Northwest of Guanshan Mountain and east of Susuo River.
This is the northern end of the grassland, and more than fifty miles further north is the desert in the north. This is also a place where the Tatars graze in the summer, but this winter it became a place for the Tatars to graze. In this paradise of refuge, nothing could disturb the tranquility here, but with the arrival of Ming soldiers and horses, this place became a battlefield of blood and fire.
A long-lasting war lasted from the winter of the fifteenth year of Hongzhi to the spring of the sixteenth year of Hongzhi.
Even so, the Ming army was still not completely wiped out.
Tang Yin's soldiers and horses still have considerable strength. Surrounded by hundreds of thousands of Tatar soldiers and horses, they can still stand firm and deal with the Tatars.
At this moment, the three thousand soldiers and horses led by Zhang Zhou had already crossed nearly two thousand miles after leaving the customs, and appeared behind the Tatars, that is, they southeast direction.
"Great Khan, please give me five thousand cavalry. I hope that all the Han people who will invade in the future will be wiped out."
In the Tatars' Chinese army camp.
The Tatar leader, Batu Monk, who is also known as the most ambitious lord of the grassland among the Tatars in the past two hundred years, and is also known as the lord of the resurgence of the grassland, is accepting orders from his subordinates. The general will ask for a tassel.
The battle at the front was fruitless, and the Ming army appeared in the rear again, which meant that they were now under attack from both sides. However, no one in the Tatars seemed to think that these two groups of Ming troops were a threat, mainly because The number of Ming soldiers and horses in these two groups was too small.
There are still more than 5,000 soldiers and horses along the way. The ammunition has basically been exhausted, and there is a serious shortage of soldiers, horses, and food.
Although the other route is composed of newly arrived elites, they drive straight from the border of the Ming Dynasty to come for reinforcements. The key is that there are fewer troops on this route, only 3,000 troops and horses. Even if they are new elites, they will lead an expedition. The problem of fatigue, in front of the Tatars, a group of generals who are known for their bravery and proficiency in battle, seems to be an easy task to annihilate the Ming army.
The person who volunteered to fight this time was Batu Monk's third son, Balsborot, a young general who was just fourteen years old.
Although Bals was young, because his eldest brother was frail and sick, he was determined to compete with his second brother for the position of Khan. After he was thirteen years old, he participated in many grassland internal events. war, and even participated in the battle against Ming Hua Machi last year.
This time he wanted to gain his father's appreciation by making great contributions and give him more military power.
On the grassland, only those who are good at fighting and can win the war can be respected by others. As the son of Batu Monk, only those who are brave and good at fighting can be praised by others, and even be praised by others in the future. Chance rules the prairie.
Batu Munch raised his head and looked around at the many generals in the tent.
Although the Tatars have suffered heavy losses in the past period, Batumengk is not a stupid person. In the previous battle with Tang Yin's troops, he tried his best to let some people from the fringe tribes charge as death squads.If the front is in front, it will consume Ming's ammunition anyway, and it will lead to death, no matter who goes up.
Those fringe tribes almost took turns to provoke, and they also took turns to hold the first line of defense for the Tatars, pushing the battle line step by step to the bank of the Susuo River, but Tang Yin found an opportunity. They directly moved the camp back more than ten miles, forcing them to reorganize their troops and move forward.
Batu Mengke said: "Since the beginning of the war, thousands of our people have died on the battlefield. This time the Ming Dynasty sent troops and horses. The number was not large, but they were known to the outside world as Cai Guogong, the Minister of War. Zhang Zhou led the troops, do you really think you can kill this monster with your own strength?"
Many generals present were silent.
In order to eliminate the fear of the soldiers on the front line of the battlefield, the Tatars have always described Zhang Zhou as a "monster" and claimed that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was bewitched by a Taoist priest, and the Taoist priest used They are all some strange armor-defying skills, which led to the Ming Dynasty's army gaining a kind of "divine power". Of course, this kind of divine power also has shortcomings. Once the demon dies, or God no longer protects the Ming Dynasty's army, then they Then you can march straight in and kill the Ming Dynasty's army.
Although this statement cannot withstand scrutiny, there are basically few people on the grassland who can read and write, and their grasp of the truth is almost as good as what they hear and hear.
Basically, they believe what others say, and they also believe in gods, thinking that the gods will protect them, devout believers.
Bars said: "The Great Khan, I think that the Han army is not a big concern. With five thousand soldiers and horses, we can use night attacks to make their direction unclear. They don't have many scouts." Appearing in front of the team, we are not clear about our movements. As long as we can approach them quietly, we can successfully attack them."
"Do you think this is feasible?" Batu Munch looked at the crowd again. general.
These generals are nominally his subjects, but in fact only the Chahar tribe is considered his direct descendant, and nearly half of the remaining soldiers and horses belong to side tribes. The so-called generals are actually tribes. The leader, this group of talents gathered together only at the critical moment of the grassland's life and death.
But Huo Si, the fierce general whom Batu Munch once trusted most, is no longer here.
The fire sieve is not there, but the other left-wing and right-wing tribal leaders are there. These people once suffered from the scourge of Tatar annexation, but they are currently in a temporary alliance.
The Yongxiebu tribe is now considered a large tribe on the grassland after the Chahar tribe. Its leader also said: "If the Khan wants to send troops to conquer the Ming Dynasty army, it is best to use your Our own tribe. The Ming Dynasty sent their strongest Celestial Master, and we don’t have the strength to fight against them head-on.”
“It’s best this way.” Others from other tribes agreed.
Bars shouted to the people present: "You think I need to use your soldiers and horses? You all say how capable Cai Guogong is, but I have never seen him perform on the battlefield., the Han people are just talking about it. When they curse, it is very unpleasant to hear, but when fighting, how can they not be as brave as us? "
Yi Bu said: "You can't say that. Even the generals of the Ming Dynasty obeyed this man's orders, which shows that he has the strength to fight with us. Since the Third Young Master believes that he is capable of annihilating the Ming Dynasty army, he does not need our help. We can just concentrate on dealing with Tang Yin. "
Batu Meng said sternly: "Every tribe must send troops. The opponent has 3,000 soldiers and horses, so we sent 30,000 soldiers and horses to conduct a test. "
"Thirty thousand..."
When Bals heard this, he instantly felt that he was being despised. He said fiercely, "Why did the Great Khan give me so many soldiers and horses? ”
“You are not alone. "Batu Mengke said, "I will transfer 10,000 troops to you, and the remaining troops will be borne by each department. The 30,000 troops must be assembled within two days. If there is any further delay, the Ming court's army will move further north. , now the soldiers and horses in the northwest of Tang Yin cannot know about the arrival of their reinforcements. "
Yi Bu said: "Then Khan, what are you doing? "
Batu Meng said sternly: "Next, I will use the most elite troops to defeat the army in the northwest of the Ming court. Only in this way, the reinforcements of the Ming court will be unable to do anything. Then use all kinds of soldiers and horses to trap him! The Ming Dynasty sent reinforcements in an adventurous way, and we allowed them to go and never return, thus turning the tide of the war. From now on, we are no longer afraid of the Ming Dynasty's army, and we can come and go freely in the border areas. ”
……
……
Tang Yin’s headquarters clearly felt that the Tatar attack became more fierce in the past few days in early February.
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But he had no choice. With external information completely blocked, he didn't know whether the court had sent reinforcements to him, let alone who led the reinforcements, or whether there was a way out for him. .
Xu Jing wanted to break out of the encirclement before, but all his suggestions were rejected.
Fortunately, even if some people in the army wanted to break out of the encirclement and escape, they would go deep into the grassland. There was no way to get back to the Ming Dynasty, so we had to work together to fight against the enemy at the critical moment.
Although Zhang Zhou's troops in the south were not dispatched. There are too many nights without closure, but the movements of the Tatars are basically under his control. In fact, it is not complicated. Just look in which direction you go, there will be more Tatars, and the Tatars will gather troops. The horse was ready to intercept... then he knew that he was on the right path.
"My lord, the Tatars have begun to gather. ”
On the sixth day of February, this day was also the day when Zhang Zhou’s troops stopped to rest.
At this time, Zhang Zhou’s troops were less than thirty miles away from the Suosuo River. Forty or fifty miles to the north you will reach the main camp of the Tatars, and another twenty miles to the north is the area where Tang Yin is stationed.
At this time, the Tatars gathered. They gathered troops and horses and began to surround Zhang Zhou's troops from all directions.
Zhang Zhou asked people to set up a temporary platform. After climbing up, he looked with a telescope for a while and found that it was just as he had discovered during the night. After the Tatars began to show signs of gathering, he immediately ordered the entire army to huddle up and camp. The scope of the camp was kept as small as possible to prepare for Tatar attacks at night.
"The horses gather in the middle. Set up two lines. The first line is artillery with muskets, and the second line is muskets. Don't show off your killing weapons when you come up. Let the Tatars get as close as possible. If They get to a distance of about two hundred steps, and give them a taste of the cruelty..."
After all, there are only three thousand soldiers and horses.
The number sounds like a lot, but in actual arrangement, it is actually not that much.
Zhang Zhou was personally responsible for setting up the camp, which happened to be the content of the training for the soldiers and horses in the Beijing camp in the past few months.
If there is an attack by the Tatars, it is best to prepare your own defensive position first. Unlike the past, where you relied on spears and bows to fight, now even artillery has become an auxiliary combat tool. First fire with artillery, especially light cannon, then firecrackers, then take out rifles, and finally Gatling.
The soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty are also well-trained. They were not as good as others before. At least when it comes to completing the camp, no one is like Chu Ge.
In less than half an hour, a simple camp was ready. In order to resist the strong attack of the opponent's crossbows, many shields and simple trenches were also preset for resistance.
"The Tatars are gathering in a large area in the north."
Sun Shangqi is responsible for intelligence spying.
In fact, there is no need for anyone to direct this battle. As long as the Tatars come over, they can just open fire.
Intelligence compilation work is particularly important, and the Tatars must also feel that the Ming Dynasty's soldiers and horses have no intelligence preparation work, making them think that the Ming Dynasty's army is headless.
Under this premise, the Ming army will show its cowardice and make them think that it is impossible.
Zhang Zhou immediately sent an order to the three armies: "If the Tatars don't come, they are not allowed to fire. Bury the stoves when they need to be buried, eat when they need to eat, and just leave 30% of the troops and horses for defense."
……
……
The Tatars may seem ferocious, but they can only gather 20,000 to 30,000 troops.
For Zhang Zhou, preparing all his troops for battle is really overkill.
The Tatars will rush forward if they have the ability. With the entire army currently preparing for war and no ammunition being depleted, an enemy force of less than 10,000 is not enough to fill their teeth, and Zhang Zhou also understands this. The Tatars will not charge at once.
Even if all sides charge together, if the first batch comes with three to five thousand troops, or six to seven thousand, it is considered a good offensive.
Zhang Zhou also deliberately exposed a flaw to the opponent. The camp on the west side was not equipped with any artillery. Although there was no difference in appearance, once the war started, when the Tatars discovered The Ming army does not have long-range firepower on the west side, so it may use cavalryConducting night raids will allow them to feel the suppression of weapons generation differences.
After nightfall.
The Tatars are still in a state of assembly and have not launched an offensive.
"The situation is not good."
Sun Shangqi came to Zhang Zhou personally, and at this time Zhang Zhou was eating noodles... This kind of food was rare during the march. At least it shows that Zhang Zhou is well prepared.
Wang Mingshan sat next to him. When Sun Shangqi came, she stood up and stepped aside.
Of course Sun Shangqi will not take a seat, he is just here to inform the situation.
"Speak slowly if you have anything to say." Zhang Zhou blew on the noodles in the bowl and said with a smile, "Relax a little. I know that the soldiers have little combat experience, and some have never even killed anyone. "
Sun Shangqi said: "Most of them have never been on the battlefield and have basically never killed the enemy."
Zhang Zhou said: "Yes, I will give it this time. They have a little experience. After tonight's bloody battle, I don't know how many people will vomit or feel sick, but the darkness will lessen their fear, and when we step forward over the enemy's corpses tomorrow morning, they will too. It's more troublesome. Prepare some people to cut off the ears."
"Do you still need to keep the ears?"
"Of course I have to keep them, or I will tell you how many enemies I have killed. The Central Minister will think that I am bragging."
Zhang Zhou looked relaxed, as if this was such a simple battle.
At this moment, a rumbling horn sounded from three to five miles away from the camp.
“Don’t worry, they won’t come right away.” Zhang Zhou said, “I am familiar with this routine. They will let some death squads come forward to try it first, but they also know very well who is in front and who is. Just die. So the battle before midnight should be the most brutal, let’s just think of it as an appetizer. "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