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

Chapter 352 Left and Right Wings
The combined strength of the Tengger tribe and the other two tribes totaled nearly 7,000 people, of which the combat troops (excluding the herdsmen in the logistics department) were about 5,000, of which the Tengger tribe had more than 3,000, and the other two tribes had about 2,000 in total.

Zhu Shenzui, who made the decision, commanded his troops to continue advancing northward, as if he was ready for a decisive battle with Bu Shitu. He ignored the harassment from the small cavalry unit sent by Bu Shitu and advanced more than 60 miles northward in one breath.

At this time, Bu Shitu also understood the strategic intention of the Tengger tribe and began to mobilize troops to block it head-on. The two sides met head-on on the grassland south of the Huihe River, and a war was about to break out.

In the early morning of the next day, just as the sun rose, the two sides began to deploy their formations.

The Tengger tribe was in the south, Bu Shitu's troops were in the north, and further north was the Hui River. Once they crossed the Hui River, fast horses could reach Guihua City in one day. This battle was a real war that the Tengger tribe had faced since it moved north. Compared with the previous minor skirmishes, this was an important battle that would determine the direction of the battlefield.

Before the war, Zhu Shenzhui sent two groups of people to deliver letters to Ligdan Khan, telling him that he had decided to go north for formal battle, and hoped that Ligdan Khan would lead the main force westward as soon as possible, whether it was a detour to the rear of Guihua City or an eastward march to cooperate with Tengger's tribe to attack Bushitu.

However, Lin Dan Khan did not reply to the letter, perhaps because of the distance, he did not have time to reply, or Lin Dan Khan had other plans and did not bother to reply. But now that the war was imminent, Zhu Shenzhui did not have the heart to think about these things. He was busy arranging his troops and facing the battle that was about to break out.

Zhu Shencui divided his troops into a central army and left and right wings. The central army had more than 3,000 people, with the most elite cavalry of the Tengger tribe as the core. In addition, there were two patrols of the new army led by Li You and Zhu Shencui's direct guards of 100 people.

The left and right wings were composed of cavalry from the other two tribes, each with about a thousand cavalrymen. Taking into account their insufficient manpower, Zhu Shenzui specially transferred some troops from the Tengger tribe to join them.

Opposite them, Bu Shitu's army also deployed its battle formation, which was divided into a central army and left and right wings just like Zhu Shenzui and his men.

Compared with Zhu Shenzui's side, Bu Shitu's troops seemed to be significantly larger than before. It seemed that after Bu Shitu realized Zhu Shenzui's intention, he immediately mobilized a part of the troops, which greatly enhanced the strength of the vanguard. The strength of both sides was almost the same, and in terms of military strength, they could be said to be evenly matched.

The distance between the two sides was not far, and tens of thousands of soldiers from the two armies were lined up in battle formations. The tranquility before the fight made the atmosphere heavy, and an invisible pressure came over them, making it a little breathless.

The wind was whistling, the grass was rustling, and from time to time the war horses could be heard tapping the ground with their hooves anxiously, and neighing a few times. Everyone was looking at the opposite side nervously, their hands were sweating slightly, and they could hear the heavy breathing of themselves and their companions.

I don't know how long it was, when a dull drum sound suddenly broke the silence, the battlefield that was eerily quiet just now suddenly became lively. As the shouts rang out one after another, everyone's adrenaline soared, their eyes began to turn red, and they became excited.

Zhu Shenzui was in charge of the central army. He rode a tall horse, wore armor, held a spear in his hand, and had a bow and arrow, a mace and other weapons hanging on the saddle. In addition, there were two muskets that had been loaded with ammunition and could be fired at any time.

With a wave of his hand, Zhu Shenzhui decisively gave orders and the troops on the left wing began to attack.

At this time, Bu Shitu's troops on the opposite side also moved. Bu Shitu sent out his right wing cavalry to intercept them. The two cavalry units of more than a thousand people quickly approached each other at high speed as their horses ran. It didn't take long for them to reach the front after a distance of only a few miles. However, the two sides did not collide with each other as imagined, but adopted the Mongols' most proficient combat method - horse archery.

Genghis Khan relied on this trick to conquer the world, and so did his descendants. Batu Khan marched westward, destroyed countless countries along the way, and directly reached the banks of the Danube. If it were not for the news of the sudden death of the Great Khan Ogedei, Batu Khan would have returned to Mongolia to fight for the Khan throne, and world history might have been changed.

The rise of the Mongol Empire was called the "Scourge of God" by the West. Countless Western monarchs and nobles prostrated themselves and trembled under the iron cavalry of the Mongols. No one could resist the punishment of the "Scourge of God."

As time goes by, the once glorious Mongol Empire has long since vanished, and the four khanates no longer exist. The Mongols who were driven back to the Mongolian grasslands from the Central Plains by Zhu Yuanzhang are no longer the Mongols of the past. Although the various Mongolian tribes have experienced a brief moment of prosperity in the past two hundred years, they have never regained the glory of their ancestors.

But even so, the Mongolian cavalry was still brave. The bows and arrows in their hands were as fierce as those of their ancestors. The tactics of the two armies were exactly the same, as if they had planned it. Just when the two cavalry were about to collide, they turned their horses' heads in an instant, one to the left and the other to the right, and passed each other in an arc less than a hundred meters away.

At the same time, the bows in the hands of the Mongolian cavalry began to show their power, and feather arrows cut through the space and shot towards the enemy.

The sound of arrows breaking through the air came one after another, followed by the screams of those who were hit by arrows and fell off their horses. In just one encounter, more than a dozen riders fell off their horses. Those who were unlucky were trampled into meat paste by the surging war horses behind them before they could even scream. Those who were lucky enough not to die were also seriously injured and struggled and rolled on the ground. There were a few who were even more unfortunate who got their ankles caught in the stirrups when they fell and could not get out. They were dragged away by the war horses, screaming for help, and fell silent after a while.

After two or three rounds, neither side gained any advantage. Seeing this, Zhu Shenzhui could not help but frown. He waved his hand again, and soon the right wing that had been prepared for a long time also began to move out. The direction of the right wing was exactly the direction of Bu Shitu's troops fighting with the left wing. Zhu Shenzhui intended to gain an advantage locally by increasing troops. At the same time, his central army was not idle and began to press forward to prevent Bu Shitu's troops from responding. Bu Shitu was not stupid either. The cavalry he sent out fought fiercely with the left wing cavalry of Tengger's army. The two sides could be said to be evenly matched and could not tell the winner for a while. However, once Zhu Shenzhui's right wing arrived at the battlefield, the opponent's military advantage would immediately change the situation. Under the attack of the two cavalry, Bu Shitu's troops completely lost the space for movement. Coupled with the weakness of the troops, the defeat was imminent.

Seeing this was not good, Bu Shitu immediately changed his formation, but at this time Zhu Shenzui's central army had already quickly pressed forward. If he also sent out his left wing to fight the enemy, it would be exactly what Zhu Shenzui wanted. Zhu Shenzui could directly advance his central army to cut off the connection between his right and left wings. As long as he delayed for a moment and waited for Bu Shitu's right wing to collapse, and then turned around to swallow up his left wing, Bu Shitu would be defeated.

How could Bu Shitu, who had fought many battles, not understand? The battlefield situation was changing rapidly, and he would inevitably be at a disadvantage if he responded in the same way. Bu Shitu's troops immediately abandoned their right wing and used the horn to signal the right wing cavalry, who were in a difficult battle, to find a way to deal with the opponent, while the central army headquarters and the left wing cavalry attacked at the same time and rushed directly to Zhu Shenzhui's central army.

Less than half an hour after the battle started, the fighting became extremely fierce. Faced with such a situation, Zhu Shenzui immediately ordered the left and right wings to deal with Bu Shitu's right wing cavalry as soon as possible, while his own central army directly withstood the opponent's counterattack.

As long as the two forces join forces to defeat Bu Shitu's right wing as soon as possible, and then free up their hands to encircle Bu Shitu's flank, Bu Shitu's troops will inevitably be unable to withstand the counterattacks from both wings, and victory will be at hand.

All the Mongols saw this, and both sides firmly believed that they were the ultimate winners. They gritted their teeth and persisted, and it depended on who could defeat the other first. As long as whoever moved faster and won more easily, then he would definitely win the battle.

"Kill!"

"Kill, kill, kill!"

"what……!"

Shouts and cries of pain rang out one after another as the two armies fought in a group on the grassland. All the men were blood-thirsty. After they had shot all the arrows in their hands, they simply stuck their bows into the saddles, pulled out their sabers, maces and other weapons, and charged directly at the enemy while waving them.

As time went by, gradually, the right wing of Bu Shitu, which had been under tremendous pressure, could no longer bear it. They had not many people to begin with, only about a thousand cavalrymen, and now they were facing enemies that were nearly twice as many as theirs. In addition, their own side and the central army had been cut off by Zhu Shenzui's central army. There were enemies all over the front and on both sides, and not far behind them was the Gray River. It was now the flood season, and it was impossible to wade across the Gray River on horseback. Although every Mongolian cavalryman gritted his teeth and persisted, they were on the verge of collapse due to the gap in strength.

"Kill! Kill all these guys! Kill!"

A leader of the Tenger tribe had a grim smile on his face. He waved his long sword and shouted loudly, while several brave Mongolian cavalrymen beside him cooperated in the battle. One encounter after another, another enemy was chopped down by him. Faced with such a battle situation, he was full of high spirits and felt extremely heroic.

Not only him, but everyone else too, seeing that the enemy was about to be defeated and victory was just around the corner, everyone's blood was boiling and they were excited to the extreme.

But at this moment, the situation on the battlefield changed. Zhu Shenzui's central army, which had been holding out against Bu Shitu's fierce attack just a moment ago, suddenly showed signs of fatigue, and the battle line retreated slightly under Bu Shitu's fierce attack.

This retreat was not a big deal, as it directly opened up the passage that had just cut off Bu Shitu's right wing. Seeing this, Bu Shitu's troops were overjoyed and immediately sent a cavalry unit to support the right wing that was already on the verge of collapse. At this time, the right wing cavalry also saw hope of escaping, and their morale suddenly increased, and they began a fierce counterattack.

In just a few breaths, as Bu Shitu's reinforcements arrived at the battlefield, the Mongolian cavalry, who had just been suppressing Bu Shitu's right wing and had the upper hand, were instantly dumbfounded. They had never expected such a change. In panic, they did not make timely adjustments. When they came to their senses, they were horrified to find that Bu Shitu's cavalry was increasing in number, and combined with their right wing cavalry to form a counter-encirclement of their own side, watching the situation directly reverse.

This change made the commanders of the two cavalry units panic. They had no idea what was going on, let alone why it turned out like this. But it was too late to think about it. Facing the change in the situation, they no longer had the enthusiasm they had just had, but were replaced by extreme fear and anxiety.

Soon some people started to turn around and flee. When the first person did this, it instantly affected the entire army like a plague. In a blink of an eye, more and more people turned their horses around and fled, because everyone understood that this battle could not be fought any longer. If they didn't leave now, they would not be able to leave next time.

The Mongolian cavalry was indeed good at fighting, but the Mongolian cavalry, which had been recruited from various tribes since the Great Mongol Empire, were just herdsmen. They were not real professional soldiers at all. If they fought a favorable battle, there would be no problem, but if they fought a disadvantageous battle, the situation would be different.

Furthermore, the core of these two cavalry units were cavalry drawn from other tribes recruited by Ligdan Khan, plus a part of the direct troops under several leaders transferred by Zhu Shenzui from the Tengger cavalry. Their combat effectiveness can only be said to be mediocre, and they have not formed a unified command when they are put together temporarily. There will be no problem when they have the upper hand on the battlefield, but now that they are at a disadvantage, these hidden dangers are inevitably exposed.

(End of this chapter)