In the main tent of the camp, Zhaoertu stayed up all night.
Zhaertu has been quite worried about this since Amugu and his party left the camp.
Although the two armies have always been at war and there is a common rule that the envoys are not killed, Zhuertu knows that the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Tatars can only be described as mortal enemies!
If Amugu accidentally offended those Akito during this process, he might not be able to come back alive.
While Zhuertu was still worried about the safety of this group of people, he saw his trusted aide entering the main tent, kneeling on one knee, and reporting respectfully.
"Chief, Amugu is back."
Hearing this, Zhuertu's face was full of surprise, and the stone that had been hanging in his heart finally fell to the ground.
Immediately, Zhuertu reacted and immediately gave instructions.
"Tell him to come see me quickly!"
"Yes, leader!"
After receiving Zhuertu's instructions, the cronies immediately left the main tent. Not long after, Amugu was seen entering the main tent.
Because he had traveled all night, Amugu's face was full of exhaustion, and his clothes were stained with a lot of dust. As soon as he entered the main tent, he knelt down on one knee and said in a deep voice.
"Meet the leader!"
Seeing Amugu's tired appearance, Zhuertu's face was full of concern. He quickly stepped forward, lifted Amugu up from the ground, and patted him on the shoulder.
"Well, it's good to be back safely!"
Seeing this, Amugu had a bitter smile on his face and immediately reported it.
"Chief, before this, I have talked with those Mingren, and they agreed to send troops to assist us, but..."
Amugu just stood there, silent, and did not continue talking.
Hearing this, Zhuertu seemed to have noticed something, smiled miserably, and immediately asked.
"No matter what, it's better than our current situation. Keep talking!"
After receiving encouragement from the leader Zhaertu, Amugu organized the words in his mind and began to describe his encounter with the Ming army one by one, as well as the strategies agreed upon by both parties.
"Chief, this is what happened..."
After listening to Amugu's description, Zhuertu frowned and immediately confirmed.
"You mean, we need to attack the Ming army when the time comes, and they will abide by their agreement and let us go?"
"After that, send false news to Tumaihan and let him lead the main force to attack, while we are responsible for luring him into the encirclement that the Ming army has already prepared?"
Amugu didn't know how to respond, so he could only nod in agreement.
Zhuertu saw the expression on Amugu's face and immediately raised his doubts.
"If we go to attack according to our previous agreement, the Ming army will fake it and really annihilate us in one fell swoop. How should we respond at that time?"
Amugu couldn't answer Zhaertu's question for the time being, so he could only choose to remain silent.
I don't know how much time passed, but I saw Zhuertu sighing helplessly, and then spoke.
"Oh, please go out first and let me think about it alone!"
"Yes, leader!"
Amugu knew that staying here would only distract Zhuertu, so he turned around and left the main tent without stopping.
After Amugu left, Zhuertu turned around and sat back in his seat, and began to analyze the current situation.
Although there may seem to be many roads in front of you, in the final analysis, there are only two possible roads.
The first is to follow Tumaihan's order and launch an attack on the Ming army. Perhaps he can survive as much as possible and preserve his strength in the process. The second is to cooperate with the Ming army to lure Tumaihan's main force into the encirclement. Annihilate them all!
After thinking for a long time, Zhuertu finally made up his mind. He was very clear about Tumaihan's character. He would definitely try his best to kill himself. Even if he could escape this time, what about next time? What about next time?
Besides, if you can only commit a thief for a thousand days, how can you prevent a thief for a thousand days?
No matter how careful you are, there will always be some oversights. When the time comes, your carelessness will be taken advantage of by Tumaihan, and you will be killed.
Until then, his tribe, his wife and children still cannot escape Tumaihan's clutches. In the final analysis, it is only a matter of time.
Therefore, Zhuertu decided to make a desperate move. He wanted to use the help of the Ming army to eradicate Tumaihan, a serious problem!
Gradually, the look on Zhuertu's face gradually became firmer. After a while, he called his subordinates and gave serious instructions.
"Go and inform Tumaihan Khan that we will officially launch an attack on the Ming army at noon!"
When the subordinates heard this, their faces were full of confusion, but due to the prestige accumulated by the leader Zhuertu over a long period of time, they still reluctantly agreed.
"Yes, leader!"
…
At this moment, less than sixty miles away from Jizhou, there was a temporary camp.
"Haha, okay, his claw figure finally gave in to me!"
Tumaihan looked at the letter in his hand, which was sent by Zhuertu himself, and couldn't help but feel very good, and said loudly.
The general on the side saw this and quickly flattered him.
"Great Khan, he, Zhuertu, didn't realize the difference in strength between him and you until now. He is really stupid!"
"I think he doesn't deserve the title of Battle at all. I think the most suitable person for this title should be you, the Great Khan."
Tumaihan was very pleased with the flattery from his subordinates, so he immediately picked up the wine glass, drank the wine in the glass, and said quietly.
"This Zhuertu always likes to go against Ben Khan, but now he wants to surrender to Ben Khan!"
"What a pity, it's too late, he will definitely die today!"
Then, Tumaihan turned his attention to the flattering subordinate before, waved his hand, and gave instructions quite casually.
"At that time, one-fifth of the cattle, sheep, livestock and women of the tribe where Zhaertu belongs to will belong to you!"
When the subordinate heard this, a flattered expression appeared on his face, and he said excitedly.
"Thank you, Great Khan. I will definitely dedicate all my loyalty to you, Great Khan!"
Seeing this situation, Tumaihan didn't say anything more, but continued to drink. Then, as if he suddenly remembered, he immediately gave the order.
"Pass this Khan's order to have the army gradually move closer to the camp where Zhuertu is currently stationed!"
"Yes, Khan!"
…
Soon, it was noon.
Just listening to the sound of horse hooves in the distance, a cavalry force of more than 3,000 people, while blowing up countless wind and sand, headed towards the east gate of Jizhou Town in a mighty manner!
The leader of this army is Zhaoertu. At this moment, he is riding a brown-red war horse, and Amugu, his right-hand man, is riding a horse, following closely beside him.
Seeing that the distance to the east gate of Jizhou Town was getting closer and closer, Zhuertu's heart was in his throat. He knew in his heart that such a level of attack would not be able to do anything to the defenders in the city!
On the contrary, if the defenders on the city wall take this opportunity to attack themselves, most of their cavalry will be lost in just one encounter.
Seeing that the army was getting closer and closer to the east gate of Jizhou Town, Zhuertu could clearly see the cannons mounted on the city wall, as well as the Ming army that was already waiting in full formation and holding blazing guns!
"Warriors, fight with me!"
Zhuertu shouted, and the morale of his troops was also inspired. They began to shoot arrows, but the place they aimed at was in the sky.
At this moment, the Ming army guarding the city wall moved, and an officer pulled out the long knife from his waist and said loudly.
"Brothers, kill all these Tatar cavalry!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of countless muskets and arrows being fired rang in Zhuertu's ears.
Just when Zhuertu thought that the Ming army was making a fake show and wanted to annihilate him on the spot, Amugu on the side seemed to see what Zhuertu was thinking, and quickly pointed at the Ming soldiers on the city wall and said reminded.
"Chief, look!"
Zhuertu looked along the direction pointed by Amugu, and suddenly discovered that the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty who were guarding the city were all aiming their firecrackers and bows and arrows at the sky.
Seeing this, Zhuertu breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself: "It seems that these Ming troops have kept their promise!"
Then, he calmed down, pulled out his scimitar, pointed at the city wall just in front of him, and said loudly.
"Warriors, these Ming troops are vulnerable, come with me and kill them!"
In this way, the two sides launched a huge battle, but in the process, no one was injured.
After several rounds of attacks, Zhuertu felt that the time was almost up, so he ordered his cavalry to retreat. The soldiers guarding the city wall had no intention of pursuing them, and just silently reloaded the muskets in their hands. The next battle is the real deal.
On the city wall, Yang Xuan looked at the three thousand cavalry who had left, his eyes narrowed slightly, not knowing what he was thinking.
I don't know how much time passed, but Yang Xuan called the general soldier and gave instructions.
"According to the previous deployment, let's officially dispatch the army!"
"Yes, Lord Governor!"
When the commander-in-chief heard this, he immediately responded respectfully.
After a while, the gate of Jizhou Town was opened. Countless elite soldiers wearing armor, carrying long knives on their waists, and carrying guns on their backs rode on horses and marched towards the designated ambush location. The whole process did not make a single sound. If you look down from mid-air, you will see an endless black torrent sweeping towards the distance.
Governor Yang Xuan of Jiliao was currently riding a maroon war horse, marching at the front of the team. For the sake of safety, he rejected Yang Bo's request to join the battle.
Because he knew that this battle was extremely dangerous. If he died unfortunately, he could still defend Jizhou Town with Yang Bo and the remaining troops in the city!
Thinking of this, Yang Xuan turned around and asked the subordinate on the side.
"Have all the grenades been distributed?"
The subordinates on the side saw Yang Xuan asking questions, and after thinking for a moment, they immediately responded.
"Your Majesty the Governor, the newly delivered grenades from the imperial court, plus the ones that have been delivered one after another in the past, total more than 18,000 grenades. All of them have been distributed so far!"
After Yang Xuan received a positive answer from his subordinates, he no longer struggled.
Prior to this, Yang Xuan had visited the scene in person and witnessed the power of a grenade explosion. Especially after the explosion, the ceramic fragments sputtered would be extremely lethal to the enemy.
"I hope it can be useful!"
Yang Xuan sat on the horse, suppressed the anxiety in his heart, looked at the scenery in the distance, and said silently to himself.
…
When Zhuertu led his army back to the camp he had built earlier, he suddenly discovered that the camp he had built earlier had been occupied by a group of uninvited guests.
And this group of uninvited guests was none other than Tumaihan and the 50,000 troops he led!
The temporary camp set up by Zhuertu could only barely accommodate about 4,000 people. Therefore, more than a dozen camps were built next to the camp set up by Zhuertu.
When Zhuertu saw this situation, he didn't know where it was. This was a threat given to him by Tumaihan.
Immediately, he forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart and ordered to the subordinates beside him.
"Let's go back to camp!"
After the words fell, the faces of Amugu on the side and many soldiers behind him were full of anger. However, due to the huge gap in strength between the two sides, they reluctantly swallowed this breath.
As early as the moment Zhuertu led his army back to the camp, Tumaihan in the main tent had already learned the news through his subordinates.
At the same time, he was also quite surprised that Zhuertu could come back alive.
"Logically speaking, the combat effectiveness of the Ming army should not be so low. After a battle, Zhuertu was able to retain so much strength. What happened in the middle?"
"Is it possible that Zhuertu defected to the Ming army?"
Immediately afterwards, this idea emerged in Tumaihan's mind without any warning.
But soon, this idea was rejected by him personally: "No, it's impossible, we Tatars and those Ming people are mortal enemies!"
"It is absolutely impossible for him, Zhuertu, to get any help from those Ming people. The only possibility is that the combat effectiveness of the Ming army is extremely low, which allowed Zhuertu to retreat unharmed!"
Thinking of this, Tu Maihan's expression gradually became excited. Now that those Ming people had fully exposed their own weakness, he could take advantage of this opportunity to complete the set goal.
That is, by plundering those Ming people, we can obtain enough livestock, food, cattle, sheep, women, etc., so that the tribe can survive the immediate crisis safely!
And when that time came, he returned to the tribe with the power of victory and started purging those opponents. No one dared to say anything more. As for the pearl on the grassland, it was just a trophy for the winner!
Thinking of this, a plan gradually took shape in Tumaihan's mind. Soon, he came back to his senses and gave instructions to his subordinates.
"Go and ask Zhaertu to come see me now!"
"Follow your orders, noble Khan!"
(End of chapter)
