Ningxia.
Zhu Feng led his troops withdrew to the Ningxia Town garrison. After entering the city, he immediately went to see Yang Yiqing. After Zhu Feng led his troops out of the city, Zhu Feng had no chance to see Yang Yiqing again. The expected reinforcements did not come, and Yang Yiqing stayed behind all the time. Inside the acropolis.
"Yang Zhongcheng."
Zhu Feng was still dissatisfied.
This month, he was tortured a lot, not only losing troops and generals, but also damaging his reputation in the army. More importantly, he spent the whole day in fear.
We agreed that we would face powerful enemies together and send troops together according to orders, but in the end I was the only one to go? What about playing monkey?
Yang Yiqing said: "In the past two days, there have been no signs of Tatar activity in Ningxia's routes. The Tatars have withdrawn. Anbianhou's blocking should be the first success."
Zhu Feng said with a frustrated look on his face: "Yang Zhongcheng, please stop making fun of me. I really found out that we are not as good as the Tatars in this battle. As soon as the Tatars come, we will retreat and there is no way to fight. Moreover, the Tatars are now smarter. There was never a frontal attack, the troops were very scattered, and they were dedicated to capturing our troops in the rear. We only captured one Tatar on the road... and not a single head was brought back."
This statement is almost as straightforward as the truth.
After hearing this, Yang Yiqing couldn't help but have a worried look on his eyebrows.
He was also wondering, what is this? Say you have merit, but then you degrade yourself first? The Tatars evacuated. I won’t give you the credit. Could it be that Qin Hong of the Trilateral General System made good arrangements?
We always have to report to the court, either to ask for credit or to ask for sin. Don’t you know this?
"If you say you are, you are." Yang Yiqing looked grim.
Yang Yiqing didn't like arguing with others when it came to running the army, and with his seriousness, he didn't like Zhu Feng's carefree appearance.
Just do whatever you are told. How can you, a martial artist leading troops, come up with so much nonsense? Don’t you know that we traditional civil servants look down on you?
Zhu Feng said: "Yang Zhongcheng, please forgive me for saying something unpleasant..."
Yang Yiqing was also annoyed.
You know it's not pleasant to hear, but you still tell me? Don't you know what it means to obey orders?
Before Yang Yiqing could say anything to reprimand, Zhu Feng was already talking, "It's very strange for the Tatars to withdraw this time, or something big happened in the rear. From what I can see, they have to retreat."
Yang Yiqing frowned and said: "You mean, there is civil strife in the Tatar rear?"
Zhu Feng shook his head: "I want to say, has His Majesty secretly sent Lai Guogong and other famous figures to lead troops to attack his rear, and they have to retreat?"
Regarding this matter, Zhu Feng did not know any information in advance. He said this purely out of his "admiration" for Zhang Zhou.
I, Zhu Zhijie, know very well that the Tatars were not repulsed by me, let alone intimidated by me. My people in Ningxia Town are already the most elite. If the Tatars' retreat has nothing to do with me... they can be so awesome. The only one who can retreat with the Tatars is my brother Zhang, who is "omnipotent in heaven and on earth".
Only I understand that my brother Zhang will definitely come to my rescue when I am in danger.
Yang Yiqing said with a grim expression: "Currently, there is no sign that the Ming Dynasty has sent troops. People from all walks of life, including Yansui, Datong, Pianguan, etc., have not heard any news that troops are approaching the grassland."
The lag in news also made Yang Yiqing unable to figure out the key point of the problem.
Even if Yang Yiqing had a military strategy, could he have thought that it was actually Wang Shouren of northern Liaoning who led a surprise attack on the Tatar rear with 6,000 troops and forced Batu Meng to lead troops to return for reinforcements? What kind of brain does it take to think of this level?
Not to mention that Yang Yiqing didn't believe it, no one in Da Ming could believe that someone would dare to play this kind of strategy, otherwise Ma Wensheng wouldn't have jumped out and accused Zhang Zhou of trying to take advantage every time... And he didn't have ordinary strength. The Tatars stationed at the rear Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses are enough to handle it, and there is no need for Batu Munch to personally return the troops.
Without considering this layer, there seems to be only one explanation...
That is, Batu Munch had already finished looting, and felt that it was unnecessary to continue fighting, so he withdrew his troops.
Therefore, Yang Yiqing planned to attribute the credit to Zhu Feng from the beginning, saying that it was Zhu Feng's meritorious service in fending off the enemy and forcing the Tatars to withdraw their troops... In this way, when reporting to the court, it sounded good, and the credit seemed to go to Zhu Feng. But if he has merit, he, the governor, will also be guilty. Even if he is guilty later, Yang Yiqing can try his best to put the blame on Zhu Feng.
The usual method of civil servants.
Everyone likes to take credit, and no one likes to take the blame.
Zhu Feng asked: "Then how to proceed with this battle? I... I want to apologize. This battle has shown that I am not capable of presiding over the military affairs of one side. I want to go back and gain more experience."
Go back to practice?
Yang Yiqing wanted to say, your "pleasure" is very good. You are deliberately trying to embarrass me, right?
I said I wanted to express my merits to you, but you want to apologize. Do you want the entire Ningxia official system to take the blame with you?
"Please be careful, Marquis Anbian." It was not easy for Yang Yiqing to reason with Zhu Feng. After all, Zhu Feng was deeply favored by the emperor. Especially after Zhu Feng asked for forgiveness, Zhu Feng did nothing, leaving him, Yang Yiqing, and the generals below to suffer.
Yang Yiqing originally wanted to use the power of the governor to suppress Zhu Feng, but he never thought that Zhu Feng's words of "please apologize" would make Yang Yiqing very passive. Yang Yiqing originally wanted to suppress Zhu Feng and take the initiative, but now But it seems that... he is being led by Zhu Feng.
"I can postpone the performance for you for two days until the latest news about the Tatars' movements comes back. Before that, you can't do it on your own."
Yang Yiqing was trying to prevent Zhu Feng from skipping him and reporting directly to the governor's office, the Ministry of War, or the emperor.
He knew that Zhu Feng had this authority.
"Yeah." Zhu Feng seemed to be fine.
From the beginning, he didn't use "please apologize" to fight back against Yang Yiqing. He sincerely felt that he was incompetent, so he didn't understand why Yang Yiqing suddenly seemed "kind" to him.
…
…
Zhu Feng had been busy for more than twenty days and went back to rest first.
Yang Yiqing called over Song Lan, the guest of honour, and Qianhu Li Xuan, who had sent troops with Zhu Feng.
In front of Yang Yiqing, Li Xuan explained Zhu Feng's recent march in detail: "...Marquis Anbian is very hard, but he always can't make up his mind. Sometimes he says he will attack, but things change when things come. But When encountering the enemy, Marquis Anbian also tried his best, but the Tatar troops were too powerful and the powerful cannon could not be used, so..."
Although Li Xun was on Yang Yiqing's side from the bottom of his heart.
But he didn't dare to criticize Zhu Feng casually.
To be able to say that Zhu Feng was "indecisive" was his lowest evaluation of Zhu Feng.
But in fact, Zhu Feng's problem is not just indecision. Even Li Shuan has never seen Zhu Feng lead troops like this... As a coach, he is actually a faggot? He's like a headless fly, leading troops just for fun. Damn it if this kind of person isn't given a head coach.
"Okay, you go down." Yang Yiqing asked Li Xuan to leave first.
After Li Xun left, Yang Yiqing looked at Song Land and said, "What do you think?"
Song Lan said: "In my opinion, it is better to show merit for Anbian Hou as discussed before. This will not only give His Majesty something to say to the ministers of the DPRK, but also look good to each other."
This also reveals a chaos in the military and political affairs of the northwest.
It’s not that the northwest officers and generals have to “falsely report their military exploits” or deliberately whitewash the peace. It’s just that showing merit rather than taking responsibility is more in line with the expectations of the imperial court in order to be able to achieve “Hello, I’m good, everyone is good”.
to be honest.
The emperor didn’t want to see failure, nor did the ministers, and the northwest army generals didn’t want to see it... Anyway, the mountains in the northwest are high and the emperor is far away. As long as the Tatars withdraw and they claim credit for it so that the people below don’t know about it, then that’s okay. Already?
If you encounter a defeat and do not report it, it means you are not defeated.
This thing is a black pot, why do you have to break the casserole and get to the bottom of it? Turn the black into white, and everyone in the court will agree, and then kill those who have doubts, and let the majority of the people know that singing and dancing will lead to peace.
Yang Yiqing said angrily: "Zhu Zhijie just came back and told me that he wanted to plead guilty."
"Excuse me?"
Song Lan almost wanted to say, what is he planning?
We will show you our merits. When you go back, you will not be a bear, but a hero.
Even if you don't accept our kindness, you still want to apologize, so where do you put us people?
Yang Yiqing said: "I asked him to go back and calm down first, postpone the report, and then talk to the supervisory censor later to see how this matter should be reported."
Song Lan looked unbelievable and said with a wry smile: "People who have backers in the court have different styles of doing things. Do you think he is reckless? Or do you think he is scheming?"
Yang Yiqing asked: "Do you also think that he may be deliberately putting pressure on us?"
"Otherwise?" Song Lan said, "If he is an Anbian Marquis, he can serve under the Marquis of Weining, Lai Guogong, and Wang Dehua of Pianguan successively, and he can also win the trust of His Majesty. Who can say that he is a brave but foolhardy person?" Will people believe it? But is he really brave? If he doesn’t even have a plan, what else can he do?"
Song Lan "overestimates" Zhu Ershao.
They thought Zhu Feng had deep meaning in what he did, but in fact Zhu Feng was just a mediocre person. If he was brave or scheming, it must not be him, Zhu Zhijie.
The life Zhu Feng pursues is just to be a dandy in the city of Nanjing. People who have no ambitions to speculate on the meaning of his actions are actually complicating simple problems.
Song Landao: "From this point of view, we must reach an agreement with him as soon as possible. Since he wants to exert pressure, he must have something to ask for. As long as he can calm down and calm down, Ying Ning, I'm afraid you will have to... give in."
"Um."
Although Yang Yiqing was reluctant, he still nodded.
I can't figure out what Zhu Feng's intentions are. I just feel that this guy is deliberately embarrassing us, so I'll go negotiate with this guy.
Let me ask you, kid, what do you need?
The worst thing is to satisfy you!
…
…
September 20, at noon.
Sixty miles northeast of Guanshan on the grassland, a battle is about to begin.
On the Tatar side, the Chahar tribe was the main force. There were six or seven thousand soldiers and horses lying on the top of a hillside in the direction of the Ming army's advance. There were more than ten thousand soldiers and horses chasing the Ming army behind.
It is equivalent to saying that the Tatars used nearly three times the number of troops and horses to block the Ming army's path forward before the Ming army advanced further west.
When the Tatars began to line up.
Wang Shouren immediately ordered that Guan Jing personally lead 3,000 soldiers and horses, in conjunction with the army's 500 artillery pieces, and 3,000 soldiers and horses, all armed with flint muskets, to launch a vigorous charge against the Tatar camp.
The pursuit of troops from behind and the attacks from both sides seemed to be of no importance to Wang Shouren.
"Only when the old, weak, women and children of the Tatars are in front of us, will the Tatars not avoid our artillery and muskets, and confront us head-on! Kill them! Kill the Tatars!"
"Exterminate the Tatars!"
The soldiers charged, with the attitude that we are here to destroy your entire clan.
Three thousand cavalry charged at the other side's about 7,000 cavalry who were waiting in formation and were still condescending. It can be said that the Ming soldiers had no fear at all.
Not as good at riding as you? Is your individual combat effectiveness inferior to yours? Not as experienced as you in combat?
None of that matters.
What matters is.
We have cannons and blunderbuss. As long as you dare to get close, you will be left with nothing to eat.
…
…
The soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty were advancing rapidly.
The Tatar side, however, is well prepared and has not launched an attack for a long time. It seems that they want to wait and wait for the enemy to stop...
But both sides of the battle actually knew that if the Tatars really waited for the Ming soldiers to kill them, they would basically lose completely.
The Ming Dynasty's firearms may not be accurate when hitting moving targets, but if they are used to hit dead targets, they are basically accurate every time.
However, it was obvious that the Tatars were well prepared. In the camps of both sides, the Tatars had prepared devices such as snagging ropes and traps to block the advance of the Ming cavalry. As a result, nearly a hundred of the Ming army's cavalry who were charging at the front were overturned. Get off the horse.
When the Ming Dynasty's attack momentum weakened, the Tatars were more than three miles away from the Ming Dynasty's vanguard, and they immediately launched a full-scale charge.
Seven thousand soldiers and horses were arranged in almost a long snake formation, arranged in two rows, forming a kind of large net, and rushed towards the Ming army.
This formation obviously gave up the iron cavalry group charge that the Tatars were good at.
Because the Tatars knew that the group charge was used as a living target for Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, they made the formation as loose as possible, allowing the Ming Dynasty's cannons to land within the coverage area and reduce the number of Tatar cavalry.
The rumble of the horses' hooves made the grassland tremble.
The Ming army immediately dismounted and began to set up artillery.
It's still the usual fireworks.
Even if the Tatars came from three directions, the Ming Dynasty's five hundred artillery pieces were enough to deal with the oncoming enemies from all directions.
Three miles, two miles, one mile...
When the Tatar cavalry quickly rushed into the range of the Ming Dynasty artillery, the flag fell with the order to fire the artillery.
"Boom boom boom..."
Nearly three hundred of the five hundred guns fired in the first salvo.
There are still two hundred gates, and the enemy in front of them has not yet reached the shooting range.
Five hundred cannons, all equipped with yellow gunpowder, covered an area of more than ten meters in radius, and the absolute killing range was at least several meters away.
With such a large-scale salvo, the number of cavalrymen who fell on the Tatar side as the shells landed exceeded a thousand in one round.
But the Tatars seemed to know that it was useless to be afraid. There was no turning back when they opened their bows, and they could only charge forward with all their strength.
"Boom boom..."
The artillery was still firing sporadically, and reloading on the Ming side was also in progress. Because the light cannon was not a mother-and-child cannon, the loading was slightly more complicated than that of a mother-and-child cannon. However, the barrels of these small steel cannons were also relatively short. , after the new shells are loaded in, the second round of firing can be carried out in a short time, and the length of the fuse has also been adjusted.
In the artillery training regulated by Zhang Zhou, the light artillery must be able to fire a second shot after firing and before the Tatar cavalry approaches.
In other words, it is guaranteed that after the Tatars enter the shooting range, a cannon can be fired twice, and then they will enter the "hand-to-hand" process of about a hundred steps.
The "hand-to-hand encounter" mentioned by Zhang Zhou is not the intersection of cold weapons in the traditional sense, but within the absolute killing range of the Ming Dynasty's fire muskets. The flint muskets equipped by the Ming Dynasty are all double-shot... …
This way.
An artilleryman in the Ming Dynasty had to complete two artillery fires first, and then stand up and shoot out the blunderbuss in his hand twice.
This was also the situation that the Tatar cavalry had to face with two cannons and two muskets before rushing into the Ming camp.
…
…
The first salvo of artillery fire.
The number of fallen Tatar cavalry numbered in the thousands.
The effect of the second salvo was better because the Tatars were closer. As the two cannons were fired, the Tatars were no more than one or two hundred steps away from the Ming's forward position. With the cavalry charge, in fact, this section of the road was It only takes a breath to kill him.
The cannon soldiers on the Ming side, especially those who were not responsible for firing artillery, had already started firing when the Tatars were about 300 steps away. At this time, the distance between the two sides was about 200 meters.
The straight-line distance is two hundred meters, which is not within the range of the bow and arrow. The effective killing range of the bow and arrow is a hundred steps, which is about seventy meters. It takes forty or fifty meters to enter the armor-piercing and killing range. Seventy meters away It's just that it can be shot. After all, the materials of ancient bows and arrows are just that.
Of course it also depends on the shooter's strength.
Just like the Tatar archers, from arm strength to stability of mounted shooting, to shooting range and accuracy, they are much better than the Ming cavalry.
But it's a pity.
The Ming Dynasty no longer relies on bows and arrows to deal with them, but instead uses fire blunderbuss. The range can be extended to about 200 meters. It does not need to be determined by arm strength. There is no need to calculate a parabola in terms of accuracy. Just pick it up and shoot it directly.
The advantage immediately lies with me and not with him.
"Bang bang bang bang bang..."
The sound of artillery was mixed with the sound of gunfire.
Ming Dynasty did not need to dismount except the gunner, and the gunner immediately mounted his horse after firing two cannons and prepared to fire the blunderbuss...
On the Tatar side, men and horses fell in pieces.
As for the Ming Dynasty, only the group of people who were tripped off their horses by the horse ropes have not yet returned to their horses.
Just before the two sides were about to enter a hand-to-hand battle, the two thousand Chinese troops led by Wang Shouren also came up with reinforcements, and they came from the flanks. With the launch of firecrackers, they directly killed nearly two thousand Tatars on the right wing of the Ming Dynasty's front army. The cavalry was almost completely wiped out.
At the same time, of the more than 3,000 Tatar cavalry who charged directly in front of the Ming Dynasty, only about half were still charging, and only half of the 2,000 cavalry on the right wing were left. By this time, the Tatars had just arrived. The range of the Tartar archers.
Before entering into close combat, the Tatars had already lost more than half of their 7,000 troops, and the remaining effective combat troops were less than 3,000...
(End of chapter)
