Jingming

Chapter 343 The Battle of Zhen'an Fort

There is no uniform name for this ditch, but after tonight, it will be named after this battle.

The main battlefield is to the west of Zhen'an Fort, an area more than one mile deep and three or four miles wide, enough for large-scale cavalry to charge and maneuver.

Bodie's sweat tent was moved to the corner of the mountain facing Zhen'an Fort, which is called Wayao.

To the southwest of him, there are still people guarding possible reinforcements from the direction of Majiayao and Yunchuan.

But for the time being, it is only used to attack Zhen'an Fort, which is built in the valley and flat ground.

"There are many mountains and mountains, surrounded by mountains, facing the mouth of the two rivers in the east, and the path leads to the outside. The mountains are high and steep, and Shuo rides down, and the situation is as if it is in a strategic position. Anyone who enters the inland, the fortress is trapped, and the forests outside the two river mouths are dense. It is especially difficult. Its three houses and various places in the axis of the bay are all ministers stationed in pastures, so it is not easy to defend."

In the Acropolis of Longchuan, Tang Shunzhi recited to Zhu Houcong the records about Zhen'an Fort in the Staff Division of the Ministry of War.

Zhu Houcong sighed, "When Bodi invaded, why did he go all the way south from Dushi Fort and all the way from Longmen to the west?"

He felt that this Zhen'an Fort was more difficult to defend.

"The plan is huge, so it's difficult first and then easy." Yang Yiqing said solemnly, "Now that the Tartars have chosen Zhen'an Fort to break through, and are burning mountains to stop the pursuers, under the desperate attack, Zhen'an Fort may not be able to last long. "

Bodie fell into a coma for a while, but still wanted to stick to Red Castle and wait for reinforcements, trying to turn defeat into victory.However, the previous strategy at the western foot of Yanshan Mountain was to let the captives ride into the mountains first after encountering the enemy, and the loss of Bodie's troops was very small.Then I replied that Yu Tailing's victory was too much to shake the morale of the Ming army, and all the armies were restrained by him in the northwest of Xuanfu.In the end, I replied that we withdrew simply, and it would be very difficult to deploy troops to encircle Bodie.

If it wasn't for Wang Shouren who reacted first and took back the Longmen Office first, and if it wasn't for Bodi who was unwilling to fail, the current encirclement situation might not have appeared.

But Bodi still has nearly [-] elite soldiers and many captive civilians in his hands. Zhu Houcong, Yang Yiqing and others who are in Longchuan Acropolis don't know the current situation in that valley.

This mountain fire cut off the back road that Bodi and others were still holding on to, and indeed blocked the pursuit of the main force of the Ming army at the western foot of Yanshan Mountain.

Now it just depends on whether Zhen'an Fort can try its best to defend until the arrival of reinforcements.

At this moment, the Chahar cavalry who had previously attacked outside the Dragon Gate were also shifting to the north with all their strength, and Zhen'an Fort would soon be attacked by the enemy.

Zhu Qi also led his troops along the side wall and used his legs to march for reinforcements. Fu Duo led his troops to go around the fire in the northwest of Zhen'an Fort. The [-] defenders here—as well as the other fortification piers on the side wall—must be recaptured, encircled, and dispersed.

Except for the troops of the Thousand Households Office, the people brought by Li Jin, He Quan'an, and Yan Chunsheng were less than two thousand and five thousand in total, and the composition was complicated.

Three thousand and five against more than ten thousand.

Li Jin has the highest official rank and is the left deputy commander of Datong Town.

He Quan'an and Yan Chunsheng are from Jinyiwei, one is the commander of the Fusi Special Forces Office in Nanzhen, and the other is the instructor and commander of the Fusi Special War Battalion in Beizhen.

Although the Zhengqian households stationed in Zhen'anbao belong to Xuanfu Town, they can only obediently obey orders at the moment.

"Strictly speaking, your brother, can you touch the hills on the north and south sides like you did at Yehu Ridge before, and specialize in fighting generals?"

Facing Li Jin's question, Yan Chunsheng shook his head: "It was just a surprise at that time. Although there are places to hide in the north and south, the Tartars have to flatten the Zhen'an Fort before they can withdraw their main force. Besides, the distance is too far away. , the arrows are not enough. When we meet the enemy head-on, the brothers in my special warfare battalion will not be of much use."

He looked at the bright spot in the west under the mountain fire and in the night: "I can try to touch Wayao Mountain opposite to see if I can sneak attack the captive chieftain."

"We can't attack the captive chief first!" Li Jin shook his head immediately, "Once the captive chief dies, the Tatars will lose their backbone and must flee in all directions. It's not good for them to concentrate on attacking Zhen'an Fort here and wipe out all the enemy troops."

"..." Yan Chunsheng looked at He Quanan.

In such a situation, do you really want to wipe out the enemy army?There are over [-] Tartars. If they attack Zhen'an Fort and cannot take it down for a while, won't they attack the side wall next to them and rush out?
"It's good to stick to it. The number of Tartars who can attack the fort at the same time is not much different from that of the defenders." He Quan'an said indifferently, "With so many troops, the Tartars must break through the side walls or Zhen'an Fort, and slaughter all the defenders before they can leave. But if there is only one person left, all the troops need to be divided, how can this be the way for the Lord of the Northern Yuan Dynasty to flee north? Here we come!"

He was right, the Ming army was not without cavalry.If the Beilu really fled in panic, they would have to climb some mountains to get to the dam after leaving Zhen'an Fort.

That, too ugly.

Now that the military fort is in front, their strength has multiplied, and they have broken out of the fort with the same enemy, and they have not reached the situation where they need to disperse and flee.

In the limited space, the cavalry began to charge.

Bodie looked at his subordinates, his eyes tearing apart.

How famous was the cowardly Xue Jun back then?At this moment, they want to use it to attack the fortress in this way, just to flatten the fort and let their sweat "escape" out.

Even if it really broke through, Bodie still didn't want to go in such a mess.

Since the cowardly Xue army went south, it has not been really defeated!
Even if it was faintly surrounded by the Ming army, didn't the Chi Castle have been guarded for nearly a month, couldn't the Ming army break it down quickly?

Right now, it's just that he can't really become a rabbit whose holes are blocked by foxes and wolves.

Now Bodie felt more shame and indignation than worry.

"Whoever falls into battle and breaks the castle, seal ten thousand households!"

He passed down the sweat order, and the shouts of killing inside and outside Zhen'an Fort shook the sky.

In the mountains to their northwest, Fu Duo had just circled some of the hottest areas of fire.

Separated by Majiayao and Tuogou, the mountain between Maoeryu and Zhen'anbao is safe and sound.

"General! There are Tartars guarding the Majiayao mountain pass!"

The sentry reported back, and Fu Duo hurriedly asked, "How many people?"

"Outside Zhen'an Fort, at most three or four thousand riders can set up a formation and charge, and there will be at least three or four thousand riders who are behind!"

Fu Duo thought about the number of people he brought, gritted his teeth and said, "No matter what, we can't let them take turns to attack Zhen'an Fort. Let 100 people go to the mountain in front of Majiayao. They set fire to the mountain, and we also set it on fire." The Tartars don't know that the mountain wind blows down at night, let them mess up first."

"...General, if that happens, the brothers in Zhen'an Fort will probably suffer too."

"There is still a ditch between them! Was it the Tartars who were first disturbed by the smoke and hot wind, or Zhen'an Fort? Go!" Fu Duo looked behind him, "Go down the mountain, form an formation, and march towards Majiayao!"

A few mountains to the east of Muma Castle is the Heihe Valley, which is already outside the Ming Dynasty's side wall.

At this moment, Bo Di arranged to watch Duoyanwei and restrain the subordinates of the Jizhou Army at Gubeikou, leading more than [-] cavalry to the north at high speed.

"Hurry up, we've reached the fork in the road, you follow me on the path first, and go over the mountain."

Everyone is running for time right now.

Although the total distance is only more than a hundred miles, it is not easy to walk. It is night after all, and it is among the mountains.

Zhu Qi was also urging, he just arrived at the Shepherd Castle, he must be behind the speed of the cavalry, after all his people rely on their legs.

"Take all the torches! You are the garrison of Qianhu in the Shepherd Castle? Take your family soldiers and go with me! The Tartars can no longer care about this side, and the Tartars are blocked in the town. Anburg!"

At this moment, as long as the real combat power is needed.

Those who can't keep up with the team may simply stay and garrison.

Zhu Qi just wanted to rush to Zhen'anbao as soon as possible.

Li Quanli and He Xun had only arrived at the south of Yunchuan Castle at this time. What they were facing was a wildfire that was already burning. go down.

"I can't wait!" He gritted his teeth, "Wet our clothes in the river, covered our mouths and noses, and charged at the general! The Tartars also passed by in the same way, and they also had a hard time, and they had their last breath left!"

This night, every army that was chasing and intercepting had to have the stamina to rush for tens of miles.

After all, Bodie still hadn't waited for the last moment when the encirclement was really thick and dense, although setting fire to the mountain was a mistake.

Now, this mistake has inspired Fu Duo.

After suffering from the smoke and hot wind from the mountain fire all the way from Yunchuan Castle, the mountain behind his buttocks also caught fire.

In the valley to the northwest, the drums and shouts of the Ming army sounded.

Li Jin's eyes lit up: "It came so fast! Brothers, the reinforcements are here! We must block every side wall!"

He raised his knife even more: "Trapped into the camp, I will kill them from Qingyun Temple, so that they cannot go up the mountain from the north!"

Qingyun Temple is on the mountain outside the north gate of Zhen'an Fort. Li Jin knew that the reinforcements had arrived, and the Tatars would fight even more crazily when they were surrounded by all sides and Wayao Mountain was also on fire.

But he, Li Jin, was also crazy, he was only thinking about keeping the Tartars from rushing out.

Now, he was going to cut off the way for the Tatars to rush from this narrow ravine to the north of Zhen'an Fort, and break out from the side wall with fewer defenders.

Flying the flag down, Li Jin was the first to shout: "Datong Li Jin is here! The one who will burn the border wall this year is Lao Tzu!"

Due to the fire, Bodie's banner had to be moved to the valley.

On such a battlefield, every move of the big flag means that the situation of the battle has changed.

The Ming army's battle drums and shouts from the direction of Mayaogou made many cavalry turn their heads to look at the dark red valley illuminated by the mountain fire to the southwest.

The Han people came after them so quickly, so what about waiting a while?Is there a shout in that direction too?
It was not from the southwest but from the southeast that the shout sounded first.

The Shepherd Castle is less than twenty miles away, Zhu Qi hissed and shouted: "Keep shouting! The brothers in Zhen'anbao can hear the shouting, so that they can grit their teeth and persevere! Shouting makes the Tartars terrified and panicked!"

In a panic, it might be even more desperate, so let the defenders of Zhen'an Fort know that reinforcements are on the way, and persist.

It is also possible that they really panicked and fled in all directions, so the power will also be dispersed.On the Great Wall, after all, there are defenders at intervals.

Now, when Zhu Qi passed by the Wrangler Fort, there were five hundred more people. They were still nearly ten miles away from Zhen'an Fort, but all of them were wasting energy with their voices open.

The sonic boom has become a fact.

Bodie's reinforcements on the east side of the Great Wall also heard this voice.

what can they doHe could only speed up his horse step, hoping to rush to the east of Zhen'an Fort as soon as possible.

Li Jin fought bloody battles, he had already heard about Yu Dayou's mandarin duck formation.

He doesn't know that kind of thing, he only fights bravely.

To the south of Mayaogou, the men led by Fu Duo also began to meet the enemy.

When the fire from the direction of Chicheng spread from both sides of the Longchuan River, he was the first to lead the army to break through the Yunchuan Fort that was blocked there.

It was already late at night when Bodie led his troops to the southeast of Yunchuan Castle.

They then entered the valley leading to Zhen'an Fort and burned the back road. Fu Duo only had time to clean up the broken remnants of the captives in Yunchuan Fort.

Then, another night of rapid marching, he fell behind quite a bit. The less than a thousand elite soldiers under his command were now facing three times as many captive cavalry in the narrow and long valley.

This valley is very narrow, only a hundred paces wide.

On the left hand side of Fu Duo is the mountain fire he ordered people to ignite, and now they also have to bear the troubles it brings.

But in the small valley facing the southeast, he stared at the soldiers with smoky red eyes: "When have you ever had such an opportunity to guard the border all your life? The Lord of the Northern Yuan is in front! Line up! Guard! Tianyi Liang, they will never have a chance to escape!"

God, it's almost dawn.

Throughout the night, there were wildfires and foehn, and it was all about fleeing and blocking.

Military order?It was too late, and every general of the Ming army around the battlefield could only make decisions based on their instincts.

Now is the moment when General Zhenshuo and General Xuanfu Fu Duo has the fewest troops around him.The valley is narrow, and once the army formation is broken through, there is no escape.

What weapon?What strategy?
At this moment, it is a real encounter on a narrow road.

But Fu Duo was right. The Mongolian cavalry who wanted to escape had very few chances to be blocked by such hope.

Now, the battle and even the credit of capturing the Lord of Bei Yuan prompted their instinct to make a decision, stimulating them to use adrenaline to support the rapid march all night, so that they can still forget the fatigue and pain at this moment, and hold their hands tightly weapons.

The same is true for the Mongolian cavalry - they fight for their lives.

At dawn, it was Bodie's troops who first rushed to the east of Zhen'an Fort.

"Suddenly hot! Suddenly hot!"

The Mongol cavalry inside the Great Wall heard the roar of their kin coming from beyond the side wall.

"Suddenly hot! Suddenly hot!"

They rallied inside the side walls and responded with cries.

But at the same time, this also prompted them to be more determined, but to risk their lives to attack Zhen'an Fort.

"...37! 38!" Yan Chunsheng counted the numbers at the top of Zhen'an Fort, with more joy in his eyes, "It's dawn! Find an official to fight!"

He saw the big flag of the Lord of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, and the flag stood in the middle of the valley about [-] steps southwest of Zhen'an Castle.

"You three, take a tiger squat gun and follow me to the south mountain!" Yan Chunsheng's eyes lit up.

The people in the special warfare battalion must be able to do everything. The previous missions did not require them to do this kind of thing, but now there are guns in the Zhen'an Fort.

"Boom!" The defenders in Zhen'an Fort can now aim their cannons more accurately and shoot farther, instead of staring at the more crowded cavalry rushing closer.

"There is no need to save arrows and shells! The reinforcements from the south will be here soon, and the reinforcements from the north are also on the way! After another hour or two, even if the Tartars break through the wall, we must continue to fight! Xiong Baihu, you three Baihus follow I'll go to the east for reinforcements, don't let the Tartars breach Zhen'an Fort from the outside!"

In Zhen'an Fort, He Quan'an did not take over the defense, but he could serve as the commander of the other wing.

To the east of Zhen'an Fort, the sound of horseshoes extends far away.

In that direction, a cavalry force not much less than the Tartars in the Great Wall was rushing.

The east and west sides of Zhen'an Fort will immediately bear the pincer attack of nearly 600 troops.After Li Jin led [-] people down the mountain to block the Tartars from going up the mountain from the north and breaking the side wall, the strength of the troops in Zhen'an Fort was now below [-].

A night of fierce fighting resulted in many casualties.

Facing nearly ten times as many captive cavalry, Zhen'an Fort can't last long, even though reinforcements are on the way.

Now every time we defend a little longer, the Ming army's chances of winning will be greater.

Bodie also understood this truth. After listening intently for a while to the east of Zhen'an Fort, he drew out his scimitar: "Leave one thousand to the south to bite the Han people over there, and the rest, follow the big banner to charge!"

As a great sweat, how could he not be brave?

He also grew up on horseback!

The trumpet is sounding, the sun is rising, and the wind is changing between the valley and the mountaintop.

"How far is it?"

In the valley to the southwest, Li Quanli, He Xun and the others came to an open area, where there was a ravine running from east to west.

"After passing this pier, there are only ten miles away!"

"Come on!"

Their movement was quickly detected by Mongolian sentry cavalry scattered in the south.

The sentinels quickly reported that Bodie was already on the way to charge, and only half of those who stayed behind to intercept the reinforcements rushed into the Mayao ditch to defeat Fu Duo's Qianqi.

There is still time difference.Ten miles away, Li Quanli and the others wanted to arrive, and it would take an hour at the earliest.

Can you arrive with soft legs?Do you want to fight now?

"Guard Khan! Kill!"

Here, the fighting was much more severe than in Huangyashan and the suburbs of Jingping.

The Ming army who can rush here at this moment are all true elites.

Around Fu Duo are his most powerful family soldiers and personal soldiers, and they are also the strength that the other generals he brought around rely on to gain a foothold in the border town.

Although the total number is just over a thousand, it is still being consumed.

"Grit your teeth and hold on!" Fu Duo heard the marching cries from the southwest, "The reinforcements from Chicheng and Yunchuan have also arrived, less than ten miles away!"

The sound can echo farther between the valleys.

Bodie heard it too, but could he turn back now?

The most important moment!

At this time, Yan Chunsheng took only three people and ran quickly in the mountains south of Zhen'an Fort.

Bodie's fire, to the southwest.

It burned all night, and now it has spread nearby, but the ridges are intertwined, and the fire has not yet reached the hill south of Zhen'an Fort.

Such a hill was naturally also a target for the Tatars to attack, so Yan Chunsheng went further around.

"Quicker! Faster!"

Yan Chunsheng was holding a bow, and the three men under his command were carrying the barrel, gun carriage and ammunition respectively. After getting off the city wall, they seemed to be able to walk on the ground in the mountains.

They circled along the woods on the mountainside on the small hill with a radius of less than half a mile.

When running to the south side of the hill, another hill more than a hundred steps away was on fire, and the sound of trees exploding was like firecrackers.

"Be careful where you step, it's very steep here!" Yan Chunsheng added after finishing speaking, "The fire won't burn through."

There is an extremely steep small valley separating it. Unless the wind carries the sparks to the top of the mountain, it will not be burned.

Even if it burns over, there is still some time.

After just over a hundred steps, they touched the west side of the mountain again.

Not far from their feet, there were cavalrymen rushing towards this hill from a slightly lower terrain, hoping to break through Zhen'an Fort from the high place in the south.

At this moment, looking from a height, the southeast, northwest, and north of Zhen'an Fort were full of enemy troops—the northern side, where the pressure was the least, was now being attacked by Tazi reinforcements from outside the city wall.

None of the four made a big movement, and Yan Chunsheng's subordinates asked in a low voice, "What should we do? Yantou, there are still more than 400 steps away from the big banner, and we can only fire one shot."

"Two shots at most. If you don't want to die, three shots." Another person added.

Yan Chunsheng knew that there was indeed only two chances at most - Tartars are not fools, can they stay where they are and let you fight?
As soon as the cannon fires, there will be Tartars under their feet staring at them, so Yan Chunsheng can buy a little time with his own archery skills for the second cannonball.

Looking at the situation with squinted eyes, he ordered in a deep voice: "Wait!"

We need to wait for an opportunity so that they can get closer and hit more accurately.

Yan Chunsheng believes that this opportunity will not be too far away, because the reinforcements from the south have already shouted along the side wall for several miles.

Zhu Qi's own legs were already sore, and he didn't know how long he would be able to stand firm after arriving on the battlefield.

Almost all on the road overnight, ups and downs, what kind of concept is this?
But he believed that the Tartars were not much better.

When they arrive, it can be said that the end of the crossbow is against the end of the crossbow, it just depends on who is stronger.

He and his troops may not be as strong as the elite cavalry, but they have walls—if the walls of the Great Wall and Zhen'an Castle are still there.

"Rest your feet, eat, drink! In a quarter of an hour, finish the last two miles!"

In order to be stronger when he arrived at the battlefield, he chose to trust the defenders of Zhen'an Fort.Even Marquis Fu Ning can work so hard, so can the generals over there too?What's more, if they are broken into the fort, none of them can survive.

Zhu Qi and Li Quanli made such a choice by coincidence, doing the final rest before entering the battlefield.

Only Fu Duo was teetering in the Mayao ditch, and the number of generals around him had rapidly decreased to less than six hundred.

Crazy as Li Jin, there are less than three hundred people left around, and there is no chance of returning to Zhen'an Fort.

Now, if Bodie's soldiers point his way, he can escape from the valley west of Zhen'an Fort and go north.

But Bodie chose not to do so.

There are also reinforcements from the Ming army in the north, so that the subordinates who have been fighting fiercely for most of the night turned over to the ridge, and suffered arrows and artillery fire from the Ming army condescending from the side wall?

At this moment, Zhen'an Fort is too fragile to withstand a few blows.

Because of his personal charge, the soldiers around him also fell quickly.

The big banner attracts gunfire and arrows, Bodie is fearless and helps him block arrows a lot.If the fate made him hit the bullet, what is there to say?

On the contrary, he is making the other front-facing cavalry face fewer bullets.

After a roundabout, he ran south nearly [-] steps away from the city wall of Zhen'an Fort. The guard cavalry in front of him and behind him turned sideways and threw arrow rain into Zhen'an Fort.

"Bodie is here! Longevity is the God, Da Yuan will win!"

He said this to the reinforcements east of Zhen'an Fort.

What followed was a series of responses from the east and west sides of the Great Wall.

"Longevity is in the sky, Dayuan will win!"

Yan Chunsheng didn't expect that he would wait for the opportunity so soon, without waiting for the reinforcements from the south of the Shepherd Fort to arrive, so that the Tartars could reorganize their offensive on the south side of Zhen'an Fort and give them space.

Now, he saw that the Lord of Beiyuan under the big banner led his people to make a roundabout outside Zhen'an Fort, and was about to go around the mountain in the south and charge again.

More than 300 steps, more than 200 steps, two hundred steps...

In an instant, he only felt that the world became quiet, and the air was no longer filled with smoky heat, and he naturally drew the strong bow with his hand.

Without his orders, the three brothers in his hands also knew that this might be the best opportunity.

At a certain moment, Yan Chunsheng still heard the sound of the fuse being ignited beside him, but he held his breath and did not smell the smell of gunpowder.

In sight, there is only the Mongolian Khan who is waving a knife and motivating his subordinates.

A few years ago, Yan Chunsheng was a hunter in Huguang.

Now, the prey he is aiming at as a hunter is too important.

This is destined to be the most important arrow in his life.If he misses, he will regret it for the rest of his life.

"boom!"

A deafening sound sounded nearby, and Yan Chunsheng let go of the bowstring at the same time.

The cannon sounded so close to Bodie, he subconsciously looked in that direction.

Those around him reacted quickly, and they only had time to tighten the reins, trying to let the horse hooves across to the south of Bodi.

One arrow, one bomb, quickly appeared in Bodie's sight.

The grandson of Dayan Khan, the lord of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, Alak Khan Borjijin Bodi’s evaluation is: the arrow is faster than the bullet.

Yan Chunsheng has already turned around: "Run!"

　make up

　　
　
(End of this chapter)