Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Chapter 699: Thousands of Miles to Attack Datong (Part )
The north wind was blowing, and the Guards cavalry galloped on the Monan grassland. Although the two hundred thousand was a bluff, the real number was only 80,000. Mandu Latu and Urigendalai, who served as the vanguard, had only more than 10,000 men, but they were still huge. There were over ten thousand people and horses, boundless, and they arrived in Datong in a blink of an eye.

Datong Town, the first of the Nine Borders in the world, has a powerful fortress group with eight guards, seven forts and sixty-four forts. The outermost are the "Four Forts of Suppressing the Qiang": Suppressing the Qiang, Rejecting the Qiang, Rejecting the Gate, and Helping the Horses. Because these four forts are closest to the Mongolian areas, they are also called the Four Forts Outside the Great Wall; the inner side is the "Five Forts of the Border Wall": the side of the town. , Zhenchuan, Zhenlu, Zhenhe, and Hongci; there are "Jinglu Five Forts" on the northwest periphery: Mielu, Jinglu, Polu, Weilu, and Ninglu; and there is "Miehu Jiubao" on the inner northwest: Ninglu Hu, break Hu, destroy Hu, kill Hu, threaten Hu, subjugate Hu, block Hu, defeat Hu, destroy Hu. Other military forts surround these core military forts and are closely connected with the Great Wall, side walls, trenches, and piers, forming a tight defense system like a spider web. What you are carrying is impregnable!

No matter how strong the city defense is, it cannot scare the angry bullfighting warriors. Guard general Mandu Ratu clenched the mace in his hand and asked another general Urigendalai with a smile: "Urigendalai, have you noticed that during this southern expedition, the Great Khan is a little different from usual?" Too the same?"

"Oh, why didn't I notice?" Urigendalai pinched the handle of his saber and asked in confusion.

"In normal battles, the Great Khan only stipulates the general direction, and does not specify the specific attack route. How to fight and where to break through is left to the generals in front. But this time it is different. The Great Khan not only stipulates the specific marching route, but also details it. It’s clear which military fort to attack first and which hilltop to attack next. Isn’t this different from usual? Take the four forts outside the Great Wall as an example. The Qiang Fort was garrisoned by the generals of the Victory Battalion, and the city was fortified with many soldiers. Regardless of whether Zhuma Fort is dilapidated and in disrepair, or Juqiang Fort (Reject Wall Fort) has few defenders, these two forts should be the best breakthrough point, but the Great Khan insists that we attack from Jumen Fort, which is rich in wealth. The garrison of Sichuan Camp has 600 soldiers and 200 horses, which are more soldiers and horses than Zhuma and Jiqiang Forts. I'm afraid it may not be easy to fight," Mandu Latu said doubtfully. The guard's sentinels were capable, and the information they learned was very close to the truth. The number of defenders at Fort Shumen was 673, and there were 281 horses and mules. The Qing army set up Fengchuan Battalion to garrison the three forts of Juqiang, Jumen and Zhuma. It originally had a thousand sergeants. Because these three forts were located on the front line, a general with a total of 300 soldiers was transferred from Datong Dusi to assist in the garrison. , with a total strength of 1,300 people, the garrison at Shumen Fort accounted for half of the garrison at the Three Forts.

"Huh? That's what you said." Uzhgendalai scratched his head and suddenly laughed, "I mean Mandu Latu, you have always boasted that you are the sharp ax in the hands of the Great Khan, who obeys the orders of the Great Khan. Wherever you attack, you just hit it with an axe, why are you thinking so much?"

Mandu Ratu was also happy, "You are right, we are the sharp axes in the hands of the Khan, we just need to strike with one axe, hahaha~"
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War is not a child's play. Both Mandu Latu and Urigendalai are generals who have been fighting for a long time. Before the battle, they first sent a small team of cavalry for outpost warfare. Dubaihu Mahan led 300 light cavalry guards and went straight to the outside of the fort for reconnaissance.

As the name suggests, the Gate-Rejecting Fort means to keep the enemy out. It is located at the foot of Mount Sumeru. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack due to the mountainous terrain. Ma Wende, the garrison of the Fengshan Battalion, was a veteran who had experienced many battles. Seeing that the terrain of Jumen Fort was steep, he moved his camp from Juqiang Fort (Jiqiang Fort) to Jumen Fort, which was able to stand in front of the guards.

"On guard, a small group of guard cavalry was found outside the fort," the sentry came to report.

Ma Wende was not panicked. He had confidence in the city defense of Shumen Fort. This fort was eight points high on Tuesday, three feet and five feet high, and it was built according to Mount Xumi. There was a risk of being condescending, so why should we be afraid? After thinking about it, he summoned the cavalry commander Tuoketu and ordered: "Take two hundred cavalry out of the city to drive away the enemy sentries and test the combat power of the guards." Among the 673 defenders of Shumen Fort, there are 200 cavalry, most of them are from the Monan Mongolian tribe, and Toktu is from the Chahar tribe.

"Guard, something happened to my men. This morning, dozens of war horses suddenly foamed at the mouth and were difficult to ride," Toktun reported in a nonchalant voice.

"What! How did you get the job! Take me to see it quickly." In this era, war horses are the heart and soul of generals. When he heard that dozens of war horses were sick, Ma Wende became anxious and immediately wanted to check them.

When I arrived at the stables, I saw the cavalry from Fort Rejection surrounding the stables, but no sick horses were seen. "What's going on? Tuoketu, where is the sick horse you mentioned?" Ma Wende thought he was timid and asked coldly.

"Guard, I am a Mongolian." Tuoktu suddenly said something incomprehensible, pulled out his saber, and struck hard.

"Yeah", Ma Wende only screamed and then fell into a pool of blood. "Quick, follow me to open the fort gate and enlarge the army to enter the city," Toktu shouted to his men. All two hundred of his subordinates drew their Mongolian scimitars and turned against him. They were caught off guard and quickly opened the fort gate.

"Huh? Why is the fort gate open?" Mahan was scouting outside the city with three hundred guards, and was very surprised to see this scene.

"Dubaihu, there seems to be a fight in the fort," a sharp-eyed subordinate shouted.

Mahan looked around and saw that the city was indeed in chaos, with sounds of fighting, and someone at the gate of the fort shouted loudly in Mongolian to let the guards enter the city. Is it really a defection or a trick by the enemy? Since ancient times, fame and fortune have been in danger. Mahan set his heart aside and roared: "Hurry, follow me into the city."

Three hundred cavalry rushed into the city at lightning speed. As they entered the city, the battle ended quickly. The guards easily captured Fort Rejection at a very small cost.

"You are the warrior who surrendered to David? Tell me, why did you defect to David?" Mandu Ratu looked at Toktu happily and asked.

"The lower official is a Mongolian. One day, one of your officials came to see me and said that Padmasambhava Khan of the Kingdom of David came to earth. Even Lin Dan Khan's son Abu Nai recognized him as his adoptive father, and he and What he did wrong was to be an enemy of the god Tengger, and he also said that the Mongols would not fight the Mongols and asked me to switch sides when the army attacked the city."

"Oh? Our official? Which official?" Mandu Latu asked curiously.

"The official gave me this." Tuoketu took out a black iron waist tag with a line of small characters written on it: "Thousands of households in the Shanxi Province of Wu Yiwei are as long as Muding."
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The advance route designated by the Great Khan of Lotus to Generals Mandu Latu and Urigendalai was to attack Shumen Fort first, then bypass Mount Sumeru, and seize the forts of Zhuma, Baoan, Weilu (Weilu), and Zhenhe. , and then go straight to Datong via Leigong Mountain.

The second general marched according to his intention, and sure enough, the march was unstoppable. A sergeant at Shumen Fort defected and was taken down without any effort. Zhuma Fort was seriously damaged during the Jiang Yu Rebellion and was not well repaired. The fort was defended by 300 weak troops from Datong Dusi. When the fighting started, the heavy artillery of the Guards destroyed the dilapidated fort wall; the guard of Bao Bao Bao originally planned to hold on, but when the battle came, some soldiers took the lead in escaping. The guard could not restrain himself and was forced to abandon the city; Weilu (Weilu), Zhenhe Second Fort and Xumi Mountain were garrisoned by the Xinzhou Battalion transferred from Xinzhou. Zhang Sizhen, the commander of the Xinzhou Battalion, had never been very courageous. In addition, he was originally opposed to Peng Youde transferring himself from Xinzhou in the rear to the front line. Dissatisfied with the cannon fodder, they deliberately deployed the main force of the army on the steep Mount Xumi, leaving only a few soldiers and horses in Weilu (Weilu) and Zhenhe Fort. As a result, the guards bypassed Mount Sumeru, took the second fort and quickly defeated it. Zhang Sizhen was so frightened that he abandoned the natural dangers of Mount Xumi and fled to Leigong Mountain in embarrassment, where he joined the guerrilla Wang Yibu of the Biaoqian Battalion of Datong Town who was stationed at Leigong Mountain.

Leigong Mountain is the barrier to the northwest of Datong Town. Beyond Leigong Mountain is Datong City. It took only seven days for the guards to reach the outskirts of Datong City, like divine soldiers descending from heaven. When the Qing army suppressed the Jiangwan Rebellion, it took twenty days to attack only one Zhuma Fort. The two generals, Mandu Latu and Urigendalai, were convinced and secretly said that the Great Khan was indeed Padmasambhava who had descended to earth. He was able to predict the unknown and that was why the battle was fought so smoothly.

(End of this chapter)