, as if an emperor had descended into the world.

He pulled out the sword in his hand. The animal on the sword grid was an African lion. There was a ridge in the middle of the sword body, which increased the strength of the sword. It was simple and classic.

"The Ming Dynasty is mighty!"

"Long live! Long live!"

When thousands of people cheered in unison, the faces of the two people following Zhu Di did not look good.

They are the former Eastern Mongolian Grand Master, Ming Dynasty and King Ning Arutai who were captured by the Ming army.

and his younger brother, who is now the Grand Master of Eastern Mongolia and King Alitai of Changning in the Ming Dynasty.

The more than 10,000 Mongolian cavalry in the Ming army were led by Alitai. In addition, there were more than 10,000 Tatar cavalry scattered on the Mobei grassland to collect intelligence for the Ming army.

Watching Zhu Di and the generals enter Hailar City, hundreds of thousands of troops were disbanded on the spot, with only more than 10,000 cavalry in armor standing guard outside.

"Sorry..."

After reining in his horse and turning over, Zhu Di, dressed in armor, walked into the only courtyard in Hailar City that used Guannai architectural techniques.

The courtyard covers an area of ​​five acres and is divided into front and back yards. It is Zhu Di's temporary palace in Hailaer.

Entering the main hall of the front yard, Zhu Di opened his hands, and the servants on the left and right immediately stepped forward to remove his sword and take out his armor.

After he finished all this, he turned around and sat down slowly: "Take a seat!"

Zhu Di leaned on the chair, holding the armrest with one hand and stroking his beard with the other.

He scanned the crowd and saw that the team in the Northern Expedition was not much different from the last time.

Although there were many things going on in Japan, Xu Zengshou still set out on his way home in March, walking up northeastern Liaoning and catching up with the Northern Expedition army.

The civil servants were too slow, and Zhu Di was too lazy to wait for them. He asked them to come slowly from Zhenlu Guard, which would take at least three days.

During these three days, he had to prepare to collect information and send troops to pursue Wala.

Thinking of this, he focused his gaze on Alutai and Alitai in the first place on the left.

The two brothers were very embarrassed, but they didn't dare to say anything.

In the past few years, Arutai has understood the strength of the Ming Dynasty, and this time he went north to see the layout of the Ming Dynasty in Modong.

Daning's Modong Sanwei has a population of two to three hundred thousand, and it is easy to mobilize 50,000 to 60,000 civilians to go north.

In addition, Hechengwei also has hundreds of ships carrying thousands of stones of food arriving every day. The Ming Dynasty's logistics has been developed to the extreme by Zhu Gaoxu.

Arutai had met Zhu Gaoxu at many state banquets. It must be said that after meeting Zhu Gaoxu, he began to believe the words of the people in Wuliangha.

Zhu Gaoxu, he is not a human being, or not what ordinary people think he is.

Thinking of Zhu Gaoxu's random glance at the state banquet, Arutai can still feel the pressure of that glance.

"King Chang Ning, tell me where the thieves from Wala have gone!"

As soon as Zhu Di opened his mouth, he asked Alitai, the current lord of Eastern Mongolia, and Alitai lived up to expectations and stood up and bowed: "Your Majesty, Mahamu, Taiping, and Ba Tubo led the troops a few months ago. He went south to destroy Guilichi, regained his tribe, and headed north to the desert west land in the north of Zenghara and Lin."

"Their troops should be around five to sixty thousand, but if they go on an expedition, they can only have thirty or forty thousand."

Alitai gave the general report, and Zhu Di, who heard what he said, was also satisfied: "This time when I went north, your brother told me that you were not living well in Eastern Mongolia, so this time I brought 30,000 kilograms of cotton and 5,000 kilograms of cotton. Pieces of cloth, let’s reward you together now!”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Alitai did not have Alutai's ambitions, and he did not feel there was any shame in being a dog to the Ming Dynasty.

You must know that in the past few years, the Ming Dynasty exchanged more than 30,000 sets of armor and weapons, tens of thousands of coarse cloths, hundreds of thousands of catties of cotton, hundreds of thousands of catties of tea, and tens of thousands of mouths with the Tatar tribe through trade and rewards. wok.

It was precisely because of these supplies that he was able to withstand the attacks from Wala over the past few years and keep the front line in the Hulanhu hypothermia area.

"I have rewarded you with money and food, and I will also reward you with an official position...King Chang Ning obeys the order!"

"I obey the order!" Alitai knelt down without thinking. This scene made Alitai's face tremble.

"Today, the Yanran Capital Command and Envoy Department will be established, and you will be appointed as the Yanran Capital Commander and Envoy. Your eldest son Furong will be appointed as the Commander-in-Chief, and your second son Fushou will be appointed as the Commander-in-Chief."

Zhu Di said this reward very awkwardly, and this reward did not come from his original intention, but from Zhu Gaoxu.

"Commander Wang Rong!" Zhu Di looked sideways behind Wang Yi. Wang Rong behind Wang Yi also stood up and bowed: "I'm here!"

"I have appointed you as the commander of Yanran, guarding the Hailaer Guards. I will soon send scribes to accompany King Chang Ning to the tribe, register his tribesmen, and grant official positions to the generals of the tribe, and their salaries will be paid at the end of the year!"

"Thank you!" Alitai and Wang Rong bowed to express their gratitude.

Everyone knew what Zhu Di was doing, and it was nothing more than trying to tie up the Tatar tribe with benefits.

However, once this approach is out of control, it will only make the Tatar tribe stronger. Therefore, this is not like Zhu Di's character, and it is no wonder that he has some disagreements.

Since it was not arranged by Zhu Di, it was naturally arranged by Zhu Gaoxu.

When they thought that it was Zhu Gaoxu who arranged it, everyone felt relieved.

After all, Zhu Di is already fifty-two, and Zhu Gaoxu is only thirty-two, an upright man in his prime.

Zhu Gaoxu dared to give benefits to the Tatar tribe, so he was not afraid of the Tatar tribe's resistance.

Alitai and Alutai were very happy about this. They didn't care what Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu thought. They only knew that according to the Ming Dynasty's official salary, at least three thousand generals under their command could receive the salary.

This money and food can be used as capital for the Tatar tribe to make a comeback in the future and get rid of the Ming Dynasty.

But they seemed to have forgotten that Zhu Gaoxu dared to give them money and food, which showed that he had enough ways to deal with them.

Of course, at this time, the two of them had been dazzled by the sudden surprise, and their minds were filled with how much money and food the Tatar Ministry could steadily obtain from the Ming Dynasty every year.

"Mr. Liao, how long will it take to conquer Moxi from here?"

Zhu Di motioned Alitai and Wang Rong to take their seats and asked Meng Zhang, Duke of Liao, straight to the point.

In response, Meng Zhangzuo bowed and said: "At the speed of our army's march of seventy miles a day, it will take at least a month to reach Moxi. Including the search, it will take at least one and a half months, and the round trip will take three months."

After Meng Zhang finished speaking, Zhu Di asked again: "With the situation of our army, can we pursue it as far as Moxi?"

After his words fell, Meng Zhang continued without thinking:

"At present, the imperial court still has 100,000 stones of military rations that have not been transported from the Suppression Guards. These 100,000 stones of military rations must contain at least 20,000 auxiliary soldiers and 50,000 civilians."

"Therefore, the amount of baggage that can be mobilized by the army is 100,000 auxiliary troops, 130,000 civilian men, and more than 76,400 carriages. Hailaer has 120,000 dan of military provisions and 200,000 dan of horse materials. ”

"If we send 230,000 auxiliary troops and civilians to transport grain and grass to Hulanhu, the distance is about two thousand miles. It will take 40 days for the civilians to travel, and 80 days for the round trip. It will consume nearly 90,000 shi of military rations and 70,000 horses. More than ten thousand stones.”

"With the transport capacity of the horse-drawn carriages and civilian laborers, we can transport them to Moxi and then retreat. We can still leave 30,000 shi of military rations and 130,000 shi of horse supplies for our army."

230,000 people and more than 70,000 carriages transported 320,000 shi of military rations and horse supplies, and after arrival, there were still 160,000 shi of military rations and horse supplies left, which is already very good.

The main reason for the low consumption was that they searched westward along the Yinma River and entered the desert west via the Selenge River.

But the problem is that 30,000 shi of military rations is enough to feed the 80,000 army for more than three months, but 130,000 shi of horse rations is enough to feed the 200,000 horses behind the 80,000 army for two months at most.

Including the forty days for withdrawal, it means that the time left for Zhu Di is only twenty days.

At that time, although people will still have food, the horses will have no horse feed.

Without horse feed, just eating grass will quickly lose all the bridles. By then, these 80,000 cavalry and horse infantry will become infantry.

"There is enough time, let the rear team step up and transport another 100,000 stone horses and materials northward!"

If the horse supplies were insufficient, they would be supplemented. In order to defeat Oala in one fell swoop, Zhu Di could only send more horse supplies to the rear.

You know, the Northern Expedition army transported a total of 300,000 shi of military rations and 500,000 shi of horse supplies.

Three hundred thousand shi of military rations equals 3 million shi of grain, and 500,000 shi of horse feed equals 1.5 million shi of bean feed.

Zhu Di's largest northern expedition in history only brought in 300,000 shi of beans and 900,000 shi of grain.

The scale this time can be said to be more than three times the largest scale in Zhu Di's history.

Because of this, Zhu Di was so ambitious that he wanted to severely damage Wala, and even thought about killing Wala, because along the way he was not only satisfied with the logistics, but also with the combination of flintlock gun and bayonet.

Of course, the burden in his heart was somewhat heavy, and he always felt that the second child was really prepared to let him abdicate after this battle.

"Hey, retreat, retreat. After this battle, I will go home. I am fifty-three years old, and how many more years can I live..."

Zhu Di clicked his tongue a few times in his heart, while Meng Zhang, who was asked to transfer 100,000 stones of horse materials to go north, felt bitter in his mouth.

For this battle, almost all the beans in Daning, Liaodong, and Bohai have been allocated, and now he still has to collect 100,000 dan, which gives him a headache.

Just when he was distressed, footsteps came from the courtyard door. A conductor walked quickly into the main hall and knelt down, holding an urgent document in his hand.

"Your Majesty, His Majesty the Supervisor of the State has ordered the Chief Envoy of Shandong Province to prepare 50,000 dan of military rations and 200,000 dan of horse feed. They have been shipped a month ago and will be delivered to Hailar City on the first day of July!"

"Haha, good!" Hearing that the second child actually guessed that he was short of food and horse feed and prepared it in advance, Zhu Di also praised happily and glanced at the generals.

Seeing that the Ming army was ready, Arutai quickly stood up and walked to the main hall, where he knelt down and bowed:

"Your Majesty, the Tatar tribe is willing to send 20,000 cavalry for your Majesty's command!"

Arutai's actions made his eldest brother Alitai's face darken. You must know that Arutai is just a puppet in the hands of the Ming Dynasty now, and he, Alitai, is the grand master of the Tatar tribe.

Now, without going through him, he mobilized 20,000 cavalry for the Ming Dynasty to drive. It's strange that he can feel better.

"Oh?" Zhu Di looked surprised, his eyes darting back and forth between Alutai and Alitai, and finally asked: "King Chang Ning, what do you think?"

"Return to Your Majesty, I am willing to serve Your Majesty!"

Alitai could only bite the bullet and respond. Zhu Di also smiled and said, "Okay!"

"Let's do this. This cavalry will be used as sentinel cavalry and will be under the jurisdiction of Duke Shen Wang Yi, with King Chang Ning as his deputy."

"I accept your order!" Alitai was so angry that his teeth itched, but he had no choice but to do anything.

"Since there's nothing to do, let's get going!"

Zhu Di stood up and walked to the backyard. The generals also sang "Long Live Long Live" and then slowly exited the yard.

After exiting the courtyard, Alitai stared at Alutai with uncomfortable eyes. Alutai didn't say anything. It wasn't until the two brothers walked away that Alitai turned around and said:
"I know the rules of rewards and punishments of the Ming army better than you. As long as you 20,000 people participate in the war, you will definitely have a share of what will be captured after the war."

"What if they don't give it?" Alitai understood Alutai's idea. Although he was stunned for a moment, he still asked quickly.

"Whether we give it or not, you have to fight. Otherwise, after this battle, you will probably fight us next time."

Arutai had been in Nanjing for so many years that he couldn't figure out anything else, but he could guess every bit of Zhu Di's thoughts.

This is not because he is so powerful, but because Zhu Di often asks him about the customs and customs of the grasslands and the geography and landforms of various places.

Zhu Di's inquiry made Arutai alert, but he was also helpless.

Alitai is now in charge of Tatar affairs. Although he is his elder brother, his ability is far inferior to his own.

If the Tatar tribe wants to survive, they can only keep their strength from growing, or wait for the Ming army's strength in Mobei to grow.

"Why was the Ming army able to send so many civilian troops to Mobei?"

Alitai looked around vaguely and only asked after confirming that no one was around.

He also experienced the Battle of Yuerhai in his early years. At that time, 150,000 Ming troops marched north, but less than 30,000 people arrived at Yuerhai.

According to the proportion at that time, if the Ming army could send 80,000 people to Mobei this time, wouldn't it mean that they had sent at least 400,000 troops and more than 2 million civilians?
This amount was too exaggerated, and Alitai still couldn't believe it, so he asked Alitai specifically.

When Arutai heard this, the image of Zhu Gaoxu glancing at him flashed through his mind, and he suppressed his fear and explained:
"Zhu Di is a madman, but his son Zhu Gaoxu is not a human being."

"Millions of Han people already live in Liaodong and the land of Nuzhi in the east. They can save manpower through waterways and move their army from Kaipingwei to the northern area of ​​the former Uuliangha Tu Mountain."

"It is precisely because of this that Zhu Di can appear here with 80,000 troops."

"This may be Zhu Di's last northern expedition, but you should not be arrogant and be respectful enough."

"I know you don't understand now, but you have to remember what I say."

"To be specific, you will understand it in two or three years. Then you will be very respectful without me having to say anything."

"I have to leave. Zhu Gaoxu's people are everywhere here. It is very likely that our conversation will be overheard by them. Let's leave first."

As soon as he finished speaking, Arutai hurriedly left this corner.

Although Alitai complained about Alutai, it was obvious that Alutai was so afraid of Zhu Gaoxu, and he couldn't help but murmur in his heart.

Not long after, he also lowered his head and left this corner, but he kept thinking about what Zhu Gaoxu had to be afraid of...

(End of this chapter)