Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

He ordered the 191 troops stationed at Xifengkou and Lengkouguan to lead the Great Flame Dragon Cavalry and Iron Blood Cavalry out of the pass to the north to attack the two tribes and five flags of the Zhuosuotu League. The remaining volunteers attacked the Zhaowuda League, which was closer to Shenyang. The two troops finally joined forces in Manihan City of the Aohan tribe.

The code name of this western expedition to Mongolia was: Operation Rat Catching.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Mongolia, its neighbor, has always been a headache for the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang launched eight northern expeditions, and Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di launched five expeditions to the northern desert. The Yuan Dynasty was defeated and turned into the Northern Yuan Dynasty, and the regular army was defeated and turned into a ragtag army.

The Northern Yuan Dynasty was defeated and divided into Tatar and Oirat, and later into various Mongolian tribes such as Mobei, Chahar, Oirats, etc. The miscellaneous army was turned into guerrillas, and dozens of Khans emerged one after another.

The Ming Dynasty fought countless wars with Mongolia and also negotiated countless times. After the battles, the Mongolians surrendered, then rebelled again. When they couldn't win, they ran away. After the Ming army left, they came back to rob. This cycle went on for more than two hundred years.

Now, the Ming Dynasty is gone, and it's in my hands, but I still have to conquer Mongolia. This damn place is like playing whack-a-mole, I push it down and it pops up again, I push it down and it pops up again, and there's no way I can feel at ease.

During this Western Expedition to Mongolia, Jiang Han was not going to play the game of leaving a way out for the sake of future encounters: either he would do nothing, or he would do it completely, and he was going to be ruthless and deal a fatal blow to the Mongolians south of the desert.

On the third day of drip, I feel that my condition is getting better, but eating and sleeping are still difficult. I can't swallow, and I can't sleep at night. My sleep is intermittent. These days I can only maintain this amount of updates every day. I will increase it when I feel better later. I really have the will but not the strength.

Volume 429: Chapter : Conversation between the Emperor and His Ministers

Shengjing Gyeongbokgung Palace (formerly the Royal Palace of Joseon), Sajeongjeon.

Dorgon, the ruler of the Northern Kingdom, huddled in the dragon throne, staring at the two memorials on the desk with a frown on his face.

The two memorials were one about Dayan's preparations for the western expedition to Mongolia, and the other was Wu Sangui's apology.

The Qing Dynasty no longer had the ability to take advantage of the opportunity to send troops to Liaodong. No matter whether the other side could conquer Mongolia or how Mongolia fought, it had nothing to do with him. What he was most worried about now was how to deal with Wu Sangui.

After the successful peace talks between the Qing Dynasty and the Yan Kingdom, Wu Sangui, who had been hiding in the old village of Alahetu, finally led his troops out of the mountains and returned to the Korean Peninsula.

In the Battle of Jinzhou, Wu Sangui passively avoided fighting and led 30,000 Guanning troops to flee first, resulting in the loss of the Zhenghuang Banner and Jinzhou troops on the western front's flanks and their panic-stricken defeat. Zu Dashou and the banner leader Suksaha were eventually killed.

This kind of dog slave who deliberately preserves his strength is unforgivable. In the past, Dorgon would never let him off easily and would have killed him without hesitation.

However, at this time... they couldn't do that. The number of Manchu soldiers in the Qing Dynasty was too small, and they no longer dared to suppress the Han Army Flag easily.

He had just started and had not yet established a firm foothold. If he easily moved against a general with such a large number of troops, it would easily cause a mutiny.

Dorgon wanted to weaken the strength of the Han army flag, but he did not want to affect the combat effectiveness of the Qing army, and he could not let the surrendered Han generals feel that the Qing court did not trust them.

After all, there are too few Manchu soldiers now, and the Qing Dynasty needs to rely on the power of the Han people to gain a foothold in this world.

Now Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui, Li Guohan, Li Rutai and other Han army flags have a total of nearly 80,000 troops, Manchurian soldiers are less than 20,000, Mongolian soldiers are less than 20,000, and Korean soldiers are 30,000. Now it is a situation where the slaves are strong and the masters are weak.

Among them, the Manchu soldiers were commanded by Dorgon and Jirgalang respectively, and the Mongolian soldiers were commanded by Fei Yangguo and Ashan. The people fighting for power in the Qing Dynasty were mainly concentrated in the Manchu and Mongolian banners. The Han army banners and Korea were both targets that needed to be won over.

Because the Manchus were weak, a rift had already developed between the Han Army Banner and the Eight Old Banners of Manchuria. In order to stabilize the Han generals, some substantial concessions had to be made, giving them greater power. It would be best if the two sides could check and balance each other, so that the party could take control of the situation.

Thinking of this, Dorgon smiled bitterly. He must have been too harsh when he stabbed his chest before. In the end, he had left a root of illness. Now he felt a little weak. After ascending the throne, he must consider his succession. He had no children, and his idiot brother died in the front line. Now he was left alone. Oh, and there was Fei Yangguo, who was also a heavyweight. His brain was comparable to Ajige's, but he was a complete idiot. No one knew how Dorgon stood out from this pair of talented Tang people.

Dorgon thought of his two adopted sons: Fulin and Doni.

"Fulin is the son of Huang Taiji and Bumbutai. If I let him succeed to the throne, when he grows up and finds out that I killed his father, won't he dig up my grave?"

Thinking of this, Dorgon shook his head again and considered another adopted son, Doni.

Prince Yu Duoduo had two sons, the eldest son Zhulan was ten years old, and the second son Doni was nine years old. In the twelfth year of the Qing Dynasty, Duoduo was directly crushed by a mecha in Yangzhou. Later, after Dorgon usurped the throne, he let Duoduo's eldest son Zhulan inherit the title of Prince Yu, and adopted the second son Doni as his son.

Compared with his other adopted son Fulin, Dorgon liked Doni more. After all, he was the son of his own brother and was much closer to him than Huang Taiji's son.

"Donny is a good kid, but he is too young, his foundation is too weak, and not many people support him. It would be great if Jirgalang and Hong Chengchou could support him..."

Dorgon sighed and ordered someone to summon King Dingnan Hong Chengchou to see him.

After being conferred the title of King of Dingnan, Hong Chengchou was in high spirits and took a big step towards his life goal.

Being proud inside and low-key outside, this is Hong Chengchou's philosophy of being an official. On the road to his life goals, he became more cautious.

After Hong Chengchou entered the palace to pay his respects, Dorgon waved his hand to block the eunuchs and maids who were serving him, pointed to Wu Sangui's apology letter on the desk, and said directly: "Prince Dingnan, how do you think I should deal with Wu Sangui?"

Hong Chengchou also knew that the new emperor liked to speak directly and didn't want to listen to nonsense, so he said bluntly: "Your Majesty, I think that the current national situation is difficult. Da Yan is still eyeing Liaodong and is ready to attack our Qing Dynasty at any time. Wu Sangui has 30,000 elite troops in his hands. We must not touch him. We should focus on appeasing him."

Dorgon naturally knew that although the Manchu soldiers of the Eight Banners Army were more elite than the Han Banner Army, it would be a huge trouble if Wu Sangui was really forced to rebel, and might even cause a chain reaction.

He asked again: "How to comfort?"

Hong Chengchou seemed to have been prepared for this, and replied: "The emperor recruited Wu Sangui and made him a lord and a prince. Now he can be demoted to a prince of a county as a small punishment and a big warning."

Dorgon was silent for a moment and said, "What's the point of just demoting his rank? His soldiers are still here. What will happen if he violates military orders again next time? You don't have to be vague in front of me. Just speak frankly." We are all thousand-year-old foxes, so there's no need to play Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.

Hong Chengchou smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty's worries are not unreasonable. Some of Wu Sangui's 30,000 Guanning troops are from the Zu family. Your Majesty can improve Zu Zerun's status, let him form his own banner, and divide and disperse them..."

Dorgon's eyes lit up. The Wu and Zu families have always been close to each other. If Zu Zerun was also made a king and appointed as Gushan Ezhen of a banner of the Han army, it would not only divide the troops, but also give him the opportunity to bribe Zu Zerun.

In the eyes of these traitors, whoever gives you milk is your mother. On the surface, Wu Sangui is Zu Dashou's nephew and Zu Zerun's cousin, but in fact they have no blood relationship at all. Zu Dashou's sister is Wu Sangui's stepmother, and they are completely tied together by interests.

As long as there is a greater benefit, not to mention fake relatives, even real relatives may turn against each other! Wonderful, wonderful, when it comes to being a dog, you Han people are still familiar with it!

Hong Chengchou said: "In my opinion, it would be better to let Wu Sangui lead his troops to garrison Busan, and Zu Zerun lead his troops to garrison Pyongyang, so that they can be separated from each other in the south and north. They are separated by a thousand miles and cannot easily join forces. In this way, each of them will have no more than 10,000 troops, so there is no need to worry.

A smile appeared on Dorgon's face. Hong Chengchou was indeed a shrewd man. This plan not only punished Wu Sangui on the surface, but also divided his troops. Great, adding another dog to another, just what I want!

Dorgon smiled for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Prince Dingnan, who do you think is the most suitable ruler of the Qing Dynasty after I pass away?"

Hong Chengchou was shocked. You are over thirty and you ask me what will happen if you are gone? What do you mean? Are you testing me? Could it be that he saw something? But he said calmly, "I am already over fifty, and the emperor is in his prime. After you pass away, I don't even know where you are buried. How can I know who will be the heroes of the future..."

Dorgon stared at him and continued, "Fei Yangguo, Doni, Fulin, which one do you think is the best?"

Hong Chengchou said seriously: "Whichever one the emperor favors, I will favor."

Dorgon nodded, but said nothing. He then inexplicably changed the subject: "How should the Qing Dynasty respond to the Great Yan's westward expedition to Mongolia in the future?"

Hong Chengchou pondered and said, "In my opinion, the Ming Dynasty will focus on dealing with Mongolia in the next few years. In three years at the least and five years at the most, they will pacify Mongolia, including the three Khalkha tribes in northern Mongolia." He was still being conservative. In fact, according to Hong Chengchou's estimation, even one year would be enough.

Dorgon nodded secretly. Hong Chengchou's judgment was almost the same as his own. The Qing Dynasty could easily conquer the Mongolian desert, so the current Great Yan would naturally be no problem at all.

As for the Khalkha tribes in northern Mobei, they only paid tribute on time and never truly submitted to the Qing Dynasty. Because they were too far away, the Qing Dynasty did not have the ability to conquer them. If Dayan wanted to get rid of them, it would take several years as the emperor was far away.

Dorgon pondered for a while before asking, "What do you think, Prince Dingnan?"

Hong Chengchou said: "There are Rakshasa demons in the north of Da Yan and Red Barbarian demons in the south. Da Yan is now rising, relying on the advantage of firearms. Our Qing Dynasty can use the power of Red Barbarians to attack Da Yan from both north and south!"

Unite with the Red Barbarians?

Dorgon looked up at him, opened his mouth slightly, and was somewhat shocked by Hong Chengchou's idea. In the end, he said nothing. This had obviously touched his blind spot in knowledge. What did the Red Barbarians do? Could it be useful?

He had no idea what kind of animals these Red Barbarians were or what special abilities they had. How could Hong Chengchou propose to cooperate with them? Was this credible?

Although the Qing Dynasty cooperated with the Netherlands and the Spanish to purchase firearms, the entire Manchurian high-level officials of the Qing Dynasty did not regard the Red Barbarians as human beings. Looking at the Dutch with their red hair, they did not look like normal humans. They thought they were barbarians who would be captured and used as cannon fodder when the opportunity arose in the future.

Hong Chengchou was from Quanzhou, Fujian, which was once one of the only three gateways for Ming Dynasty's foreign trade. He had seen many foreigners doing maritime trade since he was a child and knew the sea very well.

Hong Chengchou spoke of Quanzhou and the Red Barbarians with deep longing, but Dorgon was not interested in listening to any information about these barbarians. At this moment, they did not know that the Red Barbarians, whom they had placed high hopes on, had been crushed near the coast, and they would have to wait several months before they could get their revenge.

Although he didn't understand what was going on with the Red Barbarians, Dorgon still understood that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. He immediately said to Hong Chengchou, "Prince Dingnan is mature and prudent. I will leave the matter of contacting the Red Barbarians to you. Tell them that if they do a good job, the Qing Dynasty will reward them generously."

Hong Chengchou was speechless for a while, then bowed his head and said, "I obey your order!"

Dorgon nodded and said, "I feel a little uncomfortable. Please kneel down and greet me."

Hong Chengchou kowtowed earnestly and said, "I'm leaving now!"

Looking at Hong Chengchou's departing figure, Dorgon's eyes flashed with a hint of coldness, and he said to himself: "You want to be Sima Yi, but I don't know if you have the fate to do so!"

Volume 430: Chapter Chapter : Entering Mongolia

Speaking of the westward expedition to Mongolia, it is certainly not enough to just pull people out and call it a day. War is indeed a very complicated thing to say, especially in a region like Mongolia with its vast terrain and scarce supplies. It requires even better preparation in advance.

Therefore, Jiang Han dispatched a number of iron-blooded reconnaissance troops into Mobei and began to gradually investigate the terrain and find out the hydrological distribution conditions in various places. This is not only for combat, but also plays a very important role in subsequent governance.

Of course, the early reconnaissance troops are not only composed of these iron-blooded humanoids, but also include a number of volunteer cavalry units to provide some mobile support and connect with key nodes.

However, these early reconnaissance troops have encountered bad things in recent days.

After leaving the lush and green Agula grassland with winding rivers, the whole way is filled with endless yellow sand. The scenery is indescribably bleak, with sandy land dotted with sparse grass and trees, and some Aobao made of stones and sand.

This used to be an oasis and a tribal settlement where they grazed their livestock beside the lake. However, the lake has dried up and the Mongols here had already moved away to seek other ways out.

The harsh environment was secondary; the main problem was the ambush by a small group of Mongolian cavalry.

The Mongolian cavalry were skilled in riding and shooting, and their tactics were very flexible. They observed from afar the volunteer cavalry units conducting reconnaissance on the grassland. When they discovered that the volunteers had the intention to attack, they immediately dispersed and fled, making it difficult for them to be surrounded and annihilated.

Especially after they were beaten several times and had their skins smashed by musket heads, the Tatars who came to harass them became cunning. When they saw the reconnaissance troops with guns, they dispersed and came back like a dog-skin plaster after a while.

As the reconnaissance troops advanced, the frequency of attacks by these Mongolian cavalry became more and more frequent, and more and more people were sent out.

From the initial group of a dozen people, it increased to a group of hundreds. They suddenly appeared and attacked, but when they saw the volunteers shooting with guns, they quickly ran away. They went back and forth like a group of flies, giving the soldiers a headache.

Although there were few casualties, the marching speed was slowed down.

Their main purpose this time was to find the Mongolian garrison. A small force like this was not worth destroying at all. Only by finding the enemy's lair could they achieve their goal in one battle. One of the important reasons why the champion Hou Huo Qubing was able to fight the Huns accurately was that the Han army found the Huns' lair along the river.

The Mongols naturally know this truth.

After several days, the volunteers began to realize that something was wrong. After a brief rest, they decided to reorganize their troops and join up with the mechanized troops in the rear.

In the big tent, many generals were exchanging their experiences regarding this Western Expedition.

A general scratched his head and said, "These past few days, these Mongolian Tartars have been mean and despicable. They run away when they can't get any advantage. They keep harassing us and lingering around, trying to lure our troops into their ambushes. It's really annoying!"

"Genghis Khan's Crow Soldiers Scattering Stars?"

The person who spoke was Chief of Staff Lang Wenle. He was nearly 40 years old, had a short beard, and looked very neat.

The Crow Soldier Star Formation makes use of the cavalry's flexibility and speed, and fights in a dispersed manner. They come like falling from the sky and leave like lightning. Most of the generals present have heard of this tactic. After all, the Mongolian cavalry led by Genghis Khan was too famous. They often used this tactic when sweeping across the world, making the enemy miserable and achieving huge gains.

The Crow Soldiers' Star-scattering Formation usually uses 30% of its troops as the vanguard, breaking through the enemy's strongholds, with three or five cavalry in a group, never clustering together to prevent being surrounded. The enemy can be separated when they are separated, or when they are united, gathering and dispersing, appearing and disappearing, and being extremely flexible, and can often defeat a large number of enemy troops with a small number of cavalry;

If the enemy's formation is solid and the chaos has made them tired, then as soon as the enemy's formation moves, you can take advantage of the chaos and march straight in, and it is rare that you cannot be defeated.

If the army is small in number, then he may deploy deceptive troops to frighten the enemy, or he may set an ambush, feigning defeat and fleeing, abandoning baggage and gold and silver, in order to lure the enemy into the ambush and often completely annihilate the pursuing troops.

Listening to the battle reports from the front line, the generals present were certain that the Mongols were using the Crow Soldier Star Formation and Lava tactics that their ancestors were best at.

The Mongolian cavalry was best at riding and shooting. The Eight Banners Army of the Qing Dynasty, which boasted of conquering the world with riding and shooting, actually relied mostly on the Mongolian cavalry for cavalry.

The Manchu Eight Banners were best at using a combination of heavy armored infantry and shield carts. Unless they encountered an enemy they thought was very weak, they would use cavalry to charge without thinking. Their strict tactics were to dismount and fight on foot.

The Mongolian cavalry's combined bow has a long range and great lethality, with a range of up to 400 meters and an effective killing distance of up to 200 meters. If the arrow is equipped with a sharp metal arrow, it can penetrate the thickest armor.

Compared to the Tatars, the Mongolian tactics were really dirty. When they encountered the enemy's infantry phalanx or column cavalry, they often did not charge directly, but sent out light cavalry to attack from a long distance with bows and arrows.

Then retreat, attack, and retreat again, using the wheel method to constantly weaken the enemy, disrupt the enemy's formation, and finally send out heavy cavalry to charge and reap the rewards (13th century).

This guerrilla-like tactic, especially when used against heavily armored cavalry, would let go of the enemy's last bit of strength like flying a kite, and ultimately defeat them with one final blow.

In the 13th century, the Mongolian army marched westward to Europe. Subutai and Jebe led 30,000 Mongolian troops to fight against the 80,000 European coalition forces led by Russia (mostly heavy cavalry). They used the Crow Soldier Star Formation and retreated for nine days and nine nights in a row, showing their weakness to the enemy, pampering the enemy and luring the European coalition forces into pursuit.

Finally, the Mongolian army retreated all the way to the Kalka River and used the Lava tactics to annihilate the 80,000 European coalition forces in one fell swoop. In the Battle of the Kalka River, more than 70,000 European coalition soldiers were killed, six dukes were killed, twelve princes and nobles were captured, and more than 70 nobles were killed.

Under the leadership of Genghis Khan, the Mongolian army created many unique tactics that were used like a god. These tactics could be skillfully applied to troops as small as a squad of hundreds or thousands of men, or as large as tens of thousands of men.

In addition, the Mongolian army created a set of successful experiences in surprise attacks, long-distance raids, and flank attacks.

However, no matter how strong the Mongolian army is, it was during the period of Genghis Khan's unification. Even if the current Mongolian army has inherited some tactics, its combat effectiveness is far less than that of the past.

During the nearly 100 years of Yuan Dynasty rule, the Mongolian cavalry was no longer the men who galloped on horseback in the past, and their combat effectiveness could naturally not be compared with before.

The intelligence team has collected a lot of wolf rider patterns drawn by these Mongolians, and now they are all copied on the table for everyone's reference: "From these flags, the other nine flags of the Jirim League have united together, and there are also flags of the Zhenghong Banner of the Jiannu remnants. We have to be careful."

No matter how good the Mongols are at riding and shooting, or how dirty their tactics are, they are not to be feared. What is to be feared is the united Mongols and the unified Mongolia.

Historically, Genghis Khan unified Mongolia, allowing them to display their powerful strength and burst out amazing fighting power.

However, after the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, they split again, and many tribes often fought with each other in order to become the boss.

After more than two hundred years of evolution, the areas south and north of the Ming Dynasty, the Dzungar Khanate and Yarkand Khanate in the northwest, and the Khoshut Khanate (Tibet) in the west were all ruled by the Mongols. Not only were they not united, but they attacked each other.

The number of Mongols was much larger than that of the Eight Banners Army, but they were easily defeated by the Qing Dynasty. The reason why this happened was that many Mongolian tribes had deep resentment and did not help each other, and they were like a loose sand. One tribe had only a few hundred or thousands of soldiers, and no matter what they did, they could not stop the attack of the newly emerging Eight Banners Army.

Some tribes even united with the Eight Banners Army in order to obtain each other's cattle and sheep, and volunteered to serve as vanguard guides. They were all Seven Star Dragon Abyss, and no one could say anything about anyone else.

Ligdan Khan, the last Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, wanted all his life to reunite Mongolia and regain the glory of the Golden Family, but he failed miserably and threatened the interests of the feudal lords of the Mongolian tribes, causing disunity among the people and most of his subordinates ran away.

The Khorchin tribe took the initiative to abandon Ligdan Khan and surrendered to Nurhaci, who had just become Khan. Over the past 20 years, the Manchu and Mongolian sides have sent daughters to each other, and have long formed a close in-law relationship.

What’s important is that the Khorchin tribe was located in a very important position, between Liaodong and Mongolia in the south and north of the desert.

The Khorchin tribe and even the entire southern part of the desert, which had lost the control of the Qing court, had gone wild. Anyone who had greatly increased their strength had the ambition to unify Mongolia and become the second Genghis Khan, or at least be their own master.

After some research, Lang Wenle dropped the charcoal pencil he had marked.

"Let's ask the court for help and ask them to send a mobile force. Since these people are determined to hold out to the end, let's see for ourselves who is tougher, their bones or our bullets!"

I feel a little stuck today, let me smooth out the veins on the back of my skirt.