***
The snow on the vast Yinshan Mountain has not melted yet. Under the sunlight, the clouds are steaming and magnificent. When the north wind blows, the snow on the top of the mountain rises like white smoke, and the sunlight shines through, forming colorful colors, like the light of Buddha.
During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the Tibetan Lama Maidali Hutuktu came to the Tumed Mongolian tribe to preach. When he saw this wonder between heaven and earth, he built a Wandali Temple, also known as Lingzhao Temple, with the support of the Tumed leader at the time.
Ma Yongzhen led nearly 50,000 Mongolian troops westward and arrived at Lingzhao Temple. When they encountered the spectacular sight of "Buddha's light shining everywhere", all the Mongolian soldiers in the army clasped their hands in worship and chanted Buddhist names.
To be honest, these ethnic minorities are definitely much more pious towards gods than the Han people.
Ma Yongzhen then told his Mongolian soldiers that this was a manifestation of the Buddha and that the army would surely win a great victory in this westward expedition. Tens of thousands of Mongolian soldiers believed it and their morale was greatly boosted. No one complained about marching in the severe cold anymore.
Lingzhao Temple is a rare building that combines a temple with a city. The temple is surrounded by earth-built and stone-covered walls, which are thick and solid and can withstand the army's artillery shells and cavalry raids.
The entire city is roughly rectangular, with corner towers at the four corners and a city gate in the middle of the south wall. The temple dedicated to the Buddha is located in the city, and the plaque on the mountain gate reads "The imperial plan is consolidated, the imperial way is peaceful, the people are happy, and the four seas are clear", and the signature is "Da Ming Jin Kingdom".
When seeing this signature, Ma Yongzhen was extremely curious. If it was the "Ming" Dynasty, where did the "Jin Kingdom" come from
The only explanation is that the ruler of the Later Jin Dynasty had not yet proclaimed himself emperor and still acknowledged that he was a vassal of the Ming Empire, hence the strange signature.
The abbot of the temple, Lama Nadatuwo, led the crowd to greet them hurriedly, and Ma Yongzhen also dismounted and greeted them.
There were not many people who believed in Lamaism in the Central Plains Dynasty, and Ma Yongzhen had a strong army. Nadatu was quite worried at first, but after the greetings, he saw that his attitude was quite gentle, and Nadatu was slightly relieved.
Ma Yongzhen pointed at the plaque on the door and asked, "Master, who wrote this plaque of the Ming Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty?"
Nadatu was startled and quickly clasped his hands together in greeting, answering the question irrelevantly: "General Ma is a man of great courage and with the blessing of the Buddha, General Ma will surely win a great victory in this western expedition. To be honest with General Ma, someone came to the temple yesterday to ask the monks about the whereabouts of General Ma's army."
Ma Yongzhen's thick eyebrows slightly raised. He held the hilt of the sword at his waist and asked in a deep voice: "Master, who is asking about our military's movements?"
"Amitabha, that person's identity is unknown, I dare not say anything nonsense, but with Governor Ma's talent, I think it will not be difficult for Governor Ma to guess the other party's identity."
Nadatuwo revealed enough information to Ma Yongzhen, but then he pushed the issue aside and let him guess for himself. This was smarter than directly revealing the other person's identity.
Ma Yongzhen believed that Nadatu would not talk nonsense. He paid enough attention to this. His army of tens of thousands was all cavalry. The reason why the recommendation speed was so slow was mainly due to the logistics. The snow on the grassland had not melted, and it was difficult to transport food and grass. In this case, the logistics supply line was his biggest weakness.
If Qita sent someone to this place to spy on the movements of his army, he must have some ulterior motive, and we must be on guard.
Ma Yongzhen sent out a large number of scouts while strengthening the protection of the logistics supply lines.
At the foot of the Black Mountain, seventy miles northwest of Lingzhao Temple, Chitate's general Sukhbaru hid with 8,000 troops.
To put it bluntly, the strategy of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west that Qita used this time was to let Hadan Bater launch a large-scale attack along the Wuding River in the south, giving Daqin an illusion that his main force was along the Wuding River.
However, he sent his general Sukhbaru with an elite force to the Black Mountains to ambush to the north of Ma Yongzhen's westward route.
Under normal circumstances, when Ma Yongzhen moved westward, his focus would definitely be on defending the Hetao area in the south, and his reconnaissance efforts in the north would definitely not be strong.
In this way, Sukhbaru's 8,000 elite troops could surprise the enemy, bypass the north, cut off Ma Yongzhen's logistics line, and wait until Ma Yongzhen's army was short of food and the morale of the army was in chaos, and then launch a surprise attack and defeat Ma Yongzhen.
Although Sukhbaru had only 8,000 troops, he was full of confidence when facing Ma Yongzhen's 50,000 troops.
In history, there are many examples of one army defeating ten. Not to mention the distant past, just take the Qing Dynasty a few years ago as an example, there were many examples of a few thousand troops defeating tens of thousands of Ming troops.
"Report! General, Ma Yongzhen's army has arrived at Lingzhao Temple."
"Okay, pass on the order to have all scouts withdraw and erase all traces outside the mountain to prevent the enemy from discovering our whereabouts."
"Yes, General."
The guards came and went in a hurry.
Sukhbaru's eyes sparkled, and his deputy general Meng En said, "This time the Khan is really smart. Ma Yongzhen wants to block us in the Hetao area. Let's attack the north first, without anyone noticing. When Ma Yongzhen's army arrives, General, I will lead the army to destroy Ma Yongzhen's logistical supplies."
Sukhbaru looked at the surrounding mountains with great pride. This place used to be the border between Liao and Western Xia, also known as Jiashan, with mountains stretching across the country. After the Liao was defeated by the Jin, the Liao emperor Ye Yanxi fled here and hid for a long time.
This is indeed a good place to hide. Ma Yongzhen would never have thought that he is no longer in Hetao, but has run to Heishan.
"Meng En, you should hurry up and prepare yourself. Ma Yongzhen will probably arrive tomorrow. You will lead your army to the north, bypass Mutu Mountain and rob Ma Yongzhen's logistics."
"Yes, General."
Deputy General Meng En had just left when Yatu, wearing a sable coat, walked into the tent. She stomped on the snow on her boots. Her thick winter coat could not hide her slim figure, and a pair of deerskin boots on her feet made her look even taller.
Because the battle was of great importance, she was worried and came with Sukhbaru's army.
In fact, she was the real commander of the 8,000-strong army, and Sukhbaru was her trusted general.
"Sukhbaru, is everything ready?"
Sukhbaru bowed and replied, "Princess, everything has been arranged as you said. Is there anything else you want to add?"
Yatu came closer and said, "Not for now. What's important now is to erase all traces outside the mountain, hide our tracks, and then wait patiently. When Ma Yongzhen's army passes by, we will be halfway to victory."
"Princess, I have asked someone to do it." As the two of them got closer, Sukhbalu, who was bending over, could smell a faint scent from her body.
He could not help but look up, and when he saw the towering peaks of Yatu just within reach, his eyes froze for a moment, and then he quickly lowered his head and swallowed secretly.
Yatu looked at Sukhbaru who was bowing respectfully with a smile in her eyes. She knew that Sukhbaru was obsessed with her, and she took advantage of this to control a force that was no weaker than Qitaxing's.
"Sukhbaru, you like this princess, right?" Yatu leaned forward and stood closer.
Sukhbaru looked down at her deerskin boots and replied in panic, "I dare not. I am willing to die for the princess..."
"So you just don't like this princess?" Yatu asked with some disappointment.
“No, no, no… I like it… not…”
Sukhbaru, who was not prepared at all, spoke incoherently, which made Yatu, who was always confident in her beauty, feel a little proud. She also knew that to control a man, it was best to give him some sweet treats occasionally, so that he would be deeply involved and unable to stop.
"Sukhbaru, you are a man of integrity. You dare not admit that you like someone?"
Yatu spoke in a soft voice, took his big hand and placed it on his towering chest. Sukhbaru's eyes were panicked, and his calloused hands trembled slightly, and his Adam's apple moved up and down.
"If you are good to me, I will not treat you unfairly." Yatu gently unbuttoned two buttons and let his big hand reach in from the side of the lapel.
The warm and soft feeling made Sukhbaru unable to help but squeeze it hard, and a low sound like a beast came out of his throat. This was the most wonderful moment in his life. He had long been dreaming about Yatu's beautiful face and attractive figure.
Yatu knew when to stop, so she let him rub her hands for a while, then said softly, "Your hands are too cold. Next time... Sukhbaru, go get some wine and have a drink with me. Let's wait and see. When Ma Yongzhen's army arrives, victory will be ours."
"I'm sorry, Princess, I'm sorry, I... I just want some wine." Sukhbaru was afraid of upsetting her, so he could only reluctantly pull his hand away, apologize repeatedly, and then turn around to get the wine.
Yatu looked at his staggering steps, and the smile in his eyes became even more intense.
*****
ps: Please subscribe and give me a monthly ticket! (To be continued..)
...