Chapter 789 786 [Battle between Khalkha and Horqin]
Aruhorqin Banner.
This was the first stop for Horqin's eastward migration a hundred years ago. The tribes that continued to migrate eastward were collectively called "Nen Horqin", the most widely known Horqin tribe. Those who stayed here and did not leave were called
"Alukorqin".
When the 100,000-strong Khalkha Mongolian army came to attack, Wengniute's tribe was so frightened that they quickly fled and joined the Datong army.
The next one to be attacked was the Alukhorqin tribe. There were only more than 2,000 cavalry left in this tribe, and they fled a long way away, taking their livestock with them to seek shelter from the Nenhorqin tribe.
"Great Khan, 1,500 horsemen from the Zarut tribe are on their way to join us. They are already several miles away to the north."
"Have a good time receiving them."
"Waqi Laitu Shetu Khan with both faith and strength" Chahu Dorji is holding a military meeting in the Khan's tent at this moment: "The Mongolian tribes here have lost the bravery of the Golden Family. Alukorqin and Wengniute
The troops will only run away when they encounter us. Conquering the entire Horqin Grassland seems to be very easy. According to the news from the Bahrain Department, Badali of the Horqin Right Center Banner was ostracized by the leaders of the Horqin tribes. If we attack Ba first
Da Li, it’s easier to fight if this person is alone..."
"No," Morgan suddenly interrupted, "Badali surrendered to the Han emperor and was rejected by the Horqin tribes. When we attack Badali, the Datong Army of the Han people will definitely send troops to rescue. The Han army is very powerful, even Manchuria
The Jurchens were all wiped out by them."
Chahu Dorji looked ugly, being interrupted like this. He thought that his authority was being challenged, and immediately sneered: "How strong can the Han soldiers be? All the Mongolian tribes have been made so weak by the Jurchens. In recent years, the Han soldiers have
We also didn’t dare to go north. Monan Mongolia, which the Han soldiers did not dare to attack, after we arrived, we easily captured one piece of pasture after another. In comparison, our Khalkha warriors can definitely defeat the Han soldiers!”
Darhan, another Khalkha leader, put it relatively tactfully: "Great Khan, although we are stronger than the Han soldiers, the Horqin tribes have not been destroyed, so there is no need to provoke the Han people in advance. If they are forced to panic, in case
When Horqin and the Han people unite, don't we have many more enemies for no reason?"
The current situation is very delicate, Horqin is sandwiched between the Khalkha and Datong armies.
Khalkha was afraid that Horqin would defect to the Datong Army, and the Datong Army was also afraid that Horqin would defect to Khalkha. However, both the Datong Army and Khalkha wanted to send troops against Horqin!
The Danzin Lama who accompanied the army said: "Horqin and we are both Mongols, and they do not have to be conquered by force. The Great Khan can be more tolerant and promise to protect the interests of the leaders of Horqin's tribes as long as they are willing to submit. But there is a prerequisite. Horqin
Tribes must give up their shamanism."
Morgan agreed: "Yes, give up shamanism and allow Horqin to surrender!"
Chahu Dorji only succeeded his late father last year. Although he had been leading troops before, he now also needed military exploits to consolidate his authority. He held the handle of his sword and said: "The Horqin tribes will not surrender easily. They must fight for everything."
Let’s talk about it later. If we don’t beat them painfully, even if they surrender today, they will rebel again tomorrow. Since you object, then don’t beat Badali first, and go directly to Horqin’s most fertile pasture (Tongliao)!”
Morgan was still afraid of the Datong army and reminded: "The Great Khan, last year the Great Khan's father had sent an envoy south to ask for the canonization of the Han emperor, but he was called back halfway. Now the war is about to break out. In order to prevent Han soldiers from getting involved,
We can send envoys south again..."
"Nonsense! Am I afraid of the Han people? I want to be the Great Khan of all Mongolia, and I will have to fight the Han people sooner or later!" Chahu Dorji was furious.
Darhan quickly made peace: "Great Khan, Mergen is not afraid of the Han people, but is using a strategy. The envoys sent do not need to go to Nanjing, they only need to contact the Han military generals. We declare surrender to the Han emperor, so that we can
Confuse the Han generals and make them hesitate to send troops in a short period of time. When Horqin is annexed, it will not be too late to turn against them."
Chahun Dorji was somewhat able to accept this statement and nodded in approval: "It is indeed a good strategy."
Immediately, the Khalkha Mongolian envoys went south and went to Hebei to trick Zhang Tieniu, using the pretense of asking for surrender to buy time.
At the same time, the Khalkha army continued to advance eastward.
In addition to the soldiers of the seven Khalkha tribes, there are many conquered tribal warriors. For example, in the Hulunbuir grassland, there is also an Alukorqin army, which was annexed by the Khalkha two years ago. Another example is the Xilingol grassland, where the Chahar Mongols
The branch has also been conquered by Khalkha. There are also Bahrain and Zalut tribes, all of which have sent troops to fight with them.
The combined strength of all the troops amounted to more than 100,000 people, and together with the accompanying livestock, the march on the grassland was truly magnificent.
Mongolia was really in decline, and the Khalkha tribe had to work hard to gather 100,000 cavalry. A hundred years ago, Ada Khan, who only occupied Hetao, could mobilize 100,000 troops to fight.
The army marched to the Tongliao area and saw only lush grasslands, river valleys and even farmland, but no trace of the Horqin tribe.
The Horqin tribes were in such decline that they could only gather 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers and horses, including children aged 12 or 13. How could they dare to go head-to-head with Khalkha's 100,000-strong army? They had already fled with their livestock and food, so they were prepared.
Let's lure the enemy deeper.
Chahu Dorji ordered: "A hundred thousand troops will be divided into two groups. Scan the pastures along the way to find Horqin's main force!"
The population and livestock of Horqin's various tribes also retreated in two directions. They retreated all the way to the hilly areas of the Xing'an League area and all the way to the north bank of the upper reaches of the Nen River. These guys chose to run north to avoid Khalkha and stay away from them.
Where the Datong Army is stationed, we are not worried about being attacked by the Datong Army, but we can also look forward to a fight between the Datong Army and Khalkha.
…
Horqin Right Center Banner, beside the Huolin River.
This river originating from the remaining veins of the Greater Khingan Mountains not only flows through lush grasslands, but also into patches of farmland.
Most of the farmland is cultivated by the Han people. Over the past hundred years, some Mongolians have also learned to farm.
After Badali defected to the Datong Army before the battle, he still received support even though he was far away. Food support was also second. The Datong Army even sent 500 pairs of cotton armor, 2000 pairs of leather armor, and 2000 waist knives. Badali
The combat effectiveness of the army has greatly increased.
And the reward he gave was to fight to the death with other Horqin tribes. At the same time, all the Han slaves snatched by the Manchus must be given their freedom, and no more Han slaves are allowed to be kept as slaves!
Badali's approach was that since there were many casualties among the young men under his command, he simply selected relatively strong Han slaves and married them with Mongolian widows in the tribe. The widow's livestock and fields were inherited by the Han husband, but the Han husband had to change his Mongolian name
.The remaining weak Han slaves were released as free people and worked for the Mongolian nobles in farming or herding to make money.
This approach is already very progressive.
After all, not everyone can treat the Han people equally like Anda Khan, which actually caused the Ming Dynasty border troops and people to cross the Great Wall to seek refuge.
"Noyan (lord, monarch), there is smoke in the northeast!"
"Gather your troops to fight!"
Badali blew the trumpet to gather the cavalry, and tribesmen on both sides of the Huolin River came to join them on their horses. Nearly a thousand of them were Han people who had married Mongolian widows.
A large number of serfs were released, and the Datong Army provided food and armor, causing Badali's military strength to soar. Despite being besieged, not only did he not fall behind, he even expanded some territory. He had a 6,000-man army
cavalry troops.
"Da da da da!"
Badali led his soldiers and quickly ran into the enemy's vanguard.
The two sides stopped far apart, and a fast horse came to negotiate: "We are not here to be enemies with your troops. Please let us pass through here. The Khalkha Mongols are our common enemy!"
Hearing this, Badali immediately laughed and understood what these guys were planning.
Khalkha's 100,000-strong army pursued eastward. However, the main force of Horqin's tribes made a large circle from the northwest and penetrated directly into the Zalut tribe that had surrendered to Khalkha.
Badali said: "You can go there if you want. When you come back, I will collect a thousand sheep to make road money."
"Okay!" The other party readily agreed.
After the leading troops passed, the follow-up troops also arrived quickly, and there were more than 20,000 cavalry in total. However, the equipment was very poor, more than half of the cavalry were unarmored, and there were many old people and children. Due to years of fighting, Horqin's various youths
Zhuang suffered heavy casualties.
More than 20,000 Horqin cavalry took advantage of Badali's territory and quickly attacked the Zalut pasture.
Most of the young and strong men in the Zalut tribe followed Khalkha on the eastern expedition, and those who remained were basically old, weak, women and children. Facing more than 20,000 Horqin cavalry, they were completely powerless, and those who could ride horses fled to the mountains to the west.
.
"Run quickly!"
"Leave no one alive, kill them all!"
Horqin's cavalry fought on the run and did not need to take prisoners. They would kill any living person they saw.
After raiding the home of the Zalut tribe, the Horqin cavalry continued to move forward and raided the Left Banner and the Right Banner of Bahrain. Along the way, all the old and weak women and children were killed, and they took the robbed livestock across the remaining mountains of the Greater Khingan Mountains.
Head straight to Xilin Gol Grassland.
By doing this, not only did Khalkha return to his army in vain, Badali's tolls were also not received.
Immediately, Horqin's cavalry turned back and headed north, crossing the river valley from the Xing'an League area.
Chahun Dorji led his army to pursue them all the way, but only saw the Zalut and Bahrain tribes that had been plundered, and even Xilin Gol had two pastures robbed.
"Asshole, how dare you tease me like this!"
Chahun Dorji led his army in direct pursuit and was stunned when they entered the mountainous areas of the Xing'an League. Earthen walls were built in several valley passages, and all the Khalkha cavalry had to dismount to "attack the city."
"Chop down trees and build ladders. I'm going to level this place!"
Chahun Dorji no longer cared about the casualties, he just wanted to let out a fierce breath.
The earth wall is not high, only about two meters, but the Khalkha Mongolian soldiers are really not good at siege warfare. And no matter how many there are, they cannot spread out in the river valley. The extra soldiers can only stand far away and face the earth wall.
Shooting bows and arrows from the other side of the wall.
Arrows were flying everywhere inside and outside the earthen wall. On the first day of the battle, hundreds of Khalkha soldiers were killed or injured.
As the defender, Horqin's army faced an equally difficult situation.
"Profuse sweat, profuse sweat, it's not good!"
"explain!"
"Our troops who retreated to the north bank of the Nen River were chased by tens of thousands of Khalkha soldiers. Our troops are continuing to retreat north, but sooner or later they will be overtaken by the enemy."
Evacuating a large number of people with all their belongings will leave traces on the grassland, and the marks of vehicles and livestock are difficult to remove.
Horqin gathered the main force to sneak attack the enemy's station, and Khalkha also divided his forces to pursue Horqin's tribe.
On the north bank of the Nen River, there are Hongguoer's people and all their property.
Hong Guoer said anxiously: "We can't continue to entangle ourselves. Let the enemies outside the wall come in and lure them into a more dangerous valley to ambush them!"
Another day passed, and the defenders clearly let their guard down, and Khalkha's attack quickly took effect.
One after another, the Khalkha soldiers climbed over the earth walls and chased them out. The Horqin soldiers were beaten and fled. The Khalkha soldiers carried logs, knocked down several earth walls, and led their horses through the ruins.
Just when the whole army was preparing to pursue on horseback, Chahu Dorji looked at the valley ahead: "Blow the trumpet and send orders. The whole army is advancing slowly. Send more soldiers to explore and don't fall into the enemy's ambush. The enemy's defeat was very strange.
