prosperous age

"Quick, speed up."

A dark-skinned general wearing mountain armor rode his horse and stood on the side of the road, loudly urging the Ming cavalry in front of him to keep advancing. In the cavalry, there were many cows and horses full of goods. Fast forward.

They were the Yu Dayou Department of the Datong Army who burned down Bansheng City two days ago. After removing all the valuables in the palace, they burned down the palace built by Qiu Fu and others for Altan Khan.

Afterwards, Yu Dayou led his men on the road to escape.

Before the assault board ascends the city, of course sentry cavalry should be spread widely around the city to intercept the messengers sent by the city to deliver the news.

However, the dozens of knights that Zhao Quan took away, these sentry cavalry must not be able to stop them, and although the messengers sent to Xuanfu were stopped several times, there is no guarantee that any fish slipped through the net.

After Yu Dayou got the exact news, the first thing he had to do was to retreat at full speed and return to the side wall of Datong, where he was safe.

When Yu Dayou arrived, it only took four days for Yu Dayou's troops to return, but the return journey was slowed down because of the large amount of seized goods. If he continued to advance like this, Yu Dayou was not sure whether he would be intercepted by the reinforcements from the Xuanfu's Alda Department.

Although in the previous calculation, Yu Dayou estimated that even if I got the news, it would take a few days to gather the scattered people, enough for them to return to Datong.

But Yu Dayou was also clear about one thing, that is, if An Dahan didn't mobilize troops from various ministries to intercept, but sent troops directly from the Royal Guards, he would have time to stop them outside the Great Wall.

Regarding this point, Yu Dayou naturally would not mention it to Li Wenjin and Liu Han, and asked them to cancel their decision to go on this expedition if it was not good enough.

And the reaction of the two was a bit beyond Yu Dayou's expectation.

As a civil servant, it is normal for Li Wenjin to not understand many things. Even though he has been transferred to Datong for a long time, it is normal that he is not familiar with the organizational structure of the Mongols on the opposite side. knew.

In the case of Yu Dayou's deliberate concealment, when he said that the Alta Ministry mobilized soldiers and horses to intercept, Liu Han did not seem to have thought that Alta Khan could also mobilize guards from his side to intercept this crop.

After coming down, Yu Dayou was a little suspicious. As the commander-in-chief of Datong, Liu Han should not be so confused, but since he didn't open his mouth to expose it, he must have his intentions, but he didn't know the purpose.

However, for such a thing, it is nothing more than interest.

In Yu Dayou's speculation, perhaps supporting the attack on Bansheng City, may be a huge opportunity for Liu Han.

Liu Han has been in Datong for 20 years, from being a commanding officer to being a governor. If there is no great credit, he should stop here in his life. It is absolutely impossible to upgrade from the second rank to the first rank without great military exploits. across the past.

Yes, what Yu Dayou guessed was that Liu Han has been serving as the governor for several years, and now he is probably looking at the governor and Tongzhi.

As for the higher-level left and right governors, Liu Han probably didn't dare to think about it himself.

The leap from the second grade to the first grade seems simple but actually extremely difficult.

As for the actual position, well, in fact, the chief military officer of Datong is already the top of the military generals, and there is no way to get promoted. At most, he will be transferred to Jizhen to help the emperor guard the gate.

As for returning to the capital, returning to the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion to be on duty, normal people would not be willing to go. Going to a yamen where power is almost emptied is only suitable for dignitaries.

Datong has attacked the upper Alta tribe many times, but they were all minor incidents. Altan Khan made a few large-scale attacks, obviously aimed at Xuanfu and Jizhen. The shock is also greater.

Perhaps, in Liu Han's view, if the attack on Bansheng City is successful, his official position should be promoted to another level.

Thinking of this, Yu Dayou couldn't help feeling a little anxious when he saw the slowly advancing team in front of him.

The 3000 troops brought out are now divided into three groups, namely the Qianqi led by the general Ma Lu and the Qianqi led by the guerrilla Xu Qin. Drive away the looted cattle and sheep and those trophies.

As for why Yu Dayou didn't let the soldiers give up the seizures, they ran in the direction of Datong desperately, and ordered him to do so, but he didn't guarantee whether his men would obey his orders.

This time, he will go to Bansheng City, and he will indeed be rewarded after returning, but how much of the reward will fall on the heads of the people below?

For these [-] soldiers, if you want to give up what you have worked so hard to capture, can you exchange it for something?
Just by saying that there will be rewards when he returns to the customs, Yu Dayou does not guarantee whether he will encounter accidents on the battlefield after giving the order.

Seeing the fiery eyes of these soldiers when they saw the rich spoils of war, as a soldier, he knew that such an order could not be given.

It is absolutely true that people die for money and birds die for food.

Having been a general for many years, Yu Dayou naturally knew that being a soldier these days is really not worth the money, and it would be good to make ends meet.

Only when encountering such a war would one look forward to a reward from the imperial court, but they didn't know that it would take the year of the monkey to approve it and deliver it, and there were countless hands reaching in to get the money halfway.

For the soldiers, rewards are too illusory, so they pay more attention to the goods in front of them.

Those who are officials can take more points, but they cannot lose their share.

Benefits are the main reason why these people are willing to sacrifice their lives.

For generals, future and money are indispensable. For soldiers, what they want is nothing more than a soldier's head. They only want one thing, and that is money.

Although he was worried, Yu Dayou had no choice but to retreat with the looted property, even if he took risks.

"General, the Huihe River is ahead. Our sentry cavalry has joined Mr. Liu's men, and the pontoon bridge has been built."

At this time, a war horse rushed forward, and immediately went to report to Yu Dayouhui.

"Okay, tell the ministries to speed up and cross the river."

Yu Dayou ordered loudly, and then urged the horse to run forward.

The pontoon bridge, for the Ming army who had experienced a victory, at this time not only wanted the things on the cattle and horses, but also wanted to save their lives. Yu Dayou was worried that there would be congestion when crossing the river, which would affect the army's crossing.

He had to rush to the pontoon first to deter these soldiers.

The result of this battle in Bansheng City is actually great. Not to mention the complete destruction of Bansheng City, almost wiped out the defenders in the city.

But there is one thing, that is, the harvest is really miserable.

Most of the people were burned to death in civilian houses. Without a head, the court would not admit it, and no decent prisoners were caught.

83 heads were captured and 67 people were captured alive. Li Zixin and Zhao Quan, the leaders of the White Lotus Sect, were lucky enough to survive. Li Zixin’s mother, Hu Shi, and her younger brother Li Ziquan were captured alive by the Ming army. Head, and a large number of ordnance.

This is what Yu Dayou's department can hand over to the court now, the harvest of this battle.

Thinking of this, Yu Dayou was not without regrets. It would be great if Li Zixin could be caught. This battle of going out of the fortress will be a perfect ending.

You must know that Li Zixin is also a figure in the Ming court, and his value is not insignificant.

It was a pity in his heart, but the speed of progress was not slow, and he soon reached the Huihe River, where he met with Liu Han, the general of Datong, who was by the river.

Liu Han already knew the results of the battle from Yu Dayou's sentry cavalry. The fire in Bansheng City should still be burning. Only a few people in the city escaped, and most of them were wiped out.

For such a result, Liu Han was already overjoyed at this time.

With this victory, this risky move is not in vain, at least there are sufficient reasons to respond to possible inquiries from the Xuanfu and the capital.

Seeing Yu Dayou and the team of captured cattle and horses coming from a distance behind him made the mood even more wonderful.

"Dayou, you fought a good battle, go back and report to the court, you should be the first one."

The first thing Liu Han said after seeing Yu Dayou was to praise Yu Dayou first, but according to the rules of the imperial court, the merits of him and Li Wenjin were not included in the credit book, and the imperial court would not forget it.

"It's all Master Liu and Governor Ma who commanded well. The last general's little credit is not worth mentioning. General Lao is here to guard you."

During the pleasantries with Liu Han, Yu Dayou told him about the captures in this battle, knowing that Liu Han was a little bit regretful for not being able to capture those who were named by the imperial court, but it was a big victory after all.

Destroying Bansheng City and burning Altan Khan's palace were the greatest achievements of this battle.

In the next few days, Yu Dayou's 3000 troops and Liu Han's [-] cavalry joined forces, and now he had [-] troops ready to fight. Yu Dayou became more courageous and no longer worried about the journey back to Datong.

Finally, on the third day after the peace meeting with Liu Han, the army approached Heihe, where the three thousand horse infantry led by Li Wenjin responded. safe.

"Keep in formation, those behind follow the commander's command, and those who refuse to obey are pulled out and whipped."

At this time, Yu Dayou and Liu Han had already arrived at Heihe. Liu Han first crossed the river to meet Li Wenjin, the governor of Datong, and reported the harvest of this attack on Bansheng City.

Just like crossing the Gray River before, the soldiers naturally scrambled to get across the river as soon as possible.

After all, every step forward means that he is one step closer to Datong, and his wealth and life are safer.

More than a dozen trips to the horses every day reported, and no Altan Khan's army was found chasing or intercepting around, but Yu Dayou still did not dare to neglect at all, and insisted on spreading a large number of horses to investigate everywhere.

The priority for crossing the river is still the transportation brigade under the escort of the Thousand Riders, and the four Thousand Riders on the other side of the river are standing by and ready to cross the river at any time.

After the transportation team had completely crossed the river, the four thousand riders began to cross the river one by one. Yu Dayou stood by the river side and watched him, but no one dared to do anything wrong. They all crossed the river in line, and the speed was not slow.

After waiting for 3000 people, Yu Dayou led his own soldiers to cross the river, and then the broken thousand cavalry team crossed the river one by one, and finally destroyed the pontoon bridge to prevent it from being used by the chasing soldiers of the Ida Ministry.

After making peace with Li Wenjin and Liu Hanhui, the eight thousand Ming troops continued to retreat southward.

When they left the fortress, they took Datong Right Guard Shahubao, and the return journey was no exception, because this place was the closest to them.

Now that the infantry from Li Wenjin's standard battalion have joined, the speed of march has slowed down a little. According to the current situation, it will take at least three days to reach Fort Shahu.

It only takes three days to enter the Great Wall, and it will be safe by then.

The [-] cavalry who followed Yu Dayou on the expedition to Bansheng City were already out of men and horses. They were no better than the troops led by Liu Han and Li Wenjin. They could still rest in Heihe and Huihe. If they were not in the Mongol sphere of influence, they could go out to the field Tour makes no difference.

But by this time, it seemed that the Ming army's good luck had run out.

After marching for half a day after the Ming army crossed the Heihe River, they saw a scout horse rushing back in the distance, rushing straight towards Yu Dayou, who was hidden in the army.

It's not that Yu Dayou has any magical power to guide the direction of Tanma, it's that the three flags are too eye-catching.

Soon, Tan Ma turned over and got off his horse ten or so steps away, and then ran to the three of them and half-kneeled and clasped his fists to report: "My lord, there are more than ten thousand Tartar cavalry coming from the direction of Liangcheng, and they are not far away from here." Two days' journey."

It finally appeared.

Yu Dayou knew the general position of the Tartar cavalry, but a stone fell from his heart. The unknown is the most frightening thing.

"I Da Khan is so powerful, he actually chased here directly from the Xuan Mansion."

Liu Han, who was very familiar with the terrain of the border town, spoke at this time, but his expression was already serious when he spoke.

"There are still two days to go, do we have to fight the Tartars here?"

Li Wenjin was not like ordinary people who panicked when they heard the Tartar army coming. After all, they had been in Datong for many years, and they had already passed the time when they were nervous when they heard the news of the Tartars sending troops.

"I can't hide, this is already the shortest way back to the wall."

Liu Han shook his head lightly and said.

"Then how to fight is up to General Liu and Dayou to decide, and my standard battalion can be dispatched as much as possible."

Li Wenjin was a bachelor, and did not compete for the command of the war at this moment, but let the two senior generals in the army prepare.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty suppressed martial arts with literature, even if he did not command the battle, in the end, both Liu Han and Yu Dayou would report to the superiors that the battle was commanded by him, otherwise the two would have no future, so he had no The idea of ​​scrambling.

As long as he wins the battle, it's fine, not to mention that he is still outside the customs. If he doesn't win this battle, he might have to flee back in embarrassment. This is also unacceptable for Li Wenjin, the governor of Datong.

What's more, he just won a game, but after all, he had the advantage of a sneak attack. If he can fight back head-on at this time, or defeat the Alda Department, then the credit for this attack outside the Great Wall will be even greater.

At this time, Liu Han and Yu Dayou had no intention of exchanging greetings. They hugged Li Wenjin, and then came to the side. Liu Han asked someone to take out the map here and start studying tactics with Yu Dayou.

There is still a day's journey, so there is absolutely no delay. Should I hurry or should I hurry, but where should I rush?
You must know that this place must be their preset battlefield, and it is also the place that is most beneficial to them.

Not long after, Liu Han and Yu Dayou came to Li Wenjin's side and began to report to him the plan for this battle.

"Your Excellency Li, you can go ahead with your relatives and go directly to Fort Hu to summon the frontier troops to come to support us. We will arrive at Anyin Fort at noon tomorrow. Although this place has long been abandoned, when I came here, I saw that the fort wall was still there. Relying on this fort, there are more than [-] Tartars on the opposite side, so there may not be no chance of winning."

Liu Han said.