In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 76 Developing South
When Lin Rui gathered his troops and prepared to fight back, the dozen or so Mongolian girls who were responsible for surveillance just returned.

"Sanna, why are you back?"

"Sir, the caravan left yesterday morning." The Mongolian girl at the head quickly replied.

"It's an advantage for them, but the monks who can escape can't escape from the temple. Sooner or later, I will skin them and cramp them, confiscate their homes and exterminate their clans."

Lin Rui also had a sullen face, cursed, waved his hand to let them go down to rest, and then dismissed the team.

If we chase him now, the opponent will probably have already entered the mountainous area.

But it was just to let those eight families live a little longer. When they became stronger, he would definitely go to Zhangjiakou in person.

Originally, Fan Yongdou and others planned to eat up the Wang family's food while staying where they were and waiting for the Jurchens to arrive.

However, Wang Dengku is not stupid. The horse bandits have obviously left. How can he still be willing to stay where he is, wasting his own food and raising the men and horses of each family in vain?
At that time, each family only brought out their horses and people, without bringing any food in a hurry. Seeing that Wang Dengku insisted on leaving, he had to compromise and became a bodyguard for the Wang family.

In the study of the castle.

After seeing Lin Rui come back, he kept a sullen face and seemed to be a little bit worried. The girls who knew the truth started to comfort him.

"Rui Lang doesn't have to regret it. No one thought that Fan Yongdou and the other eight traitors would go to Liaodong in person this time."

"Yes, Rui Lang, the worst case scenario is that when we become stronger in the future, we will personally go to Zhangjiakou and destroy those eight families. Let's see if they are considered traitors or smugglers in the future!" Mrs. Niu gritted her teeth at the end.

Her husband and children were all killed by the Jurchens. Maybe the knives and arrows the Jurchens were holding at that time were made by the eight profiteers, so she hated the eight families no less than Lin Rui.

"I'm not dwelling on this matter, but I estimate that we robbed so much supplies this time and almost wiped out all eight caravans. I'm afraid the Jurchens will never despise us again. Maybe our castle hasn't been repaired yet, and theirs The army will come and kill us!"

Lin Rui waved his hand.

He knew that if he wanted to grow obscenely in the future, he might not be able to do so.

"What are you afraid of? Just come. At worst, we will hide in the stronghold. I don't believe that the dog Tatars can block us for the rest of our lives." Aunt Niu said nonchalantly.

"Don't tell me, with Huang Taiji's knowledge, after discovering the difficulty of attacking the mountain stronghold and our strength, he might actually send a team of people to block the valley for a long time and trap us alive."

Lin Rui thought for a while and said.

After all, after this time, their strength and the Namu Bell are also in his hands, and they will probably be exposed.

"Isn't it? They should be able to know how much food we seized this time from those profiteers, right?"

"We're not afraid of ten thousand, just in case. Although we are not afraid of their long-term siege, it also limits our development." Lin Rui was thinking about the longer term.

"What should I do?"

All the girls also paid attention, with a hint of worry on their faces.

"For the present plan, we can only take advantage of the fact that the Jurchens are still in the future. Namuzhong and I will lead the cavalry south to develop, and you will stick to the stronghold. Even if the Jurchens are really besieged by then, when we have grown stronger, we can come back to relieve the siege. But …”

When Lin Rui said this, there was also a hint of worry on his face. He was afraid that after he left, Niu Aunt Zhang Xiuying and the others would be unable to hold on without their backbone.Originally, he planned to balance the development so as not to recruit too many Mongolian teenagers and Namuzhong would lose control.

But now that Huang Taiji is about to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor, he can't control so much. He must adjust his previous strategy and expand the Mongolian cavalry team as soon as possible, and then use the power of the Mongolian cavalry to develop the Han armed forces.

"Rui Lang, you and Sister Namuzhong should go. The terrain of the mountain stronghold is difficult, and we have all the food and weapons. We will definitely be able to defend it."

"Yes, Rui Lang, you can rest assured and go recruit troops with the eldest lady. I will take care of the copycat. Most of the brothers and sisters were captured by the Jurchens, so they will definitely work together to defend it."

After Zhang Xiuying finished speaking, Mrs. Niu also patted her chest.

"Okay, but those prisoners who have just been captured must be watched closely. Don't carry out sneak attacks, and don't open the door and let them go like last time. No matter what happens, just stay in the stronghold!"

Lin Rui thought that after they left, the Jurchens would definitely focus on chasing them and most likely would not attack the stronghold, so he nodded and gave instructions again.

After a final weighing, Lin Rui planned to take away all the Mongolian cavalry, both men and women, including the more than 200 Khalkha women captured last time, including those who were not pregnant.

Huang Ben, Zhou Meng and the people who were from the caravan were also taken away, and those who could ride horses among the prisoners were also taken away. Only the captured old people such as Wang Gouwa, Liu Si, Wang Wu and others were left to guard the stronghold.

In this way, except for the remaining prisoners who were just captured, there will be no hidden dangers left in the stronghold.

When the time comes, Zhang Xiuying and Mrs. Niu will be the masters of Wen and Wu, Xiaocui Gouwa, Liu Siwangwu, Chunni Chunlan and other elderly people will assist, plus more than 1000 other people, both men and women, who have been rescued by them, and nothing will happen. Even if there is chaos, it is not difficult to defend the stronghold.

After making the decision, Lin Rui immediately began to select prisoners who could ride horses, and then prepared supplies and weapons for the southward journey.

After some selection, there were over a thousand captives who had good equestrian skills. As for the rest, except for the few doctors, they were basically able to ride horses. After all, as coachmen and grooms, they had been dealing with horses for a long time.

Lin Rui planned to take away all the [-] war horses, and the underage foals were also given to nearby tribes.

Two days later, everyone parted ways outside the castle, and Lin Rui took Namu Zhong, Ha Beier, and a team of nearly 2000 people to kill southward.

This time, the three hundred Mongolian boys and the four hundred Mongolian girls and women each brought two brand-new steel knives and 50 arrows, and each also brought three spare bow strings.

Huang Ben, Zhou Meng and other more than 300 mounted infantrymen each also had two brand-new steel knives, two spears, and a shield. In addition, each of the thousand prisoners also prepared a steel knife. .

Finally, he also brought a large amount of salt, grain, and tea leaves and silk. When the time comes, he plans to have Namu Zhong reward the Chahar tribe in the south with salt, tea, and silk. It's rice and soybeans.

Although they carried a lot of things, there were four thousand more horses to carry the things, which did not affect the speed of the army at all.

Traveling all the way south, covering eighty miles a day, it took only four days to reach the nearest Chahar tribe in the south.

The thousand prisoners had been thinking about escaping all the time since they got on their horses, but they were caught in the middle by the Mongolian cavalry along the way and had no chance at all.

Although they did not tie their hands and feet at night, they would send people to take turns guarding them. Lin Rui also organized them into groups of five, with five groups in one team and five groups in one battalion. They would supervise each other. If one person escaped, the whole group would be killed. If one escapes, the entire team will be killed; if one team escapes, the entire camp will be killed.

To be honest, if it weren't for the worry that there were too many prisoners in the village, Lin Rui would have really wanted to keep all the prisoners in the village. It would be too troublesome to keep an eye on them all the time.

Anyway, it is unrealistic to think that these thousand prisoners can balance the Mongolian cavalry in a short period of time.

(End of this chapter)