If we turn back the clock to an hour ago, when the 36 men of the Guanmen led by Zhuo Erbi were driven by the Ochir of the Naiman tribe to garrison the hill outside the village, these Mongols did not make any complaints as usual, but left the village with a sense of impatience.

After Zhuo Erbi led his clansmen up the hill, he whispered to one of the guards beside him: "Shalabo, I have done everything the emperor asked me to do."

As for whether you completed the task, I don't know, and I don't want to know. However, in the current situation, if we want to leave, we must pass through the defense line of the Ming army and return home from the Great Wall Pass under the control of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, I hope that you can get in touch with the Ming army under the city of Santun Camp and ask them to make a way out for us, and we will abide by our promise to the emperor and never interfere in the war between the Ming Kingdom and the Houjin today. ”

Sha Labo looked back at the Naiman soldiers in the village opposite the official road under the mountain, and then looked at the listless 36 soldiers of the Guanmen around him, and couldn't help but laugh at Zhuo Erbi and said, "Can you go back to the grassland empty-handed like this winter?"

It is already inevitable that the Jurchens will withdraw from the Guanwai this time, do you really intend to continue to maintain neutrality between the Ming Kingdom and the Jurchens? I've never heard of a flock of sheep that can remain neutral between a pack of tigers and a pack of wolves. ”

Zhuo Erbi remained silent, but several small Mongolian leaders around him said a little impatiently: "What do you mean by this, doesn't the emperor want to keep his promise to us?" ”

Sharabo raised his hands and soothed: "Don't get excited, don't get excited, I'm just giving you a reminder, as for how you choose, it's your own business." Okay, I'll go and contact General Wu Huai, you just have to wait first. ”

Zhuo Erbi and a few people around him looked at the back of Sha Labo riding away, and some people couldn't help but say worriedly: "After we go back, how will Houjin and Ming deal with us?" It won't really be the same as he said, and both countries will work together against us, right? ”

No one could answer this question, and after a long time, Zhuo Erbi said uncertainly: "I have met the emperor, although the current emperor is young, but he treats people very kindly. I don't think the emperor will break his promise, so let's settle the score. ”

Someone said disapprovingly: "That's not what I said, even if the Ming people don't settle accounts with us, it doesn't mean that they will send troops to protect us." We escaped from the battle, and the Houjin Kingdom would not have let us go so easily. ”

"If the Houjin Kingdom wants to settle accounts with us, that will be a matter for the future. Even if we stand on the side of the Houjin Kingdom, will we be able to change the current unfavorable situation of the war?

The emperor of the Ming Kingdom has arrived on the east road, and the main force of the Ming army must be behind, even if Wu Nag and they block the Ming army's attack this time, they may not be able to block the next time.

Moreover, when the Khan of the Later Jin State tempted me to close the 36th department and enter the customs, he said that the Ming people in the customs were rich, and the women's property could be chosen by us. As a result, after entering the customs, we were not allowed to plunder the Ming people, saying that those Ming people had surrendered to the Houjin Kingdom.

We didn't get much benefit from entering the customs this time, but we were sent around by the Jurchens, and we didn't even have enough food and grass to feed the horses.

If I had known that this was the case, I would have hid in the tent and slept lazily every day, and I would not have come to the gate to suffer this, and I had clearly offended the Akito. No matter what you say, I'm determined not to fight, or go home and take care of my family. A small leader grumbled.

Zhuo Erbi hurriedly said to everyone: "Since we have decided to go home, then don't think about it anymore. Whether it is a Jurchen or a Ming person, it is not a behemoth that we can afford to provoke.

Sharabo's words may not be nice enough, but he has one sentence that is very good. With the strength of our 36th department, we are not qualified to be a wall between the Ming Kingdom and the Jurchens.

When we entered the customs and followed the Jurchens to attack the Ming people, we had already betrayed the Ming Kingdom once. Obeyed the emperor's advice, gave up the Jurchens to go out alone, and betrayed the Jurchens. If you change your mind now, it will be to betray the Ming Kingdom twice in a row.

Don't explain the country, even if it is a Jurchen, will you trust me and wait in the future? Anyway, we'll go home first.

Since we can't afford to offend the Houjin and Ming Kingdoms, it's a big deal that after the beginning of spring, we will move the tribes away, the grassland is so vast, there is always a place where we can stay.

Besides, if you want to turn your back on the Jurchens, we are not the only ones who have closed 36 departments. The Horqin Department, which is related to the Jurchens by marriage, is not secretly colluding with the Ming people? God knows what the Korqin tribe will do in this war, but we must not fall into the trap of the Ming people with the Uluts. ”

It didn't take long for Shalabo to be stopped by a group of Ming scouts, and after seeing the Ming army's waist card shown by Shalabo, these Ming scouts took the strange-looking Mongol to a hollow surrounded by hills, where more than 3,000 Ming cavalry lay in ambush.

After the Ming army arrived at the city of Santun Camp, Wu Huaitong's staff explored the nearby terrain, and finally gave up the plan to attack while the Houjin army was halfway crossed, because the terrain of Balipu was too unsuitable for ambushes.

As long as the Houjin sent an army to garrison the hill north of the bridgehead, the nearby area where the troops could be hidden could be seen at a glance, and this hill could also control the official road below the mountain, making the Ming army's surprise attack impossible to succeed.

Therefore, after Wu Huai consulted with several staff officers, he decided to put the Houjin army under the city of Santun camp, and when the Houjin army began to attack the Ming army under the city, their ambushed men and horses attacked the Houjin army from the rear.

When Sha Labo came to the door, Wu Huai suddenly realized that his ambush plan seemed to be slightly modified.

Since the hill was occupied by the 36 men of the Guanmen Division, who had been persuaded by the emperor to withdraw from the war, he only had to send people up to take over the defense of the hill and let these Mongols cover the Ming army's move to build fortifications on the hill.

Although the cavalry led by Wu Huai did not carry cannons in order to ensure the efficiency of the march, they brought 300 musketeers who knew how to cavalry and 5 light tiger squat cannons. As long as this army is allowed to climb to the top of the mountain, when the Ming cavalry raids, a sudden blow to those Houjin cavalry will inevitably make those Jinjin cavalry after crossing the river even more chaotic.

Although Wu Huai wanted to meet the 36 people who wanted to run away, he was persuaded by his subordinates in the end. Because everyone doesn't know whether these Mongols will change their hexagrams again after seeing Wu Huai. After all, if they caught him, their Ming cavalry would have no one to command.

In the end, after discussion among the generals, it was decided that a staff officer and Li Chenfang would take Sha Labo to meet Zhuo Erbi and persuade him to accept the plan of the Ming army.

Although Zhuo Erbi and several minor leaders of the 36th Department of the Closed Gate claimed that they were unwilling to continue to intervene in the war between the Ming Kingdom and the Later Jin, at this time, they could not help but think of any way out.

The staff officer of the Ming army promised Zhuo Erbi and others that he would not only send someone to escort them out of Xifengkou, but also give them a part of the grain and grass for replenishment along the way, Zhuo Erbi acquiesced, and Li Chenfang took over the defense of Xiaoshan.

In order to be able to build the fortifications on the mountain as soon as possible, the Ming army staff officer also hired 36 Mongols to do the work of digging trenches and cutting down shrubs for the Ming army.

Although Zhuo Erbi felt that this seemed to have violated their promise not to intervene in the war between the two countries, but looking at these hard-working clansmen, Zhuo Erbi opened his mouth, and finally did not say anything to stop it.

When Wu Huai led the cavalry of the Guards Division to turn and charge from the bend in the west, whether it was the Naiman Division stationed in Balipu Village, or the Ulut Mongol Right Battalion, which stayed in the open space at the bridgehead to organize the troops, they were completely defenseless.

The vanguard of the Guards Division quickly split the Mongol cavalry assembled in the open space at the bridgehead into two halves like a hot knife cutting through a piece of butter.

The cavalry that crossed the river, not including the more than 300 Naiman men stationed in the village, numbered more than 1,300.

Although the Naiman Department occupied the village of Balipu, which had better conditions, as a place for troops to be stationed, the village itself was not large, and it was very crowded with more than 300 people, so more than 200 people were stationed outside the village.

When the Ming cavalry divided the Houjin cavalry stationed in the open space east of the village into two, the more than 200 people of the Naiman Department had already recovered their establishment because they crossed the river earlier, so they immediately mounted their horses and began to counterattack the Ming cavalry.

With the decisive counterattack of more than 200 people from the Naiman Division, the other Mongolian tribesmen who became at a loss after being raided by the Ming army finally bought a time to assemble for self-defense.

But in the early days of the battle, the shining point of the Houjin cavalry was only this. The more than 300 Naiman cavalrymen who were cooking on a fire in the village heard the alarm of the enemy's attack, so they dropped their rice spoons and hurriedly searched for their weapons, horses and colleagues, but they could not go out of the village to support at the first time.

As for the more than 1,100 Mongol cavalry that had already crossed the river, they themselves were formed by the union of soldiers from several tribes. After being cut into two pieces by the Ming army, more than 300 people and more than 700 people, they also lost a unified command and fell into a situation of fighting separately.

And this is not the worst, when the Houjin River cavalry was divided into two groups, more than 300 Houjin cavalry near the foot of the hill, in addition to being attacked by the Ming cavalry, were also fired at by firearms on the northern slopes.

Under this double blow, the more than 300 Houjin cavalry, who were between the Ming cavalry and the hill to the north, were the first to rout. In addition to a part of the Houjin cavalry surrendering to the Ming cavalry in front of them, many others chose to flee to the hilly areas to the east.

first fell into the ambush of the Ming army, and then watched the 36 departments of the closed gate, which originally belonged to their own horses, change the flag of the Ming army and fire guns at them, which immediately made many Houjin soldiers who crossed the river very frustrated.

The demoralized Houjin cavalry was suddenly forced to retreat by the Ming cavalry led by Wu Huai, not only blocking the bridge passage to reinforce them, but also being forced down the river beach step by step, retreating towards the Luan River.