Ten miles southwest of Guihua City.
He Jin was leading his 3,000 cavalrymen and advancing slowly.
"Report, the main force of the Ordos tribe was spotted ten miles ahead, with a strength of about 10,000 soldiers! Each man has two or three horses, and their armor is mainly leather, with a very small number of iron armor and a small number of cotton armor. Their weapons are cavalry soft bows and waist knives, and no firearms were seen!"
After receiving the information from the scouts, He Jin thought for a moment and said, "Everyone change their horses. Leave 10% of the troops to look after the pack horses, and the rest will follow me to form a horizontal formation and march slowly!"
Not long after they deployed their battle formation, three riders came galloping towards them.
There was a big bearded man sitting on each of the three war horses.
Their weathered faces revealed determination and courage, as if they had gone through countless life and death tests.
Unlike the brightly colored armor of the Ming army, they wore no armor but cloth clothes that had been washed so long that they had turned white.
"Who are you coming?" A dozen personal soldiers rode forward and stopped them.
"I am a subordinate of E'linchen, 'Jinong' of the Ordos tribe, and I come here to ask to see General He!" said a bearded man, looking at the flag with the word "He" on it.
(Elinchen is a person's name. His name in official history is Linqin Eye Qidaiqing.)
Jinong was a title for Mongolian noble leaders in the Ming Dynasty. It can be understood as the person second only to the Great Khan, also known as the "Deputy Khan".
Generally speaking, only the Khan's brothers or sons could serve as Jinong.
The ancestor of the Ordos tribe leader E'linchen was Borjigin Jineng. In the fifth year of Longqing, he followed Altan Khan to negotiate peace with the Ming court and was appointed as the deputy governor by the Ming court.
In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, E'linchen inherited the position of Jinong of the Ordos tribe.
In the first year of Chongzhen, when Lin Dan Khan went on a western expedition, E'erlinchen surrendered and was deprived of his post as a farmer.
In the fifth year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji attacked Ligdan Khan, who retreated without a fight. E'linchen took the opportunity to resume his position as Jinong.
In the eighth year of Chongzhen, E'linchen led his troops to surrender to Huang Taiji, who recognized his position as a minister of agriculture.
(I feel dizzy looking up names. These names are not only hard to pronounce, but also hard to remember!)
He Jin waved at the bearded man who was speaking: "Come closer and talk!"
Surrounded by five or six cavalrymen, the bearded man rode his horse and came to He Jin.
He bowed to He Jin while riding on his horse: "On behalf of Jinong Elinchen of the Ordos tribe, I would like to say hello to General He."
"Tell me, what's the matter!" He Jin didn't bother to ask the other person's name and went straight to the point.
The bearded man glanced at the cavalry behind He Jin and said, "Our Lord Jinong wants to see General He!"
"Let him come here to see me!" He Jin answered without hesitation.
"This..." Looking at the more than 2,000 well-equipped Ming cavalrymen behind He Jin, the bearded man paused for a moment, "Although we believe in General He's character, we will not let Lord Jinong fall into danger!"
"Our main force is ten miles away. To show our sincerity, our Lord Jinong asks General He to move three miles forward and meet us on the grassland!"
He Jin did not agree immediately, but waited for a while.
Soon, the scouts sent out earlier returned one after another.
After confirming that what the other party said was true, He Jin nodded in agreement and went to the appointment with two hundred personal soldiers.
After advancing three miles, an elite cavalry of more than a hundred people appeared in sight.
E'linchen and He Jin gave some instructions to their personal soldiers at the same time, and continued to move forward on their horses.
When they were ten steps away from each other, both sides stopped their horses at the same time.
He Jin began to observe E'erlinchen, the leader of the Ordos tribe.
E'linchen had a rough face, wore fine iron armor, and rode a fat and strong warhorse, which made him stand out compared to other Mongols.
In E'linchen's eyes, there was nothing special about He Jin except his sharp eyes.
"General He, nice to meet you!" E Linchen saluted He Jin with the Ming Dynasty bow.
"Let's talk about the matter," He Jin got straight to the point.
E Linchen smiled awkwardly, then said: "I heard that the Ming court is at war with the Tumed tribe. May I ask if the Ordos tribe needs to send troops to help? If so, we will send troops to help right away!"
"Haha," He Jin smiled coldly, "Who do you want to help?"
"Of course it's the Ming Dynasty court!" E'linchen said seriously.
"That's not right..." He Jin deliberately showed his hostility, "The Ordos tribe, like the Tumed tribe, had already surrendered to the Jiannu. Would you betray the Jiannu and help the Ming Dynasty?"
"General He, you are wrong!" E Linchen bowed to He Jin, "My Ordos tribe has always been loyal to the Ming Dynasty! In the past, when the Jiannu invaded the west, my tribe was short of armor and weapons, and was no match for them. Moreover, the Ming court did not help, so we had no choice but to surrender!"
"Now that the Jiannu are trapped in Liaodong and have no time to look west, we have a chance to return to the Ming Dynasty. I hope the general will understand!"
After listening to E'linchen's statement, He Jin was in a dilemma.
He couldn't tell whether E'linchen's words were true or false!
It’s really a good thing. With their help, this battle will be much easier.
But if the other party lies and betrays the enemy in the battle, it will be a fatal blow to the Ming army.
After thinking for a while, He Jin refused and said, "Our army is well-trained, well-fed, and has powerful firearms. We don't need your help!"
E Linchen's face suddenly turned ugly. He urged his horse forward half a step and whispered, "General He, I won't be able to explain myself when I return if you do this!"
"What to confess?" He Jin frowned.
E'linchen pointed to the distance behind him and said, "I brought more than 10,000 soldiers and horses with me on this expedition. If I return empty-handed, I won't be able to explain to the tribe!"
"That's your business and has nothing to do with me!" He Jin continued to shake his head.
"General He!" E Linchen raised his voice, "You are also a general who leads troops. You know how difficult it is to rally the troops! I am forced to send troops this time. I hope General He can be flexible."
"There's no way to compromise!" He Jin snorted coldly, "People's minds are unpredictable!"
E Linchen's expression suddenly turned from sunny to cloudy, and he asked coldly: "General He really doesn't want to give our Ordos tribe a chance to make meritorious contributions?"
"Don't blame me for not giving you a chance. Blame it on you coming too late. The chance is long gone."
"What if I insist on going?" E'erlinchen quietly reached for the bow and arrow on the saddle with his right hand.
Seeing this, He Jin picked up the three-barreled gun and said, "Let's fight! Let's see whether you Mongolians are more skilled in archery and horse riding or our Ming army's firearms are more powerful!"
Seeing E'linchen hesitate, He Jin reminded him: "Your Ordos tribe's grazing ground is only 260 miles away from here! There are not only your wives and children, but also countless cattle and sheep."
"Am I right?"
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