The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 288 Homecoming

During the first two days of the Ming expeditionary force's southward retreat, the situation was relatively stable, and with the power of the Weining Sea battle, the pursuers from all sides did not dare to approach.

However, as the grassland tribes gradually figured out the situation of the Ming army, and found that the Ming army was struggling to even drive the herdsmen and livestock south, and the division of troops could only be ignored, the harassment and sporadic local battles increased.

Even though Ma Yi was instructed by Wang Shouren to send troops to drive away the pursuers, he found that the effect was not good.

The main force of the Mengguoljin Department did not flee in embarrassment due to the attack of the Ming soldiers, or they had no way to retreat, and their clansmen were all captured by the Ming. Seeing that the Ming army was gradually approaching Maoerzhuang, they were at most only in the Ming Dynasty. When the cavalry rushed over, it was broken into pieces, and when the Ming cavalry retreated to the formation, they surrounded them from all directions, and then turned into pieces.

After being unable to drive away several times, Ma Yi finally had to inform Wang Shouren of the plight in the rear.

But at this time, Wang Shouren's headache was not the pursuers in the rear, but the front banner soldiers of Meng Guolejin's troops who had retreated from Maoerzhuang in front.

"Preliminary investigation...should be more than [-] soldiers."

At the pre-battle meeting, all the generals who were able to attend the meeting looked dignified.

They are well aware of the current situation of the Ming Expeditionary Army. With the remaining [-] to [-] active forces, if they want to fight the [-] steppe tribal cavalry, there is almost no chance of winning.

Cao Shun panicked when he heard this, and asked, "What about the artillery? Zhang Zhitai gave us so many artillery pieces. Didn't it mean that Ningyuan only used twelve cannons in the first battle and killed the Tartars? How can we say that?" There are fifty or sixty guns..."

The expressions of the surrounding generals all cheered up.

At the critical moment, the strength is weak, and there are artillery and various firearms to support them. During the surprise attack on Weininghai before, these firearms played an overwhelming advantage and were the key to the victory.

Wang Shouren said: "Transport all the firearms in the formation to the front. If the Diyi cavalry invades, gather your troops and horses to fight with them! Leave [-] cavalry behind for harassment."

Everyone present heard it.

Wang Shouren was preparing for the strategic focus, shifting from the pursuers in the rear to the front banner men and horses of Mengguolejin who were about to face in front.

A big war is likely to break out again.

……

……

When the military meeting dispersed, the generals of the artillery battalion came over, along with Sun Shangqi and Liu Gui, two people sent by Zhang Zhou to supervise the army.

"Master Wang, we don't have many shells right now. In addition to the bumpy road, there are only 49 cannons left. It's good if one cannon can fire one cannon."

Wang Shouren already knew what the artillery said.

The cannons given by Zhang Zhou were originally used for a surprise attack on Weininghai. Now that the strategic purpose has been achieved, if it wasn’t for continuing to deter the grassland tribes, he could completely discard most of the cannons, leaving only about [-] of them, as a way of The foundation can also lighten the team's luggage and make the advance slightly faster.

There is no big difference between twenty cannons, one cannon fires two shots, and 49 cannons fire all at once.

After all, with the loading speed of the light cannon, it is completely possible to fire two rounds of shells before the enemy is within range and before the enemy is fighting in close combat.

Sun Shangqi said: "Even if the 120 flint guns given by Mr. Zhang have been reloaded, only [-] are still usable. It may not be possible to fire them twice."

Because the flint gun is the latest research, the technology is not yet complete, just like a disposable fire gun.

After the Weining Sea battle is used up, if you want to reuse it, the effect will be greatly reduced.

Subsequent reports showed that even the matchlock guns and other weapons were obviously not enough. From bullets to the current state of the army, it was impossible to fight another hearty battle like the surprise attack on Weining Sea.

Wang Shouren said: "Don't leak the situation of the Shenji Battalion, and prepare for battle! If the front line can't kill a bloody way, then everything will be destroyed!"

……

……

The army continued to move south.

What followed was even worse news, that is, a team of more than [-] cavalry was found in the rear. It seemed that they were troops from Huoshai headquarters who had already withdrawn after hearing the news.

At this time, four days had passed since the Weining Sea battle, and it was already the ninth day of June.

The expeditionary army is still more than forty miles away from Maoerzhuang. In terms of the speed of travel, it may not be able to complete the journey in a day, but it seems that there is no way to go any further.

It's just that there are fierce tigers in front and hungry wolves in the back. When they raided the enemy's lair, they fought heartily, but it was not so easy to get out of the whole body.

From the evening of the eighth day of the eighth day to the morning of the ninth day of the ninth day, the team had traveled less than ten miles, and because of the heavy wind and rain, the team's progress was greatly hindered.

"Report..."

"Five miles ahead, there are Tatar cavalry gathering!"

"Report..."

"Twenty miles away from the right wing, there are cavalry gathering!"

"Ten miles away from the rear army, cavalry attacked the camp, and the horse commander led the troops to meet the enemy..."

At this time, Wang Shouren realized that they had almost fallen into the encirclement of Meng Guolejin's three-sided attack.

Only their left wing, that is, the direction east to Xianxuan Mansion, did not have Tatars approaching, but this seems to be in line with the so-called tactical concept of the military strategists.

Didn't trap them all.

"It's impossible for the main force of the Huosi Chinese army to withdraw so early, but it's all a cover-up. If the opponent's troops outnumber our army by several times, they would have sent troops earlier. Why should they be so secretive?"

Wang Shouren mobilized before the war.

But his words, it seems that the effect is not ideal.

There were at least [-] cavalry in the early stage of Huozhai headquarters that Maoerzhuang had withdrawn to block their way southward, and these were not old, weak, sick and disabled left behind in Weininghai. The main force to prevent Da Ming from sending troops from Datong to attack Weininghai is extraordinary.

It's not that we believe that Wang Shouren's enemy is a paper tiger.

What we want is to use firearms to deter them. Now they dare not make a full-scale assault. Not only are they afraid of us escorting the hostages, but also because we have firearms sitting in the guard. Once they find a flaw, they will kill them without mercy.

In the pre-military meeting, everyone's face was a little dignified.

Liu Gui, who is from a hundred households, suddenly said: "Isn't there a mountain in the east? Why don't we use the mountain as our back and fight against it?"

Cao Shun said angrily, "What are you? Are you qualified to speak here? It's against the mountain, does that mean we're waiting to die there?"

Liu Gui went in without knowing it. In his opinion, leaning against the mountain with his back could only prevent him from being threatened, so he could concentrate on dealing with the enemy in front of him.

Now that he is in a tight siege and surrounded by people three times, shouldn't he also block the way back?

But to do so is to tell Cao Shun and other people who are afraid of death that we will not go south to break through, and we will just stay where we are, just to make ourselves look like a cornered beast.

Wang Shouren looked at Liu Gui with scorching eyes, and suddenly there was a bit of appreciation in his eyes. Probably at this time, Liu Gui's suggestion can be regarded as the best one...

What keeps going south...

Since it is impossible to break through the barrier formed by the five thousand soldiers and horses in the front banner of Huoshai Headquarters, it is more important to think about how to preserve the vitality first.

Wang Shouren said: "Liu Baihu's proposal is also the correct choice. Relying on the steep and dangerous peaks that cannot be browsed, with the back to the mountain, you can also take advantage of the advantages of firearms, temporarily build forts and fortifications, and you can also use firearms and ditches. Barbarian counterbalance."

"You..." Cao Shun was upset when he heard that, "Master Wang, do you also want to wait to die?"

Wang Shouren shook his head and said: "Our Diyi tens of thousands of men, women and children are hostages. If they want to attack the mountain, they will use these people to stand in front of the battle and plant mighty sky gunpowder to kill them all!"

Guan Jing, as the executive deputy general, immediately took orders and said, "Decree!"

"and many more!"

Cao Shun immediately stopped Guan Jing, "If we want to garrison soldiers and horses on a high place against the mountain, how can we guarantee water? Isn't that courting death? Besides, the tartars haven't come yet!"

Cao Shun didn't want to wait to die.

Wang Shouren's attitude was firm, and he took advantage of Cao Shun's doubts to explain to the soldiers present: "Listen, now is a good opportunity for us to stand firm and wait for help. Our army's water bags can last for more than three days. The reinforcements from the Ming Dynasty still did not arrive, so we could only blow up the Tartar herdsmen, and the whole army broke out to attack. There is no worry about water and food...not to mention, we still have tens of thousands of cattle and sheep..."

He just wanted to remind the soldiers under Cao Shun.

This is not a battle of earthen fortresses.

Any problem with the water source is nothing to worry about. The water on my body is enough for three days. If the reinforcements do not come after three days, then there is no need to look for water. You can directly kill the captured captives, cattle and sheep, and lead the troops. Charge out, how many can break through.

Sun Shangqi said: "At present there are more than 1 Tartar herdsmen, plus so many cattle and sheep, as well as soldiers in the army. The battle is indeed a bit big. It is easy for the army to take precautions and lose sight of others. General Wang Shao's suggestion is very good. .”

Although the Weininghai battle was won by Wang Shouren's proper command.

But after all, Wang Shouren had no actual experience in leading troops before, and his prestige was not high. When it comes to such a major matter of life and death, many generals actually set their sights on Cao Shun.

It is necessary to fight Weininghai, and it will be fought when it arrives.

But now Maoerzhuang is right in front of us, and after passing Maoerzhuang for more than 100 miles, we can reach the border of Datong, Ming Dynasty. If we abandon the grassland herdsmen's captives and cattle and sheep, and charge with fast horses, there is still a chance to kill them back.

At this time, you must have enough confidence to put yourself in the position of breaking the boat.

As for Sun Shangqi's words, it can be regarded as a "final word" in disguise.

Because Sun Shangqi is behind the Firearms Battalion, that is, the artillery battalion in the army, and Sun Shangqi is the supervisor sent by Zhang Zhou. The Daming Jinyiwei Qianhu is equivalent to the person who supervises the battle team. Even Sun Shangqi thinks that it should be Shrink the line of defense and gather the migratory team that has been dragged for three or four miles or even five or six miles to one place. After thinking about it again, the king's chief didn't object to the breakout battle three days later, so it's better to put them away first. Soldiers and horses gathered in one place.

Or did Ming's reinforcements arrive without breaking through?
A general asked behind the crowd: "Can the soldiers and horses from Datong Town come?"

The generals present were all embarrassed.

None of them are fools.

If Ming's frontier army had such high efficiency, Datong's army would not have passed Mao'erzhuang after so many days of dispatching troops. It stands to reason that what they are fighting here now is not what they are facing. The soldiers and horses in front of the banner will not attack from three sides, but should be a large army to welcome them in triumph.

Not now... probably not in three days.

Only a fool would expect that three days from now the situation will be completely different from what it is now.

Wang Shouren saw the lack of morale in the army, and he said sharply: "Everyone, no matter whether Datong Town sends troops or not, the troops from Zhang Zhitai will definitely come, and they will come with the Shenwei far artillery and the Shenwei heavy artillery. When the time comes, the Tatars will come. Will retreat without fighting! Don’t you want to let the credit fly away, and when you return to the border town, you will be ridiculed as cowards who can’t fight to the death?”

Now we can only use various methods to cheer up these generals.

After all, Wang Shouren couldn't call all the soldiers of the army together to talk one by one. First of all, he had to give the group of soldiers the confidence to fight this battle.

The reasons he gave were, first, to mention Zhang Zhou's "awesome".

You don't believe in the soldiers of the border towns, don't you believe in that Zhang Banxian who can pinch and count?
Have you forgotten who came up with the strategy of raiding Weininghai earlier?Zhang Zhou said that he would open up the road for us to go south, but did he just talk about it and leave us alone?So what good would it do him if we wiped out all our troops?

As for the second point... it is to move with emotion and understand with reason.

Now that you have gone back, you are considered deserters at most. If you say how many heads you have killed but have not brought back, who will believe it?
The herdsmen were caught by you, whether they were killed or ignored, just go back like this, and being ridiculed for a lifetime is a coward.

It's better to stay and fight to the death. If you wait for reinforcements from Ming Dynasty, not only will you not be ridiculed, but everyone will be a hero by then... Let me ask you, do you want to be cowards or heroes?

"war!"

Guan Jing waved his arms first.

"Battle! Fight!"

Encouraged by Wang Shouren, the morale of the army was stabilized anyway.

Before the men and horses of the various ministries of Huosi had formed an encirclement circle, they hurried towards the unknown mountain peaks in the east. They were not famous rivers and mountains, and they only relied on the foot of the mountain to block the retreat route to the east.

Cao Shun looked at the soldiers below who were bewitched by Wang Shouren, and cursed, "You still want to learn from Han Xin, who can't fight with his back? He carries his back on his back, but you carry his back on the mountain! You are just a fledgling, but you are so unafraid of death...Zhu Zi!"

Even though he was scolding, he still admired Wang Shouren in his heart.

At least he had never seen a young man as daring as Wang Shouren. Just his ability to execute, and his awesome aura, he was quite bluffing...

Thinking about it carefully, it seems that there really is one, and that is Zhang Zhou.

……

……

The expeditionary force led by Wang Shouren drove the captured [-] captives, as well as nearly [-] cattle, sheep and livestock into the area near the earth mountain, and then found that...there was not enough space.

Originally, more than 2000 cavalry could easily fight with their backs to the mountains, and with so many captives and livestock, they couldn't fit it.

It was the first time for the expeditionary force to see the whole picture of the "trophies" they had captured.

Just watching countless cattle and sheep rushing up the hillside... that scene...

What a spectacle.

I can't help thinking... If I take this back, how much military merit can I exchange for it?

There are also the heads of a carriage and a carriage, which are the symbols of their military exploits, and they are also transported up the hillside, condescending and waiting for the attack of the various troops of Huosi.

Before nightfall on the ninth day of June, all the soldiers and horses were assembled, and some cattle and sheep that were too late to go up the mountain were killed by Wang Shouren's order, and then slaughtered into beef and mutton, which were sent up to the soldiers on the mountain.

No matter what happens tonight or tomorrow, at least the lieutenant soldiers will eat meat first, even though many of them have almost vomited beef and mutton in the past few days.

Guarding such a group of cattle and sheep, there will always be lame or accidental deaths, and they will not eat for nothing.

After dark.

The armed forces were reorganized.

Wang Shouren changed the soldiers and horses into two squads, which were stationed day and night in rotation, and it was stipulated that all soldiers must be ready for battle at any time without disarming their armor.

"I don't know what will happen tomorrow."

Cao Shun took out the wine to warm up, and while warming himself by the fire, he drank and ate meat.

This kind of treatment... makes the surrounding generals envious when they see it.

Drinks are not available to everyone, like Cao Shun, as the eunuch guarding the Xuan Mansion, his status is favored. In fact, he has the highest status in the army, but now he is being suppressed by Wang Shouren, and he feels a little aggrieved. Now After listening to Wang Shouren, being driven to this dead-end place, I feel that my life is about to decline, that feeling...

Great joy and great sorrow.

If you don't drink some wine and complain, is that still me, Lao Cao?
Wang Shouren came back from his inspection and sat in front of the bonfire, saying: "Even in hot summer on the grassland, there is a big temperature difference between day and night, and there will be rain at any time at night, so let the soldiers keep warm. There is no need to hide the bonfire, you can light as much as you want." !"

If it is a normal march, you have to be careful when starting the stove, but now the strength of their army is already under the control of the grassland tribes. The main reason is that when they retreated south in the past two days, due to lack of manpower, the expeditionary army behaved too embarrassingly.

There is no need to hide now, what to do, first ensure the daily needs of the soldiers, especially to eat and drink enough, keep warm and even recharge their batteries.

Standing by and waiting for help is an extremely labor-intensive job.

Behind the hillside was a dirt mountain, and the atmosphere of the soldiers was a bit oppressive, but the troops from the Mengolezin Department did not come up immediately...the main reason was that they were scared by the artillery of the Ming Dynasty.

The ghost knows if Daming is luring the enemy to go deep. What if when they come up to surround, the soldiers of Daming rush down with their carriages and artillery to bombard their camp indiscriminately, wouldn't it be a pity?

As a result, even though the expeditionary force of the Ming Dynasty retreated in front of a mountain in a very irregular shape, the Tatars still had to keep camping about ten miles away, and sent a large number of cavalry to patrol around, especially to prevent the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty from suddenly incoming...

When Wang Shouren learned of the Tatars' arrangement, he said with a smile in front of Cao Shun and the others: "This is called deterrence. It's not like before. Wherever the Tatar cavalry goes, the frontier troops can only hold on. Let them wreak havoc in our Daming territory."

Cao Shun asked: "My lord, do you think that Zhang Zhitai will come?"

Wang Shouren said coldly: "A person who can understand the secrets of heaven, how can he break his promise? We have completed our mission, but we have led our troops to retreat south according to Zhang Zhitai's instructions. We have done our best, and the rest It's all in God's will!"

(End of this chapter)