On the icy and snowy wasteland, dozens of long lines of the Ming army squirmed. On the west side of the army is the "Lake of the Sea" (Hulun Lake), but the difference between land and lake is not very clear nowadays.

"By tomorrow, you won't be able to see the lake!" Someone in the Chinese army said a word out loud.

They all looked bloated, and the soldiers were covered with cotton cloth and felt scarves under their helmets and chain mail; Therefore, you must speak loudly so that others can hear clearly.

Zhu Gaoxu sat on horseback, opened the rough map and looked at it for a while, then looked at the scene in the sky, and estimated: Tomorrow the army will be able to go to the northeast of the Lake (Hulun Lake).

Except for the banners of the Ming army, there was hardly any living thing to be seen on the four sides.

Earlier this month, in the battle that took place on the western side of the Yuer Sea, the Tatar army was attacked head-on by Liu Sheng's army, and was pursued by the Ming cavalry and suffered heavy losses. But since then, the main force of the official army has never encountered the Tatar army.

If it weren't for the definite goal of the Northern Yuan Dynasty's royal account, Zhu Gaoxu himself felt that it would be difficult to persist in the pursuit......

In winter, the daylight hours seem to be particularly short. After noon, after marching for about two hours, the sky gradually darkened, so the troops chose a place to camp.

After the big tent of the Chinese army was built, a thick oilcloth curtain was hung at the door of the tent. A fire was lit in the middle of the tent, and an iron pot was hung from the top of the tent, into which the soldiers threw horse meat, tea, cheese, and dry food into which they boiled.

The water in the iron pot was already boiling, and the sound of "cooing" was launched, and the white vapor was mixed with the smell of meat. The meat of a dead horse has no spices, and it smells good when cooked, but it is not very tasty to eat.

The generals gathered in the big tent of the Chinese army, waiting to eat horse meat while discussing military affairs.

Everyone reported the problems of the battalions, and the wounded soldiers and sick people gradually increased the burden on the baggage battalion. Zhang Fu, the Marquis of Xincheng, suggested: "The minister thinks that at this time, the troops can be divided into two ways. The wounded and sick soldiers and some baggage battalions were divided into large armies and formed the South Route Army, and slowly retreated to the south first; The main elite army was the Northern Route Army, which pursued the Tatar king's tent. When the battle is settled, the two armies will meet again. ”

But Wu Gao immediately raised an objection: "Some tribes in Arutai should still be active in the east of the 'Lake of the Sea'. The officers and soldiers left the army with heavy injuries and illnesses, fearing that they would be easily attacked and disturbed, which would only increase their losses. ”

Zhang Fu said: "The enemy army was defeated in the western part of the fishing sea, and now that it is winter, it is difficult for the Tatars to gather a large army. Let's divide our troops to guard the south road, it should be fine. ”

The two argued for a few words. And Qu Neng, Wang Bin and others did not say anything.

Soon the sound of talking in the big tent stopped, and Zhang Fu and Wu Gao both looked sideways at Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu was holding a withered branch in his hand, which was broken and added firewood to the fire. Before he had time to think about Zhang Fu's strategy, he was a little distracted just now and wanted to do something else.

After camping today, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but once again examine the strategy of "continuing to march north".

How much actual benefit did Benjari's Khan royal tent have, Zhu Gaoxu didn't have much hope at first. Even if the Ming army had the means to seize the entire grassland, I am afraid it would not be able to make up for the huge cost of hundreds of thousands of army transfers and expeditions.

However, if the imperial court wanted to change the hostile relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Northern Yuan, it had to crack down on Benjari Khan.

Judging from the information obtained by Zhu Gaochu from various places, after Benjari lost Khan as the nominal co-ruler of the steppe, his own political proposition was to restore the prestige of the Great Yuan and preach his strategy of expansion everywhere; It doesn't matter at all whether the Mongol tribes still have strength or not.

If the Ming army can eliminate the headquarters of Benyali Khan, the prestige influence should be of greatest significance. Perhaps, this will make the Mongolian tribes a little calmer and more rational......

Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a while, turned his head to look at Zhang Fu and Wu Gao, and said: "There has been no news from the Forward Peace Department for a few days, let's wait for a while and figure out the recent military situation before making a decision." ”

After hearing this, the generals clasped their fists one after another and said: "The ministers obey the order!" ”

As soon as he said this, Zhending Marquis Chen Da Hammer opened the curtain, he stood at the door and bent down and said: "Holy Lord, General Ping sent Ma to report quickly!" ”

"Bring it." Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his hand and said.

Chen Dazhui presented the report. Zhu Gaoxu tore it open and looked at it, and then handed it to Qi Tai beside him.

After a while, Zhu Gaoxu buried his head, stretched out his hand to smooth the map in front of him, pointed to the map with his finger and said, "The distance between us and the Northern Yuan King's tent has been shortened, and it is estimated that there are only two or three hundred miles left. ”

After listening to this, everyone gradually began to speak, and the generals circulated the peace report to each other, and their emotions rose a little.

Zhu Gaoxu's finger moved on the map and said: "At the beginning of the month, I learned from the Tatar captives that the royal tent of Benyali Khan is located on the east side of the Lake of Ruhai and on the south bank of the Xueshui River (Hailar River). I sent out a number of cavalry, searched for their positions, and then took turns to keep watch with light horses.

A few days later, Benjari crossed the Xueshui River (Hailar River) and retreated along the north bank of the Xueshui River to the west and then to the northwest. However, a few days ago, the light cavalry of Ping An had discovered that the tribe had crossed the Xueshui River west again and began to move westward. The Tatar khan seemed to have admired Temujin, and this path was the path that Temujin had traveled many times, and it is said that there were also camps left by Temujin along the way.

However, the Ming army marched north along the eastern shore of the 'Lake of the Sea', and the distance between the two armies was greatly shortened in a few days by the Bendari Khan's headquarters. ”

Qu Neng clenched his fists and said: "Please attack with 20,000 elite horsemen, and you will catch up with this group of men and horses within three days and annihilate them!" ”

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at him and said: "General Qu has fought hard, and Ping'an is in the front, so it is more appropriate for Ping'an to lead the army to attack in this battle." As he spoke, he turned his head to look at Qi Tai, "The cavalry will have to be fed with fine food after running for two or three hundred miles, and Qi Butang should mobilize military rations from the baggage battalions of various armies to meet the needs of the cavalry." ”

Qi Taizuo said: "Holy Mingjian, after this battle, if the officers and soldiers have nothing to capture, they can really only kill horses to satisfy hunger on the return trip." ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and thought for a while. At this time, he looked back at the generals on the left and right, and finally patted his thigh and said: "Order peace, lead the army to attack the Tatar king's tent, and fight quickly." After this battle, our army immediately turned around and marched southward, sweeping back to the division from the 'Lake of the Sea' and the grasslands on the east side of the Fishing Sea, further weakening the strength of the Arutai Tribes. ”

The crowd prayed one after another, "Holy Wise! ”

Zhu Gaoxu immediately deployed military affairs and ordered to select elite cavalry from the seven armies, plus a cavalry of Ping'an's forward army, to form a cavalry brigade and hand it over to Ping'an's command.

…… The Ming army had more than 200,000 people, and the military rations consumed in ten days were not as much as tens of thousands of war horses. People mainly eat horse meat that has been killed and wounded in previous battles, as well as Tatar cattle and sheep that have been plundered, but war horses do not eat meat, and can only eat military rations to fight.

In the baggage battalion in the rear, the Wuhan Iron and Steel wagons transporting military rations were more than half empty. And the wounded soldiers and sick people are increasing.

Early the next morning, in the barracks surrounded by Wuhan Iron and Steel vehicles, the cold air was filled with moaning and crying. From today onwards, the major battalions will be stationed in their places, and the camp will no longer be marched, and the wounded and sick will stay in the tents, at least a little better.

A soldier with a high fever after being injured had just been sweating profusely, and at this time he was shivering with cold, even if he was covered with several layers of felt bedding. He opened his eyes, turned his head to look at the endless wasteland outside the tent, and then saw the sergeant lying on the ground beside him, his eyes open and his eyes blank, it turned out to be dead! The wounded soldier shuddered for a moment, then struggled to pull out a dagger from under the blanket.

Unexpectedly, a heavy soldier noticed his movement, rushed up and grabbed his hand, and shouted.

After a while, a military general also came over with a few soldiers.

The wounded soldier trembled and said, "Wang Baihu, give me a good ......"

The military general persuaded with good words: "The arrow wound on your body is a flesh wound, and it will neither die nor be maimed. Bear with me, brother, and you'll be fine when you go back. ”

The wounded soldier did not seem to listen to persuasion, and only heard the words "go back", and after his weapon was taken away, he cried there: "I want to go home, go home." ”

The soldiers stretched out their hands and felt around his bunk for a while, and when they were sure that there were no weapons, they left the bed. Then the soldiers found two dead men in the tent and carried them out.

The cold earth seems to be full of pain and death, not only the Ming army is very difficult, but everyone here is probably uncomfortable; Even the jackals that live here die a lot in the winter. And people, unlike jackals, not only want to live, but also find ways to kill each other's people......

In front of the large battalions of the various armies, it was a different situation at this time, and preparations for battle continued. Countless cavalry were alive and well, and the war horses that had eaten beans and rice and wheat moved all the way in the direction of the forward Heian Army in the cold air. Red and cyan flags fluttered in the air, giving some life to the lifeless land.

Ping An handed over the power of the forward infantry cavalry to the general Wang Bin, and he himself obtained the holy decree and took over the newly mobilized 20,000 elite cavalry.

In the afternoon of the same day, the cavalry transferred from various armies had gathered near the forward barracks. Ping An ordered to be pulled out immediately!

Empty on all sides, with some rolling hills. Except for the rangers of the Ming army, there was not a single Tatar around, and no one knew whether the Tatars had detected the movements of the Ming army.

A herd of jogging horses spread across the land, and the sound of horses' hooves "rumbling ......" was enveloped in the air. The Heian Army marched in a northwesterly direction in the direction of the forward light cavalry.

The Xueshui River (Hailar River) is directly north of the forward position, and the Ming army will not have a chance to reach this river again. In the next two to three days, the Heian Department will attack from the west bank of the Xueshui River to the northeast of the "Lake like the Sea".

In this way, the Ming army was to catch up with the king's tent of Benjari Khan somewhere northwest of the "Land of Abundant Springs" (Manchuria).

……

……

(I'm sorry everyone, but it's been a few days off.) It's true that I'm sick, I'm honest, I didn't lie to everyone.

This severe cold, possibly a viral flu, was not resisted, and it was particularly serious. First, I had a high fever that morning, and I struggled to write a post asking for leave, and then the high fever lasted for three or four days. Weak, muddy; I took that cold medicine again, and it seemed to have a sleeping ingredient, and my brain was even more dizzy.

So I slept for three or four days and barely got up. The fever went away yesterday, but it didn't heal, and it was still a little uncomfortable. I started to resume the update today.,Because the mental state is still a little problematic.,So the fluency of the sentence may be a little worse than usual.,I hope you'll forgive me.。 It should be slowly recovering in the past few days, and the west wind is also in a hurry, and it will not be broken. ）