In Burihatu's vision, it was not difficult to chase down Tumut's defeated army, because he had already calculated the location where the battle would break out this afternoon.
This place is called Qingcheng, but there is no such thing as a city. There is only a Ming army's riverside fort located twenty miles south of the battlefield. That place will not even have a name in more than four hundred years.
The location of the battlefield was roughly at the junction of the northern part of Pingquan, Chengde, Hebei Province, and the southwest of Ningcheng, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia. On the east side of the battlefield are Camel Mountain, Dawang Mountain and Mao Mao Mountain from north to south. The battlefield itself is located on the edge of the river. To the west is the Laoha River.
What does this geographical location mean? This means that either Erdemutu crossed the Laoha River on rafts carried by the Mongolian cavalry during the Mid-Autumn Festival when it was not yet frozen, and attacked at any time despite the dangers of half-crossing, or ran up the mountain with the cavalry, otherwise To go to Daning, he could only go northeast along the river - the Laoha River flows northeast in this section.
To put it simply, he is now surrounded by a river to the west and a mountain to the east. He and Tumut's defeated army are located in the river canyon.
Anyone who has seen the Great Wall near the Yanshan Mountains knows that the mountains here may not all be called majestic, but most of them are relatively steep and have many rocky mountains. Such a terrain, coupled with the cover of trees growing out of the gaps between rocks, makes it inconvenient for infantry to cross mountains, and there is no need to think too much about cavalry crossing.
The reason why Yanyun Sixteen States cannot be lost is that the terrain is extremely suitable for defense. This has always been a big reason. Once the line of the Yanshan Mountains is lost, further south is the vast Hebei Plain. Facing the nomadic people who mainly rely on cavalry, it will naturally become a passive situation where they can only be prepared to be beaten at any time.
There was nothing wrong with Burihatu's calculations. Apart from going down the river, there was really no other way to go in Erdemutu. Therefore, after convincing Tumut's subordinate armies, Butashri was forced to follow him to retreat to Daning City. Tumen Khan's army, which had retreated slightly before, took advantage of their dispute and discussion to rest for a while. Now he has caught up quickly.
However, since both sides were not adapted to night fighting, Burihatu had no intention of launching an attack immediately after catching up. His plan was to catch up first, bite and follow them at a short distance, and wait until daybreak before launching an attack. If during this period Erdemutu formed the formation in place, then the Chahar army would also stop and confront them.
In a word, I'll just hang you like this. I won't hit you yet, but I won't let you go either. I'll deal with you when the sun comes up. It's a bit like a situation where the enemy is retreating and we are advancing.
Erdemutu immediately saw Burihatu's intention, but as before, Burihatu still used a conspiracy, and there was no good way to easily break it. If there is any way, in fact, the best way is to go back and fight a decisive night battle with Chahar. If he wins, then naturally there will be no trouble.
Not to mention, Butashri also thought of this and stopped the team on the spot, saying that he should turn around and attack without fear at this moment and not lose Tumut's face. Based on the habit of finding a reason for one's side to win before a war, Butashri also said righteously: "The brave will win when we meet on a narrow road. At this time of life and death, if Huang Taiji does not dare to fight to the death, my Taiji - I hope Past!"
Anyway, it was all for the sake of fame. Butashri had targeted Erdemutu and did not dare to lose any more of his own combat power. It was expected that he would not agree to his counterattack, so he spoke loudly in the scene.
However, although Erdemutu is young, he is a person who has grown up under the influence of high pragmatism for a long time. He usually imitates his teacher consciously or unconsciously in all aspects, so even if he hears Butashri's provocative In his words, he just said calmly: "I am very satisfied with Butashri's loyalty and courage, but there will be opportunities like this in the future, so you don't have to rush."
Are you kidding me? Have I spent all these years with my teacher in vain?
Butashri used the Mongolian custom of "Taiji" to describe the relationship between two people. Erdemutu did not recognize it and preferred to use the Ming system to express it. The former two are both "Taiji", but Erdemutu is usually called "Huangtaiji".
Comparing according to this standard, the gap between the two is not big. They are both "descendants of the golden family" - that is, Taiji. Erdemutu only has a yellow character added because of his status as heir, with "Crown Prince" ” or “prince”, of course it’s the same as “王世子” or “prince”. Anyway, it’s a free translation with transliteration influence.
However, according to Ming's status standards, the status gap between the two of them is relatively large. Throwing away some additional titles, Erdemutu's standard identity or "basic identity" is nothing more than the "Crown Prince of Shunyi", the heir to a foreign vassal king.
Whether it is an external vassal or an internal vassal, they are both "one country" under the power hierarchy of the Ming Dynasty. However, the country of the internal vassal is virtual, while the country of the external vassal is an entity. The prince of a foreign vassal is the prince of a country, and his status is "king". Therefore, except for his parents, everyone else in the country is his ministers and subjects.
According to this principle, Butashri is certainly one of the ministers, and Erdemutu directly points out that his identity is "Qian Shi". There are many kinds of affairs in the Ming Dynasty. What kind of affairs is Butashri? Wei directs the affairs.
What level of official is this? We must first talk about the nature of the "army" and "soldiers" of the Ming Dynasty.
The coexistence of troops and soldiers was a unique military system of the Ming Dynasty. Gu Yanwu once said, "Those who distinguish between military affairs and agriculture have common disadvantages for three generations or less. Those who distinguish between military affairs and agriculture start from the dynasty of the country." There is a common mistake in later academic circles' research on the Ming Dynasty soldiers, that is, they think that soldiers are just recruiting soldiers. In this way, the difference between an army and a soldier lies in whether it is recruited and whether it is hereditary. In fact, the difference in organizational form between the army and the soldiers is the fundamental difference between the army and the soldiers.
The military-affiliated guard posts are governed by small banners, general banners, hundreds of households, thousands of households, guard commanders, and capital commanders, all the way up to the Five Army Governor's Mansion. The military officers and officers of the Wei Station are hereditary. Only the governors and governors of the Fifth Army are not hereditary. They are floating officials and are selected by the officials of the Wei Station and the military examination. Guard troops and officials have military status, bring their families, live in the same place, and are passed down from generation to generation, and basically do not change.
The location of each guard station is fixed, the number of sergeants is fixed, and there are also fixed rules for the establishment of general officers. In short, under the guard system, power is dispersed and soldiers and generals are separated. But after Jingtai, the power of the Ministry of War increased. The Minister of War was the governor of military affairs, seizing the power of the five government offices, and the officials of the five government offices changed their titles.
The military battalion is composed of a commander, captain, sentry, commander, garrison, commander, guerrilla, staff general, deputy commander, and commander, and is directly under the Ministry of War. Soldiers are generally not hereditary, except for those who are transferred from the garrison army to soldiers. There is no household registration requirement for soldiers. The service period of soldiers is not long, and generally they do not serve for life. They are often created during wars. After the incident, the soldiers are withdrawn from the camp, but they are often garrisoned in important military defenses. The soldiers in the camp do not follow their families, which is closer to the modern military system.
There are no grades for camp officers, and some have official grades under the guard system. They have no quota and are not hereditary. The battalion soldiers and battalion generals know each other well, and they do not need to be appointed by the court during wartime. They are directly led by the general deputy to the expedition. After the general's power is relatively enhanced, soldiers can be recruited by the general on his own. The caller has a close relationship with the called, and even if something happens to the general, the soldiers will disperse.
The form and amount of pay between the army and soldiers are also different. Military pay was provided by the garrison. After the garrison was abandoned, it was supplemented by salt courses and democratic movements. Later, part of it was also taken from the Beijing Movement. The food and salary for the soldiers are all provided with the annual silver from the Beijing Movement, or with the additional new salary. The amount is also different. Soldiers have money for their homes, horse prices, clothing, equipment, etc., and their monthly rations are also relatively generous. However, the army only has monthly rations, and they only have regular rations during war or when they go on an expedition.
The use of troops and soldiers is also different. Soldiers gradually replaced the role of the army. The soldiers were responsible for fighting, and the army was responsible for defense and settlement. "The army defends the enemy while the army sits on the defensive. The army is heavy and the army is light. The army relies on the army to defend the army. The strong army is full of troops."
Of course, soldiers did not completely replace the status of the army, and the guard system accompanied the Ming Dynasty until its demise. In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, the Weisuo Army was renamed as Tunding, and the functions of the Cao Army were partially retained. The Weisuo as a military organization completely disappeared, and the Weisuo as a geographical unit and the administrative jurisdiction were abolished even later.
Official positions in the Ming camp military system and the garrison system often had the same use. Generally speaking (not very strictly), the generals and deputy generals are served by honorable ministers such as dukes and princes and officials such as governors. The generals and guerrillas are mostly served by the commanders and envoys of the capital. The generals of garrison and general control are served by the commanders of the guards and thousands of soldiers. , hundreds of households serve.
After clarifying this, the status of "Qian Shi", who is generally the adjutant in charge of military generals' adjutants under the "military" system, is relatively clear. In other words, it is the "third in command" of a guard station - of course, it may not actually be ranked third, because the general guard has one commander, two commanders, and four commanders.
Since the generals of the Ming Dynasty generally have higher grades, the commander of the guard is the third grade, the commander of Tongzhi is the third grade of Congzhi, and the commander of Qianshi is the fourth grade.
Wang Jue is generally called "Super Grade" under the Ming Dynasty system. Although it is not accurate, it is clear at a glance that the status is very high. The Prince Wang was demoted one level.
Commander Wei was only a fourth-rank official. Logically speaking, he was not even qualified to speak in front of the extremely high-status Prince Wang.
Of course Butashri was dissatisfied with Erdemutu's reply, but he could only hold it in - not even his mother, Zhongjin Hatun, would dare to directly express dissatisfaction with the Ming Dynasty's system, let alone him. ?
Butashri now began to take a high look at Erdemutu. He found that Erdemutu at least knew how to "use power to bully others", but he was relying on the power of the Ming Dynasty. He really couldn't afford to offend him, so he had to deliberately He sneered mockingly and kept silent.
Seeing that he had calmed down, Erdemutu issued an order: Since Butashri commanded the Qianshi bravely and fearlessly, he would lead his troops as the rear army and serve as the rear for the entire army. The remaining troops would speed up towards Daning City. Enter.
Butashri secretly scolded this guy for being unreasonable and taking advantage of his "brave". But he didn't know that only a small part of Erdemutu was deliberately trying to trick him. In fact, it was mainly because he saw through Burihatu's intentions and knew that Burihatu was unlikely to initiate a fight at least before dawn. And when Butashri was placed at the back of the rear army, Burihatu would no longer do this.
The reason is very simple. What Burihatu wants is to weaken the power of Han Naji's direct line and try his best to make the hard power of Tumut's "two giants" become closer and closer. After Chatterji's death, no one can act as the lubricant and peace guarantor between the two parties. Unless Ming Dynasty continues to intervene, there will probably be a conflict between the two powers - he and his wife have a conflict of interest, Chaha You will have a chance.
Sure enough, after Erdemutu's decision was implemented, Chahar's army became increasingly less intent on attacking. Even "following" became "following from afar." It seemed that they were worried about the impulse of Butashri, who was the rear force. , as if they were looking for a decisive battle.
The original intention of Erdemutu to accelerate the march was that although he could not reach Daning in one night, he could walk as much as possible before dawn. The closer to Daning, the safer it is. Maybe the defenders of Daning City would find out when they fight again tomorrow morning. When the situation arises, can you take the initiative to help? It is better to have hope than no hope.
However, Burihatu did not change his plan and just followed him from afar. This was because he felt that firstly, the Tumuts could not reach Daning before dawn; secondly, although Daning City was well-defended, the garrison must Taking it as their own duty to hold on to this key point outside the city, it is impossible to care so much about the life and death of the Tumut people; thirdly, it is night, and the Ming army may not even be able to understand the situation outside the city, so how can they dare to send troops indiscriminately? If the outside of the city was originally a trap, and the Ming army came out of the city and found that both warring parties were their enemies, and the entire Ming army was annihilated under the two-pronged attack, could the defender afford it?
Therefore, in Burihatu's view, there is no need to worry about the Ming army tonight.
Burihatu's prediction can be said to be right or wrong. In fact, the Ming army in the city had already learned about the battle that broke out near Qingcheng this afternoon. They also had a general understanding of the outcome of the battle and a correct prediction of the direction after the battle. However, unfortunately, they did not dare to go out of the city to rescue Tumo. Special person.
The first task of the defenders is to defend their own city. If this basic task fails, no matter how great other achievements are, it will be difficult to save their heads, especially now that Daning City is so important.
But why was Burihatu’s prediction wrong again? Because in Daning City, in addition to the imperial court's economic and political forces, there are also a group of cavalrymen from the Jinghua Trading Company. In fact, they discovered the Battle of Qingcheng and reported the situation to the Daning army.
The officers and soldiers of Daning did not dare and could not go out of the city to rescue them at night, but the cavalry of the Jinghua Trading Company, which had great autonomy, were obviously different. They knew the identity of Erdemutu - of course, this mainly refers to his status within Jinghua. Identity: A direct disciple of the Dong family, Beijing Military Affairs Secretary and in charge of the Lu Division.
To put it bluntly: This guy is the boss’s confidant and my direct boss!
For such a person, what will happen if he chooses to die without saving his life?
As a result, the biggest variable so far on this battlefield appeared: Jinghua Trading Company's three cavalry teams in Daning City, which were originally responsible for different directions, urgently mobilized and temporarily formed a group together to persuade the Daning City Guards to open the city. They went to meet the Tumut cavalry.
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