The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 395: The War Begins

The sun begins to rise and the mist between sky and earth begins to dissipate.

The flags of the Ming army covered the sky, and the soldiers of the three armies stood solemnly under each battle flag, forming majestic and orderly military formations.

At this moment, the entire battlefield was solemn. Apart from the whistling sound of the wind and the faint sound of galloping coming from the sky, there was no other noise.

On a gently sloping hill, the originally dense trees have been cut down. The hillside is full of gullies and soldiers are running back and forth, apparently making the final defensive arrangements.

On the top of the mountain, the word "Tang" on the big flag fluttered in the wind and was clearly visible.

Standing on the top of the mountain, you can also have a clear view of the entire scene.

Tang Hao, wrapped in armor, stood on a high platform on the top of the mountain. His eyes moved between the military formations and finally fixed on the sky.

The faint sound of galloping water in the sky has become clearer and clearer.

Not long after, a faint black line appeared in the sky.

Like thunder, the surging iron cavalry came in an overwhelming manner.

Dayan Khan Batu Mongke, with all the manpower on the left wing, totaling an army of 100,000, attacked brazenly.

Da da da!
The thunderous sound of horse hooves suddenly stopped. Dayan Khan Batu Mengke looked ahead, glancing at the towering military formations not far away, and his brows furrowed.

Having fought many battles on the battlefield and having been through hundreds of battles, and having been raised by Mandu Haihadun to fight since childhood, Dayan Khan Batu Mongke could naturally tell at a glance the combat effectiveness of an army.

The current Ming army... is definitely not to be trifled with!

You don’t even need to think about it to know that he must be a strong opponent!
Thinking of the various news he had learned about the Ming army before, a solemn look slowly emerged between Batu Mengke's brows.

Tang Hao, Marquis of Zhongshan of the Ming Dynasty!
The trusted general of the young Ming Emperor Zhu Houzhao!
He single-handedly transformed the originally weak Beijing Army into an invincible force!

He suppressed the rebellion at home and destroyed Japan abroad. With 10,000 soldiers, he roamed the world. Some time ago, he personally led 10,000 soldiers from Liaodong to Daning, and then from Daning to Kaiping, and now he has come to Hetao!

Dayan Khan Batu Mengke was very knowledgeable. He could clearly see that the Marquis of Zhongshan of the Ming Dynasty wanted to rebuild the northern border defense line of the Ming Dynasty. He left no chickens, dogs or grass alive wherever he passed. This was a stern warning to the people of the grasslands not to plunder and harass the Ming Dynasty again, otherwise, that would be the fate of the grassland tribes that he had massacred!

Marquis of Zhongshan of the Ming Dynasty!

Dayan Khan Batu Mengke couldn't help but sigh.

Originally, he had unified the entire Mongolian grassland with the assistance of Mandu Haihadun.

If those damned beasts like Yibula and Mandulai had not launched a rebellion, then he, the Great Khan of Mongolia, could have gathered the entire Mongolian force and marched south to the Ming Dynasty to attack the Great Wall, just like the Oirat Grand Master Yesen did in the past, besieging the Ming capital and even destroying the Ming Dynasty!

If he really achieved this, then Dayan Khan Batu Mongke would be the true leader of the revival of the Mongol Empire, and he would re-establish the Golden Family's supreme position on the grassland!

However, no one expected that the damned foreign lords such as Yibula and Mandulai would actually kill the Deputy Khan of Jinong and launch a rebellion, causing the Mongolian Empire to fall into division and civil strife again.

And suddenly a Marquis of Zhongshan appeared in the Ming Dynasty. He emerged out of nowhere and overwhelmed the court, and even intervened in the separatist war between the left and right wings of Mongolia!

Thinking of this, Dayan Khan Batu Mengke became extremely angry.

These greedy and cunning Ming people have no moral bottom line!

"Darhan, go and ask them in person why the Ming people are breaking their promise?" "They have clearly formed an alliance with us and promised not to interfere in the Mongolian civil war. What does this mean now?"

Darhan was the chief of the left Khalkha tribe and the son-in-law of Dayan Khan Batu Mengke. He married Princess Turuletu, the only daughter of Dayan Khan Batu Mengke, and was therefore loyal to Dayan Khan Batu Mengke.

Hearing this, Dalhan did not think much about it. Soon he personally led several riders and galloped towards the Ming army.

"An envoy sent by the little Mongolian prince?"

Hearing the soldier's report, Tang Hao chuckled and said, "Bring the people up!"

Soon, Dalhan was disarmed by the soldiers and brought before Tang Hao. In fact, they didn't need to do this at all, because there might not be anyone in this world who could kill Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao head-on. Huoshai was the best example.

"Marquis Zhongshan of the Ming Dynasty!"

"I am the chief of the Khalkha tribe, the son-in-law of the great Dayan Khan!"

Wow, it’s a big fish!
One has to admit that Dayan Khan Batu Mongke had some courage. He even dared to send his own son-in-law as an envoy and was not afraid of being chopped off by him.

Tang Hao looked at Dalhan with a half-smile and said, "What do you want to do?"

"My father Khan ordered me to come here to ask why the Ming army wanted to interfere in the war between the left and right wings of my Mongolia?"

Dalhan asked in a neither humble nor arrogant manner, and directly stated his purpose.

Tang Hao didn't waste any words and pointed to the land in front of him.

"This is the Hetao Plain!"

"Shuofang in Zhou Dynasty, Dingxiang in Han Dynasty, Helian Bobo Tongwancheng, it was called "Chi Lechuan" in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and "Fengzhou Beach" in the Five Dynasties... In other words, this place has always been the territory of our Central Plains Dynasty!"

"So, it's not that I am leading my army to interfere in your Mongolian civil war, but your Mongolian army is invading our Ming territory, so naturally I have to intervene!"

These words were well-founded and Darhan, a Mongolian warrior, had no way to refute them.

In fact, in the late Warring States Period, King Wuling of Zhao extended the territory to the Yinshan Mountains and established Yunzhong County, located in the eastern part of the Tumochuan Plain. After the Qin Dynasty unified the Central Plains, it moved 30,000 households to Hetao to garrison the border and established Yunzhong and Jiuyuan counties. This was also the beginning of the Hetao Plain directly belonging to the Central Plains dynasty.

For the Central Plains dynasty, controlling the Hetao area would allow them to use the Yinshan Mountains as a barrier to resist the threat from the northern nomadic peoples and ensure the safety of Guanzhong and the Central Plains. Therefore, the Hetao area has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times, and has also become the main place for exchanges and collisions between the grassland peoples and the Central Plains peoples, and the grassland culture and the Yellow River culture.

Only during the Northern Song Dynasty, the Hetao Plain was occupied by the Western Xia and Liao Dynasties respectively. Then the Mongolian cavalry invaded the country. It was not until the early years of the Hongwu period that the generals Xu Da and Li Wenzhong eliminated the forces of Toluibe and Kongxing who occupied the Hetao Plain, and drove Kuyuk Timur to the Northern Yuan Dynasty's base camp, Karakorum, that they successfully recovered the Hetao Plain.

Unfortunately, the later generations were unfilial, which led to the loss of Hetao again.

Tang Hao wiped the sword in his hand and spoke in an indifferent tone.

"After you Mongolian tribes occupied the Hetao area, you used it as a base to charge left and right, south and west, and frequently harassed the military towns along the borders of our Ming Dynasty and the hinterland, burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of evil. This is an indisputable fact!"

"So, go back and tell Batu Mengke that as long as he abandons Hetao, our Ming army will not interfere in your civil war!"

"If not, then we'll just have to fight it out. Only after we fight will we know the outcome!"

(End of this chapter)