The vast Chahar army gathered densely at Wachar Tuchaghan City (present-day Chifeng, Inner Mongolia), a strong fortress personally built by the great "God of Gods, All-Wise Genghis Khan the Flourishing" (Lindan Khan).
"Great Khan, the army has assembled. Please give your command," the Left Wing Commander-in-Chief Tashihai respectfully requested.
The thirty-eight-year-old Lindan Khan sighed in his heart.
At thirteen, he succeeded to the throne of the Mongol Khan, and although nominally acknowledged as the co-ruler by the Mobei tribes, he could only control the Chahar tribe in the Liaohe Region.
The Outer Khalkha in Outer Mongolia did not recognize his position; the Oirat in the West Desert were his enemies; the Jurchen in the east were growing stronger.
Besieged by powerful enemies, he built this strong city.
In these years, he had once conquered the Inner Khalkha Five Tribes, partly restoring the dignity a Mongol Khan should have, but ultimately he had to leave this city, which embodied his efforts, and embark on a westward migration.
Calming his emotions, he calmly said to Dorote Taiji, "I entrust the former Chahar lands to you; you must hold the Liaohe Region."
"Yes, Great Khan," Dorote Taiji's reply was as firm as iron.
"Hmm," Lindan Khan hummed in satisfaction, once again looking at Wachar Tuchaghan City with reluctance, and softly uttered two words: "Depart!"
Upon receiving the command, the Vanguard Badaxi Zaisang led five thousand elite cavalry in a rapid charge, followed by fifteen thousand men under the Right Wing Commander-in-Chief Huluk Zaisang, while the Left Wing Commander-in-Chief Tashihai led twenty thousand elite soldiers guarding the central army, the people, and the supplies, with over ten thousand rear troops bringing up the rear.
There were a total of over fifty thousand soldiers and more than two hundred thousand people.
This was not just a westward campaign, but also a westward migration.
He had to move westward; the decline began with his conversion to the Sakya School.
In 1617, the Sakya School high monk Sharhutuktu came to Chahar.
He was impressed by the master's magic, appointed him as the State Preceptor, and received the initiation of the profound secret vehicle, converting from the Yellow Sect to the Red Sect (the Red Sect in a broad sense includes the Nyingma Sect, Sakya School, and Kagyu).
The master brought the Mahakala Golden Buddha (also known as Mahakala, the guardian deity of the Mongol Yuan) from Mount Wutai, which the Sakya School master Basiba had cast with immense wealth during the Yuan Dynasty.
He built a white temple with a golden roof in Chaghan Hot and enshrined the Golden Buddha within it.
His original intention was to emulate the story of Kublai Khan and Basiba, using his relationship with Sharhutuktu to establish his authority.
However, it had the opposite effect, exacerbating the disaffection of the Mongol tribes who believed in the Yellow Sect and weakening his rallying power.
Hmph!
Everyone says that I was deceived by Sharhutuktu of the Sakya School and converted to the Red Sect, a grave mistake.
But how can those swallows and sparrows understand my painstaking efforts!
The various Mongol tribes have not submitted to imperial rule for many years, and most of them believe in the Yellow Sect (Gelug Sect).
Whenever I wanted to use military force against these tribes, there were always Yellow Sect masters advising me to be peaceful.
Neither fighting nor not fighting was an option.
How could I unify Mongolia if this continued?
Furthermore, although the Nyingma Sect, Sakya School, and Kagyu, as individual sects, were not strong enough to contend with the Gelug Sect, together they far surpassed the Yellow Sect.
Especially in that vast Snowy Plateau, the Nyingma Sect and Kagyu were powerful and hostile to the Yellow Sect, making them suitable allies to control the Snowy Region.
Therefore, I abandoned the "Yellow" and believed in the "Red."
Unexpectedly, I was betrayed by my own people!
The Khorchin tribe defected to the Jin Dynasty, and the Inner Khalkha Five Tribes also betrayed me.
I hated the Inner Khalkha Five Tribes for being indecisive, so I attacked them, but I also allowed the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Inner Khalkha, which unexpectedly caused me to lose my buffer and face the Jurchen's military might directly.
I did indeed make a mistake in this move!
That Huang Taiji of the Jin Dynasty is even more insidious than his father Nurhaci.
He first instigated and destroyed the Inner Khalkha Five Tribes, and then infiltrated my Chahar tribe.
Among my eight Otoks, Naiman and Aohan were closest to the Jin Dynasty, and to alleviate the pressure, they constantly wanted me to negotiate peace with Huang Taiji.
The insidious Huang Taiji sowed discord, making me mistakenly believe they had betrayed me, and I sent troops to suppress them.
This, in turn, forced the Naiman and Aohan tribes to truly surrender to the Jin Dynasty.
Their betrayal caused panic within the Chahar tribe, and by the time I realized it, it was too late.
To make matters worse, the Jin Dynasty captured Guangning Gate, which was the trade route between me and the Ming Dynasty.
Without Guangning Gate, I could not trade with the Ming Dynasty and obtain the supplies my tribe needed.
Even more ridiculously, the newly enthroned Chongzhen Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was very stingy; it is said that he was reluctant to wear a new dragon robe.
It's fine if you are stingy yourself, but why did you stop giving me the "annual reward"?
I originally had no enmity with that Jin Dynasty; the reason for the conflict was for those "annual rewards."
If you don't give money, who will risk their lives for you?
Thus, I decided to move westward.
Everyone thought I moved westward because I was afraid of Huang Taiji of the Jin Dynasty, haha, how could they know my ambition?
There were three reasons for the westward migration: First, the morale within Chahar is now unstable, and the Jin Dynasty's military power is strong, so moving westward is to preserve our strength; second, the Karaqin, Tumed, and other tribes in the right wing have traded peacefully with the Ming Dynasty for many years and have long forgotten how to fight, and they are rich and weak, like fat sheep in my eyes.
By annexing them, I can both restore the status of the Mongol Khan as the co-ruler and obtain a large amount of wealth to restore my strength; third, I can seize the generous "market rewards" that the Ming Dynasty gives to the right wing and obtain much-needed supplies.
During the westward migration, the great Lindan Khan constantly pondered the gains and losses of the move, feeling that everything was within his control.
On the surface, this was indeed the case.
The Chahar army, with the force of autumn winds sweeping away fallen leaves, defeated the Karaqin tribe outside Xuanfu Town in the former capital area and the Tumed tribe in Guihua City, and after several battles, completely pacified the right wing region, expelling Prince Yi Bushitu (grandson of Anda Khan of Tumed) and abolishing Jino Erlin Chen (Jino was a hereditary official position in the right wing, stationed in Ordos).
However, military victory did not signify political victory.
The westward migration offended most of the Mongol feudal lords, leaving this Mongol Khan isolated and increasingly distant from his dream of unifying Mongolia.
The tribes in the right wing all submitted to the Jin Dynasty.
The westward migration also caused the deterioration of Lindan Khan's relationship with the Great Ming.
The Chongzhen Emperor "completely abolished his rewards," frustrating Lindan Khan's goal of obtaining the "market rewards" held by the right wing, and the minister Guiying sent to demand the rewards was also killed by the Ming Army.
In desperation, he invaded Dading.
It was very effective; pressured by military force, the Great Ming actually resumed the "market rewards" the following year.
This Great Khan then saw through the weakness of the Great Ming and subsequently invaded the Ming border multiple times.
The cunning Huang Taiji took advantage of the Chahar main force's westward migration to attack the Chahar people who remained in the Liaohe Region, severely defeating Dorote Taiji.
Not only did the Naiman and Aohan Otoks defect to the Later Jin, but the Alake Zhuote Otok also followed suit and surrendered to the Jin.
Ultimately, Huang Taiji annexed the former territories of Chahar and Karaqin, and the great Lindan Khan only held the Hetuo and Tumed Plain areas west of the Xuanfu Town border.
When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter; the Kharachin, Ujumqin, and Sunid three Otoks moved north to defect to Shuo Lei Huntaiji (later Chechen Khan) of the Outer Khalkha in Outer Mongolia.
Lindan Khan was not afraid, nor was he pessimistic.
The Hetuo and Tumed Plain areas west of the Xuanfu Town border that he held were among the few fertile lands in the world, very rich, and given time, he would definitely be able to recover his losses.
However, chang sheng tian played a big joke on him; after taking the Hetuo and Tumed Plain, a white hair disaster occurred, "early frost outside the pass, no harvest, and a severe epidemic prevailed."
This brought the Chahar tribe to the brink of despair, "Chahar is very tired, very hungry, very poor," and the number of soldiers was severely depleted, "Chahar has about forty thousand horses available, and the Chahar people are less than fifty thousand."
In order to obtain food and other necessities, the Chahar tribe had to repeatedly plunder the Ming territory.
At the same time, the watchful Huang Taiji saw the perfect opportunity to destroy the Chahar tribe and actively planned the second "Conquest of Chahar" war.
The wind picked up, a strong wind, making the Mongol Khan's tent in the Tumed Plain flap loudly.
"Great Khan, it's cold, have a bowl of hot mare's milk wine," the beautiful Nangnang Qatun brought a steaming bowl of mare's milk wine.
Although he had many concubines, with eight officially recognized, Lindan Khan was extremely fond of this principal wife.
She was not only young and beautiful but also gentle and virtuous.
The only regret was that she had not yet given birth to the Crown Prince.
Few descendants had always been a regret for Lindan Khan; currently, only Sutai Biji had given birth to his eldest son, Erke Konggor Ejei.
It seems I still need to work harder!
"Thank you, Khatun," Lindan Khan thoughtfully held his wife's soft hand.
This scene touched the two Iron Spear Konot Sumu, Shitu Taiji and Gunchuk Taiji, who were guarding the Great Khan.
One was the Great Khan's younger brother, and the other was the Great Khan's brother-in-law, the people Lindan Khan trusted the most.
Gunchuk Taiji gently tugged on Shitu Taiji's robe sleeve, and Shitu understood, bowing with Gunchuk and exiting the main tent to leave the Great Khan and the Khatun alone.
The expected intimacy did not occur; Nangnang Qatun sighed softly, "Great Khan, my brother-in-law sent me a letter saying that if things become urgent, we can go and seek refuge with them."
The brother-in-law she referred to was Huntaiji Shuo Lei of the Chechen Tribe of the Khalkha Mongol.
Shuo Lei's principal wife, Ahai, was the elder sister of Lindan Khan's Khatun, Nangnang.
"Hahaha, a dignified Mongol Khan has not yet fallen to the point of fleeing to Outer Mongolia," Lindan Khan laughed heartily after hearing this and comforted her, saying, "My dear wife, don't panic, I still have a brilliant move!"
He did indeed have a brilliant move; if executed well, the entire situation would be revitalized.
That was to form an alliance with the Tsangpa Khan of Shigatse and the Bali Tusi of the Kang District, establishing an "Anti-Yellow Sect Alliance."
Then, with their support, seize Qinghai Province and Lhasa as the foundation for his rule.
Thinking of this, the ambition of a generation's hero surged.
He carefully considered: To take Lhasa, one must first seize the area around Qinghai Lake.
But I have just taken the Hetuo and Tumed Plain and my position is not stable; it is not suitable for a distant expedition.
I must send a loyal and reliable person to go ahead for me.
Who to send?
Lindan Khan reviewed the Taiji of the various tribes who were still willing to obey his Khan's orders and finally set his sights on Choktu Khong Tayiji (Qietu Khan) of the Khalkha Mongol.
This person is good!
Like me, he believes in the Sakya School; he is very loyal, paying tribute to me every year; his strength is strong, his tribe is a major Mongol tribe; and even better, this person has just been defeated in the power struggle within the Khalkha and cannot stay in Outer Mongolia, so he will definitely be willing to obey orders.
Hmm, I will send him to Qinghai Lake to occupy the grasslands there, manage them well, and in the future, it will be my fortress for advancing to Lhasa!