Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 845 A Pragmatic Person
As Wang Yue mounted his warhorse, preparing to cross the central army's camp to check the situation ahead, Wang Shouren, who had been assisting Zhu Hui as the vanguard for the past few days, suddenly appeared before him on horseback.

"Hey, Bo'an, what are you doing here?"

Wang Yue was quite surprised to see Wang Shouren.

Although Zhu Yong assigned a group of men to Wang Shouren to command, and even had Wang Shouren cooperate with his son Zhu Hui to clear the way in front of the main army, Wang Shouren's main task was actually similar to that of a night scout, whose position was sometimes left, sometimes right, sometimes up, sometimes down, equivalent to a scout gathering intelligence in front.

Wang Shouren dismounted, clasped his hands in a salute, and asked respectfully, "Does Your Excellency intend to lead your army into a direct confrontation with the Tatars?"

Wang Yue nodded and said, "The weather is still fine now, with no extreme weather events, and the Tartar troops are right in front of us. It can be said to be a godsend."

“Bo’an, you’ve come at just the right time. I’ll give you a group of men to stay behind and wait to clean up the mess.”

Even at this time, Wang Yue still did not forget to give Wang Shouren, who had connections, the opportunity to earn military merits.

Instead of having Wang Shouren lead the charge, he was put in charge of the rearguard, waiting to reap the rewards of victory.

This was also a concrete manifestation of Wang Yue's favor towards Wang Shouren, and incidentally, it did Wang Hua a tremendous favor.

Wang Shouren hurriedly said, "The Tartars ahead probably won't linger in battle. They have secretly moved the elderly, weak, women and children of their tribe northward through the Yinshan Pass. They are currently located about fifty miles away, due northeast of here."

"What!?"

Wang Yue frowned upon hearing this.

Previously, the Ming army had been able to conduct reconnaissance without receiving reports at night, and their reconnaissance network had spread to a place 60 or 70 miles away from the central army. They had a complete grasp of the Tatars' every move, but they did not have such detailed intelligence as Wang Shouren.

Normally, when Wang Shouren led his troops in front of the central army, the distance was only about thirty li. How could he possibly know the situation fifty li away?

Wang Shouren said, "From what I have seen, the Tartars have sent troops as a distraction, and their main focus is on protecting the migration of their people and livestock. I suspect that most of the nearby tribes have already withdrawn from the area south of Yinshan Mountain to avoid giving us a chance to decide the outcome in one battle."

"The Tatars will mostly adopt harassment tactics nowadays. When we advance, they retreat; when we camp, they harass. While avoiding direct confrontation, they follow our army deep into the territory of the Chahar tribe where the Tatar prince is located."

"As long as Batumonke calls on all the tribes of the grasslands to serve the king, the Tatars will be more united than ever before, and our army will be surrounded by the Tatars."

Wang Yue looked at Wang Shouren with a questioning gaze, as if considering whether what Wang Shouren said was true or false.

Wang Shouren continued, "Your Excellency may wish to wait and see. Once we have formed our ranks, this group of men will surely scatter and flee, and will not confront us head-on at all. Once we disperse and set off again, they will come after us again, like a persistent leech that we cannot shake off."

Wang Yue frowned and said, "This is indeed a problem. However, if the Tatar prince gathers the armed forces of various tribes and fights us openly, it might be a good thing. We can annihilate the main force of the Tatars in one fell swoop, and then the grasslands will be at our disposal."

Wang Shouren quickly said, "Your Excellency should understand that if we continue eastward, engaging in a protracted struggle with the Tatar troops, we will inevitably become exhausted after a few days. Meanwhile, the Tatars have transferred their herdsmen, the elderly, women, and children away, leaving them with no worries about their rear. Once the Tatar coalition forces are assembled and continue to employ harassment tactics, as our supplies continue to be depleted, we will inevitably find ourselves in a very passive position."

Upon hearing what Wang Shouren said, Wang Yue hesitated for a moment.

Given Wang Yue's exceptional military command abilities and insights, it is clear that what Wang Shouren said was not an exaggeration.

The Tumed tribe has clearly deployed five or six thousand troops, seemingly preparing for a decisive battle, but the number of troops in front of them... is obviously too small...

Giving both sides a chance to attack each other, the Ming army has a high chance of winning, after all, it has the advantage of firearms.

However, if the Tumed tribe truly intended to engage in a decisive battle, they wouldn't have hidden twenty miles away, allowing the Ming forces to deploy their troops at will. This suggests that there might be a trap ahead.

Wang Yue said, “Bo’an, are you sure the Tartars in front of you are migrating their tribes north? There is no evidence to corroborate your statement. Those Tartars are blockheads. How could they easily give up the lush land near Dabansheng City? Going north means losing the protection of Yinshan Mountain and facing the wind and snow directly. This is not like the behavior of the Tartars.”

Wang Shouren cupped his hands and said, "Please trust me, Your Highness. I am willing to guarantee this with my own head."

"Don't say that. The situation on the battlefield can change in an instant, and anything can happen. You've never witnessed the treachery and cunning of the Tatars. Don't assume that what you've seen and heard is the truth. There might be conspiracies and tricks you don't understand." Wang Yue meant that even if you have talent, you still lack practical experience. Perhaps you've been deceived?
Wang Shouren immediately said, "Please grant me a thousand cavalrymen, lightly armed, to march north and intercept them. If I fail, I will gladly return and accept punishment. I do not covet fame or fortune; everything is a gift from you, my lord..."

After thinking for a long time, Wang Yue finally nodded: "Alright, I'll give you two thousand men. As you said, travel light, leaving all your supplies in the central army. I'll give you four days: two days to head north and two days to return. If you can't catch up with the Tatar tribes, or if you can't find any news, retreat immediately! If you do catch up... be careful that the main Tatar force returns to reinforce, minimize casualties, and absolutely do not linger in battle."

"The student obeys!"

Wang Shouren appeared very excited.

Although Wang Yue had indeed given him some authority to lead troops, he was only the vanguard of the entire army, like a remotely controlled kite, unable to stray too far from the central army, and he didn't have much power.

But this was a golden opportunity for him to prove his talent, one he could not afford to miss.

Wang Yue was also weighing the pros and cons at this moment.

Wang Shouren's volunteering might have created another possibility: directly capturing and killing the Tumed tribe's herdsmen. This would force the various forces of the Tumed tribe to gather in one direction, thus giving him the opportunity to fight a decisive battle with the Tumed tribe.

……

……

After receiving the order, Wang Shouren directly transferred 500 new soldiers and 1,000 cavalry from Yansui to Wang Yue, and together with 700 soldiers from the new army and Datong garrison under Zhu Hui, a total of about 2,200 men, they turned north, crossed the Yinshan Mountains, and pursued the Tumed tribe's migrating herders, for whom there was no concrete intelligence support at the moment.

That afternoon, Wang Yue's central army was less than fifteen li away from the troops sent by the Tumed tribe to meet them in battle.

Just as Wang Shouren predicted, the Tumed tribe's attacking force consisted almost entirely of light cavalry, with almost no heavy cavalry. They began to retreat before the battle even started.

Moreover, they seemed to know that the Ming side was equipped with heavy weapons and would not be able to pursue too quickly. Therefore, they maintained a relatively safe distance during their retreat, as if they wanted to take this opportunity to wear down the morale of the Ming soldiers and launch a counterattack when the opportunity arose.

Zhu Yong, who was in charge of command at the front, realized that something was wrong. Knowing that night was approaching and the army needed to set up camp and secure its defenses, he immediately went to Wang Yue to report the enemy situation.

“General Wang, the upper reaches of the Xiaohei River are less than thirty miles ahead. Although the river is not deep and has not yet frozen, we are carrying too much baggage. Even crossing the river in shallow water will not be easy, especially at this critical moment when we are facing the enemy.”

Zhu Yong analyzed, "The Tartars clearly want to wear us down, so we must be extremely cautious at this time."

Wang Yue, riding a tall horse, took out the binoculars standard for generals and commanders. After looking for a long time without any clue, he frowned and said, "The distant mountains are the sacred mountains of the Mongols, Wengguan Mountain, right?"

"Exactly."

Zhu Yong looked up and replied.

"As the sun sets, we should have continued eastward to Wengguan Mountain, but we were unexpectedly intercepted by the Tartar forces here." Wang Yue asked, "Do you think we can explain this victory to the world?" Zhu Yong analyzed, "It's naturally far from the goal of completely pacifying the grasslands, but killing a few hundred enemies would be enough to make you famous throughout the world, restore your prestige, and for the next few years, all the major military towns in the Northwest will follow your lead."

Wang Yue then asked, "How many years will it take to pacify the grasslands?"

"If things continue as they are, it will probably take... about fifteen years."

Zhu Hui revealed his true feelings.

Wang Yue shook his head: "It can't be more than five years, because I definitely won't live to see that day. But why does that young imperial brother-in-law of the Zhang family believe that as long as he leads his troops out of the border, he can completely cripple the Tatars, and even subdue them and make them completely submit?"

Zhu Yong became anxious as soon as he heard this.

At this critical juncture, when everything is in dire need of attention, you actually have the mind to worry about these things? Don't you know that young people like to brag all the time?
Is it acceptable to be all talk and no action and not practical?
"Dongyang and Bo'an have led two thousand men north, saying that some Tartar tribes have migrated north and they have gone to pursue them," Wang Yue told him truthfully.

Zhu Yong was startled upon hearing this and hurriedly said, "The Yin Mountains are vast and the passes are treacherous. How can we proceed? What if there is an ambush to the north?"
"Besides, the grassland tribes are very protective of their territory. How could the Tumed tribe possibly give up the fertile pastures around Dabansheng to compete with the Chahar tribe for food? Aren't they afraid that their people will be swallowed up by the Golden Family?"

Wang Yue said, “At first, I didn’t understand why Bo’an would say that the Tumed people would migrate north. But then I thought, if at this time, if the rumors spread on the grasslands that the Ming Dynasty was coming with the intention of pacifying the grasslands and not returning until Loulan was conquered, the various Tatar tribes would definitely unite. If they still maintained their wariness towards each other, and even their own people were unwilling to migrate, leaving their heart and soul to the Chahar tribe, how could they gain the trust of the Tatar prince?”

"you……"

Zhu Yong thought to himself, "Others obtain intelligence through actual investigation."

You and Wang Shouren, on the other hand, relied entirely on luck?

Is this a war, or a game of reading people's hearts?

Wang Yue said coldly, "The Tatar troops opposite us number only a few thousand. That's a lot, but they don't seem to be here to fight to the death. Heading east from here, we'll enter the territory of Wengguan Mountain. We don't know what awaits us ahead."

"What's right in front of us..."

"Pass on my military order: set up camp on the spot."

Wang Yue instructed, "All soldiers must be ready for battle. If the Tatars attack, engage them in combat. If we fail to catch them by tomorrow, we will turn back and head north!"
"Hmph, who says we have to initiate battle when we encounter enemy forces? Our goal is to gather all the main forces of the Tatars and wipe them out in one fell swoop. These few thousand Tatars in front of us... I really don't even look at them!"

……

……

There was no fighting that night.

When Wang Yue heard Zhu Yong's report at dawn, he learned that the Tatars had retreated nearly thirty miles east overnight.

In other words, while the Ming army was resting and regrouping at night, the Tatars retreated overnight, widening the distance between the two sides to nearly fifty li again.

In the era of cold weapon warfare, this distance was already considered very far; a typical army might not even be able to travel more than fifty li in a day.

Zhu Yong said worriedly, "There's still no news from the north."

Wang Yue looked up at the northern sky and said, "At this time, no news is good news. It seems that Bo'an's words have come true. The Tatar forces ahead are just trying to contain us and do not want to fight us directly."

"So what should we do?"

Zhu Yong frowned and asked, "Should we discuss this with Eunuch Cao?"

Cao Shen was a military eunuch, but he had a very low profile in front of Wang Yue and Zhu Yong. This eunuch was only temporarily appointed by Zhu Youcheng to fill the vacancy, unlike the previous military supervisors who were either eunuchs from the Imperial Horse Administration or the Directorate of Ceremonial, and had a very high rank.

Wang Yue said, "How about we lead our troops north and see how the Tatars react before deciding on our next move?"

"General, we have been in the grasslands for over twenty days now, and our soldiers are exhausted. We have not encountered any enemies before, nor have we had any opportunity to fight. But now the Tatars are right in front of us. We know their movements, yet we are changing course. Even if the soldiers understand, it will be difficult to explain when the Censor reports us to the Ministry of War and the Governor's Office after the battle."

As a Duke, Zhu Yong had indeed transcended the category of ordinary generals.

His current thoughts and concerns are more about political maneuvering.

As a general of the Ming Dynasty, he had to respond actively and strike decisively when encountering the enemy. This was something that was ingrained in his bones. If he failed to do so, it was not a question of whether he could forgive himself, but rather that the censors, the court, and the emperor would find it difficult to understand and would criticize him harshly.

Wang Yue said, "If we want to cripple the Tatars, we must force them to come out in full force and seek a decisive battle with us!"

"We're in the heart of the grasslands, unfamiliar with the place and the people. Plus, we're carrying too much baggage and our pace is slow. Are we just going to be treated like livestock and played with?"
"At this point, we need to stay calm. He can do his thing, I can do mine. We need to stick to our own pace and not let anyone lead us by the nose. In the end, we'll see who loses their temper. If they dare to attack, we'll make sure to strike them right in the back of the lungs. The sooner they die, the sooner they'll be reincarnated!"

Zhu Yong thought to himself, "Your analogy is truly unique."

"Although I cannot yet determine the location of the Tatar herdsmen, it seems that the more they lead us there, the less likely we are to find their weakness."

Wang Yue's eyes grew brighter and brighter, and his voice boomed, "Advance north. If the Tatars continue to retreat eastward after they learn that Wang Bo'an has gone north, we can simply ignore this small force of Tatars."

Zhu Yong asked, "How will you explain this to the censor?"

"With me here, why would you care about these things? Duke Baoguo, you are also an experienced veteran. You should have seen it long ago: the Tatars are playing a game of deception with us."

Wang Yue said, "Only by finding the Tatar herdsmen and livestock can we throw them into a corner, giving us a chance to achieve great things and return in triumph. Otherwise... it will all be for nothing!"

Seeing that Wang Yue seemed intent on taking responsibility alone, Zhu Yong no longer had any doubts.

Although Wang Yue had a bad reputation for flattering the powerful, he was definitely not the kind of person who liked to shirk responsibility; otherwise, he wouldn't have gained such high regard in the army.

Moreover, Zhu Yong was well aware that if someone else were to lead the army to conquer the grasslands, it would be difficult to gain the support of the people.

The fact that this group of men could penetrate deep into enemy territory alone without losing morale was entirely due to Wang Yue's prestige.

This is why he insisted on being transferred to Yansui when he was in Datong... because Zhu Yong really wanted to make a name for himself. After all, he missed the battle in Pianguan where Li Zisheng was fighting, and even though Li Zisheng shared some of the military merits, he didn't feel at ease taking them.

If you want to gain the new emperor's favor during the Hongzhi reign, you have to achieve something that others cannot.

(End of this chapter)