This land is not too far away from Zhangjiakou.
This place is 160 kilometers east from Zhangjiakou. It is 120 kilometers away from Datong to the south. It is 130 kilometers away from Guihua City to the west and 60 kilometers away from Zhuozi Mountain City.
It can be said to be the center of Zhangjiakou, Datong and Guihua. The strategic value is huge.
This is the node on Yang Fan's important logistics route. It must be taken down.
During the Yuan Dynasty, this place was called Jining Road. There is a small castle built.
During the Ming Dynasty, this was a strong fortress used by the Tumut tribe to resist the Haraqin people. After here, there is a small and strong fortress, which is Zhuozi Mountain.
The 80,000-strong army in the Beijing camp was divided into 20 infantry regiments and two artillery regiments. The headquarters also has a personal battalion responsible for protecting the safety of the commander. A cavalry and communications battalion, used as messengers and scouts. They are responsible for reconnaissance of the enemy and delivering military orders and messages.
The army arrived at Jining Castle before noon. Yang Fan and Zhang Shize looked at the castle, which was twelve meters high and about three hundred meters long, built on a small mound. After sighing, it is really a strong city.
This city was completely built during the Yuan Dynasty by using bluestones brought by the Mongols on camels and combined with Sanhe soil. Although not big, it is very sturdy.
This kind of castle is full of nails and is difficult to pull out.
"Before I came, I went to the Ministry of War to check the information on the five cities of Jining, Zhuozi, Guihua, Jiuyuan, and Linhe. The city of Jining is not big, but the wall is three feet thick. I guess we will have to spend some effort. Zhang Shize said with a frown.
Yang Fan smiled and said: "I think it's good. There are three thousand Mongolians here, just for the Beijing camp to practice. Although these bastards have been trained to death by us. But after all, they have never been on the battlefield. This time I want to experience it in actual combat. .”
"But this city is more difficult to defeat than the data says. You have to make a careful calculation to avoid causing too many casualties or losing more than the gain." Zhang Shize said.
"There is a saying in the art of war that the small enemy is strong and the big enemy can be captured. There are many of us, so if we are surrounded, we can't attack as much as we want." Yang Fan said with a smile, "It's just right to use all the siege weapons we brought. Take it out and practice it. Otherwise, you won't be able to use it when you get to Guihua City, which will waste time."
"That's true. Let's set up camp. The whole army has a good rest and will attack the city tomorrow." Zhang Shize said.
The order to set up camp was given. The 20 regiments each set up camp on their own.
There are no trees on the grassland, so the fence can only be built with barbed wire purchased from Zunhua. Dig a trench within the barbed wire fence, and pile soil inside the trench to build a wall of sandbags and earth.
Inside the earthen wall is the camp. There are watchtowers erected on all sides. These watchtowers are all built with steel pipe scaffolding.
The campsites are all made of cotton tents with briquette stoves inside. Used for heating. Now, although it is starting to warm up in Guan. But the climate is still winter on the grassland.
Along the way to Jingying, I kept setting up camps, and I am already familiar with it now. Each regiment begins the construction of a large-scale camp. The regiment headquarters and warehouse workers were in the middle, and the troops were around.
We also need to dig toilets, prohibit open defecation and maintain hygiene. The cooking team began to pressurize the water well. Hot and cold water will be provided tonight.
At this time, on the city wall of Jining. Yin Bili Tabu Nang and three thousand households looked worriedly at the small 200,000 people setting up camp below.
"Oger Qianhu, what do you think of these Han people?" Yinbilita Bunang asked.
Oger Qianhu looked at these boundless Beijing camps and said worriedly: "I heard that these people are all the soldiers of the Ming Emperor, and they are all Beijing camps. I'm afraid they won't be easy to deal with. I can only take one step. Take a look."
Yin Bili sighed and said: "We Tumut people have nowhere to retreat. This is why I am unwilling to retreat to Guihua City. This is the land left to me by our ancestors. We will not go there. Who wants to take it away? Take our territory. We will fight them to the end."
"Dear Tabu Nang, I estimate that they will start to attack the city tomorrow. We have made full preparations and accumulated more than 200,000 stones. Let them come. Let them know that we Mongolian warriors will also defend the city. City." Aoden Qianhu said.
The surrounding centurions raised their scimitars, shouted loudly, and fought with them to the end.
Yang Fan and Zhang Shize heard a group of Mongolians yelling and making various insulting moves on the opposite city wall. The two were stunned for a moment.
Yang Fan smiled and said: "Yin Bili, an old subordinate, has quite high morale."
"Hmph, I don't know whether to live or die. Let's see how many of them die tomorrow at the end of the day, and whether they can still be so arrogant."
Yang Fan said happily: "It's better this way. Practice these bastards in Jingying. We captured Jining, then Zhuozi Mountain, and arrived at Guihua City. We were born in the first time, familiar in the second time, and became veterans in the third time. It’s time. By then, it won’t be difficult to attack that big city.”
"For extra meals tonight, each crew will be given a barrel of canned braised pork." Yang Fan turned around and said to the quartermaster.
When they heard about the extra meal, the three armies burst into cheers.
From the beginning of the Beijing camp, they basically ate dry food, including quick-frozen and dehydrated vegetable soup. Their throats were already itchy due to greed.
This was all when Jingying was training in Nanyuan. One meal every night, a full meal of braised fatty pork and white-flour steamed buns.
These low-level officers and soldiers have been treated like this for generations for more than two hundred years.
Don't talk about them, in this era, even landlords still eat multigrain porridge with pickles. Landowners in the north have to celebrate the festival by eating white rice.
I can't eat meat more than a few times a month. I'll be fine if I can eat an egg on a regular basis.
Those who eat meat every day are civil servants with lucrative positions or senior military officers.
All of these guys were originally skinny, and the emperor was originally worried that such harsh training would cripple some of them. Unexpectedly, three months later, every one of them was covered in gada meat. The muscles swelled like a balloon.
At the 19th Regiment station, they had finished their work and set up camp. All the officers and soldiers were sitting in groups on the felt to eat. At this time, the messenger arrived.
"Who is the leader Liu Sansi? He has a new task for you."
"I am, what's the mission?"
"The commander-in-chief ordered that the 19th Regiment will be responsible for operating thirteen roller trebuchets tomorrow. Send someone to the Chinese Army Warehouse to collect them as soon as possible."
"Yes, I will send someone immediately."
The messenger was sent away. Liu Sansi immediately called some people and walked towards the Chinese army.
Tian Xiaoxi asked the team leader Ge Gen, "Boss, what is this roller trebuchet?"
"I don't know, I haven't seen it, and I can't read. I heard my father talk about a trebuchet, but I don't know what a roller trebuchet is. I'll tell you later when I see it."
Soon they saw these trebuchets.
It's a pity that they still can't see what these trebuchets look like. Because all they saw were steel components loaded on the caravan. They were all bundles of angle steel, obviously not assembled.
