Early in the morning on the seventh day of August, all departments of the Ming army began to move intensively. Their infantry and cavalry were arrayed in separate formations. There were also many auxiliary soldiers, civilians, and military heroes pushing rows of equipment for attacking fortresses. They gathered on the wilderness hills to the east of Songshan Fort.
People screamed and horses neighed, sentries and cavalry roared, drums and trumpets sounded incessantly, swords and guns were like a forest, and flags were like a sea. The neat square formations were constantly rolling forward like ocean waves.
All the 12,000 troops and horses of Xuanfu Town under Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu Town, were dispatched. The newly appointed general Guo Yingxian led 3,500 cavalry, following him, while guerrilla He Zhenxiong and Dusi Tang Xiancheng each led 2,500 cavalry. Hundreds of infantrymen lined up on both sides and marched in order.
The remaining more than 3,000 Xuanfu sergeants were led by another guerrilla Kuang Yongzhong, who was behind the cavalry and formed in front of the attack equipment.
After the battle with Julu, Yang Guozhu was also ordered to train the new army, and the imperial court gave him a quota of five thousand. This shows how much the current emperor values Zhang Cheng, and actually treats him as the same as the commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen. Received a quota of 5,000 new troops.
Affected by the Battle of Julu, Yang Guozhu also valued hot weapons such as muskets and artillery. Therefore, his 5,000 new army consisted of muskets and artillery. He did not train cavalry, but used the excuse of forming a new army to build a new army. The horses that arrived were all given to the Chinese cavalry of General Guo Yingxian.
However, Yang Guozhu did not try his best to make guns and artillery by himself like Zhang Cheng. Instead, he used his position as the commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen to directly extract and use them from the town and various treasuries.
In this way, the quality of its guns and artillery was naturally uneven and could not be compared with the homemade ones of Zhang Cheng's Yunzhou Jiangying, and the training of its new army was also worse than that of the Xuanbei Army.
Even so, the military appearance of Yang Guozhu's new army has already made the generals envious. They are all young and energetic young men with serious faces, wearing cloud-winged helmets. A small number of spearmen all wear red waist-length armor, red and green. The combination is exciting and erotic.
The fire gun soldiers, carrying a number of bird cannons on their shoulders, were all wearing red cotton armor, looking like fire clouds, and they were also carrying and pulling small cannons, and they were marching forward in a majestic manner.
Yang Guozhu's Xuanfu army formed a formation in front of the formation and was divided into four parts: center, left, right and rear.
Li Fuming, the commander-in-chief of Shanxi, only had more than 5,000 troops under his command, and less than 2,000 cavalry. Most of them were infantry, and their armor and weapons were somewhat worn. They were deployed on the left side of Yang Guozhu's Xuanfu military formation, and they looked like assisting soldiers. horse.
His own men and horses are the more than 2,000 people in the Chinese army, including more than 300 people, and the rest are mostly cavalry. There are only 550 miscellaneous soldiers, who usually help feed the horses and cook.
The rest are more than 2,000 people led by a general in the town. This general is not very popular in the town, so most of his subordinates are infantry, and there are few cavalry with horses.
The soldiers and horses of these two towns are responsible for the main attack on the Tatar camp in the west Shimen direction. According to the assignment of the governor Hong Chengchou, Yang Guozhu will take the lead during the war, and Li Fuming will temporarily take orders from Yang Guozhu. Even if he is unwilling, there is nothing he can do.
Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of the Ningyuan regiment, also led his troops to form a formation next to Yang Guozhu's troops. In Liaodong, he directly controlled more than 20,000 troops.
It was much higher than Liu Zhaoji, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong. Among them, there were more than 2,000 servants. And because he was highly respected by Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, he was equipped with the most war horses. According to the Liaodong soldiers and horses, four infantry and cavalry, According to the tradition of Liukai, there are thousands of cavalry under his command.
Some of the soldiers and horses under his command, as well as the generals under his control, were ordered to stay in the area from Ningyuan to Tashan to guard the grain fortresses there to prevent surprise attacks by Tatar sentries and cavalry.
In this case, after retaining some troops, there are still nearly 20,000 soldiers and horses following him to the front line of Songshan, and all his servants and soldiers are following him.
This time he was ordered to attack Dongshimen. Like Yang Guozhu, he pulled out almost all his troops, leaving only a small number of auxiliary troops to guard the rear camp.
After all, their own camps are located in dangerous places near Songshan. Governor Hong Chengchou's Supervisory Camp, as well as Zhang Chengxuan's Northern Army, Liaodong Commander-in-Chief Liu Zhaoji and other armies serve as mobile forces to guard the location of Songshan Camp.
There are also Ma Ke and Wang Pu, who are deployed to the northwest of Songshan Castle to guard against the Tatar bandits in Rufeng Mountain; Miyun general Tang Tong is monitoring the Tatar bandits on Songshan Ridge.
The fierce generals Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen had already led their troops towards Huangtu Ridge and Maojiagou. They would launch an offensive on Shimen Mountain first to confuse the Qing army.
The war there may not be easier than here in Shimen Mountain. I believe that the Tatar thieves are destined to be unable to divide their forces to rescue Shimen Mountain, let alone attack their own rear camp.
At this moment, many generals of the army gathered in Liaodong, Jizhen, and Xuanda of the Ming Dynasty. Wu Sangui may not have made a great contribution and showed his ability in front of the generals.
His army was arranged on the right side of Yang Guozhu's military formation, and Bai Guangen, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, led his troops to line up beside Wu Sangui.
Bai Guang'en was originally from Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province. He first became a bandit from Huntian Monkey. After the defeat, he was brought to the Ming Dynasty court and was awarded the post of Dusi. In turn, he pursued and suppressed the bandits, made many military exploits, and was promoted to the rank of Ji after accumulating merit. The town commander.
He has 13,000 soldiers and horses under his command. Excluding more than 3,000 auxiliary soldiers and miscellaneous servants, he actually has nearly 10,000 regular soldiers, and his combat power is quite good.
Most of the generals under Bai Guangen were thieves and bandits. They joined him in the war and fought together for many years. Although they have been promoted to generals and guerrillas, they have not deserted him and can still be controlled and controlled by him.
Because of this, he has been able to sit in the position of commander-in-chief of Jizhen for many years. Even with the gathering of generals, the combat power of his troops is still at the forefront.
Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong, led an army of 10,000 people, arrayed behind the army. His main barracks also had 3,500 people, including more than 2,000 cavalry, and the rest were infantry.
Similarly, he was ordered to train five thousand new troops in Datong Town. They were also wearing cloud-winged helmets and long body armor. However, it was obvious at a glance that his new army was not as elite as Yang Guozhu. Although it was still young and strong Mainly, but the energy and spirit are too different.
This is the lineup of the Ming army that directly attacked Shimen Mountain and protected the Tatars from Rufeng Mountain. There were nearly 60,000 soldiers and horses.
If we add in the mobile forces of Governor Hong Chengchou supervising Biaoying, Zhang Chengxuan's Northern Army, Liu Zhaoji's Liaodong Army and other mobile forces, the Ming army fighting the Tatars head-on would be nearly 100,000 men, which was two-thirds of the Liaodong Ming army!
Although such a large number of troops cannot be devoted to the battlefield at once, they can launch a continuous offensive to prevent the Tatar thieves from resting. Even if they are exhausted, the Tatar thieves can be killed.
This shows how determined the Ming army was to capture Shimen Mountain and capture the East and West Shimen!
