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

Chapter 423 Defeat
The war on the grassland continues.

Lin Danhan and Bu Shitu fought for more than a month, and both sides suffered losses.

Zhu Shenzui's army camp is located on a grassland more than 200 miles south of Guihua City. This location is neither far nor near from the battlefield. News from the battlefield is continuously sent to the camp by scouts every day and reaches Zhu Shenzui.

The largest yurt in the center is where Zhu Shenzui's tent is located. In the center of the tent, there is a huge sand table with complete terrain, which is no different from the actual situation. In addition, there are many ponies and people carved out of wood placed everywhere. Small flags of different colors are inserted next to these people and horses to distinguish them.

"Master, I just received news." Wang Hai walked quickly in from outside the tent and walked to Zhu Shenzhui who was concentrating on looking at the sand table.

"Say!"

"Bu Shitu's main force is retreating, and it seems that they are retreating to Guihua City. Lin Danhan's left wing has already chased them, and his right wing is circling southward. His headquarters is also marching westward..."

"Where are the two sides now?"

Wang Hai thought for a while, stretched out his hand and moved it on the sand table. Soon, the strength and position of the two sides on the sand table changed. Looking at the result after Wang Hai's movement, Zhu Shenzhui, with his hands on his chest, concentrated on thinking, but did not speak for a while.

"Any news from other departments?" After a long time, Zhu Shenzhui looked around the sand table and asked Wang Hai.

Wang Hai shook his head and said, "I haven't received any news yet. Since the war started, all the departments have been waiting and watching. I'm afraid they are all waiting for the final result before making a decision."

"Haha, they are all smart people with good plans." Zhu Shenzhui sneered. The Mongols now are a group of scattered sand. The Great Mongol Empire of the past has long become history, and the Mongols have been divided for a long time.

Bu Shitu was fine, although he was nominally the leader of Tumed, the forces he could mobilize belonged only to his own tribe and the tribes he controlled. But Lindan Khan was a failure. As the leader of the Mongols, he not only failed to mobilize other tribes, but was even driven from Chahar to Tumed by other tribes and Huang Taiji.

In the past, when Lindan Khan was in Chahar, he still had some prestige. But since he led his tribe to leave Chahar and enter Tumed, Lindan Khan, the Great Khan, completely lost the qualifications to command the Mongolian tribes.

Just imagine, as the common leader of Mongolia, not only was Lin Dan Khan constantly betrayed by his subordinates, but he was also driven away from his headquarters by other tribes and Huang Taiji. Even the Chahar headquarters of the former Khan fell into the hands of others. What prestige did this Khan have?

Especially after the news spread that Lindan Khan's southern army was completely wiped out after entering Tumed, more and more Mongolian tribes became neutral and watched. They all watched the war between Lindan Khan and Bushitu break out and continue to this day, but they did not show their stance and did not help either side until today.

Everyone is not stupid. Not to mention how much role they can play in such a war, even if they win, they will not end up well. Neither Bu Shitu nor Lin Danhan is a good person. It will be fine if they are the loser, but the winner will inevitably become the leader of Tumed.

At this time, the strength in your hands is fundamental. As long as your tribe is still there, you will have the capital to bargain with the winner in the future and save yourself.

With this in mind, all the troops kept their troops on hold and waited to see the final outcome. This battle had been going on for a month and still had no winner, which made everyone more determined to do so.

"Let Wang Jinwu, Hu Lin, Lu Yishen, Burigude, Hatulig, Li You... come to the tent immediately." Zhu Shenzhui gave the order.

Wang Hai responded and turned around to go out to pass the message. A moment later, everyone arrived at Zhu Shenzhui's tent.

"Everyone!" Instead of sitting down, Zhu Shenzhui's eyes swept over everyone, and then he said in a loud voice: "Bu Shitu has led his troops to retreat back to Guihua City, and Lin Danhan is pursuing him with his victory. His main force has followed. If nothing unexpected happens, the two sides will start a battle in Guihua City in two days at most. No matter who wins or loses this battle, I'm afraid it is not good news for us." "Bu Shitu was defeated? When did it happen? Didn't you say that Bu Shitu won a small battle the day before yesterday? How come he was defeated and retreated in the blink of an eye?" Wang Jinwu asked in surprise, looking at Zhu Shenzhui.

"Wang Hai!" Zhu Shenzhui called out Wang Hai's name. Wang Hai stepped forward, picked up a small stick, pointed the stick at the sand table in front of him and began to explain to everyone.

He pointed at various places on the sand table, explained the news he had just received, and showed everyone the current positions and deployments of the troops of both sides. As Wang Hai explained, everyone stared at the sand table, and after a moment they understood what the current situation was.

"This Bu Shitu is really weak in battle. It's a pity that we helped him deal with the southern army, but he still couldn't withstand the attack of Ligdan Khan?" Lu Yisheng couldn't help but say this, his face full of contempt for Bu Shitu.

In his opinion, Bu Shitu was really disappointing. He originally thought that after helping him to deal with Ligdan Khan's southern army, he could still compete with Ligdan Khan. The previous battle between the two sides was also very successful. But the situation changed in just a few days? Bu Shitu actually began to retreat and directly gave up Fengzhou.

"Bu Shitu's defeat is one reason, and the second is probably that he was planning to hold on. Don't forget that winter is coming soon. The battle will be even more difficult to fight when it snows heavily. It is better to withdraw back to Guihua on our own initiative and fight against Ligdan Khan with the defense of Guihua. As long as we can withstand Ligdan Khan's attack, when the weather gets very cold, Ligdan Khan will be unable to do anything to us." Burigude has rich experience in battle, and he is a Mongolian. He knows more about the situation in Tumed than Wang Jinwu and others, so he spoke immediately.

"I agree with this view." Li You nodded and said, "After fighting for so long, Bu Shitu has not shown any signs of real defeat. This is probably why he is taking the initiative to retreat to Guihua. It should be the same for Lin Danhan. He should be more anxious now that he has not been able to defeat Bu Shitu. If he cannot defeat Bu Shitu before the severe cold arrives, Lin Danhan's plan to control Tumed will be shattered. From this point of view, both sides have the same idea. Bu Shitu wants to use Guihua's defense to gain time, and Lin Danhan intends to take Guihua and destroy Bu Shitu in one fell swoop, which has led to the current situation."

"I agree with Li You's point of view!" Wang Jinwu suddenly said this with color in his eyes. After all, Li You was his apprentice. Li You had grown very fast in recent years. Not only was his skills almost catching up with his own, but more importantly, Li You was good at using his brain. After experiencing several wars and trials, Li You seemed to be better than his master, which made Wang Jinwu very proud. The insights his apprentice had just put forward made Wang Jinwu's eyes light up. After careful consideration, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He immediately expressed his support.

Hu Lin, Hatulig and others thought for a moment and nodded silently, thinking that Burigude and Li You's judgment should be correct, because judging from the current situation of both sides, although Bushitu was still at a disadvantage, he was not really defeated by Ligdan Khan. Now he suddenly retreated back to Guihua City, probably with this in mind.

The same was true for Lindan Khan. With the change of weather, Lindan Khan knew that if he continued to fight with Bushitu, it would be more disadvantageous to his side if he could not decide the winner. After all, Bushitu was fighting at home and had an inherent advantage, while Lindan Khan came from Chahar. His army was exhausted every day. In addition, Lindan Khan's migration also brought a large number of herdsmen. If these people could not be properly settled before the winter came, there would be big problems.

In fact, Zhu Shenzhui's judgment was similar to theirs. The battle between Bu Shitu and Lin Danhan had reached the final moment. The battle of Guihua City might be the one that would decide the winner. The winner would be the lord of Tumed, and the loser would lose everything he had.

No one can afford to lose this battle, because once they lose, it will be all over. Facing such a situation, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but be moved. He even thought of leading his troops north to fish in troubled waters, but the risk of doing so was too great. The previous battle against Lin Danhan's southern army was won easily by setting a trap with deliberate planning.

If they had really deployed their battle formations and fought against Intetabunang, how could they have achieved such a victory? Intetabunang was no drunkard, he was the most capable general under Ligdan Khan, and he also had 30,000 elite cavalry under his command.

Even if he could win, Zhu Shencui would probably win by misfortune, and such a miserable victory was something that the Tengger tribe, including Zhu Shencui himself, could not afford. Even if he used strategies and set traps, Zhu Shencui still suffered a thousand casualties in this battle, which was enough to prove the opponent's fighting power.

This tactic can only be used once, and it cannot be used a second time. It is impossible to fish in troubled waters now. The forces of both Bu Shitu and Lin Danhan are several times that of Zhu Shenzhui. Even if Zhu Shenzhui's new army and elite cavalry are more powerful, he cannot win. If he can win Zhu Shenzhui, why would he go through so much trouble? Why not just take action directly, kill Bu Shitu first, and then drive Lin Danhan away, wouldn't he become the master of Tumed?
It was just a thought, Zhu Shencui was absolutely unwilling to take the risk. It was not easy for him to train these troops. He didn't know how much energy and money he had spent. It would be fine if there was a possibility of winning, but the chances were too low. How could Zhu Shencui gamble his own capital in this situation?
But as the situation changed, Zhu Shenzhui, who had been keeping his troops in place, had other ideas. He couldn't just sit back and watch Bu Shitu and Lin Danhan decide the winner, right? If so, it would not be a good thing for the Tengger tribe.

I have called everyone here today to discuss this matter and the next response and plan. This is related to the survival of the entire tribe and the future of the Tumote grassland.

"How about we wait for our chance, and after they start fighting, we'll hit Lin Danhan hard from behind?" Lu Yisheng suddenly said this.

As soon as he made this suggestion, everyone was excited. Some people said that this was a good idea. Just like the Southern Route Army that annihilated Lin Dan Khan before, they could take advantage of the outbreak of the Naturalization War to strike another ruthless blow to Lin Dan Khan. Others said that it would be better to sit back and watch them fight to the death, and then attack at the last moment. If the timing is good, not only can Lin Dan Khan's problem be solved, but Bu Shitu can also be solved with Lin Dan Khan's help. Once these two guys are finished, won't Tumed become Tenger's tribe?

(End of this chapter)