The great victory of Hetao that Zu Keyong preached all the way on the way to Jingshi, although it can also be called a great victory, but in fact there was no great battle.

At the beginning, after Lin Dan Khan abandoned the Naturalization City and led the Chahars who could be taken away to flee westward, Jianyu occupied the Naturalization City.

Soon after, Huang Taiji ordered the Abatai Division, led by the Abatai Division, with the cavalry of the Babudaiji Division, as well as the Li Yongfang Division, and the Kongol Division, a total of more than 15,000 cavalry, to form the Western Route Army to pursue.

Ten days later, the Jianyu Western Route Army led by Abatai and others caught up with the rear team of the Chahar Department led by Lin Dan Khan near a mountain range northeast of Baoketu.

Baoketu is the name given to the highland steppe on the north bank of the Yellow River by the Mongols of the Urat tribe and the Mongols of the Ordos tribes.

The Mongolian word for Bauktu means a place where there are deer.

This place, according to the literal translation of Mongolian pronunciation, was called Baotou in later generations.

However, this place, as the Mongols called Baoketu, was the territory of the Huaxia Dynasty as early as the Qin and Han dynasties.

Therefore, it has a completely antique, Han-style and Hanyun name, and this name is Jiuyuan.

Geographically, Jiuyuan is part of the Loess Plateau, not part of the Mongolian steppe.

But in later generations, no one remembered this, and they all thought that Baotou was the place of the Mongols, and the Mongols were the aborigines of this place.

This view is very popular, but it is far from the historical facts.

It was here that Lin Dan Khan abandoned his Kuku and Tuncheng and fled westward, and was caught up by Abatai's army.

If Lin Dan Khan dared to stop his westward migration and concentrate all his efforts to return to fight Abatai, then he would not be able to achieve victory.

After all, at this time, there were still more than 30,000 young cavalry among the men and horses who retreated westward with him, and although Abatai's men and horses were slightly better equipped, they only had 15,000 horsemen.

Although there is no disparity in strength between the two sides, there is still a great chance of victory between 30,000 against 15,000.

It's a pity that Lin Dan Khan, who didn't even dare to hold on to fortified cities like Kuku and Tun before, was completely discouraged after escaping the Hatun River.

When Gui Yingcha, Wanhu of the Chahar Chinese Army, who was in charge of leading the army to break off along the way, hurriedly reported the news that his rear team had discovered the outpost of the Jianyu cavalry to Lin Dan Khan, Lin Dan Khan once again panicked and evacuated in a hurry.

At the same time, he did not forget to give the order before leaving, leaving his most powerful generals Guiyingcha, Borhu, Sanalzhai and others to lead the relatively elite iron lance Konott ten Sumu cavalry to intercept Jianyu's pursuers on the periphery of Baoketu.

The battle northeast of Baoketu lasted from noon to dark, and the two armies of cavalry on the steppe hedged, pursued and fought each other.

The pursuing side led by Abatai rushed left and right, morale was high, and he never gave up the victory that was about to be reached.

The interception side led by Gui Yingcha and others, who were ordered to be broken, desperately blocked and everyone fought, hoping to let their Great Khan and his wives and children escape across the river safely.

A few miles to the south of Baoketu is the Yellow River, which has been completely frozen this season.

The Yellow River is a wide open area, and when the water is dry in winter, there are many sandbanks overgrown with reeds.

Even in the winter of later generations, the Yellow River section of this place will freeze.

Especially during this season of the Chongzhen period, the large and small rivers in the area of Baoketu have already formed thick ice layer early.

Lin Dan Khan originally did not trust the loyalty of the Ordos tribes, after all, the king of Shunyi, who was expelled from Kuku and Tun by him, is still staying in the Ordos tribe.

At the same time, Jinong Exuanchen of the Ordos Department also had a lot of disagreements with Lin Dan Khan before.

Although the position of Jinong was abolished by Lin Dan, it was later reinstated by Lin Dan Khan.

However, the grudge that was formed because Lin Dan Khan led his troops to occupy Monan was not fundamentally resolved.

It is precisely for this reason that when Lin Dan Khan led his troops to the area of Baoketu in a daze, he hesitated whether to continue west or go south nearby, first to unite the Ordos tribes, and then to Qinghai by way from Mingjing.

The living Buddhas and lamas who accompanied the army in Lin Dan Khan's palace had one view, while the original Chahar nobles had another view.

The dispute that had occurred in Kuku and Tuncheng continued on the way to the west.

This is also the reason why Lin Dan Khan would lead his tribesmen to Bauktu for two days.

Lin Dan Khan's department, which had lost a large number of cattle and sheep grain and grass and baggage outside Kuku and Tuncheng, would not have been able to move west in the cold winter without a large number of cattle and sheep as food, and had been bypassing the Hexi Corridor of the Ming Dynasty into Qinghai.

In the summer, they can rely on the natural skills of the Mongols to get the food they need to survive, and it is not a fatal problem.

But in winter, when snow and ice cover the steppes and the Gobi, even the Mongols, who are accustomed to migration and the hardships of migration, cannot survive for long without sufficient food and forage.

However, the Bauktu of this era is more of a ruin than a town.

For apart from a huge boxy, dilapidated earthen wall, or earthen enclosure, Bauktu had no decent fortifications at all.

The city is also overgrown with weeds, and the few buildings are just the remains of some buildings left many years ago.

For a long time, this place was not visited by anyone except for the occasional use of the Urat Mongols on the western edge of the southern desert as a base for their cattle in autumn and winter.

When Lin Dan Khan led his troops here, the leader of the Urat tribe and the Mongols of the Urat tribe had already taken refuge in the Jurchens.

So when I arrived, there was no one in Bauktu.

The absence of the tribes common in the steppe, and the herdsmen of the tribes, meant that Lin Dan Khan did not have a large supply from the area around Buktu.

Without a lot of supplies here, they can't go all the way west.

When everyone agreed with this truth, and as soon as they sent their men south to contact the Ordos Jinong Exuanchen, Abatai's pursuers came to the periphery of Baoketu.

However, fortunately, at this time, under the command of Lin Dan Khan, there were still a group of generals who were willing to fight to the death for him, so that he was able to once again take his Eight Great Fujin and his Eight Great Huluduo to escape across the Yellow River and into the territory of Ordos.

However, the three people of Guiyingcha, Borhu, and Sangaerzhai, who covered the vanguard of Lin Dan Khan and escaped from the Yellow River, and their iron lance Konot cavalry, were not so lucky.

Guiyingcha and Borhu were killed in battle, and Sang Arzhai led his troops to surrender.

Following these three people, more than 10,000 elite cavalry of Iron Lance Konot were left behind, with a total of more than 5,000 dead and wounded, and about 4,000 people were surrounded by the Jianyu cavalry, and followed the desperate Sang Er Zhai to dismount and surrender.

A small number of them escaped from the Jurchen encirclement, desperately rushed across the dry and frozen Yellow River, and fled in a hurry in the direction where Lin Dan Khan had disappeared.

The combined forces under the command of Abatai, Li Yongfang, Kongol and Babudaiji also suffered a lot of damage, but after Abatai surrendered the Sang'er Zhai Division, the number of men and horses under the Abatai Division was basically the same as before the war.

That night, the tired Abatai did not dare to cross the river by stepping on the ice, but chose to camp in the earthen city of Baoketu to rest.

Abatai's choice allowed Lin Dan Khan to escape.

On this night, the men and horses sent out to contact the ministers of Elu took the 15,000 horsemen of the Ordos Department to meet Lin Dan Khan near the old city of Dongshengwei in the Ming Dynasty.

Although the Eluchen had various dissatisfaction and even hostility towards Lin Dan Khan, when the Jurchens came to Monan and expelled Lin Dan Khan, the first choice of the Elachen ministers, who was also a Tatar Mongol, was naturally to side with Lin Dan Khan, who was also a Tatar Mongol.