Of course, it is not that there is really no one left. In fact, there are still a large number of old, weak, women and children. However, Elbek and the main force of his Khan's court had all left in a hurry two days ago. It was because they left in such a hurry that a large number of people were lacking.
The old, weak, women and children with the ability to move quickly were abandoned.
Or it may be that the latter knew very well that they would starve to death on the way out if they left here.
Because they don't have horses.
Not all horses are found on the grasslands. In fact, horses are very precious to them. In the late Ming Dynasty, many herdsmen did not even have horses to ride, so they could only ride oxen.
According to the records captured when the Qing Dynasty destroyed the Inner Khalkha tribe, it can be estimated that the average herdsman family only has a little more than one horse...
average.
This means that it is impossible for every household to have it.
Then there are single-digit cattle and dozens of sheep.
And the family has a lot of money, not counting their hair, various infectious diseases, and black and white disasters, they may lose all their livestock at any time, and the result of losing all their livestock is starvation. Therefore, the herdsmen eat meat only rarely.
As long as the livestock is still alive, it must be kept alive. Unless it is a major festival or there are guests, it will not be slaughtered. Most of the time it is dairy products and hunting. In addition, the more important thing is food. This is why the Ming Dynasty can use mutual markets to
Threatening them, because food is the most stable source of food compared to livestock. This is also an important reason why the Huining reclamation area is currently harmonious. The reclamation team has brought a stable source of food to the surrounding herdsmen, so that they will not
Livestock died for various reasons and the whole family starved to death.
Herdsmen...
The herdsmen were actually very miserable at this time.
Of course, this was also the main motivation for them to choose to go south to plunder.
Poor mountains and harsh waters bring out unruly people.
"Looking at it this way, Arutai is trying to cover the Khan's retreat, so he has to fight us."
Yang Feng said.
Arutai was defeated and fled.
On the grassland, unless you are very lucky, or like Li Jing, who keeps pursuing for thousands of miles, it will be very difficult to fight a battle of annihilation, and it will be too easy to escape when the situation is unfavorable.
However, the losses in Arutai were also heavy. The Ming army beheaded 5,000 people.
captive……
Take no prisoners.
Who would take prisoners in that case?
"Your Majesty, what should we do? Should we pursue him or not?"
Tan Yuan asked.
"Chase, of course we have to chase. Spring will come soon. Once the spring grass grows on the grassland, these nomadic tribes will disperse and nomadic. Even if we are exhausted by that time, we will not be able to wipe them out. Only at this time will they
Elbek is nothing more than looking for the Wala. The main pastoral areas of the four Wala tribes are north of the Tianshan Mountains and around the Jinshan Mountain. Let’s just go straight to the Jinshan Mountain. From here, go west to Ulyasutai, then go to Khovd, and then from there.
Khovd turned to the southern foot of Jinshan Mountain, which is the main pasture of the Choros tribe. Elbek's most trusted Haohai Dayu was the leader of the Choros tribe, which was about two thousand miles away.
Elbek will definitely go to him.
As long as we go there, even if we can't find them directly, we can lure them to fight and then annihilate them in one battle. If we march normally, it will only take about twenty days."
Yang Feng said without hesitation.
Of course, Elbek is not important. What is important is to let Zhu Di go see the Western Regions.
Under the Altai Mountains in spring...
A paradise on earth!
As for the current names of places like Ulyasutai, he doesn't know. In fact, many of the maps currently used by the Ming army are hand-drawn based on the satellite maps of his watch. Because the watch screen is too small, it is difficult to ensure accuracy.
So Yang Feng asked Sister Liu to divide the pictures into more precise pieces for him, and then the painter would draw according to them.
After painting, stitch together.
After splicing, use it as a basis to continue drawing maps of different areas and levels.
As for Zhu Yuanzhang, there is a huge map of the world.
This huge project was not completed until last year because Yang Feng often left the capital. However, it also caused a problem, because many place names were not currently used in the Ming Dynasty. The painter directly marked them according to the map, so on the current map of the Ming Dynasty,
There will be many place names that have traveled through time. As for the issue of modification, we need to wait until the Ming Dynasty develops them piece by piece.
For example, most of Huining has changed.
"More than two thousand miles? We have already driven more than three thousand miles on the grassland, and the ambassador has to go further two thousand miles? This will cause continuous freezing along the way, and more than two hundred people will die. If we continue to move forward without the enemy attacking, we will
I will be exhausted most of the time!"
Sun Ke said.
"A group of infantrymen in the Red Scarf Army can fight thousands of miles. This is only five or six thousand miles. You group of elite cavalry can't be inferior to a group of river diggers on foot, right?"
Besides, if this winter is over, the grass will grow and the orioles will probably fly in the south of the Yangtze River.
It will warm up soon.”
Yang Feng said.
"It can be said that we can hold on if we move forward, but our ammunition may not be able to."
Zhou Xing said.
This person with the same name as the cruel official of the Tang Dynasty was actually Zhu Yuanzhang's main force in the grassland in his later period. Over the years, he had been in Kaiping to suppress Wu Liangha, and Song Sheng, who was in Gansu, was Zhu Yuanzhang's two most important pillars. However, he was slightly older.
, originally in history, because of the death of Lan Yu and others, he was a little disheartened, so he learned the soup and complained of illness and went home, but he died peacefully at home.
"Even if there is no ammunition, we can still use bows and arrows."
Tan Yuan said excitedly.
Then a group of people looked at Zhu Di.
Zhu Di was obviously very confused.
Emotionally, he really wanted to continue. This was to dig through the entire grassland and pursue him for six thousand miles. If he could capture Elbek, he would be famous as a god of war, and he would directly reach the pinnacle of military generals like Li Jing.
Just thinking about it makes your blood boil!
But his reason did tell him that it would be very risky to continue moving forward with a group of soldiers who had no logistical supplies and had already traveled more than 3,000 miles. Moreover, moving forward would be different from the previous ones, no matter how captured they were.
Yu'erhai, Tula River, and Halahe Forest were all places where the Ming army had fought before, and they knew the situation in this area. But further ahead, the Ming army had not set foot. Although there was Yang Feng's map, the map
This thing can't really show the actual situation, not to mention the terrain it will be six hundred years in the future.
Who knows what it's like now?
Six hundred years.
Enough that many rivers and lakes have changed.
Marching on the grassland does not allow you to walk wherever you want, because you cannot stay away from water sources, especially in this arid grassland.
Horses need to drink plenty of water.
Therefore, they had to march along rivers. For example, the Luqu River was the basis for their previous march. Even if there was no river, they had to jump between lakes, one lake to another. For example, they went north from Kaiping to Yuerhai, but further
It was a completely unfamiliar territory before.
If you're not careful, your entire army will be wiped out.
What's more, the front is still the core area where various Mongolian ministries gather.
This is not something the eastern part of the country had been cleared out by the Ming Dynasty over and over again.
"Your Majesty, what are you afraid of with me here? If Your Majesty succeeds this time, his achievements will be comparable to those of Wei Huo, and the Ming Dynasty will never have future troubles. All people in the world will remember Your Majesty's achievements. If you are far away, we have come three thousand miles away.
, still care about two thousand miles? What’s more, the weather is about to get warmer, and there is no need to worry about the severe cold. As for the ammunition, it will be enough. Besides, as Lao Tan said, we can win without firearms. In fact, there is no shortage of sulfur, saltpeter, and sulfur in the Western Regions.
, you can build it yourself when you get there.”
Yang Feng was bewitching Zhu Di like a little devil.
He also looked at Zhu Di very meaningfully.
Zhu Di frowned...
Therefore, if he can succeed, then his nephew really can't touch him. After all, his contribution is too great. If his nephew wants to deal with him, it will chill the hearts of the soldiers and civilians all over the world.
Likewise, if he had resisted at that time, it would have been easy for him to gain popular support.
"Each department will check how much ammunition is left. If there are five, we will pursue them!"
he said.
Zhang Fu and others quickly went to check for ammunition.
"But what should we do when we return? Even if we humans can eat meat, horses, and camels, we still need enough feed. Just eating grass is not enough!"
Sun Ke said.
"return?
Why go here when you return?
It's only a little over a thousand miles from Choros's headquarters to Hamiwei, and it's only two thousand miles to Jiayuguan. Once you enter Jiayuguan, you won't be short of food."
Yang Feng said.
Indeed, you don’t have to walk through the grassland when you come back...
However, he still had to go to the grassland. He had to come back and take his slaves back, but Zhu Di's army could just go directly to Gansu. By this time, the Ming army had completely controlled Hami, and there was even a Qianhu Station guarded by all Han people there.
.In fact, Yang Feng has been encouraging Zhu Yuanzhang to directly set up a command and envoy department in Hami, and then manage all the guards outside Jiayuguan, but Lao Zhu can't take care of it for the time being. After all, the Ming Dynasty has opened up too many territories in recent years, and its national power has been somewhat depleted.
Larger.
After the final inspection of each department, several auxiliary departments had the least ammunition, with about 40% left.
This is the inevitable consequence of his tactics.
Zhou Xing and Sun Ke had the largest number of subordinates.
They actually still have 70% left.
Although the Ming army penetrated more than 3,000 miles into the grassland, they actually fought two battles in total. In one battle, they raided other people's camps and did not use firearms at all. In the battle with the Alutai tribe, only Zhang Fu's tribe used firearms as the main weapon, and all other tribes used firearms.
The cavalry fought against each other, and at most Tuocheng conducted some defensive battles.
The average is over 50%.
That's it.
Zhu Di also ordered all ministries to reorganize, and selected 5,000 cavalry to escort the wounded and dead soldiers, as well as the captured old, weak, women, children, and a large number of cattle and sheep, and returned to the camp at the Tula River.
Wait until spring starts and head south to Kaiping.
As for the remaining 22,000 Ming troops, they continued to pursue.
Five days later.
"Where are you taking us?"
Zhang Fu looked at their guide and shook the compass in his hand.
At this time, the weather has begun to get warmer, and even the snow on the grasslands has melted. It is estimated that in another ten days, green will be visible. The Ming army, which drove more than 3,000 miles at minus 30 degrees Celsius, clearly saw this.
Their spirits were lifted a lot. In fact, they were indeed very tired. Although it did not affect their combat effectiveness, jolting on horseback for so long took a lot of physical strength. After all, the Ming army was not a Mongolian cavalry, the latter was a Japanese horse.
With their backs almost in one piece, they could last for several months, even riding horses all the time. At this level, the Ming army would inevitably be a little tired.
But the long-lost warm sun finally cheered up the expeditionary force, which had now embarked on a completely unfamiliar territory.
"What's wrong?"
Zhu Di, who personally commanded the vanguard, urged the horses to come over.
He handed over the command of the Chinese army to Zhou Xing and placed himself at the front to ensure morale. After all, the best way to ensure morale was to have the commander-in-chief at the front.
They are not safe.
Now that we are deep into the core area of Mongolia, we cannot rule out being ambushed again. Although it is true that the Mongolian tribes have not had enough time to assemble, who knows if there are any Mongolian tribes nearby in such a strange area? He personally led the vanguard, and the Chinese army was handed over to Zhou Xing.
Veteran General Zhong and Sun Ke's troops were on guard on the flanks. Although the entire army slowed down, it rolled forward in a ball on the grassland.
"My lord, he has taken the road astray."
Zhang Fu ignored him and looked at Yang Feng who was looking at his watch.
The latter immediately raised his head, took out the telescope from his bag, and searched on the wind-eroded rocks ahead...
"Ambassador, what are you looking for?"
Zhu Di said doubtfully.
Yang Feng still ignored him, but raised the telescope again, then urged the war horse, and then rushed straight to a rock on the right. Zhu Di and Zhang Fu looked at each other, and they followed him. Yang Feng finally stopped in front of a rock wall.
, as if feeling very emotional there, looking at this rock wall that has been severely eroded by wind.
"What exactly are you looking for?"
Zhang Fu said.
"See what's up here?"
Yang Feng pointed at the rock wall and said.
Zhu Di and Zhang Fu looked at it in confusion, and soon they discovered that despite the severe wind erosion, the rock wall could still be distinguished. It actually had many words engraved on it, and they could even basically read them...
"In the autumn and July of the first year of Yongyuan, there was an uncle named Dou Xian, the chariot general, Yinliang Shengming, and the royal family of Dengyi..."
Yang Feng's voice sounded beside them.
Zhu Di looked at him in shock...
"...I went with Geng Bing, the leader of the Jin Dynasty, to report on his duties and patrol. He organized the troops in Shuofang. Ying Yang's school, Chi Hu's soldiers, Yuan Gai's Sixth Division, Jinan Chanyu, Dong Hu Wuhuan, Xirong Di Qiang, the group of princes, kings and leaders
, 30,000 brave cavalry. Yuan Rong lightly armed, with a long hub and four quarters, clouds and paraphernalia covering the road, more than 3,000 cavalry. They are equipped with eight formations, showing their majesty, black armor is dazzling, and red flags are crimson in the sky. Suiling Gaoque
, Lower chickens and deer, pass through Qilu, eliminate the desert, cut Wenyu to provoke the drum, and chase the bloody corpses to dye the eel. Then the four schools moved across, the stars and comets swept, the depression was thousands of miles away, and there were no traces of the bandits. So the territory was wiped out, and the area was wiped out.
Turn back and turn, examine the Chuanxian map, and have a full view of its mountains and rivers. Then cross Zhuoxie, cross Anhou, ride on Yanran, sneak into the area of Dun, burn the old man's Longting. Go up to the Gao, Wen's place
Anger is the mysterious spirit of the ancestors; it is used to stabilize the descendants, expand the realm, and revitalize the heavenly voice of the great Han Dynasty.
It is said that one effort brings long-term relief, and a temporary effort brings eternal peace. This is why the mountains are sealed and stones are published to show their great virtues.
His words read: King Shuo came to conquer the desolate descendants, suppressed the ferocious and cruel people, and cut off the overseas. He set out to conquer the land, established a sacred hill, and built a high ridge, and Emperor Xi carried him to inspire the world!"
Yang Feng finally finished reading the complete content.