Despite the support from the imperial court and the large military expenditures provided by various businessmen, Xiao Ruxun was not in a hurry to go to war. The Ningxia Guard had just experienced a great battle, and there were many casualties among the soldiers. Although some soldiers who had been coerced into joining the rebel army, have surrendered, but it will take some time for them to be of one mind and heart with themselves. In addition, Kanyu Camp consumed a lot of firearms in the Battle of Ningxia, which also needs time to replenish. All of this will Once the decision is made to send troops, one cannot rush and can only wait and act.
During this period of time, Xiao Ruxun was certainly not idle. He continued to mobilize for war preparations. From time to time, he gathered his troops and horses to circle along the border wall, and sometimes opened the door to let the troops go outside the border wall for a short military briefing. exercise.
All these activities of the Ming army were seen by the tribes on the grassland, especially the Kuaibai tribe and the Zhulitu tribe, who were more sensitive to this matter. When the Ming army came out of the border wall for the first few times, these two tribes Each tribe entered a state of combat readiness, preparing to meet the provocation of the Ming army. What surprised them was that every time the Ming army drove out of the border wall with great vigor, they only circled a dozen miles outside the border wall and did not penetrate into the grassland at all. I mean, I tried hard with Litu and Kuaibai, but it turned out to be a waste of expressions.
Both Zhulitu and Kuaibai are experienced generals. Of course, they understand that Xiao Ruxun's move is actually a strategy to tire out the enemy, that is, to use repeated testing to make the opponent slack off, and finally achieve the purpose of surprising them. However, who knows better? They couldn't stand Xiao Ruxun's constant teasing. By September, even though the Tatars heard that the Ming army was out of the border again, they couldn't arouse any interest.
As usual, the Ming army marched to a place more than ten miles outside the border wall for a day's exercise, and then retreated into the pass. Both Zhulitu and Kuaibai sent out ranger scouts to observe outside the Ming army's exercise site and supervise the Ming army. However, these scouts did not notice that among the exercise teams, there was a small infantry team that quietly left the group at some point and headed towards the mountains to the west.
This is an advance force composed mainly of musketeers from the Kanyu Camp, plus some soldiers from the Ningxia Guard. The leader is the Chinese Army Deng Kui from the Kanyu Camp, and the deputy generals are Xiong Minyang and Hu Ziyi from the Ningxia Guard. After the victory in countering the rebellion, Hu Zizi was promoted from a member of a hundred households to a general manager, becoming Xiao Ruxun's right-hand man.
On the vast grassland, a team of four to five hundred people is really inconspicuous. Even so, the advance team still walked cautiously, trying to avoid routes where they might encounter Tatars. At the front, rear and both sides of the team , there are more than a dozen soldiers who are responsible for the lookout. They use high-power binoculars to observe the disturbance in the distance. Once they find signs of human activity, they will notify the group to hide on the spot until the alarm is lifted, and then continue to move forward.
After three days of marching, the team arrived at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain, entered the mountainous area from an inaccessible pass, and then followed the ravine washed out by the flood toward the depths of the mountain.
Along the way, there was not a single human figure, and it was difficult to even see traces of human activities. The place they walked through could not be called a road at all. There were messy boulders everywhere and strange-shaped cliffs on all sides. In many cases, , the team could only march hard along the edge of the steep cliff and deep stream. In some places, there was really no way to go. The soldiers could only take rope ladders to climb up from the nearly vertical cliff, and then continue to move forward.
"What the hell is this place? After walking for so many days, we are still wandering around in the mountains!" Deng Kui complained as he wiped the sweat from his head. After all, he had fought in the mountains of Yunnan. , but I still feel bored walking on such a mountain road.
"Don't be anxious, Deng Zhongjun. We have already walked half the distance. In a few more days, we can cross Helan Mountain." Xiong Min comforted Deng Kui with a smile.
Deng Kui looked up at Lu Hu, who was leading the way in front of the team, and whispered to Xiong Minyang: "Xiong Laosan, do you think the map in Lu Hu's hand is reliable? Don't go the wrong way and trap all five hundred of our brothers. It’s in the mountains.”
"Yes, Mr. Xiong, do you think this map is reliable?" Hu Zixin, who was standing by, also asked.
Xiong Minyang said: "This is a map that He Benzheng and his brothers from the Surveying and Mapping Department spent two months surveying. Deng Zhongjun and President Hu Qian can rest assured."
Deng Kui scratched his scalp and said: "If someone had doubted the map drawn by our survey camp, I, Old Deng, would have slapped him in the face. Our brothers in the survey camp were all taught by General Su. If you dare to doubt our map, don't you just doubt General Su? However, when this matter falls on me, I always feel a little uneasy. It's just a piece of white silk, and the lives of all of us are on it. .”
Xiong Min looked up and said, "It's not that uncertain, is it? Even if the map is wrong, we may not be able to get out. There are a lot of wild animals and wild vegetables in the mountains, and we won't be hungry for a while. At worst, we can just walk a few more days."
Hu Xin said: "Mr. Xiong, it's easy for you to say that. Since ancient times, Helan Mountain has only had a few major passes, and there is no other way. If you can walk out casually, why haven't others walked through it?"
Xiong Minyang said: "That's because no one else has drawn a map in such detail as us. Didn't General Su study the map carefully with us before setting off? There are only two cliffs on this road that need to be crossed with ropes. You can pass along the valley in other places. In the past, when people walked to the cliff, they didn't know what was going on in front of them, so of course they didn't dare to go forward. Without this map, we wouldn't dare to go forward either. no?"
"That's the same reason." Hu Xinxin said, "At least so far, this picture looks pretty reliable."
Deng Kui sighed and said: "At this point, it's useless to be frightened. Just believe in the picture drawn by Lao He and others. If there is something wrong with this picture, see if I can unscrew his head when I get back."
If there is anything wrong with this picture, I'm afraid we won't have the chance to go back and twist He Benzheng's head... Xiong Minyang thought secretly in his heart. He turned around and shouted loudly to his soldiers: "Everyone, please be alert. My feet are firmly planted. When we reach the other side of the mountain, I will treat everyone to a roasted whole lamb!"
What Deng Kui was worried about did not happen in the end. Although the topographic map of the Helan Mountains that the survey battalion soldiers spent several months surveying and mapping was not very detailed, the directions of the hillsides and valleys were basically correct, which was enough to provide the troops with the necessary information to march. Strong guidance.
As Xiong Minyang said, people in the past did not dare to cross the Helan Mountains through this kind of wild road because they did not know the terrain ahead and were even more afraid of getting lost in the mountains, so they did not dare to go too deep. Kanyuying held a map in his hand. You can know your location and the surrounding terrain at any time, so you have the courage to move forward.
After more than ten days of trekking, the group led by Deng Kui finally crossed the Helan Mountains and entered the grasslands to the west of the mountains without anyone noticing.
"Out of the mountains! Out of the mountains!" The soldiers all cheered when they saw the vast grassland in front of them. When marching in the mountains, although they did not say anything in their mouths, the worries in their hearts were no different from those of the general Deng Kui. Nowadays, the grassland
Right in front of them, they knew that this operation through the Helan Mountains had achieved the first stage of success.
"Rest on the spot, bury the pot to cook, and be careful not to let the Tatars know that we are coming." Deng Kui ordered.
After the Ningxia counter-insurgency battle, the soldiers in Kanyu camp have become very mature. According to their respective division of labor, they tidied up the camp in an orderly manner and set up sentries. A dozen musketeers occupied the commanding heights everywhere, ready to deal with any possible emergencies.
The enemy attack. The soldiers who were cooking were also very careful to use dry firewood to light the fire to prevent the smoke from exposing the team's target.
"Deng Zhongjun, our current location is here..." Lu Hu, who was responsible for leading the way, walked up to Deng Kui, spread out the map, pointed to a location on the map, and reported to Deng Kui.
"So, we are on the right path?" Deng Kui said. He saw that the location shown on the map was exactly the destination they had set before setting off. Such a long-distance march, coupled with the lack of people in the mountains,
After driving around for so many days, it is really a great thing to be able to reach the destination accurately.
"Not only did we go the wrong way, we also arrived two days early." Hu Zizizi interjected from the side, "I, Old Hu, am convinced. With such a picture, we didn't take the wrong path at all."
"Lu Hu, you did a good job leading the way this time. When I get back, I will ask for your credit in front of General Su. If we can win this battle, you will be the first to take credit." Deng Kui patted Lu Hu.
praised his shoulders.
There was excitement on Lu Hu's face, but he said: "How dare you, general? This is all due to Deng Zhongjun's command. In addition, General He Qian and the brothers from the Surveying and Mapping Department have good maps. Otherwise, how could we
Did it go so smoothly?"
"Looking at the map, our location is far away from the tribe that General Su asked us to go to..." Deng Kui stuttered a little when he said this. He really couldn't name those Tatar names.
"It's the Has'ulla tribe." Xiong Min reminded him, looking up.
"Yes, what kind of Ula tribe is it? How far is it from us?" Deng Kui asked.
Xiong Minyang traced the map with his hand and said, "It's less than forty miles away, and it's in the northwest direction of us."
"Xiong Laosan, please arrange for two people to go to the Ula tribe to make contact and see if there is any change in what was agreed upon." Deng Kui ordered.
"I'll go myself." Xiong Minyang said, "I'm afraid I won't be able to explain clearly if I send someone else."
"Forget it, then go ahead and be careful along the way," Deng Kui said.
Xiong Minyang called the soldiers Liao Yiming and Yin Guoxian and asked them to go with him to the Hasulla tribe. The three men changed out of their military uniforms, each put on a set of Tatar herdsmen's home clothes, hid their muskets in their robes, and headed northwest