At nightfall on the third day of June.
The team that Wang Shouren and Ma Yi unexpectedly attacked Weininghai had just passed through Daqing Mountain. After experiencing a range of lofty mountains, the team had passed Yinshan Mountain, and the soldiers were already exhausted.
"Master Wang, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to move forward." Cao Shun ran to Wang Shouren to complain, "It has been two days and two nights. We have just passed Daqingshan and are still nearly two miles away from Weining Sea. Hundreds of miles, how can we reach it in one day and two nights? The soldiers still need to rest. If it is late, I am afraid that this battle will not be fought. Otherwise, we should retreat."
The team's march. , obviously hindered by the terrain.
First of all, the Ming soldiers were not familiar with the grassland terrain, and when they arrived at Daqing Mountain, it rained. In addition, in order to carry artillery through the mountain, the journey was even slower.
When crossing high mountains, people can dismount and walk, but artillery must be carried by horses.
At this time, Ma Yi, Sun Shangqi and other generals accompanying the army also came over, and they also came to seek Wang Shouren's opinion.
It seems that this group of troops was led by Ma Yi personally, but Wang Shouren, as the head of the Ministry of War, was a civilian official accompanying the army and had a special position in formulating strategies. Moreover, Cao Shun was also the eunuch guarding the Xuanfu, and his status was Above the horse ceremony.
"We have already passed Daqingshan. Do you want to turn back from here?" Wang Shouren asked a very practical question.
We finally got here, but you have to retreat
Ma Yi said, "Master Wang, the morale in the army is a bit low now. The morale was high when we set out for the expedition, but after two days of trekking through mountains and rivers, "The soldiers are very tired. Why don't we continue the march tomorrow morning after a night's rest?"
Compared with Cao Shun's proposal to withdraw his troops, Ma Yi's request was relatively more realistic.
The soldiers are too tired, so it is better to rest first and then continue to set off.
Wang Shouren said firmly, "The three armies can only rest for two hours, and I will give you half an hour more. They must set off at midnight. From here to the west, it is a smooth journey, and the horseback riding is smooth." "Stop"
"It's so frustrating" Cao Shun almost wanted to sit on the ground and roll around.
Sun Shangqi said, "The deadline given to us by Zhang Zhitai is to arrive at Weining Sea tomorrow night. After a short rest, we will raid Weining Sea early the morning after tomorrow. Even if we set off at midnight, we are still far away from Weining Sea." Ninghai is still nearly 200 miles away, and the march day and night is very fast."
Sun Shangqi is here to supervise the army. He is responsible for supervising both Ma Yi and Wang Shouren. Cao Shun, he is equivalent to Zhang Zhou's representative in the army.
With the support of Sun Shangqi, Wang Shouren's marching arrangements will be easier to implement.
The army continued to set off after midnight.
One man and two horses, each carrying his own weapons and rations, and some horses also carried artillery and artillery shells.
During the march, Wang Shouren kept close to the artillery. They were all old acquaintances, just in case anything happened.In the battle, the group of people dispatching the artillery battalion can also maximize the advantages of the long-distance assault troops and horses.
"Instructor Wang, brothers have all seen it. The cannonballs have not been affected by moisture. However, some of the oilcloths on the barrels have been torn and water has entered inside. Wait until after dawn and if the sun rises, tear off the oilcloths. Just open it and let it dry."
It rained before, which made Wang Shouren very nervous.
If the artillery and firearms become damp and cannot be used, it will be difficult for this group of people to compete with the Tatars without the support of firearms and relying only on the cold weapons they bring.
Even if the main forces of the tribes around Weininghai are gathering in the west to fight, how can there be no troops left behind around Weininghai
The number is not important, the key is to catch the opponent by surprise. , and then use firearms to suppress them, otherwise victory can only be achieved by relying solely on cold weapons. The combat quality of the Ming soldiers is still far inferior to that of the tribesmen on horseback.
After daybreak, Wang Shouren was fortunate to finally see the sun that day.
"It's so empty here."
Liu Gui is riding on a horse.
Less than a year ago, he was just a low-level gangster in Nanjing city who couldn't even make a living. Now he went out with the army as a member of the Jin Yiwei Baihu.
In his opinion, this grassland also has a beautiful scenery, which makes him relaxed and happy.
At least it was much better than the cloudy and rainy weather the previous day.
Wang Shouren said, "Instruct the front, middle and rear troops to speed up the march. They will march at least thirty miles in an hour in the open area, and they can only bury the stove after they have entered a hundred miles."
Wang Shouren was there While marching at the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain.
The Chinese army led by Zhang Zhou was in the south of Yinshan Mountain and was also advancing rapidly towards Maoerzhuang.
Compared with the tranquility and peace at the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain, the south of Yinshan Mountain is full of the atmosphere of war and smoke. As the main force of Zhang Zhouzhong's army marches, signs of tribal activities can be seen everywhere.
"Isn't it agreed that we are just tired people who come out to shoot cannons and shoot eagles?"
After two days of marching, Zhang Heling and other pampered ministers couldn't bear it at first. They listened to Zhang Zhou's words , thinking that this group of people was just to support Wang Shouren and came out to provide cover. They would not have any fighting with the grassland tribes at all, and they would not march too fast. However, they found that the march had been hundreds of miles every day for the past two days.
This is too fast for the general army to march.
This is because Zhang Zhou’s side is not a light attack by Wang Shouren’s side. They are bringing food, grass and baggage, and more importantly, they are bringing more than seventy artillery pieces. Although they are all cannons, They didn't bring any heavy artillery, but because there were carriages and so on, the march was quite hurried.
When the team was resting, Zhang Heling came to Zhang Zhou to complain.
At this moment, Zhang Heling also looked shabby, as if he hadn't washed his face in decades, and his whole body was like a briquette.
Zhang Zhou pointed to the west and said, "Our march is too slow. If we cannot reach Maoerzhuang within the set time, we will not be able to move there."The Di Yi troops on the side will be repulsed and the vanguard troops in the surprise attack on Weininghai will have no way to retreat."
Zhang Zhou knew that his marching speed would not be as fast as Wang Shouren's.
But he could not delay. , his mission is to go to Maoerzhuang and other directions close to the Daming Fortress, and after Wang Shouren's surprise attack on Weininghai, go directly south back to the Daming Pass to clear the road.
The road on his side is relatively safe. Because almost all the attention of the grassland tribes is currently on Chi'er Mountain, six to seven hundred miles west of the Weining Sea, which is the main battlefield for the internal annexation of the grassland.
Zhang Zhou looked at the soldiers below. With a tired look on his face, he knew that fortunately he did not expect this group of people to have a big fight with him. The Ming Dynasty frontier army had not experienced a decent war in the past ten years. This was a generation gap for the frontier army soldiers. Unless he is given a year or even ten years to organize his troops, it will not be easy to completely conquer the grassland.
Not only the soldiers, but also Zhang Zhou can do it.
No one is as eager to change the situation in the northwest as he is.
Most of the frontier soldiers want to maintain the status quo. If the grassland tribes disappear, what will they eat? Why go back to farming? Where is the land?
“A journey of a hundred miles a day is too common for grassland marching. Are you so lazy when you are trying to take credit?”
"I didn't ask you to go to the front line to kill the enemy. I just raised the momentum to wave the flag and cheer for the front army. If you still want to push back, then just don't come to the northwest."
This is specifically said to people like Zhang Heling who sing the opposite tune. Listen.
At this time, Zhang Heling is a negative example, which also allows Zhang Zhou, the coach, to find a target. If he does not teach Zhang Heling a lesson at this time, but goes directly to teach the generals, he is likely to encounter those soldiers.
Once this group of people give up their fight, this team will not be able to lead them.
"It's a waste of time to let people go like this." ”
Zhang Heling was just complaining.
If he was allowed to go back to the pass alone, he could still walk, but he was killed by Tatar stragglers on the way back. It would be a shame if they were captured.
On the fourth night of June,
Wang Shouren's troops were less than fifty miles away from Weining Haizi. At this time, the troops and horses were resting for the last time.
After experiencing the extreme fatigue before, the spirits of the soldiers seemed to have calmed down at this time. This was also because the soldiers knew that they had now penetrated deep into the hinterland of the grassland, and there was no way out if they retreated at this time. , the only way to go is to fight to the death.
Wang Shouren chose to rest before arriving at Weining Sea, and he also planned not to make any adjustments before starting the war.
In other words, After eating and resting here, we will march directly to the Weining Sea.
Victory or defeat depends on this.
"You are not allowed to bury the stove and eat the dry food on hand." "Wang Shouren said, "After you've eaten and drank enough, we'll have it tomorrow morning."World War I"
At this time, there are still three hours before dawn, and the rest can only be one hour at most.
It is still very hard to walk the fifty miles in the remaining two hours. .
After the soldiers ate dry food, there was no fire around them. They did not camp in a valley, so they just slept in the open air and gave them an hour to take a nap.
p>
But when Wang Shouren inspected the military camp, he found that the soldiers had very little sleep.
"Why don't you rest and close your eyes?"
Wang Shouren was afraid that these people would lack energy. , still urging.
Ma Yi was patrolling outside, and General Guan Jing said, "Sir Wang, now that the soldiers know that there will be a battle early in the morning, they can't sleep even if they want to. It would be better if they can stay on guard. After all, After that, we have to march quickly. Some people are also afraid that they will not be able to get up after falling asleep. ”
When Wang Shouren heard Guan Jing’s words, he couldn’t say anything else.
An hour passed quickly.
The three thousand cavalry who attacked by surprise continued to set off.< /p>
It was not yet dawn, and the fifty miles had not been walked, when a sentinel reported from the front: “I found many camps everywhere on the top of the mountain. "
Wang Shouren immediately ordered the three armies to stop moving forward and start forming formations.
At the same time, he also took advantage of the night to climb to the heights of a hilly area, looked through the binoculars, and shook his head." It seems that there are only three to four hundred tents, and even if the old, weak, women and children are included, the number of people may not exceed a thousand. "
When Ma Yi heard this, he said, "Master Wang, isn't this enough?"
Wang Shouren thought about it, and it seemed that it was enough.
At the time, Wang Yue The surprise attack on Weininghai captured more than 170 men, women, and children alive, beheaded 437 people, and captured 6,000 horses, camels, cattle, and sheep. He was already known as an unparalleled general.
There are so many in front of him. The tents, so many cattle, sheep and livestock were not enough to plunder
"Prepare for war"
With Wang Shouren's order, the whole army finally became excited.
< p>The rapid march of three days and four nights seems to be paying off at this moment.Because the Ming army is located on higher ground, and the tribal camps below are in the lower lakes and swamps. The lake didn't look big, and the surrounding areas were surrounded by camps.
In the darkness, the opponent seemed not to notice the arrival of the Ming army at all, so Wang Shouren did not intend to use the artillery.
p>
The range of artillery is only about one mile, and it takes four or five miles to charge down from the top of the mountain. It is better to charge directly with cavalry.
“Leave three hundred men and horses to guard the baggage, and the rest. Carrying firearms, preparing sabers, and charging."
In order to maximize the advantage of the Ming Dynasty cavalry's surprise attack, and to prevent the opponent from forming a formation to resist, Wang Shouren directly formed two long snake formations with two thousand soldiers and horses.
He then used seven hundred troops to detour behind the enemy to complete the cover-up.
The first line of cavalry consisted of a thousand men. Charge into the camp in a single formation, first set off a firearm, and then use bows and arrows to ignite fire oil and burn the opponent's camp, causing chaos and making it difficult for the opponent to form a formation.
Then a fight began in the formation.
The second line of cavalry was at the rear, charging in within the space of a cup of tea.
In this way, before dawn, the grassland tribes could not tell how many waves of the Ming army there were, nor how many people were coming in later. In the chaos, they could only retreat hastily, and at this time ambush The seven hundred cavalry in the rear can complete the strangulation.
"As much as possible, no one can escape"
Wang Shouren knew very well that they were in the hinterland of the grassland, and this could only be a camp of the grassland tribe.
I don’t know exactly how many people there are on the other side or whether there are reinforcements around.
What it can do is kill with one hit.
Originally Wang Shouren wanted to wait until the formation was completed before making a surprise attack.
But as the other party's patrolling sentries discovered the presence of the Ming army and showed signs of riding their horses in return, Wang Shouren had no choice but to issue an order to send troops in advance.
As the deputy commander-in-chief, Ma Yi is also the highest military commander of this group of troops, leading the troops to fight on the front line.
Wang Shouren personally rode on horseback and rushed to the second line.
Wang Shouren has been practicing bow and horse riding and archery for a long time in the past few years, and it also came into effect at this time.
In the first round of the Ming Dynasty's offensive, a thousand cavalry rushed in quickly. When they entered the grassland tribe's camp, most of the people in the tribe had just ran out of the camp.
With the sound of "bang bang bang" firecrackers, many tribesmen fell to the ground one after another, including men, women, old and young.
As the fire broke out in the camp, the Ming Dynasty's first round of massacres achieved very good results. The number of men and horses stationed in the camp was obviously insufficient, let alone formation, even if there was sporadic resistance, Very few.
In the chaos, men, women, old and young could only flee westward in a hurry. However, the people of the grassland tribes, both men and women, old and young, could ride horses. Their reaction when encountering such an attack on the camp was relatively quick. of.
But then, the second group of troops led by Wang Shouren also arrived.
The men and horses on the opposite hilltop completed the encirclement of the tribal camp beside the valley and lake.
The battle progressed very smoothly.
After everything is over, there is still no sign of dawn.
Wang Shouren ignored the inventory of war gains and hurriedly sent people to put out the fire in the camp. This was to prevent the burning tents from forming beacon smoke after dawn and being discovered by distant tribal camps.
"Major General, we captured more than 200 people."
When Wang Shouren saw Ma Yi again, Ma Yi showed great excitement on his face, "Beheaded 140 people." It seems that no one has escaped yet."
A camp of three hundred people
It took three thousand soldiers and horses, and so many tactics were deployed
Wang Shou. Ren also felt that he might have taken it too seriously.
He couldn't help but look disappointed.
"How many animals are there"At this time, Cao Shun ran over from the rear army, where he was looking at the baggage. He wanted to know the result of the battle.
This involves his vital interests.
Ma Yi said, "At least two thousand. Are they being driven back to the Ming Dynasty together?"
"Torture" Wang Shouren immediately ordered.
"Why?" Cao Shun looked puzzled, "Mr. Wang, if you think those people are a burden, just kill them. It's the same as taking the heads back. It doesn't matter whether you kill the prisoners or not, even if someone wants to pursue them. You, our family will protect you, but torture is really unnecessary."
Wang Shouren pointed to a small lake in front of him and said, "You don't think this is Weining Haizi."
< p>One question made everyone present fall silent.Ma Yi immediately understood what was going on, and immediately entered the prisoner team and captured two young and strong men. Next to them seemed to be their family members.
The torture began.
But in fact, without too much questioning, this tribe is obviously not a big tribe. In this battle, except for the young adults who went out to fight, they are likely to be wiped out, so in order to preserve their strength, they , they can only follow the Ming Dynasty after assessing the situation and quickly tell them what they know.
After getting the result, Ma Yi came over to report, "They said that 30 miles northwest of here is Weining Haizi. We went astray. There are probably a large number of camps and grassland herdsmen there. There are countless animals, and they dare not go there because there are heavy soldiers there. They also said that when they went out, the water and grass of the tribes on the right wing were divided."
"Ah"<. /p>
After hearing this, Cao Shun was trembling all over.
Wang Shouren changed his previous disappointing attitude and said with excitement, "Let the soldiers rest and go to the northwest."
Cao Shun scolded, "Master Wang, when is the turn here?" It's up to you to make the decision. You're just a sixth-grade head of the Ministry of War. Our family said that if we just evacuate and go back, we will almost lose our lives. Didn't you hear that even if Huo Si sent troops to the west, he still left a large number of troops stationed in Weining Haizi? "We only have three thousand soldiers and horses. What can we do if we go there? It's not enough to put a gap in the teeth of the Tatars."
Wang Shouren asked, "Eunuch Cao, if we go south like this, what do you think about these Tatars fighting each other?" How long will it take to detect our whereabouts, and how long will it take to catch up with us?"
"This"
Cao Shun immediately realized that the situation seemed a little wrong, but He then thought of something and said, "Zhang Zhitai has already said that his troops will meet us at Maoerzhuang. At worst, we will kill all these Tatars and take their heads back."
" Impossible."
Wang Shouren said with a very firm tone, "According to my estimation, no matter how fast it is, it will take Zhang Zhitai three days to arrive at Maoerzhuang. If we go south like this, there will be no reinforcements. , the Manchu officials and soldiers surrounding Maoerzhuang will also form a pincer attack on us."
"Then go to Daqingshan, where you come from, you will die if you go back, our family will not go ”
Cao Shun is nowI finally figured it out.
We have won everything, and we have won beautifully. We have almost no losses, but if we don’t leave quickly, we actually want a big one
Wang Shouren looked at Sun Shangqi, Sun Shangqi understood immediately.
Sun Shangqi pulled out his Xiuchundao and said sternly, "Anyone who escapes from battle will be punished with death."
"You dare to kill our family" Cao Shun also became angry.
Whoever indulges you, Sun Shangqi, still wants to rebel?
Wang Shouren also had to move out of Zhang Zhou at this time. He said, "This is Zhang Zhitai's person. His Majesty also sent him to Zhang Zhitai. Eunuch Cao, to put it bluntly, it is best not to cause uneasiness in the army at this time. Sometimes it is possible to sacrifice the flag for the sake of military morale."
When Cao Shun heard this, he knew that these people were serious about coming.
"Commander Ma, you think so too." At the critical moment, Cao Shun could only focus on Ma Yi. < /p>
At this time, Ma Yi was not stupid. With retreating troops, it would be easy for him to fall into a tight siege and seek death. He continued to advance and looked brave. Besides, as a general, he also felt that the Tatars were not even prepared for such a surprise attack. The chances of winning are great.
Even if it is rumored that Huoshii left behind a heavy army, how heavy can it be?
This small tribe has a total of three to four hundred people left behind. Naturally, it seems that Weining Haizi has a heavy army, but they are from the Ming Dynasty. Expeditionary Force.
Regardless of whether they have heavy troops or not, their goal is not to attack Weininghai by surprise
After returning, they said that they were scared away before they even reached Weininghai. .
Wang Shouren took out his command flag, which he used to practice artillery, and shouted: "Send the order to the three armies. No cattle, sheep or livestock will be left behind. The Tatars will be tied to horses and escorted to the north. An hour later, they will rush to Weininghai." "North Shore" please remember to bookmark it, the latest and fastest website is free to read without anti-theft