The wind was howling, the snow was fluttering, and a cavalry of more than 1,000 people was hunched on their waists, bowed their heads, and trudged through the snow with a cold wind that could blow people out of their walks.
Their faces were also covered with thick felt scarves to protect them from the wind and snow, and only a pair of eyes were exposed, and their eyebrows and the brim of their hats were covered with a layer of white frost.
"Where did the front go?"
A hundred households stood on a high place, looked around, pulled down their scarf and asked a scout next to them.
Because the wind was too strong, the wind poured into his mouth violently, and he quickly turned sideways after saying only two words, barely finishing the sentence.
"My lord, here we are" The scout looked carefully, the snow dancing silver snake, the original Chi wax elephant, the wind and snow roared, the world was vast, he spent a long time, he didn't see where this was, and before he could answer, he suddenly found a black shadow in the distance, the black shadow came out from behind a low hillside, and was moving slowly to the west, and couldn't help shouting: "My lord, look at the people there" The 100,000 people of the Ming army of the Northern Expedition have been wandering around the upper reaches of the snowfield for a month and a half, except for some small tribes in Maodong, almost nothing has been gained, and when he heard that there are people, the hundred households can't help but be in high spirits, he fixed his eyes and took a closer look, and confirmed that it was a group of pedestrians, and the number of people was about two or three thousand, so he immediately ordered: "Quickly approach, find out the details, I will report to the general" "Obedience" Several scouts gestured to each other, and then quickly ran towards the dark shadow in the distance, their military uniforms were covered with white clothes to protect them from the cold, and the horses were also light gray and white, which was the best protective color when the wind and snow were confused, and it was easy not to be discovered.
Some of the Mongols trudged through the snowy plains, including old men, women, children, cattle, sheep and cart tents, and it was clear that they were a migrating tribe.
The tribes on the steppe began to stock up on everything for the winter as early as early autumn, salt tea, pasture, everything needed.
When the wind blows, some tribes are clever enough to build a windbreak wall with weeds and snow to ensure that the entire tribe survives the winter.
No one is forced to move to other places at this time because they find out what is wrong with the land they are governing, or if they are not prepared for the winter, and this migration will send many of the old people, children and the cattle and sheep on which they depend to freeze to death.
And this tribe is migrating in the cold winter wax moon, and the weather is so bad today that they refuse to find a leeward place to rest, which is even more suspicious.
When the news was sent to Qiu Fu, Qiu Fu heard that it was only a tribe of more than 3,000 people, and he couldn't help but be moved in his heart, and immediately decided to annihilate it.
At the same time, in order to prevent the people of these tribes from taking advantage of the vast territory and the treacherous environment of heavy wind and snow to break through and escape, they sent people to quickly notify the other two vanguard groups patrolling on the left and right, and then without waiting for them to arrive, they launched a decisive attack after half an hour.
A tribe of 3,000 people can draw out a limited number of warriors, not necessarily more than a thousand elite horsemen in the hands of Qiu Fu, and they protect the old and weak women and children and property of the entire tribe, the formation is very scattered, when the Ming army took off their white robes one after another, and launched a rapid attack on them, these Mongols were caught off guard and were immediately cut into three pieces by the Ming army.
Qiu Fu, who was already old, was still majestic, and rushed to the front with a sagre in his hand, and his leading soldiers infected the generals of the three armies, and those brave and good border generals pounced one by one with a scream.
The battle ended quickly, the strength of this tribe was already limited, and they did not expect the Ming army to come so quickly, and they did not camp to rest in such a snowstorm, and a total rout was formed as soon as the battle was fought.
The snow rolls like mud, and the "peach blossoms" fall.
When the dead bodies were everywhere, cattle and sheep were scattered, and the battle was basically in the final stage, some of the soldiers were still chasing the scattered and fleeing tribal warriors, and most of the soldiers had begun to happily gather cattle and sheep, women and children and other trophies, Qiu Fu ordered some Tatars who were dressed and obviously had a high status in the tribe to be brought to the front and began to interrogate.
Qiu Fu was overjoyed by this inquiry, he also bumped into some Tatar tribes along the way, but the other party was not an important tribe in Tatar, and the tribal chief was only a small official in the Tatar court, but this time it was very different.
After interrogation, Chufu learned that this tribe was actually part of the Tatar Khan's headquarters, and their patriarch was a scholar in the Tatar court, called Uliang Hatai.
However, the information available to the people interrogated by Qiu Fu was limited, and they only knew that the patriarch had ordered the migration, but the circumstances were not clear, and that the patriarch had broken through under the cover of his cronies' guards.
At this moment, the left-wing men led by Wang Cong, Marquis of Wucheng, came to join him, and they immediately approached this side after receiving Qiu Fu's general's order, and captured a few Tatar deserters on the way, and among these people, there was none other than Wuliang Hatai himself.
Uliang Hatai was brought to Qiu Fu, this is a man in his fifties, burly, with a bleak expression, seeing Qiu Fu without saying a word, no matter how he asked, he gritted his teeth and refused to speak, and the soldiers on the left and right saw him and pushed him to the ground and was about to be tortured.
"Slow" Cuff stopped his soldiers, untied the leather pouch from his waist, pulled off the cork, took a sip of it, and handed it to Uliang Hatai.
"Good wine" Uliang Hatai sniffed the taste, praised it, and unceremoniously raised his head, and drank the liquor until it was gone.
Qiu Fu just looked at it with a smile, and when he finished drinking the wine, he stroked his gray beard and said, "Lord Shangshu, I am the Heavenly Empire, and I have no intention of conquest of others and bullying the weak.
Why did you send troops this time, you are a member of Benjamin's headquarters, and you should know it.
Benjamin rebelled and beheaded my minister, and the emperor was furious, so he sent troops to punish him.
Shall the Tartar tribes, which are not less than a million people, bear the wrath of the thunder because of the fault of Benjamin alone?
My Holy Son of Heaven is generous to others, especially to the barbarian chieftains, who only need to be obedient and civilized, and rarely use military might.
If you can confide in us and catch him, the millions of Tatars will be spared the scourge of the army, and this is your merit.
And Benjamin can only bow down to my holy son and confess his sins, and forgive him will not embarrass him.
If you feel that you will not be able to see Benjamin from now on, I can accept you and your tribe, and you know what kind of favor all the tribal chieftains who have submitted to my Celestial Empire, and when the time comes, I will give you a piece of pastureland, and I will command you all of them, and be at ease, it will not be better than being a prisoner in a prison."
Uliang Hatai was silent when he heard this, and Qiu Fu just stared at him and did not speak.
After a while, Wuliang Hatai sighed and said, "The prestige of General Qiu, we are far away in Mobei, and we have known it for a long time.
That's it, God's will is like this, so I'll recruit it, but I still hope that the general can keep his promise and treat my people well."
Qiu Fu suppressed the ecstasy in his heart and said generously: "You just say it, this general will learn from his words."
"Good, good" Wuliang Hatai smiled miserably, and then said: "If I don't say it, I'm afraid the future of the Great Khan will be unpredictable."
Qiu Fu's eyes flashed and asked, "How do you say this?"
Wuliang Hatai said: "It's not a secret, the Great Khan did not intend to be an enemy of the Celestial Empire, but it was the Taishi Arutai who insisted on carrying it out, and the Great Khan had no choice but to kill the envoys of the Celestial Empire."
After the Ming army sent Mobei to conquer it, the Great Khan was deeply frightened, and there was a great conflict with the Taishi for this."
Qiufu's scouts already had some information, and combined with Benjamin's previous performance, Qiufu believed what Uliang Hatai said.
When Benjamin had just ascended the throne of the Great Khan, he had expressed his flattery to the Ming Dynasty, but the good times did not last long, and he soon changed his position.
This is not the first time it has been repeated.
And Arutai controls the largest power of the Tatar tribe, and he is also clear about the situation of holding Benjamin hostage, which coincides with the more "subtle" explanation of this Uliang Hatai.
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Uliang Hatai said: "After the news that the general led an expedition to the Khan's court came, the Great Khan and the Taishi quarreled fiercely, and finally broke up unhappily.
According to the meaning of the Taishi, he used the geographical advantage to fight to the death with the general, but the Great Khan wanted to move his clan to avoid the general's edge.
The two sides were at a stalemate, missing the best fighter to deal with the general, and hearing that the general had arrived at the Yuma River, the Taishi was shocked, and he was too late to deploy in a hurry, so he wanted to move to the far north."
Qiu Fu listened and thought to himself: "I have to march with all my might, otherwise it will be a trouble for him to calmly set up his troops and fight to the death with the Tatar elite." ” Wuliang Hatai smiled bitterly: "However, although the Great Khan and the Taishi both mean to migrate and avoid now, where to hide, the meaning of the two is different.
Taishi wanted to move north, saying that the environment in the extreme north was bitter and cold, and the Ming army could not bear its hardships and retreated without a fight sooner or later.
But the Great Khan felt that the cold of the Far North was as unbearable as our people, and that when the time came, a large number of herdsmen, cattle and sheep would freeze to death, and their vitality would be greatly damaged.
It is better to retreat to the west, although it is close to Warat, I believe that the army of the Celestial Empire is close at hand, and the Warat people dare not take advantage of the fire to rob for fear of setting fire to themselves."
Qiu Fu pondered: "This is in line with the surnames of Benjamin and Arutai. ” Qiu Fu couldn't help but ask, "What is the result?"
Wuliang Hatai said: "As a result, the Arutai Taishi led many tribes to sneak to the far north, while the Great Khan took other tribes and prepared to avoid the northwest, hoping that the general would be exhausted and retreat without a fight."
On the side, Wucheng Marquis Wang Cong asked: "Arutai is willing to divide his troops with Benyasui" Wuliang Hatai said: "General Qiu's troops are pressing, and at this moment, the Taishi does not dare to fight infighting. ” Wang Cong asked again: "Arutai took away most of the tribes, and it is bound to take away most of the grain and grass, Benjamin insisted on going west, which is not much better than moving north, why did he not hesitate to break with Arutai?"
Uliang Hatai was silent for a moment before he said, "The time is rare."
Qiu Fu hurriedly asked: "What timing?"
Uliang Hatai said abruptly: "Get rid of control" To be continued: