After all the Mongolians were captured, Chen Qiyu asked doubtfully:
"General, what is this?"
Zhou Xingwu cupped his hands and replied:
"Zai Shaozhong doesn't know. These are all Mongolians. They lied about being Datong frontier troops. Lin Dan Khan has seen that several strong attacks have been ineffective, and now he has started to play tricks!"
"How did the general know?"
Zhou Xingwu told Chen Qiyu about the previous events. Chen Qiyu couldn't help but become nervous after hearing this. If they were deceived, the city would be broken sooner or later.
Chen Qiyu praised:
"The general is rough but fine. No wonder His Majesty values the general so much!"
Zhou Xingwu dared not say twice and asked again:
"Do I need to ask the prince for instructions on this matter?"
"No need, His Majesty made it clear that day that the Miyun matter will be left to the two of us with full authority. When the dust settles, just let him know!"
And Zhou Xingwu didn't say much, because that's what His Majesty meant. Unexpectedly, even the eunuchs who were personally appointed by His Majesty to join the Yulin Army could not interfere with the military affairs.
Chen Qiyu's thoughts were very simple, because in this era, all civil servants and gentry had a mentality that they, the scholar-bureaucrats, were the highest-status people besides the emperor.
They may lower their attitude towards generals, but they always have a feeling of superiority in their hearts. As for eunuchs, no matter how they gain power, they are completely despised in their hearts, because in their eyes, such a disabled person Not even qualified to talk to them.
Of course, there are also those who are greedy and shameless, such as the eunuchs Wang Zhen, Liu Jin, and Wei Zhongxian, who also have a large number of civil servants and gentry under their command.
But they are a minority after all. They are usually the kind of people who have failed in their career or have been squeezed out and suppressed. They already have a gambler's mentality, and they feel like they have broken the pot.
Zhou Xingwu took these Mongolians into the prison of the government office. Before they were executed, two Mongolians shouted for mercy. They said anything.
Zhou Xingwu secretly thought that this would save trouble, so he asked:
"What is your purpose for entering the city? Is this a method thought up by your great Khan?"
"We are following the orders of our leader, pretending to be Ming troops, deceiving you that the reinforcements have arrived, and asking you to break out. Then we will ambush you outside the city. If that doesn't work, we will cooperate inside and outside. We will sneak attack you tonight, open the east gate of the city, and welcome the army. Enter the city!”
"You Han people also told us about this method, the Great Khan. We came all the way here because so many people sent us letters saying that your emperor is here, so the Great Khan brought us here."
Zhou Xingwu immediately asked:
"Do you know who it is?"
"I don't know, but I heard that he seems to be a senior official of your Han people. The person who delivered the message is still in our camp!"
After the Mongolian finished speaking, he pointed at the servant and said:
"He too!"
Zhou Xingwu turned around and saw that he was indeed a Han. It was very easy to tell the difference between Han and Mongolian. Their skins were very different.
Mongolians are all weathered, with extremely rough skin and huge pores. You can basically see it at a glance, but they didn't notice it before because they all wore iron helmets to cover their faces.
"How about it, do you recognize the appearance or not?"
The servant yelled with angry eyes:
"Who do you think you are, do you want me to tell you? Maybe I will consider calling that dog emperor!"
Zhou Xingwu waved his hand, and several sergeants nearby quickly dragged him out and tied him to a wooden pillar. He was about to be executed when he was interrupted by Zhou Xingwu:
"Wait a minute, you guys are not serious or serious. What if we kill him? Let those Jin Yiwei do this. They are all experienced experts!"
A sergeant said with a smile:
"General, why do you keep this kid here? He's going to die anyway. It's better to let the brothers go through this addiction of judging people."
More than a dozen Jin Yiwei rushed to the prison quickly. Under their professional techniques, the servant who was just a tough guy immediately let out a scream like a slaughtering pig, and it didn't take long for everything to be done.
But Jin Yiwei did not tell Zhou Xingwu about those officials. The less people knew about this kind of thing, the better. Zhou Xingwu also responded in time and didn't ask any more questions.
Then he learned about Lin Danhan's current situation from the Mongolians. When he understood it, he quickly went to find Chen Qiyu.
He recounted all the Mongols' conspiracy. Fortunately, Chen Qiyu discovered it early after hearing the hidden secret, otherwise Miyun would have been in danger!
"Shaozukazai, all those Mongols have been recruited, I have a plan here, maybe I can start to defeat the enemy!"
"We can use the trick this time!"
"Oh, what's General Zhou's plan?"
"According to those Mongols, if they cannot break the city today, they will attack by surprise at night."
"We can just seize this point and ambush Nalin Danhan in the city tonight!"
Chen Qiyu said worriedly:
"Is it possible? Isn't this too risky? What if the city is broken? I still feel that it is not safe. As long as we hold on for two days, the ministers and weak soldiers and horses can return to support, and then all three sides will be supported. Attack, wouldn’t the chance of winning be greater?”
And Zhou Xingwu said confidently:
"Shaozukazai is too cautious. How can there be a war without taking risks? In a war, no one is sure of victory, only who is braver and who is smarter!"
"Lin Danhan must have been impatient at this time, otherwise he wouldn't have attacked so fiercely today. I think he wants to give it a final try. If we don't seize the opportunity, he will definitely order the withdrawal of the army!"
"General Zhou, you don't know the key to Miyun, right? If you miss it, wouldn't you be betraying His Majesty's great trust?"
"Qimiyun is the center of this operation. Food and logistics for hundreds of thousands of troops are stored here. Do you know how dangerous this is?"
"I will not agree to this. As long as we hold Miyun firmly, we will definitely win this battle. But if you follow your plan, it is very likely that one careless move will lead to a complete defeat for our army!"
Zhou Xingwu was eager to achieve great results, but when he saw that this method did not work, he said again:
"Is it possible to ambush outside the city?
He expressed his thoughts again. According to his opinion, he still followed the plan, but changed the ambush location to the city gate.
Tonight, he will send people to pretend to cause chaos in the city to attract Lin Dan Khan to attack. He will fill the east wall of the city with kerosene beforehand, and then concentrate all his troops to attack from three directions: the city head and both sides. .
Chen Qiyu also knew that this man was crazy about making meritorious deeds, and it was hard to continue to refuse him now. Moreover, this plan could indeed be tried, and he said with a smile:
"This is possible, but it must be carefully planned!"
"Then thank you Shaozukazai!"
Zhou Xingwu immediately collected all the fire oil in the city, and then ordered people to pack the gunpowder in ceramics and earthen jars, and then throw it into the sea of fire, which would surely kill him by surprise.
He also gathered all his troops. After several days of fighting, his 5,000-strong army only had more than 3,000 people available at this time. Including those young men who had been temporarily organized, there were only more than 7,000 strong men.
But he was still full of confidence, because in the dark night, the advantage of cavalry would be greatly reduced. His Majesty also said at the beginning that no animal is afraid of fire, and war horses are no exception.
It would be a lie to say that he was not nervous. It was a night battle tonight, and there were very few night battles, because most of the sergeants could not see clearly at night, and the camp would be blown up if not careful at night, which could easily cause chaos.
But if you want to defeat the enemy, you have to take this gamble.
He specially selected 600 people from the entire army. These people were all former Xiaoling Guards. They could basically see clearly at night, and their organization and cooperation were definitely more coordinated.
He divided the 600 people into two teams and went out of the city in advance to ambush. Every three people would lead a swarm to attack the Tartars' subsequent cavalry from the side.
The other three sides of the city could only be guarded by the young men. Zhou Xingwu could only leave three hundred Yulin troops to guard the city. If there were more, the front would not be enough.
After everything was arranged, Zhou Xingwu returned to the city. Seeing that the Mongols were not attacking, he relaxed a little, but his expression was full of nervousness.
As for the Mongolian camp outside the city, Lin Danhan was also very worried at this time. He had been there for so long and didn't know what the situation was like.
Waiting until noon, there was still no response from the city. Lin Danhan couldn't wait any longer and was ready to launch another attack.
But before his military order was issued, the leaders of all the ministries stopped him in unison. This method of attacking the city really caused too many losses.
Even the die-hard supporters of Lin Dan Khan, the Yongxie tribe and the Dorote tribe no longer want to attack, let alone other tribes.
"Khan, attacking the city by force will not break the city. It will only increase casualties. It is really not worth the loss. Since our people have entered the city now, it is better to wait for good news!"
"Yes, Great Khan, we can't continue the attack. The casualties of our Dorote Division are already close to 2,000. If we continue our attack like this, I don't know how many warriors will fall here."
Seeing unanimous opposition from the leaders of various ministries, Lin Dan Khan gave up and ordered the entire army to rest and recuperate in preparation for the battle at night.
At Wuzhi Mountain, seventy miles away from Miyun, the two armies of Wang Zaijin and Yang Sichang finally successfully joined forces. Because most of them were infantry and carried a large amount of baggage and heavy objects, their marching speed was much slower than that of the lightly-armed Mongolian cavalry.
But Wang Zaijin did not stop the army and continued to move towards Miyun. Now was a race against time. They had no idea about the situation in Miyun. Wang Zaijin had just sent Ye Bushou to investigate.
"Assistant minister, the Tartars have already arrived in Miyun. I don't know if Shaozhong Zai and Zhou Xingwu can withstand the attack of tens of thousands of Mongolian cavalry."
Wang Zaijin looked at the advancing army and said to Yang Sichang:
"Wen Ruo, this march is too slow. Immediately gather all the mules and horses in the army to transport cannons and grain. We must get to Miyun as soon as possible!"
"Don't worry, Minister, I'll make arrangements right away!"
Wang Zaijin was also very worried now. Although His Majesty was not there, Miyun was still of great importance. Thinking of this, he ordered the army to speed up.
Wang Zaijin looked at the sky and estimated the time. He should be able to reach Miyun early tomorrow morning.
…
Late at night
Lin Danhan's tens of thousands of cavalry have all gathered outside the east of the city. He waited quietly. As soon as the fire came out and the city gate opened, he would immediately lead his troops and rush in.
Nearly a quarter of an hour later, Tanqi reported that there was already the sound of swords and armor in the city, and there was a faint light of fire. Lin Danhan shouted that the time had come, lit a torch and led the horses to set off.
The Ming army observing on the top of the city saw a bright light outside the city and shouted softly:
"The Tartars are coming!"
Upon hearing this, the Ming army under the city quickly opened the city gate and also lit up torches as if to respond.
Lin Danhan was not at ease at first, after all, this was going too smoothly, but when he saw that the city gate was wide open, he didn't care about anything and directly ordered to mount his horse and charge.
When they were only thirty steps away from the city gate, under Wang Meng's command, the cannon on the city head made a loud noise.
At the same time, the Ming army's torches and rockets were thrown out like a rainstorm, and the Mongolian cavalry was caught off guard again.
The torches and rockets fell to the ground, quickly igniting the kerosene on the ground, and the place instantly became a sea of fire.
The horses on which the Mongolians sat down immediately began to become wild and uncontrollable. Although these Mongolian knights had superb equestrian skills, they could not do anything at this time.
But there was no retreat at this time. Lin Danhan waved his saber and shouted:
"Don't panic. There is only one target city gate. As long as we rush in, we will win. Warriors, the great Genghis Khan will protect us!"
When the Mongolian cavalry approached the city gate, the narrow opening of the city gate was like the mouth of a giant beast. The most powerful firearm of the Ming army, the Hundred Tigers Rush Rocket, had been waiting for a long time.
"put!"
At such a close distance, as long as a rocket hits the target, it will immediately affect its surroundings.
The Ming army on top of the city also launched a second wave of counterattack. They placed ceramic jars and earthen jars filled with gunpowder on light catapults and launched them at the sea of fire below the city.
Hundreds of Ming troops ambushing on both sides also took advantage of the chaos to enter the designated position. They carried a swarm of bees and fired at the Mongols' rear formation indiscriminately.
The Mongolian cavalry was in chaos and began to flee in all directions. The night battle was not only a major test for the Ming army, but also for the Mongols.
Infantry and cavalry fought at night. The infantry had an advantage, and the Mongols were not prepared at all for the side where the Ming army ambushed. Although there were few people, it was the best opportunity to defeat the enemy at night.
Although war horses have night vision and can see everything clearly at night, humans do not. As long as there is a little confusion, the entire army can be blown up immediately. This is the case with the Mongols now.
"Khan, we have fallen into a trap!"
"Great Khan, give the order to retreat quickly!"
Lin Danhan was unwilling to accept it. He lost miserably in this battle. He couldn't even accept it for a while, but after everyone's repeated advice, he still issued the order to withdraw his troops.
Seeing that the Mongols were defeated and fled, the Ming army did not pursue them. This battle was already a great victory. If they pursued with this small force, they might be killed by others.
Although this night battle only lasted a short quarter of an hour, the results of this battle were extremely rich. The Mongols left countless corpses and fled in panic, without even having time to collect the corpses.
The Ming army shouted wildly on top of the city:
"Thank you to the Great Khan for sending me the first-level military honor!"
Lin Danhan almost spit out a mouthful of blood after hearing this.
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