It was mid-May, and the Junggar Basin was in a terrible heat. The Ming army heading north marched under the scorching sun, sweating profusely and panting.

Fortunately, the terrain along the way is relatively smooth, the road is not too difficult to walk, and the morale of the entire army is also good, so everyone has no complaints.

The only thing that made Xu Mingwu feel unhappy was that he passed by seven or eight tribes along the way, all of which were empty and he did not meet a single herder!

Fortunately, Ming Junzan had a map in his hand, so he would not lose his direction in this ghost place.

Along the way, Xu Mingwu noticed that the herdsmen of the Junggar tribe seemed to be very unfriendly to the Ming army.

Although the Ming army did not harass the herdsmen along the way, those herdsmen saw the Ming army from afar and ran away completely.

There are two main reasons for this. First, the Junggar tribe rebelled and the usurped the throne, Zhuotbabatul pro-Russia, and promoted the slander of the Ming Dynasty to the herdsmen.

Secondly, two months ago, the Gar army went north to block the Northern Expedition Army. Qi Guangyang, the Bo of Dingyuan, ordered 30,000 Western Expedition Army to take advantage of the situation and seized their retreat. He thought that many people were killed when the Western Expedition Army suppressed the rebellion.

It is not easy to find people in the vast grassland and desert, not to mention that the entire northwest is in chaos. God knows where the 30,000 Western Expedition Army that suppressed the rebellion have been killed!

In the end, King Zhu Heqin of Han proposed that the main army would be led by the Marquis of Suning Lu Xiangkun to the Yenisei River to aid the Duke of Dingguo Zhou Yuji and the Northern Expedition Army. The younger generations led 5,000 troops from the headquarters to search for the 30,000 missing Western Expedition Army, and at the same time appeased the Junggar tribe.

After hearing this, Lu Xiangkun, the Marquis of Suning, disagreed at first, and shook his head like a rattle. However, he could not withstand the repeated hints of the King of Han, and finally agreed.

He could see that the second generation of Han Wang and the second generation of honor wanted to prove themselves and didn't want him, an old guy, to be in the way!

Considering that Zhou Yuji was trapped in the state of Dingguo, and the situation was critical and needed to accelerate the march, Lu Xiangkun finally adopted the advice of the King of Han and divided his troops into action.

Lu Xiangkun had another consideration. Among the many tribal forces of the Ming Dynasty, the Junggar tribe was the most powerful, and its position was also the most important. His Royal Highness, the Ming Dynasty's prince, came to appease them, and it thought it would play a role...

Half a month after setting off from the Yili River Valley, the 30,000 Ming troops heading north divided their troops and advanced. Lu Xiangkun led 25,000 troops to the Yenisei River at night.

Twenty days later, the "King's Brigade" led by King Zhu Heji of Han came to a tribe in the lower reaches of the Ertzis River.

Li Shangyong, who was the striker, reported to Zhu Heji that there was no one in this small tribe, and all the people ran away, and there was no time to carry the felt tent!

Zhu Heqi sighed secretly, this is the influence of public opinion. I don’t know what ecstasy medicine the leader of Junggar gave to the herdsmen, so that they could not hide when they saw the Ming army.

Zhu Heqi ordered the troops to camp outside the tribe, and no one was allowed to enter the felt tent to disturb the people, even if there was no one in these yurts!

The five thousand troops led by the King of Han were originally the Second Brigade of the First Division of the Governor's Office of the Eastern Army, and the troops of Zhu Shengzhi, the general of the State. Because Zhu Shengzhi, the clan's uncle, was beheaded, the army was loosely scattered, and Zhu Heji was given the price.

The Third Brigade was personally held by His Highness the King of Han, and it was immediately raised. People called it "The King's Brigade".

The temporary command of the Wang Brigade was set up by a small river outside the tribe. After the resettlement of each department, Zhu Heqi summoned the regiment chiefs of each regiment, Xu Mingwu, Li Shangyong, Zhu Daneng, Princess Zhaoyang and others to hold a meeting.

These are the main generals and backbones of the royal brigade, and they faintly formed emerging forces headed by the King of Han.

First, Zhu Heqiu made an important speech and issued a general order. Anyone who passed by the tribe was sent to investigate the situation at night without taking it. No one else was allowed to enter and stayed in the shade of the mountains and fields, without any harm to the local herders.

Zhu Heqiu should try his best to show the image of the Ming army. He knew very well that a team that lost public opinion could not survive!

If everyone played the trick of strengthening the walls and clearing the wilderness along the way, what would the Ming army eat?

To this end, the King of Han announced new military regulations, requiring the entire army to memorize it.

Xu Mingwu was shocked. The so-called new military rules announced by His Highness the King of Han were actually exactly the same as the three major disciplines and eight points of attention in later generations. The main purpose was not to take the masses one by one!

Next, everyone discussed the matter in a very good manner.

At present, Wanglu has two major problems that need to be solved urgently.

First, find people and comfort the people; second, continue to go north and west, and rush to the Yenisei River to join the main army.

These two things seem easy, but in fact they are quite difficult to operate. Especially in this thousands of miles of Gobi desert, the ability of the general and the will of the army have been greatly tested.

Zhu Heji still has two tricks, with careful arrangement and clear division of labor. Not only did he not replace the three troupe presidents as soon as he came up, but he patiently won him.

After lunch, the troops continued to drive away, and winding mountains crossed the road ahead.

From the map, this mountain range is called Argret Mountain, which stretches for hundreds of miles, making people feel desperate when they look at it.

Fortunately, the Pioneer Regiment captured a herdsman. Deputy General Manager Li Shangyong persuaded him and gave the herdsman ten silver dollars, and finally convinced the herdsman to lead the way.

Under the leadership of the herdsman, the army of five thousand kings entered Mount Argret.

The terrain here is not very undulating, mainly hills, densely covered with trees, winding roads, rugged up and down, and the army is as if entering a maze.

Xu Mingwu slowly lowered his telescope, secretly frightened. If there was an enemy burying a group of people here, I was afraid that the troops would not even have time to deploy defense!

Zhu Daneng came over and muttered, "Why does this place look so familiar?"

His words were heard by the Han King Zhu Heqi beside him. Zhu Heqi looked around and was shocked.

A peak shrouded in the distance, shining with clouds and mist emitted a snow-white light in the sun. After walking for half an hour, the direction and perspective of this peak did not change!

Zhu Heqi was meticulous and thought in an instant that the troops were spinning in place!

"Send the order and stop moving forward!"

Zhu Heqi hurriedly ordered: "Zhu Daneng, come in front and ask, what is Li Shangyong doing!"

Zhu Daneng also felt that the situation was not right and ran away all the way. After a while, he ran back with Li Shangyong who was leading the way in front.

Li Shangyong was sweating heavily and gasped and said, "Your Highness, what's wrong?"

Zhu Heqiu said angrily: "The army is spinning around in place, how do you, the forward, lead the way?"

Li Shangyong looked around, looked up at the position of the peak again, and was also surprised: "What's going on..."

Then, he was furious and cursed: "I gave the herder ten yuan silver dollars. The old guy took my money, but he was fooling us! Damn, I'll cut him alive now!"

Xu Mingwu was speechless. This guy was simply awesome! At this level, he was still a teacher at the Imperial Ming Military Academy, which was embarrassing!

As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier from the vanguard regiment rushed over and shouted from afar: "Sir, that old man has run away!"

Li Shangyong was furious: "Run away? What are you doing for? You can't even bear to see an old man?"

The soldier cried with a sad face: "Return to the regiment general, after the vanguard regiment received the order from His Highness to stop moving forward, the old man said he wanted to shit. We were afraid that he would run away without a guide, so we took off his pants, thinking about what this old man could do with his bare but who would have thought that the old man actually ran away with his bare butt!"

"What? The old man is so shameless?" King Zhu Heqiu of Han exclaimed.

Xu Mingwu was amused and crying. His Royal Highness, the royal prince of the Han Dynasty, has been familiar with the books of sages since he was a child and received court etiquette training. He thought that everyone was as polite, righteousness and shame as their princes and grandsons...

Xu Mingwu said, "When a person reaches the Jedi, how can he care about courtesy, righteousness, integrity and shame? How can a pair of pants tie a person?"

Li Shangyong glared at him and said, "People are born to be propriety, righteous, honest and shameful. You are illiterate and know nothing!"

Xu Mingwu smiled and said, "You don't think about it. If you were in the city, you would naturally not be able to run naked, but this is in the mountains. Even if you run naked, no one will pay attention to you! Where does the courtesy, righteousness, integrity and shame come from?"

There are big men around, so there is no problem discussing this kind of topic, but Princess Zhaoyang is different. A princess is a little overwhelmed when she hears the big man talking about naked running and butt.

She coughed lightly and walked to the side.

Xu Mingwu and Li Shangyong were still arguing fiercely on the topic of Chinese virtues. Zhu Daneng participated from time to time and expressed his own opinions.

Zhu Heji, who was beside him, heard a big head and waved his hand to stop them.

"Xu Mingwu, let me tell you, I have been your teacher at least, and I am half your mentor. Is there anyone who respects teachers as much as you?" Li Shangyong shouted.

Xu Mingwu said disdainfully: "You fart! The invigilator is also a damn mentor? I will tell you that you are the deputy group general, and I am also the deputy group general. Don't pretend to be an old man in front of me!"

The two of them have always been disagreement, and they never stopped fighting along the way. Everyone habitually stepped forward to persuade them to fight.

At this moment, a red smoke rose from the sky with a bang.

A group leader watched the two argue with enthusiasm. After seeing this scene, his face changed immediately and he shouted: "Enemy attack! Beware!"

This kind of signal flare is scattered around the reconnaissance environment and does not send or receive it at night. The red warning is that there are enemies sneak attacks near it.

The captain of the Han King's personal guard waved his hand, and the guards rushed forward, surrounded Zhu Heqi, aiming his gun outward at all directions, extremely alert.

Xu Mingwu immediately took his guard to Princess Zhaoyang and once again showed the positive image of a good man and a great hero.

The officers and soldiers of the brigade also looked for cover on the spot. Those with guns pulled the bolts, while those without guns crawled on the ground. The team was in order and did not panic.

After Zhu Cixuan killed people and established his authority, the military discipline of the soldiers of the three armies was greatly improved. Especially this royal brigade, as the protagonist of the major rectification, was punished the most and expressed the best.

The top-down generals and officials in the entire brigade were basically killed. Can they perform poorly?

At this time, facing a sudden change, the soldiers were quite sure.

King Zhu Heqiu of Han smiled even more, just a feather fan was enough to show off.

Suddenly, a shout sounded in the dense forest halfway up the mountain, followed by gongs and drums, roaring people, and flags roaring...

The Third Battalion, who served as the rear guard, immediately reported: "Report! Our army's rear route was cut off by the enemy!"

Li Shangyong was shocked: "Your Highness, we are ambushed!"

Seeing this scene, Xu Mingwu's head buzzed. He never expected that the enemy would make dumplings for the first time he went to war!

After gradually calming down, he found that this was obviously a premeditated action. The old herder was a meticulous worker who deliberately lured the Ming army to this valley and cut off their retreat!

The enemy is condescending, and once the war begins, it will be extremely unfavorable to the King's Brigade.

Xu Mingwu turned his head and looked at His Highness the King of Han. He saw that the noble man with a look of panic was not in a panic face and still kept smiling...

Although they were ambushed, Zhu Heqi believed that the Ming army was not afraid of any enemies!

The quality of an army is closely related to the quality of the military commander. The calmness of the soldiers comes from the true determination of the commander.

Only when the general is calm can the soldiers see hope and believe that their generals can lead them into good fortune.

On the contrary, if all the main generals ran away, the battle would be impossible, as it has been the case since ancient times.

Looking at the confident King of Han, Xu Mingwu felt relieved, the generals felt relieved, and the soldiers felt relieved.
To be continued...