Jingtai: Making the Ming Dynasty Great Again

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The army of 60,000 stretched out like a long, winding snake across the plain.

Esen, riding on his horse, looked back repeatedly towards the southeast with a grim expression.

He didn't know where the Ming cavalry that had followed them for two days was now.

"Report!"

A scout galloped up from ahead: "Grand Tutor! No Ming troops have been seen twenty li ahead!"

However, the trees on both sides of the official road are dense, and there may be an ambush!

Esen reined in his horse and squinted at the rolling hills ahead.

Lieutenant Batel rode forward: "Grand Tutor, should we send scouts to search carefully first?"

Esen sighed: "There's no time left. Arazhiyuan and Toghtogbuqa are colluding with the Ming army."

If they seize Zijing Pass first, we will be trapped like turtles in a jar.

Order! The vanguard should increase their speed, with archers positioned on the high ground on both sides as they traverse the hills.

The central and rear armies should maintain distance.

Once attacked, the vanguard continued to advance regardless of casualties.

The central army engages the enemy, while the rear army is ready to outflank and encircle them at any time!

"Yes, sir!"

As orders were passed down through the ranks, the Oirat army sped up its pace even further.

But the chaos caused by the forced march also began to emerge.

Many valuables that were previously reluctant to part with were now being discarded by the roadside.

A centurion, looking at the loot, couldn't help but spit out, "If I'd known this would happen, I would have plundered more tribes on the grasslands back then!"

The old soldier beside him gave a wry smile: "Who would have thought that this new emperor of the Ming Dynasty would be so difficult to deal with? I heard that he personally beat the drums on the city wall and even led his troops out of the city to fight..."

Another centurion shouted sternly, "Shut up! If this gets back to the Grand Tutor, how many heads do you have?"

Esen sat on his horse with a blank expression and rode forward quickly, but his heart was far from as calm as it appeared.

He was reviewing everything that had happened over the past month.

When he won the great victory at Tumu Fortress, he thought that the fate of the Ming Dynasty was sealed.

When he broke through Zijing Pass by taking Zhu Qizhen hostage, he seemed to already see the scene of moving into the Forbidden City.

Even when the enemy was at the gates of Beijing, he remained full of confidence.

What abilities could a prince who rose to power with the help of eunuchs and women possibly have?

But it was this Zhu Qiyu who shattered his beautiful dream.

Batel's voice interrupted his thoughts: "Grand Tutor, the hilly area is just ahead."

Esen looked up and saw that the official road entered a valley between two mountains.

The hillsides on both sides are covered with trees, making it an ideal location for an ambush.

Esen sighed: "Proceed according to plan."

The vanguard of three thousand cavalrymen entered the valley first, and archers quickly climbed up the hillsides on both sides, drawing their bows and nocking their arrows.

Fifteen minutes passed, and nothing happened.

The vanguard successfully crossed the valley and formed ranks at the other end of the open area to guard the area.

Esen breathed a slight sigh of relief and led his central army to begin the journey.

Just as the central army was halfway through its march, a sudden change occurred!

"Boom! Boom boom!"

An explosion suddenly rang out on the left hillside.

It wasn't an artillery piece, but rather the buried gunpowder that was detonated!

Gravel and dirt fell like raindrops.

Although there were no major casualties, the warhorses were startled, and the formation was thrown into chaos instantly!

Batel roared, "Enemy attack!"

The archers frantically fired at the source of the explosion.

However, no Ming troops charged down the hillside.

Only a dozen or so flags flashed by in the woods before disappearing from sight.

Esen's face turned ashen: "It's a feint! Keep advancing, don't stop!"

Amid the chaos, the group regrouped and sped up their journey through the valley.

As the rear guard began to pass through, bugle calls sounded again from the right hillside.

At the same time, the sound of war drums seemed to herald the imminent charge of a massive army.

The Oirat rear army immediately formed ranks and prepared for battle, standing ready for action.

But after waiting for a long time, there was nothing but the sound of wind and drums.

Esen, who had already led his central army out of the valley, gritted his teeth upon hearing the report and said, "Another feint! The Ming army is trying to slow us down!"

He felt this precisely demonstrated that the Ming army lacked sufficient manpower and dared not truly resist.

This harassment tactic was the only way to slow his march and buy time for deployments in the Zijing Pass direction.

"Order the entire army: ignore any further similar harassment and proceed at full speed!"

The order had been given, but the soldiers' nerves were already stretched to the limit.

When the third wave of harassment arrived, the Oirat army was briefly thrown into disarray.

This time, several rockets were fired at the dry grass by the roadside, causing a small fire.

Esen knew that the morale of his army had collapsed.

This once elite army, which swept across the grasslands and broke through enemy lines, is now a frightened bird.

At sunset, the army set up camp on a riverbank.

Esen summoned the leaders of the various tribes for a meeting, and each of them wore a look of exhaustion and unease.

Yesen looked around at everyone and slowly said, "Gentlemen, I know what you are thinking."

These words caused a stir inside the tent.

Ethan raised his hand to stop him: "We lost this battle, but losing is not terrible."

What's scary is not knowing why you lost, and what's even scarier is giving up after losing.

It is a fact that the Ming Dynasty was more difficult to deal with than we imagined.

But the eagle of the grasslands never breaks its wings because of a single setback.

An elderly tribal chief spoke up: "Grand Tutor, what should we do now?"

The supplies were only enough for five days, and the Ming army was in pursuit.

The situation at Zijing Pass ahead is unclear.

"Arazhiyuan and Tuotuobuhua also..."

He nodded first: "That's exactly what I wanted to say."

"The fact that Arazhiyuan and Toghtogbuqa are colluding with the Ming army is our biggest crisis at present."

Although Esen had already figured it out after the army turned around.

Even though Arazhiyuan and Toghtobukha were at odds with him again.

And it would never be at this time, in this place, especially within the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty, to fight him to the death.

If either side were to go to war with Esen, it would only benefit the Ming Dynasty for nothing.

The final result was the complete annihilation of all the grassland people.

Arachiin and Toghtobukwa are not that stupid.

But it's better to be safe than sorry.

He has encountered too many "unexpected" things since entering Zijing Pass.

He dared not gamble, nor could he afford to.

Esen continued, "If Arazhiyuan wants to join forces with the Ming army to encircle us..."

Why not just head south from Juyong Pass and join these Ming troops in pursuing us?

Therefore, my guess is that Arajiin only retreated from Zijing Pass.

They are not trying to besiege us.

Upon hearing Esen's words, one of the leaders immediately perked up and said, "Then we don't need to rush back."

"Let's go out and loot some more."

Another person chimed in, "That's right, we lost quite a bit of jewelry and food this morning."

"We can go back and bring it back."

Hearing these words, Ye Xian felt a bit of a headache.

Even if these tribal leaders were half as clever as that garrison general named Yu Qian.

They shouldn't have suffered such a crushing defeat.

Yesen rubbed his forehead and said, "Now there's no longer any constraint from Arazhiyuan and Tuotuo Buhua."

The Ming army can free up more troops to deal with us.

If they control Zijing Pass, we will be trapped inside forever.

It will be very easy for them to deal with us then.

Therefore, we must get out of the country, and the sooner the better.

Only the grasslands are our true home.