One Pot

Author: Silent

One Pot

On the north bank of the Weining Sea, the Ming Dynasty's cavalry advanced for more than thirty miles.

There were about five to six thousand men and horses left behind by the Menggol Jin tribe in the fire sieve, but they were powerless against the sudden advance of the Ming Dynasty's troops.

Wang Shouren was very decisive in executing military orders. At the beginning of the attack, he issued an order that all troops must turn back south and enter Datong from the direction of Maoerzhuang, which could shorten the distance to 200 miles.

But when it comes to execution...it's obviously not enough.

"General Wang, we have killed 2,260 heads so far, and captured over 10,000 people, which is hard to count. We have hundreds of thousands of livestock... If we use this to go south, I'm afraid... the journey will be slow..."

When General Guan Jing reported the matter to Wang Shouren, his voice trembled.

This contribution is much greater than Wang Weining's surprise attack on Weininghai.

But the biggest problem now is that it is very likely that so many victories cannot be taken away.

Even if the Mengoljin tribe does not turn around and attack, the surrounding Tumut tribe and Yongxiebu tribe will not sit idly by and ignore it. The Ming expeditionary force only has only three thousand soldiers and horses. After the previous battle losses,

It would be great if there are more than 2,500 people left who can go into battle. Do you still want to drive such a large grassland tribe force southward?

Cao Shun changed his previous arrogance and rudeness towards Wang Shouren and said in a discussion tone: "Master Wang, why don't we... take away the animals and so on, and escort their children away specifically. Take the horses with you, and leave the rest with us.

If you really can't do anything, don't force it."

Use your best ability to take away what you can.

You can't kill every last bit of someone's back garden and then take away everything that is useful and useless, right?

Aren't we afraid that the main force will come back and we won't be able to leave?

Wang Shouren's attitude was very firm and said: "All the soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty have left the pass. Sixty or seventy miles south, they will definitely be able to meet up with the soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty. The barbarians will never dare to chase! Everything that can be taken away will not be lost.

Keep!"

When Cao Shun heard this, he felt very uncomfortable.

He really wanted to say, "I want to take you with me. Anyway, I want to go back quickly. If you go to Datong, I can go to Yinshan Mountain and go back to where I came from."

…

…

Wang Shouren did not want to leave any population or livestock to be sifted by the fire. Since he chose to steal the family, he should steal it thoroughly.

Easy to say.

But when it comes to implementation, it encounters great difficulties.

The population of the grassland tribe is not bad, and they can be captured as long as they drive this group of people, but so many animals... they have to cross an area of ​​nearly 200 miles back to the Ming Dynasty, and they cannot graze in the middle.

Forage and water replenishment are huge troubles.

That afternoon, sporadic tribesmen approached, but they were all driven back by Ma Yi's troops.

At this time, Ma Yi was responsible for leading about 1,200 soldiers and horses to the rear. These 1,200 soldiers and horses were already about half of the remaining soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty, and the remaining soldiers and horses had to be scattered everywhere. There were about 20 soldiers and horses along the way.

About a hundred people were driven southward by people from different tribes, including men, women, old and children, as well as their cattle, horses, sheep, camels and other livestock.

By dark, the group had not yet circumnavigated the east coast of Weining Sea.

You can't camp that night either.

The soldiers were exhausted. After several days of marching and a battle of blood and fire, everyone's spirit was on the verge of collapse.

Even Wang Shouren felt that his plan might be a little crazy, and the loot this time was really exaggerated, and the soldiers might not be able to hold on anymore.

"Stay where you are!"

Wang Shouren had to change his mind about heading south quickly.

He now had to face a problem, that is, before heading south to join the main force of the Ming Dynasty's central army, he would have to engage in a head-on confrontation with Huo Si or the other right-wing tribes.

Not to mention the rear, even the front... there are dangers lurking.

…

…

The night is solemn.

That night there was a wind on the grassland. It had also experienced a battle, and death happened again in the tranquil Weining Sea. The sound of the wind outside the camp was like the sound of human whimpering.

The soldiers had swept away the excitement on the battlefield. They had to take turns guarding that night and could only rest in batches.

When Ma Yi appeared in front of Wang Shouren with a gray-black face, Wang Shouren also understood that the expeditionary force he brought now would probably be buried in Weining Sea before bringing the results back to the Ming Dynasty.

"Major General, the soldiers have tried their best! But there are too many Tatars here!"

"Right now, according to a rough count, the population is nearly 15,000, not counting the more than 2,000 people we killed..."

Ma Yi's general idea now is to just take those heads back.

For the soldiers, it was an unparalleled achievement. It was almost impossible to bring back all the prisoners, cattle and sheep.

Wang Shouren asked: "Can we continue to leave before midnight?"

"I'm afraid it won't work." Ma Yi said, "Some soldiers have fallen asleep on the horse and fell off the horse... It's not uncommon. We are too tired today! The earliest... it won't be until tomorrow morning.

"

Wang Shouren did not force Ma Yi, he nodded and said: "Then continue the march tomorrow morning. Gather all the people of Di Yi in one place. This time we have brought the mighty gunpowder. If it really comes to the last step, then... kill!"

"

Wang Shouren also made plans to die together.

Although they are still deep into the hinterland of the grassland, and their whereabouts are no longer a secret, and they are escorting so many people and livestock south, the journey may not even be twenty miles a day, not to mention the difficulty, but Wang Shouren does not

I feel like this is a dead end.

This tribal population of more than 15,000 is the bargaining chip in his hand.

Am I forced to retreat after the battle?

We are obviously escorting the "hostages" back to the Ming Dynasty. No matter how fast you advance the army, do you dare to challenge me head-on?

When the time comes, I will kill your people directly from behind. If you dare to come within a mile, I will kill dozens of people and send their heads to you. I will ask you if you are afraid?

All your cattle and sheep will be slaughtered directly for you. Killing with a knife is too slow, so just use cannons and explode with yellow gunpowder... To execute your people and livestock, you don't need to be taught by you prairie people. My king

Someone can definitely do it.

If I dare to travel long distances to fight you, I will be ready to fight you to the death!

…

…

When Wang Shouren clearly explained the plan to massacre the hostages to Ma Yi, one could clearly feel that Ma Yi's face became a little more red.

Ma Yi felt Wang Shouren's "unscrupulous" attitude as a general, or in other words, Wang Shouren had foresight. There was no point in saying the rule of not killing prisoners when it was life and death. What he wanted to do was,

It means bringing the loot back to the Ming Dynasty, and according to the agreement, unless there are people who can't take everything into consideration and escape along the way, there will be no less than one person or one animal left.

The northeast corner of Weininghai was very quiet that night.

Wang Shouren asked people to use bonfires to light up the camp, and even allowed the herdsmen to feed their animals overnight.

At the same time, Wang Shouren also called over the elders of the tribe who were left behind and explained his intentions to them.

"If you are defeated, you should surrender to the Ming Dynasty. As long as Huo Si surrenders, you will be protected, and even the livestock will still be yours. But if Huo Si persists and continues to fight with us, then everything will be dead."

Wang Shouren basically told those prisoners of war.

Your fate does not depend on the attitude of the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty towards you. We hope that you will reach the border of the Ming Dynasty alive, and we will even give you a basis for continued survival.

Your lives are actually controlled by Fire Sieve and your family members. If the men of your family, that is, your cavalry from the expedition, come back and fight with us, then you will be killed and sacrificed to the flag.

The elders in the clan who were left behind were also very afraid.

Someone asked: "Shouldn't you say these words to our clan leader and the warriors who are going to war?"

Wang Shouren said: "So, if your army comes, I will send some of you old and weak people out as envoys. Then you will bring my letter and my intention to them and tell them."

Wang Shouren would not let women and children go to report the news, because he also knew that for the grassland, women were the most important resource and an important factor related to the development of the tribe. So much so that when Huo Si went on an expedition, many women in the tribe were actually

Those who accompany the expedition can not only help the soldiers on the expedition with some logistical matters, but also protect their most important property.

Children are also the future of the grassland tribes.

The lifespan of grassland people is generally thirty or even twenty years old. If one of them loses one generation, it may mean the demise of a tribe. Just relying on plundering women from other tribes to give birth to children for them is not enough.

There is no way for a generation to survive the lean years.

But the elders in the tribe...especially those who don't have the physical strength to do work, are of little value to the tribe. Letting them go to inform the Ming army of their intentions can be considered as using their remaining energy.

…

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To be continued...