From the south of Daheihe River, the road is not easy to walk, and the soldiers have no idea where they are.

Only Chen Xi knew that if he continued to walk in the current direction, he would be able to reach Datong Town in about six or seven days. The roughly located near Tuanshan, and he could directly enter the pass from Tuanmaochuan to Datong Right Guard. This march would have a result.

However, Chen Xi was not prepared to return to Datong, and did not involve the issue of obstruction of the Tatars along the way. It was mainly because the military plan he formulated was not completed. Returning at this time would be like a substantial population, and it would also cause the morale of the military that had finally been raised to be discharged. He planned to continue to lead the troops to the Hetao area and complete the established plan. As for whether the Ming army in the pass would appear at the agreed location on time, it was not within the scope of consideration.

After walking for two days, I passed Qingzhong, which is the legendary Zhaojun's tomb, and then went to the area with a shallow water level in the upper reaches of the Hui River, and Chenxi ordered the crossing of the river.

Because the army has a large number of sheepskin bags that can be easily assembled into sheepskin rafts, you just need to find wooden boards to build a bridge deck, and the floating bridge is easily formed, and the Tatars followers did not come forward to attack. After a day and night of tossing, the entire army finally safely crossed the Gray River.

It was the afternoon of the ninth day of the sixth month when Shenxi arrived at the west bank of the Huihe River. The soldiers did not continue to move forward, but chose to stay in the river beach to rest. On the one hand, it took time to dismantle the floating bridge and deflate the sheepskin bags. On the other hand, the location of Yongxie cloth department must be investigated to prevent accidents.

In the evening, soldiers were rafting on the Ash River again, and Chenxi walked slowly on the river bank. The situation on the other side was in sight. Tang Yin came to report the military situation to Chenxi and asked: "Shangshu Chen, you know the situation of the Tatars. I wonder how far away the main force of the Tatars are now?"

Chen Xi shook his head slightly: "It's about two hundred miles."

Tang Yin's eyes lit up: "Doesn't this mean we are completely safe now? Why don't we go southeast directly and return to the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but continue to travel west?"

Chen Xi looked at Tang Yin: "Why can't I understand what Brother Bo Hu said? If you go west, you can still go back to the Ming Dynasty? Does Brother Bo Hu know a lot about the surrounding terrain?"

Tang Yin looked south, and under the illumination of the sunset, the towering mountains came into view: "Although I am not very familiar with the geography outside the border, I have seen the military map of Shangshu Chen below. I know that I can return to the Ming Dynasty by walking about four or five hundred miles southeast from here. But Lord Shen insisted on going west, and there were clearly some plans!"

Chen Xi looked around and found that no one heard it. Then he felt relieved and frowned and said, "Brother Bo Hu's words are really puzzling. Do you know the purpose of our troops?"

"Know."

Tang Yin said, "Shangshu Chen is determined to win the battle, saying that he will take everyone back to the Ming Dynasty is just to deceive the soldiers and let them put aside their guard... Going southwest further, it is the old land of Dongshengwei established during the Chengzu period. From then on, it will definitely cross the Yellow River. It seems that he has been going south, but for a period of time, it will be further and further away from the Great Wall... It can be seen that in order to achieve his goal, Shangshu Chen will use the trust of his soldiers!"

Chen Xi looked at Tang Yin and smiled bitterly: "Why did Brother Bohu say so unbearable? Since sending troops, our purpose is to detour the grassland and lure the Tatars to the Hetao area. If the enemy is not deceived, no one will say anything when we enter Yansui in Yansui."

"But if we turn back to Datong now, where will we place the established military plan? Have you completed the entrustment between Your Majesty and the court? Now there are rumors that I have found a place to hide after sending troops, and watched Your Majesty lead his troops to fight against the Tatars. There are rumors that I have surrendered to the enemy and treason. Isn't it true that I have returned to Datong at this moment? Even the plan I have made has not been completed, so what are the faces to ask others to act according to the plan?"

Tang Yin is not an unreasonable person. After carefully thinking about Chen Xi's words, he nodded and said, "Shangshu Chen wants to continue walking west, and there is nothing to blame, but I want to ask you next, how many days will you be able to arrive in Yansui Town?"

Chen Xi's tone was plain: "At most one month!"

Tang Yin smiled bitterly and said, "I have said it earlier that I will not interfere with Secretary Chen's decision and will not go out to talk nonsense. But please remember the agreement between us and bring as many soldiers back to our hometown as possible. We must not let everyone become lonely ghosts on the grassland!"

Chen Xi shook his head repeatedly after hearing this, thinking: "When did the talented man of Tang, who has always been cynical, have such a sense of responsibility and mind? He doesn't mean to remind me to bring him back safely, right?"

Because Tang Yin's behavior has improved a lot compared to before, Chen Xi did not argue with him anymore.

Tang Yin knew that Chen Xi was "uneasy and kind-hearted" and continued to lead the army west, but did not make any comments, but followed the troops together, which was enough to show that Tang Yin had no malice.

Back at the Central Army's tent, Chen Xi specially asked Tang Yin to stay and let the other party take a look at the military map he drew.

After Tang Yin looked carefully, he asked in surprise: "So Shangshu Chen had known where we were going, and even the route was designed in advance?"

Chen Xi shook his head: "Didn't Brother Bo Hu find out that I only marked the path we have walked? I can only know where we are now based on my rough memory and record the direction and route. As for the road ahead... it is still good or bad!"

Tang Yin looked at it in detail again and sighed: "It seems that it will take a long way to go from here to Yansui."

Chen Xi asked with a smile: "Brother Bohu wants to give up?"

Tang Yin looked at Chen Xi and shook his head apart: "When it reaches now, if you give up, it means that the road before has gone in vain. I understand Shangshu Chen's decision. If even our troops cannot achieve success, we hope that the rest of them... Alas, to put it bluntly, I am afraid that there may not be any progress in a few decades. It would be good to be able to defend our territory!"

Chen Xi praised: "It seems that Brother Bohu has his own unique insights into the situation in the border areas of the Ming Dynasty."

Tang Yin raised his hand and interrupted Chen Xi's compliment, "How is the frontier? There is no need to say that Chen Shangshu. In fact, it is all on the surface. Since Emperor Taizong, the Ming Dynasty has changed its strategy and changed from attack to defense. The court must start the war according to the way he treated the Northern Yuan Dynasty. Only those like Chen Shangshu who were afraid of the Tatars can lead the army."

Chen Xidao: "Brother Bo Hu is here to lift him up."

Tang Yin asked, "Then the next step, are we going to cross the Yellow River Ferry? As we know below, the water level of Junzijin Ferry in the southwest of Dongshengwei is relatively flat and has always been the first choice for crossing the river."

Chen Xi nodded: "Yes. Unfortunately, Dongsheng Acropolis has been gone for a long time. No one knows what it looks like now, let alone how Junzijin looks like... Logically speaking, Dongsheng Acropolis and Junzijin's geographical location are important. Yongxiebu's troops will send special personnel to take care of it. It should not be abandoned... Let's talk about everything after it's over."

"Didn't Yongxie Bu's troops form an alliance with us?" Tang Yin asked.

Chen Xi waved his hand and did not answer Tang Yin's question.

It was already thoughtful to let Tang Yin see the military map he drew himself. He would not discuss more about the march with Tang Yin. At the same time, Chen Xi himself also needed to calm down and think about how to avoid head-on conflicts with the Tatars in the marches that lasted more than a thousand miles in the future, and ensure that his troops occupy favorable terrain in the real decisive battle in the future.

...

...

Just when Shen Xi's troops crossed the Hui River, Batumonk's men also crossed the Heihe River and rushed directly to the Fengzhoutan area of ​​Chilechuan.

This area has fertile land, flat terrain and convenient irrigation. It is geographically called the Forecast Plain and the Tumochuan Plain. If history has not changed, in more than 70 years, Altan Khan, the grandson of Dayan Khan who was stationed in the area, summoned skilled craftsmen from all ethnic groups to imitate the Yuan Dynasty, and broke ground here to build a majestic and beautiful city with eight buildings and glazed gold and silver halls. The Ming Dynasty court named it "Guihua City".

A few days ago, Batumonk learned that his second son was jointly designed and killed by the Ming army and Yongxiebu tribe who broke into the grassland. He was furious and did not go south directly to fight with Chenxi. Instead, he led his troops across the Daheihe River and went straight to the core territory of Yongxiebu tribe. However, when he arrived at the place, he found that the Yongxiebu tribe had moved westward, and there were only some small tribes left in the Chilechuan area that wanted to fish in troubled waters.

Batumonk was originally a very rational person, but in a rage, he issued a massacre order. He showed no mercy to those small tribes who came to surrender sincerely and directly ordered the extermination of the clan.

The ninth day of the sixth month, night.

After Batumonk held a meeting of the Khan tribe, he retreated and left and left, stayed alone in the central army's tent, feeling sad.

Until the second update, Batumonk's eldest son Tuluborot coughed while lifting the curtain and walking in.

When Batumonk saw his eldest son, he didn't want the other party to see his fragile side. While turning his back to the door, he wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes with his hands.

"...Father Khan, rumors are everywhere now that his father Khan has broken his promise and clearly vowed not to massacre the tribes that he voluntarily surrendered to the Tianmeng, but now he is arbitrarily slaughtering the herdsmen in the Chilechuan area, which will surely bring bad consequences."

Except for Turuborot, no one can blame Dayan Khan like this, because Batumonk trusted the sons born in Haihatun, Mandu, especially favored Turuborot, because according to the Mongolian tradition of inheritance of the eldest son, Turuborot will inherit his Khan throne in the future.

Batumonk did not look back and shouted sternly: "These tribes once depended on Yongsebu's tribe, and they were half of Yibula's accomplices. Now Yibula leads his tribe's people to move away. They want to occupy this fertile pasture and talk about the matter of surrendering. It is really a wolfish ambition... These people are unfaithful and have no loyalty at all. Once we withdraw our troops, they will never sincerely support them. Why should I keep them?"

Tuluborot explained: "But the culprit was always Yibula, and there was the Ming general."

Suddenly Batumonk was silent, and the camp tent was terriblely quiet.

After a long time, Batumonk turned around, his eyes appearing extremely deep, and a terrifying force condensed around his body.

Batumonk said word by word: "Whoever does evil must be borne by himself. Whether it is Bula or Chenxi, they have only one fate, death... The Ming emperor could no longer send troops to help. If he did not take the opportunity to get rid of Chenxi, he would block my great cause of unifying the grassland! But Tulu, your brother is dead, aren't you sad?"

Turuborot suddenly realized that Dayan Khan had doubts about him.

As we all know, Batumonk is thirty-eight years old this year. His sons are generally not old, and his third son is only seventeen now. The only one who can really compete with Tuluborot for inheritance is the second son Ulusborot. From the revered identity of Dayan Khan, he was granted by Jinon, it is not impossible to change his heir.

But now with the killing of Urus Borot, Turuborot, as the eldest son of Dayan Khan, has become unprecedentedly stable in inheritance.

Tuluborot hurriedly explained to himself: "The child is naturally sad, but it will not show it. The child will turn grief and anger into strength and seek justice for his younger brother... Father Khan can entrust me to be the pioneer and let me solve the evil Ming general with my own hands and avenge Urus!"

Although Batumonk had some doubts about his eldest son, he finally shook his head: "The death of your brother is irreversible. I don't want to lose you as the eldest son because of some changes. I will leave it to others for leading troops to follow the Ming army!"

...

...

On June 12, Yansui received the imperial edict again, and Zhu Houzhao still ordered the three sides to send 50,000 troops to Xuanfu, and emphasized that there should be no delay. Wang Qiong was in great difficulty.

On the same day, he received news from scouts from the north, which was the first time he had received information from Shen Xi's troops since the war started.

Wang Qiong did not dare to be negligent and quickly went to Xie Qian to "seek advice". At this critical moment, he would rather hand over the decision to Xie Qian, so that even if there was a problem afterwards, he would be the target of the civil service group to protect. No matter how domineering Xie Qian was, he was not as good as shirking responsibility. Therefore, as long as Xie Qian decided on something, he would not be angry with others afterwards.

Xie Qian's face was heavy when he heard the content of the imperial edict. His old face was pale. Even though he knew that the emperor had not blamed him for his previous failure and even gave him a reward, his heart disease still did not recover.

Xie Qian coughed a few times: "I have clearly stated before that the defense of the three borders should not be missed. Your Majesty suddenly transferred troops to Xuanfu, which means that Yansui, Ningxia and Gansu towns will be empty. There will be Tatars attacks around Xuanfu. Is there not a place? Transfer 50,000 troops... Cough cough, how could Yansui draw so many people at once?"

Wang Qiong said tentatively: "Gei Master Xie, Your Majesty is furious and issued an order to denounce the three sides for their ineffective dispatch of troops. If you continue to delay, you will inevitably be taken advantage of by villains. You may attack Mr. Xie and his subordinates in front of Your Majesty..."

Xie Qian looked at Wang Qiong: "What about you?"

Wang Qiong hesitated and said, "In the following view, Xuanfu is not the main battlefield of this battle. The final battle may still be as strong as before, and it will be launched around the three sides... Since Your Majesty wants to mobilize troops, why not mainly use the local military farming veterans to rush to the Xuanfu?"

Xie Qian did not blame Wang Qiong, and began to think about the feasibility of doing so. After a while, he nodded: "It's not impossible, but Your Majesty wants to recruit the most elite cavalry in Yansui..."

Wang Qiong said: "The problem of cavalry is easy to solve. Mr. Xie might as well think about it. The main purpose of cavalry is to rush to help urgently and take the initiative. Three sides suddenly draw 50,000 troops. Even if it is just the old and weak who are used by the guards to farm, it will make the local defense empty. It is impossible to attack again, and the cavalry will not be used in a short period of time!"

After Wang Qiong finished speaking, Xie Qian's face looked a little ugly, because he had sent cavalry to fight the Tatars before, but he returned when he was frustrated. This just confirmed Wang Qiong's statement that cavalry was useless.

Two thousand fights six hundred, but the result is that the match is equal, and the self-destruction is still above the Diyi...

Such a result made Xie Qian dispel the idea of ​​sending troops to earn military achievements. At this time, he naturally agreed with Wang Qiong's suggestions.

"Um."

Xie Qian nodded slightly, meaning that this matter can be discussed. In order to avoid Wang Qiong being stubborn, he deliberately changed the topic: "Dehua, didn't you say that there were two things before? What is another one?"

Wang Qiong hesitated: "The scout received some tips about Secretary Chen of the Ministry of War!"

"You say it again, who is it about? Shen Zhihou?"

Xie Qian had an ambiguous attitude on the issue of dispatching troops before, and he looked very tired and had no energy at all. However, after hearing that it was related to Chen Xi, his face suddenly became bright, and he almost reached out to grab Wang Qiong's collar and asked to understand.

Wang Qiong was very surprised by Xie Qian's changes and hurriedly said, "Yes. The scouts we arranged on the northern grasslands did not find any information about Shangshu Chen, but recently some small tribes in the Dongtao Plain area migrated westward, and their herders provided information to our scouts. It turned out that Shangshu Chen first went to Tucheng after sending troops to Datong, then arrived at the Ninety-Nine Springs, and then headed west..."

"What about the follow-up?" Xie Qian asked with concern.

Wang Qiong shook his head: "There was no news after that. I probably knew that Shangshu Chen was walking along a river on the grassland. There was no news of the fight between the middle of the journey. However, I heard that Da Yan Khan had mobilized heavy troops to encircle and intercept him. The war was likely to have happened in the past period of time, but the news had not been sent back."

“Information transmission is too lagging!”

Xie Qian said angrily, "You can't learn anything on the grassland as soon as possible. When you know the exact situation, the daylily will be cold..."

The performance of the prime minister in front of him made Wang Qiong realize one thing, that is, Xie Qian, who had no expectations for this war, had high expectations for Chen Xi's performance.

Everyone's focus was on Shen Xi's people. Everyone knew that even if this war had a victory, it would be impossible to see Zhu Houzhao and the central army he led. In the end, Chen Xi and the troops he led would have to support the sky of the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Qiong said: "Because wars are frequent on the grasslands, the migration of small tribes is extremely serious. The nomads who previously provided us with tips now do not know where they have migrated. Judging from the current situation, Chen Shangshu is preparing to enter Hetao from the Dongtao area and then heading south to Yansui. This is consistent with the march and the route of seducing the enemy that Shangshu Chen had previously planned. So I think that if you submit a memorial to Your Majesty and inform Your Majesty of the whereabouts, you may be able to block the issue of sending troops to the Xuanfu Mansion, and then ask Your Majesty to send troops from three sides to the Shangshu Chen, which is very likely to defeat the Tatar soldiers..."

Wang Qiong's idea was obviously thoughtful, but before he finished speaking, Xie Qian had already raised his hand to interrupt.

Wang Qiong asked, "Geor Master Xie thinks it is so inappropriate?"
To be continued...