Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1261
There are no cities on the grasslands, and once the tribe's camp is discovered, it is easy to break through, but it is precisely because there are no cities, the herdsmen graze in the four fields, and it is difficult to wipe them all out.

Although the Ming army wiped out all the tribes and herdsmen found along the way, the news reached Wu Keshan's royal court first.

Wangting is located at the confluence of Liaohe River and Xinkai River, surrounded by fertile water and grass, and many nobles from Horqin lived here.

After Wu Keshan returned from Shenyang without success, he was worried that his prestige would be reduced and that the banners would not obey orders, so he did not return the troops to the banners and remained in the royal court.

Just when the Ming army attacked the Left Front Banner, Wang Ting also got the news of the Ming army's attack half a day later.

The royal court was in chaos for a while, and two hours later, 1 Horqin warriors, protecting nearly [-] herdsmen, headed north.

In addition, there were knights rushing out in all directions, notifying the various tribes, and migrating to Hulun Lake and Yuerhai near Heilongjiang to temporarily avoid the front of the soldiers and play hide-and-seek with the Ming army.

Because the preparations for the westward migration were insufficient, and the route was easily calculated by the Ming army, Wu Keshan could only flee northward with his troops to a desolate area.

Fortunately, it is spring now, the weather is getting warmer, and it is acceptable to go north. They can drive the sheep and eat while walking, but the Ming army has no supplies in the Horqin Grassland. It will take less than a month to run out of food and retreat.

The Central Plains Dynasty was unable to occupy the grassland, and the big reason was that food could not be solved.

Assuming that a Minzhuang eats one catty of rice a day, he can transport one hundred catties and walk forty miles a day, and then he will have to eat 25 catties when he goes to the grassland a thousand miles away from the border. Now eating 25 catties, only half of the grain can be transported to the hands of the army.

Nanjing is only six hundred miles away from Shanghai, and one thousand miles has not penetrated into the grassland. If it is two thousand miles away, the difficulty of transporting grain will be even more unimaginable.

There are two conditions for the Central Plains dynasty to occupy the territory. One is that the place is useful, and the other is that it can be controlled for a long time. If the land is useless and difficult to control, the dynasty has no desire to occupy that piece of land.

Therefore, if the Ming Dynasty wanted to control the grassland, it had to find a way to obtain supplies from the grassland, and it needed the tribes of the grassland to submit and someone to pay taxes.

Wu Keshan's estimate was correct. If the Ming army could not find him within a month, then the Ming army would have to return south after running out of food.

In fact, the food carried by the Ming army was only enough to go deep into the grassland for 20 days, and they had to return to the south for food. However, the Ming army captured some spoils, which could prolong the combat time.

A piece of pasture can only raise so many cattle and sheep, so although Horqin is a large tribe with more than [-] people, they are not gathered together, but after the pasture is allocated, hundreds of tents, nearly a thousand tents are scattered on the grassland. The number of accounts is larger, with a total of [-] nobles and herdsmen.

[-] Mongolian cavalry led by Wu Keshan escorted the herdsmen and rushed northward all the way. He was so anxious that he didn't even wait for the nearby Mongolians to arrive.

In a carriage in the team, Bumbutai and Fulin shared the same carriage.

At this time, Fulin had mixed feelings in his heart. He fled from Beijing to Horqin, thinking that he could rely on Horqin to establish a country outside the customs, but it turned out that his thinking was too naive.

Wu Keshan also respected him at the beginning, but his uncle was not a good one.

After discovering that the Manchus outside the customs had been defeated by the Ming Dynasty, Wu Keshan's attitude towards him immediately became indifferent, and he was thrown aside.

This piece of jade seal is said to have been obtained by the Qing Dynasty from Lin Danhan, and Lin Danhan was passed down from generation to generation in the Northern Yuan Dynasty, so it has great political significance.

Fulin’s life in Horqin was not easy. The phoenix that landed was not as good as a chicken. Many nobles in Horqin thought that he had been the emperor of the Qing Dynasty and must have brought a lot of good things, so they thought of ways to blackmail him and humiliate him if he didn’t give it. .

Many times it was Bumbutai who protected him and persuaded him to bear the burden of humiliation, use the thirteen sets of armor of Taizu to raise troops, and the story of establishing a foundation to encourage him not to give up, and let him use Horqin's power to find opportunities to rise.

This kind of life under the fence made Fulin very painful, but fortunately he still had one thought, but he didn't expect that within a year, his uncle Wu Keshan would die, and was chased like a bereaved dog by the Ming Dynasty. Fulin was a little disheartened to start fleeing afterward.

Thinking of this, Fulin couldn't help sighing, "My queen, it seems that I have no hope of returning to the Qing Dynasty, and I am afraid that even my life will be lost!" After finishing speaking, Fulin couldn't help crying.

Bumbutai on the side was really disappointed with this son, he didn't look like a hero, but in the current situation, she couldn't help it, "Er Niang didn't expect that your uncle is so useless, even Shenyang, which has only 4000 guards I can't even beat him. Don't worry, your majesty, if he is unreliable, we will try to find another way."

Fulin was very desperate, "Is there any other way, Horqin's defeat this time, whether we can escape is a problem, besides..."

Bumbutai interrupted him, not wanting to make Fulin think badly, "Your Majesty, the Ai family will definitely save your life! If Horqin can't stay, the Ai family will take you to the Kingdom of Jin. Haoge is now the lord of the Kingdom of Jin, Our mother and son are poor and rely on him, and there is no threat to him. He will definitely take us in to gain a good reputation. Besides, he is an enemy of the Ming Dynasty, and he will not show weakness. In order to show the heart of fighting against the Ming Dynasty."

The two were talking in the carriage, when there was a sudden commotion behind the group, Wu Keshan, who was walking in front of the group, reined in his horse and looked back, only to see thick smoke billowing behind him, and he suddenly turned pale with shock.

It must be that the Ming army burned his future tent and dismantled it. He didn't expect the Ming army to come so quickly, and his face was full of panic.

Marching on the grasslands, Tan Tai and Zhang Cunren, the group of surrendered generals, are more powerful, especially Tan Tai, who fought against the Mongols in Houjin back then. He has rich experience and knows that fighting Mongolia lies in a quick word.

As long as the Mongols are bitten, even if they are a horseback nation, they have cattle and sheep to look after, old and weak women and children, and they can't walk fast.

"Khan, the Ming Dynasty's horse army is catching up!" Beside Wu Keshan, his younger brother Borzigit Chahan exclaimed, "Let's go!"

Wu Keshan hurried away without saying a word, but it was easy for the army to go fast, but the herdsmen couldn't get up fast.

Cattle and sheep are the food of the Mongols. If these cattle and sheep are lost, even if the cavalry run away, they can only starve to death, and the herdsmen still carry tents and other things. Without these things, how can the Mongols survive in the cold north?

The group of people didn't go far, when suddenly there was the sound of hooves rolling from behind, and a large group of people appeared a few miles behind them.

Seeing that the Ming army was about to catch up, Wu Keshan felt terrified, turned his head and said angrily, "Damn it! The Southern barbarians really want to catch up and kill them all!"

The hooves of the Ming army behind were like thunder, and the Ming army galloping in front saw countless figures in the distance, hugging the vehicles and the cattle and sheep, and all of them felt ecstatic in their hearts.

"Come on!" Tan Tai, Qin Shangxing, Zhao Shenkuan and other generals all drew their knives and pointed forward. The Ming army cavalry roared and formed a dense formation, like a long wall layer by layer, rushing towards the Mongols. .

(End of this chapter)