The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 112: Defeat the Northern Tartars and Seek Peace

The Ming cavalry actually dared to run outside the Great Wall to launch a surprise attack on the main cavalry forces of the Bayuet and Balin tribes!
Neither Buyan Taiji nor Balin Taiji had thought of this.

They all thought that the 20,000 cavalrymen from Xuanfu Town and Datong Town were the ones who attacked their grazing area.

Moreover, all intelligence showed that the cavalry from Xuanfu Town and Datong Town had joined forces to the south of the Balin tribe.

How could they have imagined that there would be an ambush of Ming cavalry on the east side of the Bayuet tribe, more than 300 miles south of the Balin tribe!

This battle directly defeated them.

There was no other way. They had run for more than 500 miles in one day and were exhausted.

The Ming cavalry, however, was well-rested, well-equipped, and full of momentum.

This battle not only killed off most of their 20,000 cavalrymen, but also wiped out the entire tribe to the west of the Bayuete tribe.

They were so frightened that they fled in panic and returned to the Bayuet tribe headquarters overnight.

This is not over yet.

Early the next morning, the 40,000 Ming troops deployed their troops again and advanced all the way.

News also came from the Balin tribe that the cavalry from Xuanfu Town and Datong Town had also begun to push northward.

At this moment, they can't even gather a few hundred cavalrymen, how can they fight against the enemy?

They could only flee north in a hurry with their tribesmen, cattle, sheep and horses, directly to the territory of the Chahar tribe, to seek refuge with Tumen Khan.

As for the small tribes that surrendered to them, they didn't care about them. They just wanted these small tribes to slow down the pace of the Ming cavalry. They only hoped that they could escape.

The Bayuet and Balin tribes ran away without a word!

After a long time, the small tribes that had surrendered to the Bayute and Balin tribes finally woke up from their dreams, quickly packed up their things, rode old horses, mares and ponies, and drove their cattle and sheep to flee north.

The grassland north of Datong Town was suddenly filled with fleeing teams, so many that it was impossible to count them.

The Ming cavalry was like two black torrents, advancing continuously to the east and north.

They didn't know how many fleeing teams they had drowned along the way. It was not until the afternoon of the third day that they cleared the grazing areas of the Bayuet and Balin tribes and arrived at the southern edge of the Chahar tribe.

The Chahar tribe is Tumen Khan's lair. If they rush in, Tumen Khan will fight them to the death.

Their goal was to destroy the Bayut and Balin tribes, not to engage in a decisive battle with Tumen Khan outside the Great Wall.

Moreover, at this moment they did not have the strength to fight a decisive battle with Tumen Khan.

Therefore, they chose to retreat towards Zhangjiakou, carrying with them a full load of prisoners, cattle, sheep, horses, and loot.

Their gains from this battle were simply shocking. They robbed tens of thousands of horses alone, including about 20,000 high-quality war horses.

They also robbed cattle and sheep, more than 100,000 heads, and captured the elderly, children, women, and even young and strong people who did not have time to escape, a total of 70,000 to 80,000 people. They also had tents, furs, ox carts, horse carts and various supplies, which were countless.

When Wanli received the news, he was overjoyed.

Originally, there was a shortage of more than 10,000 war horses even after all the war horses were allocated to the Beijing camp, but now there are more than 20,000 horses left.

Now, the elite Jinyiwei and imperial guards under his command had horses to ride on again.

Sure enough, nothing is faster than snatching it away.

It takes at least five years to raise horses, and there must be enough mares.

We had to rob them, and in less than five days we had 20,000 war horses.

Which tribe should I rob next?

It seems that both the Tumed tribe and the Dalat tribe are still difficult to deal with. These guys have almost gathered their main forces in the Qiantao Plain north of the Qingshui River. There are about 30,000 cavalry alone, and 50,000 to 60,000 infantry.

Moreover, there is a Guihua City in the Qiantao Plain. If they gather 50,000 to 60,000 infantry to defend the city, and let the remaining 30,000 cavalry harass the periphery and cut off the food supply, it is not known whether they can capture it.

What should we do? Should we use the navy warships to pull the men and horses to the Houtao Plain and attack them in the middle?
While he was thinking about it, a horseman came flying and brought news from Xuanfu Town that the Tumed tribe requested peace talks!

Are you scared of being beaten?

Do the Northern Tartars also get scared sometimes?

Of course there are.

During the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties, it was not the Ming Dynasty that was afraid of the Northern Barbarians, but the Northern Barbarians who were afraid of the Ming Dynasty.

At that time they were scared of being beaten.

During the Hongwu reign, which lasted for more than 30 years, the Ming army sent troops to the frontier region more than ten times, and during the Yongle reign, which lasted for more than 20 years, the Ming army sent troops to the frontier region six times. In other words, every two or three years, the Ming army would go to attack the northern barbarians.

At that time, the northern barbarians were really afraid of the Ming army.

However, the later Renzong and Xuanzong believed the nonsense of the civil officials, talking about benevolence, righteousness, morality, stopping the war and caring for the people, emphasizing culture over military affairs. In more than ten years, the military power of the Ming Dynasty was almost destroyed.

Then, Yingzong came to the throne and the Battle of Tumu occurred, in which 300,000 to 400,000 elite soldiers of the Beijing Army were killed or wounded. From then on, the Ming army became afraid of the northern invaders.

From then on, it became the northern barbarians invading, rather than the Ming army crossing the border.

Hetao gradually became a place for Tatars to graze their horses. The 60,000 households on the left and right wings of the Tatars, who had been conquered by the Ming army and could not even defeat the 40,000 households of the Oirat, gradually rose to power.

After Altan Khan took control of Hetao, corrupt officials appeared one after another and colluded with the enemy and sold out the country. In the 27th year of Jiajing, Zeng Xin, who advocated the recovery of Hetao, was beheaded, and Yan Song and his son took control of the court power.

In the 29th year of the Jiajing reign, during the Gengxu Rebellion, Altan Khan led his army into the capital, plundered the city and left, unmatched.

Therefore, if you listen to the civil officials, talk about benevolence, righteousness, morality, emphasize culture over military affairs, and stop fighting to support the people, you are asking for trouble.

The Northern Tartars have always been conquered by fighting, not by reasoning.

Wanli, like the Hongwu Emperor and the Yongle Emperor, caught the northern barbarians and beat them up. The northern barbarians were frightened and came to ask for peace.

Peace talks are naturally impossible. If the northern barbarians occupy the Hetao area, the Ming Dynasty will sooner or later be destroyed like the Song Dynasty.

However, Wanli wanted to play a trick on the northern barbarians and use a strategy to recapture the Hetao area.

After receiving the news, he immediately ordered Qi Jiguang to send 20,000 war horses to the Summer Resort.

Early the next morning, he led tens of thousands of Jinyiwei and imperial guards and rode straight to Xuanfu Town.

The Summer Resort is actually less than two hundred miles away from Xuanfu Town. After leaving the Summer Resort and passing Huairou and Changping, you will reach Xuanfu Town.

However, at this moment, the Shenwu Camp, including the main force of Xuanfu Town and the cavalry of Datong Town, were stationed near Zhangjiakou. After they arrived at Xuanfu Town, they had to ride their horses westward for more than a hundred miles before they could arrive.

Around 5 p.m. that afternoon, as the sun was setting, Wanli finally arrived at the Yanghe camp south of Zhangjiakou.

There were more than 20,000 cavalrymen in their group, stretching for dozens of miles on the official road. It looked extremely spectacular.

However, after arriving at the Yanghe camp, they were like a small stream merging into a river, not at all noticeable.

Because the Yanghe camp was so huge, the Yanghe Valley, which was over a hundred miles long, from Wanquan Zuowei to Xuanfu Weiwei, was almost entirely filled with tents!
It would take them about half an hour to enter the camp and then ride their horses to Zhangjiakou.

Fortunately, Qi Jiguang, Dong Yikui, Ma Gui, Xiao Ruxun, Liu Jing, Qin Bangping and others had already arrived.

At this moment, the faces of all the generals were full of excitement.

After the king and his ministers exchanged greetings, the two little guys, who were as tall as iron pillars, could not help but excitedly said, "Little aunt, little aunt, we all led the army to kill the enemy, and we all killed dozens of northern barbarians."

Upon hearing this, Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan couldn't help but say with satisfaction, "Well, that's good. You've all grown up and are now able to fight for your country."

These two little guys have not only grown up, they look even stronger than the war horses under their crotch!
He is indeed a natural born warrior.

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded with satisfaction and said, "Well, that's right. As for the military merit rewards, you will definitely get fifty taels for each enemy head."

Haha, this time each person will get three or four thousand taels, we're rich.

Qin Bangping and Qin Banghan couldn't help but grin and laugh when they heard this.

Qi Jiguang was rather surprised and asked, "Your Majesty, will the military merit rewards be distributed as usual this time?"

Wanli nodded without hesitation and said, "Of course. The soldiers risked their lives to kill the enemy. We cannot let them lose heart."

This one.

Qi Jiguang said carefully, "Your Majesty, this time it was mainly because of the unexpected tactics you devised. After they rushed into the Northern Tartars' grazing camp, many of their young and strong men were killed before they even had time to put on their equipment.

The main cavalry forces of the Bayuet and Balin tribes galloped for more than 500 miles in a single day. Their war horses could not run any further and just stopped there waiting for them to charge and kill them.

This time, they have achieved quite a lot of military merits, more than 30,000.”

Uh, does that mean you want to give out more than 1.5 million taels?

This war is really expensive.

However, winning a battle is always better than losing one.

If all the more than 500,000 young and strong men in the Northern Tartars were killed, the military reward would be more than 25 million taels. It would only take less than ten years for us to tighten our belts. Let's get it!
Military merit awards must be given. Only when they are given can the morale of the soldiers be boosted, and everyone will want to rush forward and kill the enemy. If they are not given, there will be no interest in fighting.

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded solemnly and said, "Well, report your military achievements, and then send grain carts to the Qianqing Palace to fetch silver. No matter how much, I will give it to you."

(End of this chapter)