Although Mang Gurtai is not good at strategy, he is not without any brains. Like many Jurchen nobles, he likes to read "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and learn the methods of using troops in it.
In "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", there are many stories of "pretend to surrender and secretly set up an ambush". For example, in the Battle of Puyang, Cao Cao was tricked into the city, was ambushed, and almost died in a sea of fire... This is the most typical example.
Similarly, is Xiang Xuanwu's promise to open the door and return to surrender true or false? Could he have set up an ambush in the city, waiting for him to get in?
Thinking of this, Mang Gurtai couldn't help but hesitate: if he sent troops, he was worried about being ambushed.
If he didn't send troops, if Xiang Xuanwu really surrendered, wouldn't he have missed a great opportunity to capture Baichengzi? What a dilemma!
…
After thinking for a long time, Mang Gurtai still found it difficult to make a decision, so he had to focus on Ning Wanwo.
"Counsellor Ning, in your opinion, is Xiang Xuanwu's surrender true or false? Could it be that he was pretending to surrender, but in fact he was setting up an ambush, waiting for Ben Beile to fall into a trap?"
"Returning to Mr. Beile, as the saying goes, people are separated from each other and do not know what they are doing. I am afraid that only he himself knows whether Xiang Xuanwu is really surrendering or pretending to surrender. Others cannot guess it. However, there is a way. You can try it. Tell the truth and prevent Lord Beile from taking risks!"
"Oh, there is such a good way, tell me quickly!"
"My next idea is to agree to the internal and external cooperation. As for tomorrow night, we can let the troops from Ordos, Tumote, and Yongshebu take the vanguard, and Lord Baylor will lead the army to support us from behind.
If Xiang Xuanwu really surrenders, then he will capture Baichengzi in one fell swoop. This credit will naturally belong to Lord Beile. If it is a fake surrender, then let the men of the three tribes carry it. Lord Beile will not lose a single soldier! "
"You southern barbarians are so cunning. This is a good idea. It's really great. It kills two birds with one stone, haha!"
After listening to Ning Wan's method, Mang Gurtai laughed with satisfaction.
You must know that although the Ordos, Tumut, and Yongxiebu tribes have surrendered to the Jurchens, their loyalty is not high, and they may surrender and rebel again at any time!
It would be best if we let three troops be the vanguard and capture Baichengzi. If we were ambushed and lost the troops, that wouldn't be a bad thing.
Because the three troops were lost and their strength was weakened, it would be easier to manage in the future and the possibility of rebellion would be smaller. This is also beneficial to the Jurchens!
As a result, Mang Gurtai made a decision on the spot: let Liu Yaozu go to the city again and send his own handwritten letter of guarantee. At the same time, he agreed with Xiang Xuanwu on the specific details of internal and external cooperation to avoid mistakes.
At the same time, someone was sent to inform the leaders of the Ordos, Tumut, and Yongxiebu tribes that Xiang Xuanwu had agreed to surrender. The city gates would be opened tomorrow night at the second watch, and then they would rush into the city together and plunder. Fan!
The leaders of the three tribes are all greedy people, and they will definitely rush into the city when the time comes, so they become the stone that throws stones to ask for directions, hehe!
…………
A day without words.
The next day, at nightfall, the action began.
Under the leadership of Mang Gurtai, the already well-fed and well-equipped Zhenglan Banner troops quietly left the base camp, and then moved towards Baichengzi under the cover of night.
In order not to alarm the defenders, the soldiers all held small wooden sticks in their mouths, and the hooves of the war horses were wrapped in thick cloth. The sound when stepping on the ground was extremely quiet, and no one was allowed to light a torch, so they moved forward slowly by the dim moonlight. march.
Soon, the troops advanced to the vicinity of Baichengzi and then divided into four.
The three Jia La Zhangjings each led their own troops and ambush outside the east, south and north city gates respectively to prevent the people inside from escaping when the city was captured. They must catch them all.
Mang Gurtai led the remaining troops to ambush in the wilderness outside the west gate. They all crawled on the ground, including Ning Wanwo and Liu Yaozu.
At the same time, the troops from the Ordos, Tumote, and Yongshebu tribes also came to join together and also lurked in the wilderness.
After the ambush was completed, all the women
The eyes of the real people and Mongolians were fixed on Baichengzi.
I saw that Baichengzi's side was no different from usual. The city wall was covered with lanterns and torches, the light was as bright as day, and there were groups of heavily armed Tianwei Army soldiers patrolling back and forth on the city wall.
There is nothing unusual, which is a good sign. All that remains is to wait patiently.
At watch time, there was no movement.
At the first watch, there was no movement.
At the second watch, it was still quiet over in Baichengzi. Except for the patrolling soldiers, there was no other movement.
…
In the dead of winter, the weather was extremely cold, and lurking in the wilderness for two hours without being able to move or make a sound was no ordinary pain.
Seeing that the agreed time had come and there was no movement from Baichengzi, the Jurchen and Mongolian soldiers who were suffering from the cold became a little unbearable.
Sanbeile Mangguertai was even more anxious, wondering if there had been some accident, and Xiang Xuanwu suddenly regretted changing his mind?
Or maybe the news about opening the door to surrender was accidentally leaked, and Xiang Xuanwu was arrested by people who were unwilling to surrender?
What's going on? Why is there no movement? Should we continue to lurk, or should we return to the camp?
"Master Beile, look, there are three lanterns!"
While I was making random guesses, I saw three huge lotus lanterns hanging from the west gate tower of Baichengzi, swinging from side to side vigorously.
At the same time, someone turned the winch on the top of the city, and the suspension bridge immediately fell down and rested on the moat.
Immediately afterwards, with a rattling sound, the iron gate weighing several thousand kilograms was pulled up, and the huge city gate slowly opened. There were figures swaying inside, apparently responding!
"Ho, warriors, rush in, there are a lot of good things in the city, whoever grabs them will belong to them!"
"Come on... rush into the city!"
Seeing that the set response code was correct and the city gate was opened, Mang Gurtaidang roared and gave the order to charge.
The soldiers of Zhenglan Banner had already received the notice, and they were shouting fiercely, but their charging speed was very slow, and they were hesitant to move forward.
The people of Ordos, Tumote, and Yongxiebu didn't know the situation. When they saw the city gate opened, they immediately rushed inside with all their strength. Soon more than 2,000 people rushed in, almost filling the city inside. .
"boom!"
At this moment, with a loud noise, the large iron gate that had been lifted suddenly fell down, killing seven or eight Mongolian soldiers below.
At the same time, a large number of Tianwei Army soldiers poured out from behind the female wall around Weng City. Some used muskets to shoot, some used bows and crossbows to shoot, and some desperately threw down rolling wood, thunder, stones, bricks and tiles.
The Mongolian soldiers in Wengcheng suddenly became miserable. They had no way to advance, no way to retreat, and no way to hide. As a result, they fell one by one, with extremely heavy casualties!
"Damn it, I've been tricked... Attack the city immediately and rush in to save people!"
Seeing that the forward troops were ambushed, the troops behind immediately launched an attack, trying to occupy the city wall, open the city gate, and rescue the besieged troops.
The problem is that in order to facilitate the concealment of their whereabouts, the Jurchen and Mongolian armies not only did not carry large siege equipment, they did not even bring ladders for climbing the city or sandbags for filling the moat.
Since they didn't bring anything with them, they naturally couldn't launch an effective attack. They could only rush to the moat and shoot arrows at the city wall.
"Boom...boom!"
On the other side, the Tianwei Army was fully prepared. The artillery on the city wall opened fire at the same time, blasting the Jurchen Army and Mongolian Army below.
These artillery pieces were calculated in advance to shoot at various elements, so they were very accurate. After the cannonballs were fired, they bloomed in crowded places, causing blood and flesh to fly everywhere, causing countless casualties!
"Master Beile, this can't be done. The artillery of the Mighty Heavenly Army is too powerful, and the soldiers have suffered too many casualties. It's better to retreat for the time being. It won't be too late to regroup tomorrow and bring siege equipment with us to take revenge!"
"Dammit, retreat!"
For one thing, those being surrounded were Mongolian soldiers, not Jurchen soldiers.
Secondly, without siege equipment, the city wall cannot be attacked, and those who remain will have to die in vain.
Considering the above two points, Mang Gurtai decisively issued the order to withdraw his troops, and the Jurchen army immediately retreated like a tide.
As soon as the Jurchen army withdrew, the Mongolian army had no choice but to retreat with them.
Without rescue, the more than two thousand Mongolian soldiers surrounded by Wengcheng had no hope. In less than one meal, the entire army was wiped out.
Then Tianwei's army began to clean up the battlefield and took away all the weapons and armor. As for the Mongol soldiers who were alive, they imprisoned them and forced them to give confessions. Those who were dead were put on piles of pyres in Wengcheng and burned with fire to avoid trouble. The corpses rotted and spread the plague!
On the tower, looking at the blazing fire below, Xiang Xuanwu was not very happy.
Because of all the hard planning, only more than 2,000 Mongolian soldiers were killed, and not even a big fish was caught. It was really a big plan but little use.
Moreover, if the Jurchens and Mongols suffer this loss, they will definitely retaliate crazily. You must be prepared. There will be a bloody battle tomorrow!
………
On the other side, after Mang Gurtai returned to the camp, he was furious. He first cursed at Baichengzi, then pulled out his sword and chopped off Liu Yaozu's head with his own hands to vent his anger.
At the same time, he ordered the entire army to prepare for war and attack Baichengzi tomorrow to take revenge!
