stubborn thief

The big temple in Guihua City.

The main hall of the Buddha Hall, under the silver Buddha statue.

Jinong Elinchen of Ordos burned incense and paid homage, showing great piety.

Tumut Taiermubu wore a big beaded hat on his head and twisted Buddhist beads in his hands. He was pacing back and forth in the hall with a restless expression.

As for Guitu Taiji from Yunzhong Town...this guy has a different style of painting from others.

He put on a neat Northern Yuan style cloth armor, put aside his alms bowl inlaid with swastikas, and was sitting on a chair holding a charcoal fire, cooking mutton in a small pot used by the Marshal's Mansion, and feasting on butter tea, which attracted E Linchen. Sa Nang Taiji beside him frequently looked sideways.

It’s no use looking.

Gututaiji had just retreated from the Jining front line in the east. The sky was huge and the earth was not big enough for him to fill his stomach.

Sa Nang Taiji was not blaming him for being disrespectful to the Buddha. The monks in the Central Plains were vegetarians because of Emperor Wu of the Southern Liang Dynasty. They did not have such precepts here, not to mention who among them, the leading nobles, did not kill animals these days?

He was just curious about the changes that had happened to Gotutaiji.

He knew Nutu in the past and knew that he was a very optimistic and laid-back prince of Beiyuan. He didn't know what happened during Lin Dan Khan's trip to Qinghai that made Nutu Taiji become what he is now, serious, serious and unsmiling. appearance.

Gututaiji was not serious, he was just waiting for Yang Qi, and at the same time he was immersed in his own world... He met Hou Jin!

His brother Lin Danhan had never had a serious fight with Houjin Zhacier for half his life, but this time as the commander-in-chief of Yanmen Town, Qututaiji had really fought against Houjin Army.

Although it was just a few small-scale encounters between scouts, detective horses, and Tang soldiers, the total number of killed, wounded, missing, and captured soldiers on both sides was less than 300.

But this is an indescribable and huge progress for Qututaiji.

Even though he had been away from the battlefield for a day, he still couldn't hide his excitement.

He kept a straight face just to prevent himself from giggling.

At this moment, the strange voices of the Junggar guards came from outside the palace, alternately announcing from far to near: "The Governor of Monan is here!"

Then the sound of compact armor clashing rhythmically came from the corridor. Yang Qi, surrounded by Wang Chengen, Hu Sanhuai, Bai Wenxuan and others, filed into the Buddhist hall.

"You go on eating."

As soon as Yang Qi entered the hall, he glanced at everyone, first said something to Guitu Taiji, and then walked under the Silver Buddha while Elinchen, Ermubu, Sa Nang and others were saluting, turned around and said to everyone: "Three messages."

"First, 60,000 households and 47,000 households in Yanmen Town have withdrawn into the clouds with their troops and further evacuated to Ordos."

"Eighty thousand and ninety-four thousand households north of the Yellow River are withdrawing with their troops to cross the Yellow River in an orderly manner. They will enter Ordos in two days and there will be thousands of households in Sa Nang."

Yang Qi looked at Sa Nang Tai Ji: "Ordos is temporarily planning a base for him, and we will organize every 10,000 or 1,000 households into a team of 1,000 people. If we have to start a battle, we must assemble and go to the battlefield as soon as possible."

Sa Nang stroked his chest and paused, accepted the order, and then glanced at E Linchen with joy in his eyes.

Obviously, Yang Qi planned to use Ordos as the rear of Monan's attack. A large number of people, livestock and wealth poured into Ordos in a short period of time. Although it would inevitably cause chaos to the tribes, it would also be of great benefit to their territory.

After all, this is not a group of poor people, but a victorious army that has plundered a lot of loot.

Erlinchen also saluted and said: "Captain, when I get back I will issue laws and regulations to prevent many tribes from causing trouble."

"Just post here. If you have something to do, let Sa Nang go back and do it. I need to find you as soon as possible."

After Yang Qi waved his hand, he said directly: "Second news, the situation in the east is not right. The commander-in-chief of Yanmen Town's Tutu had several confrontations with the vanguard of the Hou Jin Army, and the commander-in-chief He of Shuofang Town has now taken over the defense of Daqingshan. The same is true. We had several confrontations and it was too restrained.”

"Our army wants to find out information about the enemy's military strength. According to the confession of the prisoners, the enemy's commander-in-chief is Dorgon, the Minister of Civil Affairs of the Later Jin Dynasty, and he led an army of 50,000 to go on an expedition. I don't believe it."

"But Tang soldiers fought in Jining for more than ten times. Except for Tututaiji who broke through the blockade and saw more than 10,000 of his troops, they were never able to get clear information. They only knew that there was a battalion of enemy troops stationed in Jining."

"But Dorgon sent a letter of challenge yesterday, saying that he has an army of 30,000 people and invited me to fight in Jining in four days."

After Yang Qi finished speaking, he glanced at Erlinchen, Ermubu and others, and asked: "You have had wars with Houjin in the past. Have you ever issued a gauntlet like this?"

Erlinchen and Ermubu looked at each other in confusion.

The former thought, I have never fought with Hou Jin.

The latter said to himself, I have seen Hou Jin's letter of surrender, is that a letter of war?

Looking at their expressions, Yang Qi understood. He shook his head and said: "During the Battle of Saarhu, Yang Jinglue divided his army into four groups. He could not hide the Nuzhi villages along the way, so he issued a letter of war and announced that he would send four troops on March 15th. 170,000 troops were dispatched to attack in eight directions."

"The purpose is to send out four troops at the end of February to confuse the enemy."

"At this time, our army needs time to prepare. The Jin army has come all the way to fight and the veterans are exhausted and lack food and supplies. According to common sense, Dorgon should march forward urgently and should not issue a gauntlet to give me a breathing space to repair the camp."

At this point, Yang Qi concluded: "I thought that Dorgon was no longer in Jining on the day the letter of war was received."

"Not in Jining?"

Gututaiji did not think in this direction at first. When Yang Qi said this, he frowned and thought, and after a moment asked: "Captain, is it possible that what I saw is the main force of the Jin army?"

In the earlier confrontation, Qututaiji's Yanmen Battalion briefly broke through the Hou Jin Army's probing horse defense line, but it was more like the Hou Jin Army's lure to the enemy.

Because in small-scale battles, Qututaiji's Mongolian cavalry had an advantage over Houjin's soldiers and horses.

But this is determined by tactics. The Mongolian cavalry is accustomed to charging with the elite in front and the old and weak in the rear. It has a strong penetration ability in short-term contact. However, once the first attack is frustrated, it can only find another fighter opportunity.

The Later Jin army was accustomed to putting the old and weak such as flag slaves and criminal soldiers in the front and the elite in the rear, which had a stronger ability to continuously attack.

Therefore, Rututaiji always thought that in that battle, he broke through the enemy's defense line and saw the enemy's partial division.

But it is more likely that he was held back by the enemy's bait, and the enemy's large army was rapidly advancing towards him, preparing to outflank and eat him.

Fortunately, he fought quickly and found the enemy's large group advancing. He turned around and retreated to Daqingshan, only to save his life.

Thinking of this, Qututaiji's face turned ugly.

The truth is always a sharp knife.

Yang Qi was not sure about Guitu Taiji's guess.

As far as he is concerned, the enemy's strength can only be calculated as too high, not too small.

Therefore, he said: "They invaded with more than 10,000 troops, 30,000 people invited to fight, or they just came with 50,000 troops. We will just treat them as a fart. Regardless of whether it is true or not, I will not respond. Ergon’s invitation to fight.”

"So General He still sticks to the Daqingshan defense line, so there is no need to participate in this military meeting. As for you, each of you has your own mission."

"Zongtu, the commander-in-chief of Yanmen, will lead troops to patrol Wuchuan from today; Ermubutaiji will send out the Tumote cavalry to patrol Fengzhou Beach, traveling hundreds of miles to explore the enemy's movements."

"Wang Chengen, the commander-in-chief of Wuyuan, led his troops to set up a beacon tower in Yinshan Mountain. He was prepared with both hands to guard against the northern part of the mountain and prepare to support the southern part of the mountain."

"If all the troops encounter an enemy, the most important thing is to ascertain the strength and location of the enemy's troops. They should be twice as many as the enemy's troops can engage in battle. They can rush forward and fight quickly. If the troops are weak, they should quickly report to the rear and retreat to a safe area."

After issuing military orders to several general officers, Yang Qi said to everyone: "The focus of this battle is not to annihilate the enemy. It is to preserve the population and livestock gained by the Mongolian princes from the eastern expedition to Harashen, and we will be in an invincible position."

Near Zhu Zhechi, near the ink is black.

The multiple identity changes in the past few years have profoundly changed Yang Qi's way of thinking.

He is no longer the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty, and the meaning of military operations is no longer to follow orders, to defend a piece of territory or to pursue a few groups of bandits.

how to say.

The chief military officer himself needs brains, but the chief military officer during the Chongzhen period did not.

When stationed on the border wall or in the hinterland of the interior, whenever the Northern, Eastern, or stray bandits come, they must be able to mobilize as many troops as they can, and they must stop, fight, block, chase, and intercept as they go up. Otherwise, you will become a prisoner in a blink of an eye, bearing the shame of a defeated army and the guilt of the people being devastated.

But now, he has no restrictions from his superiors, and is even more influenced by Liu Chengzong's "National War" thought, and can seriously think about some deeper things.

For example: the purpose of war, and the meaning of war.

From this perspective, it is easier for Yang Qi to understand the situation at this time.

The Marshal's Mansion and Houjin were like two giants swaying their power wantonly across the territory.

But the distance between them is too far. Even if they twist their bodies and straighten their arms, they are just fighting with two fingers in Guihua City.

Everyone here is at the end of their tether.

Liu Chengzong, who separatized the northwest, only left a group of orphans and beggars in Monan, and it was a problem to eat.

Huang Taiji, who is so powerful in the Northeast, can only take advantage of the thaw of the Liao River every year to set up a summer camp in Monan. He leaves in the spring and returns to Shenyang in the autumn.

Whoever can stay here for a long time will be the well-deserved king on horseback.

Therefore, for Yang Qi, killing the enemy is not important, the Yinshan defense line is not important, Guihua City is not important, and the line along the Yellow River is not important.

In the Monan Governor's Mansion, there is no place that needs to be fought for at any cost.

There is only one meaningful thing: the surrendered and robbed Mongolian population, livestock, food rations and wealth.

The bottom line for victory was very low, and allowing the Hou Jin Army to return without success was a great victory for him.

But Yang Qi didn't expect that Tumut Taijiombu's expression would change again and again following his order.

Finally, he asked Yang Qi with an ugly face: "What do you mean by the governor...abandoning the city?"

There is only one city in Monan of the Marshal's Mansion, Guihua City.

The symbol of the Tumut tribe is the naturalized city built by Ada Khan.

Omubu understood that Yang Qi did not intend to fight to the death with the Hou Jin Army, but wanted all the wealth, population, and livestock to move to Ordos, hoping that the Hou Jin Army would retreat on its own.

Yang Qi's expression was dull, as if Guihua City was something that could be easily abandoned. He nodded and said, "If necessary, abandon the city."

The look he looked at Omubu even contained a bit of amusement and surprise.

I thought to myself, I, a Han governor, don't care about the city. Why do you, a little brat, still cherish bottles and bottles?

But that's exactly the problem.

Compared with Yang Qi who followed Liu Chengzong around the northwest in recent years and even went to Monan to take root, in fact, Tumote's Ombutaiji was more like a settler.

All his life, Ombu has been like a settled ruler, never leaving the territory of the Tumut tribe. He has limitedly commanded a few battles in his life, and they all revolved around Guihua City.

And leave Guihua City, just once.

It was during Lin Danhan's Western Expedition. Ermubu was unable to defeat him, so he had to lead his troops outside. It was not until the Hou Jin Army occupied Guihua City that they pulled him out of the grassland.

That tragic defeat severely damaged the vitality of the Tumut tribe. The remaining tribe's population was not enough to support the reputation of Boshu Ketu Khan, and they lost their prominent position in the Monan.

Ombu didn't want to accept that kind of failure again.

In fact, he also knew very well that as a Mongolian nobleman who surrendered to Hou Jin and turned to the Marshal's Mansion, if he was caught by Hou Jin again, he would never be spared his life.

On the other hand, losing the Guihua City and the Tumote Department... Omubu felt that he had no value to Liu Chengzong.

So he stood up and walked among the people until he looked at Yang Qi face to face, then he saluted and said: "Captain Yang, if there is a possibility of a decisive battle, Guihua City must not give up. If we want to fight on Fengzhou Beach, our country will The Mert tribe is willing to use three thousand cavalry as the vanguard and assemble a large army to fight with them."

Omubu spoke generously, but unexpectedly, an inappropriate sneer came from beside him.

It's auspicious.

"It's okay, you are a pioneer, I agree!"

Goututaiji has never been kind to Omubu.

Because Lin Dan Khan was attacked by the Tumed tribes who rebelled against the Great Khan on his way to the west.

Ruitutaiji had always looked down upon Omubu, but now he heard him making impassioned speeches about being a pioneer, which made him laugh and get angry at the same time.

Naturally, he was angry because the first person to fight with Hou Jin was clearly his own Yanmen Town soldiers. Who are you, a vanguard?

What's funny is...the Tumote tribe, which currently has only more than 3,000 strong men, really can't produce any decent elite soldiers. If they really fight, I'm afraid they are strong enough to defeat thirty thousand Monan households.

Even E Linchen's eyes looked at Omubu with a bit of sympathy.

To be honest, he understood Omubu very well.

Ombu is the fallen Khan of Tumut. He is difficult to live in and thinks highly of himself.

During the short period of surrender to Houjin, almost all Tumut's troops were under the jurisdiction of the Mongolian generals under the Eight Banners. The Houjin Kingdom's supervision of Guihua City was strictly guarded.

After going through the difficult period of being strictly guarded by the Houjin nobles, there were not many trustworthy people around him. Even if he now turned to the Marshal's Mansion, he still had a strong sense of unease and wanted to firmly hold Guihua City and his tribe.

Erlinchen's status was similar to his. If it weren't for the fact that there was Sa Nang Taiji who was proficient in history beside him, he might be jumping up and down anxiously like Ermubu at this moment.

But in fact, Erlinchen knew very well that Liu Chengzong, a Han Khan, was far more tolerant of the Northern Yuan royal family than Huang Taiji, Tiancong Khan.

Because Liu Chengzong was not as afraid of them as Huang Taiji, Erlinchen felt that Liu Chengzong didn't even care about them.

The Marshal's Office treats these little guys almost the same as ordinary officers and subordinates.

In the final analysis, even Jinong Elinchen had to admit that Liu Chengzong was the real nomadic master and the most popular khan in the world.

There were too many Mongolian nobles loyal to Liu Chengzong, too many Mongolian soldiers fighting for him, and too many nomadic Mongolian people under his rule.

There is Oirat of the Marshal's Mansion in the north and Huo Luochi of the Marshal's Mansion in the south. These two strong supports alone can allow Liu Chengzong to firmly sit on the throne of the Lord of Mongolia.

This kind of prestige was enough for Liu Chengzong to regard a deer as a horse and make anyone the leader of Tumut at will.

What's more, when it comes to Tumut alone, Liu Chengzong has enough candidates.

The Marshal's Mansion originally had many genuine Tumut Taiji loyal to him.

For example, the three Huoluochi brothers who were kings and hegemons in Tibet were the great-grandsons of Dayan Khan’s fourth son, Arsuborot. The tribe under their jurisdiction was originally named Duolun Tumote. Tumut, one of the ten thousand households, was under the jurisdiction of Otok.

It is in line with tradition for the three princes of the handsome mansion to randomly pick up their sons to go down the mountain and rebuild the Tumote Ten Thousand Households on Fengzhou Beach.

Liu Chengzong didn't need to be suspicious of them at all. In fact, in such a large marshal's palace, no one except Liu Chengzong was irreplaceable.

Soon, following Yang Qi's order, the battle flags were fluttering all over Fengzhou Beach, and hundreds of horse teams were patrolling north and south of Yinshan Mountain. It took only two days to find clues about the march of the Hou Jin Army.

Yang Qi's guess was correct. When he received Dorgon's letter inviting him to fight Jining, Dorgon had already led his army in a large circle from the north and headed towards the pass between Yinshan Mountain and Langshan Mountain.

The Chahar cavalry under the command of Qututaiji found traces of the march of the large group of people north of Wuchuan.

And the trace went all the way to the west, and the chaotic hoofprints struck hard in the hearts of every general in the Monan Governor's Mansion.

Because Yang Qi calculated that Dorgon was not in Jining, and Dorgon calculated that Yang Qi's logistics transportation line was there.

Hou Jin's goal is about to emerge... Ordos!

The Monan Governor's Mansion hoards all the grain, livestock, wealth and population of Ordos! (End of chapter)