Zhu Youxiao's three-pronged attack strategy was only known to the three accompanying ministers and a group of generals. Even the ordinary sergeants at the bottom did not know where they were going.
It was more than two hundred miles from Miyun to Xifengkou. Even if Zhu Youxiao led three thousand Qingqi, he could only cover half of the distance in one night. This was already the fastest speed at night.
When they arrived near Wuling Mountain, Zhu Youxiao sent troops to observe the surrounding situation all night before ordering a rest. When marching and fighting, one must always maintain high-intensity vigilance and sobriety.
No matter when and where, whether it is safe or not, we cannot relax for even a moment. One of the reasons for the defeat of Tumubao during the Zhengtong years was that we underestimated the enemy too much.
It was thought that it would be safe to be close to the capital and within the pass. In addition, Zhu Di's five expeditions to Mobei were all great victories or the enemy troops were frightened by the news. This made everyone in the Ming Dynasty at that time, from the emperor to the small soldiers, become arrogant soldiers.
Maybe they thought they were just here to die. Even the marching formation was loose and loose. It didn't look like they were going to a battlefield, but more like they were going to have fun.
The result is that they also directly bypassed Xuanfu and Datong, the two major border towns, and their entire army was wiped out in one surprise attack.
Nearly 200,000 elite soldiers were killed by less than 30,000 cavalry, and even the emperor became a prisoner. It was a great shame and humiliation, and the country's prestige was completely lost.
And he also has another purpose, which is to prevent others from discovering his whereabouts, otherwise all his hard work in planning will be in vain.
"Instruct the whole army to rest in two groups. The personnel on duty should replenish food and water sources as soon as possible and let the war horses have a good rest. The others should seize the time to sleep. The shift will change at noon!"
They had prepared their own dry food, so there was no need to set up pots to make rice.
The early morning sun has risen, and the entire temporary camp is silent except for the neighing of war horses.
"Your Majesty, we will arrive at Xifengkou at this time tomorrow."
"Open the map, I want to see it!"
Looking at Zunhua not far ahead, Zhu Youxiao asked Sun Yunhe:
"Can Zunhua have a road to connect to the grassland?"
"Your Majesty, there is, but it is only a small road, which can only be used by one person and one horse. I have seen it all before, and it is also full of dense forests, making it impossible to march."
It seems that I am overthinking it. Zunhua is not far from Xifengkou. If someone goes back from here, I will really be attacked from both sides.
However, Zunhua still has to send people to guard it. After all, there is historical evidence for Huang Taiji's entry into the customs. He cannot be careless.
Ma Xianglin quickly took the map from the guard and asked the emperor:
"Your Majesty, are you still worried?"
Zhu Youxiao smiled slightly and said:
"This is also my first time fighting. How can I not be nervous? I can't always calm down completely."
"Your Majesty, there is no need to think too much. I was the same age as your Majesty when I followed my late father to fight. Before I went to the battlefield for the first time, I couldn't sleep all day and night, and I was very uneasy."
Only then did Zhu Youxiao suddenly remember that Ma Xianglin's father, Ma Qiancheng, seemed to have been framed and killed by the local guarding eunuch.
"Rui Zheng, after returning to Beijing, I will issue an edict to rehabilitate your father."
Ma Xianglin knelt down with a pop and said excitedly:
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Zhu Youxiao helped him up and said:
"You don't have to be like this. Your father went north to aid the DPRK in conquering the Japanese and quelled Yang Yinglong's rebellion in Bozhou. He was a hero of the Ming Dynasty."
"Your father died unjustly again. He shouldn't have been like this. Now I'm just trying to clear the name of the hero!"
Ma Xianglin said gratefully:
"Your Majesty can have this intention, and I will never be repaid by death!"
Speaking of which, Zhu Youxiao remembered something that made him extremely sad.
The second Japanese expedition in the 27th year of Wanli ended. The Qi family army made great contributions in this battle, but in the end they were betrayed by the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty at that time because of the silver reward, and they refused to release the silver reward that originally belonged to the Qi family army.
Because of this unfair treatment, Qi's army began to make a fuss, and was eventually besieged by their own people and the entire army was annihilated.
Since then, the Qi family's army has been basically destroyed. The strongest army in the world, which has fought for the country in both north and south, made great achievements and has not been defeated for decades, ended in such a tragic way and withdrew from the stage of history.
As for such a major event, Zhu Youxiao's grandfather, Emperor Wanli, except for a few scoldings, did not take any practical action.
Thinking of this, he could only sigh helplessly:
"It was my grandfather who felt sorry for those heroes and martyrs who fought to the death for the country."
"Isn't it true that Grand Master Zhang, Qi Shaobao and others are like this?"
"Your Majesty, there is no need to hurt yourself, things have happened and they cannot be changed!"
"You are right, these have become history, but I cannot make the hero's reputation spread throughout the world. It is up to me to make up for Grandpa Shenzong's mistakes!"
"Your Majesty is truly a benevolent and holy king!"
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's take the time to rest. I feel a lot better."
"I resign!"
Zhu Youxiao was indeed motivated by emotion just now. Although the end of the Ming Dynasty has been hard to come back from, opportunities for resurgence abound.
It is true to say that the army is weak and cannot be used for great purposes, but there are also loyal ministers, good generals, and elite soldiers.
In the Year of the Apocalypse, the Zhejiang and Sichuan soldiers, with less than 10,000 soldiers, could face the 60,000 wild boar-skin bannermen without losing.
The Qin army, Tianxiong army, and Yongwei camp in the Chongzhen year were also as good as the Manchu army. Cao Bianjiao led 3,000 Yutian soldiers to rush directly to the tent of Huang Taiji's central army.
Even white-armored soldiers cannot stop it.
In the last critical national war, the Battle of Songshan, the Ming Dynasty gathered troops from nine sides and marched north to Liaodong, appointing Hong Chengchou as commander-in-chief. With less fighting and more fighting, the Manchus were defeated one after another.
Dorgon even wanted to run away with his bodyguards. Seeing that the decline of the Ming Dynasty against the Manchu and Qing Dynasties in the past twenty years was about to reverse, the Ming army was about to win a great victory.
At this time, Huang Taiji, who was seriously ill, rushed from Shenyang to the front line overnight, bleeding all the way. After arriving at the front line, he angrily denounced Dorgon and then took command personally.
As a result, Hong Chengchou was caught off guard by Huang Taiji's move that cut off the supply of food, and the position was in chaos. Even at this time, the Ming army's advantage had just turned into a weakness. Hong Chengchou had already stabilized the army, and if he gave it a try, he might still have a chance to come back.
As a result, Wu Sangui learned that the army's retreat was not guaranteed, so he decisively used the expertise of the Liao people and took the lead in fleeing. Now the Ming army was completely in chaos, and no one could do anything about it, which directly led to the Ming army's defeat and heavy losses.
It's not that the army is weaker than others, but that it's caused by complete corruption from top to bottom. The army has no sound, no food, and its weapons and armor are like rags. Why should we fight with others?
The generals are greedy for life and afraid of death, and for various reasons the army has no combat effectiveness at all. In this situation, even if Xiang Yu comes, he will probably have no choice but to run away with his tail between his legs.
What he said to Ma Xianglin was also true from the bottom of his heart. Although he also had the idea of winning over people's hearts, he really wanted to rectify the names of those heroes.