Chapter 877
Personal Expedition
Chapter 877 Personal Expedition
Esen's defeat was not so easy. Capturing the emperor was an unexpected bonus. Now that the emperor has met with misfortune, their situation has simply returned to its starting point.
Esen unified the various tribes of the steppe, and it was the time when the tribes were most eager to fight. In addition, the Mongol cavalry was invincible, and Esen's cavalry mobility tactics were the best in the Mongol world.
Having recovered from the dejection of losing Zhu Qizhen as a hostage, Esen quickly adjusted his tactics, utilizing the mobility of his cavalry to once again infiltrate behind the Ming army's rear, launching a pincer attack...
In addition, the cavalry harassed the Ming army in batches, attacking and then running away. Once the Ming army could no longer catch up and the ranks began to scatter, the cavalry would either launch an infantry attack to finish them off or turn around and infiltrate again, completely scattering the Ming army.
For five consecutive days, the Ming army suffered more defeats than victories, as their morale was greatly affected by the recovery of the emperor's body and the driving of the Oirat army fifty li away.
It was at this time that Zhu Qiyu led his army to Datong Prefecture.
When Kuang Ye and other ministers saw Zhu Qiyu among the reinforcements, their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. They all knelt down, saying, "Your Majesty—why have you come here? The late emperor's example serves as a warning..."
Zhu Qiyu's eyes reddened slightly. He quickly stepped forward to help them up, saying, "My brother's great revenge has not been avenged. How can I sit peacefully in the capital?"
Zhu Qiyu did not ascend the throne; he postponed it, deciding to finish the war before taking the throne.
However, although he has not yet ascended the throne, with the Empress Dowager's imperial decree, the approval of the court officials, and the status of regent, he is now practically the emperor.
He instructed his ministers to continue addressing him as the Prince of Cheng or the Regent.
Zhu Qiyu's arrival greatly boosted the morale of the border troops, as everyone knew he was the next emperor.
However, they were also filled with worry and fear.
However, Zhu Qiyu soon showed traits completely different from his brother.
He sat in the main tent, rarely offering his own opinions. He would listen to the ministers' discussions first before making a final decision, at most asking Yu Qian for his opinion a couple more times in between.
Yu Qian was the Grand Marshal of the Army this time. After he stood out at that grand court assembly, Zhu Qiyu trusted him very much. In order to make his troop deployment and leadership more legitimate, he was promoted to Minister of War.
Kuang Ye, the Minister of War, was directly promoted to former Minister.
However, with the emperor in distress, all the officials who accompanied the emperor were guilty of crimes, and Kuang Ye had no time to dwell on that.
Seeing the anxious expressions on the faces of the officials accompanying the imperial entourage, Zhu Qiyu said, "I know you are afraid that I will follow in my elder brother's footsteps and be in danger as well."
But my Great Ming Emperor was murdered by the barbarians, and the gates of the Great Ming were breached. If this grudge is not avenged, the surrounding barbarians will surely think that my Great Ming is easy to bully, and even if I ascend the throne, the country will not be at peace.
The ministers remained silent.
Zhu Qizhen raised this argument more than once during the Battle of Luchuan, but the vast majority of civil officials disagreed, feeling that his continuous attacks on Luchuan were an act of exhausting the people and engaging in reckless militarism.
However, this northern expedition ended in a disastrous defeat. After personally facing the Oirat army, the ministers finally understood what the Duke of England had said when he supported the late emperor in the Battle of Luchuan: "Barbarians fear power but not virtue. Luchuan was just a test. Blindly indulging them will only make all sides think that the Ming Dynasty has an opportunity to take advantage of us."
Many ministers were muddle-headed and exhausted from dealing with their daily affairs, but civil and military officials like Kuang Ye, Cao Nai, and Chen Huai, no matter how tired they were, were reflecting on themselves, the court, and the late emperor.
In the past two days, Cao Nai changed his tone, saying that the Battle of Luchuan should have been fought, but it should not have been fought in this way, which led to a peasant uprising, political instability, and neglect of the defense of the north, allowing the Oirat Mongols to take advantage of the situation.
Looking at the solemn-faced Prince Cheng, Kuang Ye sighed and asked, "How does Your Highness intend to fight this war?"
Zhu Qiyu said solemnly, "I have never led troops before, so I will leave this matter to Lord Yu and the generals. But if there is anything I can do to help, I am willing to be the vanguard."
The ministers frowned, seemingly wanting to speak but holding back.
Zhu Qiyu raised his hand to stop them and said first, "I know your worries. I will not be captured by the Oirats. If I unfortunately fall into enemy hands, I will commit suicide, and you can just install another emperor."
He smirked and said, "I have a royal uncle who has three sons. Besides them, my Zhu royal family has countless relatives. I don't believe he can wipe out my Zhu family!"
The ministers were deeply moved and their fighting spirit was ignited. They were of one mind with Zhu Qiyu and agreed to his personal command of the expedition. This was mainly because Zhu Qiyu truly listened to people's opinions.
Knowing that they had suffered a series of defeats, Yu Qian ordered the Imperial Guards and the Imperial Army to protect Zhu Qiyu as he went to reward the army and deliver a mobilization speech to boost morale. Then, he and his ministers discussed new tactics against the Oirat Mongols.
After reviewing their battle reports over the past five days, Yu Qian concluded that they should not pursue the Oirat Mongols.
“The Oirat cavalry are too mobile. If the army pursues them, it is like using one’s own weakness to attack the enemy’s strength,” Yu Qian said in a deep voice. “In war, one should use one’s own strength to attack the enemy’s weakness.”
Since Esen had no intention of retreating, he decided to hold the city.
Yu Qian said, "It's about having more patience than them."
Of course, it wasn't just a test of patience; the reinforcements also brought a large number of firearms, and Yu Qian decided to launch a surprise attack with them.
The army began a slow retreat.
Esen seemed to have also received news of Zhu Qiyu's arrival in Datong, and immediately ordered his army to approach Datong.
He sneered, "The emperor died in Datong, yet the Prince of Cheng still dares to come here. I respect him as a man of honor! His arrival is just in time. I'll arrest one after another. Now that we've lost the emperor, arresting a regent is not bad either!"
Esen was very confident in the mobility of his cavalry and pursued the retreating Ming army toward Datong City, only to be ambushed.
This was the first time that the Oirat cavalry had been successfully ambushed.
Kuang Ye and his team had tried before, but they were always discovered at crucial moments.
The explosion shook the city of Datong, twenty miles away. Countless stones tumbled down, warhorses neighed, and the Oirat cavalrymen trapped between the mountains and forests were thrown from their horses and trampled...
This is just one battle.
The next day, Esen led his army to break through the Datong defense line from the northwest. The army surrounded the west gate, while the north gate was also under attack.
Yu Qian stationed his army at the north gate and personally oversaw operations at the west gate.
Esen's army had just assembled and had not yet had time to provoke or insult them when Yu Qian gave the order. The artillery hidden far outside the city unveiled its camouflage, and cannons and rockets were thrown directly at the Oirat army.
Horses are easily frightened. Even warhorses cannot withstand the onslaught of cannons and countless rockets. In an instant, warhorses neigh and men and horses fall over.
At this moment, Zhu Qiyu was also standing on the city wall.
However, he only made a brief visit. The ministers were still haunted by the emperor's capture, so as soon as he showed his face, he was pulled down from the city wall and respectfully sent back to his villa.
When Esen saw that the cannons and rockets were coming from the side and rear, he knew that the Ming army had deployed its firearms battalion outside the city. He immediately dispatched two armies to wipe out the firearms battalion.
They rushed toward the source of the firearms, only to be ambushed halfway there.
At this moment, the torrent of firearms ceased, and Chen Huai and Zhu Mian each led a large army to attack from the flanks...
At the same time, the city gates were flung open, and a large army, armed with muskets, rushed out to join Chen Huai and Zhu Mian in a pincer attack...
Esen suffered a major defeat at the West Gate and only then did he realize that the seemingly impregnable northwest defense line of Datong was actually a feigned defeat. Some members of the Ming army had anticipated that he would attack the West Gate from the northwest defense line and had set up a firearm array outside the West Gate in advance.
Zhu Qiyu was pulled back to the villa. Although he was disappointed, he was not angry. Just as he was about to go to the study, he looked up and saw the person standing on the roof.
The Imperial Guards were startled and drew their swords in a flash, shouting, "Who are you? How dare you..."
(End of this chapter)