Gao Pragmatic, who was not personally on the scene, could only understand the battle situation through battle reports. In general, Gao Pragmatic believed that the battle was extremely chaotic. Not only did the Chahar herdsmen fight in a chaotic manner, but also the Ma Chengen tribe and the Mongolian army who attacked them from behind also fought in a chaotic manner.
Gao Pragmatic is basically certain that when Ma Chengen attacked the Chahar herdsmen, he obviously did not take his opponents seriously. His formation was very casual and his tactics were extremely simple. He basically just planned to mow the grass.
But even so, because the opponent's forward obviously had not experienced the pain of the hollow bayonet phalanx, he chose to attack the infantry phalanx, and was defeated in a single confrontation. Immediately afterwards, Ma Chengen's half-armored cavalry attacked and outflanked from the west route smoothly, quickly dividing the Chahar people into several isolated groups, and the victory was about to be won.
It was a pity that the Chahar Mongolian army armed with Jiuzhi Baiji arrived in time, completely disrupting Ma Chengen's crude combat intention. The Mongolian army first used a small force to bully the infantry group with hollow bayonet squares in the rear and did not dare to move, so as not to break the formation and be cut back. Then it used its main force to attack the Ming army cavalry, which was already out of touch with the infantry group.
The biggest problem here is that Ma Chengen himself did not stay in the infantry group and command the entire army. This young general soldier was extremely brave and personally led the cavalry to rush out to fight - good guy, he has inherited the mantle of his father Ma Fu! You know, Ma Fu was a typical fierce general brother during his lifetime, invincible on the battlefield, but unfortunately he died of the "Armored Removal Wind" at a young age.
The general who leads the cavalry basically needs to go into battle personally, and even lead troops to charge. This can be seen from the fact that even Gao Pragmatic had to go into battle and charge during the Battle of Lightning Lake.
However, the problem was that Ma Chengen never expected to be stabbed in the back. It was already too late when he discovered something was wrong behind him. The Ming army cavalry divided the Chahar herdsmen at this time, but it also meant that they themselves had been scattered into several groups, and it was very difficult to get away and assemble.
At the same time, the Chahar herdsmen also discovered the Jiuhao White Banner, and their morale was immediately boosted. They no longer fought randomly as before, but began to concentrate their resistance under the command (perhaps it can only be said that under the influence) of the Mongolian army's flag. At the same time, he clung to the Ming cavalry who was fighting with him, preventing the Ming cavalry from leaving calmly.
When Ma Cheng'en sounded the assembly call, one of the Ming army's cavalry had already fallen into the siege of the Mongolian army. Although they didn't seem to be panicking, and instead formed a circular formation to defend as quickly as possible, the cavalry was not an army that was good at defending in nature. This situation looked like it was forced, and it would not be an exaggeration to describe it as precarious - The opponent can use speed to rush into the formation, or they can shoot arrows from a long distance. The Ming army had already used muskets at this time, and most of them did not carry bows and arrows at all, so they could only be beaten passively.
Seeing that there was no way, Ma Chengen did not care that the number of cavalry he personally led was not enough. At the same time, only one detachment successfully escaped and joined him. With less than 2,000 cavalry, he directly launched a counterattack with the intention of rescuing the besieged. friendly forces.
The Mongolian army seemed not to have expected Ma Chengen to be so arrogant, and the besieging troops were slightly confused. The flag behind him flashed, and a new order was quickly issued. Another detachment of the Mongolian army immediately followed up and collided head-on with Ma Chengen's troops.
The besieging troops who received the new order no longer fired arrows from long distances, but also launched a fierce charge. The Ming cavalry in the circular formation struggled to hold on, but obviously they could not withstand the inertial advantage of the opponent's horses charging into the formation. They soon fell into the unfavorable situation of chaotic formations and fighting on their own, and could only rely on the defensive advantages of equipment. Try to resist.
The confrontation between Ma Chengen's department and the Mongolian army was probably the bloodiest battle in this war. As the chief military officer, Ma Chengen was covered in blood. Although most of it was the enemy's blood, he still suffered seven wounds. After repelling the enemy, he almost fainted due to excessive blood loss in a short period of time.
It was later proven that the armor on Ma Chengen's body saved at least five of his lives - all five possible fatal injuries were blocked by the armor, and even the goggles on his chest were shattered.
However, even though it was extremely dangerous, Ma Chengen's charge still shattered the Mongolian army's attempt to defeat the Ming army cavalry in one fell swoop. A big inspiration.
Inspired by this, the besieged Ming army burst out with huge cheers of "the general army is victorious", and then resolutely launched a breakout, and forcibly broke through the encirclement to join forces with Ma Chengen.
At this time, Ma Chengen himself had just recovered from a bout of dizziness. Relying on the massive adrenaline boosted by the cheers of his subordinates, he was sober and excited again, and he didn't even feel the pain of the wound. He suddenly raised his saber, ordered the cavalry around him to gather towards him, and then launched another counter-attack charge directly in the direction of Jiuji Baiji regardless of the situation.
Adrenaline is actually a bug-level hormone in humans. It is a chemical substance secreted when people experience certain great stimuli, such as abnormal excitement, fear, tension, etc. It can make people breathe faster and instantly provide a large amount of oxygen to the human body. At the same time, the heartbeat and blood flow are accelerated, and the pupils are dilated, providing more energy for physical activities and making the whole person react faster.
At this time, Ma Chengen was in this semi-superhuman state. Not only did he feel no pain, but his mind was extremely clear. He knew that it was impossible to assemble the entire army at this moment - no, it was impossible to assemble all the cavalry. If he reacted a little slower, he would be divided and annihilated by the Mongolian cavalry.
He clearly realized that there was only one way to resolve the current crisis: to take the enemy's nine white banners directly. As long as Jiuzin Baizhen wavers, whether it is retreating or avoiding, it will seriously damage the enemy's morale and create an opportunity for our own army to gather and fight again.
The Mongolian army did not expect that Ma Chengen not only refused to retreat at this moment, but instead came towards him like a god of war possessed by him. Although there were more than 6,000 elite Mongolian cavalrymen near Jiu'an Baizhen, they were defeated by the Ming army's cavalry, which was less than 3,000 even after gathering in a small area. They were killed and retreated, and even seemed to be on the verge of collapse.
At this time, the leader of the Mongolian army was none other than Burihatu, the ruler of the Mongol Khanate. A few days ago, this Ming Dynasty Ming Dynasty and Mongolia Yuan Dynasty were almost defeated by their high economic strategy and pragmatism. Although this Mongolian wise general was not bad in personal force, he was known for his resourcefulness after all. At this moment, seeing Ma Chengen acting crazy, he couldn't help but feel a shudder in his heart. sudden.
Although Burihatu knew that retreating at this moment was not a good idea, he also knew that the Mongolian army could no longer bear greater casualties, so after a quick weigh, he issued an order to attack and rescue the herdsmen.
This order said that it was to save the people first, but in fact it was just to avoid Ma Chengen's sharp edge. With this, Ma Cheng'en achieved his goal, and soon displayed the banner of "Ma, Chief Military Officer of Ming Xuanfu" where the nine-pin white banner was flying before. The morale of the entire Ming army was greatly boosted. The Ming army cavalry also got rid of the desperate entanglement of Chahar herdsmen and began to gather at the banner of General Ma Chengen.
Unfortunately, the duration of a bug like adrenaline is quite limited. Seeing that the most dangerous moment for the Ming army had passed, Ma Chengen relaxed and his adrenaline immediately faded. His vision went dark and he was about to fall back softly.
Fortunately, the soldiers around him were old subordinates who had followed his father back then. Although he didn't know about adrenaline, he obviously understood the situation. When he saw his young commander looking up to the sky and about to fall, he immediately approached quietly. He held him up and deliberately pretended to check his injuries.
This move successfully hid everyone except the personal guards around Ma Chengen. Both the Ming and Mongolian cavalry were too far away to detect anything unusual.
Although everyone vaguely saw the bodyguard next to Mr. Ma holding his body and seemed to be asking and checking his injuries, they also saw that the expression and behavior of the bodyguard next to him were normal, so no one looked in other directions. Think about it - it is common for the general leading the cavalry to be injured on the battlefield. Since he did not retreat, it must be nothing more than a minor injury, which will not affect anything serious.
At this time, the situation of both parties has undergone major changes. The Mongolian army, under the command of Burihatu, has already received its own herdsmen. Now the herdsmen are behind and the army is in front. The herdsmen gradually retreated, while the army is still eyeing the Ming army, but it seems that it does not want to take the initiative again. It means to attack.
On the Ming army's side, the infantry has already advanced towards the battlefield while maintaining its lineup, while the cavalry has assembled around Ma Chengen's general banner, and even spontaneously formed a cone formation, as if just waiting for Ma Chengen. As soon as the order is given, they will start charging again.
The conical formation is one of the typical cavalry charging formations. The Ming cavalry was very passive after being beaten by a sneak attack just now. Now it is put into this formation, obviously with the intention of revenge, so from the perspective of Burihatu , this cavalry is obviously the elite of the Xuanfu - it is very likely that it is the cavalry trained by Ma Fang, the ace of the Ming army that was able to defeat Anda Khan in his heyday, and is known as "cavalry to control cavalry" Horse cavalry.
Burihatu is the grandson of Amada Khan (his father Xin'ai is the eldest son of Amada Khan). He has grown up under the aura of Amada Khan's invincibility. For an elite Ming army that was able to drive Ada Khan away during the period when the Ming army was in overall decline, even a wise general like Burihatu felt a little unreasonable at this moment. In addition, the purpose of Burihatu's visit was to save people, so he really didn't want to tangle with them any more.
The two sides just stared at each other for a long time. For the Mongolian army, Burihatu wanted to cover the retreat of his herdsmen, and at the same time was unwilling to fight head-on with the elite cavalry brought out by Ma Fang; for the Ming army, the ordinary cavalry did come up with a breath of bad breath, but they could not stand up to Mr. Ma. Rong didn't give the order for a long time and could only restrain his impulse.
The Ming cavalry led by Ma Fang were very evil, but Ma Fang, as a general who rose from the grassroots to the top of the Zuodudu, obviously attached great importance to military orders, so Ma Chengen's orders were not issued, and everyone really didn't dare to make any mistakes. Second-rate. However, Ma Chengen's unusual delay in giving orders still puzzled them, and many people couldn't help but look towards the position of the general's banner.
At this time, the old soldier who was supporting Ma Chengen was also sweating on his forehead, for fear that someone would see the clues - it would be really bad if his own cavalry saw the clues, but they were afraid that the enemy would see the clues. Extremely.
Fortunately, Ma Chengen's physical fitness was inherited from his father's strength. At this moment, he actually woke up leisurely, but his eyes were a little dazed, and he obviously hadn't recovered yet, and he was still relying on the support of his old servant, which was obviously the same as before. Fierce fighting and massive blood loss resulted in loss of strength.
But after all, excellent generals are not comparable to ordinary people. Ma Chengen's consciousness quickly recovered, his eyes were bright, and he quickly looked around, and the general situation was immediately clear to his mind. He took a deep breath, forced himself to sit up straight, and ordered: "Send the order, the infantry will press forward, and the cavalry will follow me to the right wing of the infantry!"
Finally, the order came down, and all the doubts that the Ming cavalry had before disappeared. Although they were still a little confused about the order, the order was an order, and it was immediately implemented, and the entire army immediately began to move slowly.
This order was very particular, and it also meant that Ma Chengen, who had come back to his senses, truly knew himself and his enemy. He did not continue to maintain the strong offensive posture formed spontaneously by the Ming army in order not to overly stimulate the Mongolian army and avoid triggering a counterattack by the enemy. At this moment, the Mongolian army had a strength advantage, and they had just completed the task of rescuing their own herdsmen. At this moment, their morale was It's also expensive.
At the same time, Ma Chengen fully considered that his current physical condition was still dangerous and it was impossible to say whether he would faint again. Therefore, he took the cavalry to the flank of the infantry and let the infantry group's hollow bayonet square form act as a front to deter the enemy. , making it afraid to launch an attack easily.
This adjustment by the Ming army also made Burihatu, who had been watching them closely, secretly relieved. After the Ming army's infantry phalanx came up, Burihatu immediately ordered a slow retreat. At the same time, he deliberately asked the entire army to keep their bows in a blatant state, apparently warning the opponent: I have prepared Mangujie. If you have the ability, you can Come chase.
Of course Ma Chengen couldn't chase him now. He almost fainted when he moved the cavalry just now, and he bit the tip of his tongue hard to hold on. After the Mongolian army retreated for almost ten miles, the Ming army cavalry was obviously dissatisfied, and some even started to make noises - they had always thought that their side wanted to "retaliate", but in the end they watched the enemy army retreat, which was naturally unacceptable.
However, just when Ma Chengen wanted to comfort and explain, who knew that the retreat of the Mongolian army still made him lose guard, his vision went dark, and he fainted again. This time was different from the previous time. The old servant no longer deliberately supported his young marshal, but let him lie down in his arms while shouting "Where is the military doctor?"
At this time, the Ming army cavalry realized that Ma Zongrong was seriously injured. I am afraid it was not that they did not want to pursue, but that they were really powerless. Then they all extinguished their dissatisfaction and began to worry about Ma Zongrong's health.
Fortunately, the Mongolian army has retreated a little far now, and the details of the Ming army cannot be seen clearly. In addition, Burihatu is a commander with clear goals. He is here to support the people of the Great Migration. Even if he knows that Ma Chengen is unconscious, he may not be tempted and will only withdraw faster - after all, he The big plan requires the Chahar Mongolian army to maintain its combat strength as much as possible and not continue to weaken. There is really no need to waste it in continuing the battle with the Ming army.
In this battle, the number of heads captured by the Ming army was actually quite large. More than 3,700 heads were counted afterwards, but the vast majority of them were obviously herdsmen. Although they were also reported, what would happen to the generals? It’s hard to tell when it comes to recording merit.
At the same time, Ma Chengen's losses this time were not small. Five hundred and seventeen people were killed on the spot, including 469 cavalrymen. There were also more than one hundred people seriously injured, all of them cavalrymen. Overall, it should be It can be regarded as the party that suffers the loss.
Ma Chengen, who slept for a full day before waking up after the war, was angry and regretful, but he did not dare to conceal the battle situation from Gao Jinglue, so he had to send the battle report and personally wrote a private letter of apology at the same time. , and then began to wait anxiously for the treatment of the sutra platform, and the whole person felt a little depressed.
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PS: After struggling for several days, I decided not to describe Qi Jiguang’s victory in a positive way. The reason is quite simple... Qi Jiguang’s historical achievements are too exaggerated, even bizarre, and they belong to the kind of "even cool articles dare not write like this" level. I'm afraid that my direct description will appear too fake or not exciting enough, so I might as well just describe it from the side.
