The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

Main camp of Naiman Banner, Horqin Grassland.

Subutai led 30,000 iron cavalry, along with 8,000 blue-banner servants of Wanyan Wu, and followed by 5,000 or 6,000 Mongol cavalrymen wearing tattered leather armor, their long spears standing tall and their banners obscuring the sun.

The leader, Alatan, rode forward, followed by five thousand men whom he had painstakingly gathered. Among them were children of about half-grown age, but only seven or eight hundred were wearing armor.

"Who are you people?"

"This is the Khorchin Mongol Empire of the Qing Dynasty!"

"Retreat quickly to avoid the calamity of war!"

Faced with nearly 50,000 cavalry, Alatan had no will to resist and could only try to intimidate this unknown force by invoking the Qing Dynasty's authority.

"Hahaha!"

Subutai and Wanyan Wu exchanged a glance and burst into unrestrained laughter. After their mockery, Subutai pointed to the eight thousand troops behind Wanyan Wu.

"The Qing Dynasty you speak of has already been destroyed by my Great Han. Now, the entire grassland belongs to His Majesty the Emperor of my Great Han, the Living Buddha Tengri Khan. Look at these colorful armors, don't you find them familiar?"

Upon hearing this, Alatan realized that the 30,000 iron cavalry on the left were indeed wearing various types of Manchu cotton armor.

This couldn't possibly be faked, after all, who would be so bored as to create eight thousand sets of Manchu cotton armor?

Wanyan Wu had already been appointed as a general, and many of his family members had been appointed as commanders of a thousand households. Faced with such courtesy from Galdan, he already regarded himself as a member of the Han army. Seeing that Alatan remained silent for a long time, he directly drew his sword and rebuked him.

"Alatan, I am Wanyan Wu of the Jurchen Wanyan clan, and I have now led the Jurchens to surrender to His Majesty the Emperor of the Han Dynasty!"

"The Aisin Gioro clan has indeed been besieged in the capital. Now, our Great Han Dynasty is going to recover the southern and northern deserts and Liaodong. If you don't submit today, you'll die!"

The eight thousand cavalry behind Wanyan Wu also raised their swords in response.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

These were all selected from prisoners of war, including bondservants and Eight Banner soldiers. All officers above the rank of General Banner Officer were appointed from the Plain Blue Banner, thus ensuring order and stability.

There were originally more than 10,000 men, but during this period of fighting on the grasslands, especially in the annihilation of the Xilin Gol tribe that connects to the northern desert, nearly 2,000 were killed in battle.

Moreover, when soldiers of the Blue Banner joined the army, each soldier had a slave mark on their forehead. Galdan implemented a system of collective punishment for them, and if one person escaped, the entire banner would be beheaded.

They had no military pay or families, and they were always the first to fight. They could join the Han army by capturing ten heads, which was their only way out.

And no one is more suited to taking heads than the Mongols, so their killing intent has become uncontrollable.

Alatan glanced at the tribe, then remained silent for a moment before dismounting and walking to Subutai's warhorse, raising his gold-inlaid scimitar.

"Our Naiman tribe is willing to surrender to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Han!"

Subutai bent down and picked up the scimitar, his expression unchanged, and looked down at Alatan.

"Select the able-bodied men from your troops to continue eastward with the army; it's time to unify the southern grasslands!"

"Advance eastward, that's Khorchin!" Upon hearing this, Alatan's pupils contracted, followed by a look of surprise and delight.

Of all the tribes on the grasslands, the Mongols dislike the Khorchin the most, after all, they are a result of intermarriage between the Jurchen and the wild people, though they prefer to call them lackeys.

If it weren't for the Khorchin, the Mongols wouldn't be in this situation.

Therefore, attacking Khorchin was politically correct.

Those several thousand young and strong Mongols were recruited from tribes as they fought their way through the region.

This is not an exaggeration; at that time, the grasslands believed in the Yellow Sect, and the title of Galdan Wensa Living Buddha had already spread throughout the southern and northern deserts through the lamas.

This can be considered the Manchu Qing dynasty reaping what it sowed.

……

March 20, 1674.

The 47th year of the Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty.

The Han Dynasty lasted 1,875 years.

For ten consecutive days, Subutai swept away the surrounding forces of Khorchin Mongols, and now they have been completely wiped out.

After these tribes had their able-bodied men conscripted, they had no choice but to obey Subutai's military orders and relocate all the people, livestock, and Han slaves in their tribes to the vicinity of Guihua City.

There, Galdan planned to mix the Mongols and Han slaves, re-register them as commoners, and hand them over to loyal men to serve as commanders of a thousand before sending them out to graze.

They would also arrange for scholars to go in and give lectures, telling them that the Mongols originated from China, and that the Golden Family was descended from Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang.

These days, there aren't so many ethnic divisions.

Whoever provides the milk is my mother!

Such measures made it impossible for the princes of the two wings of the Central Banner, who were stationed in Khorchin, to remain in their posts.

If this continues, it will be the turn of the Khorchin tribe.

They had followed the Aisin Gioro clan for decades and had acquired the most fertile pastures, growing their population to over 300,000. They no longer wanted to be ruled by others.

Therefore, after the 20,000 iron cavalry who rescued Beijing returned to their tribes, the two princes immediately united all the Eight Banners of Liaodong, plus the Mongol men aged fourteen to sixty, totaling 80,000 cavalry, and came to the north bank of the Tongliao River.

Such a large number of troops almost emptied the Khorchin region, including all the Eight Banners stationed in Liaodong.

As for the Eight Banners fighting so desperately, it was naturally because they had received Emperor Kangxi's decree. With so few men, they certainly couldn't hold Liaodong, so it was better to unite with the Khorchin and fight the Han army to the death.

Subutai was naturally not afraid. He claimed to have an army of 80,000, of which at most 30,000 were Mongol cavalry, plus 8,000 soldiers from various Eight Banners. The rest of the Mongols were all dressed in rags, and none of them had a good bow or arrow.

After all, the Han side also had 30,000 of its most elite cavalry, plus 8,000 Blue Banner soldiers and 20,000 Mongol youths, so they were not inferior at all.

When the generals gathered on the north bank of the Tongliao River.

The two sides had nearly 140,000 cavalrymen, who almost occupied the entire north bank, and the view from above was a sea of ​​people.

Subutai controlled his warhorse to run back and forth, while simultaneously encouraging and cheering on the soldiers and lower-ranking officers.

"Warriors of the Great Han! The glory of Genghis Khan still shines! Those who stand in your way are traitors to the Mongols! This time, raise your swords and follow me to unify Mongolia!"

"Wanyan Wu will lead the charge, with my 30,000 iron cavalry in the center. Zhao Hongcan, you will lead all the Mongol light cavalry straight into the Mongol rear camp and crush the old and weak!"

After distributing the battle plan, Subutai did not retreat to the central army, but instead came to the front of the general's formation.

"By order of His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty, the Grand Empress Dowager of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Borjigit Bumbutai, shall be sacrificed to the flag!"

At Subutai's command, Empress Xiaozhuang, with disheveled hair and a round face, was escorted to the front of the battle line by two soldiers.

At this time, Empress Xiaozhuang's eyes were lifeless, and she no longer possessed her former elegance and grace. Instead, she reeked of horse manure, as she had been living in the stables for some time.

"kill!"

Subutai showed no expression, only glanced at Xiaozhuang, and then spurred his horse forward to command his scimitar!

puff!

With the help of the horse's momentum, Subutai's slash almost severed Xiaozhuang's head, sending it flying into the air, its blood precisely splattering onto the Blue Flag Army's banner.

"Win the battle, then join the Han army!"

"Advance and you live; retreat and you die!"

Wanyan Wu immediately stepped forward, pulled up the blue square flag, and led three thousand blue flag soldiers to charge out.

The remaining five thousand cavalry followed on both flanks.