The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 422

After dawn, as many as a dozen groups of Tatar cavalry appeared within twenty or thirty miles around Daming.

The combined number of soldiers and horses has exceeded [-].

But there was no way to charge towards the Daming camp.

The previous scene where 7000 people charged and 5000 people were wiped out with a snap of their fingers still completely shocked the Tatars. In addition, the Tatars also knew that the leader of the army this time was not the kind of fledgling young general, nor was it unrealistic. The mediocrity of leading the army experience on paper, but Wang Shouren who personally completed the battle of Weininghai before...

In the Weininghai battle, Wang Shouren had already proved his strength.

The previous battle against the Jurchen also proved that he is not only a brave general who is good at intrigue and long-distance attack, but also a calm coach who is good at step by step.

In addition to the previous "Battle of Guanshan", Wang Shouren has become completely famous.

Then a very strange scene appeared on the grassland.

The [-] cavalrymen of the Ming Dynasty were cleaning and tidying up the battlefield. They cut off the ears of the abandoned Tatar corpses wherever they went, tied the valuable belongings of the Tatars to the horses, and burned the heavy luggage that could not be taken away. ...Then tens of thousands of elite Tatar soldiers just watched from twenty or thirty miles away, without going forward to confront each other.

Of course, Da Ming didn't seem to have any intention of continuing to fight them.

Wherever Ming's army went, the Tatars on either side would withdraw from the gap, dodge far away and let Ming's army pass through, and no Tatars would go to the battlefield to collect their tribal belongings, or this seems to be the case. It is an agreement between the two parties.

You Tatars hand over your treasures and the ears of the corpses of your clansmen, and we on the Ming side will stop fighting with you, and then we will just "go back where you came from" in such a friendly manner.

Of course, you Tatars don’t have to abide by this tacit agreement. If you snatch the corpses of your clansmen with us, then we will burn them together with your clansmen and property, and even chase your troops along the way, fight with you, and then let you leave. Hundreds of thousands of corpses...

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The Tatars did not fight against Ming for a long time.

Wang Shouren did not take it lightly.

He also made it very clear to his soldiers that the Tatars were not afraid to fight, but they could not find a chance, or they were waiting for the little Tatar prince Batu Mengke to return, because the Tatars felt that their current two-three Thousands of horses are not enough to completely wipe out the Ming Dynasty, and even if they can be wiped out, the losses of the Tatar headquarters Chahar will be astronomical.

Injure the enemy eight hundred, and self-injury one thousand.

It even hurts the enemy by [-], and damages itself by [-].

After all, the Chahar tribe is not the only tribe on the grassland. If they fight a decisive battle with the Ming army and cause the tribe to continue to bear heavy losses, then the Chahar tribe's dominance on the grassland will be challenged. It is very likely that the next step will be in the grassland. The one who dominates is not Dayan Khan, but Huo Sha, and even this group of ambitious people.

It can fight, and it can also wipe out the Ming side, but the loss of one's own side will be too great, and no one can accept it.

Then such a weird situation formed.

"Gold, there is gold."

Whenever the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty found valuable goods, they would shout excitedly, a bit like picking up treasures in the hinterland of the grassland, not only to show off to their fellow clansmen, but also to vent their inner pride, and at the same time to boost morale, telling comrades, I have found valuable ones, and you all have to work hard.

Wang Shouren did not deliberately regulate the soldiers' search for property. It stands to reason that all the property found should be brought back together and shared equally, or they should be called by the court.

This can also prevent internal disputes between soldiers in order to snatch property.

But on the actual battlefield, after the soldiers have fought their way to complete a great victory, it is actually unwise for the coach to regulate the distribution of goods.

The fairest method is not to divide it equally, but who gets it. This is why since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the "first merit" was established as the main method of calculating credit. It doesn't depend on who killed the person, it depends on who cut off the head Take it away, whoever has the head will get the credit.

It seems that the principle of absolute fairness cannot be guaranteed, but it is the fairest and easiest to be accepted by soldiers.

Absolute fairness cannot be pursued on the battlefield.

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The Ming soldiers spent the whole day cleaning up the mess on the battlefield.

Fires can be seen everywhere, and the place where the Ming army passed by is in a mess, but there is also one thing that the troops led by Wang Shouren have abided by the "rules", that is, the Tatar corpses have nothing but ears. It was to save the Tatars the last face, so that they could take the corpse back to the headquarters and deal with it in their own way.

In the beginning, Daming burned all the goods that could not be taken away.

Later, seeing that the Tatars were eager to try and had the intention of attacking, Wang Shouren also knew that the Tatars should not be pushed too hard. He had to maintain a tacit understanding and give some "favor" to the Tatars.

So in the future, except for some materials related to strategy, the Ming side will try not to burn other things as much as possible, but to speed up the pace and go southeast, in order to complete the cleaning of the battlefield as soon as possible and avoid being trapped in the Tatars. The siege of all walks of life in Tartar.

Guan Jing is in charge of leading the way, while Han Zheng is in charge of the rear.

Wang Shouren's instructions to the two were also very clear: "...if the Tartars do not take the initiative to attack, they will not deal with them. We seem to have the advantage with the magic camp firearms, but the ammunition is severely damaged and the firearms are also worn out. In the event of a war, they will definitely not be able to match the ferocity of yesterday's battle, so we have to withdraw to Daming like this, and this battle will be considered a smooth conclusion."

Wang Shouren was not dazzled by the victory.

He knew very well that Da Ming had fought three battles before, and the first two battles were bloodless and had no reference value.

It was yesterday's "Battle of Guanshan" that intimidated all the troops of the Chahar tribe, but yesterday's battle could not be repeated. There are enough ammunition to complete indiscriminate attacks within the range.

And with the increase in the number of firings of artillery and firecrackers, the situation of bombing will be more likely to happen than before.

In Wang Shouren's view, since his firearms were worn out and the ammunition was severely depleted, there was no need to continue the bloody battle with the Tatars. To be able to withdraw to Daming smoothly and bring the victory back would actually kill more enemies than to kill them again. Also more efficient.

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Wang Shouren's army is retreating steadily.

The Tatar little prince Batu Monk's troops did not appear immediately, but the Tatar reinforcements from various quarters are also increasing.

By the next day, the number of Tatar soldiers and horses following the Ming Dynasty had exceeded [-].

The Tatars transferred almost all the troops left behind who could be dispatched to attack Wang Shouren's troops. It's not that they wanted to stop Wang Shouren from leading his troops back. When they were ordered to send troops, they knew that the people behind them were being killed Wang Shouren chased after him, and he didn't know that the battle was over until reinforcements arrived.

What has been lost is irretrievable, and we can only prevent Wang Shouren from continuing to lead troops westward in pursuit, so it is better to "watch" Wang Shouren lead his troops away.

As for how Batu Monk will punish them when he returns...

This is not the scope of their consideration.

The law does not blame the public. Now no one dares to fight Wang Shouren's troops head-on. No one wants to die. Since Wang Shouren has already chosen to withdraw his troops, even if you return Batu Mengke and give you an army of [-], are you really Do you dare to fight Wang Shouren directly?

After this battle is over, can't we live in the future?
Wang Shouren and his [-] soldiers were blocked and wiped out, the grassland tribe lost tens of thousands of horses, and no one came to kill them in Ming Dynasty?
Zhang Zhou, can you handle it?Or do you think that this battle will make Da Ming give up the offensive and choose to stick to it?

As for not being reconciled...

There is no question of reconciliation, because in the past every time the Tatars entered the Central Plains to plunder, and every time they retreated, Ming's army also watched them leave, not because they didn't want to stop them, but because they wanted to calculate the cost.

"According to the topographical map, it will take more than two days and two nights to get from here to Weining Sea. If you take a break in the middle, you may need to walk for three days. If you withdraw from Weining Sea to Maoerzhuang, where the soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty are stationed, you will need to walk another day and one night. , don’t stop too much along the way!”

Wang Shouren took advantage of the pre-battle meeting to convey the current situation to the generals in the army.

It will take about four days and four nights to retreat south to Maoerzhuang, where the outside soldiers and horses of Datong Town are stationed, where his famous battle was once held.

Now Daming has built a city in Maoerzhuang, Datong also stationed at least tens of thousands of soldiers and horses here, and re-established a beacon tower, and going north to Weining Sea is the area patrolled by Daming soldiers and horses.

"Fortunately, this time, light soldiers are going south. If they are surrounded by the main force of the Tatars, they have to fight before they can fight! Otherwise, they will all avoid fighting!"

"It is marked by the Tatars entering within three miles, or blocking the way and not retreating!"

The Tatars did not take the initiative to go to war, and the Ming side did not pursue it, nor did they take the initiative to seek combat. This was Wang Shouren's principle of withdrawing troops.

This can be regarded as releasing a certain amount of "goodwill" to the Tatars.

You can come to a decisive battle with us for the sake of face. We are not afraid of fighting with you, but please consider the consequences of the battle. Our 6000 people have killed more than [-] of you, and we have killed enough.

If we kill again in the future, that is what we earn.

Whoever wants to be the leader, please come up to show your strength, don't be the leader and the whole army will be wiped out, and the rest of the people will just watch helplessly, and the women of your tribe will be inherited by others , Your pastures will also be occupied by others.

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Wang Shouren is withdrawing troops step by step.

According to the agreement, the Ming Dynasty should have dispatched troops from all directions after the little Tatar prince withdrew his troops, and the soldiers from all walks of life should have done their best to bloom at every point, but they did not achieve coordination in dispatching troops.

This is related to Yang Yiqing's delay in disseminating the accurate news of the Tatar withdrawal.

Yang Yiqing didn't know the reason why Batu Mengke withdrew his troops. He knew almost nothing about the war on the grassland, and the capital did not pass the news of Wang Shouren's invasion of the grassland in time. He is still struggling with Zhu Feng's relationship. The details of "playing meritorious service" or "pleading guilty".

Qin Hong is also a conservative.

Obviously, the Tatar cavalry around Yansui had withdrawn, and Qin Hong also believed that it might be a "tactic to lure the enemy" by the Tatars, so it was best to observe first.

On the contrary, it was on the front line of Piotouguan. When Wang Qiong learned that the Tatars had begun to retreat inexplicably, he was the first to send troops out of Piotouguan. It does not mean that he was braver than others, but that he was stationed at Piotouguan. He has the largest number of soldiers, horses and artillery, and he, Wang Qiong, was brought up by Zhang Zhou. He knows that he must "stand up" at critical times.

If Zhang Zhou and the emperor do not get along well, then he will have no way to mix in the court in the future. Don't expect the traditional civil servants to stand by him in the northwest frontier politics.

Datong and Xuanfu are relatively quieter.

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At this time, it was also from Xuanfu to the west, and the imperial edict issued by the emperor himself informed Wang Shouren of the news of entering the grassland from Liaodong.

This news itself is to reassure the soldiers of the Northwest.

The news from east to west, and the news of Batu Monk's withdrawal from Ningxia from west to east, spread almost simultaneously.

At the same time that people in the Northwest learned that Wang Shouren had gone deep into the grassland, people in the Northwest also began to know that Batu Mengke led the army to withdraw northward. Once the two news converged, it was easy to conclude that "Wang Shouren achieved victory on the grassland and forced the Tatars have to withdraw” such a conclusion.

When the news of the withdrawal of the Tatars reached the capital, it happened to be in the early hours of the morning.

Zhu Youtang was also woken up in his sleep, and it was an hour before dawn, Zhu Youtang was not in the mood to go to sleep, so he hurriedly asked Xiao Jing, who came to deliver the message, to hold a lantern and accompany him to the Qianqing Palace.

At this time, it was approaching the tenth month of the lunar calendar, and the weather outside was already suddenly cold. Zhu Youtang was still a little uncomfortable when he came out, but fortunately, the eunuch who followed behind put him in a big cloak.

"...The little Tatar prince led the troops to retreat, and the specific movement is unknown. Yansui, Xuanfu, and Datong have also reported one after another, saying that there has been no sign of Tatar activity in the past few days..."

When Xiao Jing mentioned the performances in various places, he deliberately did not mention the first pass.

In fact, Wang Qiong's Shangzuo was the earliest, but it was suppressed by the cabinet and the Li Supervisor, and they also chose to conceal the news that Wang Qiong's Shangzuo was going to send troops.

For nothing else, this is their best chance to restrain Zhang Zhou, and Wang Qiong's dispatch of troops is likely to change the strategic outcome... No one wants to let the Ming Dynasty's six thousand elite soldiers fall into the sand on the grassland, but the problem is that they will be blamed It's not them, but Wang Shouren and Zhang Zhou, so the matter is different in terms of choice.

Our group of old guys did not dig holes for you, that is, the new group headed by Zhang Bingkuan. We just didn't do anything and didn't deliberately help, which was equivalent to "letting go."

So even if there are any bad results, it has nothing to do with us.

"Is there any news about Uncle Xin?"

When Zhu Youtang learned that Batu Mengke had withdrawn, although he also felt that the matter was of great importance, he was more concerned about the report from Wang Shouren's subordinates.

Xiao Jing wondered: "There is no latest movement of Xinjian Bo's march. It is expected that he has penetrated into the grassland. Even if he is a scout, he will not be able to pass through the siege of the Tatars. Within, otherwise... I am afraid that there are 30 to [-] Tatars from all walks of life, and he is..."

Xiao Jing only needs to say half of some words.

For the rest, Your Majesty, please experience it slowly.

Why do you think Wang Shouren can wreak havoc on the grassland with six thousand soldiers and horses?Do you want to get out after the raging?A little unrealistic, right?
Wang Shouren's people are likely to go and never return. As for how many people they killed in the middle, as long as the news doesn't come back, or only comes back through a few words, there are many ways to make a fuss out of it. .

To put it bluntly, you, Wang Shouren, could kill [-] enemies on the grassland. As long as you don't bring back the evidence, we can also say that you didn't kill any of them, and even caused your entire army to be wiped out.

What we want is "evidence", and we cannot bring back the results of the battle. It is all based on words, and no one admits it.

Wang Shouren also understood this, so when he could pursue or not, he decisively chose the latter, cleaned up the battlefield first, and then went home happily.

I, Wang Boan, entered the grassland to frighten the Tatars and force the little Tatar prince to return to the army, not to level the grassland with [-] cavalry... As for the task of flattening the grassland, it is not agreed that it will be completed in a few years ?Six hundred cannons and [-] shells want to destroy the grassland?Too idealistic, right?
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Inside the Qianqing Palace.

The eunuch Xiao Jing, the supervisor of ceremonies, Chen Kuan and Wei Bin, the eunuchs of Bingbi, are all present, and there is another eunuch Li Rong, who was born in Xuande five years ago and is now 80 years old. Reactivated by Zhu Youtang as the Chief Bingbi Eunuch... but not the admiral of Dongchang.

When Daming was employed as a supervisor of ceremonies, there would often be situations where the elderly would be reactivated.

It is the same as the seniority ranking of cabinet appointments, and it is also promoted step by step with higher seniority, but if it is re-appointed, it is different from the cabinet.

Unless the ministers of the cabinet come back from the system, they are re-appointed after they leave office. In terms of seniority, they must be re-ranked from the bottom. The first and auxiliary, but the last.

Li Rong used to be the chief inspector of ceremonies, but this time he returned to the chief inspector of ceremonies, but he didn't have to follow Chen Kuan and Wei Bin, two juniors, but could directly hold the pen for the chief, but he couldn't aspire to the palm of his hand, unless Emperor's decree.

That is to say, when it comes to employing people, the supervisor of ceremonies is more based on the will of the emperor.

The problem of changing the order of the eunuchs and eunuchs often occurs, but this situation basically did not occur after the middle and late Ming Dynasty, especially after Wanli.

"His Majesty."

Li Rong was the chief writer, and after the emperor came over, he hastily presented the performances he had prepared in front of the emperor.

After Zhu Youtang sat down, he unhurriedly picked it up and read it.

Xiao Jing has already reported the main problem to him, so Zhu Youtang generally knows that the current situation is that the Tatars are retreating from all walks of life.

Zhu Youtang asked: "As Qin Hong said, the Tatars don't know the movements. Is it possible that they retreated falsely, or did they really retreat?"

This is asking, did the Tatars have to retreat, or did they deliberately retreat and wait for us to kill them, so that they could return to the carbine?

Li Rong glanced at Xiao Jing first, and then expressed his opinion: "The old slave thinks that the Tatars withdrew their troops hastily, otherwise the people from all walks of life could not be so coordinated."

"That's good." Zhu Youtang said, "Hurry up and send orders everywhere, and immediately mobilize troops to send troops. You can't just sit back and watch Uncle Xinjian helpless. You must put enough pressure on the Tatars!"

(End of this chapter)