"Put!"

"Bang bang bang-"

On the afternoon of the nineteenth day of the first month of the fifth year of the Apocalypse, when Zhu Youzhen, Mangui, and Luqin were all marching, Sun Chuanting and Yang Zhaoji, who had sent troops from Ningxia, did not fall.

Artillery lined up in the Phoenix Mountains on the east bank of the Yellow River, constantly shelling targets on the banks of the Yellow River.

Six hundred five-pound Yanshan General Cannons hit the target with ferocious firepower.

Commanding this battle was the Ming veteran Yang Zhaoji, and his opponent was Ji Neng, the leader of the three major alliances in Ningxia.

After Ji Neng received Huoluochi's request for help three days ago, he did not hesitate at all, and immediately commanded 20,000 cavalry to go to the northern border of Ningxia and try to cross the Yellow River to the east.

However, here he happened to meet Yang Zhaoji, who was sweeping both sides of the Yellow River, and a battle broke out between 40,000 soldiers and horses on both sides on the Yellow River.

Sun Chuanting, who learned the news, also led 9,000 cavalry out of Ningxia to come to help.

At present, Yang Zhaoji is attacking Ji Neng on the east bank, while Sun Chuanting is leading 9,000 cavalry to cruise on the west bank of the Yellow River to prevent the Ningxia cavalry from escaping back to Ningxia Shazhou.

The 30,000 Ming army and the 20,000 Ningxia cavalry were entangled for three days, although they could not lead the army directly to break the thieves like Zhu Youzhen, but they had been suppressing Ji Neng.

The soldiers and horses of Jineng's department also suffered heavy losses, with nearly 5,000 dead and wounded, while the Ming army suffered no more than 2,000 casualties.

For the soldiers of the Gongwei Battalion of the Northern Army Governor's Mansion after the reorganization, this is already a remarkable achievement.

After all, before the Northern Military Governor's Mansion did not take over Shaanxi, they hid in the city when they saw the invasion of the captives.

If they had been given more time to train and had more equipment, they might be able to achieve a 1-5 battle loss ratio.

"Shaanxi's battalion soldiers are still undertrained, it's a pity that the soldiers and horses I trained before were transferred to Xiningwei, otherwise they should be able to break Ji Neng at this moment."

On the west bank of the Yellow River, Sun Chuanting led his troops to cruise, and at the same time looked at the battlefield on the east bank and sighed.

Beside him was Guan Fumin, the son of one of the brave generals of the late Ming Dynasty.

Hearing that the imperial court was going to be resumed, he deliberately found Sun Chuanting, and Sun Chuanting saw that he was brave, so he transferred him from Yulin to Ningxia.

I have to say that Guan Fumin is indeed very brave, Ji Neng tried to cross the river to break through many times, but was repelled by Guan Fumin with troops, while Sun Chuanting was on the edge of the battlefield and grasped the entire battle situation.

Judging from the current situation, he is confident that he will completely annihilate the Ji Neng Department here in three days.

After hearing his exclamation, Guan Fumin, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but say:

"This morning, I heard that His Royal Highness killed the tiger's mouth with 30,000 cavalry, broke through the Su bag in three days, beheaded more than 10,000, and captured tens of thousands, I don't know if it's true or not."

"Probably true, His Highness will not exaggerate the results." Sun Chuanting affirmed the issue of the government and the people, and then added:

"The official staff general has never seen Shangzhi, if he does, he won't feel strange."

"I am the governor of the five armies of the Ming Dynasty, and among the more than 800,000 troops, the upper straight can be called the elite, and the upper straight four cavalry guards can be called the selection of the front."

"I have seen the battlefield where the Mandu Governor led the four cavalry guards to fight with Jianyu in Liaodong, if the horsepower is enough, the grain is sufficient, and the 20,000 Shangzhi four cavalry guards are enough to sweep through the north of Saibei."

Sun Chuanting's words are not an exaggeration, because Zhu Youzhen has always known that in the future, the Shangzhi Four Cavalry Guards will become the existence of his own soldiers, so he is constantly strengthening the ability of the Shangzhi Four Cavalry Guards to equip and train them.

The requirements of the four cavalry guards of Shangzhi changed from the pure cavalry in the second year of the Apocalypse to the cavalry artillery association, and then from the third year of the apocalypse to the fourth year of the apocalypse.

This did not change their establishment and troops, but required them to mount as cavalry, dismount as foot soldiers, and gunners.

That is, in fact, they are a mixed force.

Not only them, but the other fourteen soldiers and horses of Shangzhi are also changing.

As Zhu Youzhen once expected, the position of Shangzhi must be the field elite troops in the Ming army.

In other words, as long as the emperor mastered this force, the other four armies, except for the navy, would not be the opponent of Shangzhi.

Because of this, except for the people close to him and those who are familiar with the use of the four cavalry guards, Zhu Youzhen basically will not let people command them.

For now, only Man Gui and Sun Yingyuan can command them.

Even Cao Wenzhao and Sun Shoufa, who were also close, could not casually mobilize the four cavalry guards before they could use the four cavalry guards proficiently.

In addition to Zhu Youxiao's holy decree, only Zhu Youzhen can mobilize them.

It is precisely because of this that the combat power of the Shangzhi Four Cavalry Guards far exceeds that of other armies.

For now, if there is a real rebellion, it will be enough to suppress two of the five armies and counter the three.

In terms of combat power, the current order of the Ming army is Shangzhi-Western Army-Southern Army-Eastern Army-Northern Army.

There is a reason why the northern army is weak, first of all, Man Gui did not bring the Daning Sanwei over, because they have already been classified as Shangzhi.

In the entire Northern Army, less than one-third of the soldiers and horses participated in the Battle of Fuliao, and the way to participate was to fight small battles, which was not comparable to the Western Army with white pole soldiers and the Southern Army with Zhejiang soldiers.

"After the battle of the second set, the strength of the Northern Army should rise to a higher level, but how much it can increase depends on how Mandu Governor trains."

Putting down the binoculars, Sun Chuanting said to the official Fumin next to him, and the official Fumin also said:

"In the future, the Northern Army should have more opportunities for actual combat, even if it is weak at the moment, it will not be long before it will become the first in addition to the upper straight."

"Huh...... That's not exact. Sun Chuanting smiled and didn't say anything directly.

He and Zhu Youzhen chatted not a little in Liaodong, and he understood that among the four armies of the east, west, south and north, the actual combat of the northern army was definitely not as much as that of the southern army and the western army.

The reason is very simple, to fight to the south, it is Annan and Donghu, and every time the southern army and the western army beat a city, there will be tens of thousands of acres of land, and the imperial court will command them to fight, which will only make the imperial court richer and richer.

But what about the north?

The money and food prepared for this Futao battle are jaw-dropping, and the scale is almost no less than that of the Fuliao War with the same number of people.

Even if the Hetao is laid, it is actually a loss-making deal in the short term.

This situation is even more embarrassing, especially after the Navy Governor's Office basically pacified the South Seas.

The Navy Governor's Office will receive the greatest support, which is a basic judgment of Sun Chuanting.

For example, this time, the scale of the Naval Governor's Mansion was less than one-third of the scale of the Futao War, but it conquered a territory more than ten times larger than that of the Hetao, and obtained millions of acres of cultivated fields.

How to see how to earn.

Looking at the re-entrapment again, if it were not for Zhu Youzhen's insistence, I am afraid that the emperor would order the re-entrapment to be stopped after the results of the battle in Nanyang, and put the resources used for the re-entrapment into the naval governor's mansion.

"The imperial court cannot do without His Royal Highness King Qi......"

Sun Chuanting said this to Guan Fumin inexplicably, and then began to continue to look at the battlefield.

It's just that while he was looking, the north came to the horse in surprise.

After layers of verification, Tiqi finally came to Sun Chuanting's face, and took out the military order representing the Qi Palace's mansion as a gesture:

"Spread the ...... of the king's edict and military orders"

Sun Chuanting received the order...... "Seeing that it was really Zhu Youzhen's personal order, Sun Chuanting turned over and dismounted to return the salute.

"The back set has been recovered by His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness ordered Sun Jingluo and General Yang to drag the Ji Neng Department, and he will personally lead the army to break the thieves early tomorrow morning."

"Order!" Hearing the news that Zhu Youzhen had actually recovered the back set, Sun Chuanting was not surprised, while the generals of the Northern Army next to him were shocked.

After receiving the order, Sun Chuanting also asked with a smile: "Dare to ask whether the trap of the back set surrendered or was it broken?" ”

"After the King of Qi arrived in Houtao this morning, some of the remaining chieftains in Houtao took the initiative to surrender, and naturally there were rebels among them, but most of them were cleaned up, so Houtao is already my Ming territory." Tiqi replied respectfully, and Sun Chuanting also bowed slightly, expressing his gratitude.

Then Tiqi left, and Sun Chuanting also calculated the time, and then sighed:

"After three days and three nights of running for more than 500 miles, it is no wonder that the captives of the back set will surrender, I am afraid that they have just learned that the front set of soldiers and horses were surrounded and annihilated, and His Royal Highness personally led the troops to the city."

After that, Sun Chuanting said: "The armies are closely monitoring the banks of the Yellow River, and Huoluochi should have arrived in these two days." ”

"Yes!" The generals responded, and then turned and left, beware of the breakthrough of the fire.

Immediately afterwards, Sun Chuanting ordered someone to pass the news to Yang Zhaoji on the other side of the river, and after Yang Zhaoji saw the military order, he gave orders to the artillery fire of the Ji Neng Ministry, which became more and more frequent.

If it weren't for the fact that General Yanshan's cannon could only fire two or three shots in a quarter of an hour, perhaps he would have annihilated the Ji Neng Department before Zhu Youzhen arrived at any cost.

In short, Sun Chuanting and Yang Zhaoji dragged the main force of the three major departments of Ningxia Ordos, and such behavior also directly led to the lack of rear strength of the three major departments of Ningxia Ordos.

Mei Zhihuan and Li Rubai, Wang Chengen and Li Rumei and others' two major Northern Expeditionary armies in Hexi were like bamboos, constantly uprooting the oasis tribes in the vast desert.

Their task can be said to be much easier than the other ones, and Zhu Youzhen, who was originally just playing as an assistant, has become the main force of the reset.

"Put!"

"Bang bang bang-"

In the early morning of the twentieth day of the first lunar month, as Yang Zhaoji's troops once again urged the artillery troops to launch an attack on Jineng, the Ningxia battalion was bombarded indiscriminately.

There were only 14,000 people left in the three major divisions that had been besieged for four days, and all the dried meat and bean feed carried by the army had been eaten.

Ji Neng did not try to break through, but the result was very dismal and was repelled by Yang Zhaoji and Sun Chuanting from different directions.

They were completely trapped in the valley on the banks of the Yellow River, and the other tribal lords who couldn't bear it simply beheaded Ji Neng this morning and sent people to surrender.

When the news reached Zhu Youzhen's side, he had already set out from Houtao and traveled more than 40 miles south, less than 120 miles away from Sun Chuanting and Yang Zhaoji.

"Have you decided on the direction of the fire?"

Closing Sun Chuanting's military report, Zhu Youzhen looked at Cao Wenzhao next to him, and Cao Wenzhao also nodded and said:

"The Tajiwulie of the Zasak Department has left us a mark, and there are still five hundred and sixty-two of our soldiers and three horsemen in the army."

"According to them, they should be in this position now."

Cao Wenzhao handed over the map, and a conspicuous red circle was drawn on the map.

"This is a small oasis, less than sixty miles away from us, and now we can wait for them to work at ease, and when the fire falls and they cross out of Shazhou, we can take advantage of the night to defeat them."

Cao Wenzhao told his suggestion, but Zhu Youzhen shook his head after looking at it and said:

"No matter how difficult the desert is, it will not be impossible to walk even sixty miles a day."

"Now there are still three hours before dark, and Huo Luochi will cross the Yellow River with his troops before dark, and choose to break through from the south of Wolf Mountain and the north of Helan Mountain."

"The direction of the breakthrough is almost our position of two hundred and thirty miles up and down."

"His current location is about 300 miles away from the breakout mountain pass, and it will take about three to five days."

Zhu Youzhen measured the map with his hand, made inferences based on the scale of the map, and then glanced at the soldiers and horses behind him.

After he recovered the back set, he let Sun Shoufa lead the Long Xiang Guard to be stationed in the back set, and the three guards of Yulin, Tiance, and Xiaocai lost a lot of soldiers and horses, and there were only less than 14,000 people at present.

According to Wu Lie's intelligence, Huoluochi's strength should be around 20,000, counting 50,000 troops, that is, 70,000.

It is still more difficult to intercept 70,000 with 20,000, so it is necessary to mobilize the forces of Sun Chuanting and Yang Zhaoji.

"Yang Zhaoji and Sun Chuanting have a total of seven battalions and 20,000 cavalry, right? In that case, Yang Zhaoji and Sun Chuanting were ordered to transfer the cavalry to the west bank and block the land between Wolf Mountain and Helan Mountain for 230 miles. ”

"The foot soldiers stayed in the Lingzhou River Valley (Wuhai), and Man Gui led the troops directly to the Lingzhou River Valley."

"In this way, the encirclement can be narrowed to about five hundred miles."

"It's much easier to find them within a range of five hundred miles than it is to go to the desert to find them."

"If we can force them to the west of the Yellow River, east of Helan Mountain and Wolf Mountain, it will be easier to find."

Zhu Youzhen made arrangements in an orderly manner, but Cao Wenzhao asked, "Then where do we fight them?" ”

"Wolf Mountain Pass......" Zhu Youzhen pointed to the Wolf Mountain Pass on the map, and then directly said to the commander of Yu Linwei who accompanied the army:

"You take people to quickly transport all the artillery with the army to the mountains north of the Wolf Mountain Pass, and drag it with eight horses in a cart, don't care about the death or injury of the horses, you must transport 700 artillery pieces with the army before the time (19 o'clock)."

"The last general commands!" Yu Linwei commanded the envoy to respond, and Zhu Youzhen also looked at Cao Wenzhao:

"Send out the Tang Cavalry and expedite the information to the ministries."

"Yes!" Cao Wenzhao received the order, and then ordered someone to send the news to the various departments at an expedited speed of 800 miles.

At this moment, they are less than one hundred and thirty miles away from Mangui, and less than one hundred and twenty miles away from Sun Chuanting.

Give Sun Chuanting and Man Gui at least an hour to react, and Huoluochi and they have to march at least 300 miles to break through.

Even if the march out of the desert accelerated, it would take at least three days.

The Ming army had a large number of people and dry food that they carried, and this place was less than 300 miles away from Ningxia, so the Ming army did not have to worry about supply problems at all.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen decisively ordered: "All the materials of the rear army should be sent back to the rear set, and there is no need to send materials to the army." ”

"If the military rations are less than ten days, prepare enough military rations, and after preparing enough military rations, the army will go straight to the Wolf Mountain Pass!"

"Yes—"

——————

"How?"

"Taiji, there is no trace of the Ming army for fifty miles to the northwest, but the sentry we released in the southwest has not returned, maybe the Ming army has discovered our sentry in the southwest."

When Zhu Youzhen was already preparing for the ambush circle, Huo Luochi and the others at the same time also received the news from their own sentry cavalry.

"The sentinel cavalry of the Ming army should also be fifty miles, so the main force of the Ming army in the southwest should be about a hundred miles away from us."

Huo Luochi briefly analyzed the position of the Ming army around him, and then proposed:

"The Ming army in the southwest should be the Ming army in the third largest stop, according to their speed, they can search for us in two days at most, and now it is still too late for the whole army to break through to the northwest at night."

"You can break through to the northwest, and you must determine whether the back set has been taken by the Ming army." Caritas interrupted Huo Luochi's words and continued:

"If the back set is taken down, then you can only walk between Wolf Mountain and Helan Mountain, where there are many mountain passes, it is very easy to be ambushed."

Caritas's consideration was not unreasonable, but the Meng Keshili next to him couldn't wait any longer, and he hurriedly said:

"I don't have so much time to think about it, so I will cross the Yellow River overnight, and if the snow falls heavier, I really won't even have a chance to leave."

They already knew about the surrender of the Thirty-Eight Divisions, and they also knew that there were still Mangui's cavalry in the rear.

At this time, he collided with the Ming army in the direction of Ningxia, which means that if you don't go faster, it is only a matter of time before you are surrounded.

"Alright, while it's still snowing, let's pull out the camp now!"

Huo Luochi, who is familiar with the desert, knows that this desert can't stay for too long, after all, Zhu Youzhen has the living map of Saihan, although Saihan is young, he also knows where the oasis of the Hetao Desert is.

In terms of the number of oases in the Loop, it was only a matter of time before they were found.

Therefore, there is no opportunity to hesitate now, and it is necessary to go out day and night.

They had been on the road in the desert for three days, and during this time, the number of non-combat attrition was very serious, and most of the old people in the tribe were a little unable to bear it, and I was afraid that when the breakthrough was successful, the old people in the tribe would die two-thirds, or even more.

"Sha Ji Nai, Wu Lie, what do you two think?"

Caritas saw that Huo Luochi and Mengkeshili were not the same idea as herself, so she immediately asked about the two tribal leaders, Sha Jinai and Wu Lie.

Sha Jinai didn't have any suggestions, he mainly wanted to break through quickly, so after being silent, he said: "Let's listen to the fire." ”

"Okay." Seeing that she couldn't win over Sha Jinai, Caritas looked at Wu Lie again, but Wu Lie said with a fluttering look in his eyes: "I'm going with Huo Luochi." ”

"Okay, then follow what Huo Luochi said." Seeing that everyone was going to take the path that Huo Luochi said, Caritas could only bite the bullet and echo them.

In the current situation, the five of them will die if they are separated, and together they can still have the possibility of breaking through.

Therefore, even if Caritas does not want to choose this path, it can only follow them.

The five departments hastily decided on the route of retreat, even if there were many mountain passes between Helan Mountain and Wolf Mountain, as long as Sun Chuanting blocked most of the mountain passes and left only one mountain pass, then they could only jump into the trap arranged by Zhu Youzhen.

These 60,000 people did not know what they were going to face, they just walked in the wind and snow in the dark night, and on the way, the fire fell to the red to take on the task of the vanguard, and the tribe of Caritas was the rear army.

As for the Mengkeshili and Sha Jinai and Wulie, the three divisions are for the Chinese army.

More than 60,000 people braved the wind and snow to march in the desert, and the cold wind constantly carried away people's body temperatures.

Some old people could not withstand such a toss, so they froze to death on horseback.

As the horse swayed as it swayed, it finally fell off the horse's back, and by the time the others came back to check, the body was frozen.

There is no time to bury it, and all must put aside their grief and continue on their way, they must cross the Yellow River before dawn, find a hidden place, and wait for the night to fall tomorrow.

It's just that in the dark night of this march, Wu Lie looked very nervous.

Behind him, three horsemen on horseback followed him closely as slaves, and it was not until the army saw the Yellow River that one of the horsemen said to the man in front:

"Chief Flag Officer, I will bring the news to Your Highness."

"Well, be careful...... "The chief flag officer of the Jinyi Guard bowed slightly, and at this time, the rider next to him also instantly lay on the horse's back, and hinted that the horse was leaving the team with a small movement.

In the snowstorm and night, because the whole team did not dare to light the torches, when the cavalry walked out of the team for dozens of steps, it completely disappeared into the wind and snow and the night.

Wu Lie watched the other party's departing back, and wanted to talk to the two Tiqi, but he was afraid that the other tribesmen would notice that something was wrong.

What he wanted to ask was simple, and the chief flag officer knew it at a glance, so he stepped forward and whispered beside him:

"After the matter is over, His Highness will give you a piece of pasture in the back set, which is enough to house you and your people, and you will also get a loose rank, which will be withdrawn every year."

"Thank you, Your Highness, Longen......" Wu Lie finally calmed down when he heard the other party's words.

What he feared most was to be unloaded and killed by the donkey, after all, from what he knew about the emperors of the Central Plains, it seemed that unloading the mill and killing the donkey was a common method used by the Han rulers.

However, if the object was Zhu Youzhen, he would not be so worried.

Zhu Youzhen's trustworthiness was not only spread among the military generals of the Ming court, but also among the southern tribes.

He has never breached the contract on what he promised to fry flowers, Bo Huang and others, so after getting Zhu Youzhen's reply, he no longer worries about anything.

Now he just had to continue, and then when the army reached the place where it was surrounded, he decisively stood up and surrendered.

Not only did he think so, but so did many of the little lords in the Zasak tribe who knew about it.

None of them thought about informing, because whenever they did, the brocade guard would send news that made them even more desperate.

Before they could tell the truth back at the Red Salt Pool, the news came that Su Bao had been broken.

Not long after he walked out of the Red Salt Pond, the news of the surrender of the 38th Division of the Red Salt Pond came again.

Now that they are about to break through, many people also want to tell the truth, but the news that Ji Neng was killed and the surrender of the three main forces of Ningxia once again crushed them.

Now they basically have no idea of informing, because fools can see that they can't escape at all......

(End of chapter)