Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

When the Ming Dynasty captured Yecheng, the war in Mobei was actually over.

Han Shizhong and Liu Qi joined forces and won three battles in Mobei.

They beat Tuoli until he took more than a thousand remnant troops to Mongolia, and pushed back the Naiman tribe who wanted a piece of the pie back to the Altai Mountains. The chiefs and tribesmen of Kelie who were still alive surrendered one after another and accepted the arrangements of the Ming court.

At this time, Han Shizhong sent troops to protect a general who did not have the power to command troops as he went north.

This general was named Yelu Dongzhen. He followed his father Yelu Yujian to defect to the Ming Dynasty. The father and son crossed the sea and raided Liaodong with military exploits.

Now, Yelu Yujian has died of illness, and Yelu Dongzhen has been demoted one level to inherit the title. Although he was promoted to the Privy Council and did not have the power to command the military, he has been slowly being promoted through seniority, and now he has become a third-rank military minister.

The North Sea, also known as Lake Baikal.

Yeludongzhen came to the southeast of the Great Lakes and soon encountered the army of the Balahu tribe.

In the past few years, the Balahu Tribe colluded with the Kelei and Mongolia to backstab their own ally, the Merqi Tribe. They took the opportunity to occupy a large area around Lake Baikal and were canonized by the Ming Emperor.

Now that the Klei tribe was defeated, the Balahu tribe took action again, hoping to take the opportunity to devour the southeastern part of Lake Baikal.

Balahu can also be translated as Balhu and Balhuzhen, which literally means "people in the forest".

Barhuzhen is Barguzin!

"The little king tiger has lost its sting, so it kowtows to the angel of tomorrow to say hello."

The great chief of the Balahu tribe and the king of Beihai who was conferred by the imperial court came in a panic and knelt down in front of Yelu Dongzhen.

He spoke a Turkic language that originated from Mobei. Since it had not been separated for a long time, Yeludong could barely understand it.

"Get up and talk." Yelu Dongzhen said.

Hu Sila was a little surprised when he heard this. This Ming official could actually speak Turkic.

Yelu Dongzhen introduced himself and said: "My name is Yelu Dongzhen. My aunt is the concubine of Emperor Tianzuo of the Liao Kingdom. My father was once the general of Zuojin Wuwei of the Liao Kingdom. And I am a third-rank official of the Ming Dynasty. Wuchen!"

When these identities were revealed, Hu Sula was instantly in awe.

The ancestors of the Balahu Tribe were a branch of the Rouran people. They first submitted to the Tang Dynasty and later to the Liao Kingdom. Thirty or forty years ago, they still lived in the southeast of Lake Baikal. Later, they were forced by the Merqi tribe to migrate to the Gulbajin River Basin.

Regardless of his status in the Liao Kingdom or his status in the Ming Dynasty, Yeludong is really the master of Husela!

Yelu Dongzhen said: "The imperial court can reward you with the land under your feet."

"Xiao Wang thanks God Khan!"

The tiger was overjoyed and bowed to Emperor Zhu from a distance in the south.

This is the southeastern part of Lake Baikal, which was previously occupied by the Kled tribe. Although Hu Sila took the opportunity to lead his troops to kill him, if the Ming court did not allow it, he would not be able to live in peace even if he occupied it.

Yelu Dongzhen said again: "Immediately organize your troops and go east to look for traces of the Mongols!"

Hu missed the assassination and immediately patted his chest and said: "I will definitely obey the order of Tian Khan and find the Mongols from the mountains and forests."

If we trace the origin, the place where the Mongols were hiding at this time was the ancestral land of the Balahu tribe, but it was just hundreds of years ago.

Yelu Dongzhen said again: "Choose an heir and send him to Luoyang to study."

Hu Sula naturally obeyed the order happily and called a boy of seventeen or eighteen years old to follow Yelu Dongzhen to Luoyang.

Yelu Dongzhen continued: "On the bank of Beihai, you need to set up a post house. This post house can accommodate the envoys of the Ming Dynasty, and the merchants of the Ming Dynasty will also go there to trade with each other. The imperial court will set up the Yanran Protectorate in Mobei. , you can just send the tribute items to the Protectorate from now on."

"Xiao Wang understands." Hu Shi La quickly agreed.

He had to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty before, but because the journey was too long and blocked by the Klei tribe, he never really sent tribute.

From now on, we must pay tribute honestly.

This kind of tribute is equivalent to paying taxes in disguise. The Ming court did not collect much, and occasionally gave cloth, salt and other items in return.

Yelu Dongzhen also mentioned other rules. For example, every three years, the chief of the Balahu tribe must report to the Yanran Protectorate in person. Failure to do so without any reason is tantamount to treason. Even if he is sick, he still has to send one of his sons there.

…

After accepting the hound of the Balahu tribe, the balance of war continued to tilt towards the Ming Dynasty.

Hu Shila sent a large number of troops towards the mountains and forests in the northern part of the Hulunbuir Grassland. They are a nomadic, fishing and hunting tribe in the mountains and forests. They can migrate with their tents and livestock, and even survive the winter in place when encountering heavy snow.

Under the continuous search of the Balahu tribe, a Mongolian tribe hiding in the mountains was quickly discovered.

While Hu Si La was gathering troops to harass, he also reported the news to Han Shizhong who was moving east. As for Yue Fei's troops, as well as the Monan tribes brought by Yue Fei, they have always firmly occupied the Hulunbuir grassland.

When Han Shizhong led his troops there, the Mongolian tribe had already moved.

The movement of large numbers of people and livestock in the mountains will inevitably leave various traces. The old hunters of the Balahu tribe led Han Shizhong in continuous pursuit, and it took half a month to catch up with the Mongols.

Han Shizhong won a great victory, capturing and killing more than 3,000 enemy troops, nearly 10,000 old, weak, women and children, and 200,000 livestock of various types. Another four to five thousand Mongolian soldiers broke through and fled.

Han Shizhong and the Balahu tribe searched eastward and compressed the hiding places of the Mongolian tribes to the western foot of the Daxingan Mountains. At this moment, a light snow fell.

It’s just snowing in autumn.

Han Shizhong's tribe brought many materials to keep out the cold, and under the guidance of the warriors of the Balahu tribe, they learned many weird ways to keep out the cold.

…

"Father, this is not the way to go." Hutula said anxiously, looking at the snowflakes outside the tent.

Hebule Khan held the handle of the knife in his hand, his eyes were bright and he said nothing.

Balidan, Genghis Khan's grandfather, who had just come from another hiding place, was also very anxious: "It snowed so early this year, and many livestock may freeze to death. If they don't return to the grassland for grazing next year, there will be no need for the Ming army to kill them. Come here and we will starve to death."

My Bahai looked depressed: "Hadan's tribe was overtaken by Han Shizhong, and only more than 4,000 warriors escaped. Women, children, livestock, food, and blankets were all gone."

Hebuli Khan looked at one of his grandsons, Kubalhei: "What does your father think?"

Hu Tuhei said: "We have to fight, we can't hide in the mountains all the time. Two days before my grandson came here, more than a hundred traitors escaped. My father personally led troops to chase them, but more than ten traitors escaped. They are sure It would attract the enemy, so my father was busy moving his troops and did not come to the meeting."

"Hadan suffered a defeat, and the news spread to my headquarters. There were also traitors who escaped from my place." I Bahai said.

In the past few years, the Mongolian tribes expanded too fast and annexed many neutral and hostile tribes.

Among the annexed tribes, it is inevitable that some people will harbor resentment. Normally, one might not dare to jump out, but now the Ming army is in the Hulunbuir Grassland, and the Mongols are forced to hide in the mountains. Naturally, some people want to escape.

Not only did he escape, he also wanted to lead the way for the Ming army!

A bunch of brothers, children and grandchildren of Hebul Khan kept complaining about the situation of their tribe. From beginning to end, they had the same idea: either fight or surrender, and they would be finished without fighting until next year.

After thinking for a long time, Hebulehan said: "The snow comes just in time, not too big or too small, so we can march. First, we will raid the tribes that have surrendered to the Ming army, and win a few small victories to boost the morale of the army."

Yue Fei's headquarters is currently stationed in the elite land of Hulunbuir, and the surrounding grasslands are home to many Tatars, Khitans, and Tanggu people who moved from Monan.

These Monan grassland tribes who were brought over occupied the Mongolian pastures and sent out a large number of light cavalry to patrol farther pastures. Even if the Mongols quietly graze their cattle on the edge of the mountainous area, they will be discovered by the light cavalry of various ethnic groups.

However, it has snowed intermittently in the past few days, which reduced the number of light cavalry sent out to patrol, and the scope of patrols has also been greatly reduced, giving Hebul Khan the opportunity to lead his troops in a surprise attack.

Of course, Hebul Khan did not dare to raid Yue Fei's headquarters. His target was the Tatar people closest to the Greater Khingan Mountains.

Those Tatars were originally driven away by him and fled to Monan to seek refuge with Yue Fei, but now they were brought back by Yue Fei. Not only did the Tatar cavalry come back, but they also moved the women, children and livestock. It was obvious that they would never leave again.

There was still light snow falling in the sky. Hebul Khan summoned 30,000 cavalry and gathered at the western foot of the Daxingan Mountains.

Among them, 10,000 cavalry, led by his brother An Bahai, went around to the north to attack the Khitan tribe brought by Yue Fei. Responsible for attracting and distracting Yue Fei's attention, and luring Yue Fei to lead his troops to pursue him north.

The remaining 20,000 cavalry were led by Hebul Khan himself. The goal of the battle was to destroy the Tatar tribe!

…

"The Protector, Khitan Zhu Zhongming's tribe asked for help. They found a large number of Mongolian troops attacking."

"How many Mongols have gone?"

"Zhu Zhongming said there were twenty to thirty thousand, and they had already reached the lower reaches of the Yeliguna River."

"Is he sure there are 20,000 to 30,000 enemies?"

"Sure."

"Nonsense. If he had really encountered 20,000 to 30,000 Mongolian troops, he would have been so frightened that he fled to me. He must have been unaware of the true strength of the enemy's army and was afraid of encountering the main force of the enemy, so he lied about the number of enemy troops and asked me for rescue. "

"Please protect me."

"Order Zhu Mingyi's Ministry to select warriors to move closer to Zhu Zhongming's Ministry. No matter how many Mongolians come, they must hold them back. Then send a telegram to Han Duhu (Han Shizhong), asking Han Duhu to lead his troops south and attack the Onan River and Yeli. Cut off the enemy's retreat between the Guna River."

Han Shizhong is now stationed on the edge of the northern mountainous area. Three temporary signal relay stations have been built between his and Yue Fei's stations, so that the two sides can quickly transmit messages via telegraph.

As for Zhu Zhongming and Zhu Mingyi, they were all Tatars and Khitans who had changed their names.

The Tatars, in particular, were particularly loyal.

Historically, the Tatars have always been dogs to the Jin Kingdom. They used the weapons and food provided by the Jin Kingdom to tear the Klei and Mongolian tribes into pieces.

Now the grassland has been annexed by the Mongols, and the remaining troops fled to Monan to join Yue Fei. Naturally, one must be well-behaved when living under someone else's roof. All the Tatar nobles requested to change their surname to Zhu, and took the initiative to learn from the Han people to wear right-sided clothes.

Some time ago, the Balahu tribe led Han Shizhong to search the mountains and forests, forcing the Mongols to hide at the western foot of the Daxingan Mountains.

As long as the Mongols dare to come out of the mountains and attack from the direction of the Onan River and the Yeliguna River, Yue Fei can immediately send a telegram asking Han Shizhong to go south.

Yue Fei's own troops did not move. Han Shizhong could handle the situation in the north. There was no need for him to compete with Han Shizhong for credit. Moreover, he always felt that something was wrong. He guessed that the enemy coming from the north was not the main force of Mongolia, and he had to stay here to defend the east.

Hebul Khan's intention was simple. He asked his brother Anba'ai to go around to the north to lure the enemy, mobilize Yue Fei's army, and then make a surprise attack from the east. Moreover, I was told to retreat in one strike and use the time difference to evacuate before Han Shizhong went south.

But the Korean and Yue armies communicated via telegraph, so where did the time difference come from?

(The Battle of Mobei is over in two chapters, so end it as soon as possible.)