Chapter 323
Capital City, Cabinet.
Wen Tiren is still as before, looking at his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose, motionless as a mountain. However, his hands hidden in his sleeves trembled with excitement.
"Cheng is really afraid that his cavalry will be sent to Datong?"
Wen Tiren couldn't believe it. This is really stupid. It is true that the cavalry has strong mobility, but the problem is that it is more than 700 miles from the capital to Datong. Under normal circumstances, it will take two days, but it is only two days and two nights. Once down, this cavalry will become a tired soldier, and there is no one even knows how many horses will be injured or die from exhaustion.
But the problem is that the snow is very thick now, generally two or three feet thick. Of course, this is just Wen Tiren's own idea. If he went to see him outside the Great Wall, the snow is far less thick than in the capital. It does not mean that it is snowy outside the Great Wall. The snow in Beijing is not as heavy as in the capital, but because of the strong wind, the snow has been blown away and scattered in low-lying areas, just like flash floods formed when it rains. Some places may look ordinary, but the snow may be several meters deep.
Wu Zongda drank tea leisurely and said with a sinister sneer: "The surnamed man was lucky enough to win a few battles, but he can no longer distinguish between east, west, north and south. He thinks this is also Liaodong? He can come wherever he wants! Hum! Huh, let a group of cavalry who have only been trained for a year or two fight to the death with the Mongolian cavalry on the grassland? It’s a shame he can think of it!”
Wen Tiren shook his head: "Cheng Shijie seems to be reckless, but in fact he makes a plan and then acts. It's just that this time, I really can't figure out where he got the confidence, but I can be sure that your arrangement in Datong was leaked and the man named Cheng got it. Unusual taste!”
Wu Zongda sneered: "That's him looking for death!"
"Has the carrier pigeon been released?"
"It has been released a long time ago. Mobei Mongolia knows exactly how many troops surnamed Cheng will use and which direction to attack. What awaits him and his army will be a dragnet. It will be easy for his army to get out and come back. But it’s difficult!”
Wu Zongda's expression became extremely ghastly and terrifying, and every word he spoke was filled with endless hatred. His tone was like the hissing sound of a poisonous snake spitting out its message, which made people feel chilled all over.
Wu Zongda hated Cheng Shijie and gritted his teeth. On the surface, it was because of Cheng Shijie's rebellious remarks. In fact, it was not the case. Wu Zongda was from Yixing and came from a family of officials. As early as his grandfather Wu Xing, he was quite famous when he was weak. In the 14th year of Jiajing (1535 AD) ) passed the Jinshi examination and reached Shangbao Sicheng. After becoming an official, he did not want to hang out in the officialdom, so he stayed at home and taught his children. Under his education and influence, ten people from the fourth generation of a school passed the Jinshi examination, including one who was in the top tier.
The Wu family in Yixing has become a first-class family in Yixing since the Jiajing Dynasty. Wu Zongda's uncle Wu Zhongxing repeatedly impeached Zhang Juzheng, a powerful scholar, and earned a reputation for being upright. Although the Wu family performed well in culture and education, he was also a One of the top ten maritime merchants in Jiangnan.
After Cheng Shijie replaced Zheng Zhilong, he began to uniformly formulate taxes. Unlike in Zheng Zhilong's era, Zheng Zhilong collected protection fees based on what people wanted to eat. Some people charged more, and some people charged less symbolically. The Taiping firm of the Wu family in Yixing belonged to In the area of undercollection, Cheng Shijie's Ning Haijun controlled the maritime trade between Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and collected hundreds of thousands of taels of extra tax from Wu's Taiping trading company every year. For Wu Zongda, this meant cutting off Wu's financial path.
Cutting off people's wealth is like killing one's parents, and one will definitely not stop until death.
"Isn't it his army that Cheng, who unscrupulously seizes our good land and beautiful houses, and cuts off our wealth, relies on? He is so domineering that in less than a year he has almost offended the entire gentry group in the world, and everyone has opened his eyes. Watching with big eyes, waiting to see his joke! Once he is defeated, the whole world of gentry will attack him in groups, and if they can bite him, it will count, even if they can't kill him, they will bite him and draw blood!"
Wen Tiren murmured: "No, if we lose this battle, the man named Cheng will be dead... He has not only offended the entire world of Jin gentry, he has also offended the important officials in the central government! Now he has a strong iron-blooded army, who can There is nothing we can do against him, but once his army is wiped out, his end will come!"
…
On the banks of the Baihe River in Miyun County, in front of the Ninghai Navy's defense line, countless Mongolian cavalry wearing smelly leather armor, holding scimitars and horned bows were gathering like dark clouds. In just a few days, tens of thousands of horses gathered.
Meng En looked at the densely packed Mongolian army as far as the eye could see, with a solemn look on his face.
"Commander, please go back to the capital. This place is left to the general. The general can guarantee the defense of Baihe. As long as the general is still breathing, not a single Mongolian Tatar can even think of crossing this line of defense!"
Meng En looked at Cheng Shijie with a serious face and said: "Commander, a gentleman does not stand behind a dangerous wall!"
Cheng Shijie smiled faintly: "I can hear the thoughts of those people in the capital here. When I go to the capital, I will fall into despair. With my brothers, I can sleep well!"
"But……"
"Nothing to worry about!"
Cheng Shijie waved his hand and said: "Calculating the time, the Mongols should have received the news that our cavalry was dispatched. They should know that we actually have less than 5,000 troops here and there is no danger to defend."
Just as Cheng Shijie was speaking, the sound of a horn was heard in the distance.
"Woo...Woo..."
The desolate horn sound sounded, slowly rushing into the clouds and resounding throughout the entire camp. The entire camp was suddenly enveloped in a depressing atmosphere. Officer Ning Haijun behaved as usual, but the common people in the camp showed fear, while the soldiers with guns and live ammunition lined up in neat queues and ran up to the ice wall, ready to fight.
Cheng Shijie walked to the front line and picked up the microphone. Cheng Shijie's voice came from a dozen large speakers: "Soldiers, tell me who you are!"
Thousands of voices roared in unison: "We are Ning Haijun!"
Cheng Shijie roared: "What is Ning Haijun?"
General Ning Haijun roared: "An invincible iron-blooded force! We have never lost since the day we formed an army!"
Cheng Shijie was simply roaring: "Do you all remember this? Very good! I hope that after the fight, you can still remember that we are Ning Haijun! We are Ning Haijun who cannot be defeated and cannot be dragged to death! We fight We have gone through countless fierce battles, with rivers of blood flowing every time, and heavy casualties every time, but in the end, the corpses covering the battlefield will always be our opponents! There is no enemy that cannot be defeated in front of us! Whether it is the Tatars or the slaves, All we can do is cry in front of us, without any reason, just because we are Ning Haijun!"
Ning's navy officers roared almost madly: "Commander Wan Sheng! Marshal Wan Sheng!"
The roar that hit their lungs suddenly overwhelmed the loud noise of the Mongolian troops galloping. Everyone's expressions became fanatical and confident. In their eyes, the rolling Mongolian army was just a pile of military achievements. Just a chapter!
There is no reason, just because they are Ning Haijun!
"This is decent. This is what Ning Haijun should be like!"
Only then was Cheng Shijie satisfied. He turned around, looked at the Mongolian army crossing the field, and sneered: "Come on, come on, the more the better! Today we can finally go on a killing spree!"
Looking at the Ming army defending Baihe, this is not a good thing for the Mongolian army. But there is no way. The Han people have been operating the Great Wall as a line of defense for more than two thousand years. As early as the Han Dynasty, they established an extremely complete and efficient defense system. The Great Wall is like a giant python that straddles the dividing line between farming and nomadism. They don’t care. No matter which point you attack, you will immediately receive a fierce counterattack.
If the Central Dynasty is internally stable, the Great Wall will be an insurmountable line of defense. No matter how many people they come over, they will be bruised and bruised. Only when the Central Dynasty itself falls into chaos first will they have a chance to cross the Great Wall.
This time, many Mongolians resigned themselves to the snowstorm. They knew that they could not cross the Great Wall defense line. Since the beginning of October, some of them had been going south one after another. However, for nearly two months, the Great Wall defense line had not been gnawed.
Until Jingan Fort was inexplicably captured by Kyaktu, Tushetu Khangunbu, Oirat Mongolia and Shuotebu Taiji were also named Gumubu, named Aqiba Tu'er, and Borjijit's clan.
Gunbu knew Kyactu's true ability and asked him to hunt or use more to fight fewer tribes and clean up a few small tribes. Kyactu could complete the task, but Jingan Fort, an important pass, could not be defeated by Kyactu. .
The Mongolian army continued to advance until it was only a stone's throw away from the Baihanin naval defense line before stopping. Surrounded by a group of Mongolian nobles, Gunbu and others rode forward to observe Ning Haijun's defense line at close range.
This line of defense is dominated by an ice wall, chest high. This height is very embarrassing for a war horse. Without human intervention, a war horse can jump about 1.5 meters when charging at high speed. However, the problem is that the war horse is Animals, the instinct of animals is to slow down when encountering danger, which means that it is almost impossible to jump over this ice wall.
Behind the ice wall, tall and straight figures stand proudly. The pitch-black tassels on the helmets and the pitch-black military uniforms are fluttering in the cold wind. There is tension and severity on the young faces. , there is worry, but no fear.
Ning Haijun was silent. It was an intimidating silence. A real tiger and wolf warrior did not need to intimidate the enemy with his hoarse roar.
Kebai, the prime minister under Gun Bu, glanced at the Ning Haijun camp opposite. He stood at a high position and could see far and clearer. He smiled and said: "There are more than three thousand elite soldiers and four to five thousand civilians." people!"
Gunbu turned the rosary beads in his hand and recited the scriptures without saying a word.
Jiaktu smiled and said: "With just such a small number of people, facing our tens of thousands of troops, I'm afraid they will be scared to death. We can take it down with just one charge!"
Gunbu waved his hands and said, "Don't act rashly!"
Among so many people, he is under the greatest pressure, because the heavy snow in Mobei has destroyed their homeland. If they cannot capture the pass and cannot get food and supplies, their Tuxie Tuhan tribe will be exterminated. , there is no room for him to be careless.
Gunbu opened his eyes and said, "God is kind to us, so we should send people to persuade them to surrender. If those Han people are willing to surrender, a bloody disaster can be avoided."
Kyaktu directed a thousand captains to come forward.
The captain could speak Chinese, and he shouted in fluent Chinese: "Listen up, Ming people across the way, you have angered our Great Khan. In anger, our Great Khan led a hundred thousand cavalry to attack you! Surrender immediately if you know what to do, Handing over the food, property and beauties can save a small life, otherwise once we break through the city, we will not leave any chickens or dogs behind!"
However, at this moment, Cheng Shijie smiled coldly: "Shoot!"
More than a dozen Chongzhen 8-year-old bolt-action rifles fired at the Mongolian lady.
"Bang bang bang..."
After more than a dozen gunshots, the commander and his horse were punched with more than a dozen holes. With a wild hiss, they fell to the ground and the commander was thrown out.
The Mongolian army suddenly became uproar and made a loud noise.
The two armies were fighting and the envoys were not killed. These Han people did not obey the rules. They were so barbaric!
Meng En said: "Commander, you have angered them!"
"What we want is to make them angry! Once people are angry, they are prone to making mistakes, even the famously cunning Steppenwolf is no exception!"
Sure enough, Gunbu was furious and ordered an attack on the Baihe defense line.
The Mongolian army killed many cattle and sheep, and after a hearty meal, the horns were blown again. A large number of horse archers came galloping, galloping back and forth around the Baihe Ice Wall. The riders on horseback drew their horned bows like the full moon, shooting arrows. Ruolianzhu, one after another, the sharp arrows poured towards the ice wall.
However, the Mongolian army was surprised to find that the Ming army's muskets could shoot much farther than their bows and arrows. Even a hundred or two hundred paces away, they could kill with one shot.
After several rounds of testing, the Mongolian army discovered the shortcoming of these Ming troops, which was that these Ming troops had too few muskets. They began to concentrate their firepower on Ning Haijun's defense line, trying to create a gap in the ice wall.
"boom……"
A shot put finally hit the ice wall, shattering it into pieces. The two Ning navy soldiers were injured by the flying ice fragments, their flesh and blood were blurred, but they bit their lips hard and remained silent.
This is probably a major characteristic of Ning Haijun. They are all tough-minded. No matter how seriously injured they are, they grit their teeth and remain silent so as not to affect the comrades around them. The dark military uniforms made it impossible to see the blood on their bodies. Gritting their teeth and not screaming would really give people the illusion that they would never be injured or die. This kind of pressure is also quite high.
But no matter what, it finally got off to a good start. The Mongolian army cheered loudly. The artillerymen, who had turned black from the gunpowder smoke, were also encouraged. They fired several more shots and broke two ice walls.
Then there was nothing they could do, because the barrel was already hot enough to light a cigarette, and if they continued to load and fire, they would definitely blow themselves up.
In fact, Ning Haijun's artillery never fired, but only used rifles to block the approach of the Mongolian cavalry. They did not even fire thunderbolts and rocket launchers. Even Ning Haijun's officers did not even open one-tenth of their firepower. The combat effectiveness of these Mongolian armies But it makes people dare not compliment him.
Mongolia is no longer the Mongolia of three or four hundred years ago. They are so weak that they are not even comparable to the Jurchens. You must know that Mongolia back then was rubbing against the ground according to the Jurchens.
Even if Ning Haijun only used rifles, the Mongols did not take advantage. They were helpless in the face of Ning Haijun's ice wall. Even if they smashed an ice wall, there was another ice wall behind the ice wall. God knows the Ming army fortress How many ice walls?
In fact, Ning Haijun had only built thirteen ice walls, seven in front and six in back, arranged in a circular pattern.
However, after struggling for a long time, the Mongols sadly discovered that they could not break through this simple defense line. They suffered five or six hundred casualties and retreated in embarrassment.
…
Zhangbei is an ancient county with more than 4,000 years of history. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, a nomadic tribe was active in the vast area of northern China including Zhangbei County. People at that time called it "Ghost Fang". In the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1370) Xinghe Prefecture was established in the year 1946. Four years later, it became the Yuan Dynasty and the prefecture was abolished. In the seventh year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1374), Ming general Lan Yu conquered Xinghe again, and Zhangbei County entered the territory of the Ming Dynasty. In the 30th year of Hongwu (1397), Xinghe was established to guard Qianhu Station. In the 20th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1422), it was conquered by the Mongols and later moved to Xuanhua. Zhangbei County became the sphere of Tatar influence.
However, it is a strategic location, bordering Beijing to the southeast, Baoding City, Hebei Province to the south, Shanxi Province to the west and southwest, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the north and northwest.
Zhao Wencai led the Ning Haijun cavalry, each carrying half a month's worth of dry food, and began to leave the fortress from Yanqing Prefecture. After leaving the fortress, he defeated several small groups of Mongolian cavalry. Zhao Wencai discovered that these Mongolians were very weak in combat effectiveness. Ning Haijun's thousand cavalry could easily defeat more than two thousand of them. After discovering this situation, Zhao Wencai decisively ordered the troops to disperse.
In units of each corps, more than a thousand cavalry were separated by more than ten miles and kept in contact with each other at all times using walkie-talkies. After encountering a large group of Mongolians, they concentrated their forces to eliminate them.
Upon arriving in Zhangbei, the scouts in front discovered a large Mongolian army. After reconnaissance, they found that there were about five to six thousand Mongolian cavalry. They carried cattle, sheep, horses, and large carts. Tribes with 5,000 or 6,000 people are considered large tribes.
However, before Ning Haijun launched the attack, these Mongols discovered the existence of Ning Haijun. In fact, Ning Haijun's military uniforms can effectively blend into the night during night attacks. But the problem is that in the ice and snow, this is really It is so conspicuous that it can be easily spotted from a distance of more than ten miles.
Although Ning Haijun did not take action, this group of Mongolian cavalry had already discovered them. The young and strong in the team rode their horses to prepare to meet the enemy, while the old and weak in the team turned around and ran away. The whole team was immediately in chaos. These Mongolian men were very brave. They held recurve bows and sabers and charged at the Ning navy cavalry without fear.
However, the problem is that the strength gap between the two sides is too huge. Not counting the equipment, the cavalry that Ning Haijun sent after receiving the order totaled five to six thousand people. The winner was already decided before the battle. They could see it from a distance. To the desperate expressions on the twisted faces.
"Come up and kill them!"
Zhao Wencai gave an order, and the Ning Navy cavalry surrounded the Mongolian cavalry in an umbrella shape. The two sides were still more than a hundred steps away. The Ning Navy cavalry began to load their rifles. When they were sixty or seventy steps away, gunshots rang out like exploding beans. .
The Mongolian cavalry's eyes widened in horror. At this distance, their horn bows could not cause much damage to the opponent! However, the rifles of these black knights could easily do it. The bullets came through the air. The muffled sound of the bullets tearing flesh and blood made people feel chilled all over. The hair and bones stood upright, and the screams were loud. Hundreds of knights and people were killed. The horse was shot into a hedgehog and rolled into a ball!
There was no chance to breathe, and the second wave of bullets came over again! This time the distance was shortened by twenty or thirty steps. Even on horseback, the accuracy was even higher, causing greater damage to these unlucky Mongolians. The rain of arrows swept through, and there were more than three hundred horsemen. Falling down like wheat.
Finally, the Ning navy cavalry entered the range of the Mongolian horn bow. A Mongolian warrior flicked his backhand and took out three arrows from the bag. They shot out in a straight line. This is the specialty of the Mongolian cavalry, continuous arrows.
The arrows fired by some excellent horse archers are even faster than the rate of fire of semi-automatic rifles. One bow can be used as several bows, but unfortunately it is of no use. Those black-clothed demons all wear shiny breastplates and domed steel helmets. There were even masks. The arrows they shot were nailed to the helmets and breastplates, causing sparks to fly and bounce around.
The Ning navy cavalry put away their rifles and raised their sabers, leaving only dead bodies wherever they passed. Zhao Wencai was still not satisfied, so he led these bloody and murderous men towards the Mongolians who were fleeing with their cattle and sheep.
There is nothing tender about wars on the grassland. Once defeated, the entire tribe will often disappear from the grassland.
At least this tribe will definitely disappear from the grassland.
At this time, another group of Mongolian cavalry rushed over from a distance. It was a pity that they were just here to deliver food. After a brief fight, two or three thousand Mongolian cavalry surrendered to Ning Haijun.
Qiao Siniang swung her sword to kill the Mongolian soldiers who surrendered, ignoring the other's pleading and crying. The blood-stained sword slashed at the heads one after another.
With such an easy victory, the Ning navy cavalry were all excited.
Zhao Wencai looked at the one or two thousand Mongolian soldiers. He did not issue an order to massacre, but said loudly: "Do you want to die or live?"
The surrendered Mongolian soldiers shouted: "We want to live, we want to live!"
"Very good!"
Zhao Wencai said: "The person who received the certificate is one of our own!"
The Mongolian cavalry looked at each other, and after only hesitating for a moment, they swung their swords to kill their own people. Some Mongolian cavalry even caught up with the herders who were fleeing for their lives, ignoring the other's pleading and crying, and chopped off their heads with one knife.
Qiao Siniang said: "General, what are you..."
"I'm doing this to better complete my mission!"
Zhao Wencai smiled faintly and said: "We have too few people. We only need to recruit Mongolian soldiers to complete the tasks assigned to us by the commander-in-chief!"
Zhao Wencai's cavalry began to sweep up Xuanfu East Road. They did not pounce directly on Datong as announced to the outside world. As Zhao Wencai adopted this method, his men became stronger and stronger as they fought. In a short time, Within a few days, more than 8,000 Mongolian prisoners surrendered.
(End of chapter)
