In fact, the little Mongolian prince came at the end of September and did not take the Ming Dynasty border troops seriously at all.
The Mongolian cavalry totaled more than 50,000 people and paid no attention to the border guard city. The troops divided into three groups and went south to plunder. Moreover, the troops were divided again and again, just like a bucket of water splashed open, quickly pouring into the countryside.
Some only have dozens or hundreds of riders in a team, while many only have one or two thousand riders in a team, because this is convenient for quick robbery.
It can only be said that the little Mongolian prince is lucky. If he invaded from Yanghe and played like this, Wang Yuan and the emperor's army would be able to defeat him directly - with the speed of ancient information transmission, even a full cavalry force would be scattered.
It cannot be taken back immediately.
Unfortunately, the armies of both sides did not collide.
And because the emperor was in Yanghe, the generals of various ministries, like Wang Yuan, chose to move to the vicinity of Yanghe, leaving the direction of the Mongol invasion empty.
Zhu Houzhao did something wrong with good intentions. He forgot that he was the emperor. Saving his life was far more important than defeating the Mongols!
Precisely because of this, the little Mongolian prince did not encounter any resistance and penetrated half of Datong Town without any effort. These Mongols were crazy. After robbing the west, they ran to the east again, trying to capture Datong Town from the northwest to the southeast.
Get through again diagonally.
Military intelligence reports were sent out every day, and bandits appeared somewhere, as if half of Datong Town was occupied by the enemy.
The battle situation changed so quickly that Zhu Houzhao was stunned. He felt that the defensive front he designed was just like paper, and the Mongols broke through it without using any force.
In fact, the two sides did not engage in battle at all...it was the border troops defending the city and the Mongolian army looting!
"Report, the main force of the Mongolian bandits has passed Huairen and is heading towards Yingzhou!"
After hearing the news, the generals breathed a sigh of relief. The main force of the enemy army was moving in the opposite direction and did not come directly towards the emperor.
Zhu Houzhao was furious: "What do Zhu Luan and Zhou Zheng do for food?"
Zhu Luan was the deputy commander-in-chief of Yansui, and Zhou Zheng was the guerrilla general of Yansui. They were both ordered to station at the front line of Datong. When the little Mongolian prince invaded from Yulin, they should be the first to fight. Zhu Houzhao also ordered Xuanfu to guerrilla
In the spring, Liaodong left-hand general Xiao Chu came to support.
According to Zhu Houzhao's idea, he would let these troops hold back the main Mongolian force, and then he would gather the army for a decisive battle.
However, these four generals did not dare to go out of the city to meet the enemy, and turned a deaf ear to the emperor's orders. But they had to show off, so they followed the Mongols from a distance, neither daring to fight nor run, and just watched the Mongols.
People plundered the people of Ming Dynasty.
Wang Yuan couldn't laugh or cry. When the emperor gave these orders, he was still on his way to join the army.
Just by looking at these military transfer orders, we know that Zhu Houzhao does not know how to fight.
How long does it take for the emperor to receive the battle report and then send Shi Chun and Xiao Chu to support? With the speed of the Mongolian cavalry, how can they hold back the enemy's main force when they arrive at the place of military orders?
Zhu Houzhao asked: "Erlang, how do you think we should fight?"
I know shit!
According to battle reports from various places, the enemy's main force is everywhere, which shows that it is impossible to ascertain where the enemy's main force is.
If you can't even find the target, how can you plan an advance route?
Wang Yuan could only say: "Those troops who have been dispersed, order them to assemble separately and not to fight easily with the enemy. To hold on to the main withdrawal route of the Mongolian bandits, we immediately sent our troops south, first to garrison in Datong Prefecture, and wait until we get the
Let’s talk about more military information later.”
This was a sound policy, but Zhu Houzhao was not satisfied.
Zhu Houzhao said: "Send an order to Zhu Zhen, Zuo Qin, Du Xun, Jin Ying, Jiang Huan, and Zhang He (all Xuanfu border generals) to speed up the march immediately, abandon their baggage and come to join me. Then order General Datong
Soldier Wang Xun, lead all the troops under his command, and immediately go south to look for the enemy's main force. Once the enemy's main force is found, let Wang Xun hold it back, and I will quickly go to rescue him!"
"Your Majesty, no!" Jiang Bin quickly advised.
Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "Call me the mighty general!"
Jiang Bin had no choice but to say: "Mighty General, General Wang cannot be allowed to act rashly. What if he is eaten by Mongolian bandits?"
Wang Yuan also advised: "The enemy's situation is unclear. If General Wang really encounters the main force of the enemy's army, it may be difficult for him to hold the enemy back in the field. It is okay to go south to find the main force of the enemy's army, but we cannot allow General Wang to easily engage in battle."
If the combat strength of both sides is equal, Zhu Houzhao's order is still barely correct.
The problem is that the Mongolian army is all cavalry, and the morale of the Datong frontier army is worrying. Once they fight randomly, they are likely to be defeated in one battle. That is the main force of the Datong frontier army, and the next battle will be even harder to fight.
Moreover, even if they are evenly matched, the Mongols can run away at any time, so how can they hold back their main force?
This is a strange military order that is impossible to win, and is likely to be severely defeated. Even if it is a draw, it will be useless!
Zhu Houzhao Qiangang made an arbitrary decision: "No more persuasion is allowed. If anyone tries again, I will relinquish his military power and let him return to the capital immediately!"
Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
Wang Yuan and the other generals all had headaches, and their hearts sank rapidly. They would rather the emperor was away and stayed in the capital, so they could be more comfortable. Why should the imperial commander personally conduct the expedition and command blindly?
At this point in the war, except for the presence of Wang Yuan and his troops, things are developing exactly as in history.
To be honest, Zhu Houzhao's victory in history was all due to his bad luck. His military arrangements from beginning to end were full of mistakes.
…
Datong Mansion.
Datong Commander-in-Chief Wang Xun was stunned when he received the military order. He asked Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zhang Xi: "Brother Zhang, what should we do?"
Zhang Xi scratched his head and said: "The emperor asked us to send our troops south, so we have no choice but to go. Be careful. If we encounter the main Mongolian force, camp safely and do not take the initiative to attack."
Wang Xun said with a headache: "But His Majesty asked us to find the enemy's main force and hold them back. If we fail to complete the task, we will all be dismissed and imprisoned!"
"Always... always accommodating. Fighting is not just playing house, so how can we definitely encounter the enemy's main force? The emperor is obviously making things difficult for us." Zhang Min said depressedly.
Wang Xun smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty has been reorganizing the border area for a year, and he is looking forward to a decisive battle with the little Mongolian prince. He is so anxious that he issues orders randomly. Even Governor Wang and the others can't stop him."
Zhang Xi sighed: "We deserve to be unlucky. Let's go and try our luck in the south. Maybe we will be lucky."
Wang Xun and Zhang Xi could only bite the bullet, leaving a small number of troops to guard Datong Mansion, and led the large troops to the south in fear.
Before passing Huairen County, they encountered many scattered Mongolian cavalry.
These Mongolian cavalry robbed everywhere, and immediately ran away when encountering large Ming army troops, unable to catch up even if they wanted to, and their marching route was also exposed.
…
The little Mongolian prince, Dayan Khan, the leader of the Mongolian resurgence and known as the "Second Genghis Khan", was robbing north of Yingzhou at this moment.
There were only a few thousand cavalry around Dayan Khan, and the rest were all sent out to plunder.
This approach is also pure nonsense, just to bully the Ming Dynasty's border troops into not wanting to fight. This has been the case for decades. China's northern border has become a public toilet, and the Mongolian army can come and leave whenever they want.
Since there is no danger, why must the army be concentrated?
Scatter them all out and finish the work quickly. Everyone is still eager to return to the grassland for the winter.
"What? The main force of Datong dared to leave the city and come to me!"
After learning about the military situation, Dayan Khan was not surprised but overjoyed. If he could kill the main force of Datong in one battle, the robbery in the next few years would be easier. He immediately ordered: "Send an order to the nearby troops to assemble in Yingzhou immediately. Send more people
Go to the north and lure the main force of Datong over so that they don't get lost along the way. Also, don't go too far. Two thousand cavalry is enough. Going too much will scare the enemy away."
Although Zhu Houzhao and the Mongolian little prince did not meet, they cooperated tacitly through the distance.
One sends a large army to look for the enemy's main force, and the other sends a small force to lure them. The general army of Datong will inevitably collide with the main Mongolian force.