Da da da——
On the grassland where the grass looked green at a distance but was not there when near, a cavalry was marching at a steady speed.
This cavalry was divided into three teams: front, middle and rear.
The front and rear teams each had two thousand cavalry.
The central army had the largest number of soldiers, with a total of 21,000 men.
All the riders had two horses, and some cavalrymen even had three horses.
They were dressed in slightly worn armor, and were equipped with bows, arrows and sabers.
In addition to these, various light firearms such as bird guns and three-barreled guns were hung on the saddles.
They are the elite of the Ming border troops, the brave warriors defending their country, and the basis of this expedition.
"Pass the order, rest where you are!" Liu Zhaoji pulled the reins of the warhorse and said, "Each unit should send out scouts to investigate the enemy situation nearby!"
"I obey your orders!"
After receiving the order, the soldiers immediately dismounted, opened the bags of rations and began to eat the dry food.
Deputy General Yi Bangcai asked: "Sir, we only brought seven days' worth of food."
Liu Zhaoji poured a handful of fried noodles into his mouth and asked, "Any questions?"
"Today is the third day!" Yi Bangcai emphasized, "And another hundred miles ahead is Guihua City. If we continue to move forward, we are likely to encounter the main force of the Mongolian cavalry. If we are entangled by them, we will not be able to escape for a while, and we will be out of food by then."
"No!" Liu Zhaoji put down the fried noodles and took a sip of water. "Lord Lu has made careful arrangements. There will be food and grass."
"This..." Yi Bangcai stopped talking halfway.
"Just say what you want to say. Don't speak half the words!" Liu Zhaoji glared at him.
"Ahem," Yi Bangcai coughed to cover up his embarrassment, "What I mean is...if Lu Daqi fails to keep his promise, we will be in danger."
"Lu Daqi will not break his promise...and from now on you should call him Lord Lu!" Liu Zhaoji corrected.
"Yes, yes, Lord Lu!" Yi Bangcai hastily changed his words, "I don't mean Lord Lu will break his promise, but the generals under him. As everyone knows, they are a group of bandits and surrendered generals. This is the first time they are under Lord Lu's command. It is very likely that they will break their promise for various reasons!"
Liu Zhaoji put down the bag of fried noodles and started thinking seriously.
After a moment, he shook his head gently: "Don't worry, all the troops signed a military order before they went out. Anyone who fails to complete the task within the specified time will be executed immediately!"
"The bandits who surrendered are also human beings, they are also afraid of death!"
At this point, Liu Zhaoji paused and said, "And our mission is to attract the main force of the Mongolian cavalry. If we are really entangled by them, we will have completed our mission ahead of schedule!"
Yibangcai said no more and tilted his head back to eat noodles in big mouthfuls.
After resting for half an hour, the large army set off again.
This time.
They marched very fast.
In half a day, they traveled to a place less than sixty miles away from Guihua City.
Although they encountered stubborn resistance from several tribes along the way, they were all defeated by the Ming army with superior forces.
Although the herdsmen ran away in time, few of them were captured by the Ming army.
But...
The food and salt that they had exchanged for cattle and sheep from the border with great difficulty became a burden. Except for a small portion that was taken away, most of it was left there and became supplies for the Ming army.
On the grassland in the evening, the Ming army lit a bonfire and ate barbecue, with laughter and joy everywhere.
As night fell, the bonfire gradually died down.
After a busy day, the Ming army rested on the spot.
While they were resting, the Mongols delivered the news to Guihua City as quickly as possible.
The city of Guihua was quiet in the early morning.
Guluge, the commander-in-chief of the left wing of the Tumed tribe, is sleeping.
He lay carefree on the bed, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised, as if he had a sweet dream.
"Report!" The deep voice of the personal soldier sounded from outside the house.
Guluge was not woken up. He turned over and continued to sleep with a smacking mouth.
"Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, something terrible has happened!" the personal soldier shouted again at the top of his voice.
"Hmm..." Guluge raised his eyelids, revealing a pair of sleepy eyes, "What... is it?"
"The Ming army left Pianguan Town and after three days of rapid march, they were less than 80 miles away from Guihua City!"
"Oh...it turns out to be...the Ming army!" Guluge's voice stopped abruptly.
He sat up suddenly and looked out the window: "Are you saying that the Ming army has sent out troops?"
"Yes!" the soldier replied.
"How many troops did the Ming army dispatch?" Gulu asked while putting on his clothes.
"It is said that there are more than 20,000 cavalrymen."
"That's not right," Guluge was very puzzled. "There are many of our herdsmen in the south. The whereabouts of the Ming army will be exposed on the first day of its deployment. Even if the news was transmitted slowly, it should have arrived yesterday. Why did it arrive today?"
"This...I don't know."
"Ah!" Guluge stamped his feet heavily, "It's getting more and more out of control!"
In fact, we can’t blame the herders for not reporting the news.
The main reason was that Liu Zhaoji was lightly equipped, led a small army deep into the enemy's territory, and marched quickly.
In addition, the herdsmen along the way had just exchanged a lot of supplies from the border. In order to protect the supplies, they avoided the escape route to the north and fled in the east-west direction.
By the time they had arranged their supplies and were about to report the news, the Ming army was already ahead of them.
If you want to deliver the message you have to take a detour.
So, as expected, there was a delay.
At this time, Guluge had already put on his clothes. He opened the door and asked his personal guard: "Does the Right Commander know about this?"
"I think I just found out!"
"Let's go and discuss it with him."
Without waiting for Guluge to walk out of the yard, Hang Gao and his men came over.
He frowned and asked Hang Gao: "The Ming army is coming aggressively, what should we do?"
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