"Sigh the law ......"

"Phew!"

On June 12, as a large number of horses' hooves appeared on the side of the coniferous forest, Zhu Di on horseback couldn't help but squint his eyes.

The surrounding grasslands are covered with coniferous forests, which are scattered on the land that is not very rich, and cannot be connected into patches, but can only add a few scenic spots.

"Where is this?"

Zhu Di asked sideways, and Arutai Tse behind him immediately stepped forward to answer: "This is the Mulun area in the north of Waira, according to the traces of Mahamu and them just now, they should not continue to go north to Wailacheng, but turned back and headed east to the Selenga River." ”

"Mulun?" Zhu Di bowed his head, and after a while, he couldn't help asking: "Throughout the ages, has anyone ever called here?" ”

"Except Genghis Khan, no one has ever hit here." Arutai replied respectfully, and Zhu Di couldn't help but say proudly after hearing it:

"So, I'm the first Han emperor to hit here?"

"Back to Your Majesty, exactly!" Arutai has already known Zhu Di's character in the long-term relationship, and can only follow him to make a sycophant.

His words also made Zhu Di very useful, and Zhu Di waved his hand: "Come on, engrave this stone on the tablet!" ”

"Command!" Meng Zhang, Wang Yi and others responded one after another, and then the soldiers who were proficient in the crafts of stonemasons in the army brought in and carved a string of words on a stone standing outside the woods.

[In June of the 11th year of Yongle, Gengyin Shuo Jiachen, Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty chased Hu here]

After carving a line of words, Zhu Di also turned the reins of his horse and continued to march to the east.

By this time they had entered the mountains, but the valleys of the northern kingdom were wide enough to accommodate tens of thousands of troops.

Zhu Di sent someone to tell Alitai to go south in time to join the army, and he continued to lead more than 40,000 cavalry to chase Mahamu.

Time passed little by little, and as the sun set in the west, time also entered dusk.

On the way to pursue the army, the Tang cavalry in front found different information and brought it back to report.

"Your Majesty, Hu Bing went in two ways, the number of one road was smaller, and he ran north, and there were more roads along the way, and the horses' hooves and wheels were messy, and he went into the mountain col in front of him."

Tang Qi Qianhu returned to Zhu Di to investigate the news, and Arutai also said when he heard this:

"To the north, you are to flee to the small sea (Lake Baikal), and to the south, if you remember correctly, there is a valley plain."

"There are plains in the hills of these mountains?" Zhu Di asked curiously, but Arutai said:

"There is a river valley of more than ten miles from north to south and more than 100 miles from east to west in this mountain col, and the Selenge River passes through the river valley, and some tribes will come to graze and hunt in midsummer and autumn every year."

"But to enter this river valley, you need to walk a river valley that is no more than two miles wide, and you can only get out after walking six or seven miles."

"The minister is afraid that Na Mahamu will set up an ambush here and try to threaten our army from a high position."

Arutai behaved like a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty, but Zhu Di chuckled when he heard this: "He wants to invite you into the urn, then I will follow his wish." ”

Zhu Di looked sideways at Meng Zhang and instructed him: "Let Alitai follow in our footsteps, and if anything happens to the army, let him surround the mountain pass, and don't let go of the cavalry of Wara." ”

"Your Majesty, do we really want to go in?" Meng Zhang and Wang Yi were a little hesitant, but Zhu Neng had always trusted Zhu Di, and made a gesture without thinking: "The minister is willing to lead the front army into the valley first!" ”

"Good!" Zhu Di stroked his beard, and Meng Zhang and Wang Yi also had no choice but to respond.

Soon, more than 40,000 cavalry chased towards the col under the command of Zhu Di, and saw the col that was only two miles wide and six or seven miles long at dusk.

The army marched vigilantly, but news soon came from the Tang cavalry ahead.

"Your Majesty, the Warat tribe is migrating to the east of the river valley, and Mahamu is leading tens of thousands of Hu soldiers to the high hill of the pass!"

When the return of the thousand households was heard by the generals, they frowned, but Zhu Di still said confidently:

"Don't worry, it's getting dark, they don't dare to attack us from Gaoqiu."

"The army quickly passed through the col and entered the valley to confront Mahamu, and separately searched the valley."

Zhu Di's self-confidence made the generals feel a little relaxed.

Soon, more than 40,000 cavalry passed through the col, and Mahamu was stationing troops on the high hills north of the col.

From a distance, the scale seemed to be on par with the Ming army.

"Do we want our army to also look for high hills, otherwise Hu Bing will be condescending, and our army will be very passive."

Meng Zhangce immediately stepped forward and asked Zhu Di for his opinion in a low voice, but Zhu Di shook his head when he heard the words and said, "Just station troops on the plain to show that the enemy is weak." ”

"This ......" Meng Zhang was a little unsure, he was suppressed by tens of thousands of cavalry condescending tactics, in case something went wrong, then no one could bear this responsibility.

"Do as I say!"

Zhu Di accentuated his tone, and Meng Zhang could only take Zhu Di's military order head-on when he heard this.

Soon, more than 40,000 cavalry were stationed unsuspected, and there was no shelter on the periphery of the army except for the patrol cavalry on duty at night.

In other words, if tens of thousands of horsemen swooped down from the high hills, the Ming army stationed in the valley plain would not have any existence to rely on to block the attack.

Because of this, after discussing with Meng Zhang, Wang Yi, and Zhu Neng, they finally decided to dig trenches and trenches on the periphery of the camp, at least to hinder Mahamu at that time.

Soon, the sky was dark, and at the same time, the Varat cavalry, which had been moving northward, stopped its advance.

"Great Khan, the Ming army has entered the Selenga River Valley!"

"Are there soldiers and horses stationed outside the valley?"

In the dark night, Taiping asked his own ten thousand households, and seeing that ten thousand households shook their heads, he immediately turned his horse's head: "Go, raise a torch to go south to block the valley mouth!" ”

"Drive! ...... driving"

When Taiping led the cavalry of his headquarters to turn back to the south, intending to block Zhu Di in the river valley, on the grassland in the northwest direction, Alitai, who was joined by Zhu Di's edict, also received a new edict from Zhu Di.

"Your Majesty's edict, please ask the king of Changning to prevent the Warat cavalry in the river valley from escaping."

"Your Majesty has entered the river valley?"

On horseback, Alitai didn't expect Zhu Di to take the initiative to get into the river valley, although there are water and woods in it, and there are many wild yellow sheep that can provide military rations, but Alitai is not mistaken, the military rations of ordinary soldiers of the Ming army are only one and a half buckets, that is, it is only enough to eat for a month and a half at most.

Once Zhu Di is blocked in the river valley and can't get out, then his fate will be self-evident.

"You go and rest first, and we'll rest for four hours before we leave."

Alitai first supported the pond rider who came to deliver the message, and after he broke the pond rider, several Wanhu beside him couldn't help but speak:

"Great Khan, if Zhu Di is besieged by Mahamu in the river valley, then we don't have to worry about the Ming army, once the more than 40,000 Ming cavalry is destroyed, the Ming Dynasty will be able to recover for at least ten years."

"That's right, if Zhu Di is besieged or even killed, then we may be able to form an alliance with Mahamu and them to go south and knock on the pass."

"We ......"

For a while, several Wanhu discussed it with their mouths, and Alitai was very moved.

However, he was still a little worried about whether Mahamu could besiege Zhu Di, after all, Zhu Di's cavalry carried sixty field guns, and they were dragged by three horses, and they could march eighty miles a day.

"Have you forgotten how we were defeated?"

Suddenly, one of the ten thousand households suddenly spoke, and everyone looked at it.

"Let's do it first, what do you want to say?"

A Wanhu questioned the person who was called also the first Tugan, and the first Tugan was also straightforward:

"My words are obvious, that is, since Zhu Di can defeat us, he will naturally be able to defeat Mahamu."

"Don't forget, the Ming army has muskets and artillery, they really want to highlight the valley, and Mahamu can't stop it at all."

"Besides, Mahamu is in Moxi, and we are in Modong, very close to the Ming army."

"The Ming army can't clean up Mahamu, can't it clean up us?"

"Humph!" Hearing this, some nobles were unconvinced: "If Zhu Di, Wang Yi, Meng Zhang, and Zhu Neng are captured, then who else can save them?" ”

"Huh!" Hearing this, he also smiled and said, "Have you forgotten who beat Haragu to the head?" In addition, Qiu Fu, who was left behind by Hailaer, was not easy to get along with. ”

"If something happens to Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu in the south goes north, then our life may be even more uncomfortable than now!"

Although they didn't know Zhu Gaoxu, they couldn't stop Arutai from knowing Zhu Gaoxu, and they also told them about Zhu Gaochu on the way to the north.

In their opinion, Zhu Gaochu is much more ruthless than Zhu Di, at least Zhu Di is relatively "soft" towards the Mongols.

On the other hand, after Zhu Gaochu buried Haragu and his soldiers and horses alive was brought back by Arutai and spread, the nobles of Eastern Mongolia became jealous of Zhu Gaoxu.

Especially when they knew Zhu Gaoxu's achievements against Uliangha, Jurchen, and the Southern Army, they were even more afraid of this guy they had never met.

Time passed little by little, and the atmosphere gradually became depressed.

At the end, Alitai made a decision: "It's just a siege on the periphery, if Zhu Di can't get out, we will immediately send people south across the Great Gobi to the second town in Gansu to deliver the news, if Zhu Di can come out, we will do our best to behave, and we will not offend." ”

"Yes!" Hearing that Alitai was in charge, everyone nodded and made a decision.

After resting for four hours, Alitai led more than 16,000 cavalry to the col, while in the valley of the river, Benjamin was guarded by his nephew Tuohuan.

Mahamu left more than 3,000 cavalry for Tuhuan to command, and asked Tuhuan to take care of his uncle, Benjamin, a descendant of the Mongols, and protect more than 100,000 troops who moved eastward.

As for the war on the west side of the valley, there were Mahamu, Taiping, and Balpola in charge.

Although it is summer, the valley is still cold and windy in the early morning.

Now that they were more than forty miles from the main battlefield, they would have to find a way to continue thirty miles eastward, and then cross the Selenga River and wait for the outcome of this battle.

In Tuhuan's opinion, his father would not lose, but he couldn't help but worry.

"Taiji, you don't have to worry, even if we can't encircle and annihilate Zhu Di, we can retreat calmly."

"You must be in good spirits and take us across the Selenga River tomorrow."

Qianhu comforted the thirteen-year-old Tuhuan, and Tuhuan also nodded, although he was still young, he was already much sensible.

"What is my uncle doing now?"

Tuhuan did not forget to pay attention to his uncle, and Qianhu also replied: "He is in his tent." ”

"Watch his men well, don't give them a chance to break through the chaos." Tuhuan explained.

Although he is an uncle, he is also very aware of the value of Benjamin.

Now that the war is about to begin, if Benjamin takes his men to do something, it will most likely affect the overall situation.

Thinking of this, Tuohuan's eyes were much colder.

At the same time, Mahamu, who had rested for a few hours, walked out of the tent and stood on the edge of the high hill in the dark night, looking down at the Ming army resting low.

"Did they take off their armor?"

Mahamu asked the nobles around him, and they all shook their heads: "Our sentry can't get close to them, but they shouldn't dare to take off their armor and rest in this situation." ”

"Firearms...... Maham frowned slightly, glancing at the sky.

"Great Khan, why do we go into the river valley, obviously in the plains we can advance and retreat more freely."

A nobleman couldn't help but ask, but Mahamu looked at the floating clouds in the sky and smiled: "You'll know tomorrow." ”

"Tomorrow is the day I capture the dragon......"

When he said this, Ma Hamu couldn't help but get excited, but his thoughts had been perceived by Zhu Di.

Zhu Di, who rested for three hours, got up at night, and the first thing he saw was the sky above.

He frowned, stretched out his hand to feel the speed of the wind, and then asked for a flintlock carbistol with the people beside him.

After the soldier charged, he decisively pulled the trigger, but the flintlock carbinon, which had an ignition rate of as high as 60% in the past, was now dumb fired.

Zhu Di pulled the trigger twice in a row, and finally ignited the gunpowder in the medicine room, and let out a crisp gunfire in the dark night.

"Summoning the generals of the army and above to my big tent."

After seeing the situation just now, Zhu Di urgently summoned Meng Zhang, Wang Yi and others over.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhu Di sat in the tent and said calmly: "There are many reasons why Mahammu led us into the river valley, and the main one is the weather. ”

"I looked at the sky, and tomorrow should be foggy, if not rainy."

"According to the second child, the air humidity is high on foggy days, so the ignition rate of the flintlock pistol will decrease, and the arquebus will be more stable."

"In addition, I noticed that the wind is also very strong tonight, which means that it is likely to rain tomorrow."

"What do you think we should do in this situation?"

Zhu Di asked everyone's opinions, but his posture remained unchanged, obviously he already had the answer.

"Dig deep drainage channels in the trenches, then spread tents over the trenches and hide in the tents to shoot."

"No, that's not conducive to platooning guns, we should take the initiative to attack while it's not raining yet."

"It's too dark, it's better to wait another two hours and send troops early in the morning."

"There must be heavy fog in the valley early in the morning, and the ignition rate will drop."

The command envoys quarreled, Zhu Di looked at Zhu Neng when he saw this, and Zhu Neng did not live up to Zhu Di's gaze, and got up without thinking and said:

"If the musket can't be used, it can't be used, as long as the artillery can be used, besides, in the training on weekdays, the brothers have not left behind the ability to engage in short-handed combat, our army can completely use tents to shelter the artillery from the wind and rain, and when the artillery is fired, it is enough to open the curtain and shell the cavalry that Mahamu is charging."

"Besides, it's not easy for our army to fight when it rains, but it's easy for Hu soldiers to fight?"

"They are condescending, once it rains, the mountain will inevitably be slippery, and I am afraid that before they can rush in front of our army, they will be planted in a large area."

"In addition, the cost of using bows and arrows in the rain is extremely high, since ancient times, except for the former Yuan who used bows and arrows in the heavy rain when attacking Xiangyang in the Southern Song Dynasty, the rest of the Hu people have never used bows and arrows on rainy days."

"In the end, there are 60,000 soldiers and horses at most, and our army has 40,000 here, and even without muskets, we can crush the Hu soldiers."

Zhu Neng's words won Wang Yi and Meng Zhang's nods in agreement, and Zhu Di also bowed his head and said: "Don't forget that my Ming Dynasty started with Huaixi pikemen, and there are no firearms and arrows, and the Han people who play with knives and guns are also the ancestors of the Hu people!" ”

"Yes!" Hearing Zhu Di's words, the generals' panicked hearts gradually stabilized.

"Go, first spread the news that it may rain tomorrow to the whole army, and let the whole army prepare to get up at night, that old dog in Mahamu will not let us sleep until dawn."

Zhu Di said a few words, and the morale of the Ming army was raised to a high place, and soon the entire Ming army camp became anxious, and this situation naturally could not escape Ma Hamu's ears.

His face was not good-looking, and he couldn't help but look at the sky, a little unwillingly: "This Zhu Di is quite aware of the weather in Mobei." ”

The wind speed in Mobei is strong, and the rain often passes like a storm, and then ends quickly.

Although it passed quickly, the rainfall was not small, but it did not rain much.

Now it happens to be the rainy season in Mobei, so Mahamu will think about attracting Zhu Di to come to the mountain col to close the door and beat the dog.

It's just that he didn't expect that Zhu Di's familiarity with Mobei was no worse than him, and even stronger.

"Let the army rise at night and wait for my command to attack!"

Mahamu knew that he could not give the Ming army time to prepare, and it was already the time of Yin (3 o'clock), and the sky would be bright in half an hour, and then it would be the best time to attack the Ming army.

Thinking of this, Mahamu set his sights on the western part of the river valley, and at this time, the Ming cavalry patrolling the western part of the river was also attacked.

"Woo-woo-"

"The trumpet of the west!"

In the big tent, Zhu Di reacted immediately, and Wang Yi acted without thinking: "Your Majesty, the minister led three thousand cavalry to investigate." ”

"I'll give you five thousand, plus Alitai's three thousand!"

Zhu Di commanded, and then got up and walked out of the big tent.

At the same time, as time went by, the sky in this desert north began to brighten.

When the people of Jiangnan were still sleeping in the dark, more than 40,000 Ming cavalry had already begun to get up and prepare for battle.

All the arquebuses were wrapped in tarpaulin, and the soldiers carried them on their backs, spears and hammers in their hands, and began to line up in an orderly manner.

Wang Yi led the integrated 8,000 Han and Mongolian cavalry out of the camp to the west, and there were only more than 35,000 people left in the Ming army camp.

But even so, Mahamu on the high hill did not give the order to attack, but waited for an opportunity.

A moment passed, and news came from the west.

"Your Majesty, take the vultures Polo on the west side of the valley path to try to attack from the flank of our army, but now he has been stopped by Shen Guogong, with more than 10,000 soldiers and horses."

"Got it." Zhu Di stood in the middle of the Ming army and did not get on his horse easily.

Now the war horse needs to accumulate horsepower, so he stood on the ground and looked at the high hill three miles away with a telescope, wondering when Mahamu would attack.

"Beep-"

A shrill whistle sounded, but it was not Mahamu's attack, the whistle came from the north, the largest col into the river valley.

In the col, a large number of Warat cavalry poured out of it, and the scale was not less than more than 10,000.

"There are only 50,000 or 60,000 people in Warat, and 10,000 in the west and 10,000 in the north, which proves that Mahamu has 40,000 at most."

Zhu Di was still in the mood to ridicule "only", as if he didn't know that their entire army was only more than 40,000.

"Forty thousand to sixty thousand, it's kind of interesting."

Zhu Di stroked his beard, and Ma Hamu saw that his reinforcements were coming, so he immediately stopped hesitating, and with a wave of his hand, the horn sounded.

For a while, the cavalry on the high hill poured down like a wave, and the Ming army was nervously arrayed, looking up at the sky from time to time.

There were no clouds, no rain, and no fog......

For most of the grassroots soldiers of the Ming army who are not familiar with the climate of Mobei, if it were not required by the military order, perhaps they would have taken down their muskets now and shot the Wara cavalry to death.

However, their thoughts were shattered, and under their gaze, a large dark cloud gradually drifted in the northwest direction, and they could clearly see a curtain of rain.

"Preparing for the shelling, the front army squatted in the trench."

Zhu Di greeted with a sideways look, and Meng Zhang and Zhu Neng unconsciously put their hands on the handle of the hammer on their waists.

"Kill!!"

"Kill the Southern Barbarians!"

"Woo-woo-"

The scene of thousands of troops galloping will indeed make many soldiers with weak psychological defense lines flee, but it does not exist here in the Ming army.

"Damn, a group of Mongolian Tatars still dare to shout in front of grandpa."

In the front army formation, Li Shi, who commanded the left guard of Zhaozhou, shouted and scolded, and then turned back to shout to the soldiers under his command:

"Brothers of Bohai, do you know what His Highness said about our Bohai soldiers before the expedition?!"

"Know!!"

The soldiers around him shouted excitedly: "Go up the mountain to catch the tiger, go down to the sea to catch the dragon!" ”

"Good!" Li Shi pulled out the golden gourd hammer on his waist: "Give these Tartars a look at how powerful we are in the Bohai Sea!" ”

"Kill! Kill! Kill! ”

In the shouting of killing, the left guard horses of Zhaozhou abandoned their horses and formed a formation on the ground to prepare for the enemy.

"Kill them all!" On horseback, Mahamu had already led the cavalry down the high hill, and even if it rained now, it would not be able to stop them.

It was like a high-speed bullet train, and the dark clouds, which obviously felt that they were still more than ten miles away, came to the top of the river valley in an instant, and brought a thick heavy rain.

"Boom!!"

The thunder sounded, the war horses charged, and the 50,000 Wara cavalry rushed to the left and right guards of Zhaozhou, which took the lead.

"Beep-"

The whistle sounded, and for a while, the left and right guards of Zhaozhou subconsciously squatted down.

Behind them, sixty tents were curtained, and inside were field guns raised by mounds of earth.

"Put!"

"Boom, boom—"

Sixty five-pound iron cannonballs were fired, and at a distance of less than 100 paces, they pierced the charge of the Warat cavalry in an instant, and hundreds of Warat cavalry and their horses were beaten into rotten flesh, and the torn flesh fell to the ground and was trampled by other war horses.

Li Shi, Li Qi, Li Chi, Li Cha and other Jurchen generals raised the golden gourd hammer and waved it in the void in front of them.

"Kill !!"

For a time, tens of thousands of Zhaozhou left and right guards were armed with spears, just like Fu Youde defeated the cavalry of the Yuan army, facing the cavalry charge, and launched a charge.

"Nanban, you are fucking crazy!"

Many of the Varat cavalry were stupefied, they had never seen an infantry in their lives charging at a cavalry ranks, with spears in their hands.

"Boom!"

The muffled thunder seemed to ignite the anger in his chest, and Li Lost and the other Jurchen generals led the army to charge.

"it, hard top!"

(End of chapter)