Chapter 860
Captured
Chapter 860 Captured
Fueled by rage, Chen Huai led his troops to quickly sweep across the grasslands. Soon they encountered a small group of Oirat tribesmen, numbering only a thousand or so. Chen Huai still wiped them out. After interrogating the prisoners, he learned that they had received orders to retreat north. If Chen Huai had been just a quarter of an hour later, they could have perfectly missed him.
As for the part they originally belonged to, the whereabouts of the prisoners are unknown.
Chen Huai realized that they weren't unaware, but rather unwilling to speak, so he resorted to all forms of torture.
A group of soldiers, lacking restraint, killed someone before they could even get any information out of him.
Chen Huai was furious, so he led his army to continue interrogating the Oirat people.
The army had won several battles in a row and was in high spirits, coupled with the terrible scenes they had witnessed along the way.
The Oirat people had no provisions, and they not only treated their soldiers cruelly, but also caused great damage to the villages along the way.
The villages were massacred, looted, and then burned; wherever the Oirat army passed, tragedy struck.
When the soldiers met the villagers' sorrowful, angry, and resentful gazes, they all guiltily looked away.
Pan Jun stared blankly, memorizing their gazes, listening to the sound of her merit points being continuously deducted.
It was precisely because the Oirat army was so high-profile that it was easy for Chen Huai to find them.
The army swept across Huailai City from north to north with the force of an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, driving out the Oirat troops who were engaged in mobile warfare south of Datong and Xuanfu.
The Oirat army suffered heavy losses.
The news was relayed back to Esen.
At this moment, Esen had just seen Bayan Temur's body.
Upon hearing this, his deputy immediately said, "It is them. They are extremely powerful. Among them are extraordinary individuals who can fly. One of them can defeat a thousand troops."
Upon hearing this, Esen sneered, "So what if one man is worth a thousand troops? I have far more than a thousand troops!"
He stood up abruptly and said in a deep voice, "Give the order to have the shaman bring his men over. It's not just the Ming Dynasty that has extraordinary people; we grasslands have them too!"
Esen sneered: "Let the shamans summon the Great Black Heaven God of War. Since I can defeat the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and my Northern Yuan army can defeat the Ming army, then my steppe shamans can naturally defeat those bunch of incompetent eccentrics in the Central Plains!"
The soldiers were instantly filled with confidence. Their fear of Pan Yun turned into fighting spirit, and they shouted in response, their shouts echoing throughout the tent.
"Great Khan, Bayan Temur's lieutenant just said they killed the Emperor!"
Esen: "That's not the emperor."
The deputy general couldn't hide the disappointment on his face.
Esen said, "This is a good thing. Killing the emperor would do more harm than good to us."
"Why? If the emperor dies, won't their morale collapse?"
Esen: "I once thought the same thing, but the premise is that the commander is Wang Zhen. He has no ability to lead an army, no strategic awareness, and no wisdom. If we kill the emperor, the Ming army will definitely collapse under his leadership, and we can march all the way to Jiangnan in one go!"
Esen lamented, "It's a pity that Wang Zhen was killed by a minister of the Ming Dynasty. Now the army is under the command of the Duke of Ying. If the emperor dies, the army will be in high spirits, and their fighting spirit may even rise."
"That emperor..."
Esen couldn't help but smile: "Khalajang said he has captured the emperor."
A living emperor is more important than a dead one, especially an emperor under their rule.
The lieutenant was shocked: "Is it true?"
"They're escorting people across the border; we'll know soon enough." Esen was very confident. Harajang was never one to boast, and this time it was his father, Sainbolo, personally escorting them. Sainbolo was Esen's younger brother; he had accompanied an envoy to the Ming Dynasty and had met the young emperor.
Oh, although the young emperor was only eleven years old at the time, people can have similarities. Since Sainbolo personally escorted him, it means he also believed it to be true.
Therefore, Esen has suspended his attack on Xuanfu today.
The mere thought of the young emperor falling into his hands made Esen tremble with excitement.
The emperor has become his prisoner. Doesn't that mean he can get whatever he wants from the Ming Dynasty?
Soon, Esen received the news and launched a full-scale attack on Xuanfu.
At this time, Yang Hong was still unaware of the situation. Seeing that Esen's offensive had suddenly become more intense, he continuously deployed his troops to defend against the Oirat army passing through the Xuanfu defense line.
Since the outbreak of the war, Yang Hong led the defending troops to fight the Oirat army twice outside Xuanfu and was defeated both times. He quickly changed his strategy and focused on defending the city. To this day, the Oirat army has not been able to cross the Xuanfu defense line.
All the Oirat troops who infiltrated later slipped in through the gap in Datong.
Guo Deng and Guo Jing concealed military intelligence from Yang Hong, who was completely unaware of it until he received news of the emperor's peril. Only then did he realize something was wrong, and at the same time, he received a military report from Kuang Ye.
Guo Deng and Guo Jing have been demoted for concealing military intelligence, while Xuanfu and Beijing have received accurate military reports.
Yang Hong suddenly felt the pressure increase.
Esen led his central army to Xuanfu a few days ago. They had just fought a fierce battle and were resting today. They thought the day would be over, but they did not expect Esen to launch a general attack in the evening.
Standing on the city wall, Yang Hong looked at the densely packed Oirat army, calmly directing the battle while a sense of doubt arose in his heart.
Why choose this time to launch a full-scale attack?
It didn't seem like they were attacking the city; it seemed more like they were trying to attract their attention.
Yang Hong's heart skipped a beat. He quickly seized the opportunity and immediately summoned his trusted aide, whispering, "Have each defensive line conduct a self-inspection, and be careful of the Oirat army breaking in."
The trusted confidant agreed and went to relay the order.
However, because the main battlefield was outside Xuanfu, the number of personnel on each defense line was reduced. Everyone was focused on those who wanted to come in, but there was less checking of people from the inside out.
In the darkness of night, Sainbolo crumpled a strip of cloth into a ball and stuffed it into the emperor's mouth. He ordered his personal guards to hold him back, while the others seized the opportunity when the checkpoint soldiers turned away, rushed forward, covered the emperor's mouth and nose, and killed him with a single blow...
They quickly killed the soldiers guarding the checkpoint and passed through.
The Ming soldiers reacted swiftly and soon discovered that their pass had been attacked. The mournful sound of horns rang out in the dead of night, and the pass officers quickly pursued the enemy while simultaneously repairing their defenses.
The two sides clashed briefly, but because the enemy retreated too quickly and there were few defenders at the pass, they dared not pursue them too far.
The commander's orders to them were to hold the pass, not to pursue the enemy.
Fearing this was a diversionary tactic, they pursued the Oirat army for a while, and after confirming their departure, quickly returned to the pass, not daring to close their eyes all night.
The emperor, carried away at breakneck speed: ...
Esen saw the emperor inside the tent.
Upon meeting, Esen burst into laughter, personally stepped forward to untie the ropes, and said gently, "It is an honor for the Oirat to have Your Majesty as a guest in my Oirat tent, and even more so for Esen."
Zhu Qizhen was in a sorry state, but he still maintained his noble demeanor. He glanced at Esen, gave a bitter smile, and said, "Losing is losing. I admit defeat. Kill me if you want. There's no need to mock me like this."
(End of this chapter)