Drawing Cards in the Middle Ages to Rise in Ranks

Chapter 672 442: Four Directions

Ancient North Platform.

"The sun sets behind the western hills, the sky darkens, and every household closes its door..."

A soldier on watchtower duty sang at the top of his lungs.

"What are you wailing like wolves and ghosts for?"

Zhang San, disturbed and annoyed, wrapped himself tighter in his cotton coat and turned to sleep on his side.

"Nonsense, wailing like ghosts! I'm practicing the incantations for exorcising spirits. The Tatars are experts in nurturing malevolent spirits. If you don't keep a good relationship with the immortals, who will help you when the real trouble comes?"

Zhang San was intrigued, and with a wry smile, he said, "Then can you have a word with the deities for me, so if a real fight breaks out, they'll look out for me?"

"Hey, no problem!"

Inside the watchtower, the soldiers were either sleeping or doing some needlework; whenever they were not on duty, they would usually do some sewing, and apart from mending their clothes, they would sell the extra work to supplement their household income.

Usually the most reticent young flag officer suddenly spoke up, "The beacons were burning for days on end, yet we still don't know how many Tatars have come this time."

"Oh, why worry so much? His Majesty is leading the campaign in person, accompanied by all the civil and military ministers. During the Jingnan Campaign, we followed the founding emperor's grandfather, the old and fierce generals. With tens of thousands of troops, do you think we could be defeated by the Tatars?"

"Boss, if you have so much time to worry, you might as well sew a few more hairnets, sell them, and send the money to your sister-in-law. It's getting colder these days, and every morning, even though wrapped up thickly, waking up feels like being in an ice cellar in this tower."

"Before it gets dark, Old Liu, let's quickly go into the forest to chop more firewood."

The young flag officer said, "Go ahead, but be cautious. With Tatar bandits at the borders, our tower has limited numbers. Before you arrived here, several brothers were captured by the Tatars while they were out chopping wood."

Risks aside, they definitely needed to chop wood.

By custom, they would chop enough firewood for the tower to use for half a month, but recently, due to a large incursion of Tatar cavalry at the border, they hadn't been able to gather wood, and now the tower was nearly out of firewood.

Old Liu laughed and said, "Just keep a closer watch. The Tatars may have made a big move this time, but I don't think they'd waste their efforts on our little tower."

The watchtower served as a lookout and signal fire. Being high up, it had the advantage of terrain, and with its water cellar, accumulating water in warm months and ice in cold months, if besieged, they could rely on food and stored water.

Small enemy groups are hard to break through, while large groups find it beneath them to bother.

Suddenly, the lookout on top of the tower called out, "Wait, it seems like someone is coming!"

A black dog darted out of the watchtower, barking into the night.

Border watchtowers often kept a dog and a chicken; the former to alert at night, the latter to announce dawn. The chicken coop and doghouse were all maintained in the shed on top of the tower. Each morning when fetching water, the dog was let down first to check if any enemies or demon beasts were lurking.

The young flag officer ordered, "Light the lanterns, raise the firearms. If it's the Tatars, wait for my order before firing; if it's a wolf pack, we can treat it as fresh meat."

"Understood!"

The soldiers on duty became alert, though not too nervous at heart.

Their watchtower, although with limited garrison, also meant little to plunder. If not desperate, no one would dare pursue a fight here.

"It looks like a woman!"

The lookout sighed with relief after saying this.

But then the one who was singing the incantation, along with their young flag officer, their faces turned pale.

"How could a woman end up in this desolate wilderness at this late hour?"

"Could it be something...unclean?"

...

Losa and his party, after half a day's march, were now setting up camp.

In the main tent, brimming with Eastern flavor, he lit a candle and pondered how to deal with the swift and agile nomadic cavalry. He had dealt with several nomadic cavalry before.

The Magyar cavalry, Turkic cavalry, Bedouin cavalry... but none could compare to the Tatars. After all, they once built the largest land empire in history; their strength is not to be underestimated.

Thinking it over, he decided to first test a small enemy group to gauge their strength.

Although the Nomadic Empire was strong, with a small population they could mobilize a large number of cavalry.

But the word "Empire" should really be in quotes.

To put it bluntly, it was a tribal alliance. In a real fight, if he focused on the main tribes, those from other tribes, including the vassal army of Duoyan three guards and the Jurchens, would certainly not exert themselves in aid.

All along the way, as he listened to the night patrol's account of the situation, Losa gradually came to his senses.

"So, as long as Zhu Qizhen holds his troops and defends at Tumu Castle, the Tatars won't be able to storm the place anytime soon?"

That's the logical thinking.

But historically Zhu Qizhen suffered a great defeat, and his entire six divisions were lost. The majestic emperor of Great Ming was captured alive by the Tatars. Probably this man had some unexpected maneuvers.

The night patrol was not as optimistic. With supply routes cut, the Capital Camp troops at Tumu Castle were, in effect, not stationed but rather forced there.

The provisions they carried were likely exhausted.

"Don't worry; humans can survive a day or two without food. Besides, when you broke out, weren't the main troops still supplied?"

Flag Officer: "Rationed carefully, the food might last a few more days, but the water is nearly depleted."

"No matter, slaughter the pack animals, the mules traveling with the army, drink their blood and eat their meat, you can endure a bit longer, no need to panic."

Losa reassured again.

…

At this moment, at Tumu Castle.

Zhu Qizhen watched as the eunuch strode into the tent and inquired, "What's the matter?"

"Your Majesty, great news! The Tatar chief, Grandmaster Esen, has agreed to negotiate peace and withdraw!"

"Wang, can we trust what the Tatar chief says?"

The eunuch, called Wang, answered respectfully, "Your Majesty, those foul grassland Tartars came south merely for some grain and fabric. Granting them what they want suffices. What courage do they have to fight the Great Ming Dynasty to the death?"

Zhu Qizhen breathed a sigh of relief.

During this period, he felt he had endured too much hardship.

Warfare was not at all what he had imagined.

"Those Tatars are truly cunning. In a straight-up fight, they would surely be no match for me."

…

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Grandmaster Esen felt delighted.

Before coming south, he told his close aides: this venture was merely for some plundering, to gather some provisions.

The strength disparity between the Great Ming Court and them was vast; he never intended to engage the Ming army in a grand decisive battle, let alone invading the capital or restoring the Yuan dynasty to its former city.

However, the Ming army was weaker than he expected, lacking even a hint of the past vigor in chasing and defeating the Yuan Court.

This greatly inflated his ambitions.

A general under his command flattered him: "Grandmaster, should you capture the Great Capital, and your achievements be without equal, there's no need to support that little brat Tudubuhua as Great Khan?"