Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 431 Hard Top

"Sorry..."

"Shut up!"

On June 12, as the sound of a large number of horse hooves appeared beside the coniferous forest, Zhu Di on horseback couldn't help but squint his eyes.

There are patches of coniferous forests in the surrounding grasslands. They are scattered on this land that is not rich in territory. They cannot be connected into one patch and can only add a bit of scenery.

"Where is this place?"

Zhu Di turned his head and asked, and Arutai, who was behind him, galloped forward to answer: "This is the Mulun area in the north of Waila. According to the traces of Mahamu and the others just now, they should not continue walking north to Waila City, but We turned back and headed eastward to the Selenge River."

"Mu Lun?" Zhu Di nodded, and after a moment he couldn't help but ask: "Has anyone ever attacked here in the past?"

"Except for Genghis Khan, no one has ever attacked here." Arutai answered respectfully. After hearing this, Zhu Di could not help but say proudly:

"So, I am the first Han emperor to fight here?"

"Are there any troops stationed outside the valley?"

[In June of the eleventh year of Yongle, Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty drove Hu here]

"Your Majesty, the Hu soldiers went in two directions. One way was smaller in number and ran northward. The other way was larger in number. Their horseshoes and wheels were messy and they entered the mountain col ahead."

Meng Zhang rode forward and asked Zhu Di in a low voice for his opinion, but Zhu Di shook his head and said, "Just station troops on the plain to show that the enemy is weak."

Zhu Di turned his head to look at Meng Zhang and ordered him: "Let Alitai follow our footsteps. If anything happens to the army, let him surround the mountain col and don't let the Oala cavalry go."

"Great Khan, the Ming army has entered the Selenge Valley!"

"I accept your order!" Meng Zhang, Wang Yi and others agreed one after another, and then soldiers who were proficient in masonry skills from the leading army came up and carved a string of words on a stone standing outside the woods.

"If you go north, you will be escaping to the small sea (Lake Baikal). If you go south, the mountain col. If I remember correctly, it will be a river valley and plain."

The army was wary of advancing, but news soon came from Tangqi in front.

Soon, more than 40,000 cavalry passed through the mountain col, and Mahamu was stationed on the high hills in the north of the mountain col.

"Your Majesty, do we really want to go in?" Meng Zhang and Wang Yi were hesitant, but Zhu Neng always trusted Zhu Di and bowed without hesitation: "I would like to lead the front army into the valley first!"

"The army quickly passed through the mountain col, entered the valley to confront Mahamu, and also searched the valley."

From a distance, the scale seemed to be comparable to that of the Ming army.

"Do as I say!"

"This..." Meng Zhang was a little unsure. He was suppressed by tens of thousands of cavalry with condescending tactics. If something went wrong, no one would be responsible.

When the generals heard Tangqi Qianhu's report, they all frowned, but Zhu Di still said confidently:
"Don't worry, it's getting dark and they won't dare to surprise us from the high hills."

In the dark night, Taiping asked Wanhu of his family. When Wanhu shook his head, he immediately turned his horse's head and said, "Let's go south with a torch and block the entrance of the valley!"

Arutai acted like a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty, but Zhu Di chuckled when he heard this: "He wants to invite you to the urn, then I will follow his wish."

"Okay!" Zhu Di stroked his beard, and Meng Zhang and Wang Yi reluctantly bowed in agreement.

Soon, more than 40,000 cavalrymen, under the command of Zhu Di, chased towards the mountain col. At dusk, they saw the mouth of the mountain col, which was only two miles wide and six or seven miles long.

After finishing carving a line of words, Zhu Di also turned his horse's reins and continued marching eastward.

"Drive! Drive..."

"Your Majesty, the Oara tribe moved to the east of the valley, and Mahamu led tens of thousands of Hu soldiers to garrison on the high hills of the col!"

"Your Majesty, that's right!" Arutai had already known Zhu Di's character through long-term relationship, and could only follow him and flatter him.

Zhu Di's confidence made the generals feel a little more relaxed.

"There is a valley in this mountain valley that is more than ten miles from north to south and more than a hundred miles from east to west. The Selenge River passes through the valley. Every year during the midsummer and autumn harvests, some tribes come to herd and hunt."

Zhu Di tightened his tone, and Meng Zhang had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept Zhu Di's military order.

In other words, if Mahamu's tens of thousands of cavalry swooped down from the high hills, the Ming army stationed in the valley plain would have no one to rely on to stop them.

His words were also very useful to Zhu Di. Zhu Di waved his hand: "Come here, carve a monument on this stone!"

"But to enter this valley, you need to walk through a valley that is no more than two miles wide, and you need to walk six or seven miles to get out."

On the way of the army's pursuit, Tangqi discovered different information and brought it back to report.

Thousands of households in Tangqi reported back to Zhu Di to investigate the news ahead. Arutai also spoke after hearing this:

"Are there plains among these mountains and hills?" Zhu Di asked curiously, while Arutai nodded and said:

"Should our army also look for high hills? Otherwise, the Hu soldiers will be condescending and our army will be very passive."

Soon, more than 40,000 cavalry were stationed without any defense, and there was no cover except for the night patrol cavalry outside the army.

"I am worried that Mahamu will set up an ambush here and try to threaten our army from a high position."

Time passed little by little, and as the sun set in the west, the time also entered dusk.

Zhu Di sent someone to inform Alitai to go south in time to join the army, while he continued to lead more than 40,000 cavalry to chase Mahamu.

Because of this, after discussion with Meng Zhang, Wang Yi, and Zhu Neng, they finally decided to dig trenches and ditches outside the camp, which would at least hinder Mahamu.

Soon, the sky darkened, and at the same time, the Ora cavalry that was moving northward also stopped advancing.

At this time, they had entered the mountains, but the wide valleys of the North Country were enough to accommodate tens of thousands of troops on their way.

When Taiping led his cavalry back south, intending to block Zhu Di in the river valley, on the grassland in the northwest, Alitai, who was ordered by Zhu Di to join forces, also received a new order from Zhu Di.

"His Majesty ordered, please ask King Chang Ning to prevent the Vala cavalry from escaping in the valley."

"Your Majesty has entered the valley?"

On horseback, Alitai did not expect that Zhu Di actually took the initiative to get into the river valley. Although there was water, woods, and many wild yellow sheep in it, which could provide military rations, if Alitai remembered correctly, the rations for ordinary soldiers of the Ming army were There is only one and a half buckets left, which is enough to last for a month and a half at most.

Once Zhu Di is stuck in the river valley and unable to get out, his fate will be self-evident.

"You go and rest first. We'll rest for four hours before we start our journey."

Alitai first dismissed Tangqi who came to deliver the message, and after he dismissed Tangqi, the tens of thousands of households around him could not help but say:

"Great Khan, if Zhu Di is besieged in the valley by Mahamu, then we don't have to worry about the Ming army. Once these more than 40,000 Ming army cavalry are destroyed, it will take at least ten years for the Ming Dynasty to recover."

"Yes, if Zhu Di is surrounded or even killed, then we might be able to form an alliance with Mahamu and the others and go south to knock the pass."

"us……"

For a time, tens of thousands of households started discussing it, and Alitai was very moved by what he said.

However, he was still a little worried about whether Mahamu could besiege Zhu Di. After all, Zhu Di's cavalry carried sixty field guns and was pulled by three horses, and could march eighty miles in a day.

"Have you forgotten how we were defeated?"

Suddenly, a member of Wanhu suddenly spoke, and everyone looked at him.

"Ye Xian Tu Gan, what do you want to say?"

A member of the Ten Thousand Households questioned the man named Ye Xian Tu Gan, and Na Ye Xian Tu Gan said straightforwardly:

"My words are obvious, that is, since Zhu Di can defeat us, he can naturally defeat Mahamu."

"Don't forget, the Ming army has muskets and artillery. They really want to protrude into the valley, and Mahamu can't stop them at all."

"Besides, Mahamu and the others are in Moxi, and we are in Modong, very close to the Ming army."

"The Ming army can't deal with Mahamu, can't they also deal with us?"

"Humph!" After hearing this, some nobles were dissatisfied and said: "If Zhu Di, Wang Yi, Meng Zhang, and Zhu Neng are captured, who else can save them?"

"Ha!" Hearing this, Ye Xian Tu Gan also laughed and said, "Have you forgotten who beat Haragu so hard that he ran away with his head covered? In addition, Qiu Fu, who was left behind in Hailaer, was not easy to deal with."

"If something happens to Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu from the south goes north, then our life will probably be even more uncomfortable than now!"

Ye Xiantu Gan's words made everyone feel nervous. Although they didn't know Zhu Gaoxu, they couldn't help Alutai knowing about Zhu Gaoxu, and he also told them about Zhu Gaoxu during the northern expedition.

In their opinion, Zhu Gaoxu was much more ruthless than Zhu Di, and at least Zhu Di was relatively "soft" towards the Mongols.

On the other hand, after Zhu Gaoxu's story of burying Haragu and his soldiers alive was brought back to Alutai and spread, the nobles of Eastern Mongolia became wary of Zhu Gaoxu.

Especially when they knew Zhu Gaoxu's record against Wu Liangha, the Jurchens, and the Southern Army, they felt even more afraid of this guy they had never met.

As time passed, the atmosphere gradually became depressing.

At the end, Alitai made a decision: "It's just a perimeter containment. If Zhu Di can't come out, we will immediately send people south across the Great Gobi to deliver the news to the second town of Gansu. If Zhu Di can come out, we will do our best to show off. Neither can be offended."

"Yes!" After hearing that Alitai had made the decision, everyone nodded in agreement.

After resting for four hours, Alitai led more than 16,000 cavalry towards the mountain col. At the same time, in the valley, Benya Shili was guarded by his nephew Tuo Huan.

Mahamu left more than 3,000 cavalry for Tuohuan to command, and asked Tuohuan to take good care of his uncle, Benya Shili, a descendant of the Mongols, and to protect the more than 100,000 tribesmen who moved eastward.

As for the war in the west of the river valley, Mahamu, Taiping, and Baltupolo were in charge.

Although it is summer, the river valley in the early morning is still cold and windy.

Tuohuan led his troops to inspect the troops. Now they are more than forty miles away from the main battlefield. Tomorrow they have to find a way to continue walking thirty miles east and then cross the Selenga River to wait for the outcome of this battle.

From Tuo Huan's point of view, his father would not lose, but he couldn't help but worry.

"Taiji, don't worry, even if we can't encircle and annihilate Zhu Di, we can retreat calmly."

"You must keep your spirits up and lead us across the Selenga River tomorrow."

Qianhu comforted the thirteen-year-old Tuohuan, and Tuohuan nodded. Although he was still young, he was already much more sensible.

"What is my uncle doing now?"

Not forgetting to pay attention to his uncle after having fun, Qianhu also replied: "He is in his tent."

"Watch his men and don't give them a chance to break out." Tuo Huan confessed.

Although he is an uncle, he also knows the value of Benya's loss.

Now that the war is about to begin, if Benya and his people cause trouble, it is likely to affect the overall situation.

Thinking of this, Tuohuan's eyes became much colder.

At the same time, Mahamu, who had rested for several hours, walked out of the tent and stood on the edge of the high hill in the dark night, looking down at the Ming army resting lower down.

"Have they taken off their armor?"

Mahamu asked the nobles around him, and they all shook their heads: "Our sentry cavalry can't get close to them, but they shouldn't dare to take off their armor and rest in this situation." "Firearms..." Mahamu Luo He frowned and glanced at the sky.

"Great Khan, why do we have to enter the river valley? We can advance and retreat more freely on the plains."

A noble couldn't help but ask, while Mahamu looked at the floating clouds in the sky with a smile on his face: "You will know tomorrow."

"Tomorrow is the day I capture the dragon..."

When he said this, Mahamu couldn't help but get excited, but his thoughts had been penetrated by Zhu Di.

After resting for three hours, Zhu Di got up at night, and the first thing he looked at was the sky above.

He frowned, stretched out his hand to feel the speed of the wind, and then asked the people around him for a flintlock carbine.

After charging the soldier, he decisively pulled the trigger. However, the flintlock carbine, which used to have a 60% ignition rate, misfired at this time.

Zhu Di pulled the trigger twice in succession, finally igniting the gunpowder in the medicine room, and made a crisp gunshot in the dark night.

"Call the generals in the army and above to come to my tent."

After seeing what had just happened, Zhu Di urgently summoned Meng Zhang, Wang Yi and others.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhu Di sat in the tent and said calmly: "There are many reasons why Mahamu led us into the river valley, the main one being the weather."

"I looked at the sky. Even if it doesn't rain tomorrow, it will be foggy."

"According to Lao Er, the air humidity is high in foggy days, so the ignition rate of the flintlock gun will decrease, and the matchlock gun is more stable."

"In addition, I noticed that the wind speed is very strong tonight, which means it is likely to rain tomorrow."

"What do you think we should do in this situation?"

Zhu Di asked everyone for their opinions, but his posture remained unchanged. Apparently he already had the answer.

"Dig deep drainage ditches in the trenches, then lay tents over the trenches and hide in the tents to shoot."

"No, that's not conducive to firing. We should take the initiative before it rains."

"It's too dark. It's better to wait another two hours and send troops early in the morning."

"There must be heavy fog in the valley in the early morning, and the ignition rate will decrease."

The commanders were quarreling. When Zhu Di saw this, he looked at Zhu Neng. Zhu Neng did not disappoint Zhu Di's gaze. He stood up and bowed without thinking:

"If you can't use the muskets, you can't use them. As long as the artillery can be used, it's fine. Besides, during daily training, the brothers have never given up their skills in hand-to-hand combat. Our army can use tents to protect the artillery from wind and rain, and open the tents when firing. , it is enough to bombard Mahamu’s charging cavalry.”

"Besides, if it rains, it's hard for our army to fight, but it's easy for Hu soldiers to fight?"

"They are located high up. Once it rains, the mountain will be slippery. I am afraid that a large area will fall before they even reach our army."

"In addition, the cost of using bows and arrows when it rains is extremely high. Since ancient times, except for the Yuan Dynasty, which used bows and arrows in heavy rain when attacking Xiangyang in the Southern Song Dynasty, the rest of the Hu people have never used bows and arrows on rainy days."

"In the end, there are at most 60,000 Wala soldiers and horses, and our army has 40,000 here. Even without muskets, we can defeat the Hu soldiers."

Zhu Neng's words earned Wang Yi and Meng Zhang nods of approval. Zhu Di also nodded and said: "Don't forget that our Ming Dynasty started as Huaixi pikemen. Without firearms and arrows, we Han people who play with swords and guns are also the ancestors of the Hu people!"

"Yes!" After hearing Zhu Di's words, the panicked hearts of the generals gradually calmed down.

"Go, first pass the news to the whole army that it may rain tomorrow, and also prepare the whole army to get up at night. That old dog Mahamu will not let us sleep until dawn."

Zhu Di said a few words, and the morale of the Ming army was raised to a high level. Soon the entire Ming army camp became anxious, and naturally such a situation could not escape Mahamu's ears.

His expression was not good-looking, and he couldn't help but look up to the sky, and said with some reluctance: "This Zhu Di knows the weather in Mobei quite well."

The wind speed in Mobei is strong, and the rain often passes like a storm and then ends quickly.

Although it passed quickly, the amount of rain was not small, it just didn't rain often.

It happened to be the rainy season in Mobei, so Mahamu wanted to attract Zhu Di to the mountain pass to beat the dog.

But he didn't expect that Zhu Di's familiarity with Mobei was as good as his, or even better.

"Let the army wake up at night and wait for my order to attack!"

Mahamu knew that he could not give the Ming army time to prepare. It was already Yin Shi (3 o'clock), and it would be dawn half an hour later. Then it would be the best time to attack the Ming army.

Thinking of this, Mahamu turned his attention to the west of the valley. At this time, the Ming army cavalry patrolling the west was also attacked.

"Uuuuuu——"

"The trumpet sounds in the west!"

In the tent, Zhu Di reacted immediately, and Wang Yi bowed without thinking: "Your Majesty, I will lead three thousand cavalry to investigate."

"I'll give you five thousand, together with Alitai's three thousand!"

Zhu Di gave an order, then stood up and walked out of the tent.

At the same time, as time passed, the sky in this desert land began to gradually brighten.

While the people in Jiangnan were still sleeping in the dark, more than 40,000 Ming army cavalry had already begun to get up and prepare for battle.

All the matchlocks were wrapped in tarpaulin, and the soldiers carried them on their backs, holding long spears and short hammers in their hands, and began to line up in an orderly manner.

Wang Yi led the integrated 8,000 Han and Mongolian cavalry out to the west, leaving only more than 35,000 people in the Ming army camp.

But even so, Mahamu on the high hill did not order an attack, but was waiting for the opportunity.

Time passed moment by moment, and the news came first from the west.

"Your Majesty, I sent Tupolo to the valley path on the west side in an attempt to attack from the flank of our army. Now he has been stopped by Shen Guogong with more than 10,000 troops."

"I know." Zhu Di stood among the Ming army formations and did not mount his horse easily.

The current war horse needed to conserve power, so he stood on the ground and looked at the high hills three miles away with a telescope, wondering when Mahamu would attack.

"Beep--"

A harsh whistle sounded, but it was not Mahamu's attack. The whistle came from the north, the largest mountain col entering the valley.

In the mountain col, a large number of Wala cavalry emerged from it, the size of which was no less than ten thousand.

"There are only 50,000 to 60,000 people in Wala, and there are 10,000 people in the west and north each. This proves that Mahamu only has 40,000 people at most."

Zhu Di was still in the mood to tease "only", as if he had no idea that their entire army only numbered more than 40,000.

"Forty thousand versus sixty thousand, that's a bit interesting."

Zhu Di stroked his beard, and Mahamu saw that his reinforcements were coming. He immediately stopped hesitating and waved his hand, and the horn sounded.

For a moment, the cavalry on the high hill surged down like a wave. The Ming troops lined up nervously, looking up into the sky from time to time.

There are no dark clouds, no rain, and no heavy fog...

For most of the grassroots soldiers of the Ming army who were not familiar with the climate of Mobei, if it were not required by military orders, they might have taken off their muskets right now and performed a volley to kill the Wala cavalry.

However, their thoughts were finally broken. Under their gaze, a large group of dark clouds gradually drifted from the northwest, and they could clearly see a layer of rain.

"Preparing for artillery fire, the front troops squatted in the trenches."

Zhu Di greeted him sideways, and Meng Zhang and Zhu Neng unconsciously put their hands on the hammer handle at their waists.

"kill!!"

"Kill the Southern Barbarians!"

"Uuuuuu——"

The scene of thousands of troops galloping will indeed cause many soldiers with weak psychological defenses to flee, but this does not exist in the Ming army.

"Damn it, a group of Mongolian Tatars still dare to scream in front of grandpa."

In the front army formation, Li Shi, who commanded Zhaozhou's left guard, cursed, then turned around and shouted to his soldiers:

"Brothers from Bohai, do you know what His Highness said about our soldiers in Bohai before setting off for the expedition?!"

"Know!!"

The soldiers around him shouted excitedly: "Go up the mountain to catch the tiger, go down to the sea to catch the dragon!"

"Okay!" Li Shi pulled out the pumpkin hammer from his waist: "Show these Tatars how powerful we are in Bohai!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Amid the shouts of killing, Zhaozhou's left guard soldiers abandoned their horses and formed formations on the ground to prepare for the enemy.

"Kill them all!" On horseback, Mahamu has led the cavalry to rush down the hill. Even if it rains now, they can't stop them.

Like a high-speed train, the dark clouds that seemed to be still more than ten miles away suddenly came to the top of the valley, bringing thick heavy rain.

"Boom!!"

There was a dull thunder, the horses charged, and the 50,000-horse cavalry rushed towards the two guards on the left and right of Zhaozhou who were leading the battle.

"Beep--"

The whistle sounded, and for a moment the two guards on the left and right of Zhaozhou squatted down subconsciously.

The curtains of the sixty tents behind them were opened, and hidden inside were field artillery elevated by mounds of earth.

"put!"

"Boom boom boom——"

Sixty five-pound iron cannonballs were fired, and at a distance of less than a hundred steps, they instantly penetrated the charge of the Wala cavalry. Hundreds of Wala cavalry and their horses were beaten into rotten flesh. The torn rotten meat fell to the ground and was beaten. Trampled by other war horses.

The four Jurchen generals, including Li Shi, Li Qi, Li Chi, and Richard Cha, all raised their golden melon hammers and swung them into the void ahead.

"kill!!!"

For a time, tens of thousands of Zhaozhou guards were armed with long spears. Just like when Fu Youde defeated the Yuan army's cavalry, they formed a formation and charged in the face of the cavalry charge.

"Nanbarbarians, you are fucking crazy!"

Many Vara cavalrymen were frightened. They had never seen the infantry charging at the cavalry team with their spears.

"Boom!"

The muffled thunder seemed to ignite the anger in his chest, and Li Shi and other four Jurchen generals led their troops to charge.

"Fuck him, hard on me!"

(End of this chapter)