prosperous age

Because of the tight defenses of the Ming army, Huang Taiji had to lead his troops to leave Gubeikou and march eastward. Along the way, he observed Caojiazhai Pass and Yangjiabao and other fortresses along the line, and finally arrived at the bank of Quanshui River.

"Let the soldiers take a break."

Standing by the river, Huang Taiji ordered.

In the weather of August and September, this kind of march is also a kind of suffering for the soldiers.

There is a river right now, which is a good place for soldiers to rest.

However, since this place is close to the Great Wall, Huang Taiji still ordered Baduer to send a large number of scouts to observe the movements of the Ming army in the surrounding area, in case the Ming army sentry sentry to detect.

When Huang Taiji was still resting by the river, he arranged for Du'er and Dalaisun to come back here to discuss the next move with him.

"Taiji, going down the Quanshui River is Modaoyu and Qiangziling Pass. Shall we go and have a look?"

Ba Du'er spoke.

Qiangzilingguan Great Wall has complex terrain, and because the Quanshui River passes by, the Ming Dynasty also took great pains when building this section of the city wall.

Although the mountain here is not too steep, it has a very unique terrain, and the V-shaped Great Wall is built in this mountain.

Huang Taiji and Dalaisun have never been here, but Baduer has been here, and has observed this section of the city wall up close.

To be honest, the Ming army only built dozens of piers and abutments for that complex landform, and they can see almost the entire area at a glance.

Therefore, the Mongols never regarded this place as a pass that could be attacked.

But this time, after Huang Taiji investigated Gubeikou and other Ming army passes, Paduer had an idea, thinking that the Ming army here might not have a relaxed attitude, probably because of this, he had never seen the Mongolian army.

"Modaoyu, Qiangziling?"

Huang Taiji murmured in a low voice, then raised his head to look at the sky and said, "Let's go over and have a look at that moment, if it doesn't work, just keep going down. I don't believe that we can't find a place where we can break through the level in Zunhua."

Huang Taiji and his entourage consisted of only a dozen or so people. Jiancong quietly touched the edge of the Great Wall, and met several scout teams responsible for covering the horses along the way.

Mongolians are quite good at reconnaissance, and anti-reconnaissance is not weak.

Continue to walk down from the city wall of Modaoyu, and when it is close to the wall section of Qiangziling, Huang Taiji's eyes finally shine.

This section of the Great Wall, due to the complex terrain, the city wall was not built on the top of the mountain, but on the hillside, and because of the ravines, many sections of the city wall showed a straight up and down trend, especially the section at the bottom of the ravine, where the defense was lax and almost There was no sign of the Ming army.

Passing through this gully will not encounter strong resistance.

After the army enters the customs, it only needs to send a small group of troops to capture the hills on both sides, and the passage for the army to enter and exit the side wall will come out.

Huang Taiji pointed to the section of the city wall in front, and explained the plan in his heart with Dalaisun and Baduer, and they supplemented and perfected it.

The hills on the left and the right are led by the two of them to attack.

After the passage was opened, Huang Taiji directly led the army into the customs and went straight to Miyun.

"Taiji, after attacking Miyun, do you want me to take people north to take Gubeikou?"

Baduer suggested again.

Huang Taiji understood what Baduer was thinking. Although the city wall in front of him was low and easy to climb and capture, it still took a lot of time to bring nearly ten thousand people across the border.

Most of them are cavalry, and to cross such a city wall is to either remove a section for the cavalry to enter and exit, or to fill in the soil to create a passage. There is no Guancheng to pass here.

And Baduer's proposal is that he lead people to attack Gubeikou from behind.

Why Gubeikou has always been a battleground for military strategists depends on the terrain.

To the north of the capital and to the east of Huairou, there is a city of Miyun occupying fertile soil.

The county is surrounded by mountains in the east, north, and west, and only the southwest road is smooth to Huairou, and then the mausoleum of the Ming emperor can be reached in the west, and the capital can be reached in the south.

About a hundred miles northeast of the county seat, there is a Chaohe River bordering the grassland, and the Gubei Pass can accommodate ten thousand horses, so it became the must-go way back for the Mongols in the Yuan Dynasty.

As long as Gubeikou is taken down, it will be as easy for an army to enter and leave Daming as if they were picking something out of a pocket.

"What's going on with this section of the city wall? It seems to be quite different from other places."

Huang Taiji did not answer Baduer's question, but asked.

"I heard that this part of the wall was built a long time ago. When I came last time, I heard from the guide that this part of the city wall existed here when the Mongols ruled Ming Dynasty. I don't know when it was built.

The Ming Dynasty only renovated this section of the city wall later, and did not build it from scratch.

Qiangziling, as the name suggests, has a wall on the ridge.

But it is true that this section of the city wall is much lower than that built by the Ming people later, that is to say, this section of the road is not easy to walk. If we bring an army of tens of thousands, it is really inconvenient to pass through here. "

All answered.

Huang Taiji thought for a long time before he said: "There are a lot of Ming troops gathered at Gubeikou, and it's not easy to conquer it in a single battle, not to mention that we didn't bring enough troops this time.

If Gubeikou was attacked, the capital of the Ming Dynasty would definitely be prepared. "

"What does Taiji mean?"

Duer asked curiously.

"After passing the city wall, I will lead my troops to search for the river channel and rush towards Miyun along the river channel. If I can capture the city, I will capture it. If the Ming army's defense is tight, I will directly send my troops south to attack Huairou and Shunyi, and then rush all the way down the river.

If possible, take Tongzhou. I heard that it is the granary of the capital of the Ming Dynasty. As long as Tongzhou is occupied, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty will not surrender. "

Huang Taiji said.

"Last time I followed Da Khan in the same way, but when we got there, we couldn't find a ferry, and the army couldn't cross the river. Otherwise, let alone Tongzhou, we would be able to take most of them."

Calling Sun recalled that it was the first time they approached Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, at that time, and it had been more than ten years. He did not expect that he would be able to revisit the old place this time.

In the 29th year of Jiajing, Altan Khan personally commanded tens of thousands of troops to break through Gubeikou, captured Miyun, Huairou, and Shunyi along the way, and reached the capital directly, but they were blocked by two big rivers, so that they could neither approach Beijing nor seize Tongzhou. .

Of course, they learned afterwards that Tongzhou was the granary of the capital, and there was a large amount of grain stored in it. They really regretted it and felt that they had missed a good opportunity.

"After so many years, the people of Ming Dynasty have re-managed Tongzhou. Now it will be even more difficult to capture it again."

Badu'er answered, "I heard that a few years ago, the people of Ming Dynasty rebuilt the city wall of the capital and expanded the capital a lot."

"Don't think about capturing the capital of the Ming people, we didn't bring so many people here."

Huang Taiji said, "Ming people are more careful now. At the beginning of the year, Father Khan led his troops to plunder the Xuan Mansion, but they didn't get much. They hid all the food in the city, so it was not easy to seize."

"Well, this time we mainly want to teach the Ming emperor a lesson, mainly to plunder food, which is also what the Great Khan meant.

The siege consumes the lives of soldiers and is not worth it. My Mongolian warriors should gallop on the prairie instead of dying here. "

Baduer nodded and said.

"Ming people are very concentrated around the capital, and the harvest should be greater than that of Liaodong. I remember that there are many market towns around the city, and we can grab a lot of food."

Sun also said with a smile when he called, maybe because he thought that this trip would be a rewarding experience, a happy smile could not help but appear on his face.

"Take a break today and start fighting tomorrow."

Huang Taiji looked back at the section of the city wall in the ravine again, and ordered.

Soon, more than a dozen people returned to the camp quietly, and their whereabouts were not discovered by the Ming army.

The Great Wall was really too long. Even though Daming deployed heavy defenses along the Nine Sides, it was still impossible to be tight everywhere.

In fact, the entire length of the Great Wall is not full of walls. In many places with steep mountains and complex terrain, only a slightly thicker wall was built according to the mountains, and there were no heavy troops deployed around it.

There are only scattered piers to observe the surroundings, and when they find Tartars entering the country, they set off beacon fires to notify the Ming army behind the city wall to resist.

Of course, although such a location is easy to break through, because of the terrain, it is impossible for a large army to enter and exit. It can only be said that a small army can move. If it is really an army of tens of thousands, it can only go through those passes on the Great Wall.

"I just came back from my teacher. I heard that the Ministry of War has found out that Yang Xuan dispatched the army from Jizhen to Shanhaiguan, saying that he would provide support when the Tartars attacked the cities in eastern Liaodong."

Zhang Juzheng told Wei Guangde the news as soon as he returned to Guozijian from the cabinet.

The selected place to transcribe the ceremony is in the large courtyard next to the Imperial College.

Wei Guangde rubbed his temples, and said lightly, "I just hope that we are worrying too much this time. Maybe the Tartars really just want to attack Liaodong."

At this time, most of the Ming army had almost arrived at Shanhaiguan, and even if the troops were transferred back to the Santun camp, it would take several days.

People and horses are tossing back and forth, people are tired and horses are exhausted, even if people come back, it will take a few days to rest, and there is no morale to fight at all.

Wei Guangde could only sigh, it was two days too late for him to think of this.

"Do you want to pass the news to Prince Yu's Mansion later?"

Zhang Juzheng said again, this is already a habit, and when they hear any news, they will think of passing it on to Prince Yu's Mansion.

"Forget it, King Yu knows, what if you are worried?
What if the Tartars didn't think of this and didn't call in?
Still have to trust the Ministry of War, they should know how to do it. "

Wei Guangde opened his mouth to answer, and then asked after thinking for a while: "Did the Ministry of War order to recover the soldiers and horses of Ji Town?"

Although it was a bit late, Wei Guangde still asked. After all, he was in the capital, and if his house was really stolen by the Tartars, it would be a big deal.

As for the men and horses of the Ming Dynasty in the capital who are counting on the capital camp to fight, forget it.

While they were chatting, clusters of beacon smoke had been ignited on the north side of the capital, on the walls of Modaoyu and Qiangziling on the east side of Miyun, and the smoke billowed straight into the sky.

The beacon towers arranged along the Great Wall acted as the fastest means of communication in this era, quickly spreading the news of the Tartar invasion to all directions.

The first to discover the invasion of the Tartars was naturally the General of Gubeikou and the Deputy Commander of Miyun.

The beacon tower will continue to convey the enemy's information to the rear, and what they have to do now is naturally to order the city to be martial law immediately to prevent the Tatars from sneaking in.

At the gate of Miyun city at this time, the soldiers of the Ming army pushed and shoved the people who wanted to squeeze into the city. They wanted to close the gate. As for those who could not enter the city, they could only stomp their feet outside the city and then run into the surrounding mountains. , to avoid this military disaster.

In fact, the people living on the edge of the Great Wall have already had their own means of survival.

In the past, the things at home were all put away, and they could quickly pack up the necessities and take them away when something happened, and they didn't have much property themselves.

It is best to be able to enter the city. If you cannot enter, you can only hide in the surrounding mountains. Many villagers even found special shelters in the mountains to avoid the war.

Not long after the city gate of Miyun County was closed, smoke and dust appeared in the east, and the Ming army on the tower looked at this scene with panic.

They knew that the Tartars had really invaded, and they wanted to attack Miyun.

Seeing this scene, the people under the city no longer dared to stay near the city gate, and scattered along both sides of the city wall to hide in the mountains.

They gathered here only hoping that if no enemy appeared for a long time, maybe the city gate would be opened to let them in, but now that the Tartars had appeared, the Ming army in the city would definitely not open the gate for them to let them through.

Huang Taiji stood a stone's throw away from the city and observed the Ming army on the lower city wall. It was obvious that they were prepared and could not complete the surprise attack plan.

Sighing secretly, he left a small number of cavalry to observe the enemy's situation, and led most of the troops to attack southwest for a while. After leaving the mountains and entering the plains, they did not rush westward to attack Huairou, but went south to Shunyi.

The troops were insufficient. Huang Taiji didn't intend to loot all the surrounding cities along the way when he entered the pass this time. Forget about Huairou, Tongzhou and the capital are more attractive.

At this time, the deputy commander-in-chief and the soldiers of the Ming army on the wall of Miyun all quietly wiped their sweat with their hands as they watched the Tartar cavalry rolling away.

"Notice, before the Tatars leave the gate, no one is allowed to open the city gates. At night, the double gates are strictly guarded. Anyone who dares to steal, rape and play tricks will be accused of being ruthless."

The deputy commander gave orders to several guerrilla generals around him.

Most of the Tartars have left, and I can tell with my ass that they are going to grab Huairou, maybe Shunyi, and Jing
Forget it, he is only Miyun's chief soldier, as long as Miyun is not lost, his guilt is not serious.

As for the Tartars still outside the city, forget it, although they are not many, but if they really want to kill them, they will run away immediately when they see the enemy is outnumbered, and they may attract the Tartars again.

At this time, the situation in Huairou City seems to be a replica of Miyun.

The gate of the city was quickly closed, and a large number of people gathered at the gate and could not enter the city.

Some people could only curse a few words and hurriedly left, heading north to the mountainous area, while more could only avoid the main road and head south.

They didn't know that Huang Taiji, who entered the bandits this time, didn't take this place as his goal at all.

However, if there is a war, who is willing to gamble on the eventuality? Naturally, they can hide as far as they can.

However, those who still know how to take refuge are the people around the city, and more people living in the countryside don't know that the devil is approaching.

The Tazi cavalry crossed Miyun and went straight to Shunyi. Villages and towns along the way were quickly overwhelmed by the Tartar cavalry. Amidst the screams of the people running for their lives in panic, screams came out.

On October 42th in the [-]nd year of Jiajing, Xin Ai, Ba Du'er and others invaded from Qiangziling and Modaoyu.