Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1271 Join forces
"Thank you, Your Highness." Although Wang Hai's status in Guihua City was not low, even though he was married to a princess of the royal family and was Tengger's brother-in-law, he still treated Tengger with great respect.

Wang Hai has always remembered how he followed Zhu Shenzhui. From that moment on, he regarded Zhu Shenzhui as his master. In his view, without Zhu Shenzhui, Wang Hai would have been dead for many years, and his bones would probably have disappeared on the grassland. He would not be where he is today. Everything he has is thanks to his master.

Zhu Shenzhui is the master, Tana is his mistress, and Tengger is the little master he has watched grow up. Wang Hai's loyalty to them is self-evident. Even though Wang Hai's status in the Tumote tribe is now almost second only to Tengger, he is still the same as before in front of Tana and her son.

After sitting down, Wang Hai didn't beat around the bush and went straight to asking what had happened and why he had been summoned.

Tengger didn't say anything, but handed over the letter that Agudamu had given him. Wang Hai took the letter and read it carefully. After reading it, he seemed thoughtful and sighed softly.

"The young prince acted rashly this time. If he hadn't been lucky, he wouldn't have escaped so easily."

“That kid is indeed like that.” Tengger said with a hint of disappointment, “He has had too many good years. Whether it was taking Chahar, defeating Khorchin in the east, or some other situations that followed, he has become arrogant.”

"Thinking himself invincible, he underestimated everyone, especially the tribes in the northern desert. Which of them was easy to deal with? When Ligdan Khan conquered the northern desert, Abaga died there. Otherwise, so many things wouldn't have happened later..."

Wang Hai nodded silently. The Abaga that Tengger mentioned was his maternal uncle, Hadanbater, the heir of the Ashitemur tribe.

Hadanbaatar died while following Ligdan Khan on his northern expedition to the Gobi Desert. His unexpected death led to the subsequent split of the Ashtemur tribe. Ashtemur, unable to bear the news of his successor's death, fell ill and eventually returned to the Eternal Heaven, causing internal strife to erupt in the tribe for power. Instigated by some, Hadanbaatar's two brothers killed each other, almost killing Tana and young Tengger. If Zhu Shenzhui hadn't returned in time to save Tana and her child, they would have perished in the internal strife.

Not only Hadanbatel, but even Burigud nearly lost his life in the Gobi Desert. After fleeing back in a sorry state, he was practically a beggar. As for Ligdan Khan, needless to say, his several campaigns against the Gobi Desert failed. These tribes in the Gobi Desert were not so easy to deal with. Even though Tengger had previously subdued the various tribes in the Gobi Desert, he only benefited from the chaos caused by the defeat of Chaoketu Khan. Moreover, he was fighting the tribes in the western and central parts of the Gobi Desert, not the eastern tribes. The several large tribes in the eastern Gobi Desert had always been arrogant and unruly. Even when Chaoketu Taiji nominally unified the Gobi Desert, these tribes only submitted superficially.

If Tengger had known Agudamu would do this, he would have sent someone to warn and remind him beforehand. As the dignified lord of Chahar and Khorchin, Agudamu's decision to lead such a small force north was far too risky. Moreover, in Tengger's view, Agudamu didn't even need to intervene. If it were Tengger himself, upon learning that the puppet Qing forces had fled to the northern deserts, he wouldn't have needed to send troops. He could have simply sent an envoy to tell them directly that they either had to hand over their people or face the wrath of war; there was no third option. Under such circumstances, no matter what choice Agudamu made, he would have been well-prepared and had a response in advance.

But that kid Agudamu actually led a mere three thousand men directly north and plunged into the northern desert region. Wasn't that just giving the enemy a chance to kill him?

Since Bumbutai and others dared to run to the northern desert, they must have enough confidence and preparation. Moreover, according to Tengger, Bumbutai is no simple woman. Not only is she from the Khorchin, but she also has the former Khorchin lord Qitate by her side advising her.

Besides, many of the previously missing members of the puppet Qing dynasty were probably with Bumbutai. It's no simple matter how these people managed to hide in Khorchin for so long without being known to outsiders. In addition, north of Khorchin is the northern desert region, and the Siqinbal tribe is a northern desert tribe bordering Khorchin. Tengger absolutely does not believe that there is no connection between the two.

It's possible that not only Sichinbal, but other northern tribes might be won over by the other side. Under such circumstances, Agudamu overestimated himself and found himself in danger.

Fortunately, Agudamu wasn't completely stupid; he was quite alert and made the right decision at the crucial moment. Otherwise, even if he hadn't died in that battle, he would have been badly injured, and he wouldn't have been able to return to Khorchin so easily in the end.

Now, Agudamu intends to take revenge, not only by leading his troops north to completely conquer the Mongolian steppe, but also to fulfill his father's orders and thus completely resolve the issue of the pseudo-Qing dynasty. However, having suffered a loss, Agudamu knows that achieving this alone is not easy. Therefore, he not only sent a message to the Ming Dynasty but also wrote to his brother, Prince Shunyi, Tengger, hoping that Tengger would join him in attacking the Mongolian steppe. "The various tribes of the Mongolian steppe have outwardly submitted in recent years, but in reality, they have always been hypocritical. Although they accepted my order to redistribute the territories and grasslands, they have not changed it after several years. Every time I ask, they make excuses. Especially the tribes in the eastern part of the Mongolian steppe, they don't even bother to cover it up, treating my orders as mere words. Now they have done such a thing again. How can I tolerate this?" Tengger said coldly, a murderous glint in his eyes.

Tengger had long wanted to teach the various tribes of the northern desert a lesson. His previous military campaigns had caused them immense suffering, prompting them to sue for peace and agree to obey his commands. However, he hadn't expected these tribes to be two-faced, completely deceiving him. They nominally submitted, but secretly slandered him. Even after the alliance meeting in Guihua City, rumors circulated in the northern desert that Tengger had betrayed his ancestors, sided with the Ming dynasty, disregarded Mongol traditions, and was a traitor to the Mongols and a lackey of the Ming.

Not only that, some people even brought up Tengger's son's identity, mocking Tengger for not only marrying a woman from the Golden Family but also changing his son's surname in order to glorify himself. Such behavior is truly shameful. A dignified man, Jur Khan of the Tumed, willingly becoming a lackey of the Ming Dynasty and abandoning his ancestral surname and lineage—how can such a person lead the Mongol tribes? And be the Shunyi King?
Therefore, Tengger had long been dissatisfied with the various tribes in northern Mongolia and had always intended to teach them a lesson. Since they hadn't felt the pain last time, he would give them a harsh lesson and let them understand who really called the shots on the grasslands. This time, Agudamu was attacked in eastern northern Mongolia and almost lost his life, which further enraged Tengger. Moreover, the involvement of the puppet Qing dynasty made Tengger even less likely to let these tribes off easily.

“If we’re going to fight, we should fight them hard! These wolf cubs won’t be afraid unless they’re completely subdued,” Wang Hai said, a statement that Tengger agreed with.

"However, Your Highness, since the young prince has already sent a letter to the master, and once the northern expedition to the Gobi Desert begins, it will not be a small-scale battle. Even if Your Highness and the young prince join forces to suppress them, it will not be easy to truly subdue them. In my opinion, we should wait and see how the master arranges things. In any case, it will take time to gather troops and prepare. It is already late autumn, and in a little over a month, it will snow in the north. Once winter comes, it will be impossible to fight on the grasslands. The earliest we can use troops is next year. Why don't we start planning now and wait for an opportunity?"

Tengger shook his head slightly; he had initially thought the same thing. Now was not the best time for grassland warfare. With winter approaching, it was impossible to fight on the grasslands. Once heavy snow fell, the horses and men would be unable to withstand the freezing conditions. Even if they wanted to fight, it would have to wait until next spring. Moreover, the horses would need to fatten up after a winter before they could be used in battle. The best time would be early summer next year.

However, if we send troops then, it will be too late. Half a year will have passed, and no one can predict what will happen in the northern desert. What if the puppet Qing people leave the northern desert in such a long time? Or what if the various tribes in the northern desert form an alliance to prepare in advance in order to prevent retaliation from their brothers? Under such circumstances, it will probably not be so easy to achieve our goal by sending troops.

Therefore, Tengger is currently considering whether to launch an immediate attack. It is late summer and early autumn, which is still a good time for war. Even if the temperature in the north drops in a little over a month and winter arrives, as long as he moves quickly and fights decisively, he can still catch the enemy off guard and have a chance.

"Send troops now?"

“Exactly!” Tengger shared his opinion with Wang Hai, who frowned and pondered for a moment before saying, “Your Highness, the risk is quite high if we do it this way!”

“Brother-in-law, if there were no risks, why would I have asked you to come and discuss this matter? Moreover, I think that as long as we act quickly and catch them off guard, it shouldn’t be a problem to defeat one or two tribes before they can react. Once we achieve this goal, we can establish a foothold in the northern desert, and it will be much easier to send troops out next year.”

"This..." Wang Hai pondered carefully for a moment, then nodded silently. He had to admit that while Tengger's method was risky, it did indeed catch the enemy off guard. Moreover, the Tumed tribe was currently very powerful. Even without a full mobilization, with the current strength of the Tumed forces, it would be easy to gather an army of around 30,000 in a short period of time.

More importantly, after years of development, the Tumed army is different from the armies of other tribes in the northern desert. This is a policy established by Zhu Shenzhui during the Tumed period, which is to separate the military and civilians in the tribal armies in order to form a regular army specifically for combat.

This cavalry force was initially formed in this way and later placed under the command of Wang Jinwu. Wang Jinwu led this army to unprecedented victories on the grasslands. After Wang Jinwu returned to the Ming Dynasty, his deputy, Wang Hai, took over the army and continued to expand and reorganize it. Currently, the Tumed possess over 20,000 regular cavalrymen dedicated to combat. Adding the reserve forces and infantry in Guihua City, it wouldn't be difficult to assemble an army of 30,000 in a very short time.

If a general mobilization for war were to be launched, the Tumed could easily muster 150,000 or even 200,000 troops, demonstrating their strength on the grasslands.

(End of this chapter)