Li Hongji and Mangui returned home with a full load. However, such a situation was not common. As the teams from both sides approached, Lin Danhan sent more and more scouting horses, and the number of people in each team also increased from the original thirty to a hundred. Here.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Youxiao's five thousand probing horses gradually began to feel strenuous.

Although they could serve as five barbarians with one man, they could not fight one against ten. Facing a large number of centurions, they had no choice but to shrink their range of activities and were gradually forced close to the Chinese army. At this time, Lin Dan Khan was the first

Get information about the Ming army.

All infantry!

Except for the five thousand cavalry who were used as scouts and for cover-up activities, the other troops were all infantry.

Did Emperor Ming come here to die?

This was Lin Danhan's first reaction. With the fighting methods of the feudal era, within the pass and in the Jiangnan water towns, it was easy to say that the infantry and cavalry could barely compete with each other.

However, this is the prairie, this vast expanse of prairie. The strategic depth and scope here are huge, far beyond what can be compared with the plains and plateaus in the pass. It is simply a joke to use infantry against cavalry.

The pinnacle of infantry should be in the Song Dynasty. Dozens of kilograms of infantry armor and divine arm crossbows made the infantry of the Song Dynasty stand at the pinnacle of the world. Their defense was extremely high and their attacks were extremely powerful. However, a weakness in mobility caused

This solved the embarrassing situation where the Song Dynasty's infantry was unable to pursue and expand its victory after defeating the enemy, and the entire army would be annihilated if defeated.

Facing the infantry who are armed to the point of being hedgehogs, the cavalry will not confront them head-on. They have many ways to wear down these bulky guys, such as robbing food roads, continuous charging, mounted shooting, and large roundabout and changing operations. The cavalry has dozens of ways to play.

Dead infantry. This is just in the north. On the grasslands, water sources and food and grass are two fatal weaknesses, among other things.

Even if Zhu Youxiao is now equipped with advanced equipment and is almost an era ahead of him, if Lin Danhan had not built the city of Chahanhot, he would never have left the fortress until he had collected 50,000 cavalry. When a hundred thousand troops arrived on the grassland,

As long as the other party cuts off the food channel, then he will wait for death.

If you advance, you will have no target to attack, and if you retreat, you will return without success and will waste your troops and troops. This is the helplessness faced by the Central Plains dynasties in the past when facing the barbarians on the grasslands.

But now the situation is gradually different. Under the heavy influence of the Central Plains dynasty, the Mongols have also begun to build cities on the grasslands. The naturalized city of Tumut and Chahanhot in Chahar are the best examples. It is also the reason why the Mongolian people began to build cities on the grasslands.

Nomadism gradually turned into settlement, which allowed Zhu Youxiao to boldly leave the country.

As long as there is a target to attack, that's fine.

In the large tent of the Chinese army, Colonel Zhu You and other senior officers were having a meeting.

"Has the team escorting the grain and fodder returned?" Zhu Youxiao asked.

Now Lin Danhan's scouting horses began to cross the army in batches and attack the rear. The purpose was obvious, that is, they wanted to find Zhu Youxiao's grain road and cut it off.

"We're back. According to the plan, this is the last batch. Until we capture Chahanhot, there will be no food and grass transportation." Li Yuyu looked at the strategic planning book in his hand and replied.

"So how long can this batch of food and grass last?" Zhu Youxiao continued to ask.

"Half a month, plus some leftover, can supply the entire army for almost twenty days." Li Yuyu answered without hesitation. He knew the lifeblood of these armies well.

"Twenty days is enough." Zhu Youxiao looked at the map, "This place is about thirteen days away from Chahanhot City. With our attack power, we can capture it once we reach it. This food and grass is more than enough."

"So, how far is Lin Danhan's army from us?" Zhu Youxiao raised his head and asked.

"Unable to detect. All the opponent's troops are cavalry. With our team of fifteen thousand people, there is no way we can break through the opponent's blockade and approach Lin Danhan's army." The answer this time was Li Tao, who looked a little helpless.

This is the feeling of being crushed.

At this moment, he seemed to feel a little bit about An Bangyan's despair and loss when he was fighting the rebellion in Guizhou. It was so shameless to suppress the enemy with a huge advantage.

Of course, Li Tao thought about it when he was at a disadvantage. If he had so many cavalry on his side, he would definitely maximize these advantages.

"In other words, we have no way of knowing the opponent's specific military strength, how far away it is from us, what kind of military composition it has, and what its combat strength is?" Zhu Youxiao asked with a steady expression.

"Yes." Li Tao replied in a low voice.

"That's it..." Zhu Youxiao frowned and thought. They didn't blame each other. The gap was purely caused by the composition of the troops. In terms of pure combat effectiveness, the two field armies of the Ming Empire were absolutely sure to beat Lin Danhan, but in the machine

The motivation is insufficient, and the result is this lagging behind in information acquisition.

"So, Xu Wen, according to the staff's speculation, when is Lin Danhan expected to engage in contact combat with us?" Zhu Youxiao asked again. Although there are casualties and confrontations at this stage, they are all small-scale battles.

, not considered a formal contact.

"Based on the calculations of the staff..." Xu Wen paused, then picked up the document in his hand and looked at it, "It is most likely that after we emerge from the hilly areas of the Laoha River Basin, the first

Probing attack."

The Laoha River originates in Hebei, and the entire basin is roughly divided into three sections: high mountains in the upper reaches, undulating hills in the middle reaches, and flat fields in the lower reaches. The rolling hills are very unfavorable for cavalry charges, so the staff made a decision

Extrapolation for this month.

"In terms of time, it should be five days later and within three days of us walking out of the hills."

"That's it!" Zhu Youxiao thought thoughtfully.

The emperor fell silent, and the entire Chinese military tent naturally could not make a sound. In the silence, time passed slowly.

"Order!" Suddenly, Zhu Youzheng shouted.

As he opened his mouth, all the generals in the military tent stood up, moved their legs together, and stood in a military posture, without squinting.

"All the cavalry are assembled, with Zhang Shize as the commander, and they are roaming within five miles of the army, waiting for opportunities. The other units remain unchanged, and they will advance quickly in the current formation and give up cover."

"Got the order!"

With a uniform shout, the Ming army completed its tactical deployment. Zhu Youxiao's method was actually very simple. Since it couldn't be blocked, then don't block it and let Lin Danhan's cavalry watch. Under the cover of heavy spearmen,

Look, you can't see anything with your naked eyes.

And if Lin Dan Khan were to attack with such force, I believe that a total of 300 mortars would definitely give him a surprise.

After that, the cavalry gathered and left the main force and cruised behind the square formation, while the artillery and baggage logistics were huddled in various sieges, making it difficult to see their true identity.

The entire Ming army's formation shrank and gathered into a group, like a stubborn stone, rolling forward on the prairie, heading straight towards Chahanhot City. There was Lin Dan Khan's lair, and there were all the old, weak, women and children of the Mongolian army.

It is absolutely impossible for Lin Dan Khan's army to give up there.

This is the fatal weakness exposed after the nomadic people settled down.

"They are heading for Chahanhot!" Lin Dan Khan broke into a cold sweat after learning about the changes in the Ming army. Although he was the last Great Khan, he was also considered an outstanding figure in Mongolia. Under his leadership

, the Chahar tribe gradually grew stronger and threatened the entire southern Mongolia, and no one could resist it.

With his rich experience, he could naturally see the Ming Emperor's intention at a glance, but he had no choice. Chahanhot was a city, unlike the previous Khan's Court, which was entirely composed of tents and could be relocated at any time.

Remove.

What's more, at this time, Chahanhot has become a huge refugee camp. The remnants of various tribes massacred by the Ming army have flocked here to seek asylum from the Mongolian Khan, plus the elders of the Chahar tribe and the Karaqin tribe.

Weak, we simply don’t have the time and materials to move it.

Last winter was not easy to live with. The weather was getting colder and colder, and Mongolia was at odds with the Jurchen and Ming Dynasties. There were not many supplies for the winter. The only way now was to defeat the Ming Emperor and take him as a hostage.

Extort supplies from Ming Dynasty to restore vitality.

Therefore, Lin Danhan could not and was unwilling to avoid the Ming Army's edge. He chose tit-for-tat.

"As long as I defeat this Ming army, I will no longer have any rivals in the entire Monan and Liaodong. The time has come to unify Mongolia and regain the glory of the Yuan Dynasty." Lin Danhan's eyes were burning with blazing flames, and the blood in his heart almost boiled.

Although the Jurchens are powerful, their numbers are too small. Even though the opponent is extremely elite, but with a ten-fold gap, he still doesn't think Huang Taiji can resist his hundreds of thousands of cavalry. Now the opponent he really values ​​​​is the commander-in-chief.

As long as Emperor Ming defeats Emperor Ming, who is marching out with his army, he will be able to gallop from the Hexi Corridor to the Liaodong Plain without any resistance!

Recalling the marching speed of the Ming army and the surrounding terrain passed on by Tan Ma, and after making a rough estimate, Lin Danhan coldly ordered, "In seven days, launch a general offensive!"

boom!

A large number of cavalry galloped forward in darkness, like cavalry covered by dark clouds, showing indescribable power.

Lin Danhan was very confident. He did not send any troops to test the combat effectiveness of the Ming army. According to his concept, no one on the grassland could be an opponent of 150,000 cavalry. Huang Taiji could not do it, and Ming Emperor Zhu Youxiao

Nope either.

Therefore, he was too lazy to do any pretentious tests and directly dispatched the entire army, intending to defeat the Ming army in one fell swoop with a fierce charge and restore the glory of the Mongol Empire.

The seventh day.

It has been two days since the Ming Dynasty's army came out of the hilly areas, and since two days ago, the Mongolian scouting horses have been shrinking with all their strength. Except for a few cavalrymen who came to check out the formation of the army, no one else has appeared. There is no cover for a team of a hundred people.

The team did not cross the main army, go around to search for the people and horses of the grain transport team, and did not even include the small nomadic tribes that are most common on the grassland.

The entire prairie seemed to have no other life except for their large group of people. There was silence between heaven and earth. Only a large number of vultures were constantly circling high in the sky, staring at the humans below with their cold eyes.

This is the calm before the storm. Zhu Youxiao thought to himself.

Due to the circling of vultures, an ominous atmosphere spread throughout the army. Despite the constant mediation of the Taoist priests, the atmosphere became increasingly heavy.

Death is not scary, what is scary is the process of waiting for death. If Lin Danhan does not show up and just maintains such a mysterious threat, I am afraid that after ten days, the morale of the entire army will be low, and there will be no fighting capacity left.

know.

However, Lin Danhan was not a god, and those scouts were just ordinary people. Of course they could not detect the situation of the Ming army, so on the seventh day, they appeared.

Boom!

Arrive before anyone arrives!

Sounds like heavy rain and thunder continued to come from a distance, followed by the majestic horn horns and low whimpering bodies, carrying a bit of ancient atmosphere.

"Here we come!" Zhu Youxiao stared at a black line in the sky from the watchtower. The black line was so long that it almost filled the entire horizon. The endless view was extremely terrifying.

"Here we come!" Li Yuyu was in the army, listening to the sound that was like beating a drum, as if it was beating on his heart. His expression was calm, but there was an indescribable fanaticism in his expression.

Drinking horses and fishing in the sea!
To be continued...