Despite the support from the imperial court and the large amount of military expenses provided by various merchants, Xiao Ruxun was not in a hurry to fight. Ningxia Wei had just experienced a big battle, and many soldiers were killed and wounded. Some of the soldiers who had been coerced into the rebels had already surrendered, but it would take some time for them to be of the same mind as themselves. In addition, the consumption of firearms in the Battle of Ningxia was very large, which also took time to replenish. All of this has determined that the matter of sending troops cannot be rushed, and can only be moved on standby.

During this period of time, Xiao Ruxun was of course not idle, he continued to mobilize for combat readiness, from time to time to concentrate troops and horses to walk around the side wall, and sometimes open the gate to let the team go outside the side wall for a short military exercise.

All these activities of the Ming army were looked upon by various tribes on the grassland, especially the Bibai Department and the Zhuli Rabbit Department, which were more sensitive to this matter. When the Ming army first went out of the border wall, both tribes were in a state of combat readiness, ready to meet the provocation of the Ming army. What surprised them was that every time the Ming army vigorously drove out of the side wall, they only circled around more than ten miles outside the side wall, and had no intention of going deep into the grassland at all.

Zhu Li Rabbit and Bi Bai are both experienced generals, of course, they understand that Xiao Ruxun's move is actually a plan to exhaust the enemy, that is, to use repeated temptations to make the other party slack, and finally achieve the goal of surprise. However, if you understand it, no one can stand Xiao Ruxun playing round by round. By September, the Tatars, although they had heard that the army had come out of the border again, had little interest.

As usual, the Ming army drove to a place more than ten miles outside the border wall for a day's exercises, and then withdrew to the Guannei. Both Litu and Bibai sent ranger scouts to observe and supervise the movements of the Ming army. However, none of the scouts noticed that in the exercise team, there was a small infantry team, which quietly left the brigade at some point and drove towards the mountains to the west.

This is an advance force composed of musketeers from the Kanyu Battalion, plus some Ningxia Wei soldiers, the main leader of the team is Deng Kui of the Chinese Army of the Kanyu Battalion, and the deputy generals are Xiong Minyang and Hu Xinxin of Ningxia Wei. After the victory of the counterinsurgency, Hu Xinxin was promoted from a hundred households to a thousand presidents, and became a capable commander under Xiao Ruxun.

In the vast grassland, a team of four or five hundred people is really inconspicuous. Even so, the advance party walked cautiously, trying to avoid the route where the Tatars might be encountered. At the front and back of the procession and on both sides, there were more than a dozen soldiers in charge of lookout, who used high-powered binoculars to observe the wind and grass in the distance, and once they found signs of human activity, they notified the brigade to hide in place until the alarm was lifted, and then continued to move forward.

After three days of marching, the team came to the eastern foot of Helan Mountain, entered the mountain from an inaccessible pass, and then marched down the ravine washed by the flood to the depths of the mountain.

Along the way, there was not a single figure in sight, and it was difficult to see even traces of human activity. The place they walked through could not be called a road at all, there were messy boulders everywhere, and strange cliffs on all sides, and many times, the team could only walk with difficulty against the edge of the deep stream of the steep cliffs. In some places, there was no way out, so the soldiers had to climb up the near-vertical cliffs with rope ladders and move on.

"What the hell is this place, after walking for so many days, and still circling in the mountains!" Deng Kui wiped the sweat from his head and grumbled as he muttered. He had fought in the mountains of Yunnan anyway, but he still felt bored about walking such a mountain road.

"Deng Zhongjun, don't worry, we have already walked half the way, and after a few days, we will be able to pass through this Helan Mountain." Xiong Min smiled and comforted Deng Kuidao.

Deng Kui looked up at Lu Hu, who was leading the way in front of the team, and whispered to Xiong Minyang: "Xiong Laosan, do you think the map in Lu Hu's hand is reliable?" Don't go the wrong way, trap all our 500 brothers in the mountains. ”

"yes, Mr. Xiong, do you think this map is reliable?" Hu Xinxin, who was on the side, also asked.

Xiong Min said: "This is a map that He Bencheng and the brothers from the Surveying and Mapping Department spent two months surveying, Deng Zhongjun and Hu Qian can rest assured." ”

Deng Kui scratched his scalp and said: "If someone else doubted the map drawn by our surveying camp, my old Deng would have slapped him a long time ago." The brothers of our survey camp were all taught by General Soldier Su, and if they dare to doubt our map, don't they suspect General Soldier Su? However, when this thing falls on my head, I am always a little unsure, just such a piece of white silk, and the lives of our people are on it. ”

Xiong Min looked up and said, "It's not that hanging, is it?" Even if the map is wrong, we won't be able to get out. There are a lot of wild beasts and wild vegetables in this mountain, and we won't be hungry for a while, so it's a big deal that we can walk for a few more days. ”

Hu said confidently: "Mr. Xiong, it's easy for you to say, this Helan Mountain has only had a few major passes since ancient times, and there is no other way." If you can go out casually, why don't others walk there? ”

Xiong Min said, "That's because no one else has drawn a map in such detail as we did." Before leaving, didn't General Su carefully study the map with us? On this road, there are only two cliffs, which need to be crossed by knotted ropes, and other places can be passed along the valley. The people in the past, when they walked to the place where the cliff was, did not know what was going on in front of them, and of course they did not dare to go any further. Without this map, we wouldn't dare to move forward, would we? ”

"That's exactly what happened." Hu said confidently, "At least so far, this picture looks quite reliable." ”

Deng Kui sighed and said, "Now that it's time to be scared, it's useless to be afraid, just believe in the pictures they drawn." If there's anything wrong with this picture, see if I go back and don't unscrew his head. ”

If there is a difference in this picture, I'm afraid we won't have a chance to go back and twist He Bencheng's head...... Xiong Min thought secretly in his heart, he turned around and shouted at his soldiers, "Everyone is in good spirits, and your feet are steady." When we get to the other side of the mountain, I invite everyone to eat roasted whole sheep! ”

What Deng Kui feared did not happen in the end, and although the topographic map of the Helan Mountains that had been surveyed and mapped by the soldiers of the Survey Battalion for several months was not very detailed, the direction of the slopes and valleys was basically correct, which was enough to provide strong guidance for the march of the troops.

As Xiong Minyang said, people in the past did not dare to cross Helan Mountain through this kind of wild road, because they did not understand the terrain in front of them, and they were afraid of getting lost in the mountains, so they did not dare to go too deep. With a map in hand, the survey camp can know its location and the surrounding terrain at any time, so it has the courage to move forward.

After more than ten days of trekking, the team led by Deng Kui finally crossed the Helan Mountains and unknowingly entered the grassland west of the mountain range.

"Out of the mountains! Out of the mountains! Seeing the grassland in front of them, the soldiers all cheered. When marching in the mountains, although they didn't say anything in their mouths, the worries in their hearts were no different from those of the main general Deng Kui. Now that the grassland is in front of them, they know that this trip through Helan Mountain has achieved the first stage of success.

"Rest on the spot, bury the pot and cook, pay attention to the vigilance, and don't let the Tatars know that we are coming." Deng Kui ordered.

After the Ningxia Counterinsurgency War, the soldiers of the Kanyu Battalion have become very mature. According to their respective division of labor, they methodically cleaned up the camp and set up sentry posts. A dozen musketeers occupy the high ground in all directions, ready for a possible enemy attack. The soldiers who cooked were also very careful to use dry firewood and grass to make fires, so as not to expose the team's objectives from the cooking smoke.

"Deng Zhongjun, our current position is here ......" Lu Hu, who was in charge of leading the way, walked up to Deng Kui, spread out the map, pointed to a location on the map, and reported to Deng Kui.

"So, we're not on the wrong path?" Deng Kui said he could see that the location shown on the map was exactly where they had planned before they set off. Such a long march, combined with being able to reach the destination accurately after so many days in the mountains where no one is around, is a remarkable thing.

"Not only did we make a mistake, but we arrived two days early." Hu Xinxin interjected on the side, "My old Hu is convinced, with such a picture, we haven't taken any unjust road at all." ”

"Lu Hu, this trip is good, when I go back, I will ask for credit for you in front of General Su. If we can win this battle, you will be the first to win. Deng Kui patted Lu Hu's shoulder and complimented.

Lu Hu had a look of excitement on his face, but he said: "How dare the last general, this is all under the command of Deng Zhongjun, in addition, there are also He Qian's brothers from the Surveying and Mapping Department who have measured the map well, otherwise how can we go so smoothly?" ”

"Judging from the map, our location is far from the tribe that General Su asked us to go to......" Deng Kui was a little stumbling when he said this, he really couldn't say the names of those Tatars.

"It's the Has-ullah tribe." Xiong Min leaned aside and reminded.

"Yes, what is the Ula tribe, how far is it from us?" Deng Kui asked.

Xiong Minyang gestured with his hand on the map and said, "Less than forty miles, it is in the northwest direction of ours. ”

"Xiong Laosan, you arrange two people to contact the Ula tribe to see if there is any change in what is good." Deng Kui commanded.

"I'll go myself." Xiong Minyang said, "Send someone to go, I'm afraid I can't say it clearly." ”

"Okay, then you can go, be careful all the way." Deng Kuidao.

Xiong Minyang called the soldiers Liao Yiming and Yin Guoxian and asked them to go with him to the Haswula tribe. The three men changed their military uniforms, each dressed in the homely clothes of a Tatar herdsman, hid muskets in their robes, and set out in a northwesterly direction.