Chapter 992 Ji Zijuan faces the battle (1)
Feng Ziying said that Zhuoli Ketuhongbatulu and Zaisai were currently marching near the Deserter Mountain, which was more than a hundred miles away from Feng Ziying.
The march of tens of thousands of troops was not as long and winding as imagined, nor was it as ordered and prohibited as outsiders thought. Even for the Mongolians who made a living as nomads, it was still an extremely complicated and difficult matter.
Tens of thousands of people eat, drink, and feed, especially when it involves tens of thousands of horses and livestock fodder. This is another long journey from the grasslands to the Central Plains, whether it is the path chosen, the camping site where to stop, or the This is where drinking water hits the top, and it all requires shrewd planning.
War is never a simple matter, and you will only know how complex it is once it starts.
No matter how good the previous planning was, it is far less than the various changes and accidents encountered in the process.
Zhuoli Ketuhunbatulu and Zaisai have already felt that the difficulty of this war is far beyond their imagination. They have not yet reached the territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and they have suffered a lot during the march. Fortunately, they have noticed With the help and guidance of the Har people and the Jianzhou Jurchens, they were able to trek to the border near Dazhou without any danger.
But the next journey will be more troublesome, because this is already in the foothills of Yanshan Mountain. Tens of thousands of troops need to travel through the valley. Even the fodder for livestock needs to be prepared. Unlike many people imagine, the horse fertilizer and vegetation are not as high as many people imagine. Lush, there is enough fodder and water everywhere.
Zhuoli Ketu Hongbatulu has realized the difficulty of this battle, but it is already here. The five troops plus Horqin have tens of thousands of people already here. If a satisfactory harvest cannot be achieved, no matter who it is, It is difficult to explain to the tribe.
"Zaisai, I heard that the Yehe tribe is very opposed to our going south?" Zhuoli Ketuhunbatulu's somewhat gray beard trembled slightly. With the movement of the strong horse under his crotch, the bumps and ups and downs made his old bones It’s already a bit too much.
"They oppose theirs, and we do ours." The young man riding a chrysanthemum-green horse next to Zhuolike Tuhunbatulu said nonchalantly: "They eat so much from Da Zhou, but they don't let him." Why do we go south?"
"Zaisai, are you not afraid that Jin Taishi will be unhappy?" Zhuolike Tuhunbatulu asked, tilting his head, and his wrinkled and calloused hands slightly reined the horse, making the horse slow down a little.
"Humph, so what if he is unhappy? Every family has its own difficulties. Do I have to listen to him if he marries his daughter to me?" Zaisai said coldly: "There are tens of thousands of people in Hongji's tribe. To survive, we can only follow our own path."
"But what if the Great Zhou is willing to provide material support to our five inner Khalkha tribes?" Zhuoli Ketuhong Batulu nodded slightly. This boy has not been dazzled by women yet, but Jin Taishi's daughter is Zasai His direct wife has great influence in Hongji's tribe, so we have to find out what this guy is thinking.
"That depends on the situation. We are willing to ask for things, but Lindan Batur asks us to go south with him. Can we refuse?" Zasai smiled slyly: "But we can agree to Da Zhou, and we can also work when we go south. No contribution.”
"Hey, do you think Da Zhou will believe this?" Zhuoli Ketuhongbatulu sneered. Do you really think Da Zhou is a fool? You have gone south to enter the customs, and there are people and goods everywhere, how can you still bear not to rob or plunder?
"Whether they believe it or not is up to them." Zasai said nonchalantly: "What we do can only be decided by ourselves. We cannot listen to others."
"Lindan Batur and the Jianzhou Jurchens have sent people to supervise the army." Zhuoli Ketu Hongbatulu shook his head, "Lindan Batur and the Jianzhou Jurchens have been planning this trip south for a long time. These passes They have already figured out the situation at the intersection, they just need us to follow their people forward. It is said that Shuolei and Subadi also have Lindan Batur sending people to supervise the army."
Hearing Zhuoliketuhongbatulu mention Jianzhou Jurchen, Zasai was a little unhappy.
He has always been deeply hostile to the Jianzhou Jurchens. The rise of the Jianzhou Jurchens led by Nurhaci, especially the annexation of the four Haixi tribes, made him feel deeply vigilant. Once the four Haixi tribes were annexed by him, his troops would be directed towards the west. They were facing the grassland, and Horqin and his gang were involved in the Jianzhou Jurchens, which made him even more frightened.
"The Jianzhou Jurchens have nothing to do with us Mongols. We will accept Lindan Batur's order, but the Jianzhou Jurchens will just go away." Zaisai said angrily.
"But my people told me that in fact, Lin Dan Batur's understanding of the thousands of miles of border defense in Dazhou is not as good as that of the Jurchen people in Jianzhou. Especially on our side, from Jielingkou to Longjing Pass, I heard that those in Jianzhou The Jurchens know everything about many trails, water points and passes that even the Chahar people don't know, but they can mark them clearly on the map. I kept a special copy of the map. They are still reluctant, but it is still ours. People persevered and it was left to us.”
Zhuoli Ketuhunbatulu's words made Zasai even more afraid of the Jianzhou Jurchens.
Knowing that these areas are all under the control of the Chahar people, how could they predict it in advance?
Perhaps Jianzhou Nuzhen has been plotting against the Mongols for a long time. I wonder what Lindan Batur will think if he finds out about this?
"Uncle, the Jianzhou Jurchens have such a big plan, why is Lindan Batur still willing to conspire with Nurhachi? Isn't he afraid that the Jianzhou Jurchens will have ambitions towards Chahar in the future?" Zasai couldn't help but ask.
"Hmph, do you think Lindan Batur has never thought of it?" Zhuolike Tuhong Batur snorted, "Maybe he thinks that since the Jurchens in Jianzhou have become mortal enemies with the Great Zhou Dynasty, then we Mongolians can just be among them. What about fishing in troubled waters? If there is a chance for Dazhou, we will plunder Dazhou. If there is no chance for Dazhou, we can take the opportunity to ask for supplies from Dazhou to help Dazhou build a state. Isn’t that what Lin Dan Batur did last year? Is that so? This harvest is not small. Our fifth division is also a little far away from the border of Dazhou. If it is closer, we can still do the same."
Zaisai deeply agreed, "No wonder, the Great Zhou did this to **** the strong and support the weak, and we in Mongolia also do the same. It's just that we have made the Great Zhou hostile. I'm afraid it won't be that easy to restore relations with the Great Zhou in the future, right?"
“Haha, Zhou Dynasty needs us, so we can naturally ignore the past grievances. Among these tribes on the grassland, which one is not the one where you join forces with me to fight them today, and I will join forces with them to fight you tomorrow?”
Zholiktuhunbatulu stroked his gray beard, his eyes were deep and thoughtful.
"Zaisai, I am getting older. I will wait a few years and these five films will still be handed over to you. I know you have great ambitions, but neither Lindan Batur nor Nurhaci are good people, and Nurhachi has several sons. I have seen them all, and they all look like dragons and tigers. Our five tribes are sandwiched between Chahar, Jianzhou Jurchen and the powerful Zhou Dynasty. Horqin seems to choose Jianzhou Jurchen, while your father-in-law chooses Dazhou. Zhou, you have to think carefully about where we should go and how to ensure the interests of our five departments."
Zai Sai was slightly shaken in his heart and nodded deeply, "Uncle, I understand."
Bonfires were lit in piles under the night, and the dry cow dung was mixed with firewood, creating bursts of smoke.
A pair of hawk-like eyes lurked in the darkness, quietly observing the dark tents ahead.
He made a rough calculation and sneaked all the way. He had seen such campsites stretching for seven or eight miles, as many as thirty places. If the calculation was correct, there were at least close to 10,000 horses along the way. The mountains and valleys over there The scale of Zhongwang should be no less than here, but the Mongols have blocked the main road, so the specific situation cannot be determined.
If you want to go there to investigate, you need to take a detour and climb over the ridge, which will take only two or three days. Time is already too late.
In the early autumn, there was already some coolness in the Yanshan Mountains. Sun Zushou and his two men stayed motionless until the bonfire only had embers left. Except for the soldiers on duty at night, the others had fallen asleep.
“Withdraw.”
With a short and low voice, Sun Zushou and his two brothers quietly climbed over the mountain fork less than ten feet away from the bonfire, and quietly got into the darkness. After a quick march, until the light and shadow behind them were completely lost in the darkness, the three of them The speed gradually slowed down.
Sun Zushou and the others are already very familiar with this mountainous area. In Ye Bu Shuang, they first need to learn to identify and become familiar with the terrain, and Yanshan Mountain is the area where Ji Town will bear the brunt.
Although the Chahar people have become much more peaceful in the past few years, the Ji Zhen Army, which is mainly responsible for dealing with the Chahar people, has never relaxed its guard against the Chahar people, even though it has become less relaxed than before from the top. many.
However, after the new governor and commander-in-chief took office, the situation seemed to have improved. At least the Ye Bu Shui, which had a lot of vacancies, began to be replenished. The two brothers under Sun Zushou were only replenished last year. Compared with Sun Zushou, They are much more immature.
After crossing the pass, Sun Zushou and the others walked quickly for a while, and finally arrived at the resting place that had been arranged. It was a cave hidden on the edge of the mountain cliff. From the entrance of the cave, the path across the mountain pass could be easily monitored.
“Let’s talk about our respective situations. We’re running out of time, so we can only make a rough outline.” Sun Zushou said in a deep voice.
The three people quickly began to report what they had observed and learned in the past few days, including the composition of the Mongolian team, which tribes they came from, how many war horses, how many pack horses, morale, how the parties cooperated, and some details. It will become the data for the next step of comprehensive analysis and judgment.
(End of this chapter)