The first day of May in the sixth year of Chongzhen.
On the top of the Bajiao City, General Guitutaiji, wearing the mail of the Marshal's Mansion, stood on the wall that lacked protection and looked at the soldiers of the Khalkha Battalion clearing the trench outside the city.
Any army has the ability to dig trenches, but Liu Chengzong's Khalkha battalion was impressed by the skilled soil engineering skills of Qututaiji. Even the Xuanfu border army may not be able to match the Khalkha battalion in digging trenches and setting up fortifications. Erkha camp.
Everything comes from training. Liu Chengzong's use of the Khalkha surrender army was almost intensive training in geotechnical engineering.
In the nearly one year since they surrendered to Liu Chengzong, the Khalkha tribe of Ahai Daiqing failed to participate in any battle as the main force, but they took over almost all earthworks.
When there was no war, they built canals in the new city; when there was war, they dug trenches.
Before surrendering to Liu Chengzong, they were still affiliated with Chuoketu Taiji last summer, and they were the ones who dredged the trenches outside Bajiao City.
This year's return was just a visit to the old place. They were very familiar with digging trenches, and they even found time to pay a grave for the Chucky Rabbit Taiji who was buried in the south of the city.
It can be said that the right time, right place and right people came together.
Ruitutaiji discovered that Bald Qiang's team entered the state very quickly.
Although his battalion was called Chahar Camp, in fact the thousand soldiers assigned by Liu Chengzong were all former Tumut Huoluo Chibu Guru Taiji.
The people from the Chahar camp were still marveling in the city, lamenting that there was a city with eight corners in the world, while the soldiers from the Khalkha camp got busy outside the city.
Trees should be cut down, and soil should be dug. All of them are living maps, and they all become tour guides when they enter the Bajiao City.
"Taiji looks to the west, and the mountain is called Princess Tomb, where the Xixia princess is buried, which is suitable for setting up artillery; looking south, the mountain is called Taiji Tomb, where Khalkha Chuhuer Chao Ketu Taiji is buried. place."
"Chaoketu Taiji?"
Qututaiji remembered this man and was very impressed.
Because Chahar Khan came to Qinghai at the invitation of this man. As a result, this man disappeared before the Khan arrived, and he was buried here for a long time.
"We were invited but have never met. I should go and pay homage to him." As he said this, Guitutaiji called his followers to get wine and meat to worship him, but was stopped by Ahai Daiqing.
"I think Taiji should focus on military affairs."
Ahai Daiqing's face was expressionless: "There is no rush to meet Chaoketu Taiji. If you lose to Oirat, you two will be together for ten thousand years, and there will be many days to meet."
Ruitutaiji was stunned for a moment before he reacted. He was not angry at Tutu's cynicism. He just smiled and said, "Hey, you made it sound like you won't die."
Ahai Daiqing ignored him.
Everyone will die, but there are differences in dignity and inferiority, and naturally there are different places to go after death.
Chahar Khan is dead, and he will be buried in the west. With the Xixia princess by his side, he can be a ghost.
When Rotu Taiji dies, he must be buried in the south to keep company with Chuoktu Taiji. They were well-matched in life, and they will be in harmony with each other after death, so that they can express their feelings to each other.
As for Ahai Daiqing, Ahai Daiqing didn't dare to die, at least he didn't dare to die in Bajiao City.
He was not qualified to be buried in the south. The burial place left for him was in the east of the city. There were buried several Kalkanayan who were beheaded by him during the civil strife. If he went down alone like this, I'm afraid it wouldn't be that way. Help Headless's opponent.
"Last year you had so many cannons, why did you lose?" Qututaiji looked at the bare city wall in the west of the city: "Look at this wall, you can't even stand it. How can the Generalissimo defend the city so well?"
Ahai Daiqing ignored the talkative Chahar Taiji for a while.
After a long time, the amount of earthwork and timber needed for a city wall was calculated. Bald Qiang suddenly realized it. He went to Tututaiji and asked, "Taiji, do you think we lost because we failed to attack the city?"
Ruitu Taiji nodded as he should, and then heard Ahai Daiqing say: "We lost because we defended the city, but it was the general who attacked the city."
Gututaiji's eyes were as wide as copper bells. Has this city been attacked by Liu Chengzong?
"No wonder the Khalkha camp is familiar with this strange city. How many months have you been guarding this city?"
Ahai Daiqing spread out five fingers on his left hand, and four fingers on his right hand. Guitutaiji said in surprise: "It counts for being able to hold on for nine months..."
As he said this, surprise solidified on his face. In his impression, it had only been a few months since Khalkha entered Qinghai. He frowned and said, "But it hasn't been nine months since Khalkha came here!"
"It's nine days." Ahai Daiqing said: "Besiege the city on the third day of September, and break the city on the twelfth day of September. If we count all nine days, Taiji will be buried to the south."
After hearing this, Gututaiji walked towards the city without looking back.
No wonder this city looks so strange. Grandma, Liu Shishi has no good intentions.
This city is so unlucky, I have to send someone to tell my elder brother about this quickly, and find a way to get the Oirat people to come in.
He was dragged back by Ahai Daiqing and shouted: "Just defend Jiutian City, what else are you going to defend? My brother can run for nine days!"
Ahai Daiqing's face turned bitter, and he tsked and said: "You don't understand, this is a good city, it can't be attacked from outside, it is really handsome..."
Bald Tu shook his head and almost uttered words such as scheming and cunning. In the end, he shook off these thoughts and said with worry on his face: "Defending the city depends on the unity of the people. Whether we can survive or not depends on the sweat. "
What kind of people will be stationed in this city?
Not to mention Qututaiji, it was named Chahar Camp in name, but actually led a group of Tumote. The Tumote headquarters in Hohhot were all annihilated by Lin Dan Khan.
The Khalkha battalion under Ahai Daiqing is full of internal strife experts. The heads of the headless Nayan Taiji buried in the south and east of Bajiao City were all chopped off by them.
Mo Yujing, the former deputy commander-in-chief of Xining in the Ming Dynasty, who led the artillery, and his 400 veterans surrendered to Liu Chengzong in Nianbo not three months ago. In their eyes, the Mongolian braided heads are at best an average equivalent.
There is also Chen Shiwen in the east. Relying on his status as chieftain and the two to three hundred native soldiers in his hands, he collected all the grain grown by the generalissimo during the siege of the city last year and recruited soldiers everywhere.
That's a real bastard, recruiting troops is not for fighting.
It had been almost a year since Ahai Daiqing surrendered to the Marshal's Mansion, and he knew the purpose of chieftain Chen Shiwen's recruitment of extra soldiers.
Chen Shiwen had no intention of meddling in this war. He just planned to wait until the battle was over, then come back to get some trophies, and upgrade his soldiers to the special force of the Qinghai Marshal's Mansion, the Mengwei Fanzi.
Coupled with the fact that Hu Duntu Khan is about to enter Bajiao City... Each of these people has done everything they have done since childhood, which is completely opposite to the unity that Bajiao City needs at this stage.
When he was first selected by Liu Chengzong to support Bajiao City, Ahai Daiqing was more worried about the Oirat Allied Forces. Now that they are stationed in Bajiao City, Ahai Daiqing is no longer worried about the Oirat Allied Forces, and instead begins to worry about whether they can survive until the Oirat Allied Forces attack the city.
This kind of worry is nothing but a distraction, and Hu Duntu Khan, who is speeding in Qinghai, does not have this kind of worry.
On the first day of May, the Great Khan was still four hundred miles away from Bajiao City. By the evening of the third day of the lunar month, the main force of the dusty Chahar had entered the Ganga Grassland.
The leading scattered cavalry even reached the foot of Bajiao City. Axitu, the grand master of the Khan Court, made a loud noise and asked Guututaiji to send reinforcements quickly to meet them.
Chahar Khan's marching speed far exceeded Mo Yujing's expectations. What was even more frightening was that the Oirat Allied Forces maintained the same marching speed and clung to the Khan's back.
The generals of the two battalions discussed briefly and immediately decided that Ahai Daiqing would lead two thousand cavalry to respond, while Mo Yujing would lead the artillery to guard the city.
Before leaving the city, Bald Qiang was cautious and handed over a thousand infantrymen left in the camp to Mo Yujing, asking him to get into the city and lock the city gate to prevent Lin Danhan from killing the donkey.
Then the two thousand cavalry of the Khalkha camp swept up the wind and sand and ran towards the southwest.
Not long after, in the war shed on the west wall of Bajiao City, Mo Yujing received news that the leading troops of the Chahar army were approaching Bajiao City.
War sheds were popular city defense works in the Song Dynasty. Wooden sheds were built on the city walls to defend against arrows. However, in the era of artillery, wooden war sheds developed into hard sheds with masonry structures. Later, artillery was introduced. This structure is not easy to use.
Mo Yujing chose to build this kind of thing in the West City, mainly because the female wall of the West City Wall was broken by Liu Chengzong, and Chen Shiwen, the chieftain who took over the Bajiao City, was also busy reclaiming and farming the land, and did not bother to repair it.
At this time, it was too late to burn bricks to build the city, so we could only build a wooden war shed on the west wall and reinforce it with earth and stone to defend against arrows and lead.
When Mo Yujing heard this, he climbed to the top of the war tent and looked west. He was looking forward to what a Mongolian army that traveled hundreds of miles a day would look like in continuous battles.
However, his telescope was confiscated by Liu Chengzong after the surrender. Now he could only see with his naked eyes. He couldn't see clearly from a distance. He just felt that it didn't look like a Mongolian army in his impression, but more like... It is the old camp of the Shaanxi Peasant Army.
Seven to eight hundred people, more than thirty horses and donkeys, and a few camels pulled the cart. There were a small number of weapons, armor, and flags on the cart. The people walked forward with their heads bowed in the strong wind.
Mo Yujing's heart skipped a beat when he saw it. He thought it was bad. Lin Danhan was beaten to the point where only a few hundred people were left.
He was an old officer after all, and the first thought in his mind was not to laugh at Lin Dan Khan for losing the battle, but that the matter must be reported to the Marshal's Office as soon as possible. He immediately called his nephew Mo Ruili and said to him: "I will give you one hundred presidents, from the eight corners From the city to Juerwan, quickly lay a five-hundred-mile pond road and report the news of this place to the marshal."
Mo Fuli is Mo Yujing's nephew, but he is a direct descendant of Liu Chengzong who was born as a soldier. Liu Chengzong came to defect to him when he was fighting in Nangqian. Now he is assigned to Mo Yujing as the military supervisor.
Mo Fuli was very clear about the priorities of the matter. The battle plan of the Marshal's Office was based on Lin Dan Khan having a certain number of troops. If Lin Dan Khan was beaten to only a few hundred riders, Oirat's army would expand to at least 50,000. The war The situation is completely different.
Mo Fuli hurriedly left the city to lay the pond road. The seven or eight hundred people were approaching the city. The leaders were Dou Tumen Gushan and Dorji Dalhan, one of the four ministers of Chahar, who were guarding Lin Dan Khan's son Ezheqian. Come.
Chahar has eight tribes. This tribe is divided into eight queen mothers, Han'er's ears and eight ministers managed by the empress. There are also six left and right wings each with six thousand households. They are called six Tuman. Tuman means the entire tribe, ten thousand households. This word was borrowed by the Kingdom of Jin and was called Gushan.
Due to the frequent wars between the Ming Dynasty and Jin Dynasty, much of the Ming Dynasty's understanding of the Chahan tribe came from the Jin Kingdom's letters, so Chahar's headquarters was also called Liutu Mangu Mountain.
Because it has an army of ten thousand households, it was called Baya Lagu Mountain in the Jin Kingdom.
However, the strength of the Great Khan has been reduced again and again, and his headquarters has been adjusted to four Tuman and four ministers. The official position of these four ministers is Zaisang, which is actually the prime minister.
Dorzi Darhan, one of the four prime ministers, rushed into the city. Hundreds of people fell on the ground, sat or lay down after entering the city, and no longer had the strength to stand up.
Ruitutaiji was so anxious that he was sending water and food, and then he got very funny news from Dorji Darhan... The tribesmen ran away, and the Great Khan gathered the troops behind, and just kept them. I can help them cut off their offspring.
Among the troops running into the city were people from Guitu Taiji, who gave him a bolt from the blue - the 600 heavy cavalry he had been so proud of in front of Liu Chengzong. In order to give the main force a chance to escape, they dismounted and charged as heavy infantry. Camel City was given away in one wave.
The corner of Guitu Taiji's mouth twitched when he heard this.
It's not because he is a heavy infantryman. After all, he knows his horse very well. It has lost weight in the past six months, and it can't run as fast on horseback as when charging on foot.
Moreover, this combat intention is considered worthy, at least it can protect the large troops from successfully retreating.
But he only has a few elite troops in his headquarters. If he had not accepted the official position in the Marshal's Mansion, he would now be a mere commander.
Ruitu Taiji lowered his head and spat, looked up at the sunset in Qinghai, and cursed in his heart, what the hell kind of Ruitu Taiji is this? Feel free to be a general in the Marshal's office and fry rabbits.
On the other hand, Mo Yujing, who had been inquiring about the news, sent pieces of the latest news based on his own analysis to the other side of the Yellow River in the northwest through the pond road, and suggested to Liu Chengzong that after the war, he must try to recruit soldiers and horses from the Chahar tribe.
Mo Yujing is the deputy commander-in-chief of the imperial court. Even if he surrenders to the Marshal's Mansion, he will still be fundamentally different from Mongolian nobles such as Chaotu and Ahai. The key point why he values these Chahar tribesmen is that these people have great respect for Qinghai. familiar.
I ran away in embarrassment for a month, traveling an average of ninety miles a day. I almost walked around Qinghai in a big circle. How could I not be familiar with it?
When the sky was getting dark, two groups of Chahar troops approached the city outside the Bajiao City. That night, the main force of the Chahar headquarters arrived belatedly and finally entered the Ganga Grassland. Mo Yujing, who had the home field advantage, left Kahar. Mongolian soldiers from the Erkha camp were introduced into the city overnight.
After entering the city, Lin Dan Khan looked dejected. After counting, more than 30,000 soldiers marched continuously and intensely. Only more than 8,000 people arrived at Bajiao City. The war horses and baggage were scattered, and weapons and armor were in short supply. Not to mention field battles, even defense. The city was almost powerless to fight.
Fortunately, Ahai Daiqing was quite brave. Relying on his familiarity with the terrain, he served as the rearguard of the Chahar tribe in the mountains. He repeatedly blocked the pursuit of Oirat's exhausted divisions, captured prisoners, and gathered information.
But it is better not to detect the information. If you don’t detect it, people will not care about their fear. Ahai Daiqing still wants to take advantage of the victory to stop the attack, so it is better to find out. After the Oirat coalition surrendered the Chahar tribe, its strength has expanded to 50,000. After a while, Ahai Daiqing was so frightened that he led his troops and ran back to the city.
The whole city knew that they had fifty thousand enemies.
The most important thing is that many Chahar soldiers who entered the city were infected with smallpox.
Fatigue, hunger, plague, and fear filled every inch of Bajiao City.
During the long night, Mo Yujing looked up at the twinkling stars and ordered the Tang soldiers to deliver the Tang report to Liu Chengzong on horseback - it was still too late to retreat to the north bank of the Yellow River.