On the grassland.
Early on New Year's Day, the soldiers were still preparing for the day's battle.
Four or five days of heavy snow have passed, but there is still ice and snow everywhere. It will be very difficult for the soldiers to march, but the soldiers are still doing a good job of keeping warm.
"Report... There are no reports ahead at night, and we found a Tatar camp."
When the news came, Tang Yin seemed to be a little excited.
In recent days, there has been an endless stream of such reports. After heavy snow, it seems that you can find traces of Tatars by just walking a few steps, and then you can fight with them. And this kind of The fighting was something the Tatars could not prepare against.
Even Tang Yin felt that as long as he could survive that stormy and snowy day, all that was left was to pick up the pieces, and he could lead his troops rampant on the grassland.
"That's great." Zhang Rui seemed very excited when he heard the news.
Tang Yin said: "Young Master, I will send you to lead the troops this time. If we can win, we can only fight. If we cannot win, we will wait for the follow-up troops to arrive. I will give you three hundred People and horses, is that enough?"
Xu Jing on the side frowned immediately after hearing this.
To fight a battle, just three hundred people?
Where are you sending the beggar?
But Zhang Rui looked very energetic and said: "The last general takes orders."
Immediately Zhang Rui ordered three hundred soldiers and horses, and the horses were equipped with special anti-slip iron chains. Being tied up, the soldiers cannot ride horses for the time being, so they can only lead the horses forward first. They can only ride horses when they are about to charge. They can even not ride horses from the beginning and rush forward on foot to fight the Tatars.
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"Sir."
Not long after Zhang Rui set off, Ma Yi came after hearing the news. .
He came over on horseback and said in front of Tang Yin: "I heard that a Tatar camp was found in front of us? I wonder how big it is?"
Xu Jingdao: "Isn't this true? Did you ask General Zhang to go and explore first?"
"Do you want to take a few more steps?" Ma Yi said, "Our place is probably very far north. If we encounter a big stock. The Tatar cavalry is afraid of forming an encirclement."
Tang Yinze looked very calm and said: "They have already sent troops to encircle. At present, it seems that the main force of the Tatars is not there. This is their rear area. Three hundred people there should be enough. After all, we don’t have many light cannons. He also brought six light cannons.”
The most powerful one in the army. What's missing is artillery.
Before Tang Yin went on the expedition, he didn’t pay much attention to this thing.
But after we went on an expedition, we discovered that if there were artillery, the lethality and coverage at long distances could be greatly improved, while the simple use of flint muskets was more likely to be used at medium and short distances. battle, but facing the Tatars' superior force charge, it could not have a sufficient deterrent effect.
Xu Jing looked at the rising sun and sighed: "This is the first battle of the year. I wonder if we can get off to a good start."
"I will definitely do it." Ma Yi said, "We can win this battle. The soldiers are very high-spirited."
Tang Yin said: "It is good to win, but it also depends on how to win. , it may not be necessary to kill all the Tatars."
Xu Jing asked: "Why is this?"
Tang Yin sighed: "In the hinterland of the grassland, the Tatar soldiers are almost everywhere. It can be replenished indefinitely, but we only have seven or eight thousand soldiers and horses. If we lose soldiers due to fighting, we cannot replenish them, and the losses in war are unacceptable to us... Therefore, we must maintain them through war. Fighting, this is the highest state."
"Yes." After hearing this, Ma Yi's respect for Tang Yin increased a little and said, "As Mr. Tang said, the most important thing now is to live. , so that the soldiers can come and go without a trace on the grassland, so I also told the soldiers that if they can do without firecrackers, even firebombs are resources, which cannot be replenished."
Tang Yin asked: "Are there any reports of lack of fire bombs in each battalion now?"
"The temporary situation is not bad, but after all, one shot is missing, and now there are still more In response to the Tatar invasion, today... the fire bombs are also prone to jamming. "Ma Yi was a little helpless.
Cold weapons may be more effective at this time.
But thermal weapons are different. In such a cold day, they will be completely useless after freezing. Even if they do not freeze, certain problems will occur due to thermal expansion and contraction.
Tang Yin said: "Keep going forward, let the horses get enough rest, and see how the situation is ahead."
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More than an hour later, Tang Yin's Chinese army had advanced for more than ten miles.
In such a harsh environment, the overall marching speed is considered very good. After all, the baggage that the people on this road need to carry is carried by horses, and the road is difficult to walk. The soldiers even need someone. Go and clear the way.
But fortunately, all the rivers and lakes on the grassland were frozen at this time, and the ice was more than three feet deep, so there were no obstacles in traveling.
After they looked over a hilltop, they saw fire appearing not far away.
Zhang Rui led his troops to rush into the Tatar camp. The two sides were fighting fiercely, but in fact it was one-sided suppression. It can be said that the suppression power is guaranteed in the battle.
"Why did you set the fire?" Xu Jing took a look.
On a snowy day, setting a fire is nothing. After all, it is difficult to spread, and the smoke and dust cannot rise too high, and will not be discovered by the Tatars in the distance.
But now is the time when the sky is clear after the snow. This kind of fire will bring a lot of smoke and dust. The clues can be detected from dozens of miles away, let alone ten miles away.
Ma Yi said: "I heard that there will be beacon towers on the grasslands, but they are close to where their Khan tribe is."
"What Khan tribe?" Xu Jing Stupidasked blankly.
Tang Yin frowned and said: "Roughly, it is similar to the royal court of the Xiongnu, which means that their central army and main camp are all not far away from here... probably less than a hundred miles away. "
"What?"
When Xu Jing heard this, his blood pressure rose instantly.
Originally, a small-scale encounter was nothing. We had encountered it every day in the past few days, but now suddenly we are far away from the main force of the Tatars, that is, the big Tatar prince. The sweat tent was not far away, and he felt a lot of pressure.
"Isn't this a good thing?" Tang Yin said.
Xu Jingdao: "Bohu, are you sure this is a good thing? Are we too underprepared? Thousands of people... The Tatars have hundreds of thousands of horses... Our muskets Are the fire bombs enough? Even the food and grass may not be enough."
Ma Yi said cautiously: "It seems that we have to rush for reinforcements, and we can't let the young master continue to be in danger. If the Tatar reinforcements arrive at this time and we cannot catch up, we may lose the troops in front."
"Yes." Tang Yin nodded, seeming to agree with Ma Yi.
But Tang Yin did not immediately order the dispatch of troops. He first took out a compass and then a map. After comparing them for a long time, he seemed to have no clue.
Xu Jing asked: "Aren't you going to rush for help?"
Tang Yin compared the position of the sun again, pointed in the direction diagonally behind him and said: "If I guessed correctly, That's where the Tatar reinforcements are likely to come."
"What do you mean?" Xu Jing asked.
Tang Yin said: "According to the direction of the terrain, there should be a river to the east of us, but this river is not too long. I can't be sure of the points marked on the map, but if the Tatar If people set up camps along the river, their Khan Court should be on the lower reaches of the river, that is... this side."
Xu Jing said in surprise: "Doesn't that mean that all the people we left earlier are here. Is it the hinterland of the Tatars? Then why haven’t you seen the main force of the Tatars?” Ma Yi said: “We haven’t been fighting with the Tatars every day. It was just a few small tribes before. We have not reached their core. Moreover, we are now in their north, and the beacon towers they use to defend against the Ming army should be mainly in the south, and the beacon towers in the north are already very close to their Khan Court."< /p>
"Yes." Tang Yin seemed to agree with this statement and nodded, "If the prediction is good, we are only thirty to forty miles away from the little Tartar prince at most."
"Tsk tsk..."
Ma Yi's face looked a little ugly.
If before he was only thinking about evacuating the grassland after the war, now he has to think about how to save his life.
Going to the north of the Tatars, which is only about thirty or forty miles away from the center of the Tatar Khanate, is equivalent to reaching the vicinity of the Tatar capital, and the Tatars are nothing. The city wall was garrisoned, and if the Tatars knew that the Ming army only had a few thousand people, they would definitelyOut of the nest.
"Let's go in this direction. Take the hilltop over there, and then set up camp on the top of the hill..." Tang Yin pointed to the place where Zhang Rui fought, about two or three miles away. place.
It was a relatively high place in the grassland.
Xu Jingdao: "Shall we set up camp? The terrain there is high and there is no water."
Ma Yi hurriedly said: "When we set up camp, we can set up diagonally from high places and move the positions up and down the mountain. It's all taken. The young master's current location looks like a river valley. It's not clear yet. We can only see it clearly after the snow melts."
"It doesn't matter whether it is a river valley or not," Tang Yin said. According to the current layout of the mountains and rivers, we can occupy an area of about four to five miles square. It is not a big problem to replenish the water supply, but we must plunder as much food and grass as possible before the main Tatar force arrives. ”
< p>Xu Jing asked: "Are we waiting to die here? Aren't we...breaking out? Or...fighting them?""We must have our own rear area." Tang Yin said, "In the previous battle of Huamachi, Liu Jin led his troops outside. The reason why he was able to delay the arrival of reinforcements was mainly because he chose a good place and dealt with the Tatars. Although the Tatars cut off their food and grass supplies, But he didn't notice that his position can be attacked or defended."
Xu Jing suddenly said: "Even if we fight the Tatars, we must first have a large rear area to deal with it?"
Ma Yi smiled and said: "That's right. We are in the north. We can be said to be a thorn in the throat of the Tatars. It is wrong for them to retreat and attack."
p>Xu Jing frowned and said: "What do I think about being defeated by the marquis... now we have no way to retreat and no way to advance?"
Tang Yin seemed to be Not thinking about it, he was looking at the sky again.
Ma Yi asked: "How many people should be sent to occupy the top of the mountain?"
"A few hundred people are enough." Tang Yin said, "It's best to pick up some remaining Tatar soldiers. , let them help build the camp. The soldiers need to rest, and they also need a lot of firewood. With the rear area, we must ensure that our rear area looks good, can open stoves, and can be stationed, at least like a city. "
Xu Jing asked: "How can it be considered a city without even a wooden fence?"
Ma Yi said: "Master Xu is overthinking. As long as there are light cannons and fire muskets, and a few barriers can block the Tatars' crossbows, it will be a city that they can't easily defeat, or they can't wait to kill them!" p>
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A city-building activity in the ice and snow was accompanied by the clearing of a Tatar camp, almost at the same time.
At the same time, Tang Yin broke his troops into pieces and divided them into more than a dozen groups, each performing their own duties.
The most important thing for him now is not only to accumulate war resources to ensure that he can take root on the grassland, but also to explore the Tatars'Whether the Khan Court is in his preset position requires a large number of soldiers and horses to move forward so that they can take the upper hand in the battle with the Tatars.
Because the Tatars had been warned of the beacon fire, although they did not believe that the Ming army would appear behind them, they still sent a team of two thousand people along the river. The direction is upstream.
But Tang Yin happened to take advantage of it.
The soldiers and horses led by Ma Yi, only seven to eight hundred people, took advantage of the situation and fought with more than two thousand soldiers and horses.
The other groups sent by Tang Yin also rushed towards the river to help if they found something was wrong.
"It seems like the fighting started again." Xu Jing had moved to a higher ground at this time.
At this time, to their north was the valley that Zhang Rui had just occupied with his troops. At this time, Zhang Rui was still leading his men to clean up the battlefield, and to their south, about five or six miles away, was Ma Yi. The place where the two thousand Tatar troops fought was in another river valley, but the surrounding terrain would be flatter.
Tang Yin didn't care about the success or failure of this battle, but he was still facing the sky, as if he wanted to find the direction of the river's flow, determine which river was similar to the one on the map, and then find his exact location.
"Bohu, aren't you anxious?" Xu Jing asked.
"Pinglu Hou has been in battle for a long time. He can handle this situation." Tang Yin seemed to not care about fighting two or three thousand Tatars.
Because this is not his goal at all.
Or in his opinion, if Ma Yi couldn't win even if he used 800 elite troops to ambush the Tatars with 2,000 or 3,000 troops, then they could really wait to die.
"There are reinforcements." Tang Yin added, "Aren't the two sides attacking from the middle?"
After Xu Jing used a telescope to see the situation clearly, he finally thought a little Breathe a sigh of relief.
Among the dozen or so troops heading south from the Ming Dynasty, at least four or five were approaching Ma Yi, totaling two to three thousand soldiers and horses.
Tang Yin said: "It seems that the Tatars set up their camps along the river. This is their principle for spending the winter. So if they have something to do, they will also follow the river to investigate, because they know that they The tribes are on both sides of the river. In this way... we can use the frozen river... to do something. "The transcoding has been serious recently, which makes us more motivated and updates faster. Please use your little hand to exit the reading mode. Thank you