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

Chapter 269: Conquering the Rebellious
Looking at the map on the ground, Zhu Shenzui stroked his chin and thought, while Wang Hai stood quietly beside him without disturbing Zhu Shenzui.

It was unknown how long it had been before Zhu Shenzhui shifted his gaze from the map to Wang Hai.

"Go and get Hatulig and the centurion."

Wang Hai agreed without hesitation, stood up and left quickly. A moment later, he returned with Hatulig and four other centurions. When Zhu Shenzhui saw them coming, he waved at them, and several people saluted and squatted around Zhu Shenzhui.

"Look, this is the layout of the camp of the Delibortaiji tribe..." Zhu Shenzui pointed to the map on the ground and said to several people. They looked at the map carefully in the past few days, but could not understand it very well. They were all ordinary Mongolians. Except for Wang Hai, only Hatulig could barely recognize a few words, and the other centurions were all illiterate. Moreover, the Mongolians did not fight like the Ming people. Although in history the Mongolians also had outstanding military strategists and famous generals who could transport troops like gods, there were not many such people, and most of them were Mongolian nobles. Zhu Shenzui's subordinates were just ordinary Mongolian herdsmen, and even Wang Hai was a slave.

Knowing that they were somewhat confused, Zhu Shenzhui patiently pointed to the diagram and explained it to them. Through Zhu Shenzhui's explanation, Hatulig and the others suddenly realized the true meaning of the diagram and the layout of the camp.

After explaining it to them in detail, Hatulig and the others nodded repeatedly, with a hint of enthusiasm and excitement in their expressions. The upcoming war did not scare them, but on the contrary, they were looking forward to it. Seeing this, Zhu Shenzhui did not say much, and issued an order that from now on, the entire army should rest and sleep in place, and the temporary camp should be on alert to ensure safety.

It was evening and it was not completely dark yet. Zhu Shenzui planned to take a nap first and then set out at midnight. He calculated that he would arrive at the camp of the Delibortaiji tribe in the early morning.

After the order was issued, everyone went to make arrangements, and after they left, Zhu Shenzhui immediately rested. Because it was a temporary camp, he did not use a tent, but just spread a blanket on the ground, and then fell asleep directly with the blanket covering his body, without even taking off his armor.

He slept for several hours, and when he opened his eyes, it was almost midnight. The cavalry in the camp also began to break camp at this time. In less than a quarter of an hour, they were ready for the expedition. Mounting their horses, Zhu Shenzui let the previous scout lead the team, and under the thin moonlight, they headed towards the enemy camp.

Around 12:00 a.m., they finally approached the camp of the Dilibortaiji tribe. The scouts ahead reported back that they were not far from the camp. Zhu Shenzhui ordered to stop advancing and let the troops rest and make final preparations, including replacing war horses, weapons and equipment, etc. It took half an hour to complete these.

"Wang Hai! Hatulig!"

"Master, please give your orders!" Wang Hai and Hatulig replied hurriedly. The two fully armed men were eager to try and were just waiting for Zhu Shenzhui to give orders.

"Did you understand what I told you before?"

"Master, I understand. Don't worry."

"Okay! It's up to you now. Go! Take off the head of that old guy Libol Taiji for me!" Zhu Shenzhui said coldly.

Without saying a word, the two men nodded vigorously, jumped on their horses, and each led 500 riders towards the camp ahead where the lights were dimly visible under the cover of darkness.

At the beginning, their horses were not running fast, just jogging, but as they got closer and closer to the camp, their speed gradually increased. When they were about two miles away from the camp, the horses were already galloping. Two teams, with 500 riders in each, a total of 1,000 cavalrymen, suddenly ran, and the sound of horse hooves was extremely shocking.

At this time, the Mongols in the camp also began to react, but they did not think that someone was attacking the camp at first. After all, the Delibortaiji tribe was a large tribe, and the tribe had never faced a war directly in these years. As the peaceful days lasted for a long time, the Mongols in the Delibortaiji tribe had long lost their due vigilance.

At first, the Mongols thought that there was something wrong with their ears, that they were hallucinating, or that what they heard was not the sound of horse hooves but the sound of wind that is common on the grassland. But when Wang Hai and his cavalry got closer and closer, the ground felt a faint vibration, and when they looked out in the dark, they suddenly saw a large group of people approaching the camp at a rapid speed, and the Mongols woke up from their dreams.

"Enemy...enemy attack...!" When the first Mongol came to his senses and shouted in fear, it was too late. The high-speed sprinting horse crashed into the camp in just a few breaths. The Mongol standing there in shock did not even have time to react before being knocked away by the horse. The whole person flew several feet away like a tattered rag doll, with his limbs twisted in a strange way and no breath left.

Wang Hai and Hatulig rushed into the camp with an unstoppable momentum. The camp was quiet one moment and then it was filled with shouts of killing the next moment. Behind them came Zhu Shenzhui's troops, who rushed in through the gap in front of them.

Zhu Shenzui chose the perfect time. His cavalry launched the attack half an hour before dawn, a time period when people usually sleep the deepest. Moreover, when they rushed into the camp, the other side was completely unprepared. The first batch of Mongols who reacted did not even have time to grab their weapons before they were trampled into meat paste by the surging cavalry.

Wang Hai and Hatulig thrust their two extremely sharp knives directly into the camp and headed towards the center of the camp. That was where the tent of Dilibor Taiji was located, and it was also the direction of their main target.

The two of them had different fighting methods. Hatulig was the main attacker, the arrowhead rushing to the target, while Wang Hai's 500 cavalrymen were responsible for sweeping the two wings to ensure Hatulig's main attack route. Following behind was Zhu Shenzhui's main force. The three Portuguese guns had been set up on the carriage and were pulled forward by horses. Zhu Shenzhui held a mace in his hand. When he met the panicked Mongols running around along the way, he would hit them with the mace without saying a word. The opponent fell straight down without even resisting, and even if he didn't die, he was seriously injured.

At the beginning, the progress was very smooth, but after all, this tribe was a large tribe with many people. Moreover, they only knew the general location of the big tent, but did not understand the internal layout of the camp. After all, this place was different from the original Tana camp, and it was also different from the sneak attack on Galiba. As they continued to advance, the Mongols in the camp also woke up from their sleep and began to take up arms to fight desperately, and their resistance also brought obstacles and troubles to Zhu Shenzhui's cavalry.

Cavalry relies on speed, and when the speed starts to slow down, the lethality of cavalry will continue to weaken. This is why Zhu Shenzhui won a great victory in the battle against the cavalry sent by Galiba to hunt down Tana on the grassland. As the Mongols in the camp were awakened and began to counterattack under the call of their leaders, Zhu Shenzhui's attack speed slowed down and he also felt the pressure from the opponent.

However, Zhu Shenzhui had already prepared for this situation. The three Portuguese cannons he brought were used for this purpose. Under Zhu Shenzhui's command, the Portuguese cannons began to fire, and the targets of the fire were also selected. Each Portuguese cannon fired in the direction of the other Mongolian gathering area. The intention was not to destroy the other side but to break up the gathering of the other side. At the same time, the Portuguese cannons were used to continuously put pressure on the other side, forcing the other side to completely mess up and no longer be able to form a defensive interception against them.

The firing of the Portuguese cannons was effective. When the three Portuguese cannons continued to fire, the already panicked Mongols became even more confused. Until now, the Mongols in the camp did not know what had happened. Most of them only knew that their camp had been attacked, while some Mongols had just woken up from their dreams, their heads were in a mess and they just ran subconsciously following their companions.

The Portuguese cannonballs exploded in several places, causing the Mongols who had just barely gathered to flee under the blows of firearms, their faces pale with fear. At this time, even if the leader scolded and shouted, many Mongols did not care to listen, especially when their companions were fine the moment before, and were hit by Portuguese cannonballs the next moment, with blood and flesh flying everywhere, and the broken limbs and flesh falling like raindrops. An incomparable fear surged in their hearts, how could they care about anything else?
At this moment, someone suddenly shouted: "We are ordered by the Khan to attack Delibor Taiji. Delibor Taiji's tribe intends to rebel. Delibor Taiji is guilty of an unforgivable crime. If any of his people resist, they will be killed without mercy. Those who kneel down and beg for surrender will be spared!"

When the shouts rang out, the same shouts rang out again and again, and instantly became one. As the shouts continued to echo in the camp, many Mongolian tribesmen showed expressions of astonishment and confusion on their faces, as well as fear and terror.

"Could it be that... the cavalrymen who attacked the camp were the Khan's? Did Taiji really betray the Khan? This... what should we do?"

If it was just an ordinary sneak attack by other tribes, perhaps the Mongols of Delibortaiji's tribe might have thought of resisting, but when they heard these words with their own ears, most of the Mongols hesitated.

As a member of the tribe, he certainly understood what kind of person his Taiji was. Over the years, Dilibor Taiji had always shown his dissatisfaction with Ligdan Khan. Even when Ligdan Khan gathered troops to attack Mobei last time, Dilibor Taiji directly rejected the Khan's envoy and did not send troops like other tribes.

Moreover, when Ligdan Khan's attack in the northern desert failed and he retreated to Chahar with heavy losses, Delibor Taiji even drank in the big tent and laughed at Ligdan Khan, saying that he was too ambitious and had no qualifications to be the Great Khan. As a member of the Golden Family, Delibor Taiji felt that even if he became the Great Khan, he would be much better than Ligdan Khan and at least he would not let the Mongols suffer continuous losses over the years.

Most people in the tribe knew about these situations, but no one had ever taken them seriously. In everyone's opinion, the current Lindan Khan was not the same as when he first inherited the Khanate. With the continuous defeats over the years, Lindan Khan's prestige and strength had been greatly weakened. In addition, the various tribes rebelled and broke away from the Mongolian headquarters from time to time. Lindan Khan was so overwhelmed that he couldn't even punish the other side. How could he possibly run from the distant Chahar to Xitumed to cause trouble for them?

But now it is different. As these shouts sounded, everyone thought of this. Based on what Delibor Taiji had done before, it is not impossible for Lindan Khan to send troops to teach Taiji a lesson. And everyone also knows that Lindan Khan has never been a magnanimous person. He is a vengeful Khan. Otherwise, he would not have launched wars continuously in recent years, first attacking Chaohua, then Khorchin, and last year attacking Mobei. From this point of view, if Lindan Khan brought people to take revenge, it is really possible.

(End of this chapter)