***
Li Dingguo managed to rescue Pang Shan and bring him back to Shazhou, and also severely injured Sengge, killing nearly five hundred enemies.
But Pang Shan was not having an easy time either. Of the 1,500 men he brought with him, only 800 survived, nearly half of them were killed, and the rest were mostly injured. The whole city of Shazhou was in mourning.
In the yamen, Pang Shan knelt in front of Li Dingguo to plead guilty. Li Dingguo looked at him, looking as if he was dead, and didn't know what to say for a moment.
This time, Sengge adapted to local conditions and set a very clever trap. To be honest, unless you don't chase the enemy, if you do, there is a nine-tenths chance that you will end up like Pang Shan, or even worse.
But military law is ruthless, failure is failure. No matter how clever the enemy's trap is, you have suffered such heavy losses in troops and generals, and you must bear the corresponding responsibility.
Li Dingguo still revoked Pangshan's title of guerrilla general, and immediately ordered another 3,000 troops to be transferred from Suzhou to Shazhou for garrison.
Li Dingguo summed up the gains and losses of the past few days and felt deeply that it was the lack of intelligence collection that made the Qin army so passive.
Guazhou and Shazhou had been ruled by foreign races for thousands of years, and even the original Han people had long been assimilated into the Hu people. The Qin army lacked a mass base here, and the Hu people under its jurisdiction had ulterior motives. Some Mongols even assisted Sengge and secretly informed him of the situation.
This allowed Sengge to appear and disappear at will and launch sneak attacks at weak points of defense, while the Qin army was passive everywhere and could only run around in a desperate situation.
The deputy commander Guo Ning suggested: "Grand Commander, Abdullah Khan's injury has healed greatly. Should we use him to win over the hearts of the Shazhou Hu people?"
The two states of Gua and Sha had been occupied by the Yarkand Khanate for a hundred years. Abdullah Khan still had some prestige among the Hu people in the two states of Gua and Sha. Guo Ning's proposal was a feasible strategy.
"Hu people, Hu people..." Li Dingguo muttered to himself, stood up and paced in the lobby.
The deputy commander Guo Ning said again: "Grand Commander, if we can use Abdullah Khan's reputation to integrate the power of the Hu people in Gua and Sha states, this force is still very considerable. In addition, they are familiar with the terrain and well-informed. Using them to resist the attack of the Junggars will definitely play an unexpected role."
"No! They are Hu people. All the people in this city are Hu people. They are not of our race. Their hearts must be different. We can't count on them. Shazhou has no border wall to rely on. We can't stay in Shazhou any longer. If we stay here, we will only be beaten passively." Li Dingguo seemed to have taken the wrong medicine. Suddenly, he said firmly, "Come here, pass on my order to abandon Shazhou immediately, withdraw troops, and retreat to Guazhou."
"Grand Commander! We, the Great Qin, have finally regained this strategic location. How can we give up so easily when we encounter some failures?"
"Minister Guo, there is no need to say more. This governor has made up his mind and issued the military order. Execute it immediately without any mistakes!"
"If the Grand Commander insists on giving up Shazhou, I will have to report him to the Grand Commander."
Li Dingguo seemed to be determined and ignored Guo Ning's strong opposition. He used his authority to forcibly order the withdrawal of troops.
Guo Ning refused to give in, and the two had a big quarrel in the government office. Finally, Guo Ning left the government office angrily and immediately wrote a memorial impeaching Li Dingguo. He sent someone to send it back to Nanjing at an expedited speed of 800 miles.
In Shazhou City, the army's morale was shaken because of the heavy losses suffered in the ambush at Pangshan.
Li Dingguo suddenly ordered the army to withdraw. The deputy commander Guo Ning argued with him, and the two sides argued fiercely, which further aggravated the unrest in the army.
The Qin soldiers were talking about it, and the Hu people in the city watched silently as the Qin army prepared to evacuate...
***
Thousands of miles away in the northern desert, a large-scale evacuation was also taking place. Under the tremendous pressure of Zasaktu Khan Norbu and Chitat, Chechen Khan Shuolei had to abandon the lush pastures in the upper reaches of the Kruni River and migrate to the middle and lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River north of the Greater Khingan Range.
The middle and lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River were originally the territory of the Jurchens. After the Jurchens entered the pass, these places became even more sparsely populated. Last year, after the Qin army captured Shengjing, General Ning Yuan led an army of 10,000 to sweep northward and brought all the areas south of the Heilongjiang River under the rule of the Qin Dynasty.
However, there were not many Qin troops stationed on the Longhei River line, totaling only 5,000 men.
The sparse population made this area desolate. With nowhere to go, the Chechen Khan Shuolei led his people and migrated eastward along the Heilongjiang River. The entire northern desert became the world of Zasaktu Khan and Qitate.
Qin Mu's imperial edict to launch an offensive was issued from Nanjing, but before it reached Liaodong, Norbu and Qitat, whose strength had greatly increased after annexing the Tushetu tribe, had already vowed to march south at the Burhan Mountains.
Human desire is unlimited. After obtaining the entire northern desert, Norbu wanted to get more, especially to eliminate Tushetu Khan Gunbu under the sacred mountain of the Mongols. Norbu regarded it as the protection of the gods.
He wanted to be the Great Khan of all Mongolia, a Great Khan who unified all the Mongolian tribes like Genghis Khan.
Tuya told him that the Qin State was trying hard to control the tribes south of the desert. This was his last chance. Once the tribes south of the desert were integrated by the Qin State, they would become Qin's vanguard. Not to mention unifying Mongolia, he might not even be able to stay in the north of the desert.
Norbu thought Tuya's words made sense, as the saying goes, once you lose an opportunity, it will never come back. So Norbu followed Tuya's advice and, together with Chitate, marched south with great victory.
Under the guidance of a wolf flag, 30,000 Mongolian troops roared southward with the blessing of the Burhan Mountain.
They did not take the Hulunbuir grassland in the east, but took the route of Basejieku, Ulantoluoli, Mati, and Yilin (Erenhot City).
This road goes through the vast desert, but it is the shortest and more hidden.
The terrifying thing about the Mongolian cavalry lies in its high mobility. Norbu and his men, with three horses each, can travel three to four hundred miles a day at full speed. The speed is so fast that it is astonishing. In just a few days, they can travel a thousand miles.
After the army arrived at Mati, they camped there at night.
In Qitate's big tent, he was full of energy and hugged Tuya and Mutab sisters to do good things. After the clouds cleared and the rain stopped, Qitate rested for a while and couldn't help complaining: "Princess, you want me to listen to Norbu in everything. He also made a lot of profit when annexing the Tushetu tribe. He will become more and more powerful in the future. Isn't it even more impossible for us to turn things around?"
Yatu, with a blushing face, moved her body, turned around, hugged him and said, "Don't worry, Khan, I have my own way. Although the tribes in Mo Nan are now in disarray, with the Qin army here, it is not so easy to wipe out Mo Nan.
Now let Norbu take the lead, and we should pay attention to preserving our strength. Believe me, one day I will let you replace Norbu and become the Khan of the entire Mongolia."
Now the number of people under Qitate has increased to 10,000. Although their strength is much weaker than Norbu, they are still twice as strong as before. Qitate thought about this and felt relieved after hearing what Yatu said.
As they spent more time together, he became more and more dependent on Yatu. If there was anything he needed to ask her directly, he would not even bother to think about it anymore. No matter how hard he tried, he would never be as thorough as Yatu.
At five o'clock the next morning, the 30,000-strong army set out again and took another day to reach Yilin (Erenhot). At this point, they had arrived in southern Mongolia.
South of Yilin is the pastureland of the left and right wing banners of Sunite.
When Teng Jitai, the leader of the Sunite tribe, heard that Norbu and Qitate's 30,000 troops had crossed the vast sea, he was horrified. The two wings of the Sunite tribe had only more than 5,000 people in total. How could they resist the 30,000 troops from Mobei
At this time, the messenger sent by Mengke to recruit troops from various tribes just arrived at the Sunite tribe. The frightened Teng Jitai felt like he had seen a savior.
When the Qin army messenger learned the news, he was also shocked. Meng Ke was gathering troops from various parts to prepare for an expedition to Mobei, but now the enemy had arrived in Monan first.
The messenger discussed with Teng Jitai and decided to let the Sunite tribe quickly move south to avoid the attack, and at the same time sent people to Xuanda to rescue Ma Yongzhen, the commander-in-chief of the left army. The messenger returned to Khorchin to report to Mengke and informed the tribes along the way to make preparations for the response.
Further south of the Sunite tribe is the Chahar tribe, whose pastures are located outside the border wall, while inside the border wall is Zhangjiakou, where many merchants gather.
It doesn't seem far, but if you calculate the actual distance, it is more than 900 miles from Yilin (Erenhao City) to Zhangjiakou, and it would take a messenger two days to get there at full speed.
At this time, the tribes south of the desert were like scattered sand, and the strongest tribe had only a few thousand soldiers.
Norbu's 30,000-man army was like a giant crocodile suddenly swimming into a fish pond, and for a moment the entire southern desert became a place of panic and war clouds... ... .
*************
.(To be continued..)
...