In the early morning, Aisin Gioro-Shang Jian woke up from a nightmare.
He has been in an awkward position since his father Abatai was wiped out on the grassland with the Zhenglan Banner. Although at the strong request of Daishan and Amin, he took up the post of deputy flag leader of the newly built Zhenglan Banner, his status in the Eight Banners was despised and he lived a very painful life.
The meaning of Abatai in Manchu is a person who is good at hunting. But Shang Jian is not a person who likes hunting. He prefers reading. As the eldest son of Abatai, he must bear everything his father brought to him.
Beside him slept his two younger brothers, Bo and To, aged eighteen, and Boro, aged fifteen. They have four brothers in total, and one younger brother, four-year-old Yue Le. Abatai's family title is Duoluo Raoyu County Prince. After Abatai, it was given to Azig in the middle. After Azig was deprived of the title in 1636, it was passed down to Yue Le's descendants.
"Brother, you have a nightmare." Bo Hetuo asked, looking at Shang Jian who was sweating.
Because the current Zhenglan Banner was rebuilt, it was re-drawn from the bannermen of Zhenglan Banner. Follow the rules of statehood. Usually when there is a war, one of the three men will be drawn. Therefore, just because Abatai ruined Zhenglan Banner does not mean that Zhenglan Banner is gone.
Zhenglan Banner only lost one-third of its bannermen. But what was lost was the most elite. The rest are either younger or relatively older. It is said that boxing is afraid of young people, and the same is true for soldiers. The most suitable age is seventeen or eighteen. People at this age think less, have less social experience, and are easy to manage.
Those old gangsters have all become old fools in society. They are extremely cunning. It is very troublesome and laborious to lead them to the battlefield and to fight with them in a battle of wits and courage.
"I dreamed about Amma. He was covered in blood. He told me that Uncle Eight had killed him."
Bolo glanced at the tent entrance warily. By this time, it was already dawn. If there is someone outside the hood, there will be shadows visible. Huang Taiji is a ruthless character, so be careful about speaking ill of him behind his back.
This time, Huang Taiji gave the three brothers the task of escorting grain and grass. Huang Taiji didn't have much hope for Zhenglan Qi. The newly added bannermen are old and young. Just let them transport food.
At this time, two figures came over, stood at the door of the tent, and asked loudly: "Three young masters, are you up?"
"Brother, it's Nigri and Solon." There may be something to report.
These two people were from Woji, Donghai, and were captured by Abatai.
In the thirty-ninth year of Wanli (1611), Abatai, who was only 23 years old, was ordered by his father to lead an expedition for the first time. At that time, the leaders of Ningguta in the north, Sengge and Niqali, went to Hetuala City where Nurhaci lived to pay tribute, and Nurhachi gave them 40 pairs of armors.
It was a long journey from Hetuala to Ningupa. Sengge and Nikali carried their armors to Suifen Road (today's Suifen River Basin in Heilongjiang Province), and were surrounded by Urguchen (in the area of Bijin River in today's Russia) and Muling (Today's Muling River Basin in Heilongjiang Province) The tribes in the two places took it away.
Nurhachi sent people to pursue the enemy several times but failed, so he sent Abatai and generals Fei Yingdong and Anfeiyanggu with a thousand troops to attack Urguchen and Muleng, and captured more than a thousand people before returning. Nigri and Solon were the Jurchen tribesmen of the East China Sea who were captured at that time.
These people were given to Abate as slaves. This is the first battle Abatai has fought. These people later became the old base of Abate's subordinates. Many officers in Zhenglan Banner are from Donghai Woji.
The three of them got dressed and walked out.
"Little master, something happened to our Karen in the mountains." Solon said.
Karen means outpost in Manchu. When the army sets up camp, temporary outposts must be sent out in all directions. For warning purposes. Prevent the enemy from approaching without being discovered and causing losses.
Shang Jian frowned and asked, "When did you discover it?"
"This morning, thirty flag men went to change the defense, only to find that out of the eight people in Karen, not a single one was alive. The bodies were killed in the middle of the night last night. The slaves suspected that there was a Ming army in the mountains." Solon said .
Shang Jian was a little surprised. Didn't all the Ming troops retreat into Chifeng City? How could they still be there in the wild? Aren't they afraid of death? Mongolia and the Eight Banners are now strong
There are many troops, especially cavalry, who wander here and may be exposed at any time.
Shang Jian looked at the grain trucks around him. It was less than a hundred miles away from Huang Taiji's camp. The fight is in full swing over there. Seeing it, these grain trucks are about to arrive. Will there be another attack here?
He shook his head and laughed a little. He was too careful.
We can hand over our errands immediately. We only need to walk a hundred miles to reach the Chinese army camp.
"It's probably the work of a small Ming army that didn't collect its troops at night. Don't worry too much about it. We immediately broke out of camp and set off. We still have about ninety miles to go. We will fight hard and arrive at the camp tomorrow night," Shang Jian said.
The two of them saw that their master thought there was no need to be too nervous, so they said nothing and turned around to make arrangements to set off.
At this time, the moon has not completely set, but the sky is completely bright. In the camp, people were shouting and neighing, getting up and arranging livestock and grain carts.
Then, they added some hot water and dry food. After breakfast, the whole army set off.
This team has four thousand bannermen infantry and two thousand Mongolian cavalry. There was also a levy of 10,000 ahha, and horse-drawn carriages were used to pull sacks of sorghum rice and soybeans.
Jiannu did not have the financial resources of Yang Fan. The only food crops they could grow there were sorghum and soybeans. Sorghum rice is used to make rice and porridge. Soybeans are usually fried, topped with salt water, and packed in small bags. When you are hungry, just grab a small handful and eat it directly.
Soybeans are rich in nutrients and can be eaten by humans or used to feed horses and other livestock. The only drawback is that after eating the fried beans and drinking some cold water, you may turn into a jet master and fart all night long.
An hour later, the long convoy finally left the valley area and entered the flat grassland. Shang Jian finally breathed a sigh of relief. Once here, you have a good view in all directions, so you don't have to worry about being attacked.
At this time, in the snow in the distance, Ma Xi's cavalry was not riding a horse, but was wearing a white cloth cloak and lying on the snow. Looking at the long team coming out of the valley in the distance.
"Give the order, and soon you will hear the sound of gunfire, and the whole army will come out," Ma Xi said in a low voice. "Attention, you must run fast. Pass through this 200-meter open area quickly. Watch out for their bows and arrows. As long as we can catch the enemy, we will win."
The reason why Ma Xi chose to ambush them here was because they were out of the valley and were about to arrive. This was when they were most relaxed. Ma Xi followed them all the way without finding a chance, and now they finally dispersed. The team was also in disarray.
An accident happened last night. Ma Xi's men were discovered by a checkpoint sent by Shang Jian. They had no choice but to take action. Ma Xi was originally worried about this. Looking at it now, Jiannu did not think it was a large Ming army.
Because he strictly ordered not to light a fire, they ate dry food and burned in the snow for ten days. The horses were also placed elsewhere.
The slaves were not given in vain. Their scouts found no horse dung or horse hoof marks. No stove, ashes, or domestic garbage was found. Therefore, they believed that it was just a small group of Ye Bushou that attacked the Karen they had temporarily set up.
