The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

The night was solemn, and Yang Yiqing had ordered the local Ningxia soldiers and horses he led to complete the pre-war mobilization.

At the same time, Bo Xiangcheng and Marquis Wu'an, who had arrived in the east of Shigou City, also received instructions from Yang Yiqing to cooperate with the march. At this time, there was still about half an hour until dawn.

On the side of Xiangcheng Bo Li Ao, Li Ao was still surprised when he learned that Yang Yiqing was about to fight the Tatars in a bloody battle after only one night's rest after arriving at Shigou City. A general like him who thought he was bloody was also shocked. Yang Yiqing's courage.

Everyone knows that Yang Yiqing was timid in the battle in Ningxia last year. How did he become a coach this year who dared to fight more with less and was even a bit reckless?

It doesn't meet our expectations of you.

"Uncle Xiangcheng, you see, now Yang Junmen has notified us to cooperate in fighting. It seems that in an hour, we will have to send troops to fight to the death with the Tatars." Cui Yuan was in Li Na's formation. Cui Yuan showed his straight side to Li Hao.

Li Wei instantly understood why Zhu Hui, the protector of the country, did not know how to cherish such a relative of the emperor and had to give it to him.

It turns out that he is a garrulous person. He seems to have a free and easy personality and is willing to talk about anything. He can be friends with anyone, but his straight-tempered personality... is really unacceptable.

Li Tao wanted to say, you have such a temperament that you can usually make friends and eat and drink, but you are so straightforward on the battlefield... Don't you know that we are all afraid of death?

Li Tao said: "Consort Cui, are you okay? We only have 2000 people. There are only a dozen cannons and not many shells. Even if they have blunderbuss, the Tatars really want to attack them in full force. The tens of thousands of cavalry will be lost by hundreds. Won’t you swallow us up in the end?”

"What does Uncle Xiangcheng mean?" Cui Yuan was also wondering.

You've already become a pioneer officer, why do you want to be a coward?
Li Wei said unceremoniously: "We have to be patient. We have to wait."

"What are you waiting for?" Cui Yuan asked.

"Either we wait for Governor Yang to fight the Tatars and win, and we will put the icing on the cake. If he is defeated and retreats, we will retreat too without any shame. Or we can cover their retreat. If not, we will wait for the protector of the country. Lead the main force of the Ming Dynasty to arrive, and then we will have a decisive battle with the Tatars...after all...now is not the time to fight."

Li Tao said without any shame.

Cui Yuan was surprised and said: "Uncle Xiangcheng, I heard that more than two years ago, during the battle at Piantou Pass, you were the one who established unparalleled achievements with Marquis Weining. How come now..."

Li Er cursed secretly in his heart, are you exposing my shortcomings?

At any rate, I was faster and slower than Chen Liangjiu back then. Of course, in terms of running, Chen Liangjiu was better. In the end, I personally cooked hot wine for him to welcome him back... With Wang Weining's chicken intestines. Are you willing to share the credit with us?

But thinking about today's Baoguo Gong and others, they are not much better.

None of these coaches are good people.

Li Tao said: "No matter how brave you are, you still have to judge the situation."

Cui Yuan asked: "Then if Marquis Wu'an leads the army, should we follow?"

"He won't go up." Li Wei seemed very confident about this. "We don't have enough soldiers and horses. If we go up, we are looking for death. Now we are just waiting for the opportunity and be careful not to become a target for the Tatars. An arrow target is better than a cannon target." Not that strong."

……

……

As Li Wei expected.

After dawn, when Yang Yiqing agreed to attack, there was no movement in the camp of Wu'an Marquis Zheng Ying.

Generally speaking, the Ming Dynasty's frontier soldiers are also afraid of death. No one is willing to do this kind of charge into battle... Since you, Yang Yiqing, want to make contributions, let us all give you the opportunity. Let's watch the excitement first. .

Yang Yiqing organized his troops and horses, and when he was advancing towards Shigou City, he learned the news that Li Na and Zheng Ying were slacking off in the war.

Guo Jun was so angry that he shouted on his horse: "The thief mistakenly waited for me to do something big."

Yang Yiqing said: "They all ignore rabbits and don't let go of hawks. I thought that because they were able to accept the mission of the former army general, Wu'an Marquis and Xiangcheng Bo could shoulder the burden of annihilating Di Yi. It seems that I overestimated them."

At this time, the eunuch Zhang Nu, who was not far away, hurriedly rode over. He had just heard that Zheng Ying and Li Wei were standing still, so he hurried over to ask Yang Yiqing for instructions.

"If we fight this alone, the chances of winning are not high. Otherwise, we should... strive for victory steadily." Zhang He almost said, even if we win by forcing the Tatars away, why bother to take the initiative to offend the little Tatar prince? Woolen cloth?

We gained credit in the battle of Huamachi. As long as the Tatars retreat, this credit will be guaranteed.

If they were defeated, the victory in the previous battle would be a thing of the past.

Yang Yiqing said: "The Tatars have at least [-] elite cavalry. In such a tough battle, what difference does it make if there are less thousands of warriors who are afraid of battle?"

Zhang Xun frowned upon hearing this.

After all, they have four thousand soldiers and horses. With this extra group of soldiers and horses, the chance of winning is always much higher.

Yang Yiqing said again: "If the Tatars have no intention of fighting with us and find that the morale of our three armies is high, they will definitely choose to withdraw. Will they take the opportunity to attack the camps of those who are afraid of war?"

When Guo Jun heard this, he pretended to be excited. He laughed and said to the generals around him: "What Mr. Yang said is true. The stronger our army is, the lower the morale of the Tatars will be. They are afraid of being intercepted, so they will definitely attack first." Go and eat those cowardly turtles, let’s just rush forward, there will definitely be meat to eat!”

"Correct!"

Now the generals under Yang Yiqing had no choice.

If allies are unwilling to contribute, they can only do so themselves. Even if these words are just for psychological comfort, it is better than nothing.

After all, we have more than 1 troops here, and we are taking the initiative to fight. If the Tatars really want to pick the weak persimmons, they will not think that we are the weak persimmons, right?

Uncle Xiangcheng and Marquis Wu'an on the opposite side are really soft persimmons.

"Report!"

"The Tatar vanguard troops have formed a formation ten miles north of Shigou City!"

"Report! The Tatars are sending nearly ten thousand troops to the north of Shigou City. They have strong crossbows and thick shields to resist!"

"Report! The Tatars sent two lines of cavalry to detour on both sides of our army. The number of men and horses is unknown..."

As they got closer to the main Tatar camp, more frontline battle reports came.

When the people on Yang Yiqing heard this, they suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Wasn't it agreed that the Tatars were not ready to fight and would choose to retreat and then attack the two armies of Xiangcheng Bo and Wu'an Hou?
What do you think of the posture... The Tatars have completely arranged their pockets, waiting for us to get into them?

Yang Yiqing shouted: "Di Yi is already terminally ill. They haven't understood the situation yet. Those who dared to fight head-on with my Ming army have been defeated. Think of the fire sieve, and then think of our Ming army." Sweep across Huangshui and Guanshan! Our opportunity has come to make a great contribution! Pass my generals and attack at full speed, the front army is ready to fight!"

……

……

Yang Yiqing led his troops to attack the Tatars' main defense area.

They fought in a group and even formed a posture. More than 1 soldiers and horses gathered within an area of ​​about two miles. This was also because the terrain north of Shigou City was open.

When Yang Yiqing's troops were only seven or eight miles away from Shigou City, the city walls of Shigou City could already be seen from a distance. Shigou City served as the key point from the east of Hedong to Shaanxi and Gansu during the Ming Dynasty. It also served as the intersection of the Ming Dynasty's post stations. , although it is just an earthen fortress, less than a mile square, but because there is no nearby city within nearly a hundred miles, the strategic significance here is also very great.The Tatars' formation was already four or five miles ahead.

The Tatars did not launch an offensive. Perhaps the Tatars were afraid of attacking before. Every time they clashed with the Ming's artillery array, the Tatars always wanted to use the advantage of their cavalry to break up the Ming's artillery array. At first, they might have had some success. However, after the Ming Dynasty soldiers were equipped with medium and short range flint muskets, the Tatars found that rushing forward was courting death.

So this time Batu Munch obviously changed his tactics. He formed a formation first and waited for Ming's formation to press forward. It was also because they knew that Ming's artillery was not advancing very fast.

I can't afford it, I can hide it.

"Sir, the Tatars have formed several long snake formations, tens of feet apart from each other, assisted by shields and wooden chariots. It seems that there are cavalry lurking behind the shield formations, only three miles away from us, but they have not launched an offensive yet."

As the commander-in-chief of the former army, Guo Jun had already led his troops to the front.

The one who came to communicate with Yang Yiqing was Gao Pi, the deputy commander-in-chief of Ningxia. Gao Pi was in charge of the fire blunderbuss formation in the formation and obeyed Yang Yiqing's orders at any time.

Yang Yiqing looked at the rising sun in the sky, then looked at the east and west sides, and asked: "How far away are the Tatar wings from us?"

"It's also like three or four miles. Our troops on both sides rushed up several times, but the other side didn't seem to have any intention of making a large-scale retreat. After two battles, both sides were not injured," Gao Pi said.

Yang Yiqing nodded and said: "There is no point in fighting in front of the formation, then charge into the opponent's formation. If we can get to the city, let the Shigou City defenders come out together and cut off their retreat."

Gao Pi said: "There are no signs of troops in the city."

In Gao Pi's view, it is unrealistic to expect the 300 soldiers stationed in Shigou City to fight out. The Tatars have [-] soldiers and horses. [-] people are not enough to even kill people, not to mention there is only one cannon in the city. .

"Within two miles of the Tatars, start firing cannons to disrupt the Tatars' position! Go!"

Yang Yiqing said sternly, "The Tatars want to be a coward. Let us be the main attack this time. They can't defend this artillery."

……

……

"Boom boom boom..."

As the Ming Dynasty and Ningxia troops launched an artillery offensive, the Battle of Shigou City officially began.

Twenty miles away to the east of the city, Li Wei and Zheng Ying were watching the fire on the other side, or in other words, observing the situation. When they learned the news that the fighting was about to begin, the soldiers on both sides were still shocked, although they did not know it. How many troops and horses did Yang Yiqing bring, but it was expected that the number of troops and horses would not be as large as that of the Tatars, or even far inferior.

Just like that... Yang Yiqing still dared to fight the Tatars head-on, even if the soldiers of these two groups refused to accept it.

"You really dare to fight."

In Li Wei's Chinese army camp, after learning the news of the war, Li Wei directly commented like this.

Cui Yuan looked at the generals around him. Although there were not many people on their way, only two thousand soldiers and horses, the generals accompanying the army were not low-level. It was also because of this expedition to Hetao that Zhu Hui had gathered a lot of people under his command. Honored ministers and generals with mixed qualifications.

Cui Yuan persuaded Li Er: "If the battle ahead is urgent and we ignore our fellow soldiers, the imperial court will definitely hold us accountable."

"I will naturally know."

Li Na stood up, he was also very anxious.

Who makes Yang Yiqing a "reckless man"?

I originally hoped that Yang Yiqing would retreat when he saw the difficulty, but now it's better. This is putting the two people from the east on the fire.

A general named Song Qi on the side said: "Now we have tens of thousands of Tatar soldiers and horses in front of us. If we can contain them, we can give them a chance to fight. Maybe the Tatars are waiting for us to fall into our trap?"

Those who knew Li Er were generals who shared his greed for life and fear of death.

The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were accustomed to fighting defensive battles within the passes. Many of them have not changed this habit. They even have a psychological mentality of "taking the initiative to fight or die". They will not take the initiative to get into trouble when they can retreat. .

Li Bo said: "That makes sense. It's not that we can't go up now, it's because the conditions ahead don't allow it."

"Report..."

was talking.

The messenger's voice came from the door.

When Li Er saw the messenger, he asked nervously: "But the Tatars are coming to us?"

According to Li Nuo's intention, this is to be prepared for the wind and the wind at any time.

But I heard the messenger say in a loud voice: "Reinforcements from the Ming Dynasty have arrived from the northeast. They are Jian Changbo's men. They are not stopping along the way and are about to go towards Shigou City."

"Coming so soon? Wasn't it still fifty or sixty miles away before last night? Didn't they rest last night?"

Li Nuo looked surprised.

At the critical moment of the war, Jianchang Bo Zhang Yanling, who was not included in the "head count", actually led troops to reinforce?

Is he crazy or can't he think about it?

When Cui Yuan heard Zhang Yanling's arrival, he suddenly felt relieved and said with a smile: "Jian Changbo has experienced several wars. I guess he got the news that the war was starting and came quickly for reinforcements."

Although Zhang Yanling usually has a bad reputation, here in Cui Yuan... Cui Yuan is Zhang Yanling's brother-in-law. No matter how bad Zhang Yanling is, he never bullies Cui Yuan, so that Cui Yuan regards Zhang Yanling as "a role model for our generation." .

And Cui Yuan knew very well that Zhang Yanling had more than 4000 troops. If he added the two vanguard troops sent by Zhu Hui, it would be [-] troops and horses, fighting from the east to Shigou City and breaking the defense of the little Tatar prince. Formation, there is a great chance.

What's more important is that despite Zhang Yanling's slow arrival, there are a lot of firearms in Zhang Yanling's array, and they also have heavy firepower.

After hearing this, Li Wei said with fear on his face: "A relative of the emperor shouldn't be standing behind at this time, watching us die in front? He actually dares to go into battle in person? What is his intention?"

There is no problem in saying this.

Originally, Zhang Yanling was a joke-level existence in the military.

But because there was Cui Yuan, who was also a "relative of the emperor", many generals were a little confused.

They are thinking, Dare I ask Uncle Xiangcheng, are you criticizing Sang and Huai, mocking the prince's consort of Princess Yongkang who has repeatedly advocated war with you?
Cui Yuan seemed to be muttering, and his voice was not loud, but it was enough for the people around to hear clearly. He said: "If Jianchangbo leads his troops up, and we still stay here, I am afraid that the previous reasons will not be valid. .”

Okay.

I don't want to slap someone in the face, my prince-in-law.

Everyone felt that Cui Yuan was fighting back.

You, Li Hao, didn't listen to me. Now even my unsatisfactory brother-in-law has come to kill you. What else can you say about the Tatars setting up defenses in front of our formation? We did it to contain the Tatars, so we didn't kill them... Who believes this reason?
Even Zhang Yanling dared to charge forward, but you senior soldiers are still cowering?Do you want face? (End of chapter)