Yuan Chonghuan took more than 20,000 people and went straight to the Yansui area, and rushed to Datong Mansion on this day. Luo Sigong had already sent back the news according to Zhu Youxiao's arrangement, the invasion of the Tumut tribe in the Yansui area was not a large-scale siege of the city and land, but a small-scale robbery, the object of their robbery was small towns and villages, for each target attacked was to rob all the property, all those who dared to resist were killed, and then quickly evacuated and rushed to the next target. Chen Yuzhi led his subordinates into battle, hoping to repel their harassment, but these Mongol cavalry were very cunning, relying on the superiority of cavalry, they quickly retreated against large Ming troops, and surrounded and annihilated small Ming troops. Most of Chen Yuzhi's troops were infantry, and they were very unsuitable for this tactic, and they couldn't catch up with more people, and when there were fewer people, they were surrounded and annihilated.

In response to this tactic of the Tumut tribe, Yuan Chonghuan invited Yuan Yingtai, Sun Yuanhua, Hong Chengchou, and Lu Xiangsheng to study feasible countermeasures. As the supervising army, Yuan Yingtai, according to Zhu Youxiao's strict explanation, did not interfere in any military decisions of Yuan Chonghuan, and only made decisions on the rewards and punishments of generals, so it was the other four people who really participated in the plan. As the coach, Yuan Chonghuan sat at the front of the table, the other three sat on one side, and Yuan Yingtai sat next to him.

Yuan Chonghuan also had a headache about this tactic of the Mongols of the Tumut tribe, in this era, the mobility of the cavalry is incomparable to the infantry, how to deal with the cavalry is a difficult problem for the Ming Dynasty official army, the cost of forming cavalry is difficult to bear, the defense of the city is difficult to fully defend, loopholes are everywhere, and it is also difficult to defend against the cavalry with strong mobility.

Sun Yuanhua said: "When confronting the Jurchens in Liaodong, I adopted the tactics of digging pits, digging small pits that could sink into the horse's hooves on the road pursued by the Jurchen cavalry, and I felt that I could mobilize the common people to dig small pits in front of the cavalry when we were pursuing, and let our soldiers dig small pits when retreating, so that the speed of the Mongolian cavalry could not be raised, and then use our firearms advantage to strike at a long distance, the light cavalry surrounded and killed, and the infantry fired in a large area. ”

Hong Chengchou said: "This tactic is good, but there are too many people needed, in case the people run slowly, they will be chased and slashed by the cavalry, so the people will also suffer a lot of losses." I wonder if we should also go to the Hetao area to fight and harass the Altan Khan tribe again. ”

Lu Xiangsheng's eyes lit up, and he suddenly said: "Otherwise, we will divide our troops into two routes, north and south, all the way from the east of Yansui Town, according to Lord Sun's method, the official army will cooperate with the common people to fight the scattered invading rangers, and when the opponent has a large number, they will cover with firearms and wait for help, if the Mongols are concentrated, let Lord Sun's artillery cover the blow and destroy its living force." The other way entered the Hetao area from the side city, and attacked the hinterland of the Tumut tribe, forcing them to either fight a decisive battle or flee. Anyway, their tribes are scattered, we can completely eliminate a certain Buluo, to suppress the enemy's courage, and accept the tribes that are willing to surrender to us, but according to the emperor's will, we must educate them, let them become the same living habits as us, identify as part of us, no longer live a nomadic life, but live in the city and village, with fixed grazing and farming points, not like locusts, the land they pass through is desolate, as long as they take root, they will not harass the border, and then let them semi-sinicize, so that the problem can be solved once and for all. ”

Lu Xiangsheng's words made Yuan Chonghuan pause, so Yuan Chonghuan said: "Since this is the case, then we will divide the troops into two routes, the south road is mainly mobile, carrying light weapons and light cavalry, and the north road is mainly steady, which can carry heavy weapons and most of the supplies." But Master Sun has to follow me to the South Road, so who will command the cannon? ”

Yuan Chonghuan was afraid that there would be a mistake on the North Road, after all, it was deep behind enemy lines, Sun Yuanhua was a little old, and he was a very important figure to the emperor, Yuan Chonghuan didn't dare to let him take risks. Yuan Chonghuan himself was very good at training light cavalry, or he would not have been famous for the later "Guanning Iron Cavalry", so he kept Sun Yuanhua by his side, and even if he encountered danger, he could even take Sun Yuanhua out of danger.

Yuan Chonghuan's voice fell, but he saw Lu Xiangsheng looking at Sun Yuanhua with a happy smile, but Sun Yuanhua looked at Lu Xiangsheng with a wry smile. Lu Xiangsheng stood up and said respectfully: "Sir, the disciple is going to snatch your cannon, and he will definitely live up to your teachings, and he will definitely let the Tumut tribe have a good grasp of the majesty of the cannon, and the disciple will definitely make their legs tremble when they hear your name." ”

It turns out that Lu Xiangsheng is Sun Yuanhua's most proud disciple, although this Lu Xiangsheng is strong in martial arts, but because of the emphasis on literature and light on martial arts in the Ming Dynasty, Lu Xiangsheng was admitted to the Jinshi, in fact, he is stronger in military affairs. Through the civil service system, becoming a military general is a shortcut to improving both status and reputation.

Several people have finished the discussion, Yuan Chonghuan and Yuan Yingtai, Sun Yuanhua took 10,000 soldiers and horses to the south, went straight to Taiyuan, and then went obliquely from Taiyuan to the southwest of Luliang Town, because the current traffic is not developed, can only take the natural dirt road, and Yuan Chonghuan, Sun Yuanhua They also carry a baggage, from Luliang Town through Luliang Mountain is relatively easy to walk. Next, cross the Yellow River from Wubao and go straight to Yansui Town in the northwest along the Wuding River.

When passing through Mizhi County, he met Jinyiwei's spy at the post station, and the spy secretly handed over a child who was only fifteen years old to Yuan Chonghuan, telling Yuan Chonghuan that this was the emperor's confession, and asked Yuan Chonghuan to cultivate this child, maybe it was still a good seedling.

It turned out that Zhu Youxiao had already asked Luo Sigong to investigate the situation in Shaanxi, and figures such as Wang Ziyong, Gao Yingxiang, and Zhang Xianzhong were all within the scope of the investigation, no matter how old they are now, as long as there are signs or for their own use, or secretly killed, like Wang Ziyong and Gao Yingxiang have been secretly disposed of, Zhang Xianzhong has not yet been found, but Li Zicheng is gambling in the post station, but he lost the gambling and was beaten, but those people were beaten by him and their noses were swollen. The Jinyiwei spy was surprised, so he paid attention to it, and found out that this little guy's name was Li Hongji, his father had died, and the clues provided by Zhu Youxiao were similar, so he secretly took him in, and then gave it to Yuan Chonghuan according to Zhu Youxiao's intentions.

Where did Yuan Chonghuan know this information, anyway, the emperor asked the people sent to take him in and cultivate them according to the emperor's wishes, but Li Hongji told Yuan Chonghuan that he also had two friends who also wanted to join the army, and Yuan Chonghuan didn't care, so he gave him twenty taels of silver and asked him to go back and bring his friends. Yuan Chonghuan means that the emperor may like you anyway, and it is not bad to bring two friends to play with you, and it is good to meet the emperor in the future, but he did not expect that this unintentional move became a life-saving savior in the later war.

In the yamen of Yansui Town, Chen Yuzhi was reporting to Yuan Chonghuan the specific information of Altan Khan's Mongol cavalry harassment, the Mongol cavalry in units of two or three thousand people wantonly robbed the villages in the Yansui area, when the troops were sent to encircle and suppress more than 10,000, they ran away and did not engage in battle, but when the cavalry was less than 5,000 to encircle and suppress, they would suddenly gather and attack, and as a result, the Ming army suffered heavy losses, so the infantry could not catch up, and the cavalry could not fight, and they were very helpless. The Mongols, on the other hand, were cavalry and very mobile, and often by the time they received information, they had already left their original places. Now the morale of the Ming army is very low, what to do next, Chen Yuzhi is helpless, there is no way at all.