In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 164 The Lin Family Army’s Long March
After making the decision, Lin Rui no longer delayed and immediately asked everyone to start preparing for the retreat.

However, in order not to cause panic, except for Namuzhong and Habeier, Lin Rui did not tell anyone else that the army was going to Mobei for the winter, but instead announced that the army would take a detour to Ningxia.

Otherwise, if it were said directly that the army was going to flee to Mobei for the winter, at least the more than 1 Tumote youths in the army would definitely escape.

Even to be on the safe side, all the Tumut boys had their war horses taken away.

Two days later, Namuzhong led 10 veteran Mongolian cavalry and [-] horses to occupy the northern entrance to the mountain. Only then did the [-] horses leave Guihua City and outside the city at Lin Rui's order. The big camp set off in a mighty manner.

Most of the useless materials were thrown away. More than half of the tens of thousands of carts were loaded with wood, women and children, and the remaining [-] horses were used to pull the carts.

As for the mules and horses originally brought from the Ming Dynasty, they had long been eaten up.

The Mongolian boys and girls who had no horses were carrying swords, bows and arrows, and were guarding the carriages with the young men from the trap camp and the logistics camp.

The more than 2 infantry battalions and [-] longbowmen are based on battalions, covering the left and right wings and responsible for the rear.

Originally, Dorgon was very excited when he learned that the Lin family army was finally going to escape, feeling that the opportunity had finally come.

Huang Taiji's order to him was that if Namuzhong and Lin Rui abandoned the large army and just escaped with the cavalry, then they must be surrounded and eliminated at all costs. If the other party fled with the large army, then Try to entangle and slow down the opponent.

But now that he saw that the Lin family army was heading north with a large force to escape into the Yinshan Mountains, Dorgon was confused for a moment.

Because in his opinion, even if the opponent wants to escape with a large force, he will only flee westward along the Yellow River. Even if the opponent flees eastward or southward, he can still understand it, but he can only run towards the Yinshan Mountain in the north. , which made him unexpected and unable to figure it out.

After all, the Lin family army has more than [-] people, not hundreds or thousands. It is simply impossible for so many people to survive hiding in the mountains for a long time.

After passing through Yinshan Mountain, the north will only become more desolate and more difficult to survive.

Unless the other party goes directly to Mobei, but it's almost the end of August now, let alone such a hasty situation of lack of food and clothing, even if they are well prepared, they can't even hope to cross the Gobi Desert and successfully reach Mobei.

"Brother Fourteen, I estimate that Hena Muzhong, named Lin, probably wants to go west along the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain to Ningxia or Gansu to avoid our pursuit!"

"It's not a short detour like this. Do they still have that much food to feed their horses and people?"

Dorgon frowned and said with some suspicion that it would take at least a month to take a detour from the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain to Ningxia or Gansu.

There is still some dry grass south of Yinshan Mountain, which can be eaten by war horses, but after passing Yinshan Mountain, it is estimated that there is no dry grass to eat. How can the other side maintain the little food?
Although he didn't know exactly how much food the Lin family army had left, it was definitely not much, otherwise it would be impossible to eat meat every day. Less than half of the more than 7 war horses were left.

"If we keep killing horses along the way, we can still barely hold on until winter and reach Ningxia or Gansu." Duduo thought for a while and said.

"Well, you're right, it's true."

"But if they think they can go to Ningxia or Gansu by going around the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain, then they are thinking too simply.

Let's do this, fifteenth brother, I will lead [-] cavalry from the mountain pass in front through Yinshan Mountain to intercept them. You take the remaining cavalry and hang behind them to pursue them. You must be careful after entering the mountain to avoid being ambushed! "

Dorgon sneered and immediately made arrangements.

Guihua City is only more than 20 miles away from Yinshan Mountain in the north. With the opponent's strength, if they want to forcibly stop it, they will definitely not be able to stop it.

So we can only go through Yinshan in advance and go around to the front to intercept.

It is probably because of this that the other party fancifully thought that they could escape their pursuit by going around to the north of Yinshan Mountain and successfully go to Ningxia and Gansu!
"Brother Fourteen, don't worry. I'm not that stupid pig like Hauge. There's no way he can ambush me."

Duduo beat his chest loudly and did not forget to belittle Hauge.

Dorgon then explained a few more words and took [-] cavalry directly around Guihua and headed west.

After running westward for more than 100 miles, they found a passage suitable for the army and turned north.

Here, Lin Rui has led all 10 horses into Yinshan Mountain and continues to advance north along the valley. If there are suitable trees on the mountains on both sides, he will cut them down directly.

Duduo followed carefully with more than 1 cavalry, not daring to catch up too close.

Since this passage through Yinshan Mountain has an open terrain with almost no steep hills, Lin Rui was too lazy to waste time and set up an ambush.

It only took four days for Lin Rui to lead his army through Yinshan Mountain. Once out of the valley, the temperature was significantly lower, and the surrounding air seemed to be much drier. The difference from the south of Yinshan Mountain was really huge.

Looking north, everywhere you look, except for some dead weeds and the occasional low shrub or two, there are almost no tall green plants, and there are not even a single stream or river.

The howling north wind hits people in the face like a knife.

Scenes like this can make people feel intimidated.

"Rui Lang, there is a Jiannu cavalry coming from the west, with a strength of about [-]. They should have come around from the valley passage to the west!"

Namuzhong rode up to Lin Rui and whispered.

"Don't worry about them. Let's continue heading north. I want to see if they dare to catch up."

Lin Rui sneered and immediately gave the order to continue moving forward.

Just like that, as the long horn sounded, the convoy of people who took a short break began to move slowly towards the north again despite the cold wind.Whether they were ordinary Mongolians or Han Chinese, they could no longer tell the difference between east, west and north. They thought they were really going to Ningxia and they were still walking with their heads down.

But Madam Lu and the ladies sitting on the carriage looked at the Yinshan Mountain behind them and the direction the team was heading in, and they all noticed something was wrong.

"Mother, are we coming from the south? The direction of Yinshan Mountain should be south. If we want to go to Ningxia in the west, shouldn't we walk along Yinshan Mountain to the left? But how can we carry Yinshan Mountain forward now? This is not Have you gone north? Can you still go to Ningxia?"

Miss Lu looked around for a while, frowned and said to Mrs. Lu.

Mrs. Lu's slender eyebrows were also slightly frowned. She was silent for a moment and said uncertainly: "Perhaps she wants to go a little further to get rid of the pursuers behind her!"

"Mother, the terrain here is so open. Even if you go further around, you won't be able to escape the pursuers. Are you wondering if the young master is going in the wrong direction?" Miss Lu said in a low voice. After speaking, she secretly looked around. I'm afraid that others will hear this.

"This... this shouldn't be possible. The thief knows a few words at least, so he can't tell the difference between east, west and north, right?" Mrs. Lu hesitated and said in the same low voice.

"But we are obviously heading north now, mother, do we want to remind you? So as not to take the wrong path..."

Compared to Mrs. Lu, the hatred in Miss Lu's heart has been reduced a lot, and she even has a sense of belonging to the Lin family army. After all, she is a girl.

"Let's wait and see!" Mrs. Lu hesitated for a moment, but decided not to do anything. She really didn't want to see Lin Rui unless necessary. Every time she saw Lin Rui, she would be reminded of her dead husband.

Mrs. Lu didn't dare to say anything, and the other ladies naturally didn't dare to do anything. The army marched north like this, stopping and stopping until it got dark before completely stopping to camp.

At dawn the next day, the army continued on its way.

At this time, Duduo also chased out of the valley with his cavalry.

"Master Fifteen, why did they not turn to the west, but go forward?"

"How does this king know?"

Duduo looked at the traces left by the army with the same confusion on his face. After thinking about it, he had to say angrily.

"Then Master Fifteen, should we continue to catch up?"

"Just wait, they can't run far anyway."

Duduo looked at the endless desolation to the north and planned to wait until Dorgon came over. After all, they didn't carry much water. They could still find water if they stayed near here. If they continued to go deeper north, they would probably have to find water sources. Not so easy anymore.

The next day, Dorgon came with his army.

Originally, Dorgon had set up an ambush with his men and horses in front, but it was seen that the other party did not come over, but went directly to the north. While surprised, he had no choice but to rush over with his men and horses to meet up with Duoduo.

"Fifteenth brother, what's going on? Why did they go north?"

"Brother Fourteen, I was just about to ask you, did they find you blocking the way in front and then go straight north?"

The brothers asked each other as soon as they met.

"Well, there are so many people. I can't hide them even if I want to. But even if they find out, they should break through forcefully. Isn't this going north courting death?"

"Brother Fourteen, what should we do now? Should we continue chasing, or?" Duduo had completely lost his mind.

"They have carriages and can carry water in buckets, but our water bags can't carry much water. Let's see first and then say. If they continue to go north, we don't have to worry about it. If they turn to the west, we will just follow Chase after you at the bottom of the mountain."

Dorgon thought for a while and decided to stay here for the time being and send a small number of scout horses to follow and monitor.

After all, it would be too dangerous to go deeper. Not to mention, the food they carry is simply not enough. Even if there is enough food, they will lose their way if it snows. If they delay for too long, everyone may freeze to death in the end. On the Gobi Desert.

Here, Mrs. Lu saw that the army was marching north for three days in a row, and the Yinshan Mountains in the south had become blurry. Finally, she couldn't bear it anymore.

As soon as I camped at night, I hurried to the commander's tent to ask for an audience.

"Commander, we may be going in the wrong direction."

"Haha, why did you just find out now?" Lin Rui saw her anxious look and said with a smile.

"Aren't we going to Ningxia? Are we going to Mobei?"

Mrs. Lu also reacted when she saw him looking like this.

"Yes, only by going north can we completely escape Jiannu's pursuers." Lin Rui nodded and did not hide anything anymore.

Now if anyone wanted to leave and run away, he would be happy to see them off.

"But Marshal, we don't have much food anymore, and the water we carry is almost used up. We have hardly replenished the water in the past three days, and the weather is getting colder day by day. With all due respect, if we continue heading north, There is no need for Jiannu to hunt us down, I’m afraid hunger and cold will kill us all!”

Mrs. Lu took a deep breath. This was the first time she spoke to Lin Rui in this tone, which showed how anxious she was.

She was not worried about her own life or death, but worried about her daughter and the more than 300 young ladies and maids. This was obviously a road of no return and a dead end.

(End of this chapter)