Chapter 7: Those Who Defy Fate Must Be Eliminated! Author: Ming Yue ?? txt ??? Traditional Chinese

  The news of the Tangut defeat shocked many Mongol tribes, who had not expected that the Mongolian homeland led by the Golden Family would be so vulnerable to attack. Among them, however, there was one tribe that was particularly pleased with this outcome - the Wala.

  We mentioned earlier that there is a deep hatred between the Wala and the Tartars, which is estimated to have exceeded the category of internal contradictions among the people. When the Ming army attacked, the Wala, as a tribe of the same ethnic group as the Tartars, not only did not help but also helped the Ming government solve the problem of Benyashili. This achievement naturally received praise from the Ming government. As an onlooker in this war, the Wala gained many benefits, but what the Ming government did not expect was that soon after, this onlooker would become a participant.

  Mahamud, the leader of the Wala, was a relatively capable ruler who was not satisfied with his own territory. His greatest competitor, Arughtai, had been defeated by the Ming army and became an unemployed vagrant, and the eastern Mongolia he occupied became extremely empty. Mahamud was a person who saw benefits and wanted to occupy them, so he began to gradually encroach on the territory of western Mongolia. Within a few years, the power of Wala began to expand rapidly, occupying many places. At this time, Arughtai lacked soldiers and generals, becoming an orphan, and could only go to the Ming government to complain. However, every time he received responses like "I know" or "You go back, we will talk to him".

  Our school experience tells us that those who report to the authorities generally have no good ending, and Arutai is no exception. After reporting, his situation not only didn't change, but he was often beaten, and each time more severely than before. From then on, he fell into extreme difficulties.

  It should be said that Altai's downfall was not only due to the attack of the Wala people, but also because of the tacit consent and support of the Ming government. Just as the Tatars were about to collapse, an unexpected change occurred in the situation at this time.

  The Wa La have become too powerful.

  No matter what contradictions existed between the Wala and the Tartars, they were still Mongolians after all. "Defeat the internal enemies before defeating the external ones" was not only a tradition of the Han people. After overthrowing the Tartars, Mahamu of the Wala also had the idea of unifying Mongolia and restoring the empire. He established Alibuka (the Golden Family) as Khan and invaded Karakorum.

  The Ming government finally discovered that this onlooker had become so powerful that it was about to unify Mongolia. At this time, Aruytai had also been defeated and fled with his tribe to the foot of the Great Wall, saying that he had no way out and asked for political asylum.

  Now that things have come to this pass, it can no longer be ignored. The Ming government, like all governments past and present, follows one principle:

  There are no eternal friends and no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.

  Former friends have finally become enemies.

  Tomorrow morning, he said to Wala: "Wherever you came from, roll back there!"

  He said: "I won't roll."

  "Roll over, or I'll hit you!"

  "Come on, I'm afraid you won't make it!"

  No more nonsense, let's fight.

  The confidence of Wala

  Mahamude was not impulsive to challenge the Ming Dynasty, he still had some capital. At that time, the Western Mongolia under his jurisdiction had never been hit by the Ming Dynasty, and in the military action of the Ming Dynasty against the Tatars, he took advantage of the opportunity to gain a lot of benefits, and became more arrogant. This is like a small well-off family suddenly winning hundreds of millions of dollars in the lottery, and then showing off their wealth, wanting to compare with others.

  Mahamute understood that once he broke with the Ming Dynasty, he would have to go all out. But Mahamute was not afraid because he also had his own killer - cavalry.

  At that time, the strongest cavalry on the Mongolian grasslands was no longer the Mongols themselves, but the Oirats. It is a fact that the Mongols are a nation of horsemen, born and raised in the saddle, with the blood of nomadic people flowing through their veins, and even if they do not regain their former glory, they will still be worthy of the title of the best cavalry troops.

  Mahamute carefully observed the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Tatars, he keenly discovered that the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty was not stronger than that of the Tatars, but because the momentum of the Ming army was very strong, while the Tatars had internal divisions, so they were easily defeated by the Tatars.

  I won't make that kind of mistake, Wala will lure the enemy deep into our unified command, and then launch an unexpected attack, annihilating the Ming army in one fell swoop, restoring Mongolia's glory!

  Mahamu is not a person who only shouts slogans, he has already prepared a detailed battle plan and set the location of the decisive battle. He believes that as long as the Ming army is lured into this trap, he will definitely win the campaign.

  He almost succeeded.

  The enemy is right in front of us!

  Since the Wala tribe showed disobedience to the Ming dynasty and refused to return to their territory in western Mongolia, Zhu Di made up his mind to remove this thorn. Since he was young, he had always taken things from others, and others listened to him obediently. It was already a blessing that he didn't bully others, and no one had ever dared to bully him. Now, the small Wala tribe dared to openly challenge him, and it was necessary to teach them a lesson.

  In the second month of Yongle 12 (1414), he led a large army of 500,000 on another expedition. The Marquis of An Ding, Liu Sheng and other generals followed him to conquer Wala.

  Zhu Di was a very experienced general, he knew that his cavalry could not gain much advantage in direct conflict with the Mongolian cavalry. After all, his most elite cavalry were still composed of Mongolians, the three guards of Duo Yan, and these people were mercenaries who took money. Now they have to go to the land of Wa La to fight against them, and the cavalry of Wa La will certainly do their best, with very strong combat effectiveness.

  The difference in combat effectiveness between cavalry and infantry is not something that can be resolved overnight. The Wa people, who are skilled in guerrilla warfare, will inevitably make full use of the advantages of this type of combat, and since they have penetrated deep into enemy territory, there must be ambushes set up by the enemy army - how should these problems be dealt with?

  Zhu Di had long been prepared for a countermeasure, he practiced a brand new formation and brought with him a special army, he believed that this army would definitely give Mahamud an unexpected blow.

  After the army set out, they marched for more than four months, sweeping away the enemy forces along the way. But what surprised Zhu Di was that even after penetrating deep into enemy territory, they had not encountered any significant resistance. Unlike Qiu Fu, Zhu Di's intuition told him that the enemy troops were waiting for him somewhere, preparing for a decisive battle.

  On June 3, the vanguard general of the Ming army, Liu Jiang, arrived at Lake Kalka and inadvertently discovered the Wa La troops. He immediately launched an attack, defeated the entire army, and captured prisoners. According to the prisoners' account, Mahamute was just a hundred miles away in Hulan Hushen (now Tula River, Mongolia), and he was completely unprepared.

  The generals and soldiers who had marched for several months were all very excited. They had come a long way, hoping to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop. Now that they had obtained accurate information about the enemy's situation, it was just right to give them a surprise attack. But Zhu Di's reaction was beyond everyone's expectation.

  After hearing the news, Zhu Di carefully analyzed the enemy situation and also believed that the enemy was nearby. However, these enemies were not without defense, but had already made preparations for a decisive battle, so he ordered the army not to make any rash moves.

  The subordinates were all disappointed when they heard the news, but after all, they did not dare to disobey the emperor's military order. However, unexpectedly, it wasn't long before Zhu Di changed his mind again and ordered the army to advance immediately. The generals were overjoyed, but also bewildered - what was this emperor thinking?

  Zhu Di fell into a contradiction.

  His long-term military experience told him that from various signs, the Wa La army was consciously luring the enemy into a trap, and the vanguard troops defeated by Liu Jiang were obviously deliberately released by Wa La as bait. If they continued to advance, they would inevitably be ambushed by Wa La.

  The best course of action would undoubtedly be to wait here for Valois to come and decide the battle, but this is impossible.

  As an army that has penetrated deep into enemy territory, finding and defeating the enemy's main force quickly is crucial; there is only so much food, and it cannot be wasted no matter what.

  No choice but to give up.

  The enemy is waiting for us ahead, come on, we must rush into the dragon's pool and tiger's den!

  Moreover, I also have my own trump card.

  Knowing there is a tiger on the mountain, yet still heading towards the tiger mountain!

  Suddenly warm and suddenly cold within a hundred paces ahead!

  At this time, the leader of the Wa La tribe, Mahamud, was immersed in joy, looking at the other two leaders, Taiping and Boro, with a sense of pride overflowing. It was under his careful planning that the Wa La tribe preserved its strength and gathered the strongest 30,000 cavalrymen from the tribe, setting an ambush at Hulan Hushen Wen, waiting for the arrival of the Ming army.

  Mahamu chose to fight at Hulan Arslan because he had a good reason for it. The area around Hulan Arslan is mountainous, which is advantageous for hiding cavalry units. Moreover, hiding the cavalry on the mountains has another great advantage: once the Ming army is discovered, they can take advantage of the terrain and charge down with irresistible force, breaking through the Ming army's formation in one go. As long as the Ming army's formation is disrupted, no matter how many men they have, it will be useless, and they can only wait to be slaughtered.

  Mahamute is right, although he must not have studied physics and would not understand the concept of potential energy. However, placing cavalry at a high point and charging down indeed has an extremely strong impact effect. If the Ming army does not have any other way, the camp will inevitably be cut into several parts, and at that time, the front and rear cannot respond to each other, forming a strong combat force, it is just a scattered sand.

  This was the best method Mahamute could think of, to lure the enemy in and then strike from a higher position, like an action movie with three preparatory moves and one final blow. But for this action movie to have a perfect ending, there must be a prerequisite condition: when the Wala army charges down from the high ground, the Ming army "has no other choice".

  Ming army is already in my pocket! Not long after, Wala and I Mahamu will become the new leaders of Mongolia!

  Unfortunately, the commander of the Ming army, Zhu Di, was a man who always had a way out. When the Northern Capital rebelled, he found a solution; when the Battle of Baigou River took place, he still managed to find a way; even when he was blocked outside Shandong Province and faced a dilemma, he still had a solution.

  There's no way he could have made it this far today.

  On June 7th, he came to Hulan Hushen with his own plan and arrived at the battlefield arranged by Mahamu for him.

  After taking in the surroundings, Zhu Di couldn't help but take a cold breath, and it was no different from what he had imagined. The mountains were steep and dangerous, making it an ideal place for an ambush.

  In any case, this is where the final battle will take place.

  When the vast army came before his eyes, Mahamu felt a strong excitement. The 30,000 troops behind him were waiting for his order to go down the mountain and defeat the Ming army, thoroughly defeating them!

  Just one step away from success!

  What surprised Mahamud even more was that the vanguard of the Ming army was not some elite cavalry, but a group of infantrymen. This was simply heaven-sent; as long as they opened up a breach, the Ming army would inevitably be unable to resist their attack.

  Although they were still some distance from the Ming army, after carefully observing the Ming army's formation, Mahamu had already gained a sense of certainty in victory. He immediately issued the order for a general attack! The 30,000 cavalrymen charged down from the mountain with the ferocity of tigers, pouncing on the Ming army below, filling the fields with cries of killing, neighing horses, and shaking the earth. Mahamu proudly commanded his troops from atop the mountain, waiting for the scene where the Wala cavalry would break through the Ming army in one fell swoop.

  Victory is within sight!

  However, shortly after the Wala cavalry launched a charge, the situation of this seemingly one-sided battle suddenly took an unexpected turn!

  Assault! Divine Machine Battalion!

  After discovering the enemy army's offensive, the Ming army quickly changed its formation. The infantry in the front row of the original team quickly retreated from the middle to both wings, and a troop immediately poured out from the rear array of the central army to fill the vacancy.

  This troop was different from the cavalry and infantry in the Ming army. They didn't hold sabers or long swords, but firearms.

  After quickly forming their ranks, the soldiers aimed their muskets at the approaching Wala cavalry and waited for Commander Liu Sheng's order.

  The Wala cavalry noticed the change in the Ming army's formation, but they didn't mind and continued to charge forward on horseback.

  At this time, Mahamute on the mountain also saw this scene. Unlike his men, he was a seasoned veteran. The sudden change in the Ming army's formation made his hair stand on end and his blood almost froze. He shouted hoarsely: "It's the Divine Engine Battalion! Retreat quickly!"

  It's too late now.

  Commander Liu Sheng of the Chinese army gave a single order, and ten thousand guns fired at once. The Wusun cavalry, who were charging forward, did not expect such a sudden attack and were injured and fell to the ground one after another, suffering heavy losses. For a time, the battlefield was in chaos, with men and horses rolling over each other, and the scene was extremely tragic.

  But the battle has reached this point, it's already charged forward, can't retreat now, might as well fight to the end!

  The remaining Wala cavalry charged towards the Ming army with even greater desperation.

  This was also the most correct decision that the Wala cavalry could make, because at that time the Ming army used fire guns that needed to be loaded with gunpowder, and loading gunpowder took time. As a result, after the first round of simultaneous shooting, the battlefield fell into a brief silence.

  The Wa La cavalry was overjoyed at this turn of events. They were convinced that as long as they could charge into the Ming army's camp, they would be able to defeat the Ming army and achieve a complete victory.

  However, at this time, an unexpected situation appeared on the battlefield.

  The Wa La army was about to charge into the Ming army's camp, and at this moment, the Ming army began its second transformation!

  After the divine machine camp launched a simultaneous shot, there was no chaos of loading gunpowder. On the contrary, they put away their fire guns and began to retreat quickly and neatly to both wings of the formation. The Ming army cavalry immediately rushed out from the rear army and divided into three divisions. The left route was commanded by generals Li Bin and Tan Qing, the right route was commanded by general Wang Tong, and the central army was personally commanded by Zhu Di.

  Under Zhu Di's unified command, the Ming army launched a pincer attack on the Wa La cavalry with both wings, and Zhu Di was incredibly brave, leading the main force to charge into the enemy formation once again, wielding his horse sword to slash and kill the Wa La cavalry, engaging in fierce combat with the enemy.

  The poor Wala cavalry, who had rushed down from the mountain, ran so far and arrived in front of the Ming army, only to find that the dense troops they had previously seen suddenly dispersed. The Wala army had not yet recovered when their left and right wings were subjected to fierce attacks by the Ming army, while the Ming army in front was even more brave and fearless. Surrounded on all sides, beaten everywhere, the sheep that seemed vulnerable to attack before suddenly turned into a ferocious wolf. All of this put the Wala in an extremely difficult situation, and tens of thousands of troops were defeated.

  The leader of the Wa-la tribe, Mahamud, was a clever man. Seeing that things were not going well, he immediately led the way in fleeing, and the already disorganized Wa-la army also turned around and ran away in disorder. It is worth noting that although nomadic cavalry are brave in battle, when it comes to running away, they are no different from ordinary people, and instead run even faster.

  The Ming army won a great victory, "beheading dozens of princes" (it is not clear whose sons they were), killing and wounding more than 10,000 Wa-la troops. One would think that the enemy had fled and that was the end of it, but the problem was that the commander of this Ming army was Zhu Di, who followed his father Zhu Yuanzhang's excellent tradition and remembered the principle of "doing things to the extreme", continuing to pursue Mahamud fiercely.

  Mahamu was in a desperate situation, fleeing for over a hundred miles but still unable to shake off the enemy. This was not a solution and it was also too humiliating. Mahamu mustered up his courage, regrouped his troops, and engaged the Ming army again, trying to salvage some dignity.

  Ke Zhubi really didn't give a bit of face, the Wala army launched a counterattack in formation, right into his trap, the Ming army's momentum was unstoppable, and they broke through the Wala army's array (defeated them again). Mahamud was very decisive, turned around and ran.

  Mahamu continued to run, and the Ming army chased after him. They ran all the way to the Tula River, where Mahamu saw that he could not escape, so he played a trick on his companions Taiping and Boro, letting them cover his retreat while he himself escaped alone.

  But Zhu Di's side was also not easy, although the pursuit went smoothly, but a sudden event in the middle, made Zhu Di really jump.

  At the beginning of the pursuit, the Ming army used a tactic of using chaos to attack chaos, dispersing the pursuit of the Wala army. Originally, this tactic was not a problem, but one person was too excited and almost caused a disaster.

  This man was Li Qian, a eunuch of Zhu Di. At that time, he was also among the crowd beating the fallen dog, but because he chased too fiercely, he entered deep into enemy territory and was surrounded by the Wa La army. It can be said that Li Qian was not a big figure, and if he died, it would have been just another death. However, with him was Zhu Zhanji.

  Zhu Zhanji was the grandson of Zhu Di and the son of Zhu Gaochi, also known as the Crown Prince. From a young age, Zhu Zhanji was clever and quick-witted. Zhu Di did not like his disabled son Zhu Gaochi, but he loved Zhu Zhanji very much. To a large extent, Zhu Gaochi's ascension to the throne was also due to having such an intelligent and capable son.

  Zhu Di had always considered Zhu Zhanji as his successor and had been grooming him for this role. This time, he brought Zhu Zhanji along on the expedition, hoping that he could gain some experience and temper himself through this opportunity.

  Although it is said that it is just a tempering, just like today's leaders go to the grassroots level to experience life, hang up and temper, they will not really take up arms and fight. Zhu Di likes to personally copy the guy to cut people, because he has been engaged in this sport for many years, rich in experience, and good at dodging, can cut people without being cut by others. Zhu Zhanji is just a young child, brought out to turn around, but this young child actually doesn't know how deep it is, and temporarily gets hot-headed, following Li Qian to be heroic.

  When Zhu Di discovered that Zhu Zhanji was no longer by his side, he was suddenly stunned, cold sweat pouring down. This battle's victory or defeat didn't matter; losing could be made up for, but if the successor were to be lost, that would truly be a loss. He was furious and immediately sent someone to ask about Zhu Zhanji and Li Qian's whereabouts. Upon learning they had been pursued to Jiulongkou, he hastily dispatched troops to escort his grandson back. Luckily, heaven was watching over them; in the chaos, the Mongol army hadn't realized that the person surrounded was such an important figure. Seeing someone come to their rescue, they scattered and fled.

  Zhu Di returned safely, but the inner attendant Li Qian did not dare to return. He was extremely fearful and felt that his problem was serious. Before Zhu Di could interrogate him, he had already taken his own life.

  Although there was such a small episode, the Ming army still thoroughly defeated the main force of the Wala army in this battle. From then on, for decades, the Wala dared not to provoke the Ming army again, and the border became peaceful for a period of time.

  A modern great man once described the relationship between war and peace as:

  One battle brings ten years of peace.

  Timeless wisdom, applicable in all ages.

  Post-War Summary Conference

  Now, let's hold a summary meeting on this battle. Before the meeting, it is necessary to talk about the necessity and agenda of this meeting. After all, it is not easy to invite Comrade Zhu Di and Comrade Mahamud to attend the meeting. In order not to waste everyone's time, we will start now:

  This time, the Hu Lan Hu Shi Wen war campaign was not a decisive battle, but it is worth analyzing because this seemingly ordinary battle contains some secrets and rules of Ming army warfare that are worthy of serious study.

  This meeting mainly explores two issues, first, why can Ming army win?

  First of all, Comrade Mahamud, don't get up, no need to be excited, we already know what happened, the defeat is a fact, let me do the specific analysis.

  To know, the outcome of a war is determined by many factors. As we mentioned earlier, the individual combat capabilities of the Ming army's cavalry may not be able to surpass those of the Wala cavalry, but why was the Ming army still able to defeat the Wala despite being at a disadvantage in terms of terrain and situation?

  This is because the Ming army under Zhu Di had a set of highly technical tactics and several high-quality troops. The tactical issue is too complicated, we will discuss it later, first let's talk about the high-quality troops of the Ming army: the three great camps.

  The three great camps were troops formed by Comrade Zhu Di, and this troop was also the most elite troop of the Ming Dynasty. They are: Wu Junying, San Qianying, Shenjiying.

  The five armies camp, the five armies camp is not referring to five kinds of troops. In fact, the five armies camp is a mix of cavalry and infantry, divided into central army, left army, left wing army, right wing army, and right scout army. This force is an elite force drawn from various places, serving as the main attacking force.

  Let's talk about the Three Thousand Camp. We've already mentioned that the Five Armies are the main force of the Ming army, so why set up a separate Three Thousand Camp? This is because the Three Thousand Camp is different from the Five Armies, and it is mainly composed of surrendered Mongolian cavalry. In other words, the Three Thousand Camp is actually mainly composed of mercenaries.

  It was called the Three Thousand Camp because when it was established, it was based on 3,000 Mongolian cavalry as its backbone. Later, with the development of the troops, the actual number should not be limited to 3,000 people. The Three Thousand Camp is different from the Five Armies Camp, all of which are under its jurisdiction are cavalry. Although this cavalry unit has a small number of people, it is the most powerful cavalry force under Zhu Di's command. They mainly played the role of impact in wars.

  Finally, we introduce Zhu Di's most special troops, the Divine Engine Battalion.

  It's said to be special because the troops used artillery and firearms, which were called "shenji pao" (divine machine cannons) in the Ming Dynasty. Many nomadic cavalrymen died under these divine machine cannons. Comrade Mahamud, don't cry, after all, it's already in the past.

  It can be said that this troop was the artillery of the Ming government, and Comrade Zhu Di wanted to build such a troop for profound reasons.

  We saw Comrade Zhu Di nodded painfully, no mistake, during the Jingnan campaign, Comrade Zhu Di mainly used cavalry, but Mr. Sheng Yong heavily used firearms to attack him and his army, causing a very bad impact, Comrade Zhu Di himself was almost killed on the battlefield several times.

  This also made Comrade Zhu Di deeply absorb the lessons, and when he later formed his army, he specially set up a force mainly using firearms. It was this force that played a huge role in the Battle of Hulan Hushan.

  Alright, we have introduced Zhu Di's high-quality troops above, but this is not the fundamental reason for his victory. The real secret to the Ming army's victory lies in their tactics.

  Next we will discuss the second question: What tactics did the Ming army use?

  It may come as a surprise to many people that the Ming army's tactics were very advanced. Just how advanced were they?

  Objectively speaking, the tactics of the Ming army may not be said to have led the world by several hundred years, but looking around the globe, at least at that time, there was no one who could match them.

  This is not nonsense, there is sufficient evidence, please sit back and relax, next we will introduce the development process of the advanced combat method of the Ming Dynasty army.

  During the Zhu Yuanzhang era, the Ming Dynasty had excellent cavalry generals such as Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and Li Wenzhong. These people used cavalry in battle and were considered geniuses of their time. Even the Mongols, who relied on cavalry to rise to power, were defeated by them. However, apart from the cavalry led by these generals, the Ming Dynasty had another trump card in military affairs - firearms.

  It turned out that after the Chinese invented gunpowder, they didn't just use it to make firecrackers. After hundreds of years of evolution and improvement, during the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang's army had already begun to use firearms on a large scale, including cannons and muskets. Corresponding to the skilled cavalrymen such as Xu Da, Zhu Yuanzhang also produced a batch of generals who were good at using firearms in battle. The most prominent among these generals were Deng Yu and Mu Ying.

  Deng Yu was inclined to use firearms. In the Battle of Hongdu, his subordinates had used firearms to heavily damage Chen Youliang's army. However, during Zhu Yuanzhang's era, it was not he who brought the use of firearm tactics to its peak, but rather Mu Ying.

  In the era of shining stars, Mu Ying was not as dazzling as Xu Da and others, but he was also an excellent general. In the 14th year of Hongwu, he followed Fu Youde and Lan Yu to attack Yunnan. Although he was not the commander-in-chief, his ranking was second only to Lan Yu, which shows that he was no ordinary person. A year later, Yunnan was pacified, and Fu Youde and Lan Yu were successively summoned back to the capital. Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Mu Ying to temporarily stay in Yunnan and guard it. According to the saying at that time, this was just a temporary arrangement. However, Mu Ying did not wait for the opportunity to be transferred, and slowly he changed from a temporary worker to a contract worker. He stayed in Yunnan.

  After his death, his descendants remained in Yunnan and continued to execute the long-term garrison contract signed by their ancestors with Zhu Yuanzhang. From then on, the Mu family became the guardians of Yunnan, and the term of this contract was indeed a bit long - 260 years, until the fall of the Ming Dynasty.

  But it was also on this land that Mu Ying created his unique firearms tactics.

  The Yunnan of the Wu Xing era was not the so-called Spring City and tourist destination we see today. In fact, at that time, Yunnan was still a vast and uncivilized land with many ethnic minorities, whose main daily activity was rebellion. The land in Yunnan had few plains, making cavalry less effective, and most military actions relied on infantry. Originally, the disorganized ethnic minorities should not have been a match for the well-trained Ming dynasty infantry, but it so happened that there was a local specialty in the area, which was also a favorite among the ethnic minorities, who were extremely fond of using it.

  This specialty is elephant.

  The elephant, a tall and fat animal with thick skin, doesn't cause trouble but isn't easy to mess with either. Even the mountain king tiger gives it some face. In the past, ivory wasn't as valuable as it is now, so there were many elephants. When local ethnic minorities rebelled, they often used this local specialty.

  Ming army rides horses, rebel army rides elephants, how can this battle be fought?

  There are still ways to control the elephant, that is, firearms. Firearms and artillery not only can effectively strike elephants, but also have a deterrent effect when firing. In fact, this was also the only way for the Ming army to control the elephant corps at that time.

  But the fact is that the fire lance used in the Mu Ying era was the Hongwu fire lance, which had a short range and required replacement of gunpowder and lead after each shot, making it impossible to form a sustained killing force. Soldiers who fired the fire lance were often trampled by elephants after firing their first shot, a losing deal that Mu Ying would not make.

  After countless failures and contemplation, Mu Ying finally created an advanced firearm warfare method capable of countering the elephant troops.

  This battle tactic, based on the characteristics of the enemy's elephant troops advancing in front, arranged the musketeers into three rows. After discovering the enemy elephant troops advancing, the first row fired their muskets first, followed by the second and third rows continuing to fire. During the firing of the second and third rows, the first row could calmly reload their bullets, forming a complete and sustained powerful firepower (setting the musketeers in three rows, in the formation... the front row retreats after firing, the next row follows; again not retreating, the next row retreats after firing, the third row follows).

  This pioneering tactic overcame the limitations of firearms at that time, with three rows firing in rotation without any pause, enough to turn any enemy who dared to come into a porridge.

  It was with this battle method that Mu Ying thoroughly pacified the rebellions within Yunnan's borders. This battle method, due to its regional usage, did not spread widely throughout the Ming army, but this cannot negate its great significance in military history.

  A hundred years after the invention of the three-line volley fire method by Maurice of Nassau, Prussian King Frederick II invented a similar three-line battle formation through long-term research. The deployment and array method was identical to that of Maurice, and later he dominated Europe with this battle formation.

  Of course, this Prussian king thought he was the most deserving originator of the triple-line tactics. If this happened today when the system of patent rights and intellectual property rights is very clear, we would have good reason to charge this king royalties for using patents.

  Although Mu Ying's three-line fire-weapon battle method was not widely spread and used in the Ming army, we do not need to regret it, because soon after, a more powerful and advanced battle method will replace its position and write a brilliant page in the military history of the Ming Dynasty and even the world.

  The inventor of this tactic was an excellent military strategist, who is our familiar comrade Zhu Di.

  We are also honored to have invited this inventor to our conference site. Oh, Comrade Zhu Di, you don't need to stand up, just sit down, and we will continue to introduce the usage of this new combat method below.

  During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, due to the early passing away of fierce generals such as Xu Da and Chang Yuchun, the new generation of cavalry had a decline in their hardworking spirit (not joking) with the improvement of living standards, not comparable to their predecessors. The individual strategic advantage of the Ming cavalry over the Mongolian cavalry was lost, and in order to counter the impact of the Mongolian cavalry who were accustomed to nomadic raids every day, it was necessary to use other military means in coordination.

  Comrade Zhu Di set up three major camps based on his long-term experience in armed struggle and formally introduced artillery troops into the Ming army's combat sequence. He hoped to use firepower to suppress the Mongolian cavalry's impact, but the problem was that the cavalry was different from the elephant soldiers, with extremely high speed. Due to the limitations of the killing power and shooting distance of the firearms at that time, as well as the time it took to reload gunpowder, even if Zhu Di used Mu Ying's three-line firepower tactics, he could not resist the cavalry's impact.

  After summarizing the experience and lessons, the Ming army finally found a set of tactics that could effectively counter the Mongolian cavalry. I gave this tactic used by the Ming army a name, called "Three-Board Battle Axe Fighting System to Take Your Life".

  "Three-Board Axe Fighting System Instruction Manual"

  First of all, I must admit that this name is not my original creation, but rather borrowed from a certain comedy film's "Want You to Die 3000" weapon. Perhaps some friends have seen this movie, and this so-called "Want You to Die 3000" weapon consists of a series of tools including watermelon knives, lime powder, poison, rope, etc. The specific usage process is quite complicated and varied, such as sprinkling lime powder to blind the opponent's eyes first, then hacking with a watermelon knife, or poisoning, and so on.

  I'm using this name not for joking, but on the contrary, my attitude is very serious, because in my view this "Wanting Your Life 3000" weapon system can be used to illustrate the characteristics of Ming military tactics during the Yongle period.

  The three-board axe tactics of the Ming army were established on the basis of the three major camps, and similar to the "3000 Must-Die" weapon system, the Ming army reasonably allocated and combined the military strength of the three major camps to achieve the purpose of restraining the Mongolian cavalry.

  The so-called "Three-Board Axe Battle Method" operation process is as follows: First, after discovering the Mongolian cavalry, the soldiers of the Divine Machinery Battalion will immediately move closer to the front row of the formation and prepare for the firing of artillery and firearms. Under unified command, they will conduct a simultaneous shooting. This round of simultaneous shooting is the first strike against the Mongolian cavalry, which is also the first axe head.

  After the Divine Machine Camp finishes shooting, it will immediately retreat to the two wings of the team, and then the 3,000-strong camp and the 5th Army Camp's cavalry will immediately fill in the empty position and launch a surprise attack on the Mongolian cavalry that has already been damaged.

  After the cavalry charge, the infantry of the Five Army Corps began to attack, often wielding anti-cavalry weapons (such as long spears) in a final round of blows against the Mongol cavalry, which was also the last axe blow for the Ming army.

  It can be seen that this is a complete combat system. The Ming army uses firearms to suppress the enemy's cavalry, and then immediately launches a counterattack. After that, they use infantry to consolidate the battlefield (with the divine machine gun in front, the horse team behind, and the foot soldiers next). The specific use of this system varies with different battlefield conditions, and the detailed operation process is much more complicated, such as the transformation of formations between multiple branches of troops, but the general process is the same.

  The Mongolian cavalry, which was good at charging, was defeated under the tactics of the Ming army. No matter how fierce the cavalry was, they could not withstand these three axes. This "Three-axe Head Fighting System" often made the Mongols suffer, but they were helpless.

  In addition, the weapons used by the Ming army were also very distinctive. According to investigations, the cavalry of the Ming army at that time was quite different from that of the Mongolian cavalry. Some Ming dynasty cavalrymen did not use sabers but instead used a more powerful and unique weapon - the wolf-tooth club.

  Although most cavalrymen used curved sabers, modern research has shown that in high-speed combat against enemy cavalry, the side using wolf-tooth clubs had an advantage. This is because the striking range of wolf-tooth clubs was wide and convenient to use, while sabers only had a single-edged blade, whereas wolf-tooth clubs were circular iron spikes that would cause damage no matter which part hit the opponent. Additionally, they also possessed clubbing functions, with a power comparable to the three-edged scraper knife used in street fights today.

  Moreover, the mass production cost of wolf teeth clubs is low and there is no uniform standard. By installing iron nails or other objects on the club, it can be made in just a few dozen minutes. It's simple and convenient, and also allows for free play of creativity, such as some individuals with dark psychology adding reverse hooks or reverse thorns, which can make you lose your skin even if you don't die. It's really chilling. That's why they use it all the time, because it's cheap and readily available.

  Based on the above analysis, we can see that the victory of the Ming army was by no means a fluke. Behind their brilliant military achievements lies the research and development of advanced weapons, scientific analysis of tactics, and detailed planning of combat processes, which are the crystallization of the hard work of countless military tactical researchers.

  So in my view, science and technology are the primary driving force. This sentence is really extremely correct.

  Like Mu Ying's three-line battle method introduced earlier, Zhu Di's battle method also has many similar products in later times.

  More than 300 years later, a short man began to use tactics similar to Zhu Di's. His tactics can be summarized in three sentences: First, use cannons to blast, then use cavalry to slash, and finally infantry to go up.

  It can be seen that his set of war methods is similar to the Ming army's war methods during Zhu Di's era. It was precisely by relying on this set of war methods that he conquered half of Europe and eventually found a job identical to Zhu Di's - Emperor.

  This little man is a Napoleon of France, and his capital, which shakes the world, is that unique and highly mobile artillery-cavalry combined tactics.

  Geniuses always have some commonalities.

  The meeting has been going on for a while now, and it's time to adjourn. I hope everyone can gain some understanding of the Ming dynasty's tactical ideas and techniques from this summary meeting, so that this meeting won't be in vain.

  That's right, I almost missed the most important point. The above has summarized the tactical ideology and combat methods of the Ming army. Although these are all important reasons for the victory of the Ming army, advanced weapons and tactics are not the decisive factors that affect the outcome of war. In fact, from ancient times to the present, the outcome of all wars follows a most fundamental principle:

  The final decision of victory or defeat is made by those who participate in war.

  Mahamud failed, his provocative behavior finally got a lesson, after realizing that he had no strength to confront the Ming Dynasty, he followed in the footsteps of Arughtai and surrendered to the Ming Dynasty in the 13th year of Yongle (1415).

  However, overall, Mahamu is still a relatively trustworthy person, at least stronger than Arutai. He was very aware of the situation and possibly the brutal battle had given his soul a heavy blow, he never invaded the Ming Dynasty border again for the rest of his life, which is undoubtedly a good thing. But from historical records, he didn't idle around either. After that, he put all his energy into cultivating his children.

  It is clear that he recognized the most important point, which is that with the current economic and technological strength of the Wala people, they are absolutely not a match for the Ming government. However, he also understood that advanced weapons and tactics have never been a guarantee of victory, and that the commanders and participants in the war are the most crucial factors.

  It turned out that he indeed cultivated a worthy successor.

  His son was Tolui, who 20 years later killed the Tangut emperor Alu and finally unified Mongolia.

  His grandson was named Esen, this brother was more ruthless than his father, and he did even more shocking things, he also had a well-known name - Yesun.