Traveling through the Ming Dynasty, as soon as you open your eyes, you will die

Faced with the situation where Yuan Zongdi and Hao Yaoqi joined forces with 500,000 troops to return to the west, it was urgent to block them and not allow them to join forces with Gao Yigong. Once they merge, it will be even more difficult to recover Shaanxi.

Lu Mou stood in front of the map and began to express his opinion: "Now, there are more than 500,000 rogue soldiers and their families, and the marching speed is not fast. We have sufficient preparation time to deal with it.

According to Jin Yiwei's report, they withdrew from Jingxing Pass, probably going through the Heishui River Valley, then to Shouyang, then along the Guohe River Valley, through Yuci, into the Taiyuan Plain, and then south to Hejin Ferry.

Although this march is a detour, his large team of nearly 500,000 people can only try to avoid the mountains to prevent us from relying on the terrain to block them. "

Wu Sangui agrees with this line. With so many people moving around, water is a critical issue.

But Zhang Huangyan stood looking at the map for a long time, and finally shook his head and rejected Lu Mou's inference: "Wei Chen doesn't think so. If the rogue bandits are afraid that we will rely on the mountainous terrain to stop them, will they return to Datong and then follow Shanxi What about the hilly and grassland areas in the north, going back to Shaanxi?”

Wu Sangui smiled and said: "The hilly and mountainous terrain is just suitable for my cavalry charge."

Zhang Huangyan said with a smile: "But when they enter the Taiyuan Plain, don't they also think of you as Guanning Bingfeng? Moreover, when leaving Taiyuan to Hejin, there is a Zhongtiao Mountain Range in the middle, which is also a natural barrier for us to stop them.

As for the detour around Datong, it is closer to Hejin Ferry than the detour here according to the prince's analysis. The most important thing is that our 23rd and 5th armies are all here, plus the uncle's 50,000 Guan Ning, they are not easy to mess with. ah. "

Then he pointed at Datong, "But there, there are only Qi Fei's 20,000 cavalry and Yang Songshan's 10,000 horses. It is relatively easy to penetrate. So, if it were me, I would go that way."

Lu Mou pinched his chin and nodded: "This makes sense. Going here, they left the Taihang Mountains, which is the Luliang Mountains. There is Zhongtiao Mountain to the south. There are many passes. Every pass is enough for them to chew for a while. So. , I think they will go from Datong."

At this time, a guard in golden clothes hurriedly came in: "Your Majesty, Commander Qi Fei is reporting urgently."

"read."

"The rogue bandits broke out of the Inner Great Wall, entered Datong and turned westward."

He took out another piece of paper and read: "The Ministry of Staff and the Ministry of Yang were unable to stop us. Please forgive me."

"As expected, it is true that he and Yang Songshan were unable to stop the attack. It is not his fault. After all, the bandits totaled 500,000. Each person can drown them with just a spit of saliva. Order, Qi Fei's troops, follow and wait. Order Yang Songshan's troops, Separately guard several big cities and order local governments to move rural people into cities for refuge."

Jin Yiwei flew away to convey the order.

Lu Mou gave another order: "Order Liu Mao's troops to enter Shanxi, order Wu Sanfu to command 10,000 Guan Ning to guard the mountain. Order Zhang Huangyan's group army and Wu Sangui group army to go north overnight to intercept the rogue bandits and never allow them to return to Shaanxi."

The whole army moved upon hearing the order, and the three armies plus Wu Sangui and 40,000 Guan Ning marched northward overnight.

Set up a defense line between Pinglu, Shuozhou and Xishan Town, ready to block the rogue bandits from returning westward.

The army of rogue bandits returned as rogue bandits again. They crossed the border like locusts and plundered all the villages and towns along the way.

But fortunately, this time, they did not coerce the people.

It's not that they don't want to be coerced, but they know that every village is a military team of Jinyiwei, and the people's hearts are towards the Ming Dynasty. If we really coerce them into joining the team, a rebellion will happen. Such a situation must never occur.

As soon as they left the Inner Great Wall, they encountered Qi Fei's blockade, but now the bandits were so numerous that the 20,000 cavalry could only kill them for a while. After being beaten by a group, Qi Fei could only be defeated.

Yang Songshan only had 10,000 men. No matter how powerful he was, he would not dare to use 10,000 men to intercept the 500,000 rogues. He could only watch the rogues plunder and roar away. After reporting the enemy's situation to Lu Mou, the two of them had no choice but to obey their orders.

Qi Fei followed and monitored the bandits, while Yang Songshan stood firm in various key cities and refused to fight behind closed doors.

Yuan Zongdi received the battle report and found out that the entire Ming army had been dispatched to pacify Shuozhou to Shanxi Town and set up a blocking front. There, there were 100,000 soldiers and 40,000 Guanning tigers and wolves to intercept him.

The strength of the Ming army and the terror of Guan Ning have left a deep and bloody impression on Yuan Zongdi. If you want to rush through there, you will have to lose most of your 200,000 soldiers, and most of your 300,000 family members will not be spared. Behind him, Qi Fei's cavalry and Liu Mao's 20,000 soldiers also followed.

Once you are blocked at any pass, you will be in a situation where you have no way out and will be hit in the back. In this way, the tragedy of King Chuang's defeat in Tongguan Nanyuan will happen again.

Now, in disguise, he is the coach of this team, and he must not leave this old foundation here.

Urgently gathered Hao Yaoqi and Li Jin and Li You to discuss the situation.

Facing the military situation, Hao Yaoqi, who had a rough line, showed an indifferent expression: "The Ming army has one hundred thousand, and our army plus the old battalion's half a million, even if it is filled in, the official army can be filled up. Just fight, what are you afraid of?" "

Yuan Zongdi shook his head: "You can't say that. Brother Hao was defending on the front line of Jingxing. You have never seen the combat effectiveness of the Ming army during this period. They are no longer the Ming army we fought back then. They are absolutely the same now. One can defeat five of us, plus their Guanning cavalry. As long as their infantry blocks us in front, their cavalry and the cavalry and infantry catching up from behind will completely annihilate us."

"Then what do you think we should do?"

Yuan Zongdi said decisively: "In order to avoid our annihilation, I decided to take us by surprise and exit the Great Wall at the tiger's mouth. We will walk through the Mongolian grassland, then cross the Yellow River westward and enter Shaanxi."

Everyone was shocked when this statement came out. Hao Yaoqi said at that time: "Although there are no soldiers in the Great Wall now, and the Ming Dynasty does not care, it has long been in vain. But as soon as they come out of the Great Wall, there is the Manchu Turghut tribe, and their combat power is Don’t underestimate us, we—”

Yuan Zongdi shook his head: "Although the Mongolian Torgut tribe is not weak in combat strength, it is still lagging behind the current Ming army. At this time, most of the Mongolians went to the north to rush to the battlefield, along the line of the Great Wall Almost no troops.

Also, we entered the grassland because we were called enemies of the Ming Dynasty. As the saying goes, the enemy of the enemy is a friend, so the real enemy of the Torgut tribe is the Ming Dynasty. Once the Ming army enters the grassland to pursue us, maybe Turgut, who has the responsibility to defend the land, will stop the Ming army for us. "

"Then what if they attack us?"

Yuan Zong's first expression was absolute: "It is also possible to be annihilated, so I would rather die in a battle with foreigners than to kill each other among my compatriots."

Such a just and awe-inspiring decision was immediately echoed by all the generals.

Hao Yaoqi laughed loudly: "Brother Yuan is right. We still have 50,000 cavalry. Instead of fighting against our compatriots while tackling key problems along the way, it is better to die together with the Tatars on the prairie. This is a true husband. That's it. deal."

Now that the big plan was decided, Yuan Zongdi immediately planned the next step.

"Laohukou is the mouth of Guimaochuan. We will go west along Guimaochuan. In this way, we can not only solve our water source problem, but also use this big river as a support for marching barriers, and then send people back to Shaanxi. The requirements are high. Go to the confluence of Guimaoshui and the Yellow River to meet us."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Now, we are between Li and the Great Wall, collecting food and grass again, and we are ready to enter the grassland." (End of Chapter)