Zhou Zheng was very aware of the advantages and disadvantages of the Ming army and the Mongol army, so he decisively adopted the strategy of shrinking the defense, relying on the advantage of the Ming army's superior strength to hold the three fortified cities of Xuanfu City, Baoan City and Huailai City on the boundary of Wanquan Dusi, and set up a zigzag defensive formation in Wanquan Dusi, which not only avoided head-on battle with the Mongol army, but also supported each other.

Not only that, Zhou Zheng also deployed heavy troops at Bauhinia Pass, firstly, to strengthen the defense of this important pass on the inner Great Wall, and secondly, to contain the Mongol army of Wanquan Dusi, so that the Mongol army had to transfer troops to defend the Ming army at Bauhinia Pass.

What was particularly fearful to the Mongol army was that Zhou Zheng obtained many mines from the Jiangwutang Academy, which not only caused a lot of casualties to the Mongol cavalry, but also disrupted the formation of the Mongol cavalry, thereby reducing the killing and wounding of the Mongol cavalry.

Arutai knew that he had encountered a difficult opponent in Wanquan Dusi, although the Ming army was not able to charge into battle, but the defense of the city was still very good, relying on solid city defense and mutual support to defeat the Mongol army several sieges, Zhou Zheng made it clear that he wanted to consume time with the Mongol army.

This made the Mongol army bogged down in the quagmire of the war of the Manchu Dusi, unable to push any further, and Arutai also seemed helpless about this, and the longer the war dragged on, the more unfavorable it would be for the Mongol army.

Originally, Arutai and other Mongolian generals did not take Wanquan Dusi in their eyes after Shanxi Xingdusi, Shanxi's strategic position was higher than that of Wanquandu, and the city defense was also a grade higher than Wanquandusi, with nearly 300,000 troops, but they still conquered Shanxi Xingdusi very smoothly.

If it weren't for the Inner Great Wall blocking the pace of the Mongol army moving south, then Arutai would definitely lead his army south to attack the boundary between the western and northern Zhili regions of Daming Mountain after capturing the Xingdu Division of Shanxi.

Who would have thought that Wanquan Dusi would actually block the pace of the Mongolian army's advance, in addition to the Ming army commander Zhou Zhengneng was good at fighting, in the final analysis, the national strength of the Ming Dynasty was too strong relative to Tatar and Warat, Emperor Xuande immediately transferred troops from the Central Plains and the south after the defeat of the Northern Expedition, although the army failed to hold the Shanxi Xingdu Division, but finally stabilized the position in Wanquan Dusi.

At the beginning of September, the horse was reversed.

Fall Maguan is located in the northwest of Tang County in the north of the Taihang mountain foot of one hundred and twenty miles, the mountain road is steep, the horse is down, so it is named, the north is adjacent to the Great Wall, the back is the Tang River, the southeast is the eighteen panling of the danger.

Since ancient times, the Fallen Horse Pass is a strategic point, according to the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" records, Jianwu fifteenth, that is, in 39 A.D., because the Xiongnu often invaded the northern border of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty migrated to Yanmen, Daijun, Shanggu three counties residents in Changshan Pass (Reverse Horse Pass), Juyong Pass east of the place to live, to prevent the invasion of the Xiongnu, which can be seen the barrier effect of the Reverse Horse Pass.

The Fallen Horse Pass is located on an ancient passage, this road is called "Lingqiu Road", "Wei Shu? Gaozu Ji records, Taihe six years, 482 A.D., had mobilized 50,000 people in the state and county to repair the Lingqiu Road, Lingqiu Road from Pingcheng in the north, Heng Mountain in the south, from the Lingqiu below, slightly follow the Tang River Valley out of the Taihang Mountain, south to Zhongshan, is the northern part of the Shanxi Plateau to the North China Plain traffic artery, the Reverse Horse Pass is an important pass on this road.

Ma Zhongxi of the Ming Dynasty said in the "Reverse Horse Guan Poem and Preface": "There are two mountains facing each other in the pass, and its road is extremely dangerous. ”

Yang Yanzhao is a native of Bingzhou (now Taiyuan, Shanxi), Song Zhenzong was the patrol envoy of Baozhou (now Baoding, Hebei) edge of the border capital, and later promoted to Baozhou defense envoy because of his meritorious service in fighting with the Liao soldiers, and guarded the border for more than 20 years, the Liao soldiers were very afraid, and for thousands of years, many literati and bachelors went to the Fallen Horse Pass to hang the Liulang Monument, praising the immortal achievements of the border pass of Yang Liulang Weizhen.

Compared with Bauhinia Pass and Juyong Pass, the Fallen Horse Pass is the most difficult passage to enter the North Zhili, the mountain road is steep and unfavorable for the passage of the Mongolian cavalry, coupled with the Fallen Horse Pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there is such a dangerous place as the Eighteen Pan Mountains, so the imperial court has always been very relieved about the Fallen Horse Pass.

After the defeat of Emperor Xuande's northern expedition, the imperial court increased the 10,000 defenders of the Fallen Horse Pass to 30,000 for the sake of safety, and sent Xuanping Bo Tong Yi to sit in the town, which was enough to ensure that the Fallen Horse Pass was impregnable.

Tong Yi was Zhou Zheng's deputy general at the time of Jingjing, and had a close relationship with Zhou Zheng, although he lacked the ability to attack the city, but he was a good defender of the city, and won the trust of Zhou Zheng, so he was sent by Zhou Zheng to the Reverse Horse Pass.

"Lord General Soldier, Deputy Chief Soldier Zhang asks to see you." On this morning, when Tong Yi was reading the latest battle report of the Wanquan Division in the office room, a guard walked in and reported in a deep voice.

The deputy general Zhang in the mouth of the guards refers to Zhang Tao, the original guard of the Fallen Horse Pass, and with the arrival of Tong Yi, Zhang Tao became the deputy chief soldier of the Fallen Horse Pass.

"Please." Hearing this, Tong Yi put down the battle report in his hand and looked up at the door, wanting to know Zhang Tao's intention.

"See the Chief Soldier." Soon, a stout middle-aged general walked in, followed by two entourages, and bowed to Tong Yi.

"General Zhang, is there an update on the enemy's military situation?" Tong Yi bowed his head slightly and asked quietly.

"Lord General Soldier, I came here this time to introduce an old acquaintance to Lord General Soldier." Zhang Tao did not answer Tong Yi's question, but pointed sideways to an entourage following behind him, and said in a deep voice.

"Oh?" Tong Yi was a little surprised when he heard this, and couldn't help but follow Zhang Tao's gesture and look over, wanting to know who the old acquaintance in his mouth was.

"I haven't seen you for six years, but Brother Tong's demeanor is still the same!" The attendant originally bowed his head and stood up, but when he heard this, he raised his head and smiled at Tong Yi.

"You...... Aren't you dead? When he saw the face of the person who came, Tong Yi couldn't help but be taken aback, and stood up from his seat with a stunned expression.

"The previous junior brother is indeed dead, and now the younger brother is the deputy privy envoy of the Dayuan Privy Council, if Brother Tong is willing to defect to Dayuan, then Master Arutai will definitely not owe Brother Tong, at least he can sit in this position of the younger brother."

The entourage couldn't help laughing when he heard this, looked at Tong Yi with a surprised face and said, "Now that Dayuan has been on the verge of Juyongguan, the victory of the Liaodong battlefield is just around the corner. ”

"You took refuge in the Northern Yuan?" Tong Yi never expected the other party to say such a thing, so he couldn't help but be stunned and asked with a stunned expression.

"The father and son of the Zhu family not only made the people of the Ming Dynasty miserable, but also wantonly slaughtered loyal ministers and meritorious deeds, what can such a country do to protect it?"

The entourage's eyes flashed with a look of embarrassment, and then he opened his mouth to persuade, "Brother Tong, the one who knows the times is Junjie, now there are 80,000 male soldiers of the Guanxi Seven Guards outside the Guanma Pass, once they enter the North Zhili, they will besiege the Beijing Division, the Beijing Division is now in the city air defense, how long can the 80,000 male soldiers of the Guanxi Seven Guards be able to support it?" ”

"Off...... Kansai Seven Guards? Tong Yi's face suddenly turned a little pale when he heard this, if the soldiers and horses of the Seven Guards of Guanxi entered Beizhili from the Backward Horse Pass, the Jingshi would be in danger.

Emperor Xuande almost exhausted the forces of Gyeonggi and fought the Mongol army in Shanxi Xingdusi and Wanquan Dusi, and once this enemy army was put into the Baoma Pass, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The seven guards of Guanxi refer to the seven guards set up by the Ming Dynasty in the west of Jiayu Pass, also known as the "Northwest Seven Guards" and "Mongolian Seven Guards", the leaders of the seven guards are all Mongolian nobles, namely Andingwei, Aduanwei, Qu Xianwei, Handongwei, Shazhouwei, Chijin Mongolian Guard and Hami Wei, after Shazhou Wei moved inward, and set up Handong Left Guard in its hometown.

Among them, Andingwei, Aduanwei, Qu Xianwei, Handongwei and Handong Zuowei are under the jurisdiction of Xining Wei of Daming, and Shazhou Wei, Chijin Mongolian Wei and Hamiwei are under the jurisdiction of Suzhou Wei of Daming.

In addition to the Handongwei and Handongzuowei, which were originally nomadic in the northern part of Qinghai Lake, the Anding, Aduan, Shazhou, and Hami Zhuwei distributed in the land of Sali Wuer, the western part of Hexi, Hami and other places were all transformed from the nobles of the Chagatai Khanate.

After the establishment of the Seven Guards of the Kansai Dynasty, there were a series of relations with the Ming Dynasty in terms of politics, economy, and culture, which had an important influence and role on the northwest frontier of the Ming Dynasty.

The purpose of the Ming Dynasty's establishment of Guanxi was to consolidate the northwest frontier, strengthen the control of the Western Regions, maintain the smooth tribute routes between the Ming Dynasty and Central Asian countries, and concentrate on dealing with the Tatars and Warats in the north.

Judging from the actual effect, these goals of the Kansai Seven Guards were basically achieved, and the Kansai Seven Guards of the Ming Dynasty not only did not bring big trouble to the Ming Dynasty, but also sometimes helped the Ming army to fight when the northwest frontier of the Ming Dynasty was invaded.

For example, in the early years of orthodoxy, the Chijin Mongolian Wei fought against the Mongolian Warat Department of Dehuan Timur and Mengge Buhua, and won the victory.

Another example is that in the ninth year of Chenghua, Turpan invaded Hamiwei, and sent about Chijin Mongolian Wei Governor Kunzang to rebel, Kunzang killed the envoy and dedicated the letter to the imperial court, and in the process of recovering Hami, Chijin Mongolian Wei and Handongwei both sent troops to help the imperial court.

Throughout history, the relationship between the Seven Guards of Kansai and the Ming Dynasty was better, and when the Seven Guards were strong, the Ming Dynasty only had to guard against the invasion of Tatars and Warats without worrying about the West.

However, because the subordinate relationship between the Kansai Seven Guards and the Ming Dynasty has obvious constraints, the Ming Dynasty's jurisdiction over it is more appeased, and it cannot be as strict as the inland guards, so the Kansai Seven Guards have a very large autonomy, which makes it difficult for the Ming to control.

In order to get wealth, the seven guards of Guanxi sometimes robbed and killed the envoys of the Ming Dynasty and tribute envoys from all over the country, in the twenty-second year of Yongle, the Zhongguan Qiao Laixi and Deng Cheng made Wu Sizang, and when Bi Lishu Jiang Huang Yangchuan, An Dingwei commanded Ha Sansun Sange and Qu Xian commanded Sanjisi and others to "lead the crowd to invite robbery, kill the court envoys, and take away all the camels and horses", Ming Renzong was furious and sent Li Ying to lead a large army to crusade.

In addition, the seven guards of Guanxi did not completely obey the instructions of the Ming Dynasty, even the emperor's orders were not authoritative for them, and the Ming Dynasty used troops against Anding and Qu Xian in the sixth year of Xuande, so that Andingwei commanded Sang Ge and the Handong Guards to go on the expedition, and Handong did not disobey the order.

Therefore, the relationship between the Kansai Seven Guards and the Ming Dynasty is somewhat similar to that of a vassal state, because their leaders were originally Mongolian nobles, so if the Northern Yuan Taishi Arutai sent someone to invite, it is very likely that the leaders of the Kansai Seven Guards will send troops to participate in the war.

"Gu Chen, do you think that this general soldier will let the men and horses of the Guanxi Seven Guards pass through?" After experiencing the initial shock, Tong Yi quickly came back to his senses, stretched out his hand and pointed at the entourage, and shouted out of the door in a deep voice, "Come on, take down this traitor to the general soldier!" ”