"Report! The prisoners are pretending to attack Hukou and Piantou Pass. Eight thousand elite cavalry have broken through the Ying'en Fort. They will attack Shuozhou in Jingpingping again!"
The news came just when Gunbilik's main force used their fast horses to raid Ying'en Fort, which had been breached last year and had not yet been completely repaired. Yang Yiqing's face changed slightly when he heard this.
The army of Boljijin Bodi, the leader of the Northern Yuan Dynasty Khan Court, has not yet been seen, but the Ordos tribe entrenched in the Hetao area moved first.
"I'm so different from the usual fierce attack on Yutailing. It turns out that I helped them tear open the hole first, so that our Xuanfu army could not move!" Yang Yiqing looked at Zhu Houcong solemnly, "Bo'an's side is about to start! "
With pressure from three directions at the same time, Ming's border in northern Xinjiang was too long.
"This is in line with the situation of the Tatars. We all face the army together and rely on our own abilities." Zhu Houcong nodded, "Believe in Bo'an's ability and believe in the generals of Jizhou. The most worrying one now is Datong Town West Road."
In the original planning, the pocket had two directions.
Considering that the 20,000 households on the right side of the Hetao and Fengzhoutan directions are closer together, it is very likely that they attacked together. The west line of defense, which was broken through last year and had no time to mend, will naturally be a breakthrough point. Therefore, after the Tatars broke through from the west road, they were intended to be released into the bottom of the Sanggan River Valley, while Li Jin, who was transferred to the north road, could lead his troops and Guo Xun's personal troops to intersperse and encircle them.
And Anda and Gunbilik are both lords of ten thousand households, so it is unlikely that joining forces will cause a lot of trouble. If there is an encirclement and suppression on the west side, Datong will no longer be able to defend Yanghekou. I replied that it is impossible to attack Datong with one army, but it is highly possible to attack along the Yanghe River and plunder the Xuanfu Shangxi Road. Because the two fronts are tight, the fortress can only be ordered to hold on, and then create a situation to lure An Da to Huai to annihilate it.
Putting Li Jin on the North Road is also a bait. As the deputy commander-in-chief of the left army, he also had enough power and prestige to travel all the way westward and around the back, bringing with him some elite soldiers along the route.
But after the situation on the grassland changed, the Great Khan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty would no longer sit back and watch the right wing fight with the Ming Dynasty and consume his strength.
I paid the price of a lot of casualties for my own tribe. Zhu Houcong used a taunt to successfully turn this operation, which only targeted 20,000 households on the right wing of Mongolia, into a full-front national war.
Now, Li Jin has been transferred to Xuanfu to prepare dumplings for me. Zhu Houcong is not only worried about Datong West Road, but also misses Yu Dayou who stays there.
A generation of generals and stars wouldn’t be cut off like this, would they?
"Sending Wang Xian to Huai'an was not only an encirclement, but also a feint attack in the direction of Datong that turned out to be real. Now that the Taolu have really invaded, Your Majesty, you can order Wang Dutai to go and take control of Datong, and order Wu Dinghou to lead troops to the west to help."
Zhu Houcong nodded, "Now that the new strategy has been agreed upon, General Staff Yang will just pass the order."
Orders were issued from the Xuan Mansion, some going east, some going west, and some going south.
Li Quanli's Beijing camp army slowed down, not only to appear in the best appearance in the eyes of the generals on the front line of Xuanfu Town, but also to wait for those "lost" generals to return to their ranks.
Tang Shunzhi, Zhang Jing, Yang Shen and others were rushing between the Beijing Suburban Heavy Industry Park and Huailai. The front line needed more new firepower.
After Guo Xun received the news that the captives had entered Koujingpingshuozhou, he knew that he had to fight hard. He mobilized a lot of his own soldiers to replace Li Jin's soldiers to guard Yanghekou, and now went to the West Road for reinforcements. He could rely on his status as Marquis of Wuding and the chief military officer of Datong Town, and he must not let down the emperor's trust. Bloody courage.
"Send the order to the three guards of Youwei, Yulin and Weiyuan. Killing Hukou is just a feint attack to contain them. I won't move them. But if there are still losses, raise your head and come to see me!" He ordered with a cold face while putting on his armor, "Send the order to pacify the prisoners." Guards, rush south to support Jingping at full speed. Send an order to Yunchuan Guards and Zuowei to command Tongzhi to stay behind, and command each to lead one thousand and five elite troops to join me at Mayi!"
There is another sentence: "Send orders to Liu Kai and Li Jian! The enemy must stop the enemy in Jingping for ten days! As long as they can hold it for another ten days, they will be my brothers with different surnames from Guo Xun! If there are any problems in the past, I will report them Your Majesty, you have merit but no fault!"
After leaving the back hall, standing in front of them were Chen Qisheng, deputy military envoy of North Hebei Province, and Zhonglou Qiongyu, the governor of Datong from the Ministry of Household Affairs.
"Wang Dutai is coming at starry night, and the military situation is like a fire. I will march first. You two, if Shuozhou is lost, Datong will be isolated and helpless, and its food and grass will be cut off."
Needless to say, regardless of the overt and covert fights over food and wages in the past, they are now just grasshoppers on the same rope.
If Datong was defeated, everyone involved would be guilty.
Chen Qisheng and Lou Qiongyu nodded solemnly, then looked at each other in confusion.
Fortunately, I didn't listen to that reckless man that time and did something to let the court know that the situation in Datong was complicated. Is the emperor afraid of complexity? The situation in front of him was largely due to his words that humiliated the Lord of Beiyuan.
This has really become a war that only happens once in decades. If Bei Yuan does something and is used to ridicule the Emperor of Heaven, then all the officials in Datong Town will really die without a burial place.
The good days are gone forever.
After a national war of this level, there will no longer be any private market or tacit understanding.
If the Ming Dynasty is defeated, the border towns will be purged. If the Ming Dynasty wins, they can be safe and sound like last year when they won the great victory over Shuozhou.
At this moment, they also sincerely hope that Liu Kai can command the troops on the west route well, at least until reinforcements arrive.
…
Fresh memories are attacking Liu Kai.
"A few days?"
"It's been three days, General."
Ying'en Fort was destroyed nine days ago, and military information from the west was urgently sent east.
Taolu was blocked by Yu Dayou on the way to Jingping, three days ago.
Outside Jingping Fort, only Tatar sentries and cavalry were still seen, but no large army was seen.
In this way, Yu Dayou has been there for four days with only more than 2,000 soldiers, blocking the nearly 10,000 troops reported.
But Liu Kai remained in the fort as always.
He admired Yu Dayou, but the "good, good, good" he said was because he could survive longer.
Liu Kai hoped that Yu Dayou could stay as long as possible.
"General, are we really not going to provide reinforcements?"
"The military order has not yet arrived, why are you in a hurry?" Liu Kai yelled, "Pinglu, Jingping, and Shuozhou are the gateways to Datong! Now that the Taolu are invading in large numbers, as long as these three cities are still there, the Taolu will not Dare to go deep. Taolu pretended to attack Hukou and Piantou Pass, but now nearly ten thousand troops raided Ying Enbao and rushed in. Who knew there was an ambush? If I go to help, Jingping is empty, and this gate is broken, who will come? Responsible?"
Reasonable and convincing.
This Jingping is nearly three hundred miles away from Datong, but now that the imperial commander is personally marching and encountering enemies on all sides, Guo Xun alone cannot have the final say on how to arrange the Datong West Road.
Liu Kai felt that he could delay it for another two days on the grounds of military orders.
But the day the military order came, Liu Kai's expression changed at first, and then his eyes gleamed after hearing the order.
"Did you hear it clearly? The Pinglu Guards are coming from the source, which means that Jingping is the top priority! The general's military order is that we will guard Jingping for eight days at most, and more troops will come to help. Go to Mayi quickly and let Li Jian lead the troops. Go to Shuozhou, and then bring the food and grass to Jingping!"
The military order mentioned guarding Jingping, but it did not say that they would go out of the city to reinforce Yu Dayou and fight with the Tatars in the wild.
Liu Kai said with emotion: "In order to slow down the enemy cavalry's attack, General Yu resisted the enemy cavalry at Huangya Mountain. If we win this battle, I will report to the Ming court to narrate his immortal contribution!"
"..."
Those who heard his words were all close friends and confidants. Although everyone had mixed feelings, they all hoped that Yu Dayou could stay longer and fight to the last man.
…
After capturing Ying'en Fort, Gunbilik had two ways to go to Jingping.
One is from Ying'en Fort to the southeast, which is a better way to go, and can also bypass Zuhu and Naihe Forts. The other route was along the valley floor between the mountains, breaking the two forts of Zuhu and Naihe, and attacking Jingping from the mountains west of Jingping. After digging down the well flat and walking southeast, you will emerge from the mountains.
This route, which is more difficult to march, was chosen because as long as the two forts of Zhihu and Naihe were defeated and hundreds of people were left here, two purposes could be achieved: First, the road to reinforce Piantou Pass from the direction of Datong would be cut off. , the second is not to worry about the Ming army coming around from the direction of Pianguan River and cutting off your retreat.
Wouldn't the better route be more convenient when evacuating?
Moreover, by concentrating all their efforts to break through the two small forts first, the Datong Ming army would not have time to reinforce.
Where Huangya Mountain is located, the Pianguan River makes an almost ninety-degree bend.
Naihe Fort is located at the corner of the ninety-degree bend, which is a pass.
After passing this pass, turn east from the lower water head at the foot of Huangya Mountain, and then you can follow the mountain road to Jingping.
Unexpectedly, this became a pass again, and the Ming troops on the pass were still broken.
Gunbilik's expression was ugly now: "There are more defenders than the previous fort? Isn't it just a thousand-household camp?"
"...This Thousand Households is different. There are two Thousand Households of troops. The weapons and weapons are directly provided by the General Military Officer of Datong, and the food and salary are personally raised by Governor Xuanda."
A tooth was chipped here, and some of the people previously captured at the three forts of Yingen, Zhuhu, and Naihe were tortured. Gunbilik finally learned more news.
"...Yu Dayou!" Gunbilik read the name through gritted teeth, and then scolded his generals through gritted teeth, "You can't replace one of the five. What a shame! This fortress must be taken down!" "
The hilltop in the distance doesn't really look unusual.
But the level-by-level earth platforms are too unfriendly to the cavalry. If you don't attack the mountain, you will be bombarded. He wanted to attack the mountain, but he had that weird formation that looked like a hedgehog with swords and halberds.
In the field battle, the grassland cavalry and the Ming infantry actually had such a battle loss ratio, which was indeed a shame and a great humiliation.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The sound of war drums came from the mountain again. On the only slope on the mountain that was not built into a platform, the armored soldiers came down again. One of the flags was raised very high, with the word "Yu" written on it. .
There were fewer people, but those holding long steel swords, cold halberds, and tall square shields had high morale.
Gunbilik's eyes were about to burst into flames: "How dare you take the initiative to invite a fight! Now there are less than twenty of those formations at most. It can't be blocked! If we don't destroy this stronghold today, next time If we go to attack again, there will be no harm, so it’s up to you!”
Thinking of going to the bitter cold land of Qinghai, the vanguard general who was pointed out by Gunbilic shuddered.
They have lost nearly 30% of their value, should they be defeated?
The war drums sounded again and the horns sounded.
Yu Dayou stood on the road between the mountains, which could only accommodate less than thirty riders, and calmly ordered: "Snake shape!"
The location was carefully chosen by him. As he said at the beginning, this mandarin duck formation is not conducive to engaging the enemy in large-scale battles.
But in this narrow terrain, no matter how many enemies there are, they can only rush over one by one.
If we don't defeat the Yuanyang camp blocking the road up the hillside, the enemy cavalry will have to face the earth platform and the cannonballs and arrows on the earth platform.
From the initial thirty groups of mandarin duck formations, there are now only nineteen groups.
More than a hundred people were killed or injured in the Yuanyang camp, and about three hundred people on the earth platform were hit by enemy targets. However, there were already more than five hundred Tatars left at the foot of Huangya Mountain, and more than a thousand people were wounded and fled back.
Now Yu Dayou gave an order, and nineteen groups of mandarin duck formations stood staggered, preparing to engage in battle with bated breath.
The results of the past three days gave them a lot of confidence and courage, but today will be even more difficult.
In the mountain stronghold, Yang Bo was full of admiration: "It's true that one man can't stop ten thousand people!"
But there are also worries: "Why haven't the reinforcements from Jingping arrived yet?"
Zhao Benxue sneered: "There will be no shortage of cowardly generals in any dynasty or generation. How many days will the food in the stronghold be enough?"
"The students went to Bianzhuang and Baidiangou. The villagers knew that General Yu was fighting the Tatars here, so they raised some food, and some were helping to transport food. After tonight, they were stationed at Langwo Mountain. It takes two hundred shi of grain to transport it."
Yang Bo paused for a moment and his eyes darkened: "With the current number of soldiers, we can still last for eight days. If we continue to fight, ten days will be enough."
The number of people will become smaller and smaller, and the rations that each person can share will naturally become more and more.
Zhao Benxue saw the cruelty of the war with his own eyes now, and his feelings in his heart were quite different from those before.
The Tatars faced by the Ming Dynasty are much weaker than those in the Song Dynasty. The weapons and armor of Ming generals are better now than they were then. Because Shuozhou Guards Qianhu Station is a special case, the weapons, food, and pay are probably the best among the Ming Dynasty's frontier armies, and they are nothing more than new recruits.
If the general is brave, the morale of the soldiers will gradually stabilize and they will dare to fight to the death.
But it is a fight to the death after all.
It seems that there is no need to worry about food. What we need to worry about is that the number of soldiers is decreasing as the battle continues, and reinforcements have not yet arrived. Will the morale of these new soldiers, inspired by the results of the first day, collapse?
Today will be very different.
Seeing the mandarin ducks forming a serpentine formation at the foot of the mountain, Zhao Benxue said solemnly: "Wei Yue, you have a great future, do you really want to stay here? Today, there will be Tatars rushing up the mountain!"
Young Yang Bo looked at the general flags fluttering at the foot of the mountain, and his blood surged: "Students believe in General Yu! I believe that the imperial court will not abandon Shuozhou! The student is Jinke Shanxi Jieyuan, and now all the soldiers in the village know it. The student can still be here, the general Why don't you dare to fight? Students can't leave!"
"Okay! I'll recruit ten sharpshooters and go to the sentry post! You take this mirror to detect the enemy and shoot the general!"
Yang Bo took the telescope. He was not as talented and talented as Yu Dayou, but he knew that Zhao Benxue needed him to play a more tactical role.
To shoot a man, shoot a horse first; to capture a thief, capture the king first.
Those who will be able to charge up the mountain today must be some of the bravest Tatars and captive generals. Ordinary soldiers outside the village wall and inside the village wall didn't have time to think about it, but he could.
Ten of the army's best archers were assigned to him, so most of the most threatening Tatars who rushed up the mountain would have to be dealt with as soon as possible.
At the foot of the mountain, there are gaps between the mandarin duck formations scattered in a serpentine shape.
This intersection will still be a meat grinder, but it's much looser now.
Seeing this, the charging general raised his sword and shouted: "Let the horses listen to you, stay closer, avoid them, and rush to the mountain! Shoot them first, so that they can't see clearly with their shields raised!"
If you have an opening, you can avoid it with your superb horsemanship.
The stronghold on the mountain collapsed, and the nineteen iron lumps at the foot of the mountain were melted away sooner or later.
As the arrows rained on the way, Yu Dayou held his Mo Dao tightly and shouted: "Wu! Ten left! Ten right! Shout!"
"one!"
"two!"
"three!"
"..."
With a chorus of shouts, the people performing their respective duties in the Yuanyang Formation were just doing their thing and moving mechanically according to their daily training.
In the rain of arrows, the mandarin duck formations distributed in a snake shape began to move left and right.
The enemy cavalry general gritted his teeth: Damn it, we don’t care about the formation now, let each of them look at their own abilities.
"Suddenly hot!"
"boom!"
On the earth platform, the sound of cannons sounded again, and Gunbilik in the distance had a dark face: Is this Yu Dayou the biological son of the Ming Emperor? Why hasn't he run out of ammunition?
Blood flowers bloomed around the mandarin duck formation at the foot of the mountain again, but it was no longer as bright as the first day. After all, the formation was much looser.
Finally, more and more enemy cavalry rushed up the mountain. Although behind them, the mandarin duck formations were still turning fast or slowly. From time to time, some people would fall on their backs, and screams and roars could be heard amidst the sound of arrows and projectiles piercing the air.
After less than one stick of incense, Yu Dayou's hands began to feel sore and numb.
He knew that most of the soldiers were in worse physical condition than he was.
"Change! Turtle shape!"
Amidst the hiss, the rest of his group immediately shouted in unison, which had the effect of amplifying the sound. The flag bearer in his formation who had to take risks also waved the flag, three times up and down, and three times left.
The sound of drums in the village changed, and then the fifteen and a half regiments began to gather at the slope of the mountain.
Gunbilik watched from a distance, his eyes brightening: "Gather your strength and send more people to rush over!"
At the outpost on the mountain, Yang Bo pointed in one direction: "There, the one with the gray and white leather robe and beard!"
"Whoosh!" Two or three arrows shot over.
"Kill all these people who are blocked on the mountain! Listen to my order and prepare to open the gate of the village and withdraw the troops!" Zhao Benxue also spoke nervously.
There are fewer and fewer people in Yuanyang camp, and the soldiers are physically exhausted. They can no longer be as strong as they were in the previous three days. General Yu Dayou must not allow any mistakes, otherwise the morale of the army will collapse.
Today this can only be regarded as a small victory. When Ming Jin withdraws his troops on the mountain, more than a dozen groups of tiger crouching artillerymen protected by only a short wooden fence and a few sword players and archers on the earth platform quickly withdraw. After entering the village gate, they breathed a sigh of relief: the general said that they would leave the village again today, and then they would only stay inside the village.
In the distance, more cavalry were coming like a tide. The soldiers of the Yuanyang Camp rolled all the way back to the entrance of the village, and many of their hands were shaking.
The first batch of more than 70 enemy cavalry who rushed up the mountain were all killed and injured by the archers and gunmen in the village.
When passing by a wounded Tatar soldier, Yu Dayou rolled up his broadsword, severed his head, and rolled slowly down the slope.
The results are abundant, but the heads are few. How can there be time to collect them?
Under the slope, the chaotic horse's hooves trampled the head, but the horse staggered. The cavalryman almost fell off his horse, but then managed to stabilize himself with his superb riding skills.
A pair of angry but bloodthirsty and crazy eyes looked at the mountain stronghold, because they still had to wait for the Ming troops who had come down from the mountain to return and opened the stronghold gate very close at hand.
There is no time to close the village gate!
After rushing in, it's time to massacre the Ming army and take revenge!
"Suddenly hot!"
(End of chapter)
