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

Chapter 680

"My request is very simple," Wu Sangui said coldly, "Your troops must fight or surrender! You can only choose one of the two."

"General, can I report such an important matter to Taiji and then to you?" Morgen secretly groaned. This Wu Sangui was completely different from the Ming people he had met. As a civil official, Morgen had a lot of contact with Ming people, especially the Ming merchants who traveled to the grassland.

In his impression, the Ming people were weak and slippery, and they often liked to play tricks when dealing with the Mongols, and they were not brave enough. It was the first time that Moergen met a Ming person like Wu Sangui who was straightforward and said that the only option was to fight or surrender.

"Yes!" When Morgan replied that he needed to report back to the Taiji, and then inform him of the choice after the Taiji made the decision, Wu Sangui nodded.

Seeing Wu Sangui's agreement, Moergen secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Just when he thought he could use this to delay some time, he heard Wu Sangui continue to say: "This general will give you one hour. If you don't respond within one hour, this general will assume that the Wengniute tribe wants to fight. At that time, don't blame this general for not giving you a chance."

"One...one hour? General! This...I'm afraid it's too late!" Morgan said in surprise.

"That's enough." Wu Sangui said calmly, "It took you less than three quarters of an hour to go back and forth, and it won't take much time to ask your Taiji. So, this is it. I am waiting for your reply. From now on, if there is no news within an hour, I will assume that you intend to go to war."

After saying this, Wu Sangui didn't even look at him, and turned around to give instructions to several subordinates. As Wu Sangui's order was given, everyone began to act. Everyone became busy in an instant. The cavalry troops that had originally stopped began to make preparations for the war. Seeing this scene, Morgan knew that it was impossible for him to persuade them anymore. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and take his men on horseback, riding quickly towards the direction of the tribe.

Morgan ran back to the tribe panting. Garma and others were looking forward to it. When they saw Morgan coming back, they hurriedly asked about the result of the negotiation. After hearing Morgan's answer, Garma was stunned.

"Just fight! Are you afraid of the Ming people?" A hot-tempered chief was immediately furious.

"Fight? What can you use to fight?" Another chief protested, "The warriors of the tribe are gone. Don't you know how many people the tribe can spare to fight? Even if we take the old and weak into account, what are the chances of winning? Don't forget that these Ming troops are not ordinary Ming troops. Even the Kharchin tribe was defeated by them."

"So what!" The hot-tempered chief retorted, "There are still 10,000 people in the entire tribe. If we organize them all, I don't believe we won't be able to fight!"

"Can you fight? Haha, are you planning to sacrifice your lives?" Another chief sneered, "Can these old, weak, women and children ride horses to fight? Even if they can, let me ask you, how many people can replace one person on the other side? If all the people in the tribe die, even if the other side retreats, will our tribe still exist? Don't you understand this principle?"

"Taiji, why don't we just surrender directly?" An elder suggested hesitantly with an unpleasant look on his face.

"Surrender? What if we surrender and these Ming people go back on their word and kill us all?" another person couldn't help but ask.

"That shouldn't be possible." The hot-tempered leader who initially refuted said, "I heard that the other party didn't massacre the Kharchin tribe, and the Ming people are not us Mongols. The Ming people have always valued promises and face, so they shouldn't do such a thing..."

"You really think the Ming people are lambs?" Someone immediately retorted: "If they were a group of lambs, how could we Mongols lose the Central Plains? And don't forget that the Ming army also committed massacres, and the methods were even more terrible than our Mongols! In my opinion, there may be a glimmer of hope if we start a war, but once we surrender directly, there will be no way out, Taiji! Let's fight!"

"Can't fight!"

"war!"

"We must not fight!"

Several people started to quarrel loudly. Galma was so annoyed by their quarrel that he slammed the table and shouted, "Stop quarreling!"

Instantly, the tent fell silent. Garma turned his gaze to Moergen, whom he had sent to negotiate, and asked him, "Have you seen the Ming cavalry? How many people are there? What are their equipment? How strong are they?"

Morgan immediately answered Galma's questions one by one. He told Galma that the Ming army on the other side was extremely elite. All the cavalry had armor, and not only were they fully equipped, but they also carried a large number of firearms. One person rode two or even three horses, and even the horses were covered with leather armor. Morgan had only seen such elite cavalry from the elite Eight Banners of Huang Taiji. In Morgan's opinion, this Ming army might be stronger than the Eight Banners he had seen. Morgan could not judge the exact number of the other side's troops for the time being. After all, he was taken directly to Wu Sangui after contacting the other side, and he did not have time to investigate the other side carefully. However, Morgan felt that the number of the other side's cavalry would not be small. You must know that they defeated the Kharchin tribe in a very short time. Compared with the Wengniute tribe, the Kharchin tribe was stronger. Even the Kharchin tribe failed to stop the other side's attack and was defeated so miserably, which was enough to show the strength of this Ming cavalry.

Morgan believed that the Ming army's cavalry was at least around four to five thousand, or even more.

After hearing Morgan's answer, everyone showed fear on their faces. Several leaders who originally did not want to go to war and suggested surrendering directly could not help but persuade Galma.

Galma hesitated. Neither fighting nor surrendering was a good choice for him. Once the war started, the tribe would definitely not be able to defeat the Ming people with its current strength. These Ming people came from afar, first defeated the Kharchin tribe, and then continued to attack his tribe. It was obvious that they were taking revenge because of the war between the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. Now the elite of the tribe followed Huang Taiji to fight the Ming Dynasty. The tribe had no fighting power at all. How could it possibly deal with these Ming people?

But if he surrendered without fighting, firstly, it would be embarrassing for Karma. After all, he was still the Taiji of the tribe. Wouldn't it be a joke if the news of a Taiji surrendering without fighting spread? Secondly, Karma was also worried that Wu Sangui would not keep his promise. What if he surrendered and the other party raised the butcher knife? By then, he would have no strength to lay down his weapons and would become a lamb to be slaughtered by the Ming people.

After thinking it over, Galma was still undecided. As time passed, when Galma was planning to send Morgan again to at least make Wu Sangui guarantee the safety of his life and property if he surrendered, suddenly a horn sounded in the distance. The sound was low, but it was depressing and shocking, which frightened Galma.

"Taiji, something bad has happened! Taiji!" In the blink of an eye, one of Galma's confidants ran in from outside the tent, stumbling all over because he ran so fast.

"The Ming people... the Ming cavalry is coming... they are coming to kill us..."

"What!" Gharma was shocked. Wasn't it the hour yet? How come the Ming people came to kill us? He hurried out of the tent and looked out. Sure enough, dust was rising in the distance. He could feel the vibrations of horse hooves hitting the ground, and he could vaguely hear the neighing of war horses and shouts of killing.

"Surrender! Surrender! Quick, quick, quick! Someone, come! Go and tell them that I surrender!" Galma's face changed drastically. At this moment, he no longer considered anything else. If the Ming army rushed over like this, his tribe would be finished. And he, as the Taiji of the tribe, would not only be overwhelmed by the Ming cavalry, but even killed on the spot.

Facing the fear of death, Gharma could no longer think about anything else. His mind was full of thoughts of saving his life. If he died, what would be the point of the tribe's survival? He didn't care about face at the moment. Life was the most important thing.

Since Karma was determined to surrender, no one tried to dissuade him, especially since most people still supported surrender.

It was Morgan again. Under the order of Karma, he plucked up the courage to negotiate again. This time he rode his horse towards the direction of the Ming army. Not long after he ran, he met Wu Sangui who had already sent out troops. The one hour Wu Sangui gave them did not mean waiting for an hour before sending out troops. Wu Sangui was very clear about the principle of speed in war. How could he give Karma too much chance to consider?

So Wu Sangui calculated the time and when Morgan had returned to the tribe, he ordered the cavalry to move out. After nearly an hour, Wu Sangui's cavalry had arrived at the outskirts of the Ongniud tribe, ready to attack at any time.

As soon as the time comes, Wu Sangui will give the order to attack without hesitation, and the Ongniud tribe will be crushed in a flash.

As Moergen came on behalf of Karma to express that Taiji had agreed to surrender, Wu Sangui's cavalry did not directly attack the other tribe. However, although the other side surrendered, Wu Sangui was not careless at all. He assigned half of the cavalry to monitor the actions of the Ongniud tribe. Once the Ongniud tribe made any unusual movements or showed any intention of resistance, the cavalry would take necessary measures without hesitation.

Wu Sangui himself led the Guanning Iron Cavalry, and under the leadership of Morgan, he went straight to the Ongniud tribe. When he arrived at the tribe, Wu Sangui saw Galma waiting with several chiefs and elders. Seeing that these people were not wearing armor, nor carrying weapons, and they looked nervous with empty hands, Wu Sangui finally felt relieved.

The Ongniud tribe was captured without a fight, which greatly increased Wu Sangui's confidence. The capture of the headquarters of the two tribes, the Kharchin tribe and the Ongniud tribe, directly disrupted the enemy's rear and made the two elite cavalry who followed Huang Taiji into the expedition panic and shaken their morale.

After conquering the two tribes, Wu Sangui controlled the Mongolian nobles, leaders and elders of the two tribes. He did not massacre the ordinary herdsmen, which made Galma, who surrendered voluntarily, feel relieved. Moreover, when the few people who had previously clamored to fight the Ming army saw the elite cavalry of the Ming army, they no longer had any thoughts of resistance.

Although the Mongols are good at fighting and are the kings of the grasslands, the era when they dominated the world has long passed. The current Mongolia is no longer the Mongolia of the Mongol Empire. Not to mention that the entire Mongolia is divided into pieces and cannot be cohesive together, the Mongols' equipment and combat effectiveness are far from comparable to the Eight Banners of the Ming Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty.

Back then, Lin Danhan had 300,000 soldiers but was unable to defeat the fierce Eight Banners and was eventually driven away from Chahar. However, this Ming cavalry was no weaker than the Eight Banners and even seemed slightly stronger. How could a mere Mongolian tribe stop them?
(End of this chapter)