Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 360 Another expedition to Mobei

"Beep--"

When the piercing whistle sounded on the Hulunbuir Prairie, hundreds of cavalry sounding wooden whistles also appeared on the vast grassland.

They gathered together with the whistle and walked through the vast grassland, listening to the wind blowing the grass and looking into the distance with telescopes in their hands.

"Send the news to the Duke and others that no invading enemies have been found."

A Qianhu officer commanded the cavalry under his command, and soon several cavalrymen broke away from the team and ran towards the rear.

After they left, the remaining hundreds of cavalry dispersed again and explored the surroundings.

While they were exploring, the cavalry who broke away from the team to report the news to the rear quickly found a cavalry team of more than a thousand people in the rear who dismounted and led their horses on foot.

The cavalry walked along the river. The river next to it flowed from the Haravan Mountains. It was only a few feet wide, but it stretched for hundreds of miles.

Tang Qi rode his horse past the army and came to the position of the central army. He bowed to the few people who could ride horses:

"Your Highness and Duke, there are no people in the twenty miles ahead. Do you want to continue to march forward?"

"Tangqi from the rear has come to report. Shen Guogong (Wang Yi) has led the front army out of the Halawen Mountain Post Road. He is coming with more than 17,000 cavalry and 50,000 civilians. At most, he will arrive here tomorrow morning. Set up camp.”

With Zhu Quan's suppression, Qiu Fu had no chance of underestimating the enemy's advance, so he could only order more than a thousand cavalry to camp on the spot and start a simple camp beside the river.

Tang Qi came to report, and Qiu Fu and Zhu Quan came to greet him outside the camp. Not long after, they saw more than a hundred cavalry rushing towards this direction.

"Your Majesty gave me two military orders to explore a fifty-mile radius of the western foothills. Now that we have discovered it, there is no need to continue marching."

If we really want to continue westward along the river, it would be best to join up with Wang Yi.

After they arrived, they got off their horses. When Qiu Fu saw so many people coming to Yan Mansion, he immediately felt confident and took the initiative to bow and said:

"Maybe." Zhu Quan teased, but he still did not forget to be vigilant: "In short, our army is not allowed to attack at will until the front army arrives."

Time passed little by little, and soon the sky turned from day to night, and gradually became clearer.

Early the next morning, when the thin fog on the grassland dissipated, a team stretching for more than ten miles appeared on the east side of the Ming Army's vanguard camp.

Anping Hou Li Yuan was a surrendered general from Yuzhou City and was not a complete Yanfu general, so he did not speak first.

As time went by, seven days passed slowly.

Qiu Fu's idea is very simple. He is already sixty-four years old, but he doesn't have many successful records.

Zhu Quan could not refuse Qiu Fu's suggestions one after another, but he also believed that the two of them did not have the ability of Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu to travel across the desert with thousands of cavalry.

Faced with his expectations, Zhu Quan frowned and affirmed first before defending:

"That's what he said, but when we set off from Hecheng Guard, His Majesty already told us that if the entire army is careful, it will lead to victory, and if it is not careful, it will lead to defeat. It is advisable to tidy up the troops, observe the movements of the soldiers, and draw up plans to achieve a complete victory."

Thinking of this, Qiu Fu could only look gloomily at the soldiers who came to deliver the message: "The entire army is patrolling outside and is not allowed to move forward."

"Mr. Shen, our army these days..."

After dozens of steps, the two saw the arrival of Shen Guogong Wang Yi, Tong'an Hou Huozhen, Anping Hou Li Yuan, Wucheng Hou Wang Cong, Jing'an Hou Wang Zhong and others.

But Qiu Fu never thought that not all generals were the same age as him, and not everyone was so anxious.

If he can show outstanding behavior in this Northern Expedition, then he may become a representative of Lao Dang Yizhuang.

Tang Qi finished his report and quietly waited for the answer from the person in front of him.

"Yes!" The guard commander took the order and at the same time strengthened the guards around the camp.

In the crowd, the sixty-four-year-old Qiu Fu with a gray beard looked at the twenty-nine-year-old Ning Wang Zhu Quan. Zhu Quan said cautiously:

However, facing Qiu Fu's suggestion, Zhu Quan shook his head and said:

If more than 20,000 of them really defeated Arutai, it would be a great achievement.

After he left, the guard commander of Prince Ning's Mansion in Zhu Quan's tent couldn't help frowning:

"Does Duke Qi think that he has the skills of His Majesty and His Majesty Dong Palace?"

"Yes!" After hearing this, Tang Qi bowed in response, then turned his horse's head and passed the news back to his headquarters.

He briefly described the Ming army generals who had come here to shoot and capture the nomadic tribes in the past few days, and finally suggested that Wang Yi lead the front army to the west to catch Alutai by surprise.

Seeing what Zhu Quan said, Qiu Fu shook his head: "Although I say this, if our army can continue to explore westward and confirm that there are no enemies within a hundred miles, your Majesty will be even happier."

"As long as we make sure no one escapes, the Tatar Ministry will not get the news so quickly."

Qiu Fu nodded dissatisfied, then turned around and walked out of the simple tent.

Since they were traveling lightly, they didn't have many things to camp with. They just used spears to prop up tents and settled in units of small flags.

"The grassland is vast, and the herdsmen may not go home for seven or eight days to graze for ten days and a half."

"But..." Qiu Fu still wanted to argue, but seeing that Zhu Quan disagreed, he had to endure it. After all, Zhu Quan was still Prince Ning no matter what, and he was also a general of the Yanfu faction. He had a relationship with the East Palace. We're in good company, but it's not easy to break up.

Under such circumstances, Qiu Fu naturally couldn't help but find Zhu Quan, hoping that he and himself would lead an attack to prevent the Tatar tribe from getting wind of the situation and moving westward.

"Right now, our army is no more than 300 miles away from the former army Wang Yi's headquarters. If something happens and Wang Yi is unable to assist us, then we, the more than 3,000 cavalry, may not be able to escape."

During this period, many small Tatar tribes also came here to graze their cattle. However, facing the Ming army cavalry with telescopes, most of these tribes were captured, and a few who tried to escape were shot.

As long as they join together, there will be at least 20,000 cavalry to defend the enemy. Even if Arutai personally leads 50,000 cavalry to fight, they can still wait for Zhu Di's 30,000 troops at the rear.

"If Duke Qi really wants to explore westward, how about waiting for Duke Shen to lead the front army before heading west?"

Qiu Fu thought very well. This time he went north, who did not actively participate in it for the sake of making contributions?

"All right……"

"Besides, our army only has more than 3,000 cavalry. Most of the cavalry are scattered to search and explore. There are only more than 1,000 people in our headquarters."

On the other hand, Wang Cong, the Marquis of Wucheng, who was also from the Yan Mansion, shook his head when he heard this and said: "What Duke Qi said is right, but when our army set off, His Majesty told us to be careful not to advance rashly, and we cannot easily dispatch troops without His Majesty's military orders, so I have to deal with this matter." It’s better to forget it.”

"Duke Qi, we'd better wait for His Majesty's decree." Li Yuanyan and Wang Cong spoke, and they also followed suit.

Qiu Fu looked helplessly at Huo Zhen and Wang Zhong, who were both from the Yan Mansion. Unfortunately, they were hesitant and could only turn their attention to Wang Yi. After all, he was the supreme commander of the former army.

Faced with the attention of everyone, Wang Yi could not easily reject Qiu Fu's suggestion in person, but he would not agree to the suggestion of 20,000 troops advancing rashly.

Therefore, Wang Yi thought for a while and then said: "What Duke Qi said is reasonable, but our army received a military order before setting off. After requesting to set up camp, he immediately arranged for the civilians to make military rations, and sent 30,000 civilians back after the military rations were made. We have suppressed the imperial guards, so it is difficult to attack the Arutai headquarters."

"But what Duke Qi said is not unreasonable. Our army is only limited to fifty miles, which is a bit short-sighted. Let's expand it to another eighty miles."

Although Wang Yi did not follow all of Qiu Fu's suggestions, at least he accepted what Qiu Fu said to release Tangqi outside and expand the scope of exploration.

Although this result still made Qiu Fu feel disappointed, at least it was recognized, and he didn't force it anymore.

After accepting Wang Yi's arrangement, more than 70,000 people from the former army began to camp on the spot.

It took Wang Yi and others seven and a half days to travel three hundred miles because they carried too much baggage.

More than 40,000 horse-drawn carriages pulled nearly 200,000 stones of grain and various materials for camping. Because of this, when all these materials were used, a camp with a six-foot-high fence and a circumference of four miles would be was constructed.

The civilians began to make rice as military rations. As for vinegar cloth, salt crystals, dried vegetables and other items, they had been prepared early.

If it were not for the worry that long-term consumption of military rations would make the soldiers unbearable, it is estimated that even these hundreds of thousands of stones would be made into military rations in the rear and transported northward.

A few days passed slowly. For the grassland tribes, it was normal for some small tribes to disappear for ten days and a half. Moreover, the Ming army was still more than 500 miles away from the Tatar headquarters, so no soldiers and horses could detect them.

The time was from the end of May to the ninth day of June. It was not until Wang Yi, Zhu Quan and others arrived that Zhu Di led more than 36,000 soldiers and horses and 100,000 civilians that the camp began to become lively.

Bonfires were lit, some of the captured lambs were slaughtered, and plates of delicious lamb were served.

Because he brought back too many spices from his voyage to the West, Zhu Di specially brought 50,000 kilograms northward this time.

The night before the war was about to begin, Zhu Di ordered people to distribute the spices.

The spices were mixed with the roasted lamb, and the taste and texture made the soldiers and civilians rush to eat it, unwilling to spit it out even if it burned their tongues.

"vulgar……"

Seeing the vulgar eating behavior of the military attaches, hundreds of civilian officials who followed the army northward ate slowly and sarcastically in their hearts.

They thought they were covering up well, but Zhu Di saw their behavior in his eyes.

He thought that after going north, these civil servants had understood the sufferings of the people in the north and could get along well with the military attachés.

Now it seems that these old rotten people are still the same as before.

He was a little angry, but when he thought of Zhu Gaoxu, he instantly calmed down.

"It's okay. The second child and I have been suppressing them for at least forty years."

Zhu Di was stroking his beard in reverie, but he couldn't help but think of his sister who was ill in bed, and the movements of his hands couldn't help but be a little more anxious.

Wang Yan on the side saw this, lowered his head and said in relief: "Your Majesty, there was news from the south just now that the condition of Her Majesty the Queen has improved. Your Majesty, the East Palace, please don't worry."

"Well..." Although his thoughts were revealed, Zhu Di didn't think it was a big deal. After all, Wang Yan could still be trusted.

"What are you busy with in the south recently?"

He asked Wang Yan, and Wang Yan also replied: "The chieftains of Guizhou instigated the relationship between the native people who migrated to Sichuan and the imperial court, and caused some rebellions."

"After His Highness learned about it, he has already begun to deploy in the southwest. He ordered the Duke of Guizhou to be the general of the general, and recruited 150,000 soldiers and horses, hundreds of artillery, and more than 300,000 troops from Huguang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi and other places. More than 200,000 civilians are preparing to wipe out the Guizhou chieftains."

"Easy in one fell swoop?" Zhu Di turned around in surprise. He didn't expect that his second-hand pen was so big. "According to His Highness's decree, we are indeed prepared to solve Guizhou's problem in one fell swoop."

Wang Yan also lamented Zhu Gaoxu's generosity. Similarly, he did not think that the Guizhou chieftains should stand in the way of the 150,000 elites led by Mu Chun, let alone the 500,000 civilians behind these 150,000 elites.

"Mobilizing so many people will probably cost a lot, but if Guizhou can be pacified, it will be worth the cost."

Zhu Di stroked his beard and felt a little happy. After all, this was done during the Yongle period, and the credit would go to him.

If I can solve the problem of Tusi in Guizhou, I will be able to explain things to my father better when I go down in the future.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di was full of expectations for Arutai in the west.

"His Majesty……"

A call brought Zhu Di back to his senses. It turned out that five people, Meng Zhang, Wang Yi, Zhu Neng, Zhu Quan, and Qiu Fu, came to his table to toast.

"Come on, let's all have a drink!"

Zhu Di picked up the wine glass and toasted with them. After drinking, he immediately asked: "How is the military rations going?"

"We have prepared 120,000 bushels of military rations and 300,000 bushels of dried beans!" Wang Yi bowed in reply. After hearing this, Zhu Di nodded and said:

"Thirty thousand cavalry will go out tomorrow, and the remaining 20,000 horse infantry and 6,000 cavalry will guard the camp. At the same time, 100,000 civilians will be escorted back. Only 50,000 civilians will be left in the camp."

"Three hundred thousand bushels of dried beans are enough to feed 30,000 cavalry and 150,000 horses for half a month. Taking into account the grass that can be found everywhere on this grassland, it will not be a problem to feed them for a month."

"On the horses that go out tomorrow, prepare two buckets of dried beans, one bucket of military rations, vinegar cloth, dried vegetables, and salt crystals. Counting weapons and armor, the load on the horses must not exceed one hundred kilograms."

"Yes!" The generals bowed in response. Upon seeing this, Qiu Fu also asked specifically: "Your Majesty, who are the generals who will go out tomorrow?"

"Well..." Zhu Di stroked his beard and then said:

"Zhu Neng, Wang Yi, Seventeenth Brother, Qiu Fu, Huo Zhen, Li Zhong, Wang Rong, Wang Cong, Wang Zhong, Li Yuan, Li Shi, Yungong (Xu Huizu)."

"As for Li Qi, Chen Wu, Li Cha and others, they followed Meng Zhang to defend the camp and moved west step by step while waiting for our news."

"I will take away a hundred field artillery pieces and leave fifty for you." Zhu Di said to Meng Zhang, who also nodded.

Although Zhu Di led cavalry, after years of training, the Ming army's cavalry also needed to master various skills such as dismounting and forming a formation, firing artillery, arranging guns in line, mounting horses and firing bows left and right.

Each guard cavalry has its own musketeers and artillery cavalry.

When they mounted their horses, they could draw their bows and fire from left and right; when they dismounted, they could raise their guns and shoot, light fires and fire cannons.

In the endless training, they had already figured out the conditions of their muskets and artillery.

But in this era of unstable ballistics, only the soldiers who use it know best the ballistics of each artillery piece.

For this reason, artillery and artillery are equally valuable.

Artillery that loses its artillery may not necessarily be able to adapt to the new artillery trajectory immediately. If the artillery of the artillery is killed in battle, it will be difficult for other artillery to adapt to it.

Zhu Di had read all of this in the military books written by Zhu Gaoxu, and also remembered and used it.

With the 30,000 mixed cavalry in his hands, Zhu Di even felt that he could penetrate Mobei if it were not limited by supplies.

"The artillery carriage is equipped with two horses, carrying one base of solid shells, one base of shotshells, and two bases of gunpowder."

"Musketeers..."

Zhu Di explained everything in detail. Only when everything that needed to be explained was completed did Zhu Di signal that they could leave.

After the generals left, they conveyed Zhu Di's military orders, and more than ten people, led by Xie Jin, Yang Shiqi, Hu Yan and others, came forward to propose a toast.

"Congratulations to Your Majesty..."

It was obviously a toast, but they still had to put on the same posture as in the temple. Although Zhu Di didn't like it, he just stood up and calmly raised his glass and drank.

Seeing Zhu Di like this, Xie Jin also took a step forward and said: "Your Majesty, my minister Jie Jin, will we go out with the army tomorrow?"

"No need, just stay in the camp." Zhu Di did not intend to really take these guys to the battlefield. This was the case last time when he fought against Wu Liangha, and it remained the same this time.

"I will receive the order..."

After receiving Zhu Di's affirmative answer, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Zhu Di did not take them to the battlefield in person last time, they were actually not far from the battlefield. The sound of cannons and shouts of death made many people pale.

Especially after the war, Zhu Di asked them to go to the battlefield to observe, but they only saw broken limbs and meat on the ground, as well as some corpses that suddenly sat up when they were burned.

Thinking back on that horrific scene, it still makes people's throats sore.

It's better this time. Mobei is so vast that even Zhu Di has a hard time finding the Mongols, so naturally he doesn't want to bring them with them.

After receiving a positive answer, everyone dispersed after toasting.

In the next two hours, Zhu Di led the generals to sing and dance until the end of the day.

That night, Zhu Di snored loudly, but he slept very comfortably.

Early the next morning, without anyone calling him, he got up before the other troops, washed himself, and put on his military uniform.

Wang Yan brought him a sweat horse and a Hequ horse, and helped him put armor and weapons on the Hequ horse's back.

Not long after, the imperial chef had prepared a meal for Zhu Di.

The meals made with Mobei wild vegetables and mutton are extremely delicious. They are obviously not as delicious as the meals in the capital, but Zhu Di tastes very delicious.

Half an hour later, the sky became slightly brighter, and the soldiers began to get up. The civilians who got up early had already prepared meals for them and fed the horses.

After they had eaten and drank enough, the 30,000-strong army began to leave the camp in an orderly manner and formed formations on both sides to the west of the camp.

Thirty thousand cavalry is a lot, but when they are actually formed, they are only one mile long from east to west, with a queue of six or seven rows.

They were riding horses, wearing mandarin duck war jackets. The reins of the military horses and draft horses behind them were attached to the iron rings of the riding saddles.

The horses carried fifty-six kilograms of heavy armor, as well as two buckets of beans and weapons. As for the one bucket of military rations, the soldiers themselves carried it on their backs.

Zhu Di, dressed in military uniform, led Zhu Neng, Qiu Fu, Wang Yi, Zhu Quan and others out of the camp gate and came to the front of dozens of military attachés who were more than a thousand household officers.

While scanning them, Zhu Di also said: "Since the 25th year of Hongwu, we Han people have not come to Mobei for fifteen years, let alone fight in Mobei."

"I think everyone is a rough guy, so there's no need to make any big excuses!"

"I'm just going to say something vulgar!" Zhu Di rode back and forth across the trail in front of the formation: "You are all in charge, right?"

"Your Majesty, it's done!" Everyone said in jumbled voices, but it didn't matter.

"Well, since you are now in charge, let me ask you, what do you do every night when you are at home?"

The generals looked at each other in confusion upon hearing this, and some even had evil smiles on their faces.

"Straight bitches, a bunch of ruffians!" Zhu Di cursed with a smile, and then asked: "Do you need to check the door bolt before going to bed at night?"

"Even if you check the door bolt and go back to the house to sleep, will you still be awakened by some noise in the middle of the night?"

"Yes..." Seeing that what Zhu Di said was not what they thought, everyone corrected themselves.

"That's right, who can tell me, what is this called?" Zhu Dilong said, and a general also said: "I'm afraid that thieves will steal things, and I'm afraid that thieves will miss the things at home!"

"Yes!" Zhu Di agreed: "If you're not afraid of thieves stealing, you're just afraid that thieves will miss you."

"The relationship between you and thieves is like the relationship between the imperial court and these barbarians."

"Although we have built the Great Wall in Beiping, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Bohai, and Daning do not have the Great Wall!"

"I don't know where you are from, but if you are not afraid of thieves stealing, I am afraid that thieves will miss you."

"Although this Hu man has been staying in Mobei for more than ten years, he may have a sudden impulse and go to the south of us to harvest grass."

"This barbarian is a thief. If you don't beat him, he will always be thinking about the things in your house."

"It would be okay if some food was stolen randomly, but it would be aggrieved if all my girls were stolen!"

"The reason we are going north this time is to beat up the bandits in the north so that we can teach them what it means to be honest and do their duty, and not to dare to think about going south."

"Before we go on the expedition, I will give you a guarantee that all those who die in battle will receive a three-year salary, and their official rank will be promoted to the San rank, which will be inherited by their heirs."

"If this battle is a big victory, we will count the number of Hu soldiers killed after the war, and give each Hu soldier twenty guans as a reward, and all the troops will be divided equally!"

"But let me say something in advance. The one who was killed was Hu Bing. Anyone who dares to take credit for my killing will be dismissed from the entire team!"

"Wan Sheng! Wan Sheng! Wan Sheng——"

Zhu Di gave his conditions, and dozens of military officers above the Qianhu official level responded by shouting "Wan Sheng".

Seeing this, Zhu Di turned his horse's head and said with high spirits: "The army is marching!"

With his order, the army began to follow him and began to gather into a team. Wang Yi, Qiu Fu, and Zhu Quan also rushed to the front of the team early. While releasing thousands of Tang cavalry, they also led thousands of cavalry from their own troops. Serve as the front line of the army.

Under the illumination of the rising sun, these 30,000 cavalrymen began to advance, and thousands of Tangqi also began to search for traces of the Tatar headquarters in the northwest direction...

(End of this chapter)