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

Chapter 356 An unexpected start but a tail end
After the war, these leaders would be skinned alive if they were not dead, and then they would have to face Bu Shitu's pursuit. Even if they managed to escape by chance, Zhu Shenzui had a backup plan, which was Wang Hai and a cavalry who had been arranged long ago.

When Zhu Shencui went to the expedition, the reason he brought Wang Hai with him was to punish Wang Hai, but in fact, after a few days of rest, Wang Hai's injuries had healed a lot. In addition, Zhu Shencui did not advance quickly to delay time when marching north, which gave Wang Hai more opportunities to recuperate. After more than half a month, Wang Hai seemed to still be seriously injured on the surface, but in fact, he had almost recovered.

In addition, Wang Hai was left sitting in the back of the carriage, guarded by a team of cavalry, and separated from the main force of the army, which made others pay no attention to Wang Hai. But they would never have thought that the cavalry guarding Wang Hai was specially arranged by Zhu Shenzhui. These cavalrymen were nominally guarding Wang Hai, but in fact they obeyed Wang Hai's command. Wang Hai's main task along the way was to clean up Zhu Shenzhui's tail and completely eliminate the hidden dangers.

Before the battle began, the logistical herdsmen stayed behind, as did Wang Hai and the cavalry. When the battle was about to begin, Wang Hai quietly led this small group of cavalry back to a place more than ten miles away from the battlefield and ambushed them secretly.

When the left and right wings on the battlefield collapsed and their troops began to flee westward, Bu Shitu's army began to pursue them. Wang Hai, who had been watching the battlefield, did not intervene immediately, but followed from a distance, watching Bu Shitu chasing the fleeing troops.

During the pursuit, Wang Hai's men dispersed and specifically picked up the stragglers who escaped from Bu Shitu's troops. They pretended to be Bu Shitu's pursuers and eliminated them one by one, and no one escaped.

After Bu Shitu's troops chased for a distance and saw that the people in front were losing more than they gained by continuing to pursue, they withdrew their troops. At this time, Wang Hai's troops took over from Bu Shitu's troops and continued to follow the enemy. They quietly followed them to their temporary camping place, and waited until night fell. When these people relaxed their vigilance, they suddenly attacked them and killed them all without much effort.

Everything was in Zhu Shencui's plan. Even Bu Shitu's move to break through Zhu Shencui's central army in one go after seeing that the enemy's two wings had been defeated was already calculated by Zhu Shencui.

Although it was just a cooperation, Zhu Shenzui never really believed in Bu Shitu. You have to know that they and Bu Shitu were rivals. This cooperation was just for the sake of interests, but it did not mean that they had truly shaken hands and made peace.

Zhu Shencui, who had been on guard against Bu Shitu for a long time, pretended to retreat, but in fact he was ready to use his trump card. Just when Bu Shitu was about to swallow up Zhu Shencui's central army and destroy the main force of Tengger's army, Zhu Shencui launched a fierce counterattack.

This counterattack was resolute and fierce, and it stunned Bu Shitu's cavalry at once. When Bu Shitu realized that the person in front of him was not a soft persimmon that he could bully at will, he came to his senses completely and immediately gave up the idea of ​​continuing to fight with Zhu Shenzhui.

Although their side had the advantage in terms of military strength, the fighting power displayed by Zhu Shenzhui was too strong, and they even possessed elite firearms that only the Ming Dynasty had. Even if they could eventually defeat the opponent, the losses on their side would certainly be extremely heavy.

If it was just a battle between the two sides, Bu Shitu might not miss this opportunity, but don't forget that Bu Shitu's real opponent was not Zhu Shenzhui, but Lin Danhan who had been watching from the sidelines. When two tigers fight, one will be injured. If the loss is too great, how can Bu Shitu deal with Lin Danhan? Lin Danhan is not Zhu Shenzhui. Although there are conflicts between Zhu Shenzhui and Bu Shitu, and the relationship between the two is not good, it has not reached the point of life and death.

But it was different for Lindan Khan. Lindan Khan really wanted Bu Shitu to die! Lindan Khan had long coveted the entire Tumed Grassland, and he wanted to destroy Bu Shitu and then swallow Tumed. If the loss in the battle with Zhu Shenzhui was too great, then there would not be enough military force to resist Lindan Khan's army. Bu Shitu understood this very well. Seeing that things were impossible, he had to give up his plan, abide by his previous promise, and directly let Zhu Shenzhui's central army withdraw safely.

Just like that, the war ended in a whimper. On the surface, the Tengger tribe suffered heavy losses. Several leaders of the tribe were "killed in battle" and the tribe also lost nearly a thousand cavalry. This was a considerable loss for the tribe.

But in fact, Zhu Shencui easily solved the internal troubles of the tribe through this battle. Those tribal leaders and cavalrymen who died in the battle were not actually Zhu Shencui's men, and some were even at odds with him.

Once these people died, no one in the tribe would be able to challenge the authority of Zhu Shencui and Tana. At the same time, they could also clear out the tentacles of Lindan Khan reaching out to the tribe and cut off Lindan Khan's influence on the tribe.

Next, Zhu Shencui would promote people to replace these leaders, and these people would be his own people whom Zhu Shencui could truly trust and use. Then all the power of the tribe would no longer be dispersed, and Zhu Shencui would truly become the emperor of the tribe, and he would have the final say.

In addition, after returning to the tribe, Zhu Shencui would clean up the tribe by taking responsibility for the defeat. The middle and lower-level officers of the tribe who were attached to those leaders would be dealt with together. No one would say a word about this because everyone saw everything that happened on the battlefield. If they had not deserted the battlefield, how could they have suffered a disastrous defeat?

After dealing with these things, he would give an explanation to Ligdan Khan and push all the responsibility onto him. Ligdan Khan would not be able to get any handle and could only accept the final result with a pinch of his nose.

Also, on the way north, the treasures looted by the leaders from other tribes could be confiscated. They had worked so hard to get so much, and thought they could enjoy it, but they never expected that Zhu Shencui had already regarded these things as his own. Before, he just kept them in their hands. Now he took them back directly, and used part of them to appease the families of the tribesmen who died in the war, and the other part went directly into Zhu Shencui's pocket. It was the best of both worlds. After returning to the tribe, Zhu Shencui directly announced the situation of the battle and informed everyone that the defeat was caused by the collapse of the two wings and the unauthorized escape.

Upon hearing this news, coupled with rumors that the warriors who returned to the tribe had witnessed the battlefield with their own eyes, there was an uproar in the tribe. Countless people began to curse these cowards who fled the battlefield for fear of death, and they tried their best to punish them severely.

In view of public opinion, Zhu Shenzui followed suit and held an internal meeting of the tribal leaders in a sham manner (in fact, it was just a casual meeting with his wife and children), and announced the punishment results the next day.

According to military law, the culprits who fled the battlefield were given the most severe punishment, and their property was confiscated, their family members were stripped of their noble status, and the women in the family were redistributed to meritorious officials. As for the sons, the older ones were made slaves to atone for their fathers' sins, and the younger ones were given away. Even a few who did not go to the war but were considered part of these people's group did not escape and were demoted to herdsmen one by one.

After resolving the issue in no time, Zhu Shenzui restored Wang Hai to his position and promoted several other people to replace the original leaders, thus reintegrating the tribe.

Although Burigude did not say it and did not know about the private cooperation between Zhu Shenzui and Bu Shitu, he could see clearly that after this incident, no one could shake Zhu Shenzui's position in the tribe. Everyone from top to bottom were Zhu Shenzui's people. He also cleverly expressed his attitude of submission, took the initiative to return the military power in his hands, and proposed to return to Zhenlu Fort to continue to be responsible for border trade affairs.

Zhu Shencui still gave Burigude a break. On the one hand, they had a different relationship, and on the other hand, Burigude was Tana's cousin. In addition, Burigude had no ambitions and had long expressed his support for Tenger. As long as Zhu Shencui did not directly drive Tenger off the position of Taiji and kept Tenger as Taiji, Burigude, who always valued friendship and blood, would not oppose Zhu Shencui.

It is better to keep Burigude than to get rid of him. This is also Zhu Shencui's opinion. He also needs Burigude's support. After all, Burigude's identity is different. He is the nephew of Ashe Temur and has the same blood as Tana. Since he supports Tenger, Zhu Shencui will not abolish his son and replace him. Why bother to touch him?

After the battle, Bu Shitu "repelled" the Tengger tribe, and wiped out the remaining two tribes, including part of the Tengger tribe, in one fell swoop, beheading more than a thousand people and achieving a great victory.

When the news reached Ligdan Khan, he could not believe his ears. He never expected that the Tengger tribe was so vulnerable. It didn't take long for them to be defeated by Bu Shitu.

At this time, Zhu Shenzui's letter also arrived. In the letter, Zhu Shenzui told Ligdan Khan the truth about the defeat, and cursed the two reinforcements sent by Ligdan Khan as incompetent waste. If they had not failed to withstand Bu Shitu's attack and fled from the battlefield without authorization, they would not have been defeated with their own central army.

What made the Tengger tribe even more angry was that although they were defeated, they had to implicate the Tengger tribe as well, resulting in the death of several Tengger leaders and the loss of thousands of cavalrymen.

Now that the Tengers had just been defeated and suffered such a loss, they had finally fought back the pursuit of Bu Shitu, and it was impossible to continue the battle. The situation was like this, not that the Tengers did not fight, but that they could no longer fight. Zhu Shenzhui could only apologize to Lin Danhan and said that he had to withdraw his troops, and the next war would depend on Lin Danhan himself.

Reading the letter, the expression on Lindan Khan's face turned red and white. In the letter, Zhu Shenzui mostly stated the facts, but also revealed some dissatisfaction. According to Zhu Shenzui's repeated urgings to Lindan Khan to advance as soon as possible and cooperate with the two armies in the battle, this battle would never have ended up like this. However, Lindan Khan refused to move, which eventually led to such consequences. Zhu Shenzui was also resentful.

Thinking of this, Lin Danhan couldn't help but feel a little regretful. If his main force had not stayed still but actively cooperated, how could Bu Shitu have won so easily? Lin Danhan didn't feel any sympathy for the Tenger tribe's experience. He just felt it was a pity. He was also very angry at the two tribes that escaped before the battle and couldn't help cursing.

But despite the scolding, the war had to continue. Should he fight Bu Shitu directly or what? Lin Danhan began to hesitate again.

But he hesitated, and Bu Shitu did not give him much time. After "dealing with" the Tenger tribe and the other two cavalry units that fought together, Bu Shitu's army had no worries. They joined forces with the reinforcements that had arrived and took a defensive posture towards Ligdan Khan in the east, as if they were afraid of Ligdan Khan.

At this time, Lindan Khan knew that if he started the war again, he would have to fight in person. Bu Shitu's strength was intact, and reinforcements had arrived. Even if he won, it would be a loss. In the end, Lindan Khan ordered a withdrawal. His army did not even reach the real battlefield. It just ran out for a stroll and then went back in disgrace. This sudden war ended in such a whimper, which made people laugh and cry.

(End of this chapter)