"Master Marquis, let me get out of the border wall! Kill the Tatars in Qingyang and Kouwai, so that the Tatars in Xuanfu will be afraid! I will take the back road and kill all the cattle and sheep behind them!"
Guo Xun arrived at Yanghe Acropolis, and Li Jin asked for battle again.
"So what if we kill all the cattle and sheep that were driven here?" Guo Xun shook his head, "When did they not each bring several days or even a month's worth of dry food with them? One person, two horses or even three horses, and they were already stationed at Zhangbei Stable."
"At least I'm worried that my retreat will be cut off!" Li Jin lamented, "I told you that in the east, the Tatars here in Yanghekou are staying near the horse-drying platform. They are beating and stopping. This is obviously to protect them. The grain road along the Dongyang River! Are we just going to be led by them?"
"If you want to fight, I'm here to let you fight. Li Jin obeys orders!"
"The general is here!" Li Jin cheered up.
"Wang Dutai has sent an order from Huai'an to mobilize three thousand Datong elite troops. You go to reinforce Chaigou Fort!" Guo Xun looked north, "Yanghekou, let my pacesetters guard it!"
"Going to Xuanfu?" Li Jin asked in shock, "What about Datong?"
"The Zhenlu Guards are still dilly-dallying, so you can quickly hand over the defense to my general and lead Zheng Minghui's men through Yongjia Fort." Guo Xun slapped him on the shoulder, "Remember, we went to Xuanzang The government must obey Wang Dutai’s orders!”
"Okay!" Li Jin just wanted to fight, "Let the general and Wang Dutai encircle the Tatars like they did in Shuozhou last year!"
After saying that, he went out to arrange the handover and muttered: "What's going on this year? Those who Wang Dutai transferred to Shangxi Road and Zhenlu Guard are all idiots!"
Guo Xun looked at his back, and then said to Hou Anyong on the side: "You should pay close attention to the grain road from Datong to Yanghe and Tiancheng to Zhangjiakou. As for defending the enemy at Yanghekou, don't point fingers. .”
Hou Anyong only felt that this battle was aggrieved: "I know the importance of this."
"Now that the army has appeared in Xuanfu, there can be no more problems on the north road of Datong, and the food route must be foolproof!" Guo Xun said solemnly, "I patrolled Yanghekou and am relieved about this place, so we must quickly Go back to Datong."
It has been four days since Anda captured Yutailing. In these four days, except for Wanquan Youwei's acropolis, the Xuanfu side has not engaged the enemy again.
However, this situation highlights a more thorny issue: food roads.
In normal seasons, in addition to local grain grains and common people's grain taxes, grain from outside mainly reaches Datong through two routes.
One line is from Taiyuan Town through Ningwuguan, passing through Shuozhou, Mayi and Huairen to Datong.
The other line runs from Xuanfu through the south of Zhangjiakou, from Chaigou Fort to Yongjia Fort, and then through Yanghe Acropolis to Datong.
As for the road on the southwest side of Datong from Zijing Pass through Shimen Gorge to Lingqiu, it would be difficult to transport grain from Lingqiu and Weizhou to Datong because there is no broad road that has been built.
As for the Sanggan River, although it flows all the way through Datong and the hinterland of Xuanfu, there are a few places along the way, especially the Heilong Bay area of Xuanfu, that are relatively steep and the water is a bit shallow. You can cross the boat, but you can't transport food.
Guo Xun hurried to Yanghekou. In addition to asking Li Jin, the deputy commander-in-chief of the left army, to urge Zheng Minghui of the Zhenlu Guards to leave as soon as possible, he also wanted to ensure that Yanghekou was not lost and that the food road from here to Xuanfu was not accessible. question.
I have already appeared in Xuan Mansion, and here in Yanghekou it is no longer "if you can follow the rules, you don't have to stick to it".
But Anda's appearance also shows that the war has entered the second stage-at present, other passes in various towns may have to be very energetic.
On the last two days of the ninth month of the lunar calendar, the news that Anda had breached the Xuanfu Shangxi Road finally spread to the east and west directions on the grasslands beyond the border wall.
"Good! You are indeed my dear brother!" To the west of Shahukou, Jinong Gunbilik, the nominal second-in-command of the Northern Yuan Khan Court and the leader of 30,000 households on the right, laughed loudly, "He can really do it at any time. The grain route from the east to Datong has been cut off. If the grain route from the south to Datong is cut off, Datong will be at your fingertips! Pass the order and work harder at Shahukou and Piantou Pass to pin down the soldiers there. We will go directly from Manchuria The Ying'en Fort that Shou Tu conquered last year goes to Shuozhou! The prestige he lost in Shuozhou, my brother will help him get it back!"
At Gubeikou, an important pass in Jizhou Town in the northeast of Miyun, Wang Shouren has arrived here, accompanied by Zhu Qi and the former chief soldier of Jizhou Town.
To the north of them is a river valley between high mountains. The military tents are currently arranged along the valley to the northwest, and they can't see the end at a glance, as far as Fengning City.
The confrontation had lasted for many days, and Wang Shouren arrived here. The total strength of both sides in the Gubeikou area may have exceeded 50,000.
Then Wang Shouren frowned: "There are many mountains in the Yan Mountains, and the autumn is high and dry. The little prince personally leads the army and is just outside Gubeikou. What is his plan?"
This is not a good terrain for cavalry charges. A small-scale surprise attack that breaks through Gubeikou will indeed pose a great threat to the capital. But now, Jizhou Town has heavily deployed troops here.
The reason why the Great Wall is the Great Wall is because it was built in dangerous places. Now that the Tatars have given up the advantage of quickly attacking Xiaguan, what good can they gain by confronting the Ming army?
"There are many trails in the mountains, and the Dunshou Army can find them. On the other side of Yunwu Mountain, when we climb up and look north, we can see that the flag of Little Prince Khan is indeed in Fengning City."
Wang Shouren pondered for a moment, and then said solemnly: "This place is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and the generals and soldiers have all prepared food and grass. Funing Marquis, you come with me back to the Santun Camp. If they move the tiger away from the mountain, there will actually be a strange army going south from Chengde. If we break through Xifengkou, we can reach the capital in one smooth sail!"
Although the Wuyangyang army here cannot be ignored, the battle situation is so strange that Wang Shouren needs to ensure that Jizhou Town is safe.
"Da Sima, the Tartars are all old and young. Just setting up camp outside Gubeikou like this does not necessarily mean that they are good at fighting. The Khan Banner in Fengning City does not necessarily mean that the little prince is there. Soldiers are not tired of deceit, and if they are sent by the Tartars It would be a joke if some herdsmen came here and locked down Jizhou's heavy soldiers so that they could not move rashly." Zhu Qi had a different opinion, "How about I try to rob the camp?"
"No!" Wang Shouren shook his head firmly, "Jizhou Town, just keep the Tatars outside the border wall."
Recalling the terrain in the Xuanfu area of Jizhou, Wang Shouren said solemnly: "We can only stop with silence. If so many people are just pretending to attack, it would be too much. Xuanfu has His Majesty and General Staff Yang present, There is no need to worry about Juyongguan and Mutianyu. However, there is no room for loss of the eastern portal of Shuntian Mansion. Funing Marquis should be aware that if the Xifeng Pass is broken, I am afraid that the entire Liaodong will be lost! With such a large formation of the Tatars, only I'm afraid that I might harm Duoyan Sanwei, so I can rest assured and go south. What could be more tempting to Duoyan Sanwei than the whole of Liaodong?"
Wang Shouren's judgment was this, but now Bodi is not in the Yanshan Mountains, but in the Bashang Grassland at the Luan River Bend, the uppermost generation of the Luan River beside Chengde City.
He now only leads less than 10,000 people, but he was once known as the Xue Army and was the elite among the tens of thousands of households in the central Chahar.
The current location of the Khan's army is northeast of Guyuan and is heading southwest.
"So, Anda has really entered Yutailing?"
He asked with a smile, and the person next to him only said: "That's it. The people sent to investigate also reported that the Tumut troops had killed and wounded at least 1,780 men in Yutailing."
"That's not enough." Bodi's eyes were filled with anticipation. "It will take time for the Han people to mobilize their troops to counterattack. Send the order and march slowly. Tell me, it will take me five days to reach the Longmen River, and Hua Dang will also need time to ensure that the ancient There are no Han people setting up an ambush north of the Beikou. To put it mildly, the road here is not easy after all."
In five more days, I think so many people will eat half of the dried beef they carry with them, right? In the Han border towns closest to the Great Wall, there were not many things to grab.
Wounded soldiers need to be resettled, and the Han people will not be willing to abandon Yutailing and Zhangjiakou.
The ignorant emperor of the Han people left Juyongguan, and the news in Xuanfu town was already aroused, but did he really dare to stay in Xuanfu? I'm afraid I'll still stay in my arms.
I hope Anda can really be a vanguard as he said and contain all the heavy troops of Xuanfu in the northwest direction of Xuanfu.
And when the Khan Banner arrived, they captured the Longmen Guards and Longmensuo castles in the northeast of Xuan Mansion. If they went to Huailai, there would be no Great Wall blocking them!
…
The Xuanfu front entered a brief calm, but everyone knew that a real war had begun to brew.
"What are you waiting for?"
In front of Zhu Houcong, and in front of many generals and civil servants in Xuanfu Town, Yang Yiqing had a headache: "Your Majesty, why did you leave the heavy troops in the capital to protect you and come here lightly? Your Majesty, it is safer to stay in Huai Lai."
"Nearly half of the Upper West Road has been lost. I am personally on the front line to boost morale!"
Zhu Houcong explained in a seemingly youthful and arrogant way, then looked at the map, his face not very good: "So, now it starts from Chaigou Fort, follows the Yanghe River to Xuanfu, and then connects to Zhangjiakou, and then Is the river in danger? I'll call for reinforcements at the encirclement point! If Zhangjiakou is lost and he invades Xuanfu again, how can the generals on the south bank of Yanghe River cross the river and come to rescue as soon as possible?"
Fu Duo, who came to see his Majesty, felt cold: If it was broken, he was afraid that the Emperor would point his fingers.
He looked at Yang Yiqing. The general staff member seemed to be able to explain patiently: "Wang Xian has arrived at Wanquan Left Guard, and Huai'an Guard has also climbed over the mountains to the south bank of Yanghe River. The terrain on the north bank of Yanghe River is flat and broad. Although I am an encirclement point, To call for reinforcements, but to cross the river to counterattack, it is extremely difficult to cope with the Tatar cavalry charge. Now that Yutailing and Wanquan right guard have been lost, it is better to hold on safely. After all, I am coming from a long way, and food and grass will become a problem sooner or later."
"The north bank of the Yanghe River is the main road for Xuanfu to transport grain to Datong. In this case, won't Datong's food and grass become a problem? If you fall into the trap, I will only leave a few people here to consume the Xuanfu army. In fact, he led the main force out of Yutailing and transferred to Datong?"
"Wang Xian is in the west just to act according to the opportunity, to support both Xuanfu and Datong." Yang Yiqing couldn't help but said, "Your Majesty, the generals of Xuanfu know that Your Majesty is in Xuanfu, and their morale has been greatly boosted. Your Majesty, please don't Worry, even though Yutailing is lost, my troops also suffered a lot of casualties. How can we spend a few more days to lead the exhausted troops to attack Datong? Your Majesty has chosen Wu Dinghou to be in Datong, so you should trust him to defend Datong."
Fu Duo saw that the emperor was silent, as if he was choked by Yang Yiqing's words.
He knew the grand strategy of this battle, but now the war situation has not developed in the expected direction - the Tatars, who are accustomed to relying on speed to attack and plunder, actually attacked the fortress and stopped after taking a small corner of the northwest of Xuanfu. Come down.
This was to lure the reinforcements out of the city to counterattack, and then to defeat the Ming army in a field battle in the open field.
He may have guessed His Majesty's thoughts: Can the young emperor, who was defeated for a while, be able to bear this tone and just watch the enemy army gain a foothold in the Ming Dynasty and show off its power in such a disgraceful manner?
When the Ming army left the city to fight the cavalry on the grasslands, their chances of winning immediately dropped sharply.
"Just follow General Staff Yang's strategy. Since there is no counterattack at the moment, General Staff Yang and General Fu can analyze the war situation on all sides to me."
After only a small area, the emperor's expression changed, and Lu Bing felt very excited and confused.
Why do you behave like that in front of your own people?
"There's no movement on Bodie's side. Since I'm standing still, I'm afraid I won't be gullible this time. If I saw that the situation was not going well and you were trying to persuade me to turn around, I would give up when things got better and only stick to the declaration. What about the Fuzhen? If Xuanfu Town remains, unless the army is really defeated, Anda will be tempted by me and bet that you will not be able to pursue me and capture me first."
"So wait for now." Yang Yiqing said calmly, "We must wait until Bodi's main force also appears. Then because His Majesty insists on going to Xuanfu, I can order the re-defense on the outside of Xuanfu. Zhangjiakou must not abandon the defense without any reason."
Zhu Houcong pondered for a moment and looked at Fu Duo: "General Fu, over at Longmen, the ambush troops in the mountains have been hidden."
"Don't worry, your majesty. Since the beginning of the year, heavy troops have been deployed to guard the west and south roads, so five thousand elite troops have been mobilized for excuses. All the way south from Longmen River, elite troops have been dormant in the mountains for half a year. All the castles in Longmen are people whom the general can trust, and they have already sent orders. When you see the enemy, you will first retreat to Longmen Guard, and surround the enemy in the mountains with the Yanqing Prefecture troops to protect the east side of Xuanfu. If the east is not the way for the invading Tatar army, then go south to encircle Huailai."
"Where's Huai'anwei?"
This time it was Lu Bing who answered: "Commander He and Yan Qianshi sent a message. The brothers from the Special Service Office and the Special Operations Battalion, who are recruiting local braves, have temporarily transferred grain and grass supplies from Huai'an to Chaigou Fort."
Zhu Houcong looked at the map in front of him.
The place where Huai'an is located is a basin. Further south is Yuzhou.
What needs to be judged now is what the strategic goal of Anda is. Perhaps from the current position, they followed the bottom of the Yangtze River Valley to invade Datong, or perhaps they crossed the Yangtze River and climbed the mountains to Huai'an and Yuzhou, thus severing the connection between Xuanfu and Datong.
Da Yi's usual steady attack showed that he could not be fooled into creating a situation where Xuan Da's defenders could only cower inside the castle, allowing him to dare to lead his troops deeper into the southeast.
Unless there is a real defeat, the Xuanfu army must protect him as he flees south. Even so, it's a bet that he doesn't continue to play it safe.
As Zhu Houcong said before, what if he only captured Xuanfu and was content to hold on to that side and occupy both sides of the Yang River?
After breaking through Xuanfu, only the Inner Great Wall can still serve as a barrier. From a strategic point of view, it will be difficult for Xuanfu and Datong to become threats in the future.
"Yutailing has been defeated for a while, and we can't lose again!" Zhu Houcong raised his head and stared at Yang Yiqing, "The morale of the border army cannot withstand another big defeat. Otherwise, if we fail to lure the enemy, we will really be defeated like a mountain."
Yang Yiqing nodded in agreement: "Since the leader is so different from usual, he should change the situation when the situation arises. Therefore, the north bank of Yanghe River is now the preset battlefield. We have to fight in the field to surround the enemy, and we must be able to be in the west of Xuan Mansion or in Huailai. Go out of the city and defeat the enemy."
"This bag is a little looser."
"I have ordered Marquis Guo to send Li Jin to reinforce Chaigou Fort. He is so thirsty for battle that he can lead his troops from Yehu Ridge to the north of Yutailing."
"Li Jin...how many people can he bring?"
"A maximum of one thousand and five."
"Even if he had the courage to defend Heye Mountain for several days, he would not be able to stop so many captives from fleeing northward. There is a flat plain to the north of Yutailing, and there are no passes to block people."
Yang Yiqing pointed to the mountains to the north of Zhangjiakou: "Then we can only abandon the forts east and north of Longmen Guard, and lead their troops to risk going around to the north of Zhangjiakou. It can be done, but it is impossible to transport food and grass. Xuanfu was defeated and the two wings were surrounded. The timing There can be no difference at all.”
"Grain and grass..." Zhu Houcong turned to look at Zhang Boring on the other side, "Is there any way?"
"If this is the plan, I will go to Kaiping personally."
"Are you sure?"
Zhang Bor just said firmly: "Three thousand generals, one person can get two liters per day. I will make every effort to prepare three hundred shi of grain and transport it to Baimiao Beach to the east of Zhangbei."
Zhu Houcong's eyes lit up: "Is there anyone there?"
"In the past, there were several families under the command of Si Xinghe, the capital of Peking, who stayed in Zhangbei."
Zhu Houcong looked at Yang Yiqing: "Think carefully!"
In the past, outside the Great Wall to the north of the capital, there was a parallel capital in Beijing that only existed for twelve years.
Now Zhang Boring presented the limited power he could use outside the Ming Dynasty, and several people in Xuanfu Town re-formulated strategies based on the changes in the war situation.
In Huailai, Tang Shunzhi resumed supervising food and salary management - Wang Xian had too many military affairs to deal with, and the Yanghe food route was threatened by Anda's army and was no longer safe. As for the 10,000-strong Beijing camp army, except for the two thousand escorts who marched to Xuanfu first, the remaining people were also piling up to Xuanfu.
The continuous supply of grain and grass shipped from the capital was huge, and they were all preparing for a big war.
"Will we arrive at Longmenchuan in three days?" I replied, still at Wanquan Youwei, and smiled after hearing the report, "In three days, Kenqie should arrive."
Does the Tumote Department really only have more than 10,000 soldiers capable of fighting?
The strong attack on Yutailing resulted in many casualties. Sudden changes will catch your opponent off guard. If it changes again... Now that the Ming people are heavily stationed in the northwest of Xuanfu Town, there should be a steady stream of food and grass being transported, right?
The wide and flat banks of the Yang River are more suitable for riding horses on the grassland. Those small forts on the north bank that still have to be preserved, and Zhangjiakou, which is still heavily guarded by troops, don't the people inside want to eat food?
They will all be from the Tumote Department.
He was also waiting for the news that his brother had also invaded Datong.
Only when facing the Xuanfu Ming Army, which has been defeated for a while, can I be absolutely sure!
In the southwest of Jingping, the beacon fire finally lit up.
Yu Dayou saw Lu Qi.
Not from Pianguan River, but from the direction of Naihe Fort.
What happened to Naihe Fort?
Gunbilik saw the fortress that was obviously built temporarily, and asked again: "The Han emperor selected the number one scholar in martial arts?"
"Yes, Jinong. Didn't the prisoner you captured earlier say that? All the officials in Shuozhou hate him."
Gunbilik smiled interestingly: "Do you want to imitate the Li Jin who made Man Shou Tu suffer a loss last year? The recruits who have just trained for more than half a year don't know the heights of the sky, so they must run over first! That's the guard of the West Road over there. Are you hiding in Jingping?"
"Exactly."
"Every year, people are sent to the account to deliver gifts, hahahahaha." Having destroyed three forts along the way, Gunbilik was now very proud, "Hit them quickly! Then pull out these two nails, and there will be Mulberry in front of you." Wadi. First capture this martial arts champion, and then carry his head to Shuozhou, which has cultivated a lot of land in the past few years!"
For many years in the private market, Gunbilik in the Hetao has learned a lot about the situation in Datong.
He didn't look at the cottage with his smiling eyes, but at Jingping: The guard who is afraid of fighting should also like to enjoy it, right? What kind of beauty does he hide?
Yu Dayou had already replaced his weapon with the Mo Dao and stood looking northwest.
After tightening his fingers, he ordered: "Old Bao."
"The mark is on!"
"Yuanyang Camp, follow me out of the camp!"
"Take your orders!"
Those who formed a team with Yu Dayou were the bodyguards of other Wu Jinshi who were appointed to the Jinyi Guards by Tong Keli.
Now they looked at Yu Dayou walking steadily to the gate of the village, and they couldn't help but become solemn.
As a general, do you have to go out of the stronghold to meet the enemy in the first battle?
Zhao Benxue's heart was also raised, but he did not stop him.
Whether the Yuanyang Formation is a piece of tofu or an unbreakable iron stone is not the point.
But the nearly ten thousand soldiers who appeared here must be stopped.
Yu Dayou was personally assigned by the emperor to be stationed on Datong West Road. He was defeated here and watched as the captives rode eastward, thus ending his official career.
In this case, there must be bloody courage first, and the first battle will stabilize the morale of so many newly trained soldiers and give them hope.
Only if this place is not defeated in one blow, Liu Kai from Jingping can come out and achieve extraordinary feats like he did last year.
"Only an appointment, southeast grain road." Zhao Benxue walked towards the wall of the village, preparing to command the defenders in the village from a high position.
He already has some prestige in Shuozhou Guarding Thousand Households.
"Students obey orders!"
Not long after he came here, Yang Bo felt excited.
The martial arts champion lived up to his reputation, and his literary talents were not inferior to him. There is no need to worry about encirclement in the mountain stronghold here, and there is a grain road in the mountains to the southeast.
It seems that this stronghold will be defended for a long time, and both master and disciple are confident that they can defend it for a long time.
The heavy village door opened, and Yu Dayou went out with his sword in hand and walked in front.
The hillside that had been cleared ahead had been dug into layers of earth platforms during this period.
It is easy to defend but difficult to attack, but it must be attacked, otherwise the Tatars cannot easily pass the road at the foot of the mountain - the tiger crouching artillery on the mountain can carry the artillery to the earth platform and bombard it from high.
Yu Dayou chose a good location among the mountains and ridges beside the Yellow River. The Jingping City side is naturally another good location.
The pass and fortresses of the Ming Dynasty were all located in good locations. As long as they dared to engage and block the enemy, it would not be easy to get around them. I really made a detour, where is the way back?
But there are too few who dare to come out to meet the enemy and stop them, making Luqi feel more relaxed and happy.
Now, after Li Jin, there is another such guard in the West Road.
Yu Dayou steadied his horse and watched quietly as the cavalry started to charge in the distance and rushed along the valley.
"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!"
After he roared, there were sounds that stretched from here to the mountains to cheer up his own people.
There was a voice in front that responded to him, even louder.
"Suddenly hot!"
It was as if a river had risen in the valley, and the dust kicked up by the horses' hooves rushed straight towards the twenty regiments of soldiers in front.
The first to roar was the squatting tiger cannon located on the earth platform on the mountainside, and there were also Tatar arrows thrown up from underneath.
They would be subject to some shelling first, but the soldiers didn't care: in just a moment, the three hundred people blocking the road and the Ming troops who came out of the stronghold to fire guns would flee back behind the stronghold wall in a panic.
"Strike the knife! Turn to kill!"
"kill!"
The torrent of cavalry rushing at the forefront was the first to burst into a cloud of blood.
The fierce general of the Jiajing Dynasty made his first slash on the bank of a tributary of the Yellow River.
(End of chapter)
