The Ming Dynasty cavalry, which was chasing the Jungar cavalry, finally returned.
Those Jungar cavalry were like rabbits, they jumped very fast, and the Ming cavalry kept running fast, so they really couldn't keep chasing.
Just like that, the first battle of the Ming Dynasty's Western Expedition ended.
How should I put it, in this battle, the Jungar tribe first gave the Ming army a surprise attack, defeated part of the Ming army, and surrounded most of the Ming army. But it is a pity that the Jungar tribe failed to defeat the surrounding Ming army in the end, and during the battle, because the Ming army's elite and well-equipped equipment exceeded the Junggar tribe's imagination, it caused damage to them. Many casualties.
If Hong Chengchou's reinforcements did not arrive in time, then this battle was indeed a great victory for Jungar's troops. However, it was precisely because Hong Chengchou's troops arrived in time that they rescued the surrounded Ming army soldiers.
Taken together, it can be seen that the Jungar Cavalry did not gain anything in this raid. Giving up the opportunity to immediately annex and digest other tribes and taking the initiative to attack the Ming army in Hami also came at a cost.
The Ming army's vanguard of about 15,000 people was defeated, but the smaller 5,000 were defeated, and two or three thousand were killed in the battle. The remaining 10,000 Ming army, although they could eat and drink enough with the food, they would be able to recover within a few days. But the war horses have already been killed and eaten. If we want to obtain tens of thousands of war horses, we will not be able to dispatch them in a short time.
Therefore, in general, the Ming army currently fighting in the Western Regions is about 35,000 cavalry led by Hong Chengchou.
This battle also proved that the Jungar tribe was more cunning than expected. This gives everyone a reminder: Ming’s expedition to the Western Regions this time will not be as simple as imagined!
After this battle in Hami, Hong Chengchou also gave up his thoughts of making achievements as soon as possible.
During this expedition, he was the commander-in-chief, and he was responsible for the attack on the forward army. Of course, the greater responsibility lay with the forward commander Lu Daqi.
Another point is that Hong Chengchou arrived in time this time and rescued Lu Daqi's troops, which can be regarded as meritorious.
Anyway, he would not say it even if he was beaten to death. He wanted to make a meritorious service and did not want to wait for the emperor to catch up, so he hurriedly rescued Lu Daqi's men. Instead, he said that he had hidden worries and kept a suitable distance between the two armies as a precaution. On the way, he rescued Lu Daqi's subordinates. In this way, his merits outweighed his faults, which could somewhat boost his thoughts on meritorious service.
In this way, Hong Chengchou ordered to rest in Hami and wait for the grain and grass supplies that were left behind during this day and night journey. At the same time, he wanted to protect Lu Daqi's troops and take care of their early recovery. In addition, he waited for the emperor to arrive. Of course, if you don't collect it at night, you will definitely let it out.
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After Emperor Chongzhen learned about the battle ahead through the Class A eavesdropping seeds on Hong Chengchou, he accelerated his march and led the Hussars Battalion to Hami on June 22, the 22nd year of Chongzhen.
At this time, the Ming cavalry, or infantry, which Lu Daqi commanded, had almost recovered. However, Lu Daqi's own health was not recovering well due to his old age.
After Emperor Chongzhen arrived, he first characterized the first war: it was a great victory, which shattered the rebellious plot of the Jungar tribe. The persistence in Hami without surrender reflected the Ming Dynasty's unyielding determination to protect the family. The military soul of the country, therefore, all Ming soldiers who stood firm in Hami were recorded with merit and received a Hami commemorative medal.
Lu Daqi, the governor of Gansu Province, had merits and demerits, but his merits outweighed his faults. He was promoted to the imperial censor of Zuodu and the crown prince Shaobao, allowing him to retire and return to his hometown to recuperate.
In addition, the soldiers who died in the Battle of Hami all entered the Ming Martyrs' Shrine to enjoy the incense of the Ming Dynasty, and their families received preferential treatment in accordance with the law;
However, those who fled in the Battle of Hami were reduced to slave soldiers just like the Liaodong tribes surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. They were allowed to continue fighting with the army. Only those who had made meritorious deeds could be converted back into official Ming soldiers. Of course, Emperor Chongzhen showed no mercy to those officers who fled from more than a hundred households and beheaded them in front of the army in public display!
After the rewards and punishments were made vigorously and resolutely, Emperor Chongzhen was surrounded by about 40,000 Hong Chengchou's troops and more than 10,000 soldiers of the hussar battalion, and the number once again reached more than 50,000.
However, more than five thousand of them became infantry. It is inconvenient for these people to continue to follow the army because they cannot keep up with the marching speed of the army. Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen ordered them to station in Hami and build Hami in preparation for the Ming Dynasty to control the Western Regions in the future.
Then, he led more than 45,000 horsemen and marched westward again, setting off from Hami in a mighty manner.
This time, the whole army was not dispersed. All the cavalry were united together. At most, there was a day's travel difference between the various units, and they were divided into north and south lines, advancing towards Urumqi.
Of course, Emperor Chongzhen did this not without some purpose.
Before Hami set off, he released twelve captives of the Jungar Cavalry and told them clearly: "I am here to give you the Jungar Tribe one last chance. I will wait for you at Luntai. Half a month later, surrender immediately and unconditionally. If you don’t wait until the expiration date, the entire clan will be exterminated!”
These twelve unlucky ones of the Jungar tribe were captured Jungar tribe sentries who failed to escape in time during the rescue process by Hong Chengchou's troops. They originally thought that they would be killed by the Emperor of Ming Dynasty to sacrifice the flag, but they did not expect that they would still be able to go back alive. Regardless of whether they were sincere or not, they kept agreeing and promised to bring the words to them.
Naturally, they would not have thought that Emperor Chongzhen had placed a Class-A eavesdropping seed on each of the three little bosses among them. Putting these people back will allow him to find the place where the Jungar cavalry is hiding. If it weren't for this golden finger, and if they didn't surrender to the Ming Dynasty, they would really have killed Ji Qi.
The so-called Luntai is actually Urumqi in later generations, which was first established by the Tang Dynasty during the Zhenguan period. Cen Shen, a famous frontier poet in the Tang Dynasty, once wrote a popular poem here, such as "Suddenly a spring breeze comes overnight, thousands of pear trees bloom".
To the north is the Jungar Basin, to the south is the Ili area, and to the west is the Tacheng area, which is the center of the original activity area of the Jungar tribe.
Hong Chengchou actually couldn't understand Emperor Chongzhen's arrangements. However, Emperor Chongzhen Qiankun was arbitrary and did not ask for their opinions. They did not dare to have opinions on this, so that was all.
If you want to ask Hong Chengchou's opinion, he thinks that we should divide our troops. He leads the way, and the emperor leads the way, predetermining the target, outflanking and attacking together, so that if the Jungar tribe is really at the predetermined location, it is possible to encircle and eliminate the Junggar tribe.
But now that the army is moving together, even if such a large cavalry army can know the location of Jungar's tribe, they will definitely have fled before they arrive. As for the unconditional surrender of the Jungar tribe within a time limit, Hong Chengchou believed that it was simply impossible. If they were really afraid of the Ming Dynasty and could surrender unconditionally, they would not have rebelled against the Ming Dynasty and would have obediently followed Eqirtu Khan.
Of course, there is another advantage of dividing the troops, that is, Hong Chengchou may be able to make some achievements, which can be regarded as his selfishness.
However, Hong Chengchou also understood that based on the emperor's past battles, whatever he did, even if it seemed useless on the surface, would often prove to be very wise in the end. The most powerful thing about the emperor is that he can deduce the truth of the matter based on clues. In other words, the emperor is likely to figure out where the main force of the Jungar tribe is during the march.
As for the news coming from the south, it was said that the emperor had sacred objects from heaven to reward the soldiers far away, so that the soldiers far away could gain the ability to directly report the news to the emperor. Hong Chengchou, as a Confucian disciple, did not believe this.
In this situation, even if the person talking about it spoke vividly, Hong Chengchou would not believe it. He even believed that something like this was like tossing a coin and looking at the front and back before the army went out to get God's prediction for the war. In fact, both sides of the coin were the same, thus achieving the purpose of boosting morale during the expedition.
No matter what, it would be absolutely beneficial and harmless for the Emperor to rule the Ming Dynasty by giving the Emperor a mysterious reputation as the true son of God.
Based on this idea, Hong Chengchou led 20,000 cavalry troops, keeping a day's distance from Emperor Chongzhen, and marched toward Luntai together.
The cavalry army of the Ming Dynasty is the most powerful cavalry army in the Western Regions. More than 45,000 cavalry troops spread out and marched westward. The whole world seemed to belong to the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, it would be more difficult if the Ming army did not collect at night. They spread out far in front, rear, left and right of the army. On the one hand, they were the eyes and ears of the army, and on the other hand, they had to collect as much military information as possible and detect the location of the enemy.
On the way to Luntai, they followed the emperor's order and captured the herdsmen on the road. Whether they were herdsmen from the Jungar tribe, or claimed to be the Heshuote tribe or other tribes, they luckily escaped the pursuit of the Jungar tribe. , all were escorted to the central army where the emperor was, and then escorted together to Luntai.
Just like that, by the time Emperor Chongzhen led his army to Luntai, there were more than two hundred such herdsmen. The Ming army detained them in several places without interrogating them. The most unusual thing was that the Ming Emperor, surrounded by many generals, just looked at them.
At that time, almost all the herdsmen knelt down and begged to the Ming Emperor, saying what tribe they belonged to and that they were most loyal and grateful to the Ming Dynasty, but the Ming Emperor ignored them at the time. The general in the army just pointed at them and left.
Of course, no one knew that Emperor Chongzhen actually dropped Class C eavesdropping seeds into each of their groups while listening to his generals introduce the prisoners.
Then, Emperor Chongzhen seemed to have forgotten that he was leading the army to suppress the rebellion of the Jungar tribe. Every day he would either sleep in the camp, go hunting, or inspect the camp, watching the training of the army officers, etc. The days seemed to be very leisurely. .
Miaoshuwu
