But come to think of it, the Junggar tribe is not the stragglers Zhu Gui encountered before. As one of the most powerful nomadic tribes in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty, there are hundreds of thousands of cavalry alone.
If the relationship between them and Bei Yuan was not stable, I am afraid that the establishment of Ming Dynasty would not have been so smooth.
Now this problem will be faced by Zhu Gui.
Finally, the day before the army set off, Zhu Yuanzhang secretly summoned Zhu Gui.
"Zhu Gui, this war is not simple. I have secretly prepared an army. If an emergency comes, this army can help you stabilize the war situation. But I don't want to see this situation. Can you
Do you understand what I mean?" Zhu Yuanzhang had an unprecedented serious expression on his face.
"The general leading the army is General Lan Yu, right?" Zhu Gui asked.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, acquiescing to this, which is why he did not want to use this army. If Lan Yu was allowed to make outstanding military exploits again in this war, it would be a bit difficult for Zhu Yuanzhang to get rid of Lan Yu.
.
On this point, the father and son had surprisingly similar ideas.
However, Zhu Gui also knew that even if he made some promises at this time, Zhu Yuanzhang might not believe him. He could only use actual actions to prove his ability.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang was able to transfer 30,000 cavalrymen under Lan Yu's command to Zhu Gui, which showed his considerable courage. From another perspective, it was also Zhu Yuanzhang's affirmation of Zhu Gui. Of course, this was also because of Zhu Gui
It was only by catching Zhu Yuanzhang's weakness that he got this kind of result that was beneficial to him.
The father and son exchanged pleasantries for a while, and then Zhu Yuanzhang led the civil and military officials back to the court, while Zhu Gui also rushed to the front of the army and led the army to the border pass.
Within the scope of Nanjing, Zhu Gui did not let the army advance at full speed, because from time to time he would encounter a small town, and the officials in the city would come out to greet them.
It was not until night that the situation improved, because the distance between cities was getting farther and farther, and Zhu Gui chose a relatively remote road to ensure that he could travel without resting at night.
Full speed ahead.
If calculated based on normal speed, it would take Zhu Gui about seven to eight days to reach the border where the fighting took place. Fortunately, his team was all cavalry, which greatly increased the marching speed.
In addition, Zhu Gui reduced the rest time of the soldiers, so at noon on the fifth day, their team had already reached the border area of influence, and they could already see the towering city wall from a distance.
At this time, Zhu Guicai ordered the entire army to stay where they were and rest, because they might encounter the Mongols next, and the cavalry had to stay in shape.
At this time, a very thin soldier entered Zhu Gui's tent. It was Xu Miaoqing in military uniform.
Although Zhu Gui agreed to accompany her, it was still a bit inconvenient to bring a woman, especially a princess, in the army, so the two discussed it and solved the problem in this way.
Xu Miaoqing not only had no objection to this, but was actually a little happy.
"Your Majesty, are we almost at Shazhou Guard?" Xu Miaoqing walked up to Zhu Gui and asked.
Zhu Gui looked at the map on the table, nodded, and said, "There is still almost an hour to go. If we go further, we may encounter the Mongols. The situation here is quite complicated, so we have to be careful.
"
"Then has my brother arrived?" Xu Miaoqing asked again.
"General Xu is still more than two hundred miles away from here. He is investigating the enemy's troop deployment. I am ready to give the enemy a blow before they discover our main force."
Zhu Gui said.
His words made Xu Miaoqing's eyes light up, and she knew that Zhu Gui had another evil idea.
The army stayed stationed until nightfall, and then a few cavalrymen came from a distance. They exchanged signals with the guards at the gate of the camp and were let in. They were the reconnaissance scouts of the Yunzhou Army.
Soon after, a letter was put into Zhu Gui's hand, and there was also a map.
After Zhu Guizi took a look, he showed a happy look on his face, "I didn't expect General Xu to have such ability. The map is so detailed. The Mongols are so careless. It seems that they don't take the Ming army in their eyes."
.”
The total command of the Mongols reached 150,000, but they attacked in all directions and surrounded several cities. Especially the two cities of Khachali and Shazhouwei had the largest number of people surrounded, reaching 50,000 and 50,000 respectively.
Thirty thousand.
If it weren't for the Mongols' lack of engineering equipment and their main focus on looting, it would have been impossible for these two cities to persist until now.
Xu Yingxu said in the letter that he guessed that the purpose of the Mongols might be reinforcements, because the land of this generation was very barren, the people's lives were very miserable, and there was not much wealth at all.
Therefore, the real goal of the Junggar tribe may be the materials that came to support the Ming army here.
Zhu Guisi thought about it again and felt that it was indeed possible, but he didn't think much of the Mongolian strategy. After all, he knew the situation on his side very well.
Not to mention Lan Yu, these 30,000 men are elite cavalry who have been on the battlefield for a long time. Even the 3,000 Datong army led by Xu Yingxu has had many encounters with the Mongols, not to mention that there are some of his own among them.
One thousand personal guards are the Yunzhou Army.
However, since the Mongols were so confident and took the initiative to divide their troops, Zhu Gui naturally would not give up the strategy of defeating them individually.
So he picked up the map again and looked at the distance marked on it, which was the nearest Mongolian force here.
This is a small group of Mongolians with 5,000 people. However, although this is not a threat to Zhu Gui, in the local area, this is indeed an unrivaled force. These Mongolians have swept through the nearby ten
In many villages, tens of thousands of people were burned, killed and their wealth looted.
So Zhu Gui sent out scouts again. After collecting more specific information, he ordered two thousand households to lead two thousand-man cavalry to stop the Mongols.
These two thousand households were Zhu Gui's personal guards, so they naturally would not question Zhu Gui's orders, even if they led 2,000 men to fight against the other side's 5,000 men.
But Zhu Gui's arrangements are not over yet. After all, once this battle begins, the Mongols will know that the Ming Dynasty's army has come to support this place, and the official war will begin.
Naturally, Zhu Gui would not take the initiative to give up his first-mover advantage, so he asked his guards to make a rough sand table based on the map Xu Yingxu brought.