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

Chapter 676: Dispatching Troops to the Harahetao
Wu Sangui, whom Wang Jinwu was talking about, quietly left the Great Wall from Gubeikou at the beginning of the war. His Guanning Iron Cavalry and the cavalry troops given to him by Wang Jinwu did not immediately attack Baimachuan after leaving the Great Wall, but went north first, and then circled east to Halahetao.

Although Wu Sangui was young, he was an experienced military commander. He was well aware that the task he had this time was arduous. He was also aware that although he had two thousand elite cavalrymen, no matter how strong their combat effectiveness was, their number was definitely too small.

If it was just a sneak attack on Baimachuan, although Wu Sangui could harass the enemy's rear, it would still be difficult to cause chaos in Huang Taiji's rear or even force Huang Taiji to retreat.

According to intelligence, the Dorgon brothers were stationed in Baimachuan. There were not only 10,000 elite soldiers from the Eight Banners, but also more than 5,000 Mongolian cavalry drawn from the Kharchin, Ongniud and other Chahar tribes. Together with the Han army flags, the total force reached nearly 20,000.

With only two thousand cavalrymen at his disposal, it would not be easy for Wu Sangui to harass Dorgon, and if he was not careful, he might even be caught by the enemy and be followed and pursued.

Don't forget that both the Eight Banners and the Mongols were also cavalry. Cavalry against cavalry, and behind enemy lines, no matter how good Wu Sangui was at fighting, he could not defeat so many enemies. So after sending out his troops, Wu Sangui decisively adopted another tactic, which was not to attack Baimachuan first. He planned to attack the strongholds of the Kharchin and Ongniud tribes first, defeat the enemies in the north, and then lead his troops south.

The reason for this decision is very simple. Because of Huang Taiji, most of the young and strong people in the Kharchin and Ongniud tribes have followed the Eight Banners to the south to fight the Ming Dynasty. There are not many people left in the tribe. If the tribal headquarters is breached at this time, it will be difficult for the old and weak left behind in the tribe to stop Wu Sangui's cavalry.

As long as their lair is destroyed, the Mongolian cavalry outside will certainly not sit still and will definitely return to support immediately after the news gets out. Although these Mongols followed Huang Taiji to fight against the Ming Dynasty and both sides are friendly forces, after all, the Mongols and the Eight Banners are not really in the same group. They come together only because of interests. The Chahar tribes nominally submit to Huang Taiji, but in fact still maintain a considerable degree of independence. When their lair is destroyed, it is conceivable what choice these Mongols will make. Even Dorgon cannot stop them from leaving.

Once these Mongols left Baimachuan, Dorgon's available troops would be reduced by a quarter, which would directly weaken the enemy's strength. At the same time, the attack of the Mongolian tribes in the rear would also make Dorgon alert. In order to ensure the safety of the rear, Dorgon would inevitably move his troops northward, which would give Wu Sangui a good opportunity.

Mere harassment is not as simple as just a sneak attack on the enemy. The real purpose is to make the enemy's army mobilize according to one's own ideas and find opportunities to attack decisively during the movement. It is better to break one finger than to hurt ten fingers.

This was exactly what Wu Sangui was planning this time, so he adjusted the direction after sending out his troops. In order to keep his whereabouts secret, he did not send anyone to report to Wang Jinwu. Moreover, he had already gone deep into the grassland and could not contact the camp near Xifengkou.

When a general is away from home, his sovereign may not grant him certain orders. In Wu Sangui's view, Wang Jinwu had given him the right to use his troops flexibly anyway, so why bother with these details? The battlefield changes rapidly, and it is impossible for a general to act completely according to the plan. And don't forget that most of the 1,000 cavalrymen Wang Jinwu gave him were Mongolians. These Mongolians were not unfamiliar with the Mongolian grasslands, and they were also very familiar with the situation in the area north of Baimachuan. Wu Sangui came up with this idea after chatting with several Mongolian generals and learned about this situation. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the possibility of success was very high, so he changed his tactics and adjusted his direction.

Along the way, relying on the guidance of these Mongolian cavalry, Wu Sangui arrived at the Kharahetao area very smoothly. When he arrived here, there were several small tribes that were dependent on Kharchin and Wengniute grazing there. Seeing this, Wu Sangui decisively gave the order to attack. Two thousand elite cavalrymen in armor rushed directly forward. Before those small tribes could react, the cavalry arrived in front of them.

The battle was over in just half an hour. The barely organized troops could not stop Wu Sangui's sword at all. After defeating the young and strong resistance of the temporary organization, Wu Sangui controlled the herdsmen of these small tribes. Looking at these frightened herdsmen, and the women and children who were trembling with tears in their eyes, Wu Sangui hesitated in his heart, and for a moment he didn't know how to deal with these people next.

Logically speaking, in order to ensure his whereabouts, Wu Sangui should have raised his butcher knife and killed all these people, but he felt reluctant to do so. It would be fine if he killed the ordinary young and strong, but wouldn't it be too cruel to kill all the old and weak? Moreover, there were more than a thousand people in these small tribes, and it was really hard to kill so many people.

Wu Sangui was still young and not so hard-hearted. He was silent for a moment, but reason finally prevailed. Since he had already taken action, he could not be lenient and could only let these herdsmen die.

But just when Wu Sangui was about to issue the order to massacre, the Mongolian deputy general in the cavalry found him and suggested that he could get these herdsmen to surrender to them. Wu Sangui was very surprised to hear what the Mongolian deputy general said, and asked him what he could do. Moreover, these herdsmen were vassal tribes of Kalaqin and Wengniud, how could they surrender easily? And once the news leaked, it would not be a good thing for them.

But the Mongolian deputy general was very confident and smiled and said that he could try first. If it didn't work, it wouldn't be too late to kill someone. Seeing this, Wu Sangui thought that he might give it a try, so he gave the task to the Mongolian deputy general. When the Mongolian deputy general led his men to find the heads and elders of the tribe and said something in a gibberish, an unexpected situation occurred. The heads and elders of the tribe actually knelt down in front of the Mongolian deputy general, kissed his boots, and said something with excited gestures, and finally bowed down again and again.

"Okay, we have already made a deal with them. These people will not leak our news, and they will hand over all the remaining young and strong men in the tribe to us to follow us in the battle." After pacifying the chief and the elders, the Mongolian deputy general returned to Wu Sangui and said these words to him with a smile.

"How is this possible? How...how did you do it?" Wu Sangui was greatly surprised. He did not expect that the other party would be convinced by just a few words, and even took the initiative to send young and strong men to join their cavalry to fight together. When did the Mongols become so easy to talk to? If this was the case, then the nearly three hundred years of war between the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia would have ceased to exist long ago.

"Haha, as long as it's solved, why bother so much? Maybe they have long wanted to surrender to the Ming Dynasty." The Mongolian deputy general smiled and winked at Wu Sangui with a playful look.

Wu Sangui now felt that this Mongolian man, who usually looked honest, was a fox rather than a wild wolf on the grassland, and he was even more surprised by this change.

Then, more than one hundred young and strong men from these tribes were gathered together, and they joined Wu Sangui's cavalry unit with their own bows and sabers. Considering that these newly joined cavalry were Mongolians, Wu Sangui asked the Mongolian deputy general to send someone to lead them, which would be more convenient for command.

The other party did not refuse and directly accepted the task, incorporated these people into the cavalry, and sent two people as captain and deputy captain to command.

As for the other Mongols, after saving their lives, they were no longer afraid of Wu Sangui and his men, and even killed cattle and sheep to warmly entertain Wu Sangui and his men. Wu Sangui and his troops camped here that day and enjoyed a delicious meal of boiled beef and roasted whole lamb. After resting on the second day, Wu Sangui ordered his troops to set off, leaving behind the Mongols who were still grazing here, and headed northeast.

Wu Sangui naturally had no idea why these herdsmen would submit to him and even send young and strong people from the tribe to participate in their military operations.

In fact, the reason is very simple. It is because of the Tenger tribe. After Zhu Shenzui actually unified the Tumed grassland and entered Guihua City, the influence of the Tenger tribe gradually spread from Tumed to outside Tumed.

Especially when smallpox was spreading and everyone on the grassland was in danger, the Tenger tribe was protected by the Eternal Heaven and loved by him. Everyone respected Tenger as Jurkha and received the blessing (cowpox) from the shaman sent by Tenger, so that smallpox was no longer a nightmare that everyone was afraid of.

This is a miracle, and it is also the will of the Eternal Heaven. No matter what the Mongolian nobles think, at least that is how the lower-class Mongolians see it.

As a result, Tenger's name became famous on the grassland, and even the Chahar tribes had heard many rumors about him.

In the subsequent battle on the grassland, Zhu Shencui led his troops to defeat the coalition forces of the Later Jin and Mongolian tribes, which made the Tenger tribe famous. In addition, Master Sangge, who had a very high status in the grassland before, and his disciples publicized that Tenger was a person with great wisdom and great luck, and was the messenger of Changshengtian on earth. All Mongolians respected Tenger even more.

With this halo, it was much easier for the Mongolian deputy general to convince these ordinary tribal leaders and elders. He only needed to directly state his identity and tell them that he was from the Tenger tribe and a cavalryman of the Tenger tribe. His purpose of coming to Chahar this time was to unite with the Ming Dynasty to deal with the Jiannu, and that he had received the order of Jurghan. Then the other party's attitude would inevitably be different.

Especially since the Mongolian deputy general took out a token to prove his identity, it made the other party even more convinced. So when they made the request, they told the other party that as long as the other tribe did not hinder their military operations and cooperated with them, they would not harm them.

Even if they wanted, they could leave this place and directly break away from their original dependent tribes to settle in the Tumote grassland. He could guarantee their absolute safety and proper settlement on their journey westward.

How could these leaders and elders disagree after hearing these explanations? Not only could they save their lives, but they could also join the Tenger tribe. This was something that ordinary Mongolians could only dream of. Moreover, small tribes like theirs were originally at the bottom of the society struggling to survive on the grasslands. It didn't matter who they joined. Why did they want to die?

So it was easy to convince these Mongols, and they got supplies and even hundreds of young and strong Mongols to join them. As for the latter, regardless of their fighting power, they could still play a role as guides. In addition, this was a question of attitude. If they refused, it would make the other party suspicious. So when the Mongolian deputy general agreed, these leaders and elders were even happier and were so excited that they couldn't wait to become vassals of the Tenger tribe.

(End of this chapter)