The south of the Mongols' Xindu City (in the territory of Chengchuan Town in the southeast of the present-day Etuoke Qianqi) and most of the area north of Jingbianying and Dingbianying on Yansui West Road were yellow sand.

This section of quicksand strip, which is roughly 130 kilometers long from east to west and about 5 kilometers to 7.5 kilometers wide from north to south, began to be called Mu Us Sandy Land in the fifties and sixties of the 20th century.

In the years to come, the scope of this designation will continue to expand. However, in the Ming Dynasty, it was just yellow sand for the Ming people.

For the Mongols, Mu Us was originally derived from the Mongolian dialect. Usu means "water" in Mongolian, while Mu Us means "bad water".

Therefore, from this name, it can be seen that this place is not a very popular nomadic land for the Mongols.

It is only because the Mu Us Sandy Land is located in the transition zone between temperate desert and dry steppe, although it has a lot of desertified land location conditions. However, this is due to the relatively high amount of precipitation in some places, as well as the abundant groundwater resources. There are still some oases in the desert that can be used as a place for the Mongols to live.

And because after the insert Hudun Rabbit (Lin Dan Khan) entered the set, he continued to attack the surrounding tribes, and the area north of the Mu Us Sandy Land has not been peaceful in recent years. In order to escape the military disaster, some Mongolians prefer to choose to hide in an oasis in the Mu Us sand to spend their birthdays.

However, in order to avoid Jiannu's conquest of the Insert Division, Hudun Rabbit had already led his men to escape from Guihua City (in present-day Hohhot) in the summer of the fifth year of Chongzhen, and also took many Mongols from other tribes with him. At the same time, because of Jiannu's strategy of buying people's hearts, some Mongolian nobles who were originally afraid of tigers and rabbits went to speculate.

So now, the number of Mongols left in the Mu Us Sandy Land is not very large. And because of the struggle between several major forces, and because of the departure of many high-level nobles, there have been many internal conflicts in this place that has fallen into a power vacuum. The remaining Mongols in this area no longer have much strength to resist foreign enemies.

These brought certain opportunities to the Ming Dynasty in the south, and the border forts in various places on the Yansui West Road have recently received some Mongolian descendants.

Dai Junen, the soldier of the West Road, also felt that this was an opportunity to find out about Dazi's reality. He hurriedly sent his capable soldiers to find out the news of the Mongols from beyond the border wall.

Not long after returning to the Jingbian camp, Zhang Mengjin dispatched all his sentry riders again. His younger brother Zhang Mengcheng also thought that this was a good opportunity to find his own state, so he also set off from Jinding Mountain and ran out of the side wall with the sentry horses of Zhou Shaoteng and Fan Shunjiang and others.

The target of their attack this time was the area around the junction of Xindu Dachuan and Qingshan Lake (Tong Harak Noer), as well as the Xindu City area further north. (Note 1)

Although it is still winter, some Mongolian surrenderers said that there are indeed some Mongolians who are stationed here, so Zhang Mengcheng and others are still more confident that they will not return empty-handed.

"Xiucai, you haven't been active for a while, and your skills are indeed a little rusty." Fan Shunjiang keenly noticed that Zhang Mengcheng had some unnatural movements, so he opened his mouth and sighed.

"It's really hard to find the previous form, but let me see blood in the lineup, and I should have a chance to adjust back." Of course, Zhang Mengcheng knows his own affairs, after all, he came out of the village this time to make adjustments.

After Fan Shunjiang heard the other party's reply, he thought for a while and said, "Then when Lao Zhou comes back, you can go with me." If you run into Tatsuko's ranger, I can take care of you. ”

"Then let's go together, and I can learn two more tricks from you. But don't think I'm so vulnerable, even though I'm not in as good shape as I used to be. But if I run into Tatsuko's men, I won't have a problem with a few more opponents with my current skills. Although he supported Fan Shunjiang's proposal, Zhang Mengcheng did not think that he was too vulnerable.

Although Fan Shunjiang smiled at Zhang Mengcheng's unyielding mentality, he still said seriously: "It's better not to be careless, and today's matter is also very important." This time, if we can really succeed in smashing the nest as we wish, then we will be able to worry less about going to Shanxi in the future. ”

"I also know about this, so you can rest assured." Zhang Mengcheng saw Fan Shunjiang's serious expression, so he also gathered his thoughts.

Liu Sangu, who had received the money before, privately sent news that Zhang Mengjin and his gang had been selected by Hong Chengchou and would be transferred to Shanxi to participate in the battle to pacify the thieves in the coming days.

And Dai Junen on Yansui West Road, after the thieves in Dongchuan were wiped out, he also dispelled most of the worries in his heart.

Now that only the Mongols outside the border wall will make him a little worried, so as long as the Mongols in Xindu City who threaten the western road are dealt with, then Dai Junen will not continue to block this issue.

Although Dai Junen is only a subordinate soldier compared to Hong Chengchou, he is Zhang Mengjin's direct commander after all.

If he keeps blocking the transfer of Zhang Mengjin's subordinates. Then maybe the number of soldiers brought into Shanxi by Zhang Mengjin may be reduced, and it may even be out of action directly.

Not to mention that Jin Dingshan, the old nest of Zhang Mengjin and his gang, is almost under Dai Junen's nose. If this Shangguan is upset, then it is Zhang Mengjin and his gang who are unlucky.

Fortunately, Dai Junen also agreed to this action of going out to make nests, and there was the support of Chen Qiyu, the governor of Yansui.

So if you do this errand well, you can make the two Yansui Town bigwigs happy. Moreover, Jinding Mountain is not too far from the border wall, and the Mongols are also a great threat to them, so Zhang Mengjin and his gang are naturally happy to handle this task well.

The sentinels of several military forts on the west road had already obtained a lot of information about the emptiness of the Mongols in Xindu City. And some time ago, there were many Mongolian people who took refuge in Dingding, and once again confirmed the news.

Some of them were Mongolians who had done business with Zhang Mengjin and his gang during the thief period. They were defeated because they were fighting for power with other Mongols, and this time they were willing to take the Ming army back to the north for revenge.

With the help of these people, there should be a lot of convenience for the Ming army's nest-smashing operation.

"Hiss~hiss."

The unique sound of a wooden arrow made Zhang Mengcheng and the others react quickly.

The person in charge of the guard noticed that someone appeared in the distance, but he didn't know if it would be Zhou Shaoteng who came over with the team. Fan Shunjiang and Zhang Mengcheng hurriedly beckoned the cavalry around them and quickly mounted their horses to prepare for battle.

When more than fifty cavalry were ready, one of the soldiers in charge of the guard had already rushed back.

The person who came reported to Fan Shunjiang and Zhang Mengcheng: "Six horsemen appeared, and they found a few people on our alert. However, our brigade should not be found, and now it is being led away by our people, so please act quickly, two leaders. ”

At this time, the Mongols also leave the yurts and herds to run around, which is a bit strange. I don't know if it will also be the sentinel of the Mongol team, so Zhang Mengcheng is a little puzzled.

However, Fan Shunjiang spoke directly: "Don't think about it, Xiucai, clean up these guys first." You lead someone to copy it from the right, and I'll go to the other side. Don't let go of a single person, but it's better to grab a tongue or two. ”

Zhang Mengcheng was urged by Fan Shunjiang and understood the importance of acting as soon as possible. He beckoned more than 20 subordinates and quickly outflanked him to the right.

Many of these soldiers were former subordinates of Che Jibao, and they also had a very good impression of Xiucai, the leader who had a good personal relationship with Che Jibao, so they were happy to obey Xiucai's command.

And some of the remaining people, some were selected from the thieves who were attached to the cottage, and some were the Mongol people who surrendered to the north. After they were included in the cottage system, the family and property were first distributed and managed by Xiucai. And the earliest discipline training was also carried out by Xiucai, and they also listened carefully to Zhang Mengcheng's words under the prestige.

On the way to the right, Zhang Mengcheng quickly launched the team. The five corps of cavalry under his command were like a large net when separated, completely sealing one side. When they quickly crossed a snowy sand dune, they saw nearly a dozen horsemen engaged in battle.

Zhang Mengcheng saw his original henchman Su He, who was in the center of the battlefield at this time. Worried that something would happen to him, Zhang Mengcheng immediately ordered all his subordinates to rush over together.

PS: Note 1: "The Illustration of the Four Towns of Shaanxi" depicts the Duhe River flowing out from south to north and finally flowing into the Yellow River. However, in the "Ordos Wanhu Research 1510-1649" studied by later generations, it is believed that the river is an inland river that disappears when it is injected into the Mu Us sandy land, so the Xindu River may be the Jiangdu River, but for the sake of safety, it is still called the Xindu River in this article. The statement that Qingshan Lake is Tongharak Noer Lake is also adopted from this later research.