After Liu Sheng retreated, Zhu Di was helped by Chen Yuan to sit down. He held his head in his hands, looking very painful.

Chen Yuan wanted to call a military doctor, but was stopped by Zhu Di, shook his head and said, "It's okay, it's old." ”

After a while, Zhu Di glanced outside the house and said angrily: "Hateful dehuan, he came to me in poverty, I treat him well, but I didn't expect it to be the opposite." ”

Chen Yuan also sighed: "When I was in school before, I saw the story of the farmer and the snake. It is said that in a cold winter, a snake was frozen and could not move, and when it was about to freeze to death, a farmer saw it and felt that it was very pitiful, so he took it in his arms and warmed it with his own body. But—"

"The snake was saved, but the first thing it did was to bite the farmer to death."

Zhu Di scolded: "There are still such stupid people in the world, the nature of snakes is vicious, how can they be influenced." After speaking, he was dumbfounded, and then smiled, "It seems that Dehuan is the snake, and we have become stupid farmers." ”

Zhu Di said again: "It's still the emperor's shrewdness, and he warns future generations not to blindly expand the territory, not to mention the consumption of national strength, not to mention that it is not my race, its heart will be different, and it is always a hidden danger to get its land but not its people." ”

Chen Yuan added: "After all, it takes hundreds or even tens of thousands of years of integration for this person's heart, for example, before the unification of Qin, the six countries also had their own destiny, but after two hundred years of Qin and Han, the Central Plains agreed to the unification, and it could not be done in a short time." For example, in Annan, although the imperial court is extremely favorable now, and the people's lives are much better, there are still small-scale unrest, but they were suppressed by Yu Qian. ”

Zhu Di sighed, and then said leisurely: "I know what you mean, you are reminding me not to occupy their territory. Actually, I don't want to think about it, throughout ancient and modern times, the largest territory is Kublai Khan's Yuan, but he has enjoyed the country for less than a hundred years. The territory of our Ming Dynasty, looking at the world, is unmatched. I'm content. If the area is too large, there will inevitably be too many hidden dangers, and a place will fall apart due to turmoil. ”

"Let's talk about Dehuan, Gao Xu and Gao Sui are over there, Dehuan is still moving, I don't know what medicine is sold in the gourd. Retreat, in your opinion, will Tuohuan send troops? The number of troops we can mobilize is only 200,000 here in the north, and it seems that Arutai is not less than 200,000. ”

200,000 against 200,000, each has its own strengths, the Ming army has powerful artillery, the Tatar cavalry is also particularly powerful, and the northern people are fierce, the living environment is harsh, so the physical fitness is much stronger than the Ming army. Chen Yuan frowned and replied: "I'm afraid not, this person is extremely ambitious, since he has raised troops, he will not go back without any benefits." I think he is sitting back and watching our success or failure, and if we lose, he will take advantage of the situation to go south, and if we win, he will take advantage of the situation to clean up Arutai and unify Mongolia. ”

Zhu Di nodded in agreement: "What you said is right, there are still five days to arrive in Xinghe, our battle is to be treated by them for work, we can't be careless, we must play with momentum." Tell me how we're going to fight this battle. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, we can-" Chen Yuan pointed to the map and told Zhu Di his thoughts, first of all, analyzing the situation on both sides.

The advantage of the Ming army was the unified leadership of the emperor, the concentration of the military and the people, and the continuous supply of artillery and the imperial court. The disadvantages are also obvious, it is March and April, the weather in the north is cold, and it snowed a few days ago, and it is difficult for the soldiers in the south to adapt. There was also the plague that put the Ming army at a disadvantage.

As for the Tatars, they are good at guerrillas, they run when they fight, the cavalry comes and goes like the wind, defeated, he retreats to the steppe, waits for the opportunity, anyway, he will not die the heart of invading the Central Plains, and the Ming army has no way to take them, the vast desert, the supply is difficult, and the Ming army cannot go deep to exterminate them. When they were victorious, they entered the Central Plains.

Therefore, Chen Yuan's suggestion is to fight a protracted war. There are many internal contradictions in the Tatars, and the longer they go, the more likely they are to have problems, and they are short of food, so they mainly rely on plundering the cities of the Ming Kingdom. Therefore, it was necessary to order the city near Xinghe to hold out, and if it was captured, it was also necessary to clear the wall. cut off their food.

Secondly, they are good at guerrillas, so we will fight with them in tough battles and positional warfare. I will fight when the enemy comes, and I will not chase the enemy when he leaves. Consume their food first, and crush their spirit. They have only come to invade, and their morale must be high, and they must wait for them to disperse, and then destroy them in one go.

After listening to Zhu Di's repeated praises, he issued an order to the whole army, follow the implementation, and not rush to war.

Five days later.

Prosperity, the sun is dim, the north wind hunts, endless slaughter, two completely different armies line up in camp, and the big war is also a trigger.

In the Chinese army, Zhu Di posed as Luan, and Chen Yuan was next to him. On the opposite side, Arutai and the other leaders lined up, and the horses breathed cold air from time to time.

Zhu Di sent a messenger to ask: "Arutai, when you were down, you defected to my Daming, I gave you a title, countless gold, silver and jewelry, why did you raise troops to invade the country?" ”

Arutai said loudly: "Zhu Di, the world has been inhabited by capable people since ancient times, and the position you are sitting in now was also snatched from our Mengyuan, and now I am robbing it, what's the problem?" ”

Arutai looked at the Ming army in front of him while speaking, but what he didn't expect was that the Ming army was not dominated by cavalry, but with infantry as the middle army, cavalry was arranged on both wings, and the infantry was also divided into several types, among which there were pikemen and shield bearers in the front, and rows of musketeers in the back.

Arutai is no stranger to muskets, after all, they also occasionally use firearms, but they are not skilled and financial, they are difficult to manufacture, and it takes time to reload ammunition, basically only one or two shots, cavalry can come to them and kill them easily, so they don't care at all.

Zhu Di's face was grim, and he said in a deep voice: "The traitor, invade my territory, and he is not ashamed to speak." ”

Arutai laughed: "Zhu Di, you better take care of your own body." Sons, Zhu Di is already at the end of the crossbow, everyone give it to me and capture Zhu Di alive. ”

"Kill!"

The shouts of killing were deafening.

In the face of the killing cavalry, Zhu Di waved his hand, and behind the musket team, the soldiers quickly uncovered the tarpaulin, revealing the swarthy barrel.

"Boom, boom, boom-" Countless red-hot projectiles flew out of the muzzle of the cannon, cut an arc in the air and fell into the cavalry of Arutai, plowing a series of flesh trenches on the ground, and suddenly the people turned on their backs.

At Chen Yuan's suggestion, the artillery and muskets of the Ming army were all improved, and they were extremely powerful, and the Tatar cavalry was a little stunned for a while, and the formation was suddenly disrupted.

"Kill-" Arutai was in a heavy mood, and he didn't expect that his morale would be hit before he rushed to the Ming army, but Arutai and the Tatar cavalry also knew that the Ming army's artillery was powerful, but there was no way to retreat, only to rush forward. As long as they rushed to the ranks of the Ming army, their artillery lost its effect, and after a little rectification, they all rushed forward with their lives.

"Sons, kill, only by killing in front of you, the artillery of the Ming army will not be able to play, kill!" Arutai jumped to his feet and shouted.

"Kill—"

After a round of artillery bombardment, the Tatars lost thousands of men, but 200,000 horses, which was a drizzle, and the cavalry soon reached the range of muskets.

The Ming musketeers opened fire and again struck at the Tatar cavalry. Then there were archers, and finally Liu Sheng led the cavalry in the melee.

hand-to-hand combat, but no one took advantage, and the two sides were evenly matched.

"Damn, the Ming army is so powerful!" Arutai saw the cavalry entangled together, his heart became heavier and heavier, this iron cavalry under his command this time is the elite of the elite, unpaid for a defeat, and even won more with less many times, the first battle was taken out, I wanted to show Zhu Di the color, but artillery, muskets, bows and arrows made them lose a lot, and the cavalry in front of them was also comparable to what he fought, Zhu Di was really difficult to deal with.

However, the stronger the other party, the more excited Arutai became, the Golden Family, the Mongolian warriors, are all belligerent personalities, and encountering strong opponents also stimulates Arutai's competitive spirit.

War is like archery, as long as the bow is fired, it is impossible to turn back, and Arutai, who inspired the fighting spirit, quickly ordered the whole army, 200,000 troops pressed up, 100,000 iron cavalry like a landslide, quickly killed the Ming army, and the infantry also continued to join the war from behind.

When the armies are engaged together, artillery, muskets, and rockets lose their effectiveness, and it is easy to accidentally hurt their own people. Therefore, Zhu Di also commanded the infantry, put it into the battlefield, and fought bloody battles.

Hundreds of thousands of horses were killed.