Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 220 No choice
"What's the current situation at Chahar headquarters?" Zhu Shenzhui asked sternly. Lin Danhan had always done a lot of weird things, but no one expected it to turn out like this this time.

The betrayal of these tribes dealt a heavy blow to Ligdan Khan. Not only was his dignity as the Great Khan trampled underfoot, but the strength of the Mongolian headquarters was also greatly reduced.

Ashe Temur smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Not good, very bad."

"not good?"

"The Khan was furious and killed several people. The Mongolian headquarters is now in a panic. In addition, the Khan decided not only to destroy the Inner Khalkha and the Sirhunak Dulenghong Taiji who betrayed him, but also to take down the Outer Khalkha in the northern desert..."

"Is your Khan crazy?" Zhu Shenzhui blurted out.

If Zhu Shencui had used such words to accuse Ligdan Khan on normal days, Ashitemur might have turned hostile. But today, instead of turning hostile, Ashitemur became depressed.

Zhu Shenzhui was right when he said that Lindan Khan was crazy. Previously, Lindan Khan wanted to attack Inner Khalkha, but Nurhaci failed. Then he led his troops to attack Khorchin last year. The reason was that in the war with Inner Khalkha the year before, Khorchin allowed the cavalry of the Later Jin Dynasty to pass through the grassland, which led to the failure of Lindan Khan's war against Inner Khalkha. He wanted to teach the Khorchin a lesson.

In the war with Khorchin, Nurhaci's reinforcements forced Lindan Khan to withdraw his troops on his own initiative. Lindan Khan not only failed to teach the two major tribes a lesson after sending troops twice, but also suffered heavy losses in the two wars. Moreover, his prestige as the Khan was damaged because he did not achieve any success.

The two tribes were at odds with each other, and there were signs of internal division in Mongolia. If Lin Dan Khan had some political sense, he should not have continued to struggle at this time. He should have appeased the Mongolian headquarters internally, eased the relations between the Inner Khalkha and Khorchin tribes externally, and joined forces with the Ming Dynasty to deal with the rise of Nurhaci. As long as the Later Jin in Liaodong was suppressed and the hidden dangers were eliminated, the problems faced by Lin Dan Khan would be solved.

But what did Lin Dan Khan do? He did not take any political means, but used military pressure. He insisted on continuing to use military force against the tribes. Not only that, Lin Dan Khan also suspected his subordinates because of his decision-making mistakes and military failures, and even planned to kill his important officials. As a result, after Sirhunak Duleng Hongtaiji surrendered to Nurhaci to save his life, the leaders of other tribes also left the Mongolian headquarters.

Although it had not yet reached the point where he was deserted by his friends and relatives, such a thing had never happened before in the Mongolian headquarters, and it brought huge damage to Ligdan Khan's prestige.

Even so, the arrogant Lin Danhan did not reflect on himself. He did not think it was his fault at all, but blamed everyone. Not only did he kill several ministers who tried to dissuade him, he also shouted that he would send troops to teach these traitors a lesson, and directly turned his spearhead towards Mobei.

The whole Mongolia was divided into several major forces. The Chahar headquarters of Ligdan Khan was the location of the Golden Horde and also his base. Apart from the Chahar headquarters, the southeast, northeast, and northwest were Inner Khalkha, Khorchin, and Outer Khalkha. And to the west of the Chahar headquarters was Tumed, where Zhu Shenzhui was now.

Among them, Tumed, Chahar, Inner Khalkha and Khorchin occupy most of the Mongolian area south of the desert, while the Mongolian area north of the desert is mainly Outer Khalkha, which constitutes the main sphere of influence of Mongolia at present. Of course, there are also the Wala in the west of the desert and the Buryat in the north and other large and small marginal tribes.

Among the five major spheres of influence in Mongolia today, Ligdan Khan, as the Great Khan of Mongolia, directly controls the Chahar headquarters. Tumed was the previous territory of Ligdan Khan. Before Ligdan Khan ascended the throne, Tumed had always belonged to the Khan's headquarters area, among which Sanniangzi City was particularly famous. It was only later that Ligdan Khan moved his headquarters from Tumed to Chahar.

Because of this, the Tumed tribes have always been supporters of the Khan, so the two major forces that Ligdan Khan directly controlled and could influence were the Chahar tribe and the Tumed. These two major forces belonged to the southern Mongolia and were close to the Ming Dynasty. From the perspective of geographical location and fertile grasslands, they were much better than the relatively harsh climate of the northern Mongolia.

Controlling these two major forces and occupying the best position in southern Mongolia, Lin Danhan's strength is the strongest in Mongolia. Moreover, Lin Danhan has an innate advantage, that is, his identity as the Great Khan of Mongolia.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty was driven out of the Central Plains. Zhu Yuanzhang sent Lan Yu as the commander-in-chief to lead the army into the grassland. In the Battle of Buyuer Lake, he defeated the Northern Yuan army of more than 100,000, killed countless Mongolian nobles including the Northern Yuan Taiwei, and even captured the Northern Yuan Empress. Even the Northern Yuan Emperor (Great Khan) Toghon Temur died inexplicably during his defeat and escape.

The Battle of Buir Lake destroyed the Northern Yuan Dynasty. It can be said that the Great Yuan Dynasty was gone in name, but the Mongolian Khan still existed in name afterwards, but no longer called himself "Great Yuan", but changed to the original Mongolian name. Lin Danhan is the current Khan, so in name he is the leader of all Mongolian tribes. But this leader is only in name. Some large tribes, especially forces like Inner and Outer Khalkha and Khorchin, Lin Danhan actually has no control over them.

Among the five major forces, Lindan Khan controlled Chahar and Tumed, which meant that he was the most powerful. However, Inner and Outer Khalkha and Khorchin were also strong. In order to restore the glory of his ancestors, Lindan Khan dreamed of unifying the grassland. In his opinion, if he could deal with the three major forces of Inner and Outer Khalkha and Khorchin, then the whole of Mongolia would be under his rule. After Mongolia was unified, he, the Great Khan, would become the real Great Khan of all Mongolia, and thus build a new Great Mongol Empire, making the whole world tremble under the hooves of the Mongols.

We have to admit that Lindan Khan was quite ambitious, but unfortunately he was a guy with lofty ambitions but a fragile life. In particular, Lindan Khan had no political ability and vision. In addition, he often went back on his words and was self-righteous. Not only did he not achieve anything after all the years of struggling, but he also lost the advantages he originally had to this extent.

Now Mongolia is already facing internal and external troubles, and the whole of Mongolia is complaining about Lin Dan Khan's actions. Lin Dan Khan's position has shown signs of instability. But at this time, Lin Dan Khan still insists on going his own way, and even wants cavalry to fight against the Outer Khalkha. His actions are equivalent to offending all three major tribes in the five spheres of influence. How can he get any benefits if he continues like this?

Not to mention the three major tribes, even the Tumed tribes that have always supported Ligdan Khan have many complaints. In the past few years, they have fought every year, but have not gained any benefits. If this continues for a long time, the lives of the tribes will become more and more difficult. Even Ashitemur, a supporter of Ligdan Khan, feels very uncomfortable.

"The Khan's order to gather troops is about to arrive. This time, the Khan wants to attack Outer Khalkha, but is Outer Khalkha easy to defeat? In terms of strength, Outer Khalkha may not be as good as the Khan, but the territory of Outer Khalkha is much larger than that of Chahar. In addition, Khorchin and Inner Khalkha will definitely not sit idly by. Once the Khan sends troops north, what should we do if there are any unusual movements in Khorchin and Inner Khalkha? Not to mention the ambitious Later Jin." Ashe Temur was a smart man and he hit the nail on the head.

These problems are real and clear. The three tribes are not fools. How could they let Lin Danhan defeat them one by one? Not to mention that behind Khorchin and Inner Khalkha is the cunning and fox-like Nurhaci.

What's even worse is that the timing is wrong. Wars on the grasslands usually start in early summer because horses, cattle and sheep lose a lot of weight after a winter. Spring is the season for fattening up. The Mongols all use cavalry when fighting, so the importance of horses is self-evident.

When autumn comes, the weather starts to get colder. If we don't withdraw our troops by then, once it snows, there will be no way we can fight this battle.

Now it was already a few days from the beginning of summer, and considering the time needed to gather troops, it would be late summer or early autumn by the time Ligdan Khan officially set out. In addition, the Khalkha was located in the north, and winter had come earlier than the Mongols in the south of the desert, leaving Ligdan Khan less than two months, and he had to defeat the Khalkha in these short two months.

It was simply impossible to defeat Outer Khalkha in such a short time. The terrain of northern Mongolia was complex. In addition to grasslands, there were also deserts. When Ligdan Khan's army entered northern Mongolia, Outer Khalkha did not need to confront Ligdan Khan directly. They only needed to use the advantage of the vast terrain to deal with Ligdan Khan.

As long as they could survive this short period of less than two months, when the weather turned cold, Lin Dan Khan would definitely withdraw his troops. Not to mention that when Lin Dan Khan sent troops to Outer Khalkha, Khorchin and Inner Khalkha in the northeast and southeast, plus Nurhaci who had always been eyeing Mongolia, would never sit idly by and would definitely do something.

Ashe Temur was not optimistic about Lindan Khan's decision at all, and he knew in his heart that this was still a fruitless expedition that would cost the people money and effort. If things went wrong, this expedition would further damage the strength of the Mongolian headquarters. At present, the Mongolian tribes were extremely dissatisfied with Lindan Khan. If Lindan Khan was defeated again, his position as the Khan would be in jeopardy.

"Abu, why don't you just not send troops? Why do it when you know it will be fruitless?" Zhu Shenzhui advised.

Ashe Temur sighed, shook his head and said, "If I do this, it will be like breaking off relations with the Khan. Our Tumed tribe is different from other tribes. We have always been loyal to the Khan. Moreover, the Khan is very sensitive about this matter now. What if..."

Ashi Temur did not say the rest, but Zhu Shenzhui understood what he meant. It was nothing more than that if he refused to send troops, it would not only be morally untenable, but also make him the target of Ligdan Khan. Ligdan Khan did not have much to do with Khorchin and Inner and Outer Khalkha. Even if he fought, he might not win. But that did not mean that Ligdan Khan could not deal with other people.

(End of this chapter)