Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 250 Capture Zhu Youjian Alive
When the wind blows and the grass sees cattle and sheep under the Chile River, when all the dust settles, there are only more than [-] captives who surrendered on the south bank of the Heihe River, as well as corpses all over the ground.

Comparing the tragic situation in Dubobu, the Ming army had only more than [-] dead and more than [-] injured.

The gap in combat power appeared at this time, which meant that the vanguard of the Ming army still had more than [-] troops.

"Your Highness, do the old, weak, women and children in the North Shore really not need to pursue them?"

On the banks of the Heishui River, when the Ming army began to clean up the battlefield by the river and took over the grazing land of Dubobu, Cao Wenzhao, who was stained with a lot of blood, rode his horse to Zhu Youjian, bowed and asked questions.

"Don't worry about the old and the weak, women and children. This battle is about attacking the men of the northern captives. As long as the men die, even if the three tribes of captives flee north, they will only be annexed by the northern captives in other places."

"But this also strengthens the strength of other northern captives in a disguised form, will it..." Cao Wenzhao hesitated to speak, but Zhu Youjian looked at the battlefield without squinting, and wrote lightly:

"How much strength can I increase? After they flee north, my martial arts will also be spread by them. At that time, other northern captives will also be afraid. In exchange for several years of peace in the northwest."

After finishing speaking, he turned his head to look at Cao Wenzhao, and asked, "How about the cattle and sheep in the Dubobu?"

"There are about [-] to [-] cattle. The horses were ridden away, leaving only more than [-] horses. There are a lot of sheep, and the captives said there are more than [-]." Speaking of the capture, Cao Wenzhao laughed happily. .

After all, Dubobu is Su Nang's most trusted tribe, so the grassland is very large, and it can naturally have a lot of cattle and sheep.

Such a seizure made Zhu Youjian sigh.

If these hundreds of thousands of cattle, sheep and horses are transported to the Central Plains, they can be sold for at least one million taels of silver.

It's a pity that in history, Ming Dynasty never broke out with Tumed's troops after I paid tribute, and the generals of the Ming army couldn't do it either. Otherwise, attacking Tumed once would be enough to earn back part of the military expenses.

Since Zhu You detected the killing of tigers, he has encircled and suppressed four tribes, and the number of cattle, sheep and horses seized is close to one million.

Fushuo's Tumote Department made Zhu Youjian not worry too much about logistics issues along the way, and the Mongols in Ulutt helped them guard the flocks, which greatly reduced the logistical pressure that Datong had to bear.

"After Su Nang heard the news, it is estimated that the attack will come soon."

Thinking about the capture this time, Zhu Youjian took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, and found that there was still an hour before dark, and after calculating the time when the two sides fought and the time when Su Nang might set off, he calculated How long will Su Nang be able to arrive at Dubobu's grazing land?

"The army should not cross the river for the time being, and observe the situation first, and also remind the Longxiang Guard and the rest of the cavalry of the Shangzhigong Guard Battalion in the rear."

Zhu Youjian did not cross the river rashly. After all, if he crossed the river, Su Nang also crossed the river downstream, and then went to attack the Ming army's supply line. fight.

In particular, the more than [-] cavalry are still scattered on more than [-] miles of roads.

He will not cross the river for the time being, and he can still observe the situation. If Su Nang tries to sneak attack, he can turn back to protect the supply line.

If Su Nang didn't try to sneak attack, then he could wait until Long Xiangwei arrived with artillery before crossing the river.

Su Nang had fought very few battles, and Zhu Youjian knew little about his fighting style, so there was no way to deal with him like Nurhachi and Huang Taiji.

However, on this front battlefield, the mobility of the Ming army's cavalry was not inferior to that of Su Nang's headquarters, and their quality far surpassed them. Therefore, as long as the opportunity was seized, it would be nothing more than a battle to annihilate Tumote's troops.

The army began to rest and reorganize, those who fed the horses fed the horses, and those who cooked the army rations cooked the army rations.

Zhu Youjian deliberately ordered the slaughter of a thousand sheep, and asked the cook accompanying the army to prepare meals.

However, although the Chinese army was very relaxed, the Tangqi who were sent out were very vigilant.

They set out for thirty miles, cruising constantly, for fear that Su Nang would lead the captive cavalry out from a corner they ignored.

Time passed little by little, and Zhu Youjian was also sitting in a tent in the pasture, holding a bowl of hot haggis soup in his hand, and a roasted leg of lamb in front of him.

Most of the generals of the Ming army were still sitting in the tent, and they ate with great joy. They grabbed the leg of lamb and chewed it. Only Zhu Youjian had the leisure to cut up the meat slowly with a knife.

In such an atmosphere, no one seemed to take Su Nang's tens of thousands of soldiers seriously.

However, as time continued to pass, the sound of arrows finally sounded from the north bank of the Black River, and the sound sounded every mile, and it continued to come to the rear.

When the voice reached the south bank, the patrolling general rode his horse to the big tent, then knelt down on one knee outside the tent, bowed and said:

"Your Highness, the sound of arrows came from the north bank."

After saying a word, all the generals shut their mouths and turned to look at Zhu Youjian who was still eating meat slowly.

Regarding, Zhu Youjian also said flatly: "Since you are here, let's get ready."

"The last general takes orders!" All the generals in the tent responded one after another, and after saluting, they got up and walked out of the big tent, organized their own troops and horses, and lined up on the south bank of the Heihe River.

The Qiantao Grassland on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is colder than in previous lives. Even though spring has begun, the temperature is still below zero.

As the sky gradually darkened, the surrounding temperature became colder and colder.

It's just that the Ming army had already made a lot of preparations for sending troops in winter. The triple protection of cotton-padded clothes, cotton armor, and cloth face armor allowed the cold to be driven out of the body.

Horses will grow fluff in winter to keep out the cold. The only thing to pay attention to is that the horses will sweat after the battle. If they are not cleaned up as soon as possible, it may cause the horses to catch a cold.

In short, the Ming army has made sufficient preparations. Compared with them, Tumet's cavalry is poor in supplies and cannot meet the cold protection standard of the Ming army.

The army was in formation, and Zhu Youjian also finished eating, walked out of the big tent, got on his horse, and rode his horse towards the outside of the pasture.

When they came to the army formation, when they were in the middle army, the big flag was raised, and Cao Wenzhao also bowed and said:

"Your Highness, it is Su Nang's soldiers and horses. According to Tang Qi's report, there are more than [-] riders in total, and they are more than [-] miles away from our army. It seems that they have come out in full force."

"It seems that he wants to capture me alive." Zhu Youjian turned to look at Sun Shoufa and Saihan, Cao Wenyao and others smiled, and the generals also laughed when they heard this.

"At this time, the safest way is to send troops to attack Liangdao, but this Su Nang actually faced it head-on."

"Gu knows why San Niangzi would rather give King Khan to Bu Shitu than Su Nang."

Zhu Youjian mocked Su Nang, and he also had an explanation in his heart why a rookie like Lin Danhan could drive Su Nang to the Loess Plateau to eat sand.

That is, Su Nang is really not as powerful as some civil servants of the Ming court thought.

"The army retreats ten miles, give him a chance to cross the river, and see if he can cross the river."

Zhu Youjian raised his hand and gave way to the Shili River Beach on the south bank of the Heihe River.

He wanted to see if Su Nang would cross the river foolishly, after all ten miles was enough for him to organize an army to cross the river.

The ice of the Heihe River is very thick. If you cross the river carefully, a quarter of an hour or two is enough for [-] people to cross the river successfully.

"Clang...clang..."

Following Zhu Youjian's order, the army began to beat rhythmically with the sound of Ming Jin, and every thousand households heard the sound, the front army turned to the rear army, and the rear army turned to the front army and began to retreat.

The Ming army was retreating, while Su Nang was running towards the grazing land with [-] tumed iron cavalry, and at the same time released sentry cavalry to find out the position of the Ming army.

The Sentinels and Tangqis on both sides kept contacting, colliding, and fighting. Most of the losers were Tumed's side, but Su Nang relied on the large number of people to keep squeezing the scope of the Tangqi of the Ming army.

In the end, Tang Qi of the Ming army returned to the south bank of the Heihe River, and two quarters of an hour later, Su Nang also drank the horse on the north bank of the Heihe River.

"Sorry..."

The war horse was sweating and panting constantly, while Su Nang sat on the horse's back, looking at the Heihe River that had been frozen for more than two months, and kept beating drums in his heart.

"The whole army changes horses first!" Su Nang issued the first military order, ready to wait for the reply from the sentry in front.

At the same time, Zhu Youjian also got the news that Su Nang had arrived on the North Shore.

However, he did not launch an attack, and he did not even order to attack halfway.

For him, attacking halfway is not a good way, because it means that the cavalry will rush to the ice, and the cavalry who go straight up have never received training on marching on ice.

Although the Heihe River is only a small river, it is also more than twenty feet wide.

In case the cavalry slips and falls, it will cause a chain reaction of dominoes falling.

What he had to do was wait for Su Nang to retreat, or wait for Su Nang to go to the south bank.

At this time, Cao Wenyao, who was in charge of leading the rear army, rode his horse to the Chinese army and bowed to each other:

"Your Highness, Long Xiangwei has escorted the artillery to twenty miles to the southwest."

"Okay, order the commander of Long Xiangwei to divide up [-] troops, escort the artillerymen to the north, and leave [-] troops in place." Zhu Youjian ordered Cao Wenyao, then turned to look at Sun Shoufa, Cao Wenzhao, and Sai Handao :

"You raise my banner high to attract Su Nang's attention."

"Sun Shoufa, you lead Tian Cewei's three thousand cavalry to go south with me, and take a detour to the lower reaches of the Heihe River to cross the river."

"Your Highness, do you mean that the future will oversee the army?" Cao Wenzhao understood what Zhu Youjian meant.

Zhu Youjian wanted to keep the big banner here to attract Su Nang's attention, and he himself took the cavalry of [-] Tian Cewei and [-] Longxiang Guards to go downstream to attack Su Nang by detour.

As far as the current situation is concerned, Zhu Youjian took away [-] Tian Cewei cavalry, Long Xiangwei divided [-] troops to come, and Cao Wenzhao still has about [-] troops here.

Su Nang only knew the approximate number of the Ming army, and after a bloody battle, the Ming army had a strength of [-] plus thousands of civilians escorting the artillery, which was enough to make the escaped cavalry undetectable.

When the two armies were at war, Zhu Youjian led his troops to make a detour and attack from the rear, and Su Nang could be destroyed in an instant.

Isn't this move the same method that Ming Chengzu Zhu Di used to beat the cavalry of the Southern Army many times in the Battle of Jingnan...

"Your Highness, please don't worry, Su Nang will eventually attract Su Nang's attention!"

Thinking of this, Cao Wenzhao bowed in response, and after Zhu Youjian nodded slightly, he also led three thousand troops southward with Sun Shoufa and Saihan before Su Nang's sentry cavalry saw the army.

When they led their troops to the south, Su Nang's [-] cavalry successfully changed horses.

"Send another thousand sentry cavalry to cross the river to find out the location of the Ming army."

"Khan, can't we just cross the river?"

"Yes, Great Khan, our number is twice that of the Ming army, so don't be afraid of them."

"The elites of the Ming army are few in number. If you can catch Zhu Youjian, you can force the little emperor of the Ming court to recognize your identity."

Su Nang's words actually aroused the incomprehension of a large number of Tumed nobles, and if you look carefully, most of these nobles are in their [-]s and [-]s.

In other words, the few wars they experienced were basically civil wars within Tumed, and they basically never fought against the Ming army.

Even if the envoys who went to kill the tiger's mouth told them the situation of the Ming army, they thought that there would not be many elite cavalrymen.

After all, the Ming army they have seen for so many years is indeed a group of elites leading a large group of shabby households.

Su Nang was already somewhat cautious, but under the instigation of the nobles below, he was still worried that his authority would be questioned.

With low self-esteem, he is not the real Tumed Khan after all, so he is eager to prove himself.

Just as Zhu Youxiao needed to repeat World War I to continue strengthening imperial power, and Zhu Youjian needed to repeat World War I to ease the population pressure in northern Shaanxi, Su Nang also needed to repeat World War I to prove his authority.

All in all, if you want to try to strengthen your majesty, implement your own policies, and use war to promote and stabilize it, it is an indispensable means.

"Don't talk too much, listen to me."

It was rare for Su Nang to be tough when facing dozens of chiefs, and although the dozens of chiefs were dissatisfied, they still did not refute him.

After all, the big battle is imminent, and the internal fighting has to wait until the fight is over.

As a result, the Tumet cavalry on the north bank became quiet, and a thousand sentry cavalry began to cross the river cautiously, and arrived at the south bank a quarter of an hour later.

At this time, the sky has already begun to darken, and it will be dark in an hour at most.

But if it gets dark, it will become the home field of the Mongolian cavalry.

The flames emitted by the firearms of the Ming army will become conspicuous targets in the dark night, and the Mongolian cavalry used this to attack the Ming army many times.

Therefore, everyone is waiting for the news of the sentry cavalry, and the sentry cavalry's actions are also very fast.

After crossing the river, they formed a team of ten people and scattered in different directions, but soon they found the main force of the Ming army neatly arrayed ten miles away.

Some sentry cavalry began to organize people to return to the north bank to report back, while the remaining sentry cavalry continued to explore around the Ming army.

They bypassed the main force of the Ming army and explored southward for ten miles, but because Zhu Youjian had someone tie a bunch of grass on the horse's tail and returned along the way they came, Tumed sentry cavalry didn't find anything wrong.

After cruising for a long time, they started their return journey and reported the specific number of Ming troops, their garrison locations, surrounding conditions and terrain.

Su Nang, who got the news, also breathed a sigh of relief at this time, and began to order: "The army crosses the river."

Just as Su Nang gave the order to cross the river, he didn't want the sentry to cross the river in a hurry, which made him feel tense.

All the nobles held their breath, waiting for the sentry to report, but when the sentry came, they just said:

"Khan, thirteen miles south of the Ming army, there is a cavalry force of less than [-] people, escorting chariots and more than [-] civilians to the north."

"It should be the artillery, Khan, we can take people to deal with the soldiers and horses of the artillery first." Hearing what the sentry cavalry said, some nobles took the initiative to speak, and Su Nang also smiled after hearing the news:

"If the Ming army's artillery has already arrived on the battlefield, it means that there are no reinforcements. In the past, their artillery was placed last."

"Chagatai, take a Wanhu to attack the Ming army escorting the artillery, and the rest will surround the main force of the Ming army with me."

"Yes!" Many Tumed nobles who heard the words agreed, and more than [-] Tumed cavalry also began to cautiously try to cross the river.

Fortunately, the ice layer of the Heihe River is very thick. Even if [-] troops crossed the river one after another, there were no cracks or damage.

The thick ice surface of the Heihe made Su Nang prepare for the retreat, and made two plans in his mind, one was to successfully defeat the Ming army, and the other was to retreat after a stalemate.

After all, it is Qiantao grassland, even in the first month, but at night, the temperature on the grassland is still more than ten degrees below zero, which is enough to freeze people and horses to death.

Either they won the battle and went to the grazing land of Dubobu to escape the cold, or they stalemate and then retreated to the river valley on the north bank to stay overnight.

In short, although Su Nang has never fought against the Ming army, he has led troops to fight after all, and the basic coordination is still no problem.

Similarly, when he arrived at the south bank with his troops, apart from ordering Chagatai to lead his troops to leave Longxiangwei behind, he did not easily fight against the main force of the Ming army.

He also asked Chagatai to test first to see if the Ming army from other directions would come to support after the artillery unit of the Ming army was attacked.

The Ming army attached great importance to artillery. Once the artillery was attacked, all ministries would dispatch it, even if it was an ambush prepared in advance.

If this is the case, and there is no Ming army from other directions, then at that time, you can start sending troops to the main force of the Ming army.

Su Nang thought of everything very well, and at the same time, Tang Qi of the Ming army also found out the information that they crossed the river and divided their troops to prepare for a detour.

Tang Qi reported the information to Cao Wenzhao, and Cao Wenzhao was the one who led the third battalion of Duogan after all.

Even though the third Battalion of Duogan didn't have so many people, all he had to do was to lead the troops to stand firm, which greatly reduced the requirements for the general's ability, so after the information was reported, he knew that Su Nang was going to attack Longxiangwei.

"Wen Yao, you will take [-] Tianqi cavalry to go south to support Longxiangwei, and let Longxiangwei form a battalion of chariots to stand firm and hold back the captives."

"Yes!" Cao Wenyao did not procrastinate, but decisively accepted the order, and then led the remaining Tiance guard cavalry southward.

As a result, Cao Wenzhao's troops were only left with a dissatisfied Xiaoqiwei and Habayashiwei, with a number in the early [-]s.

That is to say, on some battlefields, Su Nang's force is three times that of Cao Wenzhao.

However, Cao Wenzhao was not worried about this, but continued to complete the task of luring the enemy, and ordered:
"A large army goes south in formation, the rear army turns to the front army, and the front army turns to the rear army."

Under his order, the Ming army began to form an formation and slowly march southward, and the news of the Ming army's division again was also transmitted back to Su Nang's ears through the sentry cavalry.

"The Great Khan and the Ming army first divided up about [-] troops and marched southward, and then formed a large army and marched southward."

The sentinel reported back the information he knew, and this report also made Su Nang suspicious.

"Could it be that the Ming army really has no reinforcements? But didn't the Ming army that killed Hukou have [-] people? Adding Badu'er's troops, there should be half of them."

When he was suspicious, some lords who were a little older and participated in the invasion with I Dahan said:

"Great Khan, the Ming army needs to ensure their supplies, and they also need to garrison troops to defeat Zasak and Wu Yebai. This should be more than half of the Ming army's strength to kill Hukou."

The old lord's words successfully shook Su Nang, so he finally asked the sentinel:
"Whose flag is the central army of the Ming army flying?"

"It's the flag of Qi Wang Zhu Youjian." The sentry responded without thinking, and after confirming that Zhu Youjian was in front, many Tumed nobles became excited.

"Khan, don't wait any longer, let's send troops. Zhu Youjian is the only younger brother of the little emperor of the Ming court. It is more important to catch him than to break into Guanzhong."

"One Zhu Youjian can exchange at least [-] sets of armor."

"Khan, I am willing to be a pioneer."

Many Tumed nobles scrambled to grab the vanguard position, just to capture Zhu Youjian alive.

Zhu Youjian is also smart and knows his importance, so he deliberately left his Chinese army banner to attract the Tumed nobles.

Also for his own safety, he chose to let Sun Shoufa and Saihan leave with him, so that he could be removed from the main battlefield.

The two sets of operations not only kept the eyes of the Tumed nobles on Cao Wenzhao, but also ensured their own safety, giving the Ming army a chance to attack from north to south.

All this is unknown to everyone, and after Su Nang also heard of Zhu Youjian's existence, he couldn't help it anymore.

"The army set out to surround the main force of the Ming army before dark, and don't let Zhu Youjian go."

"Yes--"

Su Nang's military order made everyone excited, and everyone worked hard to prepare, and it didn't take long before Cao Wenzhao also got the information report from the sentry cavalry.

Su Nang personally led [-] cavalry to attack them.

"The army stopped, the Habayashi guards dismounted and changed their rifles to form a formation, the cavalry guards turned into left and right, and Ulutt guarded the horses!"

Cao Wenzhao, who learned that Su Nang was going south, sent orders to the army without panic, and at this time, the usual goose training also showed results.

The tens of thousands of troops did not panic at all, and began to change a little bit.

In just one cup of tea, the Ming army completely changed its formation and succeeded, but after learning the lesson of Juniper in Liaodong, Cao Wenzhao did not let anyone ignite in the face of the increasingly dark environment.

The upright cavalry each carry a rifle. At this time, the cavalry guards do not use rifles, which means that Habayashi guards have tens of thousands of rifles to use.

When all the rifles were filled with bullets and gunpowder, there was also the sound of rumbling horseshoes in the north.

From the edge of the dark sky, the dense Tumed cavalry came towards the Ming army like a black wave.

When Cao Wenzhao saw this scene, he subconsciously touched the handle of the knife.

In the same way, when Su Nang saw the Ming army and saw the Chinese army's big flag hunting in the air, he became very excited.

"All the ministries listen to the order and capture Zhu Youjian alive!"

"kill--"

　Going to the hospital after lunch, the afternoon update may be late, but not absent
　　
　
(End of this chapter)