Di Ming

Chapter 218 "The Ordos Mongols will cease to exist!"

The Mongol cavalry did not expect that the Ming army's cavalry on both flanks deliberately retreated due to exhaustion, in order to create space for the cavalry on the rear flank to launch an attack!

This is a treacherous plot by the Ming army!

They were misled by the poor performance of the Ming cavalry and thought that the Ming cavalry was really bad at fighting. In addition, they looked down on the Han people's archery and horsemanship. In their arrogance, they did not expect that this was Qi Jiguang's trick of showing weakness to the enemy.

Previously, the cavalry on both flanks, commanded by Li Rubai and Chen Lin, were mainly tasked with drawing the Mongol cavalry's attacks, feigning weakness and retreating to hold them off, thus depleting the Mongol cavalry's strength while creating an attack path for Li Rusong and Ma Lin's iron cavalry.

Once the Mongol cavalry's speed and stamina were exhausted, Li Rusong and Ma Lin's cavalry launched a powerful attack from the rear, seizing the slowed Mongol cavalry and engaging in close-quarters combat on horseback!
The key to the Ming cavalry's victory over the Mongol cavalry lay in securing opportunities for close-quarters combat on horseback.

The Mongol cavalry were indeed better at horsemanship than the Ming army. If it came down to archery, how could the Ming cavalry compare to the Mongols who grew up on horseback?

Even if the Mongol cavalry were defeated, they could easily retreat, and the Ming army would have a hard time catching up with them; defeating them was easy, but annihilating them was difficult.

However, in close-quarters combat on horseback, the Ming army's elite cavalry were in no way inferior to the Mongol cavalry, and at least not inferior.

Moreover, the muskets and armor of the Ming army's elite cavalry were superior to those of the Mongol cavalry.

From within the high chariot, seeing Li Rusong and Ma Lin's nine thousand iron cavalry successfully launch an attack and engage the Mongol cavalry, Qi Jiguang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhu Yin smiled and couldn't help but say, "With Father's trump card, our army's victory is assured."

Qi Jiguang's expression remained somewhat grave. "No rush. How much we can devour depends on the infantry's abilities."

If the goal was simply to defeat these 10,000 Mongol cavalrymen, Qi Jiguang wouldn't have needed to go to such lengths. He could have easily defeated them by fighting a fair and square battle.

But what's the use of just defeating it?

The Mongols were defeated and fled; they can come back again next time!
Can the Ming army continue to waste time and exhaust themselves on the grasslands?

Therefore, Qi Jiguang devised this trap tactic not simply to defeat the enemy, but to annihilate them!

At that moment, before Bosoktu and other Mongol nobles could react, they heard thunderous hooves, galloping horses, and deafening battle cries amidst the smoke of gunpowder.

However, due to the vastness of the battlefield and the smoke from the firearms obscuring their vision, they couldn't clearly see what was happening ahead.

Unbeknownst to them, the Mongol cavalry, which had become increasingly arrogant on both flanks, were now being caught up by Li Rusong's Liaodong cavalry and Ma Lin's Datong cavalry, and were forced into hand-to-hand combat!

The Mongol army excelled in mounted archery, but once they engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Ming cavalry, they lost that advantage. In addition, their physical strength was greatly depleted, and when they encountered the well-rested Liaodong and Datong cavalry, they suffered heavy losses!

In a single exchange, Li Rusong and Ma Lin pierced through the two flanks of the Mongol army, cutting them into four sections and then encircling the Mongol cavalry.

These nine thousand cavalrymen were elite cavalrymen from Liaodong and Datong. They were extremely fierce in close combat, and they decimated the Mongol cavalry.

In a short time, the Mongol cavalry suffered hundreds of casualties, a devastating loss. However, they were now locked in a pincer movement by the Ming cavalry, making it difficult to create distance.

The four cavalry units were entangled together, fighting fiercely on the vast battlefield, each one intertwined with the other, locked in a deadly struggle.

Li Rusong led a group of his retainers in a personal charge, wielding a horse spear and sweeping all before him like a god of war, striking fear into the hearts of the Mongol cavalry.

"Attack!" Li Rubai and Chen Lin's two cavalry units, which had previously retreated into the infantry formation, no longer pretended.

The acting is over, time to get serious!

The two cavalry units launched another fierce attack, blocking the flanks of the Mongol cavalry.

As a result, the Mongol cavalry were now surrounded by the Ming cavalry and had lost their speed, making it difficult for them to break out.

Only then did Qi Jiguang's army launch their attack!
"Kill!" The three thousand Qi family soldiers split into two teams, charging into the Mongol cavalry who had lost their speed, one on the left and one on the right, forming a mandarin duck formation to encircle and annihilate the Mongol cavalry.

One by one, the Mongol cavalrymen were surrounded and killed by the Mandarin Duck Formation, with no way to escape, and were plunged into annihilation.

At the same time, Qi Jiguang waved his command flag again!

The Ming army chariots, which had been stationary, suddenly began to move forward at full speed.

As the firearms bombarded the area, the White-Spear Soldiers charged forward. Moreover, as they advanced, the White-Spear Army split into two groups, leaving the middle section open.

Meanwhile, the Ming army's central command opened up layer by layer, revealing a troop of 500 heavily armored cavalry archers!
These knights were all strong and robust, mostly from Hebei, with about 30% being Jurchens or Mongols.

These are five hundred heavily armored cavalrymen from Qi Jiguang's two thousand retainers!
Only their eyes were visible. They were covered in fish-scale armor on the outside, chainmail on the inside, and padded armor on the inside. The weight of these three layers of armor exceeded seventy pounds!

In recent years, Qi Jiguang has regained command of the Jizhou garrison and has repeatedly ventured beyond the Great Wall to intimidate the Mongols and Jurchens, capturing many Mongol and Jurchen bandits. Therefore, at the urging of Zhu Yin and Shang Yang, Qi Jiguang followed Li Chengliang's example and selected capable soldiers from these foreign captives to incorporate into his heavy cavalry force.

Nowadays, every Ming general has personal guards, ranging from several hundred to several thousand. However, only Li Chengliang and Qi Jiguang have heavy cavalry among their personal guards.

A general who looked remarkably like Qi Jiguang shouted, "Help the heavy horseman onto his horse!"

The soldiers quickly stepped forward, lifting each knight in heavy armor onto his horse and handing him a heavy long weapon.

There were heavy lances, spiked clubs, long axes, long swords...

The warhorses were also tall horses from the Western Regions, and the horses were clad in horse armor, with only their legs and eyes showing. They were not the semi-masked heavy cavalry of the Ming army, but truly fully armored heavy cavalry.

Ning Caiwei has spent no less than 100,000 taels of silver in the past three years just to build these 500 heavy cavalry.

The commander of this heavy cavalry was Qi Jiguang's son, Qi Zuoguo.

His nephew, Qi Jin, commanded five hundred heavy infantrymen among his uncle's household guards. Of course, Ning Caiwei paid for it.

Although the Ming Dynasty looked down on military generals, they had one advantage: they could support their own retainers, equip themselves freely, and the court wouldn't question where their money came from. However, they had to serve the court.

Without this freedom, Qi Jiguang wouldn't have dared to use Ning Caiwei's money to support his servants.

"Mount!"

"Form a wedge formation and attack!"

At Qi Zuoguo's command, the remaining thousand servants shouted and pushed the hindquarters of the heavily armored cavalry.

The heavy armored cavalry, propelled by the other servants, immediately accelerated, galloping like a torrent of iron.

Five hundred heavily armored cavalry followed the wagon corps along the passage separating the White-Clad Army and Qi Jiguang's army, charging towards the Mongol central army directly opposite them!
"Boom boom boom—" The vehicle battalion near the launch site fired the last round of fire, causing the opposing Mongol central army to fall and their formation to fall into disarray, and more shield wagons were destroyed.

However, this tactic of firing close to the enemy also resulted in more chariot soldiers being killed or wounded by Mongol archers, causing considerable losses.

"Divide into battalions! Change formation!" the battalion commander shouted, waving his command flag, and the flags of the messengers also waved.

Suddenly, the chariots that were moving forward split in two, with the left one heading east and the right one heading west, not only opening up the passage in the middle but also subtly transforming into two flanks of chariots.

Qi Jiguang's tactical change not only allowed the 500 heavy cavalry following behind to charge without obstacles, but also enabled them to flank the Mongol army and, in coordination with the cavalry and infantry, encircle the Mongol cavalry!

Rumble! Five hundred heavily armored Ming cavalry surged forward, followed by menacing White-Spear Soldiers. Qin Liangyu, clad in silver armor, led her personal guards in the charge!

"Ming heavy cavalry!" Boshoktu was shocked. Due to the severe asymmetry of intelligence, he had not expected that the Ming army had hidden a heavy cavalry force.

"Where are our heavy cavalry!" Boshoktu roared. "Charge! Mount up!"

Five hundred heavily armored Mongol cavalrymen were also helped onto their warhorses and charged out with a roar!
It was only at this point that Boshoktu realized that his cavalry on both flanks had been surrounded by the Ming army.

Who can blame him for not having a telescope?

Boshoktu was terrified. He had no time to think, but he knew he had lost, and lost badly.

"Boom—" The two heavy cavalry forces clashed fiercely, their weapons locked in a fierce battle. However, the Ming heavy cavalry was far better equipped than the Mongols, and the Mongol heavy cavalry were immediately at a disadvantage.

The heavily armored Ming cavalry broke through and finally charged into the already chaotic Mongol central army formation.

Behind them stood three thousand menacing white-spear soldiers.

The Mongol heavy cavalry and Boshoktu's central army collapsed in an instant.

"Hurry up and go!" Boshoktu and the other Mongol nobles had only one thought at this moment.

escape!

However, the Ming army's chariots, which had shifted to the flanks, were now almost at the rear of the Mongol central army and began firing their weapons.

The Mongol central army's escape route was cut off by Ming chariots, exposing them to the bombardment of firearms.

"Kill!" Qin Liangyu followed the heavy cavalry into the Mongol central army, as if entering an empty land, with no enemy to fight her. In the blink of an eye, she killed several people, her bravery unstoppable.

Three thousand White-Spear Soldiers stormed in, and the remaining thousand-odd Mongol cavalry were completely slaughtered.

They couldn't break through the enemy lines and were killed one by one by the fierce White-Spear Army, their heads severed by short swords.

So miserable!

Meanwhile, on the other side, Ming infantrymen including Xiong Tingbi, Qi Jiguang's personal guards, Zhu Yin's private soldiers, and the governor's battalion led by Hao Yunlai and Zheng Guowang also charged into the Mongol cavalry on both flanks, killing any Mongol soldiers they saw.

At this point, it was no longer a battle, but a large-scale encirclement and slaughter.

Qi Jiguang truly lived up to his reputation as a renowned general of his time, and he fought a decisive battle that resulted in a annihilation of the enemy.

Except for a few Mongol cavalrymen who fled the battlefield like stray dogs, most of the Mongol cavalrymen were trapped in the battlefield within a radius of several miles and were wiped out one by one.

The screams were deafening, the ground was sticky, and there were bloodstains, severed limbs, and entrails everywhere. But there were very few heads, because they were all hanging from the waists of the Ming soldiers.

Zhu Yin had previously said that stealing kills was forbidden, but nobody listened.

The stench of blood, entrails, and feces was so strong it seemed to suffocate, as if the air itself had become sticky.

Blood was flowing freely on the ground, forming blood blister-like pools in the low-lying areas.

Even Zheng Guowang got to experience the thrill of killing a Tartar. She kept repeating to herself, "I am a man! I am a man!" as she cut off a Tartar's head and shouted through gritted teeth, "A man should kill a barbarian!" But this shout was delicate and sweet, not unlike that of a woman.

Fortunately, apart from her personal guards, no one noticed that her voice sounded off.

She was extremely excited. She had won! A resounding victory!
"Ugh—" Hao Yunlai, a scholar from a farming family, had never seen such a scene of carnage before. He leaned on Zhu Yin's carriage and couldn't help but vomit.

Zhu Yin stood on the high cart, looking down at Hao Yunlai's pitiful appearance, and chuckled:
“Brother Huaji, you are the military supervisor. If the soldiers of the command post see you like this, it will damage your prestige.”

Hao Yunlai, forcing back his nausea, said, "Child Tiger, I recently cast a divination, and this battle was supposed to be dangerous. But how come things are going so smoothly?"

"Danger?" Zhu Yin narrowed his eyes. "Perhaps your calculations are inaccurate."

Hao Yunlai said with a wry smile, "Child Tiger, have you never thought about what would happen if we lost this battle?"

Zhu Yin gazed at the white clouds in the sky, his eyes filled with an indescribable sense of remoteness and loneliness.

"You don't understand. Hao Huaji, you never will."

But Qi Jiguang said, "This battle was exhilarating. The Ordos Golden Tent is now in our hands, and no one can stop the Ming Dynasty from recovering the Hetao region."

Only then was Qi Jiguang completely relieved.

Half an hour later, the huge battlefield finally fell silent.

As far as the eye could see, corpses lay scattered and densely packed for miles. The winds of Yinshan blew, the Yellow River seemed to choke, and Wuhai Lake seemed to weep.

Battle flags, like paintings!
Exhausted from the fighting, many Ming soldiers took off their armor and sat on the ground to rest. They took out milk candies, carefully unwrapped them, and put them in their mouths. They stroked the exquisite candy wrappers in their hands and stared intently at the beautiful woman on the wrapper: Sister Chang'e.

Their expressions ranged from dazed, content, sweet, and blank... to many other things.

The clerks began to tally the spoils and casualties, while the generals argued among themselves about the division of the heads.

Li Rusong stood alone, leaning on his sword, silently watching the fallen loyal servants who had served him for many years.

Qin Liangyu's hair was disheveled. She hugged her warhorse and rubbed her cheek against it, her expression somewhat somber.

Her warhorse's belly was ripped open, its internal organs spilling out; it certainly wouldn't survive.

Xiong Tingbi wiped his lance and chatted idly with Mao Wenlong, who was wiping his armor.

Zheng Guowang hid behind a chariot, fiddling with something in his chest, peeking out every now and then.

"Screech—" Suddenly, a flying shadow shot straight into the sky, sweeping across the desolate battlefield, emitting a long, drawn-out eagle cry.

Tens of thousands of soldiers looked up together.

But then the magnificent eagle swooped down again and landed on the commander's command chariot, where it remained motionless as if cast in iron.

Suddenly, a rustling sound appeared in the grass, and a Mongolian dog darted out and fled swiftly to the north. This was Boshoktu's hunting dog.

"Woof woof..." A shadow shot out like an arrow from the high carriage, revealing itself to be a black tiger wearing tiger-striped armor. At first glance, it looked like a tiger.

The Mongolian hunting dog hadn't run far when it was caught up by the black tiger, and it was so frightened that its paws went limp and it whimpered incessantly.

Black Tiger licked its lips, not bothering the Mongolian hunting dog. However, its four paws were already stained red with blood from the ground.

It took quite a while before the results and casualties were tallied.

Boshoktu was captured, and 9,600 were beheaded. More than 18,000 warhorses were captured intact.

Only a little over two thousand cavalrymen managed to break through the encirclement. Many of these escaped Mongol cavalrymen were wounded.

The total number of Ming army casualties was less than three thousand.

Upon seeing the reported results, Zhu Yin and Qi Jiguang immediately summoned their generals.

"General Fu! Commander!" Even Li Rusong, a veteran of countless battles, was extremely excited. "Nine thousand six hundred heads have been taken! Since Wang Yue, there has never been such a great victory! After this battle, the Hetao region has changed hands!"

Ma Lin, Chen Lin, Li Rubai, and others were overjoyed.

Nearly 10,000 were beheaded!

Since its founding, the Ming Dynasty has achieved a record of beheading nearly 10,000 northern barbarians, which can be counted on one hand.

It was not only a great victory unprecedented in a century, but also a very clever one.

Although Zhu Yin was very happy, he was not surprised at all.

He secretly prepared for the Ningxia battle for several years. Was it easy for him to achieve this result?

First, as a time traveler, he knew the situation of the Mongol tribes better than anyone else and was able to formulate strategies by standing on the shoulders of history.

Secondly, they spent several years gathering intelligence. Without timely and effective intelligence support, without the extensive work done by Huya and the trading company, and without the money spent beforehand, he and Qi Jiguang would never have dared to fight this battle like this!
Third, the tens of thousands of Ming soldiers who went beyond the Great Wall, including their generals, were all elite troops and generals of the Ming army, far superior to ordinary border soldiers.

Which troops to deploy and which general to assign requires the time traveler's insight.

Fourth, because Zhu Yin was well-prepared and deeply involved in the military pay and equipment of the Ming army, there were no problems with the logistical support of these tens of thousands of Ming troops.

Fifth, his dazzling achievement of winning the top three prizes in a row objectively instilled awe in his generals, preventing any instances of conflict of authority or double-dealing.

Sixth, with powerful figures like Shen Yiguan and Tian Yi secretly supporting him in the court, there was no obstruction.

With these conditions and the command of the famous general Qi Jiguang, such a fierce and exhilarating battle of annihilation was won!

My adoptive father will definitely be granted a title based on this battle. He'll certainly be a count.

As for myself... because of Consort Zheng's influence, I have no hope of being granted a title; I'd be lucky to even get a promotion.

Many people in later generations believed that civil officials who were granted titles and honors for their military achievements were no longer civil officials, which is a big misunderstanding.

In the Ming Dynasty, civil officials who passed the imperial examinations and were granted titles for military merit remained civil officials; there was no rule that they could no longer serve as civil officials. Therefore, granting titles to civil officials was definitely a good thing.

But Zhu Yin didn't care about the imperial title. He only wanted an official position and military power!
If this battle ends perfectly, and if one can be rewarded with the title of Right Vice Censor-in-Chief or Vice Minister of War, one may be able to obtain official positions such as Governor-General of Jiliao or Manager of Korea, and serve as the commander-in-chief in the fight against Japanese pirates!
Now that the Battle of Wuliangsuhai has been a great victory, Boshuoketu has been captured, and the 30,000 Mongol cavalrymen who marched south have gone to Ningxia, the overall situation in the Hetao region has been settled.

With just this one battle, this war is much larger in scale and impact than the Ningxia Campaign in history!
History began to change.

Next, we will reclaim the Hetao region, then return to Ningxia with a great victory, and together with Ye Mengxiong, Ma Gui, Xiao Ruxun, and others, eliminate the rebel army and the Mongol reinforcements.

Despite the great victory, Zhu Yin was still saddened by the thought of the more than three thousand Ming soldiers who had died or been wounded.

One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand.

Many of the soldiers who followed him beyond the Great Wall never returned.

Zhu Yin sat on a stool and said to Emperor Kangxi, who was attending him, "Kangxi, go and fetch some milk candy to distribute to the generals."

He then said to Mao Wenlong, "Bring all the Mongol leaders here."

Before long, Boshuoketu, the leader of the Ordos tribe and the Jin Nong (Deputy King) of the Ming Dynasty, was escorted over by Mao Wenlong and Wei Zhongxian with his hair disheveled, clothes in disarray, and face covered in blood.

Following behind him were several commanders of the Ordos tribe, known as Nayan.

Zhu Yin spoke in Mongolian: "Ketu Noyan, I have come today with the orders of the Great Ming Khan to punish you. You supported and instigated Bo Bai's rebellion, violated the oath between Anda Khan and San Niangzi, and brought disaster upon yourself! I have led a large army to punish your crimes. Look at these poor people! These Mongol warriors have lost their lives because of your greed and ambition. This is the price of challenging the Celestial Empire!"

The generals were surprised, not expecting Zhu Yin to know Mongolian, and to speak it so fluently.

Boshuoketu and the others were also shocked. They blinked and then realized that the Ming army's commander was a boy of fifteen or sixteen years old.

They weren't stupid; they immediately guessed who this person was.

Only this person could be qualified to be a military supervisor at this age.

That's right, even the Mongols knew that the Great Ming Khan would use scholars as commanders.

Boshuoketu immediately knelt on one knee, his expression sorrowful as he clutched his chest and said:

"Your Excellency, Grand Tutor, a man of both courage and wisdom, if I am not mistaken, you are the renowned reincarnated Star Lord. If it is indeed you who have descended upon us on horseback, then my defeat is only to be expected. I, this foolish and ominous man, should offer my whip and sword."

Zhu Yin coldly said, “Boshoktu, listen to me! When your Anda Khan handed over his soul to those self-proclaimed Living Buddhas in Tibet, the fate of the Mongols was already sealed. You abandoned the Eternal Heaven Tengri, which is to say, you abandoned Genghis Khan’s beliefs. The Golden Family was thus disgraced, and the Mongol Khans wept in the underworld, while you, their unlucky descendants, rejoiced!”

"Today I bring a great army, but I also bring mercy! The Mongols on the grasslands, the subjects of the Great Khan, will rejoice because of this."

"Boshoktu, you will meet the supreme Khan of the Ming Dynasty, but as a prisoner, prostrating yourself before the walls of Beijing. Your submission will serve as a warning to those restless, jackal-like Mongols, forcing them to lower their unruly heads!"

Boshuoketu trembled and wept, saying, "Boshuoketu's mistakes cannot be washed away by the waters of Wuliangsuhai. Boshuoketu's remorse is as real as gold. Grand Tutor Zhu, as majestic as the Yinshan Mountains, begs you to forgive the rudeness of the Ordos people."

The Mongols have a custom of addressing powerful Han Chinese generals as "Grand Tutor".

Zhu Yin stood up, his body blocking the sunlight, casting a shadow over Boshuoketu. The young imperial envoy's voice was as cold as the snow of the Helan Mountains:

“Boshoktu, the merciful Khan of the Ming Dynasty will forgive you and the Ordos people. But you must surrender, hand over the seals and registers of the Golden Horde, the flags and drums, and all your families, cattle, sheep, slaves, warhorses… and order the 30,000 cavalrymen marching south to surrender!”

"I can save all of your lives! I can save the eight white chambers of Genghis Khan's shrine!"

"But from this day forward, the Hetao region will become the direct territory of the Celestial Empire, and the Hetao Mongols will cease to exist!"

Upon hearing this, Boshuoketu's vision went black and he fainted.

Finished!

(End of this chapter)