A huge convoy moved on the grassland towards Baicheng.
The people in Tiger Flag have walked this road many times and are very familiar with it. Which places are suitable for staying, which places have water sources, and which places can stay overnight are all marked on the map.
No matter where the Tiger Flag convoy goes, specialized cartographers will mark the surrounding topography and landforms, and finally compile a complete map.
Now the map of the entire Monan Mongolia hangs in Liu Heng's signing room.
"Hurry up and hurry up. We won't reach the next water source in five days." Meng Qing shouted to the team around him.
He is the captain of the combat team of this convoy and the main person in charge of escorting the convoy this time.
Although it was not his first time walking on this road to Baicheng, nearly half of the soldiers he brought were recruits who had just completed training, and a quarter of the soldiers had only escorted convoys in the Ming Dynasty. , the last remaining quarter are the real veterans, and often travel with the convoy to and from the grassland and Lingqiu.
In addition to his military brigade, there is also a baggage team, the situation is similar to that of the military brigade.
Although there are many new recruits in the convoy, many of them have gradually adapted after walking on the grassland for so many days.
tread! Tread...tap!
The rapid sound of horse hoofbeats came, and soon a man and a horse appeared beside Meng Qing. He said in an urgent tone: "Captain Meng is not good. A large group of cavalry is coming from a distance. It looks like there are thousands of people. It is the rush." Came in our direction."
Hearing this, Meng Qing's expression suddenly changed.
The thousands of cavalry that immediately came to mind were Mongolian cavalry, because only the Mongols had the strength to appear in large groups of cavalry on this grassland.
Thinking of this, he shouted loudly: "Form up, form a formation, form a car formation immediately."
The ordering soldier climbed onto the cart, stood on it, took out two order flags, waved them in his hands and issued the flag message.
Semaphore is a means used within the Tiger Flag to convey messages.
Sometimes there are too many people in the team, and it is often difficult to convey the order to everyone at once, but with semaphores, more people can know what the order is at the first time.
Of course, semaphores can only carry out some simple communication and instructions, and cannot do anything too complicated.
Semaphores can handle simple commands like forming a formation, and can effectively convey the command to the entire team.
The convoy began to form a car formation at a different time.
Iron cannons were placed in front of them, and the gunners were busy around them.
There were many new recruits in the convoy, but after training, everyone, under the leadership of their respective captains and corps commanders, relied on the vehicle formation to prepare a good defense.
After the convoy took all defensive measures, the sound of horse hooves finally came from the distance.
Through the monocular in his hand, Meng Qing watched a black mass of cavalry running across the grassland in the distance, pulling out a long line, followed by the sound of horse hooves.
As the retreating Mongolian cavalry got closer and closer, Meng Qing mistakenly recognized the identity of this cavalry. It was indeed as he had guessed before. It was a Mongolian cavalry with a number of no less than two thousand.
After discovering this, his palms became sweaty.
Although he escorted convoys to and from the grasslands many times, most of the time he encountered only horse bandits, with a maximum number of no more than 200 people. However, the number of Mongolian cavalry in front of him was already ten times the largest number of horse bandits he had ever encountered.
The Mongolian cavalry was getting closer and closer. Many recruits in the car formation began to turn pale when they saw so many cavalry, and many of them had their legs trembling.
Fortunately, the corps commander and some veterans around them comforted them from time to time and helped them relax, so there was no chaos before fighting.
The Mongol army stopped a few miles away from the convoy.
"Captain Meng, it seems that this Mongolian cavalry is coming for us." Wu Xingping, the squadron leader of the baggage team, said in a low voice.
Meng Qing took a breath and said, "This battle is not going to be easy."
Facing no less than two thousand Mongolian cavalry, he had no confidence in winning the battle.
Wu Xingping on the side smiled and said: "This is not like you, Lao Meng, who is timid before fighting."
"Go away, even if you are afraid, I won't be afraid!" As he said that, Meng Qing swallowed subconsciously.
When Wu Xingping saw this, he smiled and did not expose him.
The two of them only had a single-lens telescope, and they took turns paying attention to the situation of the Mongolian cavalry on the opposite side through it.
Everyone knew about this situation now. This Mongolian cavalry was coming towards their convoy, and a battle was inevitable between the two sides.
On the side of the Mongolian cavalry, Batu, who was leading the team, said to Wo Lunkuo: "Captain, what happens next is up to you. As long as you capture this convoy, I can make the decision and allow you to pick out some of the goods in the convoy and take them away. Your personal stuff."
"Then I'll thank Taiji first." Wo Lunkuo thanked Batu.
At this time, neither of the two people paid much attention to the tiger-shaped flag convoy in front of them.
They brought two thousand riders, and facing a convoy without a city wall to rely on, they believed that they could capture the convoy with just one charge.
Although the convoy of the Tiger Character Banner has some prestige on the grassland, it is a little reputation spread by the villains of the Tiger Character Banner because they bully the horse bandits who are more numerous and beat the horse bandits than the few.
This time is different, they have two thousand cavalry.
Wo Lunkuo came to Azilan and said: "Taiji, your tribe suffered a lot at the Tiger Flag Dunbao before. This time, I will compensate you, and your tribe will be the vanguard." , take down the convoy in front of you."
"Don't worry! With the protection of the fortress wall, I can't do anything to them. Now they have fallen on the grassland, they are just lambs to be slaughtered. Captain, just wait for my good news!" Arslan said with excitement.
In his eyes, the Tiger Flag convoy ahead was just a piece of fat. As long as he led the people of his tribe to rush over, he could easily eliminate this convoy.
"Then I'll be waiting for your good news." Wo Lunkuo said with a smile.
Batu asked him to send troops, so he decided to send Arslan as compensation for his previous defeat on the Dahei River.
Arslan called to the warriors of his tribe and rushed out first.
Following him were the Mongolian cavalry from his tribe, numbering more than 200 people.
The charge of hundreds of cavalry on the grassland was also very loud, especially the cavalry in the charge. The sense of oppression brought by them would make many people suffocate.
"Artillery team, bombard the Mongolian cavalry that is rushing over." Meng Qing shouted.
The four-pounder gunner who had been prepared for a long time heard the order and fired the iron cannon beside him.
boom! boom! boom! boom!
Four cannons sounded, and four solid iron balls flew out, shooting at the Mongolian cavalry running on the opposite side.
