Chapter 739: Going South, Too Late
After the last attack failed again, the two brothers Sha Lei and Zhehetai were almost killed by Altan. Fortunately, someone came forward to plead for them. Altan was just making a gesture, so he let the two go.
"You can escape the death penalty, but you can't escape the punishment of life. Go and escort the baggage!" Sha Lei said self-deprecatingly.
Hundreds of carts followed the army, loaded with supplies, arrows, weapons, food, and fodder...
There are only two kinds of people who escort baggage: one is mature and steady, and the other is unlucky.
Zhehetai frowned, "What's that sound?"
Boom boom boom!
There was a faint roar, and Sha Lei said, "It sounds like... the firearms of the Ming army."
"Has the Khan started attacking the city?" Zhehetai sighed, "It is unwise to attack a fortified city!"
Sha Lei smiled and said, "Do you want to go and give some advice?"
Zhehetai pointed at him and said, "The Khan did not order anyone to build a wooden ladder. How can this be considered a siege? It is just a show of force at best."
"So you're not stupid!"
"Have I ever been stupid?"
"Then why have you been silent these past few days and looked confused?"
"My wife said that my sons have grown up and their wild nature is hard to change. They all want to eat meat. But the family is so poor, how to divide it? My wife is very worried, so she wants to take advantage of this trip to the south to grab some meat."
"That's why you're so careless, haha!"
"Damn it, you Sha Lei people are called the Flying General, don't you worry about it?"
"Once the army succeeds in its march south, the world will change. Whoever can lead the fighting will... I say, Lao Zhe, you must have dreamed of becoming a king, right?"
Zhehetai laughed, "A king? I'm afraid it's not easy to make him a king."
"what for?"
“Don’t be so damn literary.” Zhehetai kicked Sha Lei with disdain. “The Khan has his own sons and adopted sons. To make him a king? Didn’t you see that the Khan’s sons were all green-eyed before he went south?”
"The Khan has too many sons," said Sha Lei.
"Sengge is the eldest son, and all the nobles support him. Buting is the second son, and the nobles denounce him as rude, but he is straightforward. I like this one the most..."
"Sengge is a little narrow-minded," said Sha Lei.
"If it were you, your father's family business is huge, and your brothers are eyeing it covetously. Can you still be broad-minded after a long time?" Zhehetai asked with a smile.
"Sengge... the Khan favors this eldest son the most."
"But the Khan is in good health!"
"Oh, right." Sha Lei lowered his voice, "Someone came to look for me yesterday and comforted me. It was really touching!"
Zhehetai raised an eyebrow. "What a coincidence! Someone came to see me yesterday and brought me a roasted leg of lamb and a bag of fine wine."
"Your side..." Sha Lei raised his eyebrows again.
“Over there…” Zhehetai smiled.
"long!"
"Second-rate!"
The two smiled at each other.
But there was more worry between their brows.
"The Khan's order, send arrows up!" At this time a rider came galloping.
"quick!"
Sha Lei and the other man hurriedly urged the laborers.
The two took this opportunity to follow him to the front.
At this moment, the army had retreated to a place two hundred steps away from the city. Sha Lei and Zhehetai saw hundreds of corpses of soldiers and horses lying under the city. They could not help but look at each other and felt awe in their hearts.
"Fortunately we didn't attack the city!" said Sha Lei.
Folding table nodded.
Zhao Quan also thought so, "If we had attacked the city earlier, there would probably be corpses everywhere under the city now."
Jineng nodded, "The Ming people's firearms are indeed impressive, but if we leave the city...these firearms will become fire sticks."
"It's time for the Khan to divide his troops." A strange light flashed in Zhao Quan's eyes.
According to the deployment, Altan should now divide his troops and march south, leaving the main force behind to contain Jiang Qingzhi.
"There is only one thing to do now." Jineng looked at his uncle who was thinking, and said, "Can we fight against the Ming army in the capital area?"
Zhao Quan said: "The Ming army in the capital area is not as good as the original Beijing guards."
"Hmm?" Jinen looked at him, somewhat puzzled.
"The guards of the capital are right under the eyes of the emperor and his ministers, so they have to pretend to be good and practice when necessary. Away from the capital, the commanders of the local guards are unscrupulous, and most of their men are old, weak, sick and disabled. That's it... Do you think it's enough?"
"Is everything so corrupt?"
"The greed of those people will scare you to death... Those guard posts are understaffed. Of the 1,000-man establishment, there are at most 600 to 700 people, and some even have only 300 to 400."
"Tsk! Where are those people?"
"Those people have become the general's private property! There are only three or four hundred of them, but they are still reported as eight hundred or one thousand. Understand?"
"Eating for free!"
"Yes."
Zhao Quan had served in the Ming army. All his subordinates were Ming people, including low-ranking generals of the Ming Dynasty, so he knew the current situation of the Ming army very well.
This is one of the reasons why Altan relied on him. Altan finished thinking, "Biji."
"Sweat!"
A tall general rode over.
Altan looked at him and said, "You are my favorite general."
Biggie bowed her head slightly in humility.
But everyone knows that Biji is Altan Khan's most trusted confidant.
This man followed Altan Khan in battles for many years and made great contributions. He has been quite low-key in recent years, but being low-key does not mean being incompetent. Biji has been guarding the palace for Altan Khan in recent years. Although he seems to be low-key, he actually has a respected status.
"You are leading 20,000 troops..." Altan's eyes passed over Datong City, "Do you know what to do along the way?"
Biji's eyes flashed fiercely, "Burn, kill!"
"Good!" Altan patted his shoulder with satisfaction, "Don't worry about Jiang Qingzhi's pursuit, I'm here!"
"Yes!" Biji turned around and found that most of the generals were looking at him with complicated eyes.
Altan Khan used a large army to contain Jiang Qingzhi, and then sent a powerful detachment south, leaving Jiang Qingzhi in a dilemma.
The Ming Dynasty’s garrison troops in the capital area were all watchdogs... This was the public opinion of the royal court, and it was also endorsed by Altan Khan.
With 20,000 cavalrymen heading south, those watchdogs would surely tremble in fear and would not even dare to leave the city to intercept them.
This is not about fighting, but about harvesting!
Harvest slaughter, harvest gold and silver treasures, harvest artisan women, harvest military merits...
Everyone was eyeing this opportunity, but in the end Altan gave it to Biji, his trusted confidant who had been silently looking after the household for him.
Altan Khan's eldest son Sengge and second son Buting were not far to the left. Sengge looked quite literary and said with a smile, "Buting, don't you want to lead the army south?"
There was dissatisfaction in Buting's eyes, but it soon disappeared. He sneered and said, "This is the decision of my father Khan, Sengge. The eagles on the grassland never disdain to hunt with conspiracies and tricks. They will catch their prey with their own claws..."
Boutin grinned, "Then he flew high and dropped his prey from mid-air, killing it alive. Then he could enjoy his delicious meal leisurely."
Sengge seemed not to hear the threat in his words, and said calmly: "Without great achievements, what can you use to compete with me!"
Buting clenched his fists. "I will personally kill Jiang Qingzhi and use his head to prove that what the grassland needs is a brave wolf leader, not a fox who only knows how to scheme and plot!"
Sengge laughed, "Are you trying to say that my father Khan is a fox?"
"My father Khan is a wolf and a fox."
Sengge was stunned, "You actually learned to flatter?"
"Who wouldn't?" Buting smiled. "I gave in to you in the past because the place was so small. Now the army is heading south, and the whole country belongs to my father. You were born earlier than me, but in terms of military merit, you can't even compare to me. Why should you inherit all this?"
Sengge chuckled, "Really? But you probably haven't heard a word."
"What?"
"It's easy to conquer a country, but it's hard to keep it." Sengge looked at his brother with a look of superiority. "You can't achieve success by relying on killing. The Yuan Dynasty relied on killing to gain power, but it was eventually destroyed by killing. My father Khan was wise and once said that we should learn to be gentle with the Ming people. Let's see..."
Sengge pointed at Zhao Quan and others around Altan Khan and said, "These Ming people are now serving as advisors to my father Khan. Zhao Quan has given the most advice and helped my father Khan the most. But my father Khan earned this by killing people. You! You have a lot of meat, but you are stupid!"
"I bet Jiang Qingzhi will panic next." Sengge smiled as he looked at the big flag on the top of the city wall. "This so-called famous general of the Ming Dynasty is like a helpless child in front of his father Khan!"
"I will use killing to show you that the Ming people are still the same as they were many years ago. I can make them surrender with a butcher's knife!" Butin's eyes were full of ferocity as he looked at the vague figure on the top of the city.
"That's Jiang Qingzhi!" Buting pointed at the figure under the big flag and said, "I will kill him!"
Twenty thousand cavalrymen rushed out of the formation and went around Datong City to the left two hundred steps away from the city.
"Where is the enemy going?"
Yan Song asked.
He laid on his hands on the battlement and quickly looked out.
"Go south!" Jiang Qingzhi said.
"Going south?"
"Ok!"
Yan Song was startled, "In that case, we should send troops!"
Jiang Qingzhi shook his head, "Let's see."
"What are you looking at?" Yan Song couldn't help but smiled. Jiang Qingzhi said, "I have my own arrangements."
Yan Song asked suspiciously, "Why don't I know?"
"As for what I really want to do, the fewer people who know about it, the better. Yuan Fu, you take care of civil affairs, and I take care of military affairs. Let's not interfere with each other!"
The old prime minister wanted to curse. He felt like there was a huge rock pressing on his heart, making him feel suffocated.
"How will Jiang Qingzhi respond?"
Altan was very curious and smiled, "If he goes out of the city to fight now, he will be manipulated by this Khan. His morale is low. If he doesn't fight..."
Meng Xian said: "Tuotuo, are most of the Ming imperial guards really here?"
Tuotuo, who was in charge of the secret service, nodded and said, "Our people have already recognized them from the big flag. Most of the Ming guards are here, and there are two more guards in the capital."
"Two men and several thousand men." Meng Xian smiled and said, "In this way, this time we go south, we will definitely be able to wipe out the local Ming officials and soldiers."
Jineng said, "Great Khan, should we be more cautious..." Seeing Altan looking at him, Jineng smiled, "The Ming people have reorganized the capital guards. Will the officers and soldiers in the capital be afraid and reorganize themselves? If so, I'm afraid... we should be more cautious on this trip."
Tuotuo glanced at him and said, "Don't worry, even if we want to rectify it... it's too late."
At this moment at Luanling Pass, Prince Yu looked at the listless officers and soldiers and sighed, "It's too late!"
(End of this chapter)
