"Sun Tzu's Art of War" says that the first step is to attack the enemy with the enemy, the second step is to attack the enemy, the second step is to attack the enemy, and the third step is to attack the city. The method of siege is a last resort.
Generally speaking, even if there were internal disputes among the Han people, they would not attack a city by force as a last resort, let alone a solid city like Datong that had been in operation for many years.
But when it comes to using military force, the most important thing to avoid is formulating military tactics.
Dayan Khan attacked Datong because he knew that Zhou Shangwen's tribe had left Datong. To put it simply, if the main force is not there and you dare not fight, then he should not come this time.
To this end, Dayan Khan had prepared ladders for attacking the city and firewood for burning the city gates.
After giving the order,
The first thing that flew towards the city wall was the rain of arrows, and then the infantry advanced against the artillery fire set on the city wall, and the loud shouts filled everyone's ears.
Chang Dacheng hid at the crenel on the city wall and observed carefully. Several generals behind him were also squatting on the edge waiting for orders.
"Chen Qing! Chen Qing!"
"The general is here!"
"You lead 3,000 people to Dongyang Hemen to support! Pay attention to the firewood, find a few good men, and don't let the firewood get close to the city gate!"
"Got the order!!"
The Tatars are not good at attacking cities. Chang Dacheng didn't know who gave these Tatars the idea to use firewood to burn the city gates.
In fact, this approach has pros and cons.
For the party defending the city, this thing is a great threat, so they will naturally pay close attention to it and will not let it get close.
And once the firewood burns within the scope of one's own troops, it will harm one's own people.
This was not the first time that Chang Dacheng defended the city. It was like arrows adding fuel to the fire. This was something he had already prepared.
After several rounds of volleys from the Tatar army, he immediately commanded:
"Anyone who shoots firewood or builds a ladder will be rewarded with one tael of silver!!"
From this moment on,
The battle to defend the city begins!
Yang Yiqing in the northwest probably didn't feel the atmosphere of Datong yet. They still arranged closely according to Wang Shouren's previous suggestion. The Governor's Mansion also added 15,000 troops to the pioneer Qiu Yue.
This is a Tian Ji horse racing.
Everything was just as Wang Shouren expected. As long as Yang Shangyi stood still and waited for work, Huoshai would not dare to fight with all his troops.
Qiu Yue was a man who emerged from the blood and fire. Although this charge was very likely to be defeated, he still went out resolutely after receiving the military order.
In the second year of Zhengde, the northwest frontier army of the Ming Dynasty had strengthened its organization. From the emperor to the governor, from the governor to the governor, to the commanders of the guards, there was no room for those who were timid.
So in August, the Ming Dynasty entered the flames of war from west to east.
The capital was far away, and it would take more than a month to respond. But as time went by, everyone from the princes and nobles to the common people soon knew that the Ming Dynasty was at war.
Its impact has also been fully revealed,
First is the Ministry of War,
Wang Bing was ordered to reorganize and train the 12th Regiment Battalion. The war was imminent, and the generals and commanders at all levels were very nervous. The rules of the court were very simple. If the military officers at any level wanted to keep the old, weak, sick and disabled, they should keep them in their own hands. When the war breaks out, you lead these people to fight. This method is extremely immoral. Everyone knows that their fate is good.
Followed by the Ministry of Household Affairs, troops and horses move forward first before food and grass are used. This is the principle since ancient times. Han Wen mobilized the people of Beijing and Tong with all his strength, and large and small vehicles began to transport food to the capital. This was done once by Shaobao during the Zhengtong period. Later, the promised reward was paid, so there was no obstacle this time. As a result, all businesses in the capital were in depression for a while, because the people went there day and night. Went to transport food.
At the same time, affected by the war, some people in the capital began to pack up their belongings and flee to the south. The court did not stop this, because there were many people around the capital who wanted to enter the city to avoid disaster.
But there was one thing that was beyond Zhu Houzhao's expectation.
He originally issued an order to ask the cabinet and the governors of Shuntian and Baoding to organize the prefectures and counties in all parts of Beizhili to notify the people to harvest wheat.
This is part of the policy of strengthening the wall and clearing the wild, and it is related to the vital interests of the people. There should not be too many obstacles in doing it. Who doesn't know how to use the food collected in their own fields.
Moreover, money and food were originally exempted this year. In other words, whatever you receive is your own.
These have nothing to do with the war. In order to help these extremely poor people, the emperor used his brains.
But what I didn't expect was that many people had just divided their fields this year, and it was now the first season of wheat! People who have never been poor or hungry will never know what it feels like to collect grain from their own fields and see their rice jars filled with grain.
Some people have never seen their families so wealthy since they were born!
This is not food, this is hope for survival!
The power of hope is an infinitely powerful force.
As a result, the Tatars led troops to attack the Ming Dynasty at this time! The army is like locusts passing through the border. What will be left after a round of robbery?
In other words, the hope you just got is gone!
That is absolutely unacceptable!
The anger of the people could not be suppressed, and the government would not suppress the people's anger against the Tatars. So all prefectures and counties began to report, and the people spontaneously formed militias, determined to fight against those who robbed their fields and food!
But what is the nature of this kind of force that is not part of the Ministry of War? How to deal with it specifically?
The prefects and counties cannot answer these questions and can only report them to each level.
Zhu Houzhao was a little moved and emotional when he received these memorials in the palace. The power of the people is always great. When he divided the fields, he did not consider that things would turn out like this.
In the words of the cabinet minister Wang Kuo: With the support of the people, this battle will be won! !
Yes, people's support can be used.
These four words gave many veterans great courage.
Min Gui said excitedly: "Your Majesty, if the people's support is so strong, it will be counterattacked if suppressed. I think it should be channeled and used!"
"How to use?"
"There is a military academy!" Wang Bing, Minister of War, said: "You can send teams from the military academy to go to various prefectures and counties to lead the militia formed by the people spontaneously. With students from these military academies, the soldiers in each county can cooperate with each other. In battle, as soon as the little Tartar prince comes, let him be in the flames of war every step he takes! No rest day and night! If you are tired, they will be exhausted!"
This is the vast ocean of people’s war.
This word flashed in Zhu Houzhao's mind.
This time, the imperial court allocated more than two million acres of land to Huangzhuang and Zhongguan Village, and more than one million acres to nobles and officials at all levels. Of the nearly four million acres of farmland, each person is allocated three acres, directly benefiting more than one million people.
Not all of the people among them will have the courage to take up arms and fight the regular army, but the proportion of people who are willing to take up arms must be extremely high. Even based on a conservative one-third estimate, this is more than 300,000 people.
And these are just the people who divide the fields. Do people who have no land allocated to them want their land, grain, livestock, and women to be robbed at will?
That won’t happen either!
As long as someone takes the lead, there is a herd mentality.
At the beginning, he also faced this situation when he led Zhu Qizhen to attack Beijing. When he arrived, he was extremely vicious and the common people did not dare to offend him. When he saw that he was about to fail and wanted to withdraw his troops, he was beaten up and beaten by the common people along the way.
This group of people eats locally and commits all kinds of evil, which the people hate!
Zhu Houzhao thought that this was an unexpected move. On the one hand, it could help the court resist the Tatars. On the other hand, it could also organize the power of the people so that they could better protect their food and at the same time provide supplies to the Tatar army. Add some trouble.
"Let's use...protecting land and food as the slogan. Simple is better. Only when it is simple can the people understand it. If you explain it to the students in the military academy in a complicated way, it means that officials are the mainstay and the militia are the supplement. A serious army is not what the people want. If you can resist it, once it becomes defeated, it will be irreversible."
"That's natural. Raising an army for a thousand days and using it for a while. Besides, Dayan Khan may not have passed all the passes. He may be captured halfway."
Zhu Houzhao glanced at Min Gui. This little old man spoke a little wantonly when he got excited.
"The mobilization of the military academy must also be arranged carefully. In this war with the Tatars, the court must make it clear that even if they have made meritorious services, they are the same as everyone else. They must be rewarded with the money they deserve and the official positions they deserve. Yes, for them, it is also a day early to leave the academy. In times of crisis, heroes are revealed, and I hope that the Ming Dynasty will have some more young generals."
The Ministry of War has its own way of doing this. "They have already been mobilized for the division of land before, so it is considered a round of practice before. If there is a big reward this time, there must be brave men among them. After the ministers go down, they will be divided according to the rules of Fuzhou and County." Divide them one by one to ensure that dozens of counties, large and small, can be assigned to a group. The group is combined with the county magistrate, and together with the police officers, they organize the guards of each county. Counties are connected to counties, and prefectures cooperate with prefectures. At the same time, the Ministry of War maintains communication with groups from various military academies. The Jingying camp and the Shangzhi personal guards are used to guard the capital. The rest of Qinwang's divisions mobilized from Shandong and Henan will cooperate with the Fuzhou and County operations. When the time comes, where will the Tatars plunder? There are officers, soldiers and militia, the army and the people are of one mind, the monarch and his ministers are of one mind, so how can we not win?"
After Zhu Houzhao heard this, he had more confidence in this battle.
"Having said that, we still need to focus on defense at Bauhinia Pass, so that we can buy more time and make more adequate preparations. Best, we can prevent them from passing through Bauhinia Pass. Although the unity of the military and the people is exciting, but in this way , it is inevitable that some prefectures and counties will be robbed, and as a king and father, I can never bear to have such things happen."
All the ministers knelt down and said, "Your Majesty's kindness and generosity are really a blessing to the people."
These are all polite words, just listen to them.
"In accordance with your Majesty's order, I have sent the governor Shi Feng and the son of Duke Cheng, Zhu Feng, to lead the four guards and three thousand muskets to the Zijin Pass for reinforcements. It will not be easy for Dayan Khan to pass this pass!"
"Approximately when will they arrive according to their departure time?"
"The army is moving quickly and will arrive in three days!"
"good."
Shi Feng was a hereditary commander, and Zhu Feng was the second son of Cheng Guogong Zhu Fu. Both of them were born in military academies. Zhu Fu had an eldest son, Zhu Qi, but he was really useless. Zhu Feng was somewhat ambitious.
In fact, Zhu Houzhao also hoped that there would be one person among the nobles who could not only reproduce the style of his ancestors, but at least not let others think that his abilities were mediocre.
This Zhu Feng is in his early twenties, I wish him good luck.
Zhu Houzhao said nothing more. He turned to the imperial case and wrote the four words mentioned earlier:
Protect the fields and food.
"Take it and let these Tartars know how powerful the Han people are."
The mobilization force at this time will not be that strong. After all, there is no grassroots organization. However, mobilization relies on organization on the one hand, and more importantly, on the other hand, it relies on tangible things. It all depends on organization, but it doesn’t work if it’s not real.
Protecting land and food is not fake, and it actually doesn’t require much organization.
Without swords and guns, a hoe can kill people.
(End of chapter)
