"How dare you follow me? When did this kid Zhu Quan become so bold?"
On the first day of September, Haragu, who was on the way to the north, would often lead his troops and horses to the short hill to look at the rear. Every time at this time, he could always see Zhu Quan who looked like brown candy.
Beside Halagu, Azashili also said with a dark face: "We are almost at Ulianghatu City. In the past, he only started provocations south of Cheche'er Mountain, but this time he dared to follow us here. "
"Is it possible that the news that Zhu Di is in Kaipingwei is false and Zhu Quan is just a pioneer?"
"No!" Haragu interrupted him: "You all know the situation of the Southern troops. It is already very difficult for them to maintain Daning. Each time they go north, it takes two or three years to launch a major campaign from Daning. Provocation on a massive scale.”
"They just started a provocation last year. I'm afraid Daning's granary is almost empty."
"Besides, there were people in the old land of King Qi (Wang Baobao) who had seen the southern soldiers on the northern patrol when they were grazing south. There is no need to question Zhu Di in Kaiping Guards."
"What I'm curious about now is what kind of back-up plan Zhu Quan has to dare to follow us like this."
Haragu squinted his eyes slightly, hoping that he could see further.
At the same time, in the Ming army formation he was looking at, Liu Zhen also said to Zhu Quan beside him with a solemn face: "Your Highness, we only have enough food and grass to last for twenty days."
"If His Royal Highness King Bohai doesn't show up, we may have to retreat."
"I know..." Zhu Quan's face didn't look good either. They had traveled more than 800 miles north and had reached the limit of what they could carry this time.
If they continue to go north and cannot find some small tribes to replenish their food and grass, then the food and grass in their hands will only be enough for them to retreat to Daning.
"How long can we go?" Zhu Quan turned around and asked Liu Zhen, and Liu Zhen also looked at the officials accompanying the army.
"About one hundred and twenty miles, no further than that." The military official told the truth, and Zhu Quan nodded after hearing this:
"If so, let's go another hundred and twenty miles."
"If I don't get any more news from Gao Xu, then I will have no choice but to retreat."
When marching outside, the general must consider all factors, but sometimes, uncertain factors such as weather and hydrology may occur in many places.
The road Zhu Gaoxu chose this time was a road without large-scale marches. If he was delayed or trapped in the middle, and he was still waiting for him here, he would only be trapped to death.
He did hope that the Wenjiang River would bring supplies. Even if the food was not enough, he could wait for a few days to wait for the food to be transported from Zhaozhou City.
But once the food is gone, I will have to walk back eight hundred miles with my legs.
Because of this, even if Zhu Gaoxu is the son of his fourth brother, he cannot ignore the army because of him.
Zhu Quan bit the tail of Harawu who was waiting for tens of thousands of people, and Harawu was also retreating step by step.
At this moment, they were less than a hundred miles away from Uliang Hatu City, and both sides were waiting. The difference was that Ha Uliang was waiting for Zhu Quan to retreat, while Zhu Quan was waiting for his nephew to raid south.
One day, two days...
Time passed little by little, and when the third day of September arrived successfully, Zhu Quan and the others also saw the city he had only visited last year during their early morning march.
"Your Highness, we have arrived at Wulianghatu City. Look..."
On horseback, Liu Zhen asked, and the surrounding generals also turned their attention to Zhu Quan.
At this moment, Zhu Quan felt heavy pressure on his shoulders, and under their watch, Harawu and the others successfully returned to Ulianghatu City.
It was September, and the harvest season was already in the millet fields outside Ulyanha Tu City.
Last year, because Zhu Di visited the north, Haragu did not arrange to plant corn. However, this year, because they were sure that Zhu Di would not visit the north, they planted thousands of acres of cultivated land outside the city with corn.
In order to better harvest corn, Haragu led his army to station more than ten miles south of the city, and more than 20,000 herdsmen began to harvest corn under his instructions.
"This Zhu Quan doesn't have the courage to go up again. They will have no choice but to retreat after the corn is harvested."
Sitting on the mazha, Haragu asked someone to build a tent for him to provide shade. He was holding a bowl of kumiss and a plate of roasted leg of lamb in front of him.
Not just him, almost all the nobles who could be present appeared here.
Along the way, some small and medium-sized tribes continued to join Haragu's team. At present, they have gathered tens of thousands of armored soldiers and more than 20,000 light soldiers wearing leather armor.
If he hadn't been worried about Zhu Quan's plot, Haragu would have ordered them to be driven away.
No one would say that Harawu was conservative at this time. After all, Harawu had just suffered a major defeat last year, with thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of men killed and injured.
No matter which tribe, they all suffered considerable losses, and they would not be able to recover for five or six years.
"Is there any news from Guomul in the north?"
Haragu took a sip of kumiss and turned to ask Tuluhuchaer, but he shook his head and said: "There is no news. There is no news from Temur and Huyaga. I'm afraid they have run away."
"As timid as a mouse..." Haragu said a Han idiom, and then calmly confronted Zhu Quan.
The day passed quickly. Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu could not be waited for, many soldiers in Prince Ning's Mansion began to complain.
Many of them had no contact with the Bohai Palace. Only a few hundred of them participated in Zhu Di's attack on Jilin City and ate several hot mutton meals in Jilin City.
But in the final analysis, it is a matter of friendship and hatred. After helping the Bohai Navy for so many days, they already have a lot of resentment in their hearts.
In the camp, Liu Zhen found Zhu Quan's tent and said tactfully: "Many brothers are homesick. Your Highness, you see..."
"..." After listening to Liu Zhen's words, Zhu Quan, who was sitting in the tent, also put down the pen in his hand. He pondered for a moment before sighing: "Tomorrow at noon, the division will return to the army..."
"Yes!" Seeing Zhu Quan agree to withdraw his troops, Liu Zhen immediately put on a smile on his face.
He walked out of the big tent and conveyed the news to the troops that they would withdraw at noon tomorrow.
Soon, the faces of the Ming soldiers in the camp began to be filled with smiles, and they were all happy to go home.
Under that night, perhaps they didn't know that Zhu Gaoxu had already touched Wulianghatu City at this time.
"Mom, why are there so many sentries..."
More than ten miles northeast of Wuliangha Bald City, when hundreds of Wuliangha cavalry patrolling with torches were exposed in front of Zhu Gaoxu behind the short hill, Fu Rang couldn't help but uttered a curse word next to him.
Compared to him, Zhu Gaoxu asked Gan Bala, a naturalized soldier from Wu Liangha next to him: "Can you recognize the flags in their hands?"
"It's too far to see." Ganbala said truthfully, but he also explained:
"Wulianghatu City usually doesn't have so many sentry riders. Now that there are so many sentry riders, it must be because the surrounding tribes have gathered here."
"These few days are the harvest days in Wuliangha Tucheng. They should be rushing to harvest food."
"How many soldiers and horses can be stationed in Wulianghatu City?" Zhu Gaoxu nodded and asked again, and Gan Bala also truthfully told the truth: "There are not many people living in the city. Generally, they are the nobles who live there and the slaves who serve them, no more than 10,000 people. "
"But at this time, there are usually twenty to thirty thousand people, or more, outside the city."
Although Gan Bala was assigned to cultivate fields in Andong City, his mind was still sharp, otherwise he would not have been selected to follow Zhu Gaoxu on the expedition.
"Is the camp here the same as the wooden village in Wuliangha Mountain?" Zhu Gaoxu had an idea in his mind, and this idea reached its peak after Ganbala nodded.
"Okay!" He responded. If you successfully raid the Ulianghatu City this time, I will personally give you a name, allow you to enter military studies, and be promoted to an official of hundreds of households!
"Thank you, Your Highness!!" Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, Ganbala was ecstatic. He was just an ordinary herdsman in the Ulliangha tribe. He only got leather armor and weapons when he was threshing grass in the valley.
Because of this, their daily lives were miserable, and his woman and baby even fell ill and died because they didn't have enough food to eat.
He had already had enough of such difficult days, so he joined the Bohai Navy without hesitation and became its guide.
For the Mongols, they only have a sense of tribal belonging. As for a sense of national belonging, they have no concept at all.
He believed that Zhu Gaoxu was a good master. Not only did he not discriminate against him, he also learned Mongolian in order to communicate with them Mongolians.
When the mutton was distributed these days, he would personally see if he had any mutton, and ordered the entire army not to discriminate against him.
Ganbala has never read a book, but he still knows basic things like repaying kindness.
After receiving Zhu Gaoxu's name and becoming an official of one hundred households, he could divide his land among the four cities of Bohai and live a good life.
Thinking of this, Gan Bala was so excited that he wanted to be Zhu Gaoxu's pawn and be the first to rush to the front of the team.
When he was thinking this, Zhu Gaoxu told Fu Rang: "Use our strengths and fight at night, just like last time!"
"Okay!" Fu Rang nodded in agreement.
When it comes to fighting, there is no need to talk about benevolence, justice and morality. The Bohai Navy has no night blindness, so it naturally has to give full play to its own strengths. What's more, this is still a foreign war and there is no need for self-restraint.
Soon, Fu Rang asked Lin Su and Zhang Chun to tell the entire army to rest, and then they raided Wuliangha Tucheng.
The reason why the time was changed from Yin time to Chou time was due to Zhu Gaoxu and Fu Rang's experience after they raided Wuliang Hashan.
Mongolians go to bed earlier than Han people, so many of them who get up early have already woken up during Yinshi.
With this experience, Zhu Gaoxu and the others naturally had to advance the time for the night battle.
Not only did they have experience, but also the soldiers of the Bohai Navy.
Having learned the lesson from last time, many soldiers were talking about the parts of the Uliangha people's favorite places to shoot arrows in the last night battle, and asked the people below to stuff some felt, blankets and linen in these parts.
Time passed, and just like last time, the chatter in the dark camp gradually became louder and clearer as time went by.
Zhu Gaoxu rested at 19:00 and slept for nearly two and a half hours. It was not until he was about to arrive in Chou that he was woken up by Fu Rang, who had gotten up early next to him.
Without any complaints, Zhu Gaoxu and all the brothers in the Bohai Navy stood up and put on their armors.
By the time everyone is ready, it's already the ugly moment.
Wearing armor and sitting on horseback, Fu Rang stepped forward and told Zhu Gaoxu: "That team of sentries will patrol every quarter. Should we wait?"
"No need..." Zhu Gaoxu picked up the iron gun in his hand and stuck it on the ground, then put on a mask for himself: "Anyway, the sound of horse hooves will wake them up."
"This place is more than ten miles away from Wulianghatu City. We don't know how many sentries there are in them. Sooner or later they will be exposed."
"Haragu fought against Song Guogong and my father. His survival to this day is not due to luck."
"Although it is a night attack, I am not sure of success. If it does not succeed, I will think of other methods."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Gaoxu shook his horse's reins and led four thousand men on horseback and cavalry into battle.
They walked quickly to the southwest, not worrying about the problem of horsepower, because they were already able to do three horses per person.
In the past three days, they had plundered many tribes as they traveled south. Due to the good mopping up, many Ulyanha tribesmen did not notice their appearance or departure.
Zhu Gaoxu only knew that they had already made a fortune from this robbery, and what he had to do next was to complete the final blow and completely defeat Wu Liangha!
In the dead of night, under the leadership of Ganbala, four thousand Bohai troops marched towards the Uuliangha Bald City.
They walked southwest for seven or eight miles before being discovered by the sentries on guard outside.
"Beep!!"
Dense whistles sounded, heading southwest.
The shrill whistle was heard by the Ulyanha soldiers who were keeping watch at night. They blew the wooden whistles and struck the gongs one after another.
"The Ming army fought at night?!"
In the camp outside Wuliang Hatu City, Wuliang Hatu opened the curtain with his shirtless body and questioned the two groups of red troops who were exploring horses at the door.
The two teams of Red Army detectives also looked confused. It wasn't until Tolu Huchaer, who was on duty at night, arrived that anyone solved Haragu's doubts.
"The whistle came from the northeast. There is no movement from Zhu Quan's camp. I have sent all the men in the camp to wear armor and go into battle!"
Tulu Huchaer arranged everything, which made Haragu breath a sigh of relief.
He went back to his tent to put on his armor, and a quarter of an hour later he walked out of the camp with Tuolu Huchaer and the escorting Tanma Red Army.
Outside the camp, thousands of armored soldiers have been assembled, but there are still more armored soldiers and light soldiers running around in the camp, and they cannot all leave the camp for a while.
Haragu had no time to care about them, because the sentinels from the northeast were already running toward them.
"What's going on? Is Hu Bing crazy?"
At the same time, in the Ming army camp, Zhu Quan put on his armor and dragged his tired body to the camp gate. He looked at the Wuliangha camp with the floating fire more than ten miles away, and felt puzzled.
"Should we go out and take a look?"
Zhu Quan asked Liu Zhen, who was on night duty, but Liu Zhen said solemnly: "Many soldiers in our army are night-blind. If this is a deception by Hu soldiers, then..."
"We have night blindness, doesn't Hu Bing have it?" Zhu Quan frowned, but Liu Zhen said:
"Hu Bing naturally has night blindness, and it is worse than us, so you see..."
Liu Zhen pointed at a piece of fire that had never moved: "That's why they stood outside the camp and did not dare to go deep into the night."
"Last time I heard that they were fighting at Hadaling in Jilin at night, I was surprised. Now it seems that I have a long memory."
"Jilin City..." After hearing about his nephew's fiefdom, Zhu Quan probed: "Do you think Gao Xu is here?"
"This should be impossible..." Liu Zhen shook his head: "The Bohai Palace can raise so many soldiers, which is beyond our expectations. It is impossible for them to cure night blindness."
Although it was the Hongwu period, the lives of many soldiers could only be described as passable, so night blindness was widely present in the Ming army.
After all, not every prince is willing to spend so much money on soldiers, but Liu Zhen obviously underestimated Zhu Gaoxu's investment in the Bohai Navy.
"Drive! Drive!"
While Liu Zhen and Zhu Quan were still hesitating, Qianhuguan, who was in charge of sentry cavalry in the northeast direction outside Wulianghatu City, panted and rushed to the front of the formation with hundreds of cavalry.
He found Haragu and others and bowed to him: "Great Khan, it's the Southern Army. The Ming Army is coming to the northeast..."
"How many people are there?" Haragu was not surprised by the sudden appearance of a Ming army. After all, he had already guessed that there was something fishy about the Ming army's northern patrol.
"It's too dark to see clearly. There are only about a thousand torches." Qianhuguan told the truth what he knew. After hearing this, Harawu also turned to look at Toluhuchaer:
"Bring out all those idiots in the camp. I want to see how the Southern soldiers dare to come and fight me at night!"
Haragu did not take the so-called more than a thousand Ming troops and the three thousand Ming troops in Zhu Quan's hands seriously.
As long as it was not Zhu Di's northern patrol, the Ming army's fortress king and generals in the north rarely led tens of thousands of troops out of the fortress alone.
If the Ming army does not exceed ten thousand, there is no need for him to worry or fear.
Under his control, the men of Uliangha in the camp began to rush out slowly, but the speed was too slow, which made Uliangu very angry.
In order to prevent this Ming army from burning down the millet fields, Haragu deliberately brought thousands of soldiers under his command to the front of the millet fields, leaving the idiots who had not yet left the camp to assemble outside the camp.
Relying on the millet fields, Haragu soon saw fire appearing in the northeast.
His hand rested on the long knife, and from time to time he looked towards Zhu Quan's camp in the south.
Seeing that there was no movement there, Harawu felt very puzzled.
"Why don't these two troops cooperate at all? Is it possible that Zhu Quan is not waiting for them?"
Haragu was still confused, but the troops and horses had already appeared less than a mile in front of them.
"This old thief Haragu is quite wary, but it doesn't matter!"
In the night, Zhu Gaoxu reined in his horse and commanded the army to stop.
Seeing that Haragu's side was well-positioned, Zhu Gaoxu looked at the camp in the distance with some confusion: "Why are there two camps here?"
"Your Highness! I caught a tongue!" Lin Suce immediately stepped forward to claim the credit, pointing to the camp in the south and said, "According to the tongue, that's King Ning's camp over there."
"Okay!" Hearing that Zhu Quan was also there, Zhu Gaoxu stopped pursuing the night battle.
Harawu, after all, was able to escape from Feng Sheng and Zhu Di twice in history, and during the Battle of Jingnan, he also tried to go south to harvest grass in the valley. After being defeated by Wu Gao and Yang Wen, he was able to run back to the grassland and remained in obscurity. He died of illness in the first year of Yongle.
To be able to survive from the hands of Zhu Di and Feng Sheng, he still has the ability, not as incompetent as the idiot guarding Wuliang Hashan.
"Do you want to fight again?"
Fu Rang looked worried, but Zhu Gaoxu smiled and said: "They are night blind and must hold torches, but we don't."
"Tell the troops to put out the torches!" Zhu Gaoxu gave the order, and soon all the torches in the army were extinguished.
After the torches disappeared, they could see Harawu and others very clearly, but Harawu and others could not see them.
The torches in their hands and the firelight of the camp could only allow them to see dozens of steps ahead.
"Archery!"
Harawu raised his hand to signal his troops to fire arrows, in order to test the movements of the Ming army.
Soon, thousands of arrows were shot into the night, but they made no sound.
Looking at the stagnant water ahead, Harawu frowned and looked up at the sky.
Unfortunately, there were dark clouds tonight, covering up the moonlight, making it even harder for the Mongolians who were already night-blind to see ahead.
But soon, the sound of horse hooves sounded in front, and it was very heavy and dense.
"The sound of horse hooves doesn't sound like a thousand people..."
Tulu Huchaer reminded Haragu with a solemn expression, but Haragu didn't think much. He just raised his hand again: "Fire the arrow again!"
Thousands of armored soldiers raised their bows and nocked arrows, shooting thousands of arrows, but just like before, there was still no sound.
"They are going to the east, the camp!" Haragu turned his head and heard the sound of horse hooves running towards the east.
Sure enough, Haragu soon saw thousands of Ming army cavalry appearing in the firelight range of the camp to the east, and they drew their bows and arrows and killed the light soldiers who had not yet fully assembled.
"Fire rockets!!"
Azashili, who was in charge of the command, took the 3,000 armored soldiers who had just stabilized their position and fired arrows to counterattack, but the Ming army's arrow rain was faster than theirs.
Like a curtain of rain falling, arrows shot down many horses and light soldiers, but this could not affect Azashili.
He expected the rockets to ignite some hay and illuminate the battlefield.
But the rocket sank into the ground and couldn't illuminate it at all, because their herd had already eaten up all the hay.
Seeing this, he did not want to be passively beaten, he drew his saber, pointed at the Ming army shooting arrows around them and said: "Go to battle!"
"Uuuuuu——"
The dull horn sounded, and three thousand armored soldiers and thousands of Hu soldiers who had stabilized their positions began to charge. As for more Hu soldiers, they were still charging out on horseback.
They rushed into the night, shouting for murder.
Hu Bing, who was holding a torch, could not free his two hands to shoot arrows, so he could only fight with a torch in one hand and a saber in the other.
Compared with them, the Bohai Navy had a clear target. While retreating, they returned to their horses and shot arrows in the direction of the fire.
The Hu soldiers who rushed towards the Bohai Navy could only hear the sound of horse hooves and see the arrows flying continuously, but they could not even see the flag of the Bohai Navy clearly.
Gradually, Azashili felt that many light soldiers around him fell down. Even some armored soldiers fell off their horses for no apparent reason.
It was within Azashili's understanding that the light soldiers were hit by arrows and fell off their horses, but it was strange that the armored soldiers fell off their horses.
Ordinary armor-piercing arrows cannot cause much damage to an armored soldier, let alone kill an armored soldier directly.
Although the frequency of armored soldiers falling from their horses was not high, Azashili and many soldiers began to feel fear.
Such fear made Haragu frown in the distance: "Ten thousand people besieged a thousand people, but they fought so slowly!"
Haragu stood talking without pain in his back, while Azashili began to feel fear as he looked at the armored soldiers who kept falling off their horses. Finally, he reined in his horse and said, "Go back to camp!"
He was about to turn the horse's head, but his frequent giving of orders attracted Zhu Gaoxu's attention under the night sky.
Zhu Gaoxu stood on the stirrup, holding the two hundred kilogram bow in his hand, and pulled out the armor-piercing arrow like a javelin from the quiver.
The arrow used to pierce armor was almost as big as a five or six-year-old child's palm.
As he drew his bow and nocked an arrow, Azashi, who was dozens of steps away, suddenly felt his scalp numb for some unknown reason.
"withdraw!"
As soon as Azashili finished saying this, he felt a huge force hit his back, causing him to fall forward.
But before he fell, he saw his chest and abdomen arrow armor being pushed out, his body gradually became weak, and his whole body fell to the side of the saddle.
"what happened……"
"Taiji!!"
Before falling down, Azashili only heard the frightened shouts of the people around him, and finally his vision turned black...
(End of chapter)
