From late August to early September, the Ming army of 250,000 foot cavalry and tens of thousands of strong men were divided into eight armies, maintaining a formation that could reinforce each other and marching all the time. The Great Army had already entered the areas where the Tatars were constantly active.

There are no more cities and villages along the road, and there are no official post stations, which are desolate. All the populations within a radius of hundreds of miles should not be as large as the Ming army.

It rarely rains on the steppe during this season, and so many people march on roads with plenty of water. In addition to rivers, Zhu Gaoxu would see lakes from time to time, and their names were all called Naoer, because they were first named and transliterated by the Mongols.

Around one of the "Naoer" in front, thick smoke was billowing and the fire was flickering at this time. Zhu Gaoxu led the crowd to rush to the lake, he took a cloth towel and put it on his mouth and nose, and watched the fires on the lakeside.

The air was filled with soot, and black ash flew in the air.

A military general came over and hugged his fists and said, "Holy Lord!" Originally, there should have been a Tatar tribe on the pasture here, and they knew that the king was coming, so they ran away in advance. However, the Tatars did not take all their belongings with them, and at most they were piles of pasture, which were hoarded for the winter. General Ping's vanguard army passed by here, and without catching anyone, they burned the pasture! ”

Zhu Gaoxu responded. The military general bowed to the side.

At this time, someone behind him scolded angrily: "After winter, starve their cattle and sheep to death first, and then let those people starve to death." ”

When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he ignored it, and said in his heart: Won't this tribe borrow pasture from other tribes, or exchange cattle and sheep?

The army left the political envoy of Beiping in July, and traveled every day for nearly two months, but did not catch anything; The soldiers seemed to be getting a little irritable and angry...... Walking for two months and facing a desolate place every day, it is just human nature for everyone to have such emotions. So Zhu Gaoxu didn't blame the general, because even he himself was a little anxious.

He pondered for a moment, then turned his horse's head to face the generals behind him, and everyone bowed on horseback.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "When I fought with the Marquis of Jiangyin in Guangxi, the two armies went around in a big circle on the territory of the political envoy in Guangxi, and chased for several months before finally separating the winner. You can ask Wu Gao. ”

Wu Gao happened to be in the crowd, his face was a little embarrassed, and he hurriedly hugged his fists and bowed.

Zhu Gaoxu said loudly: "Patience is indispensable for a husband to succeed!" The prey will not be sent to the arrows on their own initiative, let alone the Tatars? ”

The gaze of many pairs of eyes focused on Zhu Gaoxu's face.

With a look of great ambition, he pointed to the nearby fire and shouted: "Although the Tatars can move around, their livelihoods in the steppe are very fragile. Soon winter will come, and if they abandon everything and run away, the bitter cold weather will kill the Tatars! The Ming King swept the entire Tatar Mongolia, and the enemy army had nowhere to escape! ”

The generals clasped their fists and said, "Holy Wisdom!" ”

Another military general shouted "Long live", and the nearby soldiers also shouted. For a moment, the atmosphere seemed to be no longer so dull.

The Chinese army was encamped, near the fire, because there was a lake here. The weather is getting colder, and the piles of fires can still make people feel a little warm. Wuhan Iron and Steel cars are lined up around, like a temporary city; The tent was set up in the middle, and the camp was formed.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in a camp, and the neighing of people and horses was very noisy, giving people the illusion of a lively and noisy scene.

Yet, beyond the camp, one could still see a barren and lifeless land. The unburned smoke of the huge meadow mounds hung in the air, and the soot looked like fallen leaves blown by the north wind from a distance, and it was very bleak.

The terrain is not very flat, but there are no high hills either, and the horizon is gently undulating curves; There are also some lava mesas that block the view, and the view is not very wide.

Zhu Gaoxu stood near the big tent of the Chinese army and watched for a long time.

When he returned to the tent, he saw the beautiful virtuous lord and Duan Xue hate, and his mood was a little more relaxed.

After the virtuous lord stepped forward to salute, he asked expectantly, "The concubine heard the generals chanting long live before, did the vanguard army win the battle?" ”

Zhu Gaoxu shook his head. He saw that Duan Xue was also paying attention to himself.

There were no civil and military officials in the tent now, and as soon as Zhu Gaoxu's mood relaxed, he shook his head, and then sighed and said, "No matter whether the situation is bad or not, I can't show frustration and worry. Otherwise, how could the soldiers believe that I would lead them to victory? ”

The smile on the face of the virtuous lord gradually disappeared, and he looked at Zhu Gaoxu with a somewhat strange expression for a while, and said busily: "The concubine pours a bowl of hot tea for the saint." ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded, sat on a futon next to the desk, and suddenly exhaustion covered his body. It's not that I'm tired after a day of riding, but sometimes I'm in a bad mood and I don't want to move.

The Ming Dynasty was an agrarian country and was unfamiliar with everything in the steppe desert; Not to mention fighting on the territory of the Tatars. The information seems to be not symmetrical, the Ming army has not yet arrived, and the opponent seems to already know where the Ming army has gone.

Zhu Gaoxu led his army for more than 1,000 miles, and so far Mao had not touched a single one, and he gradually felt that the Tatars should be evading and retreating in a planned way.

Since ancient times, the Central Plains has been plagued by nomadic armies, but few emperors are willing to go to the grasslands to clear the enemy. That's not without reason.

Some things may not be able to predict the outcome in the first place, and most of the time they may not get anything, and only occasionally get a little satisfaction; Subjective faith doesn't change anything. Aren't you gambling after all?!

However, his previous words to boost morale, he himself thinks, are not entirely unreasonable!

It is true that the Tatars could move around, but at this time, everywhere at this time, the transport capacity was extremely limited. If the Tatars wanted to run away in time, they had to throw away a lot of things they needed for survival, and even starved their animals to death.

If the Ming army swept around the areas rich in water and grass, I am afraid that it would be enough for the Tatars; So they don't have to just passively avoid.

At this time, the virtuous lord brought the hot tea, and she comforted her softly: "Those who are far away in the country of Chaoxian also know that the Holy Lord can fight well, and you will definitely be able to win the battle. ”

Zhu Gaoxu smiled and nodded.

At this moment, Duan Xue Hate actually spoke: "The Holy Lord knew this for a long time, and he still marched north, no matter what, it was worth it." ”

Zhu Gaoxu turned her head to look at her unexpectedly, Duan Xue hated her eyes like a pool of water, there was a look of encouragement, she looked at Zhu Gaoxu and nodded slowly.

"Makes sense." Zhu Gaoxu replied thoughtfully

Road.

The virtuous lord suddenly looked at Duan Xue, who had always been taciturn, with an unexpected gaze.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at the desktop. He took a breath, reached out and grabbed the hilt of the sword on the table, his eyes froze, and he said in his heart: If you want to fight, you will fight, and no one will think about it! There are some things that should not be weighed in terms of interests; Even if it costs nothing, this is the determination to fight back!

In the evening, the generals went to the big tent of the Chinese army to discuss matters.

Zhu Gaoxu issued a new military order and adjusted the shape of various armies. In addition to the Ping'an Forward Army, the Front Army, the Middle Army, the Rear Army, the Left Ye, the Right Ye, the Left Outpost, and the Right Sentinel Seven Armies were redeployed; The armies will be lined up horizontally from east to west, with the two adjacent armies spaced about ten miles apart.

In these two days, the army will form a width of about eighty miles, sweeping from south to north, killing all cattle and living creatures, and burning everything that can be burned.

Moreover, the number of strong men and men in each army was about 40,000, and they carried a large number of Wuhan Iron and Steel vehicles; In the event of an enemy attack, it is difficult for tens of thousands of people to break through the defense quickly, and the nearby army can arrive for reinforcements in more than half an hour......

The new deployment, which seems to have played some role; Perhaps it was simply that the army was getting closer and closer to the hinterland of Tatar activity. The Ming army continued to make gains along the way, but most of them were tribal herdsmen who did not run away, and there were not many of them. The captives were tortured and beaten in the army, but those people were not the nobles of the Tatar Khan at all, and knew nothing.

Judging from the military operation of 300,000 people, the Ming army's record until now is undoubtedly equivalent to nothing.

The sound of grand footsteps and horses' hooves resounded through the heavens and the earth; However, on both sides of the noisy road, there are still barren grass, mountains and rocks, and nothing else. From top to bottom, the low morale of the soldiers is quietly spreading.

The soldiers of the Ming army, who were accustomed to seeing villages, cities, rivers, and crops, would feel insecure when they went farther and farther away in such places. During the march of nearly 2,000 miles, the battle never happened, and the generals were inevitably impatient.

Recently, Zhu Gaoxu has appeared in the camps of various armies from time to time. The officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp who had followed him in the southern and northern wars could often see the emperor, and their morale was slightly settled.

Zhu Gaoxu also ordered the civil officials and eunuchs of the army to tell the story in the barracks about the Ming army of the Hongwu Dynasty breaking the Northern Yuan Dynasty in Yuerhai (Bear Lake), so that the brothers firmly believed: although the road is far, they will definitely be able to find the Tatar king's tent and make meritorious contributions!

However, all this can only maintain the morale of his own people, and cannot affect the actions of the enemy, and the situation has not changed.

In late September, the weather is colder. In the grassland desert, there is hardly a leaf left, and the trees are bare, as if they have died. The first snow had already fallen, and soon the snow stopped, and the cold wind howled and the air was dry and cold.

Ping'an's vanguard army reported that the farthest forward scouts had moved south of the fishing sea (Bear Lake), but no one was found.

Traces of camps, haystacks, burnt cow dung and many other traces were found on the pasture. Obviously, the Tatar tribes used to graze in the southern part of the fishing sea, after all, there were many good pastures with abundant water and grass; But by this time the tribes had withdrawn.

The area around Yuerhai used to be able to feed more than 100,000 people of the Northern Yuan clan, and it was here that the Ming army broke the Northern Yuan army.

Now, the Ming army has arrived again, but nothing has been caught.

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