After the sacrifice, Zhang Zhou's troops continued to march northwest.
There is no need to know where Tang Yin's troops are, he only needs to know where the Tatars' defense direction is, because Zhang Zhou knows very well that if the Tatars want to defeat all of Tang Yin's troops at once, Eat, and still have to achieve the minimum loss, only by using all your strength.
In other words, Tang Yin's seven or eight thousand soldiers and horses are enough for the Tatars to make a desperate move.
Under this premise, the Tatars cannot avoid it. In other words, as long as they find Tatars wherever they are, and follow them, they will definitely find the direction of Tang Yin's garrison.
As for whether Tang Yin's entire army has been wiped out, it is also unimportant to Zhang Zhou, because as long as the Tatars dare to attack Tang Yin's troops with an entire army, there will definitely be Dare to fight Zhang Zhou's troops.
Even if Tang Yin's entire army is wiped out, it may still be a good thing for Zhang Zhou, because it will enhance the confidence of the Tatars.
We can even wipe out Tang Yin's seven or eight thousand soldiers and horses. Are we still afraid that you can't defeat only three thousand soldiers and horses?
Even if your Ming Dynasty's weapons are refurbished and your troops are strong, you may not be able to compete head-on with my hundreds of thousands of Tatar cavalry.
……
……
At the end of the first year.
It has been twenty days since Ming Dynasty sent troops.
Zhu Youtang's troops finally arrived in Datong. Zhu Feng, together with Wang Shouren and other generals, as well as hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the city, almost gave a warm welcome to the holy leader's arrival.
The last time the emperor went on a personal expedition, he was frightened back by the Tatars on the way to the northwest, and was overtaken by the Tatars on the way back, causing a tragic disaster.
But this time the emperor personally led the expedition and did not see even a shadow of a Tatar in the middle of the journey. Zhu Youtang just arrived in Datong smoothly with his 20,000 soldiers and horses.
When Zhu Youtang entered the city, because there was no palace in the city, Zhu Youtang only temporarily lived in the Zongzhi Yamen, while the original owner Wang Shouren would move outside and keep this place. To Zhu Youtang.
Zhu Youtang immediately summoned Wang Shouren.
However, when Wang Shouren was summoned, Zhu Feng had already come to see him first and was kept in the bank without leaving.
In other words, Zhu Feng is now equivalent to a guard with a sword in front of the emperor, and is fully responsible for the daily safety of the emperor... There is no way, mainly because Zhu Youtang is really worried about the two brothers Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling, and still feels that Zhu Feng, a boy who is almost a sworn brother, is more reliable.
"Your Majesty, Duke Cheng Guo has arrived in Datong and has asked for an audience." Wang Shouren naturally mentioned Zhu Fu, who arrived in Datong Town a few days ago.
Zhu Fu rushed from Yansui to Datong only a few days ahead of the emperor, which fully exposed his incompetence in military management.
This time to welcome the emperor, Zhu Fu was not arranged to go out to greet him. The main reason was that Wang Shouren hoped that he could stick to the front line... Although Wang Shouren was only a new official, he was the highest military and political officer in the place after all.Fuya can only obey orders honestly.
Zhu Youtang said: "Gong Chengguo has disappeared for now. But let him be the vanguard and lead the troops to Maoerzhuang to wait..."
Zhu Youtang asked When patrolling the Weining Sea, we should first experience Wang Yue's experience of defeating the Tatar cavalry in the Weining Sea and show his own mettle.
But if the emperor wanted to visit in person, someone would naturally need to explore the way first, and this person became the unlucky Zhu Fu.
Zhu Youtang stood up again and said: "From here to Weining Sea, I will make a big fanfare to let the entire grassland know that I am coming."
Wang Shouren said: "Your Majesty, If we do this, we're just afraid that the Tatars might invade."
"I wish they wouldn't come," Zhu Youtang said angrily, "What should I be afraid of when Wang Qing's family and Zhu Qing's family are here? Bingkuan has led his troops deep into the grassland. Although I cannot fight alongside him, I still want to cheer for him. This is a strategy to level the grassland. If I were to conquer the grassland personally, even the Tatars would not pay attention and would not be able to mobilize some of their troops. Come here, what's the point of going to Weining Sea?"
Wang Shouren thought to himself, isn't it just for the emperor to go to Weining Sea to show his majesty?
Say you can contain the main Tatar force?
It sounds unreliable.
"Wang Qing's family, is there any news about Tang Yin, Ma Yi and others on the grassland now?" Zhu Youtang asked.
"No reply to Your Majesty." Wang Shouren said, "The last time there was news was a month ago."
"That's it, Tatar Blocking Tang Yin's way back to the Ming Dynasty, Bing Kuang sent troops to rescue him. This battle will definitely be thrilling," Zhu Youtang said, "I will only rest in the city for one day, and then I will leave immediately. You, Qing, will arrange everything. You must make sure there are no delays or miss important things." "Yes," Wang Shouren said, clasping his fists.
......
......
Zhu Feng stayed there all night to make some preparations for sending out troops the next afternoon. , he left Xingzai and went to see Wang Shouren.
After a night of preparation, Wang Shouren had already ordered all the troops to send troops.
On the basis of the 20,000 soldiers and horses that the emperor originally commanded personally, an additional 40,000 soldiers and horses were added.
Wang Shouren said to Zhu Feng: "Your Majesty will personally lead 17,000 troops and horses first. Your Majesty will personally lead 60,000 troops and horses to Weining Sea, with a total of nearly 80,000 troops. Among them, the cavalry that can fight are Thirty-five thousand, the rest are infantry, and some are responsible for transporting grain, grass and baggage."
Zhu Feng said: "Is it too much?"
"Zhijie. , do you think 80,000 troops and horses are... too much?" Wang Shouren asked with a frown.
Obviously in Wang Shouren's view, the emperor went on a personal expedition with only 80,000 soldiers and horses, many of whom were old, weak and remnants. With such a posture, if the Tatars attacked in full force, , it really cannot guarantee 100% safety.
Even Wang Shouren doesn’t think that Ming Dynasty can now completely defeat the enemy on the battlefield.Crush the Tatars.
But the emperor seemed to have blind confidence and dared to come to the northwest with 20,000 soldiers from the Beijing camp who had never been on the battlefield... It seemed a bit ignorant and fearless.
Zhu Feng sighed: "With 80,000 soldiers and horses coming out of the grassland, the Tatars must not dare to come. Brother Zhang only brought 3,000 soldiers and horses..."
" "Yes."
Wang Shouren shook his head helplessly.
The emperor was blindly confident, but Zhang Zhou seemed to have more confidence.
You said you wanted to level the grassland, and even a hundred and eighty thousand troops were not too much, but you only brought three thousand soldiers and horses... and they were all selected from the Beijing camp?
Even if you bring some frontier soldiers, at least some of them have combat experience, but what do the soldiers in the Beijing camp have? In the past, the soldiers in the Beijing camp were all dragged into building palaces and temples, and they almost became masons.
You, Zhang Bingkuan, led three thousand masons to the northwest to risk their lives against the Tatars?
Zhu Feng asked: "Master Wang, do you think it's inappropriate?"
"It's more than inappropriate..."
Wang Shouren sighed, "Things At this point, there must be no more deviations. Even if we want to level the grassland, we can prepare for it for several years. There is no need to worry about the future like this."
Zhu Feng said: " Your Majesty is ill..."
"What did you say?" Wang Shouren asked immediately.
Zhu Feng seemed to realize that he had made a mistake, and no matter what Wang Shouren asked again, he stopped answering.
Wang Shouren seemed to realize something and nodded: "Cai Guogong must be confident if he dares to enter the grassland in this way. In the past few years, the biggest problem on the battlefield has still been the Tatars' unwillingness to fight head-on. In a frontal battle, even if the Marquis of Jingshan attacked with hundreds of troops and horses, he could gain a lot. Under such circumstances, we can only hope that Cai Guo's horse will succeed."
"I think he can. Zhu Feng added, "Brother Zhang can see through the secrets of heaven and understand people's hearts. If he thought that three thousand soldiers and horses were not enough, he would not do this at all. Don't forget, there are also eight thousand soldiers and horses led by Mr. Tang." ...In this case, even with over 10,000 soldiers and horses, the Tatars will not stand a chance." Wang Shouren couldn't help but sigh slightly when he heard this.
It seems that there are not only two lunatics, the emperor and Zhang Zhou, but also Zhu Feng who blindly worships Zhang Zhou.
Wang Shouren said: "The soldiers seem to be convinced of this. I hope that when fighting the Tatars on the battlefield, they will not encounter a situation where they will be defeated in one battle."
...
...
Zhu Youtang personally led his troops towards Maoerzhuang.
The 80,000-strong army was divided into three groups.
The first route was led by Zhu Fu himself. As the vanguard, it was not equipped with too heavy baggage. It mainly used light cavalry to walk in front of the team, about fifty miles away from the rear army.
The second group of soldiers and horses was led by Wang Shouren himself, and was in charge of the left side of the central army. The number of soldiers and horses was about 6,000.
The main significance of this group of troops is that Wang Shouren is afraid of the Tatars coming from the west... Because according to previous intelligence reports, the main force of the Tatars is in the northwest of Datong Town, so he needs to personally lead the group. The men and horses were on the west side to protect the flank.
In this way, even if a powerful Tatar cavalry came over, he could cover the emperor's retreat to Maoerzhuang New City or to the Datong border.
The third route of troops was nominally led by Zhu Youtang, but in fact the troops were led by Zhu Feng, Zhang Heling, and Zhang Yanling. The main leader of the Chinese army was still Wang Qiong, but Wang Qiong only served as a civil servant accompanying the army and did not participate in the actual deployment of troops as a general.
Wang Qiong more often followed the emperor's team and acted as a staff advisor when necessary. After sorting out the situation here, he would communicate with the cabinet and the listening office in the capital, and then the cabinet would Communicate with the Shangting Office to the court.
“It’s only February, and many places in the north are covered with ice and snow. The journey from here to Weining Sea is quite peaceful, and there will be our patrols along the way. There are three hundred people around Weining Sea. We can all know the enemy situation here immediately."
On his first day out of the border, Wang Shouren went to visit Wang Qiong and informed Wang Qiong of the current situation.
Although in terms of status, Wang Shouren, the chief executive of Xuanda, no longer accepts any jurisdiction or control from Wang Qiong, Wang Shouren still respects Wang Qiong very much.
Wang Qiong said: "Bo'an, do you think you can win this battle?"
Wang Shouren shook his head and said: "I don't know. But if it were me, I would never fight Such a risky battle."
Wang Qiong said with a smile: "In my eyes, you are brave and fearless. You never care about how many enemy troops there are in front, nor whether there is a way to retreat behind. But why this time? , but so cautious?"
"Because..." Wang Shouren said, "I know the Tatars will not fight easily."
Wang Qiong said: "I was the same at first. I think so, but I have seen how powerful the new weapon is." "What do you mean?" Wang Shouren asked curiously.
Wang Qiong sighed: "Do you know what a murder weapon is?"
Wang Shouren shook his head helplessly.
It's not that he doesn't know what a killing weapon is, but he has never seen what a real killing weapon looks like... They are all leaders in the army. You, Wang Qiong, can't just use a general concept. Change my judgment.
"That's it...there are thousands of troops in front, as long as one person is there, they can stop it. It can really be achieved that one man can block the barrier and no one can open it." Wang Qiong sighed.
Wang Shouren asked: "Is it an artillery piece?"
"No." Wang Qiong said, "It's a firecracker. To be precise, it's a cannon that can fire dozens or hundreds of bullets in an instant. It is a blunderbuss with several fire bombs, and does not need to be ignited or stopped in the middle. It can change direction and stop at any time. It is lighter than artillery when moving. It can even be dragged by a carriage, set up anywhere, and even fired while walking... ”
Wang Shouren listenedAfter finishing it, he felt as if he had heard a story. He frowned and said, "Is there really such a thing? Then why...there isn't one in the northwest?"
"It was just made."
Wang Qiong said, "Let me ask you, if there is such a killing weapon, and there are dozens, hundreds, or hundreds of them, do you think three thousand soldiers and horses are enough?"
Wang Shouren He shook his head and said: "I don't think this kind of killing weapon has any disadvantages. The reason why firecrackers can change the battlefield pattern is that the soldiers use their whole life to reverse the situation of the battle. It depends on man-made efforts. And if there is such a killing weapon, the leader will also It's human... no fire gun can be perfect in terms of installation." Wang Qiong sighed: "Bo'an, I know what you mean. This kind of powerful weapon is just a decoration on the battlefield and cannot be effective. Is that what you mean?"
"Yes." Wang Shouren nodded, "The stability will be poor. "
"Then you are wrong."
Wang Qiong said, "That Duke Cai can bring such a deadly weapon into the battlefield and use it as a way to win. Do you think he can? If you don’t have the confidence, will you do this? The Ming Dynasty has already taken advantage of the situation in the grassland. It can be said that in a few years or more, the Tatars will collapse without a fight. Why should they be so radical? ”
Wang Shouren said: "That means he has radical reasons and courage?"
Wang Qiong sighed: "In my opinion, only his method can catch the Tatars off guard. , in exchange for the purest victory at the smallest cost, only in this way will the national strength of the Ming Dynasty not be lost due to the plain grassland. In this interlocking plan, even His Majesty is willing to sacrifice for it and go to the front line to fight for it. He waved the flag and shouted, isn't that enough to explain the problem?"
Wang Shouren nodded and said: "I understand, this is not blind trust, but conditional."
"Oh! "
Wang Qiong sighed heavily and said, "Actually, before this, I didn't believe that the murder weapon would become a reality. Even if we want to pacify the world and make the world surrender, it will be easy."
"I just hate that I couldn't hold on to the moment when the killer weapon appeared in the northwest."
"I also admit that I was too conservative in the battle against the Tatars. I couldn't do it like Tang Yin, who could obey orders and act as a bait at any time regardless of everything. This is something I am ashamed of. "The transcoding has been serious recently, which makes us more motivated and updates faster. Please use your little hands to exit the reading mode. Thank you