Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The Ming army was in hot pursuit, so the Jianlu naturally knew about it.

Huang Taiji had set up an ambush in order to eliminate Hei Yunlong's troops and prevent the Ming army from chasing them.

However, what he did not expect was that Hei Yunlong escaped immediately when he saw the situation was not good, making his subsequent arrangements useless.

From then on, the Ming army never had any large-scale battles with them again until Zhu Mei caught up.

Faced with this situation, Dorgon, who was in charge of the rear guard, said:

"Great Khan, there are already 30,000 Ming troops chasing us."

"If we don't defeat them, we won't be able to bring back so many prisoners and supplies."

This is also what Huang Taiji was worried about, and he also knew that Man Gui was standing in his way.

This was a more dangerous character than Zhu Mei, who once led cavalry and defeated them in a field battle.

So after thinking about it, he made up his mind:
"If the Ming army wants to fight, then we will fight them."

"We, the men of the Eight Banners, have never been afraid of them."

"Pass on my military order. All troops turn around and fight against the Ming army."

He mobilized the Eight Banners soldiers to assemble, and used the Mongolians who had surrendered as the two wings, preparing to fight Zhu Mei.

However, although Zhu Mei decided to fight Huang Taiji head-on, he did not do so forcefully.

He implemented the court's strategy of "building a strong camp and fighting a stupid battle" and established three camps, advancing in the shape of a "品" character.

No matter which camp the Jianlu attacked, the 10,000 soldiers guarding the camp could hold out for several days, and then the other two camps could send troops to rescue them.

If the Jianlu do not fight, we will capture the camp every day and chase after them.

With the speed at which the Jianlu carried supplies and herdsmen, they were simply unable to shake them off.

When they are exhausted, Xuan's army will give them a fatal blow.

Huang Taiji could see the disgusting nature of this tactic. He knew that Zhu Mei was bullying him because he had few soldiers and no cannons with him, and that he could not even take down such a simple village quickly.

After he tried to attack the camp but to no avail, he immediately fell into a dilemma:

Under the current circumstances, he either has to defeat Zhu Mei completely so that the Ming army will not dare to catch up with him.

Or they could abandon some supplies and herdsmen and return with only the Eight Banners soldiers and loyal Mongolian tribes.

Otherwise, he would be held back by Zhu Mei and might be in danger at any time.

However, Zhu Mei's approach made his first option completely unfeasible. If he wanted to choose the second option and convince the generals, he would have to consume his authority as the Khan.

Last year, at the end of the Korean War, he was chased by the Ming army and abandoned some personnel and supplies, which made him criticized in the Eight Banners. If he abandons personnel and supplies again this time, it is estimated that dissatisfaction will soon erupt within the Eight Banners.

Even when they go out to fight in the future, the soldiers of the Eight Banners will hesitate because they don't know if they can bring back spoils of war by following the Khan.

For the Jianlu who made a living by plundering, this suspicion was fatal. As the Khan, Huang Taiji also had to consider the people's hearts.

Therefore, even a man as talented and strategic as Huang Taiji was hesitant in the face of this situation. He didn't know whether to fight the Xuanda army with his life or give up some strategic items.
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Wu Aheng, who was sent by the court to observe, praised:
"This Zhu Mei is a handsome talent!"

"No wonder he was able to hold the seal of a general three times and become an admiral."

"His fighting style can be called a model."

He highly respected Zhu Mei and believed that this military general was a rare talent in the Ming Dynasty.

Fang Hongzan and others from the observation group were somewhat confused and asked curiously:
"Why does Wu Chenshi say so?"

"How can you tell that General Zhu is a talented general?"

Wu Ah Heng excitedly explained:
"The Art of War by Sun Tzu says: The one who has the same will will win."

"Now the Xuanda army is united in one mind, and everyone wants to use the Jianlu's head to achieve merit."

"Based on that alone, they have a good chance of winning."

"Moreover, Sun Tzu also said: Those who were good at fighting in the past first made themselves invincible, waiting for the enemy to be defeated; being invincible lies in oneself, and being able to defeat the enemy lies in oneself."

"General Zhu's current fighting method is to make it impossible for the enemy to defeat him."

“Although I don’t know if he can win, he will definitely not fail.”

"This is what the General Staff pursues, striving for victory in battle while ensuring that there will be no failure."

Fang Hongzan was even more puzzled and asked:

"How can Wu Chenshi know that General Zhu will not lose?"

"Just relying on these few camps?"

Wu Ah Heng nodded in agreement:

"These are the camps. They are the key to attack and defense."

"The Art of War by Sun Tzu says: To be invincible, defend; to be victorious, attack."

"If General Zhu continues to lead his troops to attack, there will be great uncertainty. He may win, or he may be defeated by the enemy."

"But he used the camp to turn the attack into defense, and the situation was immediately reversed. How did the Jianlu take down the camp and win?"

"General Zhu is now invincible and will never fail."

"Given the defensive strength of these camps, it will take at least a month for the Jianlu to take them down."

"Do you think Jianlu would be willing to waste troops attacking a meaningless camp here and delay for a month?"

Fang Hongzan certainly knew that it was impossible. The reason why Huang Taiji was in a hurry to go back was that he was worried that his old nest would be in danger. How could he possibly stay on the grassland for another month?

Even if he was willing to wait, the herdsmen who had been robbed would not be able to wait any longer. After eating all the supplies they carried, they would scatter like birds and beasts on the grassland.

The Jianlu had no supplies at that time, so they had no choice but to let these people go if they didn't kill them all.

The question now is, can we hold out for a month with these few simple camps?

In this regard, Wu Aheng said to the members of the observation group sent by the Equipment Department:
"Chief Engineer Han, do you think we can hold this camp for a month?"

"This is the key to the standard camp that the emperor asked you to study, the tactic of 'building a strong camp and fighting a stupid battle'."

Han Yun said confidently:

"As long as there is no problem with food and water, any camp can be easily defended for a month or even longer."

"This was designed by the Armament Department based on the Liaodong Fortress and Dalinghe Castle, and also used new firearms such as mines and grenades."

"As long as the defenders are not too stupid, a month is more than enough."

As he spoke, he explained in detail to everyone the secrets of these camps and how many combat strategies were contained therein.

If the defenders could exert half of their strength, it would be impossible for the enemy to break through the camp.

If the Jianlu attack the city, they must pay with their lives.
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"You must pay with your life!"

This is also the conclusion reached by Huang Taiji.

After his tentative attack failed, he realized that the camp built by Xuan Da's army was very similar to Dalinghhe Fort.

Although it was not high and looked easy to climb, when they got close to it, they realized how difficult this kind of fortification was to attack with the help of firearms.

It is impossible to break into such a fortress without using up all the gunpowder inside it at the cost of human lives.

Unless we can build a red cannon and use it to bombard this kind of fortress.

This made Huang Taiji more eager to return, wanting to know how far the Jin Dynasty's imitation of the Red Cannon had progressed and whether this weapon could be used to break the deadlock.

Otherwise, he could have imagined that the Ming Dynasty would build such fortresses everywhere in Liaodong, the grasslands, Korea, etc. Then the Jin Dynasty would be surrounded and trapped, with no breathing space. At this time, his mind had turned to the arrangements after returning.

But the reality is that he can't go back, and he must shake off Zhu Mei's tail:

"Everyone, do you have any ideas on how to defeat Xuan's army or throw them off?"

Ajige said as a forward:
"Khan, if we just speed up a little bit, the Ming army won't be able to catch up with us."

"As long as we go faster, we can shake off the Ming army."

This proposal was opposed by many people. Abatai said:

"How can the herders keep up with the fast speed? Should we abandon them all?"

Ajige said indifferently:

"Those who can keep up are warriors, those who can't are cowards, and it's no pity to kill them."

"As long as you raise the knife, they will follow you."

These words sound reasonable, but Huang Taiji knows that once this strategy is implemented, his plan to win over the hearts of the people on the grassland will fail.

All herders will feel that they are untrustworthy and will abandon or even kill them when they encounter danger.

So even though he knew this was the best solution at the moment, he was hesitant to implement it, so he asked the generals:

"Do you all have any other ideas?"

"The most important task at present is to bring our spoils back to Liaodong safely."

Abatai, Jirgalang, Dergelei and others were also reluctant to abandon their spoils, but Dergelei and others thought of the Battle of Dalingh Fort and did not want to attack similar camps.

Finally, it was Jirgalang who volunteered:

"Great Khan, I am willing to lead my troops and the newly joined tribes to attack the Ming camp."

Huang Taiji knew that it would be difficult to capture the Ming camp, but if he abandoned the spoils and fled without fighting, his dignity would be damaged.

So he nodded and agreed:
"Select more surrendered people, especially those who can't keep up with the march."

"Use them to attack the Ming camp. Don't be stingy with your troops."

He planned to use the Ming army to consume some of the herdsmen and then take the rest back.

Jirgalang nodded, immediately selected soldiers and horses, and used his own Niulu as the supervisory team to force the newly joined Mongols to attack the camp.

These Mongols were unaware of the severity of the situation, and because many of them had conflicts with the border troops before, they were not afraid of Xuan's army. Instead, they felt that this was a good opportunity to make the Jianlu take them seriously.

Led by the tribal chief who defected to Jianlu, they launched a fierce attack on the camp led by Hei Yunlong. Soon, under the attack of various firearms of Xuanda Army, they tasted the same pain that Jianlu had tasted last year.

Their fighting spirit was far inferior to that of the Jianlu, and they did not want to die for the Jianlu. Seeing the dense firearms on the fortress, they were about to retreat, but were stopped by Jirgalang's supervisory team:
"Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed!"

"No one is allowed to retreat a single step before the stronghold is breached."

Using bows and arrows and swords and guns, they forced these people back.

Even when some powerful people came forward, they were shot without hesitation.

Now the grassland nobles, who were used to dealing with the Ming Dynasty, finally understood what barbarians were.

The Jianlu did not give them any choice but to let them die.

The purpose of their attack on the fortress was to consume the firearms inside.

In desperation, some grassland nobles began to secretly pass on information to the Ming army in the village, hoping that the Ming army would show leniency and accept them in.

But the Ming army was fighting with them, how could they open the gate at this time?

The way out they gave these people was to escape directly or even turn their attacks to kill the Eight Banners of Jianlu.

These grassland nobles were frightened by the Jianlu and dared not kill the Eight Banners.

Finally, the people with horses made a plan and ran to both sides. They wanted to leave the battlefield and avoid becoming cannon fodder.

The Ming army didn't care about this, and even stopped attacking them in order to reduce gunpowder consumption.

But the Jianlu were so angry that they screamed and yelled. Jirgalang sent a team of cavalry to chase these grassland nobles.

Then he called in another group of Mongols and asked them to dismount and walk towards the village wall.

The speed of these people's advance was naturally slowed down, allowing the old-fashioned firearms of the Ming army in the camp to be more fully utilized.

These firearms were originally to be eliminated, but the Xuan army used them without any regrets. Even some old accounts that could not be reconciled were disguised as war damage during this battle to avoid being exposed during the replacement.

Therefore, the Ming army was not afraid of the consumption of firearms. What Hei Yunlong was worried about was more gunpowder and logistics.

If the Jianlu attacked like this for a month, he might not be able to hold on.

Fortunately, the Jianlu did not want to stay on the grassland for long.

After a heavy snowfall, the Ming army suddenly discovered that the Jianlu who had attacked the camp before were gone. Apart from some abandoned supplies and personnel, no one else was seen.

"Where are the Jianlu? How come they are running so fast?"

"The battle hasn't even started yet. Why are you running away now?"

Hei Yunlong was puzzled and didn't know why the Jianlu escaped for so long without him taking any action personally.

The same was true for the generals of Xuanda. They were instigated by Zhu Mei and had planned to bring out their servants for a head-on fight, but who would have thought that they would end up punching the air?

Facing these people's questions, Zhu Mei knew that this was a common tactic of the Jianlu. They knew it was difficult to win so they would not fight hard, which was the case when they attacked Liaodong cities before.

Huang Taiji and the others must have known that they could not win, so they took advantage of the snow to quietly get rid of them.

Now he needed to decide whether to lead the army to continue the pursuit, or to collect the spoils of war left by Huang Taiji and return to naturalization:

"A large army chasing us would be even more dangerous in the snow."

"Don't even mention whether we can win after catching up. There will be a lot of non-combat casualties during the pursuit."

"Are you willing to give chase, or just turn back?"

Those who don't want to fight naturally want to return, but most of the generals in Xuanda are unwilling to do so.

They were willing to go beyond the border with the intention of making achievements. After Zhu Mei promised to grant them the grasslands outside the Great Wall and south of Guihua, these people became even more ambitious to establish a foundation for their family.

However, the current situation is that based on their current military achievements, no one is qualified to obtain a title. How can they obtain a title or a fiefdom?

So these people asked to fight and asked to lead the army to continue the pursuit.

But at this time, Zhu Mei was indeed a little hesitant.

Because he always sought to be cautious when employing troops, chasing in the snow was too risky.

Moreover, the task given to him by the imperial court was to establish the Guihua Protectorate. As long as he recovered Guihua and occupied the area, he would receive rewards from the imperial court and would not need to take such a big risk.

However, he could not ignore the generals' request. So after thinking about it, he finally made a decision:
"The generals will attack with a large force, waiting for an opportunity to rescue the herdsmen and hunt down the Eight Banners of Jianlu."

"As long as you meet the military merit standards, I will ask the court for merit for you and grant you the corresponding title."

"The Privy Council Observer Group has come together to bear witness. No one will embezzle your achievements."

"You should consider the dangers yourself and don't die in vain."

Let the generals lead the servants as wolves to continuously bite the Jianlu, making it impossible for them to return peacefully.

At the same time, he ordered Hei Yunlong to guard the three camps as a base so that the attacking generals would have a place to stay.

He led the rest of his troops to Guihua, intending to build the Guihua Protectorate. (End of this chapter)