prosperous age

Chapter 225 Chapter 224
In an open space that could be called a small school yard, a large banner stood there, but around it, there were already nearly a thousand Tartar cavalry holding torches.

The flames flickered on the torches, illuminating the people and things in the entire square red.

"woooooo"

The Tartars, who were fighting fiercely with the Ming army, heard the sound of horns suddenly sounding behind them.

Sure enough, they had already reached Alta Khan's account, so the Tartars here would fight them to the end regardless of casualties, in order to leave enough preparation time for the elite of the royal court guards.

The Tartars in the battle slashed forward a few times, and after temporarily suppressing the Ming army's offensive, they spread out to both sides.

The entangled battle lines of the two warring parties split apart in an instant, with only the feathered arrow still flying across the air.

The soldiers in the first two rows of the Ming army waved their weapons to block the arrows shot by the opponent, and at the same time, the soldiers behind them also immediately fired back arrows.

But soon, as the sound of the horn stopped, the archers on the Tartar side stopped shooting first, and then the archers of the Ming army also stopped for a while.

At this time, Ma Fang steered the horse forward, waving the whip to both sides while walking.

The soldiers of the Ming army in front signaled that they stepped aside one after another to give way, and then they began to regroup under the command of Xiaoqi and other officers.

At this moment, Altan Khan's royal guards were clearly divided into three parts, the largest of which was naturally the nearly thousand soldiers under the banner. At Khan's command, they would rush forward and kill the enemy.

The retreating Tartar cavalry scattered on the left and right sides and regrouped, preparing to charge and kill the Ming army with the brigade.

At this time, Ma Fang had already stood in front of the Ming army's formation. He raised his eyes to look at the opponent's formation, but he was a little disappointed. He didn't see the figure of I Dahan in his eyes, the figure he was familiar with.

But the fact that the big banner is here means that Al Dahan must be inside the huge tent behind the big banner.

Ma Fang raised her right hand holding the whip, gestured to the left and right again, and then straightened forward.

Following his movements, the [-] cavalry behind him followed the previous arrangement, and a hundred cavalry from the Standard Battalion of the Commander's Mansion were placed on the left and right sides, and they pointed an iron rod in their hands. Tartar cavalry on the outside.

There are also [-] standard battalion cavalry standing staggered to form three rows. On both sides behind them, [-] Ma Fang's personal soldiers have formed a team and are preparing for the final battle.

Seeing that the sky was getting brighter, Ma Fang knew very well that there was not much time left for him.

Once dawn and visibility is high, the strength of the Ming army's attacking camp will be fully exposed. At that time, the Tartar Wanhu will definitely send troops to rescue Altan Khan. Perhaps they also want to take advantage of the chaos to attack Baoan Prefecture.

He looked at the big tent behind the figure in front again, and felt as if the big tent door moved, and someone came out from inside.

Maybe it was the order to give the final attack. I don't know if An Dahan has come out or not. I haven't seen him for more than ten years.

But at this time, Ma Fang didn't have time to think too much. He suddenly moved the horse to one side, waved the whip in his hand, and shouted with all his strength: "Hit."

The moment the voice fell, the cavalry in the front row of the Ming army all started. They held a stick in one hand, and took a small tube from the saddle with the other hand, put it in their mouths and blew it vigorously, a small flame ignited, and then Move behind the stick.

"Bang bang bang bang."

The sticks in the hands of the standard battalion cavalrymen in the front row and on both sides of the Ming army exploded instantly, and the head of the sticks flashed with flames. Then they saw these cavalrymen biting the firefoils in their hands with their teeth, and quickly fiddled with the sticks with their bare hands. After a while, they took off the fire folder and stretched it to the back end of the stick again.

"Bang bang bang bang."

There was another burst of gunshots, and at this time, the entire front row of the tight-knit Tartar cavalry had collapsed, and some horses were injured, and began to scream and run uncontrollably by the knights.

Chaos appeared on the side of Wang Tingwei, who had been complacent before and didn't take the Ming army seriously. At this time, the Tartars who were still riding on the horse looked at the stick in the Ming army's hand in horror. From time to time issued gunshots.

Is that the new firearm of the Ming army?

The Tartars and the Ming army have been fighting at the border all year round, and they are naturally familiar with the various artillery and bird guns used by the Ming army, especially the small cannons that can be fired quickly that appeared in large numbers in the border army of the Ming Dynasty in recent years. new.

The main reason why the Tartars were unwilling to attack the city was actually their fear of the Ming army's firearms.

Once the city was attacked, the firearms of the Ming army would continue to ring out, and they would rush forward under the hail of bullets, so the casualties would naturally not be small.

It's just that in field battles, the firing frequency of these weapons is always not as good as that of bows and arrows, that is, the small cannons are faster, but as long as they go around the muzzle and spread out, they can also be fired.

But in the current environment, can the formation be dispersed?
While the Tartars were still in shock, the horn sounded "Woo-woo", which was a signal to attack.

Rush forward, these Ming army cavalry can no longer hurt them with that stick.

This is what all the Tartar cavalrymen said in their hearts. Before, they wanted to play cat and mouse, but now they don't have to hold back.

But when they rushed forward, the cavalry in the center of the Ming army had dispersed and quickly moved to the sides. The sticks in their hands continued to spray a new round of bullets at the Mongolian cavalry gathered on both sides, and Ma Fang had already Leading his own [-] servants, more than a thousand surviving Ming cavalry quickly rushed to Altan Khan's big tent along the middle passage, and started a fierce battle with the guards in front of the big tent.

The distance between the confrontation between the two sides is not far, and it is futile to try to rush over by horsepower.

At this time, the cavalry of the Ming army and the guards of the Tartars were hacking at each other almost immediately, fighting each other with their lives.

For the Ming army here, only by killing the enemies in front of them, pushing the front line to Alta Khan's big tent, and capturing or killing Alta Khan, the battle will stop and they will survive.

Naturally, the Tartar cavalry would not let them do what they wanted, and even killed them timid Ming people, so they dared to attack them.

Just like pawns facing each other at the same time, in the square at this time, the Ming army and the Mongolian army collided with each other. The soldiers in front kept waving their weapons, and the saber and machete collided in midair, making harsh sounds.

The cavalry behind them stabbed forward with their long weapons. The cavalry behind them couldn't get started, so they could only take out their bows and arrows and throw them at the opponent's back. They didn't dare to shoot flat. people.

Soldiers from both sides were constantly injured and fell off their horses, and they were not even rescued by their comrades in time.

On the front where they fought, countless corpses lay down soon, but the killing continued, with no intention of stopping.

The continuous sound of gunfire finally stopped at this time, and the rioting Tartar cavalry on both wings finally recovered from their panic and began to charge towards the Ming army from left and right.

The cavalrymen of the Standard Battalion put down their weapons one after another after shooting out the ten preloaded cartridges in their hands, drew out their sabers and rushed towards the opponent.

Here, if the enemy is not killed, they will have no way to survive. When they stepped into the Tartar army camp, everyone knew this in their hearts.

Therefore, at this time, none of the Ming army who participated in the raid thought of escaping, so where could they escape?

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the Ming army on one front during the battle between the two armies, and then more arrows were shot towards this place at high speed, and flew towards the Mongolian soldiers on the opposite side.

After paying the price of a few lives, the Ming army on the front finally rescued a man who was covered in blood and looked seriously injured. He was dressed in the armor of a guerrilla general of the Ming army, and he could no longer protect his master at this moment. , was cut by sharp blades in many places, and blood was still flowing out.

Ma Fang narrowly escaped death just now. He was hit by the Tartar cavalry on the opposite side one after another, and finally couldn't stabilize his body and fell off the horse. Fortunately, several trusted servants around him fought hard to protect him and pulled him back from the desperate situation. .

Ma Fang looked back in embarrassment at the lying horse. It was a horse that had followed him for many years, but at this moment, he was afraid that it would only be trampled into a pulp by the horses under the crotch of the cavalry on both sides.

The 40-year-old man couldn't help but feel the corners of his eyes moist at this moment.

More than half of his servants had been killed, and now his subordinates and other Ming army cavalry had begun to fight on the front line with the Tartars. Perhaps Liu Dazhang was right. Before there was no absolute advantage, such a sneak attack was too risky.

However, at this moment, they are already in a bitter battle here, is there any way to solve the immediate crisis?
Vaguely, he seemed to hear the roar of the Tartars in front of the big tent. It was Altan Khan venting his anger. He asked his guards to kill all the dogs who dared to attack him, leaving no one behind.

If defeated, they might all have their heads cut off, dead or alive.
Due to insufficient combat power, Ma Fang's troops finally failed to penetrate Al Da Khan's barracks, let alone capture or kill Al Da Khan, but Wei Guangde, Liu Dazhang and others didn't know all this.

The sky is already slightly bright, and you can barely see far away, and the protection given to the Ming army by the night is gradually disappearing.

At this time, the Ming army was only ten steps away from the Alta army camp, and the Mongolian Qianhu Division could no longer withstand the Ming army's offensive and began to retreat.

Wei Guangde felt that they should follow the trend, at least if they entered the enemy camp, it would be impossible for the Tartars to divide their forces to support Altan Khan, and the Ming army would still have a chance to turn the tables.

Yes, up to now, Wei Guangde still feels that based on what he has learned about Ma Fang's record, the probability of success for the 2000-odd cavalry he brought to attack the 3000-strong Altan Khan royal court guard is very high .

Therefore, he insisted that the Xuanfu army continue to put pressure on Wanhu of the Alda Department, and even took out Weng Pu to suppress Liu Dazhang.

However, Liu Dazhang hesitated when there was no news from Alda Khan's barracks.

The sky is already bright, and it will be bright soon. At that time, there will be no cover of night, and the strength of the Ming army will be completely exposed. Once they enter the Tartar barracks and the opposing cavalry charges, they will all confess here.

Just then a fast horse came running from a distance, and when it was near, the messenger immediately reported: "Report to your lord, there are Tartars gathered at the rear camp gate, and they seem to be about to break out of the camp."

"They are going to send troops to attack Ma Fang's troops. Master Wei, do you think we can still attack?"

Now that Liu Dazhang heard that the Tartars in the battalion had finally moved, he understood that they had used this period of time to complete the assembly of the army.

This place is not far from Altan Khan's barracks. If they can break through Liu Huan's interception, it can be said that once the support troops arrive, no matter what results Ma Fang's troops have achieved, they can only retreat.

"Liu Zongbing, Lord Wei, the Tartars seem to be retreating in the court camp, and they are probably trying to lure us into the camp."

At this time, Tian Shiwei next to him also said that he has been paying attention to the battle situation ahead, and the resistance of the Tartars in the camp is getting weaker and weaker, and he seems to be retreating.

Although there was a wave of reinforcements arriving during the period, temporarily stabilizing the battle situation, but facing the unfavorable situation, it still quickly lost the wind.

Only at this time, the Ming army did not launch a very violent offensive, but the Tartars were retreating. Combined with the activities of the Alta Department near the rear camp gate, Tian Shiwei judged that the Alta Department seemed to want to introduce the Ming Army into the barracks.

As for whether the six thousand Tartars will attack them first or rescue Altan Khan first, this remains to be seen.

But in any case, Tian Shiwei's current judgment is the same as Liu Dazhang's. He doesn't think that the Ming army has a chance of winning if they continue to fight. Even if they bet on Ma Fang, Ma Fang has never commanded a melee of thousands of people.

Yes, although Ma Fang has many victories, the number of troops participating in those battles is at most 2000, including the total strength of both the enemy and us.

No one is born a general, they all grow up step by step.

It's just that at this time, Wei Guangde didn't realize this, so he made a bet rashly.

Because seeing Ma Fang gave him the impression of a harmless and foolish image, a fierce general.

Although he realized that he might have quite strong calculation ability in fighting, which shows that he is not stupid, but he didn't take into account that it was Ma Fang's first time commanding an army of more than 2000 people to fight, and he was dealing with the Tartar army, which was stronger than them. .

Although there was an element of a sneak attack, what Ma Fang didn't count was that there were more than 3000 people in Al Da Khan's barracks, and there were more than 4000 people including his followers.

Although these people have no fighting power, it is still possible to hold personal positions, and the most important thing is the special camping method of Altan Khan's camp, which makes the traditional night camp fire attack method invalid, and Ma Fang's troops have fallen into a crisis In the bitter battle.

If Wei Guangde knew, maybe he would choose to agree with Liu Dazhang's opinion and consider withdrawing from this battle.

Just, no if.

Although he didn't fantasize about winning a big victory now and returning to Beijing to accept the reward from Emperor Jiajing, but now he still considers the smooth attack of Ma Fang's troops. After hearing what Liu Dazhang and Tian Shiwei said, Wei Guangde replied with a smile: "Both My lord, aren't the actions of the Tartars all within our expectations?
Master Liu said just now that the Tartars might want to lure our army into the camp so that they can surround and annihilate them. As for their rescue of Altan Khan, they have to pass Liu Huan's test.

Now we just need to spend time here, push in steadily, and hold back their people. There are two thousand households of the Tartars here, and they can only mobilize four thousand households.

Going to rescue Altan Khan can be a few, three are the best, unless they don't want this camp. "

　Baichu Flangji is a Flangji-style military gun designed by Xuanda Governor Weng Wanda and Jiajing in the 25th year. It is 3 to 4 feet long, and each gun has 10 gametes.It is worth mentioning that the muzzle of this Franc machine is equipped with a 6-inch-long spear-shaped fork, which can be used as a cold weapon after shooting, and it already has the prototype of a bayonet!
　　The output is 1 pieces, which will be handed over to Qiu Luan for use after it is made. There is no record of this firearm being used in war and its use effect.

　　Now it is generally believed that the Baichu Frang machine may be similar to the Wansheng Frang machine, but it is more miniaturized. The Wansheng Frang machine can only be used by infantry, not cavalry. It requires the cooperation of three soldiers.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)