On the Tushan Mountain, more than two thousand soldiers under Wang Shouren were extremely excited, but they were also arranging their troops and horses to prepare to join the main force of the Ming Dynasty.
But for the more than 10,000 Mongoljin prisoners who were captured, the scene in front of them was almost a death sentence. Even if they did not die, they would be placed by the Ming Dynasty in the inland areas to farm and become military subordinates. As slaves, the days of grazing on grasslands with wind-blown grass and cattle and sheep seem to be gone forever.
And the men in their family may never see them again in their lifetime.
The person outside may be their husband, their son, or their father...
"Boom boom boom!"
After the Ming army from the bottom of the mountain came over, they fired cannons in the distance. The sound of the cannons needed to spread far to reach them.
Even Wang Shouren was puzzled by this move.
It's clear that all the cavalrymen of Mengoljin's tribe have fled. Where are they going to fire the artillery?
Ma Yi rode his horse to Wang Shouren and asked for instructions: "Major General Wang, the troops and horses have been prepared and can go to join Zhang Zhitai's Chinese army at any time."
Wang Shouren said: "How can we be sure that they are Zhang Zhitai's men? Stay where you are and don't move! Wait for the envoy from the mountain to come!"
"this……"
Ma Yi and other generals could not understand.
The Ming Dynasty's army has obviously arrived, and Meng Guoljin's troops have retreated. Why is the head of the Ministry of War still so cautious? After winning two battles, did he feel lost? Is this because they are afraid that the Tatars will disguise themselves as Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers?
…
…
The soldiers of the expeditionary force on the mountain were all waiting. After the Ming army was stationed at the foot of the mountain, a group of people came up the mountain first. The leader was Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zhang Heling.
"Oh, it's quite lively."
When Zhang Heling came, he saw cattle and sheep everywhere on the mountain. The feeling was no different from when Grandma Liu entered the Grand View Garden. He immediately felt that the scenery all over the mountains and fields was very fresh, and his expression did not look like he was here for a fight.
When Wang Shouren saw it was Zhang Heling, he personally went out to greet him.
After a brief salute, Wang Shouren immediately asked where Zhang Zhou was.
"Mr. Zhang is at the bottom of the mountain. You didn't go to greet him, but you were very negligent. However, he didn't bother to argue with you. He asked me to come up and inform you to rectify the troops and horses, pass Mao'erzhuang, and enter Datong Pass!"
Zhang Heling smiled.
When he saw groups of prisoners tied to carriages, he felt even more amused.
Wang Shouren said: "Why would you fire cannons in the distance?"
"Go and ask Mr. Zhang himself. Let's go, let's go!"
Wang Shouren nodded and then called Ma Yi, Guan Jing and others to come over and organize people to drive the prisoners and livestock down the mountain.
…
…
Daming's camp at the foot of the mountain was only a temporary station, but it was not an offensive formation. It was meant to be defensive.
Wang Shouren led 200 people from the front army to the camp at the foot of the mountain. When he saw Zhang Zhou was already under his horse, he greeted him from afar with a soft smile on his face.
"Zhang Zhitai!"
Everyone got off their horses and Guan Jing, Sun Shangqi and others who came with Wang Shouren quickly saluted Zhang Zhou.
If Wang Shouren had won their respect before, then Zhang Zhou had always been deeply respected by them. Just like Wang Shouren judged heroes by their military merits, Zhang Zhou had more military merits than Wang Shouren.
Moreover, the battle in front of them was all planned by Zhang Zhou. Even if Zhang Zhou did not personally participate, it was still up to Zhang Zhou to bring reinforcements at the critical moment to force Menggol Jin's troops to retreat.
Wang Shouren stepped forward first, and then handed over his hand: "I have met Zhang Zhitai."
"You're welcome, you're welcome." Zhang Zhou said with a smile on his face, "Congratulations, Bo'an, for showing the Ming Dynasty's majesty in two battles on the grassland, the champion is no more than that!"
"Don't dare!"
Wang Shouren knew exactly how much he weighed.
He said: "Without Zhang Zetai's powerful gunpowder, artillery, and flint muskets, the results of the previous two battles would have been difficult to determine. All of this was due to Zhang Zetai's strategic planning."
Wang Shouren also knew this.
The victory was all due to the gunpowder and firearms given by Zhang Zhou. He just had to temporarily dispatch the command to make these gunpowder and firearms effective. And how could his subordinates compete with the leader for credit?
Zhang Zhou smiled and shook his head: "Without Bo'an's command, the Ming Dynasty's second surprise attack on Weininghai would not have been possible. But now is not the time to discuss merits, so quickly pack up your belongings and go south back to Datong Town."
Guan Jing came over and clasped his fists and said: "Zhang Zhitai, the bandits have just withdrawn within an hour, why not transfer a few thousand cavalry to the general, who is willing to pursue them."
"Haha. You really showed your style. Are the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty so confident in the plain grassland? General Xiaoguan, don't be too anxious. This is the territory of the grassland tribe. You see, I only brought 7,000 men and horses, but I still ride , infantry and infantry are mixed, so many artillery pieces have been transported all the way here with great difficulty, if the Fire Sieve Headquarters comes to kill them, it will not be easy to deal with them."
Zhang Zhou's words made it seem like he didn't have much ability, and he didn't dare to compete head-on with Huo Si.
This is obviously different from the expectations of Guan Jing and other expeditionary force officers.
what's going on?
You are so discerning that the director of the Ministry of War, who was directly selected from among the new scholars, is so awesome. You brought more soldiers and horses here, but they are just here to cover our retreat?
This doesn't make sense.
Zhang Zhou faced the confusion in the eyes of Guan Jing and others and sighed: "Speaking of which, I have prepared almost all the mighty heavenly gunpowder that can be used in the Xuanfu for your troops and horses for the surprise attack on Weininghai. There aren't many left. Why do you think I fired at them just now? Actually, I didn't want to show my cowardice. We don't have many artillery shells. I came to the grassland to practice artillery on the emperor's order. To put it bluntly, I used artillery to hit rabbits."
"Fighting outside Xuanfu is also fighting, and fighting in Maoerzhuang is also fighting. It does not violate His Majesty's wishes. It's just that while hunting rabbits, with the help of Wang Zhongcheng, the grassland has achieved some results. Let's take the results back quickly. , why are you still stalling here?"
This time even Wang Shouren was surprised by Zhang Zhou's modesty.
But then he also noticed the change in Zhang Zhou's address to him. He just assumed that Zhang Zhou was wrong and did not refute anything.
Zhang Zhou said in front of everyone present: "The king has made great contributions to this battle. After I return, I will recommend your majesty to make the king the censor of Qiandu and patrol a town in the northwest."
"this……"
These words made Wang Shouren a little embarrassed.
Although Zhang Zhou didn't say it explicitly, even the dullest people present could imagine that Zhang Zhou probably asked Wang Shouren to patrol Datong or Xuanfu as the censor of Qiandu, and it was highly possible that he would be the governor of Xuanfu... ...After all, Ma Zhongxi himself resigned, so it was perfectly reasonable to let Wang Shouren, who had achieved military exploits, replace Ma Zhongxi.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "But this is just my wishful thinking. After the merits are discussed and rewarded, today's meritorious officers will definitely be promoted by the imperial court. By then, I am afraid that if I intend to keep Wang Zhongcheng on my side, I may also He was recalled to the capital by His Majesty and bestowed with a title."
"What are you waiting for? Duke Baoguo, why don't you hurry up and coordinate with my soldiers on the Ming expedition to help them bring the spoils back to the Ming Dynasty?"
Zhu Hui smiled and said: "Yes!"
For Zhu Hui, although the expedition to Weininghai had little to do with him, according to the rules of rewards in the Ming Dynasty, even if he just led troops to Maoerzhuang, his contribution was not small.
Moreover, he is also the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu. His contribution in this battle may not be as much as that of many frontline soldiers.
He does not seek to be promoted to a higher title... there is no room for promotion, but the reputation he has gained from this battle alone is enough to make his Baoguo Gong lineage prosperous in the next ten or even decades. is the point.
…
…
After the expeditionary force reunited with Zhang Zhou's main force, they immediately set off southward without even taking a break, retreating towards Yanghekou around Fangshan Mountain, a border gate outside Datong Town.
After a night's march, the soldiers and horses began to station and rest.
This night was Wang Shouren's first long rest after entering the grassland. He sat in a carriage and slept all night amid the bumps.
With Zhang Zhou here, he seemed to finally not have to worry about strategic matters and could rest peacefully.
"Are you okay?"
When Zhang Zhou saw Wang Shouren early the next morning, he saw that Wang Shouren looked groggy, and it was obvious that he had caught the cold.
This is a problem caused by fatigue.
Wang Shouren saw that all the generals in the temporary camp had left, and he seemed to have missed an important meeting, so he hurriedly said: "This subordinate has neglected his duty."
"It's okay. I didn't let them bother you. Don't worry, I'm not trying to take credit from you." Zhang Zhou smiled.
"I don't dare to speculate like this." Wang Shouren felt ashamed.
Zhang Zhou now not only sympathizes with his hard work, but also sympathizes with his situation.
If he used the two battles on the grassland to win the respect of the soldiers, he also experienced the new gunpowder and artillery brought by Zhang Zhou through these two battles. In response to the changes in the battlefield pattern, he had to put away the previous unique characteristics of the officials' children. His arrogance made him look at Zhang Zhou from the perspective of Ming people or military generals again.
He also seemed to understand why everyone in the army respected Zhang Zhou so much, and why the emperor trusted Zhang Zhou so much.
At this time, he also felt that his father and his father's colleagues seemed to have a paranoid prejudice against Zhang Zhou. Now he believed that this prejudice was undesirable.
Zhang Zhou said: "It's good that you didn't take the initiative to go down the mountain yesterday. If soldiers and horses from Datong Town come over, it's hard to say what the result will be."
Wang Shouren originally wanted to explain to Zhang Zhou that he did not deliberately neglect Zhang Zhou yesterday. When he saw the Ming Dynasty's soldiers and horses, he used his binoculars to confirm that they were not Di Yi's disguise, so he should hurry down the mountain without wasting time.
But the problem he was thinking about was that there might also be cases of power grabbing within Ming Dynasty.
More than 10,000 prisoners, as well as nearly 100,000 cattle, sheep and livestock, etc., would make a person jealous. The soldiers and horses in each town on the nine sides are doing their own thing. If the soldiers and horses in Datong Town insist on giving them the prisoners and livestock, What should we do if we just let them pass through the pass near Datong?
If things go wrong, for this military achievement, the soldiers and horses of the two towns of Ming Dynasty will fight against each other in Maoerzhuang.
Obviously, Zhang Zhou, like him, understood the urinary nature of the Ming Dynasty's frontier troops.
Wang Shouren said: "Thanks to Zhang Zhitai's timely arrival, if it had been delayed for a few more hours, the result might have been very different."
Zhang Zhou sighed: "I can only say that coming from Xuan Mansion, even walking along the border is not smooth. I should have arrived a day early, but after all, unlike you, one man and two horses, the whole army can march to such a hurry. I don’t expect anything more.”
"I don't know why in Datong Town..."
Wang Shouren asked half of the question but did not finish it.
What he actually wanted to ask was that the border gate of Datong Town is only more than a hundred miles away from Maoerzhuang. Even if we set out from Datong Town, it is only more than 200 miles away from Maoerzhuang. Why has Datong never been seen? Reinforcements for the town?
Didn’t you say that you have already given the order to Datong Governor Hong Han and that he should have set off long ago?
"Haha, the Ming Dynasty's frontier army has always adhered to the principle of doing less than doing more, and no fault is merit. Even if he is willing to send troops, the daily march will not exceed ten miles, and will they go to the front line of Mao'erzhuang? Getting close is still unknown.”
What Zhang Zhou meant.
When Hong Han or the garrison in Datong Town learned that there were soldiers and horses from the front banner of the Mengoljin tribe in Maoerzhuang, how could they concentrate on rushing to help?
Meng Guoljin's troops in Mao'erzhuang were not just a pretense. They had deployed more than 5,000 troops to prepare for the Ming Dynasty's northward march. They were also sure that these 5,000 troops could intimidate the garrison in Datong Town... The effect was indeed very obvious. As expected, the soldiers and horses of Datong Town did not dare to rush northward.
It was also because the generals in Datong Town simply did not believe that Zhang Zhou's plan to surprise Weininghai would achieve any results, so they did not see any benefit in fighting Di Yi in Mao'erzhuang.
Even if we defeat Maoerzhuang and the entire expeditionary force that went to attack Weininghai is completely wiped out, wouldn't we feel lonely? Who will be responsible for our deaths and injuries? If the army is defeated, who is responsible?
When Wang Shouren heard Zhang Zhou's words, he felt a sense of anger in his heart, probably because he resented the failure of the soldiers in the border towns of the Ming Dynasty to live up to expectations.
Zhang Zhou said: "The towns on the nine sides of the Ming Dynasty need reform, but this kind of reform cannot be completed overnight. Only when the soldiers have confidence and know that they can win the battle can they dare to fight. Regardless of the bravery of the cavalry of the tribes in the grasslands, as long as there are more After defeating them several times, look at it now... If they had tens of thousands of troops before, would they retreat when they encounter our tens of thousands of troops? This is a change!"
Wang Shouren thought for a while and couldn't help but nodded.
Zhang Zhou's seven thousand troops came over, of which there were only three or four thousand cavalry, and there were three or four thousand infantry left, dragging artillery and so on, and there were not enough artillery shells.
Even if Wang Shouren's expeditionary force were to be included in the decisive battle with the seven or eight thousand remaining cavalry assembled by Meng Guoljin's tribe in Mao'erzhuang, the outcome would still be unknown.
But now it's just different from before.
Zhang Zhou came and fired a few cannons at the open space. Meng Guolejin's seven or eight thousand soldiers and horses ran away in despair.
The change in battlefield confidence comes from changes in the battle situation, or changes in offense and defense, victory or defeat.
Wang Shouren talked to Zhang Zhou about the surprise attack on Weininghai by him and the expeditionary force. Zhang Zhou listened carefully to his story.
Wang Shouren lamented: "All this is due to the new firearms and gunpowder brought by Zhang Zhitai."
"Brother Bo'an, if you don't mind, you can just call me Bingkuan from now on. We are of the same age and work together, and you are several years older than me. There is no need to be so outspoken." Zhang Zhou smiled, "We have gone through this battle together. , there will be many opportunities for cooperation in the northwest in the future. Even if I return to the DPRK in the future, and you still stay in the northwest, don’t you need me to help you plan your affairs in the DPRK and help you make more requests in front of His Majesty?"
"this……"
Wang Shouren was a little defeated by Zhang Zhou's straightforwardness.
But what Zhang Zhou is saying now is the real truth.
After experiencing this battle, Wang Shouren certainly felt that he was confident that he could establish a career in the northwest and realize his ambitions. If he was just allowed to return to the capital... he would feel that it was the imperial court's suppression of him, or that It was Xun Chen or Zhang Zhou who was dissatisfied with his achievements.
When Zhang Zhou said this, he clearly wanted to keep him in the northwest.
If he were in the northwest and faced with so many troubles in the officialdom and the military, not everyone would be as obedient to him as the soldiers of the expeditionary force.
After all, Wang Weining established his reputation by winning four or five battles. Those were the battles that Wang Weining organized his own troops and strategies to achieve, and he relied more on Zhang Zhou's ingenuity and weapons.
He needed Zhang Zhou. In addition to relying on Zhang Zhou's reputation, he also needed Zhang Zhou's connections in front of the emperor.
"Haha, don't mind, Bo'an." Zhang Zhou smiled.
"Won't."
Wang Shouren also smiled.
The estrangement between the two seems to have disappeared.
Just as he was talking, a message came from the door: "Report... Mr. Tang is asking for an audience."
"Let him in."
Zhang Zhou asked Tang Yin to enter the camp.
Tang Yin had been in charge of logistics matters before. He didn't go to greet Wang Shouren yesterday. When he saw Wang Shouren again today, he suddenly felt like "things have changed in the world."
Before the expedition, you were in charge and I was in charge. After just a few days, I was still in charge and you were already another famous "Wang Weining" of the Ming Dynasty and a famous general of the Ming Dynasty.
Wasn't it just that he lacked the courage to make a surprise attack on Weininghai?
Why didn't I go then...
Wang Shouren did not shy away from Tang Yin. He asked: "Zhang Zhitai, we are going to Yanghekou this time. What should we do if the officers guarding the pass deliberately create difficulties?"
"Haha." Zhang Zhou said, "I am the commander-in-chief of Xuanda, and you dare to block my entry? Whoever stops me, I will blow up the city gate directly! The responsibility is not on me! Since I have to lead the troops , naturally you have to have some courage. Bo'an, you are so courageous in this battle, I think you will do the same, right?"
After Wang Shouren heard this, he felt extremely ashamed.
Blow up the city gates of the Ming Dynasty?
Or a fratricidal explosion?
Wang Weining has this courage, and you, Zhang Banxian, also have this courage, but I dare not compare with you.
Zhang Zhou said to Tang Yin who was listening to the excitement: "What are you doing? Go and tell the soldiers outside to rest until noon and then continue to set off. You must not stop for the next two days. If there are cattle, sheep and herdsmen who are difficult to drive away on the way, Kill! You must enter the customs within two days, and you must arrive before nightfall the day after tomorrow."
"yes."
Tang Yin hurried out to deliver the order.
The chagrin in my heart has now become a messenger.
Comparing people to each other... is infuriating.
Zhang Zhou took out a drafted battle report and handed it to Wang Shouren and said, "I have written a memorial for the report. Please read it in detail."
"Should we wait until we return to the border first?" Wang Shouren asked.
Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "It's no big deal. If Huosi really comes after you in the next two days, you will bring the hostages in and I will meet with him. Haha, as long as I'm here, I'll see if his fire like Huosi can still burn. Fire sieve? I'll let him be a colander!"
(End of chapter)
