Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 432: Capturing Yuan Yi alive
"Crash-"

Under the heavy rain, the Selenge Valley, which had been bright and clear just now, now became dark, damp, and muddy.

The tens of thousands of Wala cavalry did not expect that the two guards on the left and right of Zhaozhou would attack them with long spears in their hands. Not only them, but also Zhu Di, Zhu Neng and others in the rear did not expect.

It was precisely because no one expected that Mahamu's tentative attack was forced into a cavalry attack.

The distance between the two sides was too close, no more than 20 steps. There were tens of thousands of spearmen in front of them, and tens of thousands of cavalry from our own side were pushing forward. The situation was inevitable.

"Don't be afraid of these southern barbarians. Failure to line up your spears is the same as seeking death!"

Mahamu was still boosting the morale of the army, but now the Wala cavalry in the front army could not hear his words at all.

The heavy rain obscured most of the sight, and the muffled thunder cast a layer of haze on people's minds.

The two armies are about to collide and meet on a narrow road...

"Kill the Hu soldiers!"

The horn sounded, and the two guards on the left and right of Zhaozhou broke into pieces. Using small flags as units, they crossed over the bodies of the Wala cavalry in front of them and attacked the group of Wala cavalry who were trying to divide their forces.

Mahamu looked at the soldiers and horses around him holding long spears, and then at the Ming army holding golden melon hammers. With overwhelming confidence, he resolutely led the army to charge towards the mounted cavalry on both wings of the Ming army.

Military orders were issued after Zhu Di's judgment. It seemed like a long time, but it was only a dozen breaths before the Wara cavalry collided with the front army.

"Long soldiers versus short soldiers, the outcome is still uncertain!"

Seeing this scene, Zhu Di couldn't help but shout "Hello", and Zhu Neng next to him also clenched his fists and said:

Thousands of cavalry from the front army crashed into the square formation composed of three-foot-long spears. The men fell over and their horses neighed.

"I will (sell) your mother!"

Anyway, he has already looked away. After all, after this battle, he will most likely give up his position. There is no need to be greedy for such small achievements.

The Wala people cursed, but the situation was no longer helpful.

In a noisy environment, tens of thousands of pikemen rushed to only ten steps away from the Wala cavalry. When they were only ten steps away from the Wala cavalry, they inserted the ends of their spears into the soil and suddenly formed a formation.

"The rear army leads the center army, leads the horses and prepares carbines, waiting for the order!"

"it is good!"

"The Chinese army is on top of the front army, waiting for orders and ready to form a line attack at any time."

"Nanbarbarian!"

As soon as his thoughts came to his mind, he saw the cavalry on the left and right wings of the Ming army getting on their horses, shaking their reins and charging toward their left and right wings.

On the other hand, although most of the Wala cavalry are elite cavalry, heavy items such as vests are not suitable for them fighting in Mobei. Therefore, in impact operations, although their weapons are longer, they cannot hold up their horses without force.

"The rain is about to stop, don't miss this opportunity, go straight to the Chinese army!"

Mahamu scolded and turned his horse hastily, preparing to bypass the front army and directly attack the Chinese army.

At this moment, the morale of the Oara cavalry on the frontal battlefield was low. Mahamu had to turn his horse's head and lead the cavalry to disperse to the left and right wings, choosing to actively avoid the spear formations of Zhaozhou's left and right guards.

Looking at it, he realized that the dark clouds above him were moving rapidly to the southeast, and the white area in the northwest was getting larger and larger.

They have neck protectors on their necks and iron visors on their faces, so they don't worry about being attacked. Not to mention that the horses under their crotches are covered with front vests, so they don't worry about suffering losses in the impact.

However, when they took the initiative to disperse, Meng Zhang from the front army immediately blew the horn: "Woo woo hoo——"

"Since the Battle of Caizhuang, our Ming Dynasty has not seen such an elite spear army for more than 40 years!"

Blood was spilled on the battlefield, and it was impossible to tell whether it was horses or people, Ming troops or Hu soldiers.

At one time, hundreds of people fell from their horses, and the number was still increasing.

The two parties collided, and the Ora cavalry charged suddenly, but the two guards on the left and right of Zhaozhou, who had been flanking the Ora cavalry, had no intention of letting go.

At this moment, tens of thousands of them were as one, but in the blink of an eye, a phalanx of spears had been formed.

All he knew was that the blow just now was enough to make Mahamu vomit blood.

"What are you doing?"

Mahamu was stunned for a moment and subconsciously looked towards the sky.

Without the threat of spears, it is not an impossible task to attack Dagu by surprise.

"Second brother is good at training troops!" Zhu Di was arrogant and did not shy away from the issue of the ownership of Zhaozhou's left and right guards.

But when he looked at the middle army, he found that the Ming army's middle army was on top of the front army, and the rear army was on top of the middle army.

Although they were wearing heavy armor, they had been fighting in dense forests all year round. Even when they arrived at the garrison in Nanjing, they still insisted on running ten miles without armor every day.

"kill!!"

The heavy rain in Mobei came and went quickly. In just one moment, Zhu Di saw the dark clouds above his head showing a ray of white in the northwest.

"At the top of the central army, the cavalry on both wings will double-team!"

Mahamu saw the situation of the central and rear troops of the Ming army. Because they were accustomed to always combining muskets and bayonets, they did not carry a large number of long guns like the left and right guards of Zhaozhou.

Zhu Di ordered in an orderly manner while looking into the sky.

"These Nanbarbarians are difficult to deal with!"

Five thousand cavalrymen on each side of the flanks and Ora cavalry charged head-on. Although the pumpkin hammer on the horseback was too short, it was a disadvantage, but the Ming army's armor was thick. Even if they were hit by long guns, they would only feel a tightness in the chest and some pain.

This kind of physique allows them to adapt quickly when fighting in complex terrain. On the other hand, although the Oara cavalry prevented the Ming army from using firearms, the slippery roads made it difficult for them to break out once they were surrounded.

The tens of thousands of Zhaozhou cavalrymen on the left and right dismounted to fight on foot, and they dared to charge head-on with the Ora cavalry with long spears. This was simply unheard of for them.

Thousands of cavalry were surrounded by Zhaozhou's left and right guards. This was the first time that the Wala cavalry was surrounded by infantry, and their fate needless to say.

At this moment, Mahamu has turned his attention to Zhu Di's big banner. He wants to cause maximum casualties to the Ming army before the heavy rain stops.

"Time is up……"

Looking at the Wala cavalry who had escaped from the two wings of cavalry and charged towards him, Zhu Di drew out the golden sword at his waist: "The central army is ready, the rear army is on horseback!"

"Beep, beep -"

Two short and one long whistles sounded, and the Chinese army's tens of thousands of dismounted cavalry took off their flintlock spears from their shoulders and held on to them through the oil paper.

The 10,000 Ming troops in the rear army got on their horses and took out the carbines on the side of their saddles, ready to tear open the oil paper at any time.

"not good!"

Seeing this scene, Mahamu raised his head decisively.

Just as he guessed, the rainstorm passed faster than he expected, the surrounding light became much brighter, and the dark clouds overhead were about to pass over them.

The rain around them began to lighten up, and they were still hundreds of steps away from the central Ming army.

"Tear off the oil paper, reload the ammunition, line up the middle army, wait for the rear army to give chase when the bugle sounds!"

Zhu Di clenched his sword and slashed into the air in front of him, but he had the courage to split the Ora cavalry in two.

Not long after he finished speaking, the dark clouds above his head were completely blown to the southwest by the fierce wind in Mobei. Except for the muddy land under his feet, there was nothing to prove that this land had experienced a heavy rain just now.

"Beep, beep -"

Whistles sounded continuously, and Tangqi kept running with orders.

At this moment, the Chinese army's tens of thousands of dismounted cavalry began to form a formation, with three rows of 5,000 men on each side of the army.

The cavalrymen on horseback of the rear army had torn off the oil paper and started loading ammunition.

"Uuuuuu——"

The horn of the Oirat sounded first, and Taiping and Mahamu shook off Wang Zhong and Xu Zengshou on the left and right wings respectively, and rushed towards Zhu Di's more than 10,000 line cavalry.

Getting closer and closer, the Ming army tore apart the oil paper in an orderly manner and loaded the flintlock spears.

"kill!!"

After rushing into the distance of fifty steps, the Ming army had finished reloading, but Zhu Di did not give the military order to fire.

"For volley kills such as line tactics, the shorter the distance, the greater the damage. Often a single attack can destroy the opponent's morale. However, how much the distance can be shortened depends on the training of the army..."

At this moment, Zhu Di remembered that when he was in Wuying Palace, Zhu Gaoxu was talking to him about volley shooting in line tactics.

By the time he reacted, tens of thousands of Wala cavalry were already less than thirty steps away from the Ming army on the left and right wings.

"put!"

Zhu Di was ready to go. After giving the order, the horn sounded.

"Uuuuuu——"

Although it only took a few breaths, the Wala cavalry had already rushed within twenty steps, and what greeted them was a queue of tens of thousands of Ming troops to kill them.

"Crack, crackle, crackle!!"

Thick smoke of gunpowder rose, and as it rose, many Wara cavalrymen on the charge fell down one after another.

After the Ming soldiers in the first row pulled the triggers and fired the bullets, they immediately squatted down and loaded bayonets on their muskets.

The Ming army in the second row pulled the trigger, and then squatted down to attach the bayonet.

The third row at the end was still like this. The difference was that when he installed the bayonet, the brothers in the two rows in front had already stood up.

When the thick smoke dissipated, thousands of Ora cavalry were dead in the front row. Their fallen bodies frustrated the impact of the Ora cavalry charging from behind.

For a time, countless people fell down, while Mahamu stared at this scene with wide eyes.

He did not see the Ming army lighting torches and matchlocks, which were fundamentally different from the matchlock guns he knew from the people of Eastern Mongolia.

"Cheated?"

At this moment, Mahamu even thought of Zhu Di deliberately releasing some Eastern Mongolians to deceive him.

Unprepared, Mahamu and the others used matchlock tactics to deal with flintlock guns.

Originally, he planned to wait for the Ming army to light the torches and then order the Ora cavalry to raise their shields to defend.

However, the Ming army's flintlock guns no longer needed torches to assist in combat. They only needed to pull the trigger and hit the flint, so he missed the best defensive opportunity.

"Uuuuuu——"

The horn sounded again, and the tens of thousands of cavalrymen in the rear of the Ming army heard the horn and decisively launched a charge against the Ora cavalry who tried to attack.

The distance between the two sides is more than a hundred steps. If Mahamu insists on continuing to attack the Ming army's line of cavalry, he will lose a large number of Oara cavalry while gaining a small amount of victory.

"withdraw!"

With the green hills left and no need for firewood, Mahamu ordered the retreat without hesitation.

Suddenly, the signal to retreat sounded in the army, and the Oara cavalry, which had been demoralized by the Ming army, began to retreat following Mahamu's banner.

Seeing this scene, Taiping couldn't help but scolded: "Mahamu, you bastard!"

Without any time to scold him, Taiping immediately organized a retreat and at the same time sent sentry riders in the direction of Batu Polo, preparing to send out the signal to retreat.

As agreed, they began to retreat toward the east of the valley.

At the same time, after the two cavalrymen of Wang Zhong and Xu Zengshou solved the Ora cavalry that was entangled with them, they also pulled out their carbines, tore up the oil paper, loaded ammunition into the barrels, and followed the rear troops to pursue the Ora.

For a time, the attack and defense changed shape, and the fifty thousand Walan cavalry lost an unknown number of casualties, but the scale was still huge.

However, they did not get entangled or fight, and collectively retreated towards the east of the valley.

Zhu Di took the lead and led the rear cavalry to pursue Wang Zhong, Xu Zengshou, Zhu Neng and others.

With less than 20,000 troops, we pursued the enemy's 30,000 to 40,000 troops.

"Send an order to the whole army to encircle and suppress the Hu soldiers, and wait for my order to rush to the aid of Duke Shen!"

Among the front troops, Meng Zhang calmly gave orders to Li Shi and others. At the same time, he took over the tens of thousands of lines of cavalry from the Chinese army Chen Wu and asked them to participate in the encirclement and suppression of the Oala cavalry.

Soon, the several thousand cavalrymen surrounded by Zhaozhou's left and right guards either surrendered or were killed on the spot. "Uuuuuu——"

The dull horn echoed in the river valley, and the Ming army's cavalry, which numbered less than 20,000, launched a pursuit against the 30,000 to 40,000 Wala cavalry in front.

Mahamu and the others looked back while retreating.

Before entering the valley, Zhu Di had already left his draft horses and riding horses outside the valley, and sent a thousand horse troops to guard them.

Nowadays, they only have one war horse at their hip, so Zhu Di would let the cavalry fight on foot in the previous period to preserve the strength of the war horse, so as to gain an advantage in pursuit.

Even though they were wearing heavy armor, the fat and strong horses of the Ming army were still as strong as oxen, carrying their own knights and constantly shortening the distance between the two armies.

"Clap clap clap-"

When the distance shortened to about fifty steps, the Ming army's carbine began to sound.

Although there were only 20,000 people, they formed a wild goose formation and began to pursue. After firing, the cavalry took the initiative to slow down their horses and make way for the cavalry behind them to shoot.

"Uh-huh!"

For a time, countless people fell from their horses, and Mahamu and Taiping's scalps went numb.

"I'm going to kill those bastards from Eastern Mongolia!"

Taiping and Mahamu gritted their teeth and said this. The group of people who surrendered in Eastern Mongolia never said that the Ming army could light muskets without torches, let alone that the Ming army could use muskets on horseback.

They fell into the trap, and falling into the trap means suffering a loss!

"Clap clap clap-"

The sound of carbine sounded from time to time behind them, but Mahamu and the others did not dare to stop, for fear that the Ming army would bite them.

Just now, 60,000 people fought against 40,000 people, and they couldn't win despite the heavy rain. Now that the Ming army has firearms, the result is needless to say.

"Chase me!"

Zhu Di's eyes were red and he was so anxious that he even said "I".

In his opinion, if he failed to severely damage Wala, then his battle would undoubtedly be full of regrets.

Now it seems that they have caused at most more than 10,000 casualties to Wala. Although it is already very heavy, it is not enough to damage the muscles and bones.

If he wants to break Wala's backbone, then at least there must be no less than 20,000 Wala people left!
Thinking of this, Zhu Di waved his whip cruelly at his mount, and the horse sped up in pain.

"Cut the vest!"

In order to succeed in pursuit, Zhu Di took the lead and used a short knife to cut off the dozens of kilograms of vest on the horse.

Upon seeing this, the Ming army followed suit one after another, leaving precious vests on the roads they passed.

With the weight of several dozen kilograms reduced, the speed of the Ming army's horses increased again, constantly shortening the distance between them and the Wala in front.

The interrupted gunfire rang out again, and every time it rang out, it could take away the lives of dozens or hundreds of Wara cavalrymen.

As time passed, the horsepower of both the Oala and the Ming army could no longer keep up with such a level of attack, and the speed of both sides slowed down invariably.

The difference is that Wala slowed down faster than the Ming army.

"Turn the horse's head and fight with them!"

Seeing that his horse power was about to be exhausted, Mahamu ignited the last trace of blood, turned the horse's head and started to attack the Ming army behind him.

They launched the final round of charge. When Zhu Di saw this, he excitedly pulled out his carbine: "Charge!"

The two sides launched a charge and got entangled in the valley plain after the heavy rain.

Due to the lack of horsepower, the charge at this time seemed weak and weak. It did not have the excitement of flesh and blood collision, but an exhausting fight.

The horses were exhausted, but the soldiers of the two armies on the horses were full of strength.

The Wala cavalry thrust out their spears, but the Ming army raised their guns and fired.

"Clap clap-"

The projectile penetrated Oala's armor, and all the strength in his body was drained. Countless Hu soldiers fell down.

After the shooting ended, a large number of cavalry retreated to the rear, leaving the battlefield to their comrades behind them.

If the comrades finished shooting and others could not catch up, they would pull up some spears on the ground and fight with the Ora cavalry.

Upon seeing this, Mahamu immediately sent thousands of cavalry forward to fight, while the rest of the cavalry stationed their horses to restore their power and prepare to retreat at any time.

Their actions were observed by Zhu Di with binoculars, but Zhu Di was not idle either.

He led thousands of cavalry behind the team, constantly feeding the horses with horse feed and fresh water.

Compared with pasture, horse feed can undoubtedly replenish the horse's physical strength faster.

Without a telescope, Mahamu could only see the Ming army fighting back and forth with thousands of his own cavalry, but could not see Zhu Di's actions at all.

Time passed little by little, and as the thousands of fighting cavalry retreated, Mahamu stopped giving orders to attack.

At the same time, the Ming army also stationed their horses to restore their horsepower and load ammunition for their carbines.

After a short rest, Mahamu no longer wanted to fight and decisively retreated.

After receiving the order, tens of thousands of Wala cavalry who were already afraid of the Ming army began to turn their horses and retreat. However, this time their retreat direction was no longer to the east, but to the southeast.

“They want to cross the Selenga River!”

Zhu Di sensed Mahamu's intention because before entering the valley, Arutai told him that the Selenge River ran through the valley.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di immediately blew the horn, and the Ming army, who had rested for a moment, immediately launched a pursuit.

The two armies chased for several miles on the river valley plain, until a river more than 20 paces wide appeared in front of them. The Ora cavalry drove their horses into the water without any scruples.

When the Ming army catches up, they can only surround them on the shore, keep pulling the trigger, shoot the group of Ora cavalry who are preparing to cross the river, and at the same time observe the pattern of the Ora cavalry crossing the river.

"There are shoals in the water, but the water is so muddy that we can't see them."

"Watch out for the ammo packs and get ready to cross the river!"

Zhu Di gave a reminder, and then prepared to fight hand-to-hand with the Wala cavalry on the north bank, and followed the Wala cavalry across the Selenga River.

But before he could take action, the sound of horse hooves was heard from the south bank of the Selenge River.

Zhu Di picked up the telescope and looked, and sure enough he saw a large number of cavalry in the distance running towards the Selenge River deep into the land.

"and many more!"

Zhu Di was worried about an ambush and looked carefully with a telescope. However, because the enemy army was too far away, the Ming army's telescope could only see two or three miles away, so he was not sure how many enemies were coming.

"Your Majesty, they should have no reinforcements."

Suddenly, Arutai, who had disappeared for a long time, suddenly rode forward and appeared next to Zhu Di. Zhu Di frowned when he heard this.

There was a lot of movement on the south bank, and it didn't look like a small-scale reinforcement.

It's just that Arutai was right. Wala's troops numbered at most 60,000, and now they have basically been exposed. Unless Yili in the south supports them, they will have no reinforcements at all.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di no longer hesitated: "The whole army crosses the river!"

Following Zhu Di's order, 20,000 Ming troops charged towards the more than 10,000 Wala cavalry on the north bank.

"Surrender without killing!"

"Surrender without killing!"

Many of the Ming army's surrendered Mongolians shouted, and for a while the Oara cavalry on the north bank who could not cross the river dismounted and surrendered.

Of course, there were also stubborn ones among them. They jumped into the Selenge River, but were swept away by the undercurrent of the river, both men and horses.

"Hurry across the river and don't listen to them!"

On the south bank, Mahamu, who had led more than 10,000 people across the river, kept shouting. These shouts were spread by the guards around him, and soon awakened a large number of Wala cavalry from the north bank.

They drove their horses through the ford to the south bank, and the Ming army pulled the trigger and shot them dead.

"Archery!"

Mahamu took out the long bow in his bow bag and led his cavalry to follow suit and shoot arrows, trying to interfere with the Ming army with arrows.

For a time, a large number of arrows fell into the north bank in the form of projectiles. Many surrendering Oara cavalry and the surrendering Ming army were attacked.

In order to avoid the arrows, they had to turn their horses and retreat.

After cutting off the vest, they could not be sure whether these losses would kill their horses.

Under the cover of Mahamu, thousands of Wala cavalry on the north bank successfully crossed the river. Together with those who had crossed the river before, more than 20,000 Wala cavalry fired arrows at the south bank to harass for a while, and then immediately retreated to the southeast.

"Cross the river!"

Seeing them retreat, Zhu Di immediately ordered to cross the river.

This time, with the help of thousands of troops, they successfully crossed the Selenga River.

When they successfully crossed the river and pursued Mahamu and Taiping, Mahamu and Taiping also came to the place where the sound of horse hooves had been heard.

They were very confused, wondering who could make such a big fuss.

But he didn't want to wait for them to arrive. What he saw was Tuo Huan leading tens of thousands of women and children to gallop back and forth on the same spot.

"Why are you here? Didn't I ask you to keep an eye on your uncle?"

Mahamu, who was saved by Tuhuan, did not thank him, but quickly asked Benya where he was missing.

"My uncle took advantage of the opportunity to cross the river and escaped. I came to save you guys in a hurry, but I couldn't stop him in time..."

Tuo Huan was very ashamed. Mahamu became angry after hearing this and raised his riding whip.

Taiping, who was standing next to him, saw this and quickly stopped him: "If we hadn't had sex, we would have been killed by Zhu Di in the Selenge River today."

"What we need to do now is not to fight among ourselves, but to retreat."

"With those surrendering bitches, Zhu Di will be able to catch up soon."

Taiping's words made sense. After hearing this, Mahamu suppressed his temper and gritted his teeth and said: "Withdraw!"

Following his order, tens of thousands of women and children and more than 20,000 Walas cavalry began to retreat.

Since Tuohuan had brought many horses, their retreat was very fast this time. By the time Zhu Di and the others arrived, they had already completely run away.

"Bastard!"

Zhu Di looked at the horse hooves all over the ground and knew without much thought that the reinforcements had brought new horses, which helped Mahamu and the others escape so quickly.

"Your Majesty, it seems that we can't catch up now, but the results of our battle are brilliant enough, all thanks to your Majesty's good command."

Arutai rode forward and praised him without hesitation. After all, Wala had served at least 20,000 cavalry in the first battle. Such a result was enough for publicity.

"I'm still a little regretful that I couldn't go further..."

Zhu Di frowned slightly and wanted to turn his horse's head and leave, but then the peripheral Tangqi came in a hurry.

"His Majesty!"

After Tong'an Hou Huozhen received Tangqi's message, he rode up happily, dismounted, knelt down and bowed:

"Congratulations to Your Majesty, our army has surrounded Yuan Yi Benya Shili and his troops in the northwest corner. Benya Shili has surrendered."

"Okay!!" Hearing Benya Shili's name, Zhu Di couldn't help but shout "Okay!" The surrounding Ming army generals also cheered.

Compared to them, Arutai's face instantly turned pale.

His admiration for Zhu Di does not mean that he hopes that Zhu Di can capture the senior officials of Wala, let alone Yuan descendants like Benya Shili.

Benya was caught missing, and what this meant was something he, the former Eastern Mongolian Grand Master, could only understand...

(End of this chapter)