The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 287
On the north shore of Weining Sea, Ming cavalry advanced more than 30 li.

There are about five or six thousand people left behind in Huoshai's Mengguoljin Department, but they are powerless against the advance of Ming soldiers.

Wang Shouren was very decisive in executing the military orders. He issued an order at the beginning of the attack that all the troops must turn back and go south, and enter Datong from the direction of Maoerzhuang. This can shorten the distance to [-] miles.

But to carry it out...it's obviously not enough.

"General Wang, the heads of 260 [-] people have been beheaded so far, and the number of captives exceeds [-], which is hard to count. Hundreds of thousands of livestock... If you go south with this, I'm afraid...the journey will be slow..."

When General Guan Jing reported the incident to Wang Shouren, his voice trembled.

This credit is much more than Wang Weining's credit for attacking Wei Ninghai by surprise.

But the biggest problem now is that so many victories may not be taken away.

Even if Meng Guolejin's troops don't turn around and attack, the surrounding Tumote and Yongxiebu tribes will not sit idly by, and the Ming expeditionary force only has only 500 soldiers and horses. After the previous battle losses, Now that there are more than [-] left who can go to battle, it's not bad. Just like this, you still want to drive such a large grassland tribe to the south?
Cao Shun changed his previous arrogance and rudeness to Wang Shouren, and said in a deliberative tone: "Master Wang, why don't we... take away the animals and everything else, and send their children away. Take the horses, and the rest If you really can't do anything, don't force yourself."

With the greatest ability, take away what can be taken away.

You can't take away all the useful and useless things after killing people's back gardens, right?

Aren't we afraid that if the main force comes back, we won't be able to leave?

Wang Shouren's attitude was very firm and he said: "All the soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty have already left the pass. Sixty or seventy miles to the south, they will definitely be able to join the soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty. The Hulu will never dare to chase them! Anything that can be taken away is worthless." Keep!"

Hearing Cao Shun's words was very unpleasant.

He really wanted to say, you want to take you with you, anyway, I want to go back quickly, if you go to Datong, I can go to Yinshan Mountain, and go back wherever you came from.

……

……

Wang Shouren didn't want to leave any people and livestock to be screened by the fire. Since he chose to steal the house, he should steal it thoroughly.

Easy to say.

However, when implementing it, great difficulties were encountered.

The population of the prairie tribe is not bad, as long as you drive this group of people, you can take them down, but so many animals... have to go back to Daming through an area of ​​nearly [-] miles, and they can't graze on the way. Forage and water supply are great troubles.

That afternoon, sporadic tribesmen approached here, but Ma Yi led troops to kill them all.

At this time, Ma Yi was in charge of leading about [-] soldiers and horses behind the palace. These [-] soldiers and horses were considered to be about half of the remaining soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty, and the remaining troops had to be scattered in various places. Around a hundred people from different tribes, including men, women, old and children, and their livestock such as cattle, horses, sheep, and camels were driven southward.

By the time it got dark, the group hadn't circled the east bank of Weining Sea.

Cannot be stationed that night.

The soldiers were exhausted, and after several days of marching and a bloody battle, everyone's spirit was on the verge of collapse.

Even Wang Shouren felt that maybe his plan was a bit crazy, and the spoils this time were a bit exaggerated, the soldiers might not be able to hold on any longer.

"Stay where you are!"

Wang Shouren had to change his mind about going south quickly.

He has to face a problem now, that is, before going south to join the main force of Daming's central army, he has to start a head-on confrontation with Huozhai or other right-wing tribes.

Not to mention the rear, even the front...has hidden dangers.

……

……

The night is dignified.

That night, the wind blew up on the grassland, and after experiencing a great battle, death happened again in the tranquil Weining Sea. The sound of the wind outside the tent was like the sound of people whimpering.

The soldiers swept away the excitement on the battlefield before, and they had to be stationed in rotation that night, so they could only rest in batches.

When Ma Yi appeared in front of Wang Shouren with a gray and black face, Wang Shouren also understood that the expeditionary force he brought now would probably be buried in the Weining Sea before bringing the results of the battle back to Daming.

"Major General, the soldiers have tried their best! But there are too many Tartars here!"

"Roughly counting now, the population is nearly 2000, and that's not counting the more than [-] people we killed..."

Ma Yi's general thinking now is to just take those heads back.

For the soldiers, it was a credit to the world. If they wanted to bring back these captives, cattle and sheep, it would be almost impossible.

Wang Shouren said: "Can we continue to leave before midnight?"

"I'm afraid it won't work." Ma Yi said, "Some soldiers fell asleep on horseback and fell off the horse...it's not uncommon. I'm too tired today! At the earliest...it won't be until tomorrow morning. "

Wang Shouren didn't force Ma Yi, he nodded and said: "Then continue marching tomorrow morning. Gather all of Di Yi's population in one place, this time we brought the Mighty Sky gunpowder, if it really comes to the last step, then... kill! "

Wang Shouren also made a plan to burn everything together.

Although they are still deep into the hinterland of the grassland, and their whereabouts are no longer any secrets, and the journey is difficult to escort so many people and livestock to the south, not to mention that it may not even cover twenty miles in a day, but Wang Shouren is not concerned. Think this is a dead end.

The tribal population of more than [-] is the bargaining chip in his hand.

Am I forced to retreat after the battle?
Obviously you are escorting the "hostage" back to Daming, no matter how fast you fire your soldiers, you dare to come face to face with me?

At that time, I will directly kill your clansmen behind the scenes. If you dare to get closer for a mile, I will kill dozens of people and send the heads to you. I will ask you if you are afraid?
Your cattle and sheep will be slaughtered for you directly. Killing with a knife is too slow, and you will directly bombard them with yellow powder... You don’t need to be taught by grassland people to execute your people and livestock. Someone can definitely do it.

If you dare to run long distances to fight with you, you are ready to fight to the death!
……

……

When Wang Shouren explained the plan of massacring the hostages to Ma Yi, he could clearly feel a little blood on Ma Yi's face.

Ma Yi felt Wang Shouren's "unscrupulous methods" as a general. In other words, Wang Shouren had far-sightedness. It is meaningless to say the rule of not killing prisoners when you are dying. He has to do it. It is to bring the spoils back to Daming, and according to the agreement, unless there are some who can't take care of everything and escape midway, there must be one person and one animal left.

The northeast corner of Weininghai was very quiet that night.

Wang Shouren asked people to light up the camp with bonfires, and even allowed the herdsmen to feed the animals overnight.

At the same time, Wang Shouren also called over the remaining elders of the tribe and explained his intentions to them.

"If you are defeated, you should submit to Daming. As long as Huozhai surrenders, you will be saved, and even the livestock will still be yours. But if Huozhai persists in his obsession and continues to fight with us, then he will be dead."

Wang Shouren was telling the prisoners of war.

Your fate does not depend on the attitude of the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty towards you. We hope that you will survive to the border of the Ming Dynasty, and we will even give you the basis for continuing to survive.

Your life is actually controlled by Huo Sha and your family members. If the men of your family, that is, the cavalry from your expedition, come back and fight us decisively, then you will be killed to sacrifice the flag.

The old people left behind in the clan are also very afraid.

Someone asked: "Shouldn't you say these words to our patriarch and the warriors who went out?"

Wang Shouren said: "So, if your army arrives, I will send some of you, the old and the weak, as envoys, and then you will take my letter and intentions there and tell them."

Wang Shouren will not let women and children report the news, because he also knows that for the grassland, women are the most important resource and an important factor related to the development of the ethnic group. Those who follow along on the expedition can not only help the soldiers to do some logistical affairs, but also protect their most important property.

Children are also the future of the steppe tribe.

The lifespan of grassland people is generally in their 30s or even 20s. If they lose a generation, it may mean the demise of a tribe. It is impossible to plunder women from other tribes to bear children for them. Get through a generation that is out of touch.

But the elders in the clan... especially those who don't have the physical strength to work, are not of much value to the clan, and letting them go to inform the Ming army's intentions can be regarded as giving play to their residual heat.

……

……

There was no fighting that night.

It was also because the accomplishments shown by the Ming Expeditionary Army in this battle were too terrifying. Even if there were still viable forces of the tribes around, and there were even some troops left behind in the outer circle, they did not dare to come to the rescue easily at this time.

Wang Shouren arranged it before dawn.

Every time they pass a certain distance, an old man in the clan will be left behind, asking them to stop and bring their words to them.

After the soldiers of the expeditionary army took turns to rest overnight, their spirits were obviously much better, and they could continue to go south in high spirits after dawn.

But to go to Maoerzhuang... It is still difficult for the soldiers.

Even dismounting and walking is faster than the current procession, especially with so many cattle and sheep, they don't listen to them at all, and the help of herdsmen is useless.

Cattle and sheep will find places with aquatic plants by themselves.

Wang Shouren also calmed down at this time.

If you simply can't go back to the Daming border without encountering the enemy, then you don't care if you go fast or slow, you will encounter it anyway, anyway, the deterrent method you used before doesn't seem to be effective, so you should fight steadily, Wang Yue can pass the day Fu Ye arrived in Weininghai in more than 20 days, so why couldn't he take these spoils back to Daming in more than 20 days?
"Let's go like this, no way."

Cao Shun is the one who sings the most naysayers in the army.

At noon that day, the stove was not buried, and the soldiers were not short of rations. From the grain storage of the Mengoljin Department, they found a lot of dried meat and various food crops. Now they can eat whatever they want.

The carriages pulled by many horses were full of Tatars, old and weak, women and children. They didn't cry much along the way, and they seemed to have expected that the end of being a captive would be to be driven away like cattle and sheep.

As a result of traveling like this, Wang Shouren could get rumors of Tatars approaching everywhere from time to time, but surprisingly, none of the people along the way dared to approach directly.

One reason is that the number of these troops is not large, and they know that they cannot directly compete with the strength of the Ming Expeditionary Army. In addition, they do not belong to the same tribe, so they cannot form an alliance in a short time.

For tribes such as Tumed, although they are usually allies with the Mengoljin Department, if the rear of the Mengoljin Department is taken over by Ming, then the grassland of the Mengoljin Department will be owned by them. Now They might as well be on guard against fire and robbing their cattle, sheep and women... Are they going to fight against Daming directly because of these people and animals in the Mengoljin Department?
In addition, the main tribal forces on the right wing of Mongolia are all preparing for a decisive battle with Dayan Khan in the west. Now the Ming army has only plundered the rear of the Mongoljin tribe, leaving their basic base untouched. They are now protecting their own It was too late for the tribesmen, as for the matter of snatching back the mengoljin tribe, only Huozhai himself could do it.

The war has only happened for one day now, and Huoshai probably hasn't even got the news yet, and it will take a few days for him to return to the army, so everything still seems so calm.

"Most of the troops approaching us now are from the mengoljin department. In addition to those who escaped from the battlefield yesterday, there are also some troops gathered from the surrounding area. It seems that the number of soldiers and horses is around one or two thousand. , does not have the strength to fight us."

The next night.

The team that seemed to be fleeing from a refugee finally walked out of the area of ​​Weining Sea, but it only traveled twenty miles. This was the result of Wang Shouren's various urgings and methods such as killing people to build power.

At the military meeting that night, Guan Jing represented Da Ming's Yebuyan, that is, news came from the scouts.

After Cao Shun heard the news, he said with a look of relief, "That's good, that's good. If everything goes well, it will take about five or six days to arrive at Mao'er Village. Maybe the Tartars haven't reacted yet."

"No." Wang Shouren said, "Before we reach Maoerzhuang, even if the Hulu can only gather 2000 people, they will rush to kill them."

Cao Shun was puzzled, "Aren't they afraid that we will wipe out all their clansmen?"

Wang Shouren asked rhetorically, "What's the difference between being brought into the pass by us and being killed?"

"This……"

Cao Shun couldn't answer.

"It's nothing more than a matter of life and death." Wang Shouren added, "At that time, if the fire sieve does not come down, then his tribe's members will be completely gone. And those who stay behind will not be treated kindly! They will be the first to be killed. A man of integrity."

This means that when Huoshai came back, he found that most of the clansmen had been taken away by an expeditionary force of [-] soldiers and horses from the Ming Dynasty, and he himself had left [-] to [-] soldiers to garrison. It's just for the reserve, Huozhai will kill this group of inactive guys first in order to boost the morale of the army.

And this group of people who stayed behind also knew that what they did was neither acceptable to the tribe nor accepted by Huozhai, so they are now waiting for the opportunity to attack.

They are also observing the weaknesses of the Ming army.

"So it's best to take the initiative to fight." Wang Shouren gave a strategy.

"Still fighting?"

Cao Shun seemed incomprehensible.

Escorting so many people and livestock to the south, and carrying so many goods in the carriage, there are dozens of carriages for the cattle and sheepskin alone... The other party dare not come forward, it should be burning incense, but this Wang family On the other hand, the major general seems not to be afraid of trouble at all, and can always make some evil things happen.

"Let the commander of the horse see the opportunity and lead the troops to rush out. There is no need to rush to fight. It is okay to drive the bandits away fifty miles away!"

Wang Shouren gave a specific strategy.

……

……

There was no overnight garrison that night, and the men and horses continued to march before midnight.

Wang Shouren fully understood the strategic intention given to him by Zhang Zhou, and tried not to fight night battles on the grassland, especially night raids, otherwise the Ming soldiers might get lost on the grassland without too many markers.

He will not carry out any plan to drive Di Yi away at night, everything will have to wait until after dawn.

When the sky was getting dark, Wang Shouren looked up at the sky, and Ma Yi also got a rotation and came to report to him.

"Commander Ma, within three days, we must get rid of the trouble behind us, otherwise our army will be very passive when we encounter front and rear attacks around Maoerzhuang."

Wang Shouren was also telling Ma Yi.

Asking you to drive away Di Yi is only a stopgap measure, and it is best to eat up the one or two thousand cavalry following behind at once.

Only in this way can we ensure that we concentrate on dealing with the former bannermen of the Mengguolejin Department stationed in Maoerzhuang and other places.

Ma Yi asked: "Didn't Zhang Zhitai say that he would clear the way for us to go south?"

"At the current speed we are advancing, it is impossible for the soldiers and horses of the Xuan Mansion to reach Maoerzhuang, and the soldiers and horses of Datong Town may not be able to follow orders to dispatch northward. The miles are already good, and we will have to wait at least five or six days before we have a chance to meet up with the soldiers and horses in the border town."

"However, according to my prediction, the soldiers and horses of the Manguan Abu Front Banner will go north from Maoerzhuang and other places after hearing the news, and they will fight in three days at the latest."

Wang Shouren knew something about the urinating nature of the Ming frontier army.

Zhang Zhou has already ordered Datong Town and Piantouguan to send troops.

However, it is impossible for the Biantouguan people to come to Maoerzhuang to meet them, that is to say, it is impossible for Zhang Zhou's direct descendants, Wang Qiong and Zhu Feng, to come to help. They count on Hong Han, the governor of Datong. Although he seems more reliable than Ma Zhongxi, Hong Han Han will not be too quick when executing military orders.

As for Zhang Zhou himself... Wang Shouren didn't dare to put too much hope in it, because it was a long way from Xuanfu to Maoerzhuang.

In fact, what was even more terrible was that Wang Shouren had seized too many trophies, and his speed of travel was too slow, so that it would delay the time to go to Maoerzhuang...

The previous view was that the Huozhaiqian Banner troops would retreat westward after encountering a war, but now Wang Shouren has uprooted the Huozhai Department’s lair, and the family members of the Huozhaiqian Bannermen and horses are probably among them. Lost it all, how about running west by yourself?
This also made Wang Shouren deeply aware.

The credit is too small to be worth mentioning.

The credit is too great, and it is troublesome to take away the old nest of the fire sieve. It is very likely that he will be buried in the grassland and cannot return to the Central Plains.

(End of this chapter)