Even though he had an angel in his pocket, Yang Qi still couldn't feel relaxed when he led his troops to the north.
Because the support Liu Chengzong gave him was extremely strong, with a very high official position, unparalleled authority and soldiers who were good at fighting, but in the final analysis this was completely different from Cao Yao's Gansu Governor's Mansion.
In Gansu, Liu Chengzong personally led the army to defeat it. The areas that should be surrendered were surrendered, leaving a garrison to take over the territory, gather the guards on the oasis, establish the official office of the Marshal's Palace, and be able to control it through the five Huangfan The Qilian Mountain Road received immigrants from Hehuang.
As for Monan, the Marshal's Mansion does not have an inch of land or a single soldier there, and it is impossible to receive any support from the Marshal's Mansion in the short term.
This is more like Liu Chengzong supporting a peasant army leader who was defeated by the official army, giving him soldiers, horses, clothing, food and grass, and letting him start another business.
Yang Qi was not blinded by greed. He knew very well that sending troops this time was not the best opportunity for him. The best opportunity would be for the Marshal's Mansion to send troops to Guyuan. The risk factor was low and the probability of success was high. As long as he was given a thousand If you can ride a horse carefully, you can capture Guyuan.
Sending troops to Monan was more like gambling, betting that the Jin army would not be stationed in Monan for a long time, and also betting that this marshal's army would reach the battlefield before they returned to Shenyang.
Yang Qi was gambling, and so was Liu Chengzong, but Liu Chengzong could not afford to lose in this bet, and Yang Qi could only win.
The Monan Army took action at the moment of the expedition. The three general officers were their own. They worked out a plan at an extremely fast speed. The core point of this plan was not to capture Monan, but to minimize the risk of the Marshal's Mansion in Hexi. burden.
Yang Qi, Wang Chengen, and He Huchen are all the most professional people in leading troops, especially leading hungry troops. They know best when the army will be hungry and when it will be unable to bear the hunger.
Counting from the moment they send troops, their lives have entered a countdown. If they are full, the time to have full combat effectiveness is one month. If they lose combat effectiveness, this time can be extended to three months.
After three months, the Monan Army will lose most of its combat effectiveness, and then die in the winter of the seventh year of Chongzhen.
It was not that this army died in the winter, but that the three of them died in the winter. This army might fall into banditry or live an ignoble existence until they see Liu Chengzong again, but before that the angry soldiers would definitely kill them first.
It's not that they are loyal to Liu Chengzong. The troops assigned to the Monan Governor's Mansion are almost the least loyal military representatives in the Marshal's Mansion.
There were five thousand Mongolian cavalry, all of whom had military backgrounds. The nobles who had been loyal to him for generations were more or less killed because of Liu Chengzong.
There were a thousand battalions of Xifan's cavalry. There were not many surrendered troops in them, but more of them were prisoners. On the first day they joined the Marshal's Mansion, they were thrown into labor reform in the Haibei quarry. Only after they came out did they receive armored horses and iron spears, and continued to fight in the marshal's palace. Military effectiveness.
There are three thousand people in the Lintao Brigade. Most of the soldiers believe that joining the Marshal's Mansion is destiny. They are confused by the internal strife in Lanzhou City and change their flags in strange ways.
Shi Xiang, who defected on the battlefield, was like a small independent warlord holding the Lintao Brigade's troops. He had no ideological reform and lacked recognition of the Marshal's Office. All they knew was that one day, the division general changed his flag, and the former Lanzhou gentlemen were Once everything is shoveled clean, the generalissimo will pay us men and allot the land.
Li Wanqing, Luo Rucai, and Yang Chengzu, those 1,500 people, are the second-line veterans of the Marshal's Mansion, and the 500 selected out of the 3,000 people were selected by the battalion generals themselves. There is no doubt that this is not a selection of forwards, but a selection. A second-tier old guy who is not very useful.
There are also the one thousand people selected by Bai Wen. They are indeed elite troops. Firstly, they are a bit small. Secondly, they are considered relatively low in loyalty in the Marshal's Mansion.
The most loyal ones were the two thousand Chahar cavalry that Duntaurus transferred from Han'er. They were the dowry of the Mongolian empress. They followed them all the way from Liaodong to Qinghai. The soldiers and horses were all raised in Qinghai Lake. Fat and strong, they are excellent troops.
[Currently used, it is the most complete and best-used app for listening to books. It integrates 4 major speech synthesis engines, over 100 kinds of sounds, and supports offline reading.
After a happy life of looting, there is a high probability that you don't want to go back to the Marshal's Mansion, but once you don't have enough to eat, the first thing you think of is Liu Chengzong.
Therefore, Liu Chengzong could afford to lose. Even if this army was completely dispersed in Monan, the survivors would still find ways to find him as long as there was a chance.
But the three general officers couldn't afford to lose. After all, they couldn't take Guihua City, and He Huchen wanted to take Yang Qi's head back.
Therefore, Yang Qi's plan is to fight for all the forces he can, unite all the forces that can be united, and find ways to take root in Guihua City in Monan until the day Liu Chengzong takes Yulin.
First at Gulang Gorge, Wang Chengen personally climbed to Yingpan Ridge and successfully persuaded more than 600 Liangzhou soldiers from Ding Shaoyin's tribe who had been besieged for a long time on the mountain to surrender, and liberated the headquarters of Zhang Tianlin's camp that was fortified at the foot of the mountain.
He Huchen then went north to Liangzhou to persuade Li Hongsi and Cao Wenzhao, who were defending Liangzhou City, to surrender, and tried to recruit them to attack the Dongqi from the east. However, he was almost shot to death by Cao Wenzhao's arrow.
He Huchen was so angry that he cursed and turned back to Gulang Gorge from Liangzhou City. He said to himself... If I don't go, I won't go. What the hell are you shooting at with an arrow, bastard?
But he knew why Cao Wenzhao shot him. After all, if the Liangzhou army really acted with him, they might have him disarmed when they left the city. What's more, even if they acted together, who would they listen to?
But He Huchen actually had another doubt in his mind. He didn't understand why the Liangzhou Army was not interested in attacking the Donglu - in the Marshal's Mansion, no one would be excited if they heard that they were going to attack the Donglu.
This is of course not because they think the Donglu are some easy-to-fight country chickens and dogs. Although not many people in the Marshal's Mansion have actually fought with the Donglu, the Mongolian soldiers under their rule, except for the Oirat, have felt the impact of the war. Jin Xizheng felt oppressive, and Ming Dynasty had fought with Donglu for so many years, at least they knew that they were difficult to deal with.
The reason for the excitement is actually very simple. It is not about national enthusiasm or ambition for the country, but just two words: money.
Although the Marshal's Mansion is now a regularized army, this army, which is mainly composed of retired frontier troops and homeless peasant troops, inevitably has some slight differences in values from normal people.
After all, even Liu Chengzong's Generalissimo's Law had it written in black and white: Private robbery is prohibited, and offenders will have their hands chopped off.
Then there is no doubt that organized robbery in the Marshal's Mansion, even if it does not spread positive energy, is still considered a core value and a way to get rich through hard work.
Thanks to Hauge's visit to the Marshal's Mansion, every inch of land under Liu Chengzong's rule spread the legend that the Northeast was rich in silver. They said that in the future, there was too much gold and silver to spend, and things would cost three to five times the price.
This determines that you will not suffer any loss if you fight with them.
He Huchen failed to persuade the Liangzhou guards to surrender, which was of no concern to Yang Qi and others. Anyway, the battle in Liangzhou was about to start soon, and this could not delay Liu Chengzong's main force for too long.
Then the troops were divided into four groups. The first one to send troops was He Huchen. Taking the Chahar Camp Qian Headquarters as the forerunner, they headed straight for Luanjingtan in Helan Shanxi along the southern edge of the Tengger Desert.
The second route was followed by the army led by Gutu Taiji, carrying the angel Fang Zhenghua, and walked along the north bank of the Yellow River; the third route was led by Wang Chengen, carrying the angel Fang Zhenghua's letter, and went straight to Ningxia Zhongwei.
The last one was Yang Qi, who took Bai Wenxuan with him. He chose the most special march route, which was across Songshan Mountain. The target was Die Liesun Fort belonging to the Jinglu Guards between the two border walls on the east bank of the Yellow River.
The reason why Yang Qi divided his troops into four groups was, firstly, to increase the speed of his march, secondly, to reduce the pressure on the baggage, and thirdly...to try not to eat his own food.
He Huchen and Gitu Taiji walked outside the border, aiming to get food from Yinchuan; Wang Chengen walked to the south bank of the Yellow River, aiming to get food from Zhongwei in Ningxia.
As for Yang Qi himself, he not only planned to eat the food in the northern part of Guyuan, but also planned to see how the Ming Dynasty had trained the Guyuan soldiers in the years since he had been away from Guyuan, and to think about taking a group of people away.
Their division of labor was very clear. With Wang Cheng'en and Qu Tu Taiji as the core, they carried Fang Zhenghua's letter, bypassed Hong Chengchou and the border generals, and handed it to the eunuchs guarding along the way, ordering them to provide 30,000 shi of food and grass, and then they sent troops to attack the Donglu.
After all, most of the feudal officials looked down on the bossy eunuchs. This had nothing to do with the latter's physical disability, but with their profession.
It is related to the low weight of the position brought by the characteristics. Similar to the eunuch, the Yanguan.
Yanguan is very powerful at certain times. There is no one like the commander-in-chief, the chief assistant, or the emperor who cannot or dare not scold him, but what's the use of it? Most of the time it's just a gun that hits where you point it.
The gun is not powerful, the powerful one is always the person who shoots it.
In theory, this is the emperor's gun, but powerful ministers can sometimes use it for fun.
The same is true for eunuchs. People are afraid of the emperor, not the slaves running around.
If the emperor wants to appoint ministers, he can do it without the eunuchs talking; if the emperor doesn't want to appoint ministers, the eunuchs will slander him, and the eunuchs will die.
But the eunuchs who guard the local area are different. Sooner or later, they will have to return to the 24th Yamen in the Forbidden City. The words of the eunuch Bingbi, the eunuch who oversees etiquette, will work for them.
Of course, Yang Qi also has a backup plan. If the eunuchs in Ningxia don't accept this trick, then they can only find acquaintances, who are all general military officers. Who can not have so many things that they want to do but can't do? , Someone you want to kill but can’t?
This time is the opportunity.
The Fourth Route Monan Army marched all the way along the Tengger Desert and the Yellow River. With a letter from Cao Yao, the governor of Gansu Province, Liu Chengzong happily ran back from Lanzhou to the new city west of Xining - Batur Huitai Ji's No. 1 A group of caravans have arrived at Jiayuguan.
Cao Yao said in the letter that the leader of the team was Batur Hutaiji's younger brother. Batur wrote a special letter to apologize to Liu Chengzong in advance and said he was very sorry. There was really no one around him who could take on this responsibility. I can send this money-grubbing younger brother here. If his younger brother says something that shouldn't be said, I hope Liu Chengzong can look at his face and not kill his younger brother.
Just reading this letter, Liu Chengzong wondered if this Batur Hutaiji had some kind of fucking treasured brother. Did he introduce him to others like this?
Liu Chengzong ran to Xincheng and went directly to Xincheng Academy to find out who Batur Hutaiji's younger brother was and why his brother valued him so much.
The person who can answer his question is Dalai Taiji, the leader of the Dulbert tribe.
Dalai Taiji is an anomaly among the Oirat aristocrats. According to Liu Chengzong's knowledge, most of the Oirat aristocrats who stayed in the Marshal's Mansion were like the Imperial Master Khan. After receiving the title, they stopped eating, drinking and having fun and lost their ambitions. But Dalai was different. Although he received the title of Duerbo, he studied hard at Xincheng Academy like those young nobles.
Others learned everything, but Dalai only learned cavalry tactics, and it was Tangqi tactics among cavalry tactics.
It was probably because of the psychological shadow caused by the Tang soldiers in Heka Grassland.
Dalai was very happy to see Liu Chengzong again, thinking that he was going to recruit him to send troops. He rode over with a three-eyed musket, startling the young Yulin riders. When he heard Liu Chengzong's question, he changed his mind. He made an expression and sighed with a complex expression: "Chu Hu'er, that is a person without any feelings."
The younger brother of Batur Hutaiji, ranked third, has the same name as the Chuoktutaiji who went to Qinghai to compete with Liu Chengzong for territory. He was also called Chuhu'er, and his full name was Chuhu'er Ubas.
In the fifth year of the Apocalypse, their younger brother Qingtaiji died. Chu Huer and his other brother Bai Batu competed for Qingtaiji's inheritance. The two brothers had a serious quarrel. The father and Dalaiji from Dulbert's tribe came together. Unable to persuade him through mediation, with the support of the Turghut tribe, Chu Hu'er killed his younger brother Bai Ba.
Then Dad sent troops to attack Chuhu'er, and Dalai Taiji from the Durbot tribe also joined the battle and attacked the Turgut tribe together.
What was originally a matter of dividing inheritance between families was suddenly turned into a big melee between the three Oirat tribes, which lasted until the first year of Chongzhen. Because of this, the Torgut tribe went west to the Volga River.
Up to now, when asked who is the most annoying person in Dalai Taiji, Feng Zhen, who surrounded him in Daqingshan, has to take second place. Chu Huer won without any suspense.
But what surprised Dalai Taiji was that even after listening to his introduction to Chu Huer, Liu Chengzong was still very happy, which made him wonder: "Commander, what are you dissatisfied with Huitaiji? "
dissatisfied?
Liu Chengzong was also puzzled: "Why do you ask that?"
Shouldn't that be why he said this?
Recently, Dalai has been obsessed with learning Chinese. He shook his head slightly and then said: "Big
Doesn't Shuai want to use Chu Hu'er to sow discord between him and Huitai Ji? "
"Why did I provoke him? I'm happy because of Oirat's inventory."
Liu Chengzong smiled and shook his head. The goods shipped by Batur Hutaiji were similar to what was agreed at the time. However, due to the blockage of trade routes, the originally planned goods such as Persian brocades, silks, and Bukhara gems were larger than expected. Want less.
But accordingly, more furs and livestock were shipped than planned.
70,000 sand fox and yellow fox skins, 80,000 ermine skins, 80,000 sheep skins, 6,000 snow plow skins, 3,000 wolf skins, 1,200 mink skins, 500 lynx skins, three One hundred leopard skins, one hundred white rabbit skins.
The skins they transported alone were larger than the total skin trade volume of the Marshal's Mansion in a year.
Not to mention that 5,000 Tianshan war horses will be shipped here, which will provide great assistance to the Marshal's Mansion Longju Island war horse breeding.
The most important thing is that the 50,000 sheep and 1,300 cattle arrived in Jiayuguan. If the food is not enough, it can meet the urgent needs; if the food is enough, Gansu's livestock industry will soon be able to reach a higher level within two or three years. This winter If the problem of Liangzhou City is solved and the north-south trade route is opened, the Tunmu Camp of the Marshal's Mansion will be able to regain its strength next year.
Compared with these, even if there are seven or eight more Chu Huer, Liu Chengzong will not feel unhappy.
Dalai Taiji asked: "Then the Generalissimo is not worried about him? This is a barbarian who does not recognize his relatives."
"What am I worried about? He killed his brother, and I am not his brother."
Liu Chengzong blinked incomprehensibly: "What's more, he is just unreasonable and not stupid. Is he stupid?"
Dalai shook his head: "I'm just short-tempered."
"That's enough. Being impatient with others is a sign of impatience; being impatient with me in the northwest is stupid." After Liu Chengzong said this, he clapped his hands excitedly and said to Da Lai: "Come on, come with me to meet him!"
