At dawn on October 18, the fourth year of Chongzhen, nearly two or three hundred miles away from the side wall of Yansui West Road, a group of Ming cavalry was hiding in a hidden place to rest.

Zhang Mengcheng shook off the dew from his jacket so that he could rest more comfortably. After personally carrying out the mission of light riding away, he clearly realized the hardships involved. Fortunately on the near border, the troops began to march at night and hide during the day to avoid being discovered by the Mongols.

In the ancient north, when winter was approaching, it was not a pleasant thing to march in the wilderness on horseback. Not only the cold weather, but also the long-term riding almost broke Zhang Mengcheng's frame. At the same time, they also have to maintain a high degree of vigilance, so the current mental state of Zhang Mengcheng and the others can be imagined.

In this outpost operation, more than 60 cavalry, war horses and pack horses were transferred to Duhe Fort. Originally, as a reconnaissance operation, it should not have come out with so many people. However, Zhang Fuzhen, the governor of Yansui, asked them to investigate a relatively large area, and Zhang Mengjin and his gang also wanted to complete the task as soon as possible, so they sent Zhou Shaoteng, Fan Shunjiang, and Che Jibao and their three sentinels out.

While so many people are setting off, Zhang Mengjin also plans to make some sporadic heads. However, even if there is no result this time, it doesn't matter, Zhang Mengjin prepared a few heads as a preparation for this operation. Fortunately, there are many people who shave their hair. With a little embellishment, you should be able to hide it.

Che Jibao and Zhou Shaoteng both took people in other directions, while Zhang Mengcheng followed Fan Shunjiang to act together. However, Fan Shunjiang and the others didn't find anything, so they rushed back to the agreed assembly place directly at night. They were going to wait for the others to see if they had any news.

When Zhang Mengcheng closed his eyes and recuperated, Che Jibao rushed back with the team. His team was no different, except that they were all exhausted. Fan Shunjiang hurriedly arranged for someone to bring them hot soup, and asked Che Jibao if he had found anything. Che Jibao shook his head, lowered his head and drank hot soup to relieve fatigue. Fan Shunjiang sighed, and could only wait patiently for Zhou Shaoteng's men to come back. I hope that he has not yet come back and will make some discoveries.

Half an hour after Che Jibao's team came back, Zhou Shaoteng finally rushed back with the team. Although there was no trace of their battle, there was a smile on Zhou Shaoteng's tired face. Let everyone lift their spirits.

Fan Shunjiang didn't wait for Zhou Shaoteng to get off the horse, and rushed over. The reins of Zhou Shaoteng's horse said, "Did you find Dazi's traces?" ”

Zhou Shaoteng beckoned his subordinates to rest, and said to Fan Shunjiang: "Forty miles to the northeast of here, there are traces of the actions of the Dazi herd. I examined the manure left in one place, it was cow dung and it was very fresh, it should have been less than a day. I looked around for a while, and it looked like hundreds of animals were walking together, and I found signs of ruts. ”

Fan Shunjiang fell silent when he heard this, and Che Jibao said excitedly: "Let's set off now, there are not many animals here, and there should not be many people in Dazi." ”

If only the number of cattle is found, it is not possible to determine the number of Mongols, because the Mongols herded several herds at the same time. However, if there are traces of ruts, it indicates that the Mongols were migrating. With only a few hundred livestock, there are definitely not many Mongols in this moving group.

After Zhang Mengcheng served Zhou Shaoteng a bowl of hot soup, he asked Fan Shunjiang with some puzzlement: "Since there are not many Dazi, we can settle it, why are you still sullen and don't speak." ”

Fan Shunjiang saw that not only Zhang Mengcheng was questioning, but Zhou Shaoteng and Che Jibao also looked at him. I had to say the worries in my heart: "Neither I nor Lao Che's team found any trace of Dazi, and now only Lao Zhou's team has found it." I think it's a little strange that the aquatic plants around here are quite good, why there are so few traces of Tatsuko. And the old Zhou Na, who finally found Dazi, the number of Dazi doesn't seem to be much. I couldn't figure it out, so I was afraid that there was a ghost somewhere. ”

Although Che Jibao also found something unusual, he thought that he was thinking too much and continued to advocate that he should go to the northeast.

Zhou Shaoteng heard that Fan Shunjiang and Che Jibao didn't find anything, and he couldn't help but feel a little strange. After thinking about it for a while, he said to the three of them: "Anyway, we have already found out, there is no Dazi around, we can go back directly, but I finally found the traces of Dazi, and I feel a little pity if I don't do this vote." ”

Che Jibao also spoke: "Even if there are Dazi in other places, it will take a lot of time for their people to gather everyone after they learn that we have arrived. If we can fight and leave quickly, we don't have to be afraid of them at all, and after this vote, we will quickly retreat. I don't believe they'll be able to catch up with us. ”

At Che Jibao's strong request, several leaders decided to go northeast and quickly take a vote. After waiting for Zhou Shaoteng's men and horses to rest for a while, everyone quickly marched to the northeast. After two hours of exploration, I finally found the Mongol grazing land, which was a few tents, and there were not many Mongols.

Although the barking of the Mongolian mastiff reminded the owner of the enemy's attack, more than 60 Ming cavalrymen still used their sabers in their hands to quickly crush the enemy's weak resistance.

Only one of the Mongols mounted his horse and managed to rush out. But he couldn't escape far, and was finally solved by Zhang Mengcheng with a bird's gun.

After using the lancet in his hand to solve the annoying Mongolian mastiff, Zhou Shaoteng drove out the old and young women and children in the tent. Together with a subordinate who understands Mongolian, he constantly tortures and interrogates information about his surroundings. And Che Jibao and Fan Shunjiang led the team to inspect the battlefield, and at the same time drove the herds everywhere.

Zhang Mengcheng walked to Zhou Shaoteng's side and asked for information from the other Mongols. This old Mongolian man, whose entire right hand was cut off by Zhou Shaoteng, was still very tough, and he kept insulting Zhou Shaoteng. However, his vocabulary doesn't seem to be very rich, and he repeats words like XX Han people.

There is no need for an interpreter to explain, Zhou Shaoteng can understand what the other party is saying. So Zhou Shaoteng raised his knife again and cut off the prisoner's other hand, intending to continue the questioning. But I didn't expect this Mongolian prisoner to faint directly. Zhou Shaoteng, who was ill-considered, didn't want to waste time, so he directly cut off the old man's head with a knife, and then ordered someone to drag a child out of the captive.

However, this time there was an unexpected situation, when Zhou Shaoteng's subordinates rudely dragged the child who was only about six or seven years old out. The mother holding the child kept shouting in Chinese: "Don't kill my child, don't kill my child." ”

This woman's Chinese language is not the official language of the Ming Dynasty, nor is it the dialect of Shaanxi. Although some words are slurred, you can hear a strong Shanxi accent.

Zhou Shaoteng felt a little interesting, so he pulled out the knife and put it on the boy's neck and said, "How many people are there here, and how many Dazi are around?" ”

The child's mother must have been frightened and just kept shouting, don't hurt her child. Zhang Mengcheng, who was a little tired of listening, walked over directly and slapped her hard and said, "Our general is asking you something, you give me a good reply, otherwise I will skin this child." ”

After being slapped in the face, the Dazi woman finally came back to her senses and heard Zhang Mengcheng say that Zhou Shaoteng was a general. Hurriedly climbed in front of Zhou Shaoteng, kept kowtowing and said: "General, as long as you can spare my child, I will say anything." ”

Zhou Shaoteng smiled at Zhang Mengcheng, put up the general's stand and was silent on the side, and at the same time returned the child. Zhang Mengcheng pretended to be a general's doglegs, and said to the woman: "What is your name, why do you speak Chinese?" ”

The woman held her child in her arms and replied fearfully, "The slave is a Han man, and her name is Liu Xi'er. Originally, she was a maid for the rich man in Shenchi, Shanxi, but she was taken captive out of the Han Realm many years ago, and then she was forced to follow them around as a nomad. ”

Zhang Mengcheng looked at the woman holding the child and found that the child secretly glared at him with hatred. So Zhang Mengcheng decided to kill him later, but at this time he didn't react, just continued to ask: "How many people are there here?" ”

"There are fifteen people in total, four men have just been killed by the general's people, and the rest are us women and children." The woman trembled as she replied. It's still a little slurred, but it's much better than just now.

Zhang Mengcheng looked at the captives held aside, plus the mother and son in front of him, there were indeed seven women and four children, and nodded at Zhou Shaoteng. Zhou Shaoteng put on a very dignified posture at this time and asked, "Are there any other masters around?" ”

"There are still some tents in the north, and there are dozens of men who can fight."

"Which tribe is Dazi from here, who is the leader of the steward, and where is he......"

In the following time, Zhou Shaoteng and Zhang Mengcheng asked a lot of information. It turned out that the people here were originally part of the trappers who had been collected and sorted out by the previous insertion, plus more than ten Yuerti in the north, to form a Deqin. (Note 1)

There were not many men who could fight, only about twenty or thirty people, and in other places, there were only another Mongols stationed at a long distance. It turned out that the Mongol army had been transferred by Huduntu, and only some newly resettled herders remained here. Due to the naturally decentralized nature of the nomadic economy, the households in the nomadic villages were often separated by several miles, and the rest of the Mongols were not yet aware of them.

Zhou Shaoteng and Zhang Mengcheng thought that the opportunity should not be missed, and after discussing with others. The cavalry of Duhe Fort was left with three cavalrymen to guard the place, and the others quickly killed the Mongols elsewhere. While the Mongols' combat strength was still scattered in the tents everywhere, more than 60 of their cavalry maneuvered at high speed and ate the entire Deqin here in one bite.

Fortunately, Zhang Mengjin wanted to complete the task as soon as possible, so he sent three leaders under his command in one go, and three sentry cavalry teams led by them respectively. Therefore, the Duhe Fort cavalry, which had enough strength to take risks, directly evolved into light cavalry smashing the nest in this operation, which was originally just a sentry operation.

More than 60 cavalrymen of Duhe Fort paid the price of several cavalrymen wounded. A total of twenty-three heads were captured, and fifty-five men and women were captured, plus a large number of livestock and supplies were obtained. The cavalry who returned to the city of Ningsai made everyone speechless.

PS: Note 1: "Insertion" is the Chahar Department of the Mongols, the tribe of Lin Dan Khan, and some documents will also call it Insert Han or Insert Haner, Chahar is a different translation of the homonym of Insert Haner.

"Yuerti" originally means tent in Mongolian, and usually represents the Mongolian concept of "household".

"Deqin" originally means forty in Mongolian, and later developed into an administrative unit of the Mongols. Although nominally 40 households, the number of "Deqin" households is generally less than 40, and it is not uncommon for more than 10 households to "Deqin". Of course, depending on the situation, there are examples of more than 40 households. Similar to the concept of "Deqin", there is also "Helin", which represents the meaning of twenty households.