At nightfall on the third day of June.
Wang Shouren and Ma Yi's surprise attack on Weininghai's team had just passed Daqingshan. After experiencing a range of lofty mountains, the team had passed Yinshan, and the soldiers were already exhausted.
"Master Wang, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to move forward." Cao Shun ran to Wang Shouren to complain, "It has been two days and two nights. We have just passed Daqingshan and are still nearly 200 miles away from Weining Sea. How about one day and two nights? Can they arrive? The soldiers still need to rest now. If it's too late, I'm afraid we won't have to fight this battle. Otherwise, we'd better withdraw."
The team's progress was obviously hindered by the terrain.
First of all, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were not familiar with the grassland terrain, and when they arrived at Daqing Mountain, it rained. In addition, in order to carry artillery through the mountain, the journey was even slower.
When crossing high mountains, people can dismount and walk, but artillery must be carried by horses.
At this time, Ma Yi, Sun Shangqi and other generals accompanying the army also came over. They also came to seek Wang Shouren's opinion.
It seems that this group of troops was led by Ma Yi personally, but as the head of the Ministry of War, Wang Shouren was a civilian official with the army and had a special position in formulating strategies. Moreover, Cao Shun was also the eunuch guarding the Xuanfu, and his status was superior to Ma Yi.
"We have already passed Daqingshan. Do you want to turn back from here?" Wang Shouren asked a very practical question.
We finally got here, but you want to back down?
Ma Yi said: "Mr. Wang, the morale in the army is... a bit low now. The morale was high when we went out, but after two days of trekking through mountains and rivers, the soldiers are... very tired. How about resting overnight and continuing the march tomorrow morning? !”
Compared with Cao Shun's proposal to withdraw his troops, Ma Yi's request was relatively more realistic.
The soldiers are too tired, so it is better to rest first and then continue to set off.
Wang Shouren said firmly: "The three armies can only rest for two hours... I will give you half an hour more, and you must set off at midnight! From here to the west, it will be a smooth journey, and the horse will ride non-stop!"
"What a torment!" Cao Shun almost wanted to sit on the ground and roll around.
Sun Shangqi said: "The deadline Zhang Zhitai gave us is to arrive at Weining Sea tomorrow night. After a short rest, we will raid Weining Sea early the morning after tomorrow. Even if we set off at midnight, we are still nearly two hundred meters away from Weining Sea." Here, we march day and night in a hurry. There is no room for slacking off."
Sun Shangqi came to supervise the army. He was responsible for supervising not only Ma Yi, but also Wang Shouren and Cao Shun. He was equivalent to Zhang Zhou's representative in the army.
With Sun Shangqi's support, Wang Shouren's marching arrangements would be easier to implement.
…
…
The army continued to set off after midnight.
One man and two horses, each carrying his own weapons and rations, and some horses also carried artillery and artillery shells.
During the march, Wang Shouren stayed close to the artillery. They were all old acquaintances. In case of any encounter, the group of people in the artillery battalion could be mobilized to maximize the advantages of the long-distance attack.
"...Instructor Wang, the brothers have all seen it. The cannonballs are not affected by moisture, but the oilcloth on some barrels is cracked and there is water inside. After dawn, if the sun rises, you can tear off the oilcloth and dry it. .”
It rained before, which made Wang Shouren very nervous.
If the artillery and firearms become damp and cannot be used, it seems difficult for this group of people to compete with the Tatars without the support of firearms and relying only on the cold weapons they bring.
Even if the main forces of the tribes around Weininghai are gathering in the west to fight, how can there be no people left behind around Weininghai?
The number is not important. The key point is to catch the opponent off guard and then use firearms to suppress them in order to win... Otherwise, the combat quality of the Ming Dynasty soldiers will still be far inferior to the tribesmen on horseback relying solely on cold weapons.
After daybreak, Wang Shouren was fortunate to finally see the sun that day.
"It's so empty here."
Liu Gui is riding on the horse.
Less than a year ago, he was just a low-level gangster in Nanjing city who couldn't even make a living. Now he went out with the army as a member of the Jinyiwei Baihu.
In his opinion, this grassland also has a beautiful scenery, which makes him feel relaxed and happy.
At least it was much better than the cloudy and rainy weather the previous day.
Wang Shouren said: "Instruct the front, middle and rear troops to speed up the march. They will march at least thirty miles in an hour in the open area. They can only bury the stove after they have marched a hundred miles!"
…
…
Just when Wang Shouren was marching at the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain.
The Chinese army led by Zhang Zhou was in the south of Yinshan Mountain and was also advancing rapidly towards Maoerzhuang.
Compared with the quiet and peaceful northern foothills of Yinshan Mountain, the south of Yinshan Mountain is full of the atmosphere of war and smoke. As the main force of Zhang Zhouzhong's army marches, signs of tribal activities can be seen everywhere.
"Didn't we agree that we would come out to shoot cannons to kill eagles? I'm so exhausted!"
After marching for two days, Zhang Heling and other pampered ministers could not bear it at first. After listening to Zhang Zhou, they thought that this group of people was just to support Wang Shouren and came out to cover. They would not have any fighting with the grassland tribes at all, and the march would not It would be too fast, and it turned out that...the march was hundreds of miles every day for the past two days.
This is too fast for the general army to march.
Because Zhang Zhou's side is not a light attack by Wang Shouren's side. They are bringing food, grass and baggage, and more importantly, they are bringing more than 70 artillery pieces. Although they are all cannons and no heavy cannons, because they have The carriage was waiting, and the journey was already quite hurried.
When the team was resting, Zhang Heling came to Zhang Zhou to complain.
At this moment, Zhang Heling also looked shabby, as if he hadn't washed his face in decades, and his whole body was like a briquette.
Zhang Zhou pointed to the west and said: "Our march is too slow. If we cannot reach Mao'erzhuang within the set time, we will not be able to repel the Di Yi over there. The vanguard troops who made the surprise attack on Weininghai will not be able to defeat them." Escape!"
Zhang Zhou knew that his marching speed was not as fast as Wang Shouren's.
But he couldn't delay. His mission was to go to Mao'erzhuang and other directions close to the Daming Fortress to clear the way for Wang Shouren to go south directly back to the Daming Pass after his surprise attack on Weininghai.
The road on his side is relatively safe, because almost all the attention of the grassland tribes is currently on Chi'er Mountain, six to seven hundred miles west of the Weining Sea, which is the main battlefield for annexation within the grassland.
Zhang Zhou looked at the tired looks of the soldiers below, and knew that fortunately he did not expect these people to have a big fight with him. The Ming Dynasty's frontier army had not experienced a decent war in the past ten years. For the frontier soldiers, The gap is just one generation. Unless he is given three to five years or even ten years to organize his troops, it will not be easy to completely conquer the grassland.
It's not that the soldiers can't do it, it's that no one except Zhang Zhou can do it.
No one is as eager to change the situation in the northwest as he is.
Most of the frontier soldiers wanted to maintain the status quo. It was a very practical question... If all the grassland tribes disappeared, what would they fight and eat? Do you want to go back to farming? Where is the land?
"A hundred miles a day is too common for a grassland march. Are you all so lazy when it comes to taking credit?"
"I didn't ask you to go to the front line to kill the enemy. I just raised the momentum to wave the flag and cheer for the front army. If you still want to push back, then just don't come to the northwest!"
These words are specifically meant for people like Zhang Heling who are naysayers.
At this time, Zhang Heling acted as a negative example, which also allowed Zhang Zhou, the coach, to find a target. If he did not teach Zhang Heling a lesson at this time, but went directly to teach the generals in the army, he would probably encounter resistance from those soldiers.
Once this group of people give up their picks, this team will be unable to lead.
"What are you giving in to me? You're all tired! When will this end? Forget about torturing people to death!"
Zhang Heling was just complaining.
Let him go back to the pass alone, and he can still walk. It would be a shame if he was captured by Tatar stragglers on the way back.
…
…
The night of the fourth day of June.
Wang Shouren's troops and horses were less than fifty miles away from Weining Haizi. At this time, the troops and horses were resting for the last time.
After experiencing the extreme fatigue before, the spirits of the soldiers seemed to have calmed down at this time. This was also because the soldiers knew that they had now penetrated deep into the hinterland of the grassland. If they retreated at this time, there was no way out and the only way was to fight to the death. .
Wang Shouren chose to rest before arriving at Weininghai, and also planned not to make any further adjustments before the war started.
In other words, after eating and resting here, the march will be directly to the Weining Sea raid.
Victory or defeat depends on this.
"You are not allowed to bury the stove, and you all eat the dry food on hand." Wang Shouren said, "After you have eaten and drank enough, there will be a battle tomorrow morning!"
At this time, there are still three hours before dawn, and the rest can only be one hour at most.
It was still very hard to walk the fifty miles with only two hours left.
After the soldiers ate dry food, there was no fire around them, and they were in a valley. The soldiers did not set up camp, so they just slept in the open air, giving them an hour to take a nap.
But when Wang Shouren inspected the military camp, he found that the soldiers slept very little.
"Why don't you rest? Close your eyes!"
Wang Shouren was still urging these people for fear that they would lack energy.
Ma Yi was patrolling outside. General Guan Jing said: "Master Wang, now that the soldiers know that there will be a battle in the early morning, they can't sleep even if they want to! It would be better if they can stay on guard and wait for the day. After all, they will have to march in a hurry. Some are also afraid of falling asleep. I can’t get up.”
When Wang Shouren heard Guan Jing's words, he couldn't say anything else.
…
…
An hour passed quickly.
The surprise attack of three thousand cavalry continued to set off.
It was not yet dawn, and the fifty miles had not been walked, when a sentinel reported from ahead: "I found...over the top of the mountain...there are camps everywhere...many."
Wang Shouren immediately ordered the three armies to stop advancing and start forming formations.
At the same time, he also took advantage of the night to climb to the heights of a hilly area, looked through the binoculars, and shook his head: "It seems that there are only three to four hundred tents. Even if you include the old, weak, women and children, there may not be more than a thousand people."
Ma Yi heard this and said, "Master Wang, isn't this enough?"
Wang Shouren thought about it and thought it was enough.
When Wang Yue made a surprise attack on Weininghai, he only captured more than 170 men, women, and children alive, beheaded 437 people, and captured 6,000 horses, camels, cattle, and sheep. He was already known as an unparalleled general.
There are so many tents and so many cattle, sheep and livestock in front of us. Isn’t it enough to rob?
"Prepare for war!"
Following Wang Shouren's order, the entire army finally became excited.
The three days and four nights of rapid march seemed to be paying off at this moment.
…
…
Because the Ming army was located on higher ground, and the tribal camps below were in the lower lakes and lakes. The lakes didn't look big, and they were surrounded by camps.
In the darkness, the other party seemed completely unaware of the arrival of the Ming army, so Wang Shouren did not intend to use the artillery he brought.
The range of artillery is only about one mile, and it takes four or five miles to charge down from the top of the mountain. It is better to charge directly with cavalry.
"Leave three hundred men and horses to guard the baggage and the remaining firearms! Prepare your sabers and charge!"
In order to maximize the advantage of the Ming Dynasty's cavalry raid, and to prevent the opponent from forming a formation to resist, Wang Shouren directly formed two long snake formations with two thousand soldiers and horses.
Then seven hundred soldiers and horses were sent around the enemy's rear to complete the cover-up.
With the process he laid out.
The first line of cavalry, a thousand men, charged into the camp in a single formation. They first fired a firearm, and then used bows and arrows to ignite kerosene to burn the opponent's camp and tents, causing chaos and making it difficult for the opponent to form a formation.
Then a fight began in the formation.
The second line of cavalry was at the rear, about a cup of tea away, and rushed in.
In this way, before dawn, the grassland tribes could not tell how many waves of Ming troops there were, nor how many men and horses were coming in later. They could only retreat hastily under the chaos. At this time, the seven hundred cavalry ambushing in the rear were Strangulation can be completed.
"Do your best...no one can escape!"
Wang Shouren knew very well that they were in the hinterland of the grassland, and this could only be a camp of the grassland tribe.
I don’t know exactly how many people there are on the other side or whether there are reinforcements around.
What it can do is kill with one hit.
…
…
Originally, Wang Shouren wanted to wait until the formation was completed before making a surprise attack.
However, as the patrolling sentries of the other party discovered the presence of the Ming army and showed signs of riding their horses to report back, Wang Shouren had to issue an order to send troops in advance.
As the deputy commander-in-chief, Ma Yi is also the highest-ranking military commander of this group of troops, leading the troops to fight on the front line.
Wang Shouren personally rode on horseback and rushed to the second line.
In the past few years, Wang Shouren had been practicing bow and horse riding and archery for a long time, and it was also effective at this time.
In the first round of the Ming Dynasty's offensive, a thousand cavalry rushed in quickly. When they entered the grassland tribe's camp, most of the people in the tribe had just ran out of the camp.
With the sound of "bang bang bang" fire guns, many tribesmen fell to the ground one after another, including men, women, old and young.
As the fire broke out in the camp, Ming's first round of massacre achieved good results. The number of men and horses stationed in the camp was obviously insufficient, let alone formation, and there was very little resistance even if it was sporadic.
In the chaos, men, women, old and young could only flee westward in a hurry. However, the grassland tribesmen, both men and women, old and young, could ride horses, and their reaction when encountering such an attack on the camp was relatively quick.
But then, the second group of troops led by Wang Shouren also arrived.
The men and horses on the opposite mountain completed the encirclement of the tribal camp next to the valley and lake...
…
…
The war progressed very smoothly.
After everything was over, there was still no sign of dawn.
Regardless of counting the war gains, Wang Shouren hurriedly sent people to put out the fire in the camp. This was to prevent the burning tents from forming beacon smoke after dawn and being discovered by distant tribal camps.
"Major General, more than 200 people were arrested."
When Wang Shouren saw Ma Yi again, Ma Yi's face showed great excitement, "Beheading more than 140 people! It seems that... no one who escaped has been found yet."
A camp of three hundred people...
Three thousand soldiers and horses were spent, and so many tactics were deployed...
Wang Shouren also felt that he might have taken it too seriously.
He couldn't help but look disappointed.
"How many animals are there?" Cao Shun ran over from the rear army, where he was looking at the baggage. He wanted to know the outcome of the battle.
This involves his vital interests.
Ma Yi said: "At least two thousand. Are they being driven back to the Ming Dynasty together?"
"Torture!" Wang Shouren ordered immediately.
"Why?" Cao Shun looked puzzled, "Mr. Wang, if you think those people are a burden, just kill them. It's the same as taking the heads back. It doesn't matter whether you kill the prisoners or not. Even if someone wants to pursue you, our family will I'll protect you. But torture... is really not necessary."
Wang Shouren pointed to a small lake in front of him and said, "You don't think this is Weining Haizi, do you?"
One question made everyone present fall silent.
Ma Yi understood what was happening immediately, and immediately entered the prisoner team and captured two young and strong men. Next to them seemed to be their family members.
The torture began.
But in fact, without too much questioning, this tribe is obviously not a big tribe. In this battle, except for the young and middle-aged men who went out to fight, they are likely to be wiped out. Therefore, in order to preserve their strength, they can only assess the situation and follow Ming Dynasty Hun, quickly tell them what they know.
After getting the results, Ma Yi came over to report: "They said that thirty miles northwest of here is Weining Haizi, and we went astray. There... there are probably a large number of camp and grassland herdsmen, and countless others. They did not dare to go over because there were heavy soldiers there. They also said that when they went out to fight, the water and grass of each tribe on the right wing were divided."
"ah?"
After Cao Shun heard this, his whole body was trembling.
Wang Shouren changed his previous disappointed attitude and said with excitement: "Let the soldiers rest and go northwest!"
Cao Shun scolded: "Mr. Wang, when will it be your turn to take charge here? You are just a sixth-grade head of the military department! Our family said... we will withdraw like this! If we go again... we will almost lose our lives! No!" Did you hear that? Even if Huo Si sent troops to the west, he still left a large number of troops stationed in Weining Haizi. We only have three thousand soldiers and horses. What can we do if we go there? It’s not enough to fill the teeth of the Tatars!"
Wang Shouren asked back: "Eunuch Cao, if we go south like this, how long do you think it will be before these Tatars can detect our whereabouts and catch up with us based on the connections between them?"
"this……"
Cao Shun immediately realized that the situation seemed a bit wrong, but he immediately thought of something and said, "Didn't Zhang Zhitai already say that his troops will meet us at Mao'erzhuang, and at worst, they will kill all these Tatars?" , just take your head back!"
"impossible!"
Wang Shouren said with a very firm tone, "In my estimation, no matter how fast it is, it will take Zhang Zhitai three days to arrive at Mao'erzhuang. If we go south like this, not only will there be no reinforcements, but the Manchu troops around Maoerzhuang will also The flag soldiers and horses will also form a pincer attack on us from the front and back!"
"Then go to Daqingshan and go back where you came from! We won't go there if you are going to die!"
Cao Shun finally figured it out.
You have won everything, and you have won beautifully, and you have almost no losses. Why don't you just leave quickly, and you still want to do something big?
Wang Shouren looked at Sun Shangqi, who immediately understood.
Sun Shangqi drew out his Xiuchundao and said sternly: "Anyone who escapes from battle will be punished with death!"
"You...you dare to kill our family?" Cao Shun also became angry.
Who gets used to your faults? You, Sun Shangqi, still want to rebel?
Wang Shouren also had to move Zhang Zhou out at this time. He said: "This is Zhang Zhitai's person, and he was sent to Zhang Zhitai by your Majesty. Eunuch Cao, to put it bluntly, it is best not to stir up military morale at this time." Uneasy. Sometimes for the sake of military morale, necessary flag sacrifice is feasible."
When Cao Shun heard this, he knew that these people were serious about coming.
"Commander Ma, do you think so too?" At the critical moment, Cao Shun could only focus on Ma Yi.
You were the chief soldier of the Xuanfu before, and our family was the guarding eunuch. You should listen to our family, right?
Ma Yi said: "I am humble and obey Zhang Zhitai's instructions."
At this time, Ma Yi was not stupid. With retreating troops, it would be easy for them to fall into a tight siege and seek death. If they continued to advance, they would look brave. Besides, as a general, he also felt that with such a surprise attack, the Tatars would not even have any defenses and would have a great chance of winning.
Even if it is rumored that Fire Sieve will leave a large number of troops behind, how heavy can it be?
This small tribe has a total of three to four hundred people left behind. Naturally, it seems that Weining Haizi has a heavy army, but they are the expeditionary force of the Ming Dynasty.
Regardless of whether they have heavy troops or not, isn't their goal to attack Weininghai by surprise?
After returning home, he said that he was scared away before even reaching Weininghai... No matter how great his achievements were, they would be greatly discounted.
Wang Shouren took out his command flag, which he usually used for artillery drills, and shouted: "Send the order to the three armies. No cattle, sheep or livestock will be left behind. The Tatars will be tied to horses and escorted to the north. In an hour, they will rush to the north shore of Weining Sea!"
(End of chapter)
