Hundreds of thousands of grassland cavalry attacked Zhu Chong from the east and west.

The Ming army's strongholds were constantly breached by the grassland cavalry, and a large number of artillery, muskets and food became the spoils of the Tatars and the Oirat.

The Asut tribe and some other grassland tribes went south to block Zhu Chong's retreat.

They launched a three-way encirclement and suppression campaign against Zhu Chong, hoping to deal a huge blow to the Ming army.

If they could destroy Zhu Chong's Ming army, first of all they would gain a huge harvest in terms of spoils, enough armor, firearms, and cannons to equip an army of more than 100,000. This would definitely greatly enhance the strength of the various tribes on the grassland, giving them the power to confront the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, this was also a major victory at this stage, and it was also very important in dealing a heavy blow to the morale of the Ming army.

Therefore, for the grassland tribes, this battle must be won.

"This Ming army is too rich, Prime Minister. Just the less than 10,000 Ming troops we captured this time actually have 50 cannons, more than 8,000 armors, and a large amount of food."

"Damn it, Prime Minister, you don't know that these Ming soldiers eat better than us. They even carry a lot of condiments, which they sprinkle on the roasted tender lamb. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, just thinking about it makes my mouth water."

"We've really made a fortune this time. Even if we were begging for money before, we've never been this rich."

Taiping smiled like a fool, this time he gained so much. Although he was one of the three leaders of Wala, in fact the life of Wala was not that good.

Especially after the Ming army imposed the embargo, it means that their supplies are now constantly decreasing.

One ounce of gold is worth one ounce of rice.

Not to mention the condiments used for barbecue. Many Wala nobles just wanted to fill their stomachs. As for the taste, it was difficult for them to pursue it. It was not that they didn't want to, but that they didn't have the conditions.

Even if they went south to plunder, what good things could they find at the border? Many places were well-fortified and clean.

Many spices used for barbecue were extremely expensive in the Ming Dynasty and naturally could not be grown at the border.

When Mahamu heard Taiping's words, his expression was not very good.

"This time we captured a total of about 20,000 Ming troops. Most of them were infantry. We came too quickly and caught them off guard. But even so, we still lost nearly 30,000 warriors."

"Their artillery and muskets caused us too much damage. When the artillery exploded among the horses, the horses were easily frightened."

"We must remember this lesson. If we attack the Ming army's camp like this, it will be easy for the horses to be frightened halfway. However, the Han people gave us an idea. We can plug the horses' ears and cover their eyes, which can largely prevent the horses from being frightened."

"The camp of the King of Jin of the Ming Dynasty must have more muskets, cannons, and heavily armored cavalry. Attacking his camp will definitely cause a large number of casualties to the warriors of our tribe."

"It would be best to let the Tatars take action first and let them bear the attack of the Ming army. We can then take the opportunity to attack the Ming army camp."

Batuboluo said: "I'm afraid the Tatars are also thinking of the same thing."

Mahamu nodded and said, "So we have to think of a way to let the Tatars take action first, but the most important thing right now is to capture more scattered Ming troops, so that we can have stronger strength."

Although the Oirat suffered a great loss in numbers, the armaments they received from the Ming army greatly increased their overall strength.

Especially armor and artillery.

On the contrary, the matchlock gun was too unfamiliar to many Wala warriors, and they did not have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with its use in a short period of time. The familiar bow and arrow were more suitable.

A large number of captured Ming soldiers were brutally killed, and their bodies were used as rations for the Oirat army.

Cannibalism is not a strange thing for the people of the grassland. On the contrary, it is very common and they have no psychological barriers.

This word, which represents terror in the Ming Dynasty, seems to be taken for granted on the grassland.

Last winter, due to lack of food, the bodies of many elderly people were not buried after their death, but became the opportunity for the entire tribe to survive.

Some elderly people even willingly serve as food in order to understand themselves for the survival of the tribe.

Of course, there were many more slaves and untouchables who were killed and became food for the winter.

This time, the Oirat sent an army of 200,000 cavalrymen, but in fact they had no sufficient logistical support. Even if they seized a lot of food from the Ming army, it was still a drop in the bucket for the entire Oirat army.

Moreover, it was impossible for a Ming army stronghold of several thousand people to carry a large amount of food.

The reason for killing people and eating meat is that many cavalrymen are now hungry. Only by eating them can they have more strength to fight.

On Zhu Chong's side, a large number of soldiers were suddenly attacked, which made him furious.

He didn't know that hundreds of thousands of cavalry from various Mongolian ethnic groups were coming to encircle and suppress him, but his keen military sense made him discover that something was wrong because both the east and west sides were attacked.

The loss of tens of thousands of people was a real humiliation for Zhu Chong. The Ming army camp in the center of the storm kept receiving news of attacks from various places, and it felt like it was ambushed from all sides.

"Your Highness, according to the news sent by the soldiers, they saw Mongolian cavalry all over the mountains, probably at least hundreds of thousands of them."

"Hulunbuir is of great significance to the Mongolian people. Perhaps this united all the Mongolian tribes and attacked us together."

"We are alone and deep in the enemy's territory, far away from your majesty's camp. I think we should gather our soldiers and return to Daqing Mountain."

The speaker was Geng Bingwen, Marquis of Changxing.

Zhu Yuanzhang knew that his second in command was impulsive and violent, so he appointed the experienced and steady Geng Bingwen as his deputy general, which would help to maintain peace to a certain extent.

Although the current situation was not detailed and the intelligence on the fleeing soldiers was confusing, Geng Bingwen had a bad feeling in his heart.

Zhu Chong agreed to gather the soldiers, but rejected the proposal to return to Daqing Mountain.

"We are returning like lost dogs at this time. How do you want others to view me, and how does my father view me?"

"No matter how many barbarians there are, they are just a group of barbarians. Under the artillery, they are just ants."

"These barbarians are so despicable. I heard from the soldiers who escaped that they actually killed our soldiers and ate them."

"Pass the order down, kill all the prisoners in the camp immediately, cut off their heads and cast them into a memorial."

"Tell the other armies that our soldiers were eaten by the Mongols, and let them know that there is no retreat when facing the barbarians."

Because of the news of defeats everywhere, the morale of Zhu Chong's army was unstable and low.

In addition, the soldiers were isolated and deep in the territory, so their morale was rather low.

Zhu Chong spread the news that the defeated captured soldiers were eaten by the Mongols, which was a good way to boost morale at this time.

In this way, the soldiers knew very well that they would have no way out when facing the Mongols.

It is better to die in battle than to be eaten.

Geng Bingwen bowed helplessly: "As you wish."

No matter what, Zhu Chong is the main general and he is the deputy general. He can provide suggestions, but whether they will be adopted depends on the main general's opinion.

Not only Zhu Chong, but other generals in the big tent were more inclined to fight rather than escape.

There were hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the Ming army camp, and almost all of them were equipped with muskets and hundreds of cannons.

No one thought that the Mongolian cavalry could capture their camp.

At this moment, shrinking defense is obviously the best option.

As the military order was issued, thousands of Ming soldiers carrying muskets approached the place where the prisoners were held.

It's all nonsense that killing prisoners is unlucky.

The news that their comrades were eaten by the Mongols spread among the army. In addition, many soldiers who escaped told the story, so no one thought that their superiors were deliberately deceiving them.

The opportunity to kill prisoners was fought over in various camps, as they wanted to avenge their comrades.

"Fire!"

With a loud shout, he aimed at the soldiers in the prisoner camp, lit the fuse, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

As the gunfire continued and smoke filled the sky, all the prisoners in the camp were shot dead.

After the execution, soldiers in armor would come in to finish off the attackers.

No matter if they were dead or alive and wailing on the ground, they would all be pierced by the long knife. The only ones who could survive were women under 40 who were still able to bear children.

The bodies of these prisoners would be piled up into a small hill, and their heads would be cut off and placed outside to deter the enemy.

As Zhu Chong ordered the soldiers to gather, the losses continued to decrease, and the intelligence obtained became clearer.

"Damn it, what's wrong with the third brother? How come even Wala came to me? And the fourth brother, my father asked him to fight Wuliangha and Arutai. He fought Wuliangha, but Arutai also came to me."

Zhu Chong was very angry. According to his father's arrangement, the three kings dealt with the three major forces of Oirat, Tatar, and Arutai Uriankhai respectively.

As the leader of all the kings, he had the natural responsibility to deal with the Tatar tribe and was also the current nominal Khan of Mongolia.

Among the three major forces, the Tatar tribe is obviously the strongest in terms of comprehensive combat power. After all, they annexed everything from the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

Although the Oirat was strong, it was still inferior to the Tatars, otherwise the Oirat would have unified Mongolia long ago.

The combined forces of Arutai and Uriankhai can be compared with the Tatars and the Oirat, mainly because the Asut tribe had close in-law relations with the three Uriankhai tribes.

But now, except for the three Uriankhai guards captured by the fourth brother, all other large tribes on the grassland have come to him.

"Your Majesty, with so many cavalrymen, the enemy must have come prepared. Maybe their retreat has been cut off at this moment."

"We should set up camp near the deep water now, so that we can effectively guard against the sudden attack of the Mongolian cavalry."

Geng Bingwen suggested.

This time, Zhu Chong naturally adopted his suggestion.

The Hulunbuir grassland is so flat that you can see far into the distance at a glance. There is nothing to build fortifications.

In fact, the best place is where the migration camp is located where there are mountains, or near Hulun Lake or Beiler Lake.

In this way, the Mongolian cavalry would be hindered and unable to attack from all directions.

If we can get to Arshan, we won’t have to worry about the Mongolian cavalry at all.

However, Arshan is more than 500 miles away from here. The cavalry can get there, but the infantry cannot. In addition, there are a large number of artillery pieces to be transported, so it is obviously impossible.

However, Geng Bingwen had long observed that there was a winding and narrow river in the Hulunbuir grassland, which is called the Morigele River in Mongolia.

The river is several meters deep in places, and shallow enough for people and horses to walk on.

Therefore, Geng Bingwen suggested that the camp be moved to a place near deep water so that there would be no need to worry about the water source.

The Ming army camp quickly moved to a bend in the river, where they only had to face enemies on two sides at most.

The Mongolian cavalry was unable to cross the several-meter-long river, which was equivalent to a natural moat.

But in this way, the Ming army became a trapped beast.

But there was no way around it, as such situations were very common for the Ming army on the grassland.

Zhu Chong was not too worried because the food he brought with him, plus the looted cattle and sheep, were enough to meet the army's needs for nearly a month, and if the Mongols wanted to attack, they could only fill the gap with human lives.

Not to mention the matchlock guns, the hundreds of cannons there alone would pose a huge deterrent to the Mongolian cavalry.

Zhu Chong sneered in the big tent: "It's time for me to establish merit. I don't believe they can break through my artillery bombardment. Even if so, do you think the more than 100,000 matchlock guns in my camp are vegetarians?"

"These Mongolian cavalrymen have come to my place. My Great Ming will definitely notice it. I want to see how long they can surround me."

"These people killed my Ming soldiers and ate their flesh and blood. They must have a logistical deficit. Before they can attack my camp, they will starve to death first."

Zhu Chong's arrangement is undoubtedly very suitable for the current situation.

In order to prevent the Mongols from poisoning the water, Zhu Chong asked his soldiers to fill up the water tanks while setting up camp.

The way to poison water in this era is generally to pollute the water source with rotting corpses.

As long as a large number of animal or human corpses are thrown into the water, the water will naturally become undrinkable.

Obviously, Zhu Chong's measure worked very well. Hundreds of thousands of cavalry surrounded Zhu Chong's camp. On the third day alone, a large number of rotting corpses of people and animals floated in the river, cutting off the water source.

In fact, for the Mongolians, polluting the Morigele River is not what they want. Hulunbuir grassland is a holy place in their hearts, and the Morigele River is a holy spring.

However, facing the Ming army's strong defense preparations, this was the only way to launch an effective attack.

After surrounding the Ming army camp, the Mongolian cavalry did not charge the camp directly because they were arguing among themselves over who should serve as the vanguard.

From a slightly higher place, you can see the situation of the Ming army camp. Hundreds of cannons placed at the gap of the Morigele River would give anyone a headache.

As long as the attack is launched, these artillery pieces will undoubtedly take the lives of countless grassland warriors.

Which tribe is willing to make wedding clothes for others?

After arguing for three or four days, there was still no result, and the various tribes kept blaming each other.

Finally, it was Aluta, as the Grand Master, who proposed that each tribe send out a number of its men as the death vanguard to attack the Ming army camp.

Aluta's proposal was agreed by everyone. Everyone knew that if the quarrel continued, something serious would happen.

Because the food they carried, including some they had looted earlier, was only enough for a dozen days.

If the Ming army camp cannot be captured within ten days, the army will have to disperse.

Moreover, in about ten days, the other Ming troops would definitely notice it and provide support to the King of Qin.