The dark moon kills people on a night, and the wind blows high and sets people on fire.
On the fifth day of September at the border gate in northern Shanxi, the wind is getting colder and the autumn dew is frosty.
Just a little while after the ugly moment, the door of Zhenqiang Fort suddenly opened, and a cavalry with men and horses in cages quietly poured out from the door. The soldiers of this cavalry were not wearing the red mandarin duck war robes common to the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers. Instead, they were all dressed in black cotton-padded clothes, covered with unpolished black iron-colored fine scale armor. The war horses under their crotches had already taken off the copper bells on their chests. Except that their hooves had not been bound for the time being, they were already looking like a cavalry night raid. standard attire.
Zhenqiang Fort is less than twenty miles away from Desheng Fort. It was originally within the scope of the Anda Chinese Army's horse inspection patrol. However, in the past few days, the Ming Army has figured out the enemy's horse inspection pattern every two hours. , now is the best time when the last round of exploration horses has already returned to camp and the next round of exploration horses has not yet set off.
The chief and deputy leaders of this cavalry seemed to be quite experienced. They were leading the formation at the front of the team. Their speed was neither too fast nor too slow, and they were always kept at the critical line where the horses would not be too strenuous. It was obvious that they were deliberately conserving their horsepower and would only move when they reached the predetermined position. Urge the horse to speed up and launch a surprise attack.
Under the thin light of the new moon, the faces of the two leaders were reflected, it was Ma Gui and Gao Jue. As for Gao Mo, although he was a member of the regiment, he was born in foot combat and his riding skills were average. Fighting on horseback was not his specialty, so he hid his clumsiness and did not attack this time.
Ma Gui and Gao Jue had no communication along the way. Fortunately, the journey was less than twenty miles, which did not take long for the cavalry. Not long after, they could already see a large number of felt tents appearing in front of them in the faint moonlight - —That is naturally where Anda’s camp is.
Since the Ming army rarely took the initiative to attack, and with the tens of thousands of Anda troops pressing down on the border, no Mongolian general thought that the Ming army dared to come out to fight. Therefore, the Chinese army in Anda only had ordinary night watch posts, and even Since it is almost the third autumn, it is the time when the climate in Monan is getting colder quickly. Even the night watch soldiers at the fixed sentry posts have warmed up by drinking. Most of them have fallen asleep in a daze. A few of them are more alert, although they still barely keep their eyes open. But he was already drowsy, and his eyesight was not as good as usual.
The night attack cavalry took a slight detour and finally stopped behind a slightly raised grass hill not far northeast of the Anda camp.
At this time, Ma Gui lowered his voice, waved his hands and shouted: "The soldiers will open the way in a moment, and the Jinghua Cavalry will follow and follow me and Deputy Gao Tuan directly to kill! But you must remember that this time In a surprise attack, we do not seek to kill many Tatars, nor do we seek to take away the enemy's head or right ear. When encountering the enemy guarding the camp, we first use three-eyed muskets, and then switch to waist knives. When we have the opportunity, we often throw fire at flammable objects. Fact! The other thing is, don’t get entangled with the enemy, remember to follow up with me and the deputy Gao Tuan, if we advance, we will advance together, and if we retreat, we will retreat together!"
Gao Jue waited for him to finish speaking, and then added to his cavalry: "Brothers, General Ma just said that merit is not judged by the head. The young master has already said before this departure that those who successfully attack and return to the camp will be rewarded collectively." Second-class merit! For those who succeeded in the sneak attack but unfortunately died, first-class merit collectively! As for the arrangements for the resettlement of the martyrs’ families, I don’t need to say more, you all know it! If there are sneaky people under such kindness, what punishment will be given to you? I also know in my heart that your family will not be able to repay that money in ten lifetimes!"
What Gao Jue said before was not bad, Ma Gui even felt moved when he heard it, and thought to himself: How to resettle the families of the martyrs? It sounds interesting. When I go back, I must ask about it when I have the opportunity.
But Gao Jue's threatening words at the end made Ma Gui a little surprised: Those who deserted or refused to fight would naturally be chopped with a knife. Why did Gao Jue mean that the Gao family's army was actually fined? Does fines work for this kind of thing? However, the whole family will not be finished for ten lifetimes? It sounds a bit harsh...
Of course, this was not the time to think about these things. Ma Gui quickly concentrated and ordered: "Everyone dismounts, wraps up the horses' hooves, and prepares to charge into camp!"
Two flowers bloom, one on each side. At this moment, there is almost no other sound in the Anda Chinese Army camp except for the occasional horse neighing, and the countless felt tents are also dark. It is obvious that everyone is asleep, but at this moment, there is a sudden sound in the Chinese Army's main tent. Candlelight was lit.
Of course I don't have the ability to predict the future. He didn't suddenly get up when he knew someone was stealing the camp, nor did he deliberately set up an ambush. The light in his tent was just because he was the oldest old man in the entire Chinese army camp, and many old people were... There is a characteristic... I can't sleep for a long time and wake up very early.
It just so happens that Anda is such a normal old man.
What's more, because he was unwilling to easily lose valuable combat power by fighting under the strong Fort Desheng, the army seemed a little idle. He himself went to bed relatively early at night. Although it was only three o'clock in the morning in later generations. About half an hour later, he was already awake and couldn't sleep anymore, so he simply got up and planned to take dozens of soldiers to Guanxia during the night to see if the Ming army was slacking off in their vigil. Although he refused to fight in vain, But if the Ming garrison slacked off during the night, he would not mind changing his mind. He would concentrate his elite troops on a surprise attack tomorrow night, break through Desheng Fort, capture the imperial envoy there, and come to talk to the Ming court about getting his grandson back. A deal.
However, just when Anda was fully dressed under the service of the female slave and was about to leave the tent, he suddenly felt something strange on the ground under his feet. As the king of the Monan Grassland for decades, Anda, although he is old, has extremely rich experience. His expression changed, he squatted down and pressed his hand on the ground. In just a few breaths, he suddenly stood up. Get up and shout loudly: "The enemy cavalry has stolen the camp, please beat the drums and blow the trumpets quickly!"
The dozen or so soldiers' tents around the Anda Khan tent were the first to react, and soon they all lit up their torches - they could not light the lamp casually at this time, they could only hold the torches in their hands to avoid being attacked by the candles. He had others take care of it, but he burned down the camp.
The melodious horns and the thrilling drums sounded at the same time, and countless Mongolian soldiers were awakened from their sleep. After a moment of dullness, they realized that they had heard correctly, and then they hurriedly put on their clothes and armor, holding sabers, bows and arrows and ran out.
But at this moment, it may be a little too late, or in other words, it is still a little slow.
Since there were many horses and even cattle and sheep accompanying the army that needed to be accommodated, the Mongolian army camp was seven or eight miles long and nearly three miles wide. Even though Anda Khan relied on his extraordinary experience, he did not even send people to check this routine operation. , he decisively ordered the drums and trumpets to be beaten, but after all, he could not inform every Mongolian soldier of the more precise situation at this time.
For example, let me answer the two major points that I can immediately judge just by pressing my hand on the ground: there are about a thousand enemy cavalry, and the attack direction is the northeast corner of the Mongolian army camp!
No matter how strong I am, I can't change the technological backwardness of the command system in this era. He can only walk out of his main account majestically and use his calmness to convey confidence to the people around him. So instead of shouting at the top of his lungs, he stood up from the main tent, held a torch in person, illuminated his figure and face, and then shouted: "This Khan's order is passed down, and each tribe must guard its own camp. Don’t go out to rescue at will!”
Then he said to a tall Mongolian general who came in a hurry: "Qataiji! My son, quickly send all the guards of Ben Khan to the northeast of the camp to resist the enemy. They must be driven out as soon as possible. Let it hit the Northeast Horse Circle!"
Qataiji is indeed the best right-wing Mongolian master who is strong enough for Anda to adopt him as his adopted son. He doesn't need Anda to explain at all. He has already used the same method to know that about a thousand enemy cavalry are coming from the northeast of the camp. After hearing this, I In response to the order, he loudly replied: "Take care of yourself, the Great Khan, and I will come back as soon as you go! Shamul, take a hundred people to stay behind to protect the Great Khan, and the rest will go with me to fight the enemy!"
