People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 614 Quartet
On Gubei Terrace.

"When the sun sets and the sky darkens, every household closes their doors..."

A soldier guarding the tower sang at the top of his voice.

"What are you howling about?"

Zhang San couldn't stand it anymore, so he wrapped his cotton jacket tightly around him and changed his direction to sleep on his side.

"Bullshit, ghosts howling, I'm just practicing the lyrics for the shaman dance. The Tartars are best at raising evil spirits. If you don't maintain a good relationship with the immortals, who will care about you if you shout at them when something bad happens?"

Zhang San's heart moved, and he said with a wry smile: "Then can you also say hello to the immortal for me? If a fight really breaks out, can you ask him to take care of it?"

"Hey, no problem!"

In the tower, some soldiers were sleeping, and some were doing some needlework. When they were not on duty, they usually knew a thing or two about needlework. In addition to mending clothes, the excess could be sold to supplement the family income.

Normally, the most taciturn flag officer suddenly said, "The beacon fires have been burning for so many days, and I don't know how many Tartars have come in this time."

"Hey, why think so much? Your Majesty led the army in person, accompanied by all the civil and military officials. That was during the Jingnan period, and they were veterans and brave generals who followed Grandpa Chengzu. How could an army of hundreds of thousands be defeated by the Tartars?"

"Boss, if you have the time to worry about this, you might as well sew two more scarves and use the money to send to your sister-in-law. The weather has been getting colder and colder lately. I wrap myself up very thickly every morning, but when I wake up I still feel like my bed is an icy cave."

"Before it gets dark, Lao Liu, let's go to the woods and chop some more firewood."

The flag officer said, "Go ahead, but be careful. The Tartars are invading the border. We have a limited number of people here. Before you came, several of our brothers were kidnapped by the Tartars when they were out chopping wood."

Risks are risks, but you have to chop the firewood.

According to the usual practice, they had to chop enough firewood to last the tower for half a month each time. However, this time a large number of Tatar cavalry invaded the border a few days ago, so they were unable to go out to chop firewood. Now there was almost no firewood left in the tower.

Lao Liu said with a smile: "Just let the big eyes keep a close eye on them. The Tartars are very generous this time, and I don't think they will leave anyone to fight to the death on our small platform."

The watchtower can serve as a lookout and a beacon because it is located on a high place with the advantage of terrain. There is also a water cellar, which is filled with water in warm months and ice in cold months. If the enemy is really surrounded, they can rely on food and stored water.

Small groups of enemies are difficult to deal with, but large groups of enemies are not worth dealing with.

The lookout on the top of the pier suddenly warned: "Wait, someone seems to be coming!"

A black dog jumped out from the lookout tower and started barking into the night.

Frontier watchtowers often kept a dog and a chicken. The former was for night guard, and the latter for dawn. The chicken coop and the dog kennel were all kept in a large shed on the watchtower. Every morning when people went down to fetch water, they would let the dog down first to find out if there were any enemies or monsters lurking.

The flag officer gave the order: "Light up the lanterns and bring out the muskets. If it's the Tartars, wait for my command and then fire. If it's a pack of wolves, just treat it as a treat."

"Order!"

The soldiers guarding the tower became alert, but they were not too nervous.

Although their fort has a limited number of defenders, it also means that there is little profit. If no one is not extremely poor, no one would be willing to fight them to the death here.

"It looks like a woman!"

The lookout breathed a sigh of relief after he finished speaking.

But they found that the faces of the great singers and their flag officers turned pale.

"How could a woman come to this remote place at this hour of night?"

"Could it be those unclean things?"

After half a day's march, Losa and his party were now setting up camp.

In the commander's tent with a strong oriental style, he lit candles and was thinking about how to deal with the nomadic cavalry who came and went like the wind. He had dealt with many nomadic cavalry before.

Magyar cavalry, Turkish cavalry, Bedouin cavalry. But they cannot be compared with the Tatars. After all, they were the people who once established the largest land empire in the world, and their strength should not be underestimated.

After much thought, he decided to pick a small group of enemies first to see their strength.

Ye Bushou Xiaoqi was inside his tent, slowly telling him what information he knew.

For example, there was a rift between the Oirat tribe and the Northern Yuan court. At least Toghtobukha and Taishi Yesen were not on the same page.

Although the "nomadic empire" of Wala seemed powerful, it was able to produce a large number of cavalry with a small population.

But he still couldn't get rid of the characteristics of the tribal alliance. If a real fight broke out, if he focused on attacking Yesen's own tribe, those from other tribes, including the Three Guards of Doyan and the Jurchen vassal troops, would definitely not come to the rescue with all their strength.

Along the way, listening to Ye Bu Shou Xiao Qi's description of the situation, Losa gradually came to his senses.

"So, as long as His Majesty the Emperor keeps his troops in place and holds on to Tumu Fort, the Tatars won't be able to storm down in a short time, right?"

This is a normal way of thinking.

But in history, Zhu Qizhen was defeated and all six armies were wiped out. He, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was captured alive by the Tatars. I'm afraid this man might have some more tricks up his sleeve.

Ye Buxiu's small flag was not optimistic. The food supply was cut off, and the Beijing army was not so much stationed in Tumu Fort as it was being driven there.

I'm afraid the food and water we brought with us have been cut off.

"My lord, please understand. When I broke out, the food and grass in the camp were almost used up."

Without even looking up, Lothar replied, "Relax. People won't starve to death if they don't eat for a day or two. Besides, when you broke out, your food and fodder were almost gone, but they weren't gone yet. Can you give me an estimate of how long your majesty's army can hold out?"

Xiaoqi estimated, "The food will last a few days if we save on it, but the water is almost gone."

"It's okay. The pack animals and mules that accompany the army can be slaughtered to drink their blood and eat their meat. They can still last for a while. Now I have the responsibility of saving His Majesty, so I must not be impatient."

Losa comforted again.

The flag officer smiled bitterly and said, "I will follow the envoy's instructions."

He also realized that the envoy and his team did have the intention of rescuing the emperor, otherwise why would they be rushing to Tumu Fort now? Could they be actively surrendering to the Oirat people?

...

At this time, at Tumubao.

Zhu Qizhen looked at the eunuch who walked quickly into the tent and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Your Majesty, this is great news, great news! The Tartar chieftain, Grand Tutor Yesen, has agreed to negotiate peace and withdraw his troops!"

Zhu Qizhen was overjoyed. The army was cut off from food and fodder, which did not mean he would lack food and drink, but it was also a hardship and he had had enough of it.

"Wang Daban, can you trust what the Tartar chief said?

The eunuch known as Wang Daban was the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department at the time and was the most trusted confidant of the Zhengtong Emperor.

Eunuch Wang said respectfully, "Your Majesty, they are a bunch of stinking Tartars from the grassland. They came south just for a little money, food and cloth. Just allow them to go. How can they have the courage to fight to the death with our Ming Dynasty?"

Zhu Qizhen breathed a sigh of relief.

During this period of time, he felt that he had suffered too much.

This war is nothing like what I imagined.

"Those Tartars are really cunning. If we line up to fight head-on, they will definitely not be my match."

Zhu Qizhen was very dissatisfied in his heart, but he also gave up the idea of ​​emulating Emperor Wen and leading the army in person.

Fighting a war is really not an easy job. Apart from anything else, just the marching is enough to torture people.

I can't do it anymore.

...

And the other side.

The Wala contacted a large camp consisting of tens of thousands of people.

Grand Tutor Yesen looked cheerful.

"The Emperor of Ming is so stupid. If they leave their turtle shells, won't they be trampled into pulp by our cavalry?"

Before he went south this time, he said to his trusted aides: Just plunder and get some money and food.

The strength of the Ming Dynasty court was far superior to theirs. He had never thought about fighting a decisive battle with the Ming army, let alone conquering the capital, restoring the Yuan Dynasty, and returning to the old capital.

However, the Ming army was weaker than he had imagined. Many garrisons had less than half the strength stated on paper. The generals had no will to fight, and the soldiers had no fighting spirit. They did not have the might and power they had in the past to chase the enemy north and destroy the Yuan court.

This made his ambition expand infinitely.

One of his generals said with great joy: "If the Grand Master can recapture Dadu and accomplish great feats, why would he still need to support that little brat Toghtobuha to be the Great Khan?"

Yesen took a deep breath, his eyes sparkling with a light called ambition.

If we can really do it...even if it's just dividing the world with the Ming Dynasty, with the North and the South confronting each other.

Even if I don't have the blood of the Golden Family, I can still be the Khan with full legitimacy!

(End of this chapter)