The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 292 The pattern has changed
The Ming army continued to retreat southward.

It takes two days of rapid marching. In the past, the whole army must have complained endlessly, but with Zhang Zhou and Wang Shouren sitting in the army, and even though it took two days and two nights without rest, the distance traveled was only more than 100 miles. It's not too scary to say the least.

The Daming Pass was already in sight, and the entire army, especially the soldiers of the expeditionary army, were eager to return home.

After marching for a day and a night, it was less than [-] miles away from Yanghekou at this time, and the scope of Yebushuo's investigation was about [-] miles around.

Wang Shouren followed Zhang Zhou, and also saw Zhang Zhou's unique side.

"Sure enough, the Huosie Headquarters has come, but it doesn't seem like there is any intention to invade."

Zhang Zhou was riding on the horse, holding the Yebushou battle report he just got in his hand, and looked at Wang Shouren with a smile.

Wang Shouren looked at Zhang Zhou's laid-back look, and thought that Zhang Zhou had said before that he would fight Huozhai. He actually wanted to ask, don't you say that you gave us all the mighty gunpowder, and there are not many shells?That fire sieve is here, what do you rely on to fight him?
Zhu Hui who was beside him asked with a smile, "Mr. Zhang, how many people did Huozhai bring this time?"

Zhang Zhou shook his head: "At present, it is only a rough guess that he is a hundred miles away from us, and he has not yet arrived at Maoerzhuang. When he comes, we will know how many people he has."

"Where is the direction of sending troops from Datong Town?"

Wang Shouren asked a question that concerned him.

It has always been said that Datong Town will send troops, but until now let alone the regular army of Datong Town, even the shadow of scouts from Datong has not been seen, no matter how you look at it, Datong Town does not seem to have sent troops.

Zhu Hui smiled and asked: "Young General Wang, what you mean is that you want to gather troops and horses to fight a decisive battle with the Tartars. Your courage is commendable."

After Wang Shouren experienced the two battles of Weining Sea and Tushan, the soldiers of the expeditionary army first called him a major general, but now even Zhu Hui and others changed their names.

Probably there is also a sense that Wang Shouren is the second generation of officials. Wang Shouren doesn't think he is a soldier. He actually has some resistance to this title, but he acquiesces when others call it that.

"In my opinion, Huosai's retreat will bring back at least [-] to [-] cavalry. It may be difficult to win a frontal battle." After Wang Shouren finished speaking, he seemed to doubt Zhang Zhou's previous bragging, and changed his words, " Unless all parties cooperate with each other and use their troops properly, there must be a strategy plan."

"Yes, it's up to Mr. Zhang." Zhu Hui heard that Wang Shouren was complimenting Zhang Zhou, so he also added a word of help.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "The dispatch of troops from Datong Town should go to Gudian, and the official road to Mashi in Fangshan Mountain will not meet with us. Probably missed it."

Wang Shouren would like to ask, since you have ordered Datong Town to send troops to cooperate with the imperial order, and stated that you want to send troops to fight Maoerzhuang, now that the march of troops and horses in Datong Town has not reached your strategic intention, how can you deal with it so easily?

"But who made them go astray, so that they don't even get a share of the credit?"

Zhang Zhou laughed and joked.

Everyone who heard it around, except Wang Shouren, was laughing.

This is a smug smile.

Most of the credit is due to the expeditionary army, but Zhang Zhou personally led [-] soldiers and horses to rush to help, and drove back the pursuers of Meng Guo Lejin's troops. The credit is not small, Zhu Hui and others are also waiting to go back to receive the reward .

Wang Shouren didn't take this seriously. If it's just that the soldiers and horses of Datong Town didn't get the credit, even if they were punished, it would be too cheap.

They didn't send troops, but they almost killed our expeditionary army.

Zhang Zhou smiled and glanced at Wang Shouren, probably meaning that some things are inconvenient to say publicly, so it's better to wait for a suitable place and then have an interview with you alone.

……

……

Daming said he was marching in a hurry, but because he was driving nearly [-] cattle and sheep, he didn't move fast.

Sometimes people don’t need to rest, but the horses do. At the same time, they have to feed the cattle and sheep with fodder, and the army will stop to rest for a while. It is also based on the temperament of these animals. They need to eat grass, so the man will stop Eat dry food, and sometimes simply bury the stove for the soldiers to drink hot soup.

The broth was enough.

With the addition of wild vegetables, whether it is the soldiers of the expeditionary army or the [-] soldiers and horses brought by Zhang Zhou, it tastes very delicious.

An expeditionary force led by Ma Yi, together with some cavalry brought by Zhang Zhou, was in charge of the rear.

Except that the people in the back of the palace might be a little nervous, although the whole army has not seen the side wall of the Great Wall, the atmosphere of the army is very relaxed.

When Wang Shouren inspected the marches of various units on horseback, he found that the soldiers looked at ease, as if they were out to play cannons. Even the soldiers of the expeditionary army who had marched with him for more than ten days and experienced two battles seemed to relax. He felt that with Zhang Zhou around, the battle would definitely be stable.

Wang Shouren didn't know where this group of people got their confidence.

Huoshai personally led the troops back to help, and wanted to rescue the captives. According to Wang Shouren's estimate, Huoshai's headquarters should have [-] to [-] troops.

But Zhang Zhou once told him that Huozhai is not that awesome... It would be nice to bring back [-] elite soldiers, probably all of Huozhai's belongings.

After the army buried the stove, when they continued to set off, Wang Shouren took advantage of the fact that there were no people like Zhu Hui around Zhang Zhou, so he hurried over to ask what happened.

"The Mongolian right wing has a total of 5000 households, and the Mongolian Goljin Department is dissatisfied with about [-] households. I count him as four fighters. With the losses in the battles of Pianguan and Weininghai, he has the most There can be [-] troops left, and the headquarters is only [-], and the remaining [-] are left behind in Maoerzhuang and other places... You have met each other."

When Zhang Zhou said this, it was as if he knew everything about the grassland.

Wang Shouren asked: "But all parties in the imperial court said before that the Huoshai Headquarters has more than [-] troops."

"That's an exaggeration." Zhang Zhoudao, "Everywhere in the northwest is harassed by fire, especially Xuanda and other places, which are often plundered by their bandits. If you don't exaggerate his strength, just say that he has a total of only [-] Soldiers, [-] of them are old, weak, sick and disabled, does the Ming frontier army still have face?"

"Besides, you have also captured all the relatives of his headquarters in Weininghai. Except for a few who escaped and women who accompanied the army, how many people in their families can you think are behind these more than 1 captives? ? To say that he can bring [-] soldiers and horses is my compliment!"

"However, there are also many tribesmen attached to him in his army, and there may be several thousand, just like you used the fire horse array to fight them before, and most of the people who charged ahead were small and medium tribes who were coerced into battle. "

"Even the Mengoljin tribe itself is divided into big banners and small banners. The grassland is a pattern of interests. If there is no profit, it will not be early. At this time, it is difficult for most tribes to listen to Huo Sha's orders for their own interests. "

It was only then that Wang Shouren realized that what the frontier army knew was all rumors.

No wonder Zhang Zhou was so confident that he would not dare to commit a crime.

Wang Shouren alone had less than [-] soldiers and horses, and he caused turmoil in Weininghai and other places. Zhang Zhou himself went into battle and brought [-] soldiers and horses... It is difficult to investigate this number clearly, even if the fire screening is clear. Now, with a staff of about [-] in the headquarters, dare to confront Zhang Zhou head-on?
Maybe he forgot how he lost in Pianguan and Weininghai?
Even in Tushan, you have nearly tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and my Wang led more than 2000 people to cut off [-]-[-]% of you?

Zhang Zhoudao: "Bo'an, the previous battle in Weininghai made things difficult for you. If you were to change to other generals, you may not have the courage of yours. It seems that you have a lot of military accomplishments."

Wang Shouren thinks about it now, Zhang Zhou is hard enough. Knowing that there are probably tens of thousands of people left behind in Huoshai, he dared to send [-] cavalry to attack Weininghai. The flag soldiers could not react in time.

Wang Shouren sighed: "Perhaps Huozhai doesn't want to start a war with me, Daming?"

"Yeah." Zhang Zhou nodded, seeming to agree with Wang Shouren's opinion, "You're right! Huo Zhe's withdrawal from the front line shows that he has no intention of representing the Mongolian right wing to fight Dayan Khan, without him Huo Zhe If you don’t stab them, your chances of winning will be greatly reduced. Doesn’t Huo Zai understand the truth of dying lips and teeth?”

"Then he... intends to submit to Daming?" Wang Shouren asked in surprise.

"Who knows?" Zhang Zhou was laughing.

From Zhang Zhou's smile, Wang Shouren felt a strong sense of "maliciousness". This malice was aimed at Huo Zhe, even mocking Huo Zhe.

It was only now that Wang Shouren suddenly figured out the pattern.

Originally, he thought that Huozhai felt that his old nest had been raided and was so angry that he even ignored the battle with Dayan Khan on the front line, and led his troops to rush hundreds of miles back, insisting on fighting to the death with Daming.

Only now did he seem to understand why Huozhai rushed here with his troops, but he didn't seem to be in a hurry to fight Daming. It was because Huozhai was afraid of Zhang Zhou, and he was afraid of Zhang Zhou killing his tribe's captured hostages. Dayan Khan wiped out the Yibula and other tribes, and cleaned up his fire sieve when he turned around.

That's why Huozie followed, more because he wanted to make peace with Daming...

Seeing Wang Shouren's complex and changeable expression, Zhang Zhou reminded: "But in the future, we can't always catch the fire and sift this sheep to gather its wool. It hasn't arrived in half a year, and the Mongolian Goljin Department is about to be bald. The Mongolian right wing Showing weakness may not be a good thing for me, Ming, because it will mean that the little Tatar prince will rise completely on the grassland, and the era of grassland unification may come soon."

"Ah."

Wang Shouren was also a little worried about this.

Although it seems that Daming took advantage of the fire to rob and became a fisherman.

But in doing so, it indirectly helped Dayan Khan, the most powerful grassland, and gave him the opportunity to complete the unification of the grassland.

Wang Shouren asked: "At this time, maybe we should help the Mongolian right wing. Next time, will we send troops from Ningxia and other places to search the rear of the Har tribe?"

Zhang Zhou looked at Wang Shouren with a smile.

Wang Shouren still doesn't understand why Zhang Zhou looks at him like this. Is it because his proposal is a bit too radical?

Zhang Zhou looked at Wang Shouren, more because he felt that although Wang Shouren looked young and had no actual combat experience, he understood the strategic intention quickly. In fact, many people could understand it, but few people were willing to implement it like Wang Shouren, or even dared to implement it. There are very few of them.

"Bo'an, even if your proposal is placed on the old Qin's side, he may not have the courage to implement it. It is rare that you dare to think and do it. After that, you will definitely need your help to calm down the grassland."

Zhang Zhou said to ask Wang Shouren to help him with all his strength, and more to tell him that if the grassland tribes are completely wiped out in the future, it must be me, Zhang, who will do it in person, and you just need to be a good assistant.

But Wang Shouren could also hear that Zhang Zhou didn't seem to be in a hurry to pacify the grassland.

"We have already changed the pattern of the grassland, and there is no need to change it so completely."

Zhang Zhou looked up at the front, sighed and said, "Let the grassland be turbulent for a few years first, and let me accumulate a few more years in Ming Dynasty. Just like today, we are going to fight a war, and the artillery and gunpowder we can use It is still not enough, if we give Ming Dynasty another three to five years, when thousands of cannons will be launched in a battle, and every soldier will be able to carry flint guns in their hands, do you think this battle will still be fought?"

When Wang Shouren heard this, he understood.

Zhang Zhou is not afraid of war, but wants to fight a prepared war.

At present, the biggest problem with the unpacified grasslands is not the lack of opportunities, but the lack of preparation.

Obviously in a few years, our side will be able to come up with more advantageous weapons, and it will be easier to pacify them. Why should we take advantage of the current shortage of food, grass and supplies?
It is very difficult to fight the fire, let alone Dayan Khan and other tribes... Once Da Ming shows the posture of flattening the grassland, all the tribes in the grassland will definitely abandon their previous suspicions and unite to the outside world. Maybe they will help The Mongolian right wing has been spared the disaster of destruction.

Shoot and run, this is Zhang Zhou's current strategy.

He, Wang Shouren, completed the task of firing a single shot. Now Zhang Zhou is helping him implement the strategy of "running". It looks like he is retreating, but in fact he is giving way to Dayan Khan and the Mongolian right wing. .

"My next plan is to prepare to send troops from Yansui, led by the Tripartite Commander himself, to regain Hetao, but it may take a month or two, but I estimate that the various ministries of Tatar may be in the near future. Time will withdraw from Hetao and other places. This is also due to you, Boan."

Zhang Zhou looked at Wang Shouren with appreciation.

Wang Shouren hurriedly said, "I dare not take it."

He said so, but Wang Shouren also believed in his heart that the surprise attack on Weininghai and Tushan was of great significance to Daming.

It not only deterred Huoshai, as Zhang Zhou said, but also let Dayan Khan and other tribes realize that it is not a good choice to forcibly fight against Ming Dynasty.

The frontier army of the Ming Dynasty is showing its sharpness now, even if three thousand soldiers dare to raid your lair, how dare they garrison in Hetao?Let Daming feel threatened. Once Daming sends troops, it will be difficult to say what the grassland will be like.

"Advanced pass, this time we will directly station troops in Datong. In fact, I also want to ask the governor of Datong. The military order is so clearly issued, why is it so difficult to execute?"

"Looks like it's time to think about whether it's better for you to stay in Datong, or let you go back and station in Xuanfu."

When Wang Shouren heard it, Zhang Zhou planned to replace Hong Han, the governor of Xuanfu?
But he also felt that this battle was worth fighting, and it was all he could be promoted to be the governor, but he could still choose where to be the governor by himself?

……

……

The soldiers and horses marched all the way to Yanghekou.

Because people had been sent into the pass to say hello in advance, Song Xian, the garrison general of Yanghekou and commander of Yanghewei, even led troops out of the pass to greet him.

Zhang Zhou was five miles north of the pass, and while he was stationed with soldiers and horses, he sent people to drive captives and livestock into the pass. At the same time, he saw Song Xian himself who came to greet him with a kneeling salute.

"Commander Song, please be polite. When you get up, you don't need to be polite during the war. Let me introduce you. This is Wang Shouren and Wang Zhongcheng who led the troops to win the two battles of Weininghai and Maoerzhuang."

Zhang Zhou did not forget to recommend Wang Shouren to Song Xian.

This made Wang Shouren a little embarrassed.

Wherever Zhang Zhou goes now, he wants to praise him, he knows that Zhang Zhou has no malicious intentions.

According to his speculation, Zhang Zhou just wanted people to know that he, Wang Shouren, was his right-hand man, who would be stationed in the northwest for Zhang Zhou in the future, and become the next Marquis of Anbian Zhufeng, or the next Wang Qiong.

Although Wang Qiong has military merits, his merits are obviously not as prominent as Wang Shouren, but Wang Shouren also knows that he just followed orders. The two battles between Weininghai and Tushan were nominally commanded by Ma Yi and Cao Shun, but he was just He is just the head of the Ministry of War, and he really needs Zhang Zhou's "backer".

It is good to enjoy the shade under the so-called big tree.

No matter how far-sighted and ambitious you are, no matter how capable you are, others will only respect you in terms of etiquette, and will not express your sincerity.

But if Zhang Zhou praised him well in front of others, it would be different. Even if others didn't look at Wang Shouren's military merits, they would look at Zhang Zhou's.

Zhang Zhou not only comprehended the will of heaven, but also won the sacred heart. If he sprinkled a little, he could give Guangbu military merits. Who would not want to follow Zhang Zhou?
After the ceremony.

Zhang Zhou asked Song Xiandao: "My official ordered Datong Town to send troops to Maoerzhuang with the emperor's order. Why does it seem that there is no movement until now? Commander Song, do you know the situation?"

"I heard that...the soldiers and horses left the pass, but a few days later...they were harassed by Di Yi, and the soldiers and horses withdrew to the pass again..."

"Ha ha."

Zhang Zhou looked at Wang Shouren with a smile, probably saying, now you know why I am so urgent to rescue you, right?
If I don't go to save you, there really is no one to save you.

"But I have been walking all the way, but I heard that the Tartars were being restrained by Wang Zhongcheng's soldiers and horses in Mao'er Village. Where did the Tartars come to harass the pass? It seems that the governor of Datong and the local generals don't quite understand the meaning of the other hall. Ah." Zhang Zhou looked aggressive.

Song Xian didn't know how to answer.

Wang Shouren wanted to remind Zhang Zhou that now that we are on the ground in Datong, it is better not to criticize these local snakes casually.

If the local snake thinks that you intend to punish them, trip you up, or even make trouble for us, that would be bad.

On the contrary, it is the land of the Xuanfu, the place where we send our troops and should go back. Even if there is Ma Zhongxi over there... it is not a big trouble.

Zhang Zhoudao: "It is difficult for the governor of Datong to accomplish a great thing."

This evaluation is very sharp.

In history, Hong Han was called back to the capital in June of the 13th year of Hongzhi because of the fact that he was not able to resist the bandits when he was screened by fire.

The person who succeeded Hong Han was Liu Yu, a member of the Eunuch Party who was good at bribery and fawning.

"Two days ago, I sent the battle report to the capital on a fast horse, and passed through Yanghekou. Didn't I encounter any obstacles?" Zhang Zhou asked.

Song Xian hurriedly said: "Not yet, I have successfully passed the pass."

"That's good. It is estimated that the news of the grassland victory will soon reach the capital, and it can be regarded as an explanation to His Majesty."

(End of this chapter)