(Thank you for the reward who chose to take the middle route without left or right, thank you.) ）

On the twenty-ninth day of the lunar month, the heavy snow that had fallen for two days and two nights finally stopped.

As the saying goes, the snow is not cold and the snow is cold, because the climate is cold, the ground is frozen everywhere, after the team passes, the ground is trampled on the black, Su Tiancheng also put forward a special request, all the soldiers, to prevent frostbite, don't think that the wind and snow stopped, the sun came out, don't pay attention to keeping warm, the department in charge of logistics, still insist on boiling chili water, let all the soldiers drink it, warm their bodies.

The wind and snow stopped, the army accelerated the pace of marching, the preciousness of time, all the soldiers are clear, especially as the vanguard He Renlong, there is a hurry, the first two days of the march is too slow, because of the weather, can not be accelerated, now the wind and snow have stopped, anyway, the threat from the sky does not exist.

Su Tiancheng has always insisted on acting with the army, without any special, in the process of marching, he also had to discuss with Qu Qingze, He Renlong, Liu Tiehan, Ma Xianglin and others, Liu Wenxiu, Ai Nengqi, Li Dingguo The three have become the rising stars of the new generation of the Jiangning battalion, and their status in the Jiangning battalion is second only to the Wei commander, so they also participated in many discussions.

How to carry out the attack, how to speed up the march, how to overcome the cold weather, all put forward suggestions, some suggestions were quickly implemented, for example, after the ground froze, the war horses walked on the difficult matters, the soldiers wrapped coarse cloth on the horses' hooves, which can effectively prevent the problem of slipping, as for speeding up the march, there is no particularly good way, that is, to extend the march time every day, fortunately, the climate is cold. It is also impossible to sleep too long at night.

Su Tiancheng really felt Song Sijun's carefulness.

When the army came to Datong, they prepared sufficient food, and the clothes worn by the soldiers were thick enough, but there was one thing that Su Tiancheng did not expect, that is, it was impossible to carry a lot of dry firewood, and Song Sijun transported a large amount of dry firewood from Anning Fort. After entering the Mongolian steppe, these dry firewood played a major role, every night, the soldiers are relying on the bonfire to keep warm, after the body is warmed, everyone lies down with clothes, and because of the march wet clothes and shoes and socks, etc., can also be baked and dried, which is to ensure that the soldiers have enough spiritual march. is crucial.

After three consecutive days of marching, the soldiers were a little tired, and despite the severe cold climate, the soldiers were not allowed to drink, so as not to delay the time, and it would soon be the Chinese New Year's Eve, this Spring Festival, 50,000 Jiangning battalion soldiers. It had to be spent in the grasslands, like this. Thinking about a peaceful and peaceful Spring Festival, it is basically impossible, but Su Tiancheng still thought that the Spring Festival cannot be ignored, although the soldiers cannot go home and reunite with their families. But as a commander-in-chief, you can't ignore the thoughts and desires of the soldiers.

December 30, noon.

The advancing army, suddenly receiving an order, stopped marching. Set up camp on the spot.

The hot meal was ready, and the wine was served.

50,000 soldiers, it is impossible to eat in one place, Su Tiancheng held a wine glass, didn't care about eating, toasted the soldiers one by one, and wished everyone a happy Spring Festival.

Su Tiancheng's move, in a few hundred years, is nothing, from a humane point of view, this is the way it should be, but in this era, at the expense of delaying the process of the war, but also so that all the soldiers can spend the Spring Festival in a hurry, at least eat a New Year's dinner with peace of mind, this is not an ordinary favor.

What Su Tiancheng didn't expect was that his decision this time made the New Year's dinner of 50,000 soldiers into a real oath meeting, when the officers at all levels were drinking, they expressed their determination to completely exterminate the Mongolian Tartars, and many soldiers were even more excited, everyone thought of not only this reunion dinner, but also Su Tiancheng's concern for the soldiers, since the establishment of the Jiangning battalion, not to mention the soldiers' salaries, it is the highest in the Ming army, let's say that Su Tiancheng's concern for the soldiers, For the bereavement of the deceased, before each decisive battle, let the soldiers leave a suicide note, and if there is no wish that can be completed, there is a special person to be responsible for completing it, such thoughtfulness is unprecedented.

It only took an hour to eat, and after it was over, without waiting for Su Tiancheng to issue an order, He Renlong and others came to ask for instructions, saying that everyone had asked for a march, and they had already eaten the New Year's dinner, and it was time to start exterminating the Mongolian Tartars.

The speed of the next march was much faster, beyond Su Tiancheng's expectations, no one complained, all the difficulties were overcome by themselves, even the guide who accompanied the army gritted his teeth and insisted, and together with the soldiers of the scout battalion, he went out to survey the route and make all the preparations for the march.

On the second day of the first month, when it was dark, the army arrived at the predetermined place.

It is about 20 kilometers away from the central flag of the left wing of Chahar.

Because of the bad weather, it snowed heavily for two days in a row, Su Tiancheng predicted that when he arrived at the predetermined position, he was afraid that he would have to delay it by one to two days, and the journey of eight hundred miles was different in the pass, and according to the requirements of the Jiangning battalion, it could not exceed two days, at least the vanguard troops should be ready, and even put into battle. But the situation on the grassland is different, not to mention the difficult road, the harsh climate, greatly overdrawn the physical strength of the soldiers, the march along the way, the soldiers are gritting their teeth and insisting, in such extreme weather, any adequate preparation, it is impossible to complete, there will always be some unexpected difficulties, but the soldiers have all overcome, according to the scheduled time, arrived at the predetermined place.

You must know that the march of 160 miles a day is nothing, but in the face of such cold weather on the grassland, even the herdsmen who have lived here for a long time will not choose to go out.

Su Tiancheng has always had a strong confidence, leading the army to the grassland expedition, this is a brand new battlefield, although before, he had led some of the soldiers of the Jiangning battalion to go deep into the Hetao grassland to conquer, and subdued the Xibe tribe and the Daurian tribe, but that time of the expedition, the purpose was different, the idea at that time was to be able to create conditions for the future expedition with the Houjin Tartars, and now the conditions are ripe, the Jiangning battalion has begun to duel with the Houjin Tartars, Efforts were made in the direction of the complete eradication of the Houjin Tartars.

Su Tiancheng has always attached importance to the first battle, and winning the first battle is a principle that must be adhered to, which has a decisive impact on boosting the morale of the army and smoothly launching future expeditions.

The Chahar tribe is one of the largest tribes on the grassland, in terms of combat effectiveness, no less than the Horqin tribe, the grassland has gone through many years of fighting, and the experience between the tribes is also constantly changing, for example, more than ten years ago, the Han tribe is the most powerful tribe in the grassland, the grassland Khan Lin Dan, the leader of the Han tribe, the Horqin tribe and the Chahar tribe, are all subordinated to the Han tribe, and then because of the change in the situation in the grassland, but also because of the brutality of Lin Dan and the strong entry of the Houjin Tartars, The situation in the steppe has changed a lot, but no matter how the situation in the steppe changes, the Chahar tribe is very strong.

The Jiangning battalion went deep into the grassland to conquer, and the main goal was the Chahar tribe and the Horqin tribe, Su Tiancheng's goal was to defeat these two tribes and conquer these two tribes, which meant that most of the grassland was pacified.

Guarantee the victory of the first battle, is not as simple as it says, need to carry out detailed planning, need to anticipate all aspects of the problem, the Chahar tribe station, the army and the herdsmen are living together, but also inseparable, and the situation of the Ming army is different, the Mongolian tribe army, is not a professional army, also the army and the people, when life is calm, the sergeant is an important labor force in the family, to complete the task of grazing and hunting, when the battle comes, become a soldier.

Therefore, in terms of how to carry out the offensive, the officers of the Jiangning battalion had different understandings.

The officers represented by He Renlong believed that it was first necessary to launch an all-round attack on the central banner of the right wing of Chahar, and this kind of offensive would not care about the old, weak, women and children, because in the initial battle, the officers and men of the Jiangning battalion could not distinguish who the real sergeants were, and only after the battle was in full swing could the army of the central banner of the right wing of Chahar be able to assemble, and at this time, the main force of the attack could be directly aimed at the sergeants.

According to this point of view, the artillery battalion will directly launch an artillery attack on the central flag of the right wing of Chahar, and all the yurts will be the targets of the shelling, and the artillery will not have long eyes, but it will not distinguish between the old and the weak, women and children, and a large number of old and weak women and children will definitely die in the artillery attack.

He Renlong believed that as long as the soldiers of the Jiangning battalion did not take the initiative to attack the old and weak women and children when they launched the attack, that is, they followed the regulations, and there was no way to say that the old and weak women and children were buried in the artillery fire.

He Renlong's suggestion was directly vetoed by Su Tiancheng.

Not killing the elderly, weak, women, and children is a principle that must be adhered to, and of course, we must not cause large-scale casualties among the officers and men of the Jiangning Battalion or even give up the superiority of artillery because of stubborn adherence to the principle.

Su Tiancheng's consideration was to use a small force to attack, so that the army of the middle banner of the right wing of Chahar could quickly assemble, and the garrison was attacked, and the sergeants of the Chahar tribe must have fought back desperately, and in the process of their counterattack, they used artillery and flintlock pistols to give the other side a devastating blow.

Su Tiancheng made such a decision, not a whim, he and Mo Si, Tong Cha, Sun Yuankun, Liu Ji and others discussed in detail, for the Mongolian tribe to fight the way, a detailed understanding, the Mongolian tribe in the attack, will first use a large force to assemble to meet the move, and the other party to fight with all their strength, if they can't resist, someone will be responsible for transferring the rest of the tribe, or let the tribe's old and weak women and children flee for their lives.

The small force of the Jiangning battalion attacked, so that the army of the central banner of the right wing of Chahar gathered and came to attack, at that time, the Jiangning battalion was able to exchange the smallest price for the greatest victory. (To be continued......)