The marching speed of the Ming army was not slow. At the end of April, Yan Shizhao had led the army to Datong.
The invading Tatar army was still wreaking havoc in the Ming Dynasty.
For the first time in so many years, they successfully broke through the Ming Dynasty's frontier fortress. The colorful world in front of them blurred their eyes, so that although they had looted a lot, they still used their ministries as a unit to plunder and seize wealth in various parts of the Ming Dynasty.
And their sweat did not stop these actions.
By looting more, we can open a wider gap with the various tribes of Oara, and then the unification war will be smoother.
With this idea in mind, they still stayed in the Ming Dynasty, even maintaining the gap in the Great Wall, and continuously transported wealth and slaves beyond the Great Wall.
And this also caused them to give the Ming army sufficient reaction time, and the Ming army arrived in time.
Yan Shizhao spread out the map in the camp and frowned in thought.
Different from the original history in which Mongolian tribes underwent great changes in the late Ming Dynasty and were divided into Monan and Mobei tribes, the hurricane caused by the pterosaur Yan Ling caused earth-shaking changes in history. The grassland situation in this time and space was also different. Same again.
The area in the central and eastern part near the Great Wall is the Jisi Prefecture that is still loyal to the Ming Dynasty.
Further to the periphery, to the edge of Monan, there are still Jisu - but these, in addition to still admitting that they are the courtiers of the Ming Dynasty, and still maintaining business and other dealings with the Ming Dynasty, have actually been out of control and will no longer be handed over to the future. The tax, which mainly focused on cattle, sheep and horses, no longer provided Mongolian cavalry.
Mobei belongs to the Tatars, that is, the governors who have rebelled one after another in the past two hundred years.
According to the original history, the nominal Great Khan of Mongolia at this time should be Lin Dan Khan, but now this Khan has disappeared, and his replacement is called Kuk Khan.
However, what is no different from Lin Dan Khan is that this Kuk Khan is also committed to unifying all Mongolian tribes and becoming the real master of the grassland.
He has successfully unified the various Tatar tribes, and his opponent is the Oara tribe that is nomadic in the western desert, and wars often break out between the two sides.
This large-scale invasion was led by Kuk Khan himself. He wanted to enhance his strength by plundering the Ming Dynasty and better attack the Oara tribe.
Yan Shizhao did not have a head-to-head fight with Kuk Khan, but when he was in Liaodong, he had many fierce battles with the tribes in the eastern part of the Tatar tribe, so he knew the basics.
He is not afraid of them.
When he was in Liaodong, he saw with his own eyes the strength of the Liaodong cavalry under Commander Li, and even personally led the brave cavalry to trample on the enemy camps and drive them into the vast grassland.
Now, although the Liaodong Iron Cavalry is no longer in his hands, he believes that the result... will not change!
Yan Shizhao's eyes revealed a bloodthirsty light.
He looked towards the north of the map, which was a section of the Great Wall.
A section of the Great Wall controlled by Kuk Khan's men and used to transport supplies to the outside world.
Then his eyes slowly moved up, looking towards the Tatar territory.
…
"Great Khan, the Ming army attacked the tribes stationed in the north of the Great Wall. Two thousand warriors were wiped out. They have regained control of the Great Wall! The materials and slaves transported there, as well as those just sent out of the wall, were all intercepted by the Ming army. Got it!"
"Great Khan, the Ming army sent cavalry to attack our rear. Many camps were breached and supplies, women and children were plundered!"
"Great Khan, the strength of the southern city has increased, and the defense has been strengthened. The attacking tribes suffered heavy losses in strength and returned without success!"
"Great Khan, there are Ming cavalry attacking our scattered tribes. Several small tribes have been wiped out. The attackers are suspected to be the Ming Dynasty's Three Thousand Battalion!"
…
One piece of bad news spread to Kuk Khan's camp.
The suggestions made by Yan Keng at that time worked. After a hundred years of getting along with each other, the Tatar army's combat methods have been understood by the Ming army, and a series of countermeasures have also been developed.
This set of tactics really made Cook Khan extremely uncomfortable, especially the issue of being invaded from the rear, which made him unable to sit still.
His territory is basically the original Jisu. You must know that this place has been ruled by the Ming Dynasty for more than a hundred years. The Ming Dynasty clearly knows where there are water sources and where is suitable for garrisoning. This resulted in the Ming cavalry attacking nine tribes' camps in a very short period of time, plundering tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, rescuing more than 30,000 slaves, and capturing a large number of women and children.
After hearing the news, the Tatar tribe's people were instantly moved, and Cook Khan himself was also a little panicked.
He knew very well that now that the gap in the Great Wall had been blocked by the Ming army, the messengers who came to report were probably deliberately sent by the other side to disturb their military morale, but the commander-in-chief of the Ming army had no idea Quite accurate, he was really afraid that his rear would be penetrated by this wave.
In this case, what's the point of bringing so many supplies back?
A leader who cannot protect his subordinates will lose the hearts of his people.
"Order all the ministries to assemble, march north, break through the Great Wall, and let's go back!" He gritted his teeth and issued the order.
This played into Yan Shizhao's plan. After noticing the Tatar army's withdrawal, he immediately ordered the gathering of troops.
After gathering, the Tatar army came to the pass where they had broken through and launched an attack.
Fifty thousand Tatar troops came forward one after another. Fortunately, Yan Shizhao had already strengthened the defense here. At least 40,000 Ming troops were stationed here carrying a large number of firearms and defensive equipment. Cook lost his troops and generals, but still failed to complete the breakthrough.
He wanted to turn around and attack another section of the Great Wall, but when he turned around, he suddenly ran into the oncoming Ming army.
The Tatar army, carrying a large amount of plundered baggage, was marching too slowly. If they attacked for a few more days, they might still be able to break the city. However, by the time they gathered to launch the attack, the Ming army had basically completed its assembly, and with them Come up.
Except for the 30,000 elite troops selected by Yan Shizhao, the rest were all sent out and stationed in various places to replace the border troops. The combat effectiveness of these troops is not very good, but combined with firearms, they are still barely enough to defend the city. They are still stronger than the garrison soldiers in the south.
At this time, his men added 50,000 border troops who were mobilized, bringing the total strength to 80,000, preparing to launch an attack on the Tatar army.
Kuk Khan was naturally unwilling to engage in a large-scale field battle with the Ming army. Even if he could win, it would be a loss of troops and would not be conducive to conquering the grassland. However, he suddenly discovered that carrying a large amount of supplies and Ming people, he could not escape at all.
The cities in the east and west are impregnable, the Great Wall in the north is defended bravely, and the army in the south is advancing.
He has no choice.
Gritting his teeth, the Tatar army began to turn.
If you can't escape, then fight!
Defeat the Ming army head-on, take gold, silver, grain, grass, and slaves and go home!
(End of chapter)
