Jingming

Chapter 385

News will naturally be reported back to the capital, day and night.

Yang Shen was worried: "Standing outside the Great Wall in the twelfth lunar month of winter is extremely dangerous and extremely wasteful! I'm trying to catch him, but he is worried that the Ming Dynasty's grain, grass and military supplies will not be transported out of the border wall!"

Zhu Houcong was happy: "Not a single shot was fired? So, I don't know how powerful the Ming Dynasty's new artillery is?"

In the shadow of the famous tree, Yu Dayou actually gave me a flag and two or three thousand soldiers to answer my questions, but he did not rush to attack.

Giving up on Tucheng so easily was a big mistake.Probably he thought that Daming's appetite this time was not just Tucheng, but would also attack further. There would be a long food road to grab more things, making up for the loss of his own army.

However, Daming did not mean to gain weight in one bite.So many cannons and muskets have arrived in Tucheng, and Tucheng has returned!

"I have already figured it out." Wang Shouren commented, "If we just force Ming Dynasty back within the border wall, even if he is captured, it will not be worth the loss. Even if his reputation is stronger, after the border town bans private markets, as long as he is not really able to unify The right wing will become poorer as it crosses over. On the contrary, if the Ming Dynasty wants to defend Tucheng, food, wages, and military supplies must be sent there non-stop. In another half a month, during the Chinese New Year, the border troops must also be rewarded with food and soil. The city must be a piece of fat."

Xia Yan was determined: "If the opportunity to fight is lost, I have already lost this battle. It was originally a field battle to defeat our king's army, but now we are about to attack the city again. As long as the more than thirty miles of food roads are not lost, I have nothing to do!" "

"How can we keep the food supply intact?" Yang Shen, who has been transferred to the Ministry of Finance and Taxation, was upset. "After taking Tucheng, the Beibei defenders did not lose a single soldier. Even though the horse-hanging platform was approaching at dawn and dusk, They were captured by surprise. At this moment, there are nearly two thousand Tatars in the Maoerzhuang area. The Tucheng is still isolated. If we want to keep the grain road, from Pohu Fort in the west to Zhenqiang Fort in the east, we have to face heavy snow. We must go forward at least twenty miles to sweep away the remaining or hidden Tatars in the south of Tucheng! From now on, we must defend Tucheng and the horse-hanging platform. The new defense line is not more than two hundred miles? There is no border wall yet!"

This is the problem after the attack. The defense system will be rebuilt, and money and food will be poured out like running water.

Xia Yan laughed: "How to protect the food supply, Yang Shangshu has already said it. Your Majesty, this was the arrangement before. General Guo was already in Qiang Fort. Since I don't attack, General Guo The soldiers must have acted according to the plan."

Yang Shen couldn't help but open his mouth.

You kill me and forget it!

Isn't it just Yu Dayou who stepped out of the side wall?That itself was only about 6000 or [-] people.If we do this now, the scale will exceed [-] again!

Over ten thousand troops were dispatched, but only to capture the small earth city and the horse-drying platform.

Steward Han Yang Shen was caught up in calculating financial accounts.

To the north of Datong, after Tucheng was taken, the defenders from the hinterland came to change the defense. Pohu Fort immediately moved forward to the eastern section of the old border wall, while Yu Dayou moved to defend Tucheng.

A total of more than a thousand generals from Zhuma Fort and Jumen Fort came out of the side wall and combed the food security road from Jumen Fort to Tucheng.

Although Guo Xun still did not go out, the defenders of Juqiang Fort and Zhenqiang Fort marched twenty miles forward and prepared to set up a temporary camp on the west bank south of Yuhe River to guard against the western intrusion of the Maoerzhuang Tatars.

As for the horse-drying platform, it was just Yanghewei who reinforced it and stood firm.

I replied that it was only later that I received the news that the horse-drying platform had also been lost, and then I realized that the so-called movement at Shahukou was faked by the flag.

The purpose of Ming Dynasty was just to push the defense line to the north of Datong thirty or forty miles outward.Needless to say, the next idea is to go from Shahukou through Tucheng and Maoerzhuang to Daqingshan and Yutailing.

Before the Jiajing period, there were no forts such as Shunmen and Qiang Zhen on this side of the border wall. They were the outer five forts requested by Zhang Wenjin, the governor of Datong in the past.The so-called outer five forts are only south of the border wall and close to the border wall.

Now, Ming Dynasty has set foot outside the Great Wall to the north of the border wall.

Based on Anda's understanding of the strength of the Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that in just one or two years, there will be forts outside the Great Wall again.Although it is impossible to hastily build hundreds of miles of border walls, the fortresses outside the wall will be a tough nail to crack.

More importantly, this is a move to encroach on the Tumut Department from the east.If it is not eradicated, there will be sharper military fronts from the Ming Dynasty on the east side of the naturalization in the future.

"Manshou Turuo is back, ask him to immediately lead his troops to Mao'erzhuang and recapture the horse-drying platform!" Anda's face was as heavy as water, "Bypass Xia Shuihai and go to the north of Tucheng!"

Now that I have discovered that the Ming army has no intention of going further, I know that Liangcheng Wuyou, but I must not let the Ming Dynasty achieve its goal like this.

Now that Saibei has set out on an expedition, there must still be a tough battle.

The timing of this tough battle is just as Yu Dayou expected. I am planning to choose it during the Chinese New Year.

At that time, the generals and civilians of the Ming army must have been busy for more than half a month in the cold winter. Repairing the military stronghold in the ice and snow had limited effect, but they were exhausted.

Since the Ming army wants to defend Tucheng, it must have sufficient food and military resources so that the generals can have confidence and not complain about suffering.

The Chinese New Year is the time when the mood of the Ming army is most likely to fluctuate: Why do they have to fight to the death in Saibei while others can celebrate the New Year peacefully at home?
……

"The Zhengdan Festival is their most important festival. They will start preparing from the middle of the twelfth lunar month to recover a lot of money, buy a lot of supplies, and get the greatest enjoyment of the year!"

"In other words, now is the time to harvest!"

After hearing Alfonso's introduction, the mercenary coalition of Portuguese businessmen became even more excited.

"It can be said that." Alfonso said, "I have seen the envoys and employment contracts from the old dynasty and the new king. In addition to the deposit of so much silver, and the tacit consent to plunder after conquering Qinghua, I just have to wait for them. Once the army enters Thanh Hoa, they can go all the way south and help them play a role in driving us away and gaining the love of their people."

"Dear Alfonso, from today on, you are my most trustworthy friend! So, should we take some silk and load it on the ship before setting off? It won't take up much space, and the silver on us is of no use."

"Of course, I will go find Mr. Wang Zhi right away. It is enough for us to leave one or two small boats. They can go back to Malacca directly."

The Portuguese's large-scale caravan naturally attracted the attention of Cochin. Fortunately, they stopped briefly at Cat Ba Island to complete their "business" and then set off south and disappeared into the ocean.

The news reached the royal palace in Thang Long City, and Mo Dengyong became more and more anxious.

"Fourteen more days?"

"...No, if we count the time it takes for me to rush to Cat Ba Island, there are still nine days." Ruan Wentai corrected him tremblingly, but this was also a reminder.

"Too much deception! Too much deception!"

The progress of the encirclement and suppression of Ruan Gan was not smooth. It was really difficult to find them in the Ailao Mountain and eliminate them as soon as possible.

They were hiding in Tibet, but Mo Dengyong needed the heads of Ruan Gan and the so-called descendants of the Li family!

To the north, the Ming Dynasty's Guangxi military commander and Ping Nanbo, Qu Zhinan and Chen Bing, who had just defeated Mengmi in Yunnan at the beginning of the year, confirmed Yan Shifan's intimidation.

Ruan Wentai brought back the news that the Ming Dynasty's navy had set off.

Mo Dengyong urgently needs to create a situation in which the overall situation in Cochin has been decided, at least so that Yan Shifan and Wang Xueyi's excuse for talking to King Li of Cochin cannot be found.

At least we should be able to deal with Ming Dynasty's possible troop dispatches without any further trouble.

He did not know that war had started again in the northern border of the Ming Dynasty. It was impossible for the Ming Dynasty to send troops to Jiaozhi at the same time.

But six days later, the news from Qinghua made his eyesight darken.

"What are you talking about? It's not a Ming warship? It's a Western barbarian?"

"It's absolutely true, they are all yellow-haired ghosts, red-haired ghosts, and natives from Manlajia, and even black savages!" The one who escaped was the civil servant who governed Qinghua. Hua, I am guilty. It’s just that General Chen took most of the defenders away to Ailao to suppress the bandits. Their ships are strong and their guns are powerful..."

Mo Dengyong is like falling into an ice cave.

In the first two months, in order to deal with the threat of the Ming Dynasty, he mobilized troops to defend the north and suppress the west. The navy was deployed in Anxing to defend the Ming Dynasty, but he never expected to encounter a Western force that was large enough to attack the city. .

And they had gone to Cat Ba Island before.

It seems like they are just doing business, but with the current development of the situation, do you need to think carefully about it?

What made him feel like falling into an ice cave was not the destruction of Qinghua City, but the determination revealed by Ming Dynasty's "unscrupulous means".

However, Ming Dynasty did a clean job, but it did not recognize him as a "minister of usurpation" for the time being.They are still doing business in Jiaozhi. Many wealthy families and even ordinary people in Jiaozhi think that the Ming Dynasty is good, and they have made money from the Ming Dynasty.

As for Thanh Hoa...it was Western Yi people who took action. What does it have to do with the Ming Dynasty?
Can Mo Dengyong spit on others?Is there any evidence?
Inside and outside Thanh Hoa City, it cannot be called a purgatory, but what bottom line can mercenaries have?
"Alfonso, it's time to contact them quickly. We don't want the indigenous leaders here to gather their troops again."

"Don't worry, no matter what, it will be difficult to mobilize soldiers to fight when they are celebrating the Spring Festival. I will set off to Cat Ba Island right away. My servants are still here, and you can't swallow my share!"

"How could it be? We are still looking for one of the beauties here. Although they are short, they are also great, hahahaha!"

Alfonso participated in this battle and gained a higher level of trust.

Now, he can run away.

In central and southern Cochin, the mercenaries from the west carried their muskets and began to do evil as expected.

Mo Dengyong was in a dilemma and finally decided to agree to Yan Shifan's request.

As long as there is a legitimate canonization, Ruan Gan will no longer be a problem.But if you sit back and watch the Western barbarians wreak havoc on Cochin without paying attention, then you will really lose your heart.

As the Spring Festival approaches, the simple temporary diplomatic mission on Cat Ba Island unexpectedly welcomes three waves of people.

Yan Shifan smiled with one eye: "Brother Ruan, you are a little late. Let me introduce to you, this is Zheng Jian, the son-in-law of Xingguo Gong, who was granted the title of Duke Xingguo by the leader of the Li family. He just arrived yesterday. Li Weining wishes to ask the Celestial Empire to help him wipe out the rebels. My son and Wang Xuan have just sent a letter to the capital to ask Your Majesty to make the decision. This is Tan Yong, the Admiral of the Ming Dynasty Navy. He just arrived today."

Zhao Jun's large force was behind. In order to communicate well with this side, the dispatched vanguard only led a [-]-material warship to arrive here in advance.

Ruan Wentai's hands were trembling, while Zheng Jian yelled: "You are a traitor and a villain!"

Zheng Jian, who just turned 30, is full of energy.

The younger Yan Shifan waved his hand: "I don't care about your rights and wrongs. Since you are all here, you'd better spend the New Year here first and wait until His Majesty's Holy Judge arrives."

"Wang Qin's envoy, Mr. Yan!" Zheng Jian shouted loudly, "The barbarians looted Qinghua and tortured our people of Jiaozhi. How can our king tolerate it? The foreign ministers came here with great difficulty, but were unable to catch them. I beg the king's warships to send troops. Kill and expel them from Thanh Hua!" "Master Yan, my king has selected elite soldiers and strong generals..." Ruan Wentai was immediately shocked, not wanting things to go to the point where the Ming Dynasty would actually help the Li family.

Yan Shifan rolled his eyes: "What a joke! General Tan Shen just arrived first. Although our Ming warships are powerful, how can we defeat one against a hundred? I just didn't expect that the Western barbarian fleet arrived at Cat Ba Island. When I saw my Ming Dynasty, I still remembered them. The enemy who invaded Guangdong in the past refused to allow trade, and actually plundered the coast on the way back to avoid getting nothing."

In front of them, Yan Shifan brushed aside many things first, but he would hit them hard later.

"If you want to fight, you have to wait for Admiral Zhao to arrive! Since the Ming Dynasty is the master, the people of Jiaozhi are also the subjects of the Ming Dynasty. In my opinion, you two should find a way to let this group of Westerners linger in Jiaozhi for another ten days and a half. Wait for Admiral Zhao to arrive and then wipe them out in one fell swoop. Brother Ruan, should your naval forces continue to stop in Anxing to defend against the Ming Dynasty, or should they cut off the return path of this group of thieves?"

"...This." How could Ruan Wentai be the master of this?

Should we let Cochin's precious navy go to dangerous places?What if the Westerners and the Ming Dynasty join forces to annihilate them?
"The ministers who usurped the old lord never cared about the lives and deaths of the people! It's a shame that my lord and his army were surrounded and suppressed by traitors in Ailao, and they couldn't save the people from disaster!"

Yan Shifan didn't take it seriously and let them quarrel.

It is a kind of retention for someone to cut off the retreat. It is also a kind of retention to be unable to counterattack hastily and let the barbarians be tempted by the unstoppable interests.

What's more, those people were still thinking about the other part of the hiring fee for the so-called Li envoys who went to take over Thanh Hoa City.

Anyway, Tan Yong said that Zhao Jun's large army was only six to eight days' journey behind him.

"In that case, don't fight anymore." Yan Shifan said calmly, "Master Wang, you see, the Li family is weak but the rightful owner, the Mo family is willing to surrender even if they have a strong army, and Jiaozhi now has a foreign invasion. Now that General Tan is here, can you Please ask him to join the maritime trade company to escort the warships and sneak to the south of Qinghua to block the way for the barbarian bandits to return south?"

After all, Wang Xueyi still had a public identity. He pretended to think, and then looked at Ruan Wentai and Zheng Jian: "You have been fighting for several years! Now you can't convince the crowd internally, and you can't defend yourself against the enemy externally! Daming's help The people of Jiaozhi are saved from external humiliation. After His Majesty's holy decree comes, you must all obey His Majesty's decree. You must not continue to fight endlessly and harm others and yourself! If Mo Dengyong usurps his ministers and steals the throne, if you are still not satisfied, then I will petition you. Your Majesty, send a message to the southwest to destroy them!"

Ruan Wentai's expression changed again, and Zheng Jian hesitated to speak.

Each of them wants all of Jiaozhi.

But according to the current meaning, the Ming Emperor did not think so.

Ruan Wentai really refused to send another message back to Mo Dengyong: Ming Dynasty promised him to be the envoy of Jiaozhi, but only half of Jiaozhi.

Eleven days later, on the fifth day of the first lunar month in the 11th year of Jiajing, at the port east of Qinghua City, the Portuguese sailors left on the merchant ship had just woken up.

After rubbing his eyes, he pushed away the local woman who was brought to the boat for their enjoyment, grabbed two more handfuls with a smile, and prepared to climb up the mast to see what was going on.

When he climbed to the top of the mast and looked hard into the distance, he wiped his eyes again in confusion and squinted.

After a while, his pupils shrank and he shouted at the top of his voice: "Alert! Alert!"

The shadow in the distance was still very small, but it was no ordinary civilian ship.After all, there are a lot of them, and they are still vaguely in a battle formation, coming straight towards this side.

Zhao Jun, who had gone south to Guangdong and participated in the Battle of Tuen Mun, stood on the only [-]-material flagship newly built by the Ming Dynasty that was already in service, holding the best telescope in his hand.

"It's [-]% less than the number from the outside factory. That means there are still some who have gone to the south to plunder." Zhao Jun ordered calmly, "Since there are fewer enemies, they should all still be in Qinghua City. If you want to enjoy yourself, just rush over and leave no one behind!"

The boat was not moving very fast, and the sea was unobstructed.The Portuguese discovered them in advance, but they also needed to prepare for war urgently.

And the cannons that can be used on such a huge warship are much larger than the squatting cannons that were built on land to facilitate marching.

"boom!"

I don’t know how many years later, the Ming warships reappeared in this distant South Ocean, with a tonnage that was suffocated by the Portuguese leaders who came in a hurry.

Alfonso did not lie to them. The Ming Dynasty really had such a huge warship.

But fucking Alfonso lied to them!
Aren't you on Daming's side this time and helping them?
"boom!"

For many years, there has never been such a large and dense Ming army artillery fire north of the Ming Dynasty's border wall.

At the beginning of the first month of the 11th year of Jiajing, the northern and southern parts of the Ming Dynasty blossomed.

Yu Dayou stood at the top of the short and dilapidated Tucheng, looking into the distance with a telescope.

Around him and behind him were cannons.

Outside the low earth wall in front of him, there were Yuanyang soldiers within fifty steps, forming a circle around the Tucheng and extending to the two temporary camps on the left and right wings.

With more shooting data after the First World War in Outer Yunnan, the Ming Dynasty once again poured out artillery fire in this city defense battle.

The gunners in the mandarin duck formation outside the city and the bird gunners on the earthen walls built a solid line of defense.

The Mongolian cavalry is indeed brave, and the artillery fire is not enough to stop them all, but the fifty-step defense line constructed by the Yuanyang formation is like the last natural moat.

They just couldn't get to the earth wall that was less than a foot high in large numbers.

The Battle of Tucheng started on the third day of the first lunar month. I thought he had chosen a good time, because he found that even as New Year's Eve approached, the Ming army was still urgently building earth walls.

In the twelfth lunar month of winter, during the Chinese New Year, when we break through the ice and build city walls, can the soldiers and the people not be resentful?

You can't even live a good year under pressure. Working from New Year's Eve to the third day of the first lunar month is crazy, right?
But I don’t have a telescope. He doesn’t know how the transfer team uses horses and sleds to pull the prefabricated bricks and poor cement transferred from Huailai directly from inside the side wall, let alone the Ming Dynasty. How many artillery shells and small tiger squatting guns are included in the military supplies.

Ma Fang, who had been in the heavy snow for so long, stared blankly at Meng Yuan Jingqi's life-threatening attack and then flipped over.

Is this still the grassland warrior he is familiar with? Is this the cowardly and weak Ming frontier army in his impression?

With the war developing like this, Ma Fang couldn't find any good opportunity to escape.

He suddenly felt that learning horse riding and archery in the Tatars was of little use.

"One! Two! Three! Let go!"

Although this group of artillery positions within the city wall in the northeast corner of Tucheng is blocked by an earthen wall less than one foot high, the new cannons placed on the stacked forts are still raised at a sufficient angle according to the firing table, and the cannon shells are fired. Throw it outside the city.

After a roar, someone nearby used a shovel to shovel the piled snow and sprinkle it on the barrel.

"The gentleman said that it is very easy for the gun barrel to crack!" The person responsible for daily maintenance of the artillery was distressed. He had studied in the military academy and knew some knowledge.

"Why do you care so much? Use more! Build more! Only in this way can we continue to improve!"

The attaché of the General Armament Department didn't take it seriously. Anyway, in his impression, the General Armament Department managed enough money. His Majesty had only one request for the General Armament Department: let the Military War Bureau, Ordnance Supervision Bureau, and Treasure Gold Bureau come up with the Vietnam War. There are more and more types of firearms, more powerful and more practical!
This is not just to fill it without losing lives, but to create more demand so that Ming Dynasty's firearm technology can continue to improve.

North of Tucheng, my heart is as cold as the weather today.

He could naturally see that the power of Daming's firearms had reached a new level, and now it was the defense of the city that they were best at.

How could the Ming Dynasty transport so many artillery pieces to such a dilapidated town in such a short period of time?

This is just now, what about the future?

"Blow the horn and go back."

I finally made a decision.

He doesn't have that many craftsmen or talents at his disposal.The most important thing is that his Tumut tribe does not have such a large territory.

With his current strength, he certainly has the ability to defeat such a small earth city, but the price is too high.

"Khan, I will lead my men to the south and surround them! They are alone!"

The battle had only lasted for more than two days, and my subordinate general couldn't figure it out.The Khan clearly mobilized his troops and prepared to completely swallow up the army that Mingren dared to come out of the border wall.

"Yes, we can win that way!" An Da suddenly became furious, "The Tumote Department can win this battle, but what about the future? How many lives will be lost here?"

What I said was not what I really meant.In addition to not being able to block the entire main force of the Tumote tribe in this matter, he also knew that as long as he was slightly blocked, he might be surrounded by the Ming army in Datong within a circle of more than [-] miles.

"Are we going to let them occupy Tucheng in vain?" The general's eyes were blood red and he was extremely unwilling.

Obviously we still have to fight and we can win!He didn't believe that Ming people had endless artillery shells, and he also noticed that some of the artillery in the Ming army exploded on their own.

"Retreat!" I knew this was not the place to talk.

In this battle, he just saw clearly a helpless situation.

The sound of the retreating horn echoed in the snowy field. I turned around and looked at the small earthen city. When I looked back, my eyes were already firm.

Only the stupid Khan Ting and his stupid brother still don't understand how urgent time is.

Only four more years have passed, and the Ming army's combat power is much stronger than it was in the sixth year of Jiajing.Naturally, there are many generals who are useless in their army, but they also have people like Yu Dayou, and the emperor of Ming Dynasty dares to use him and is willing to use him!

The descendants of Genghis Khan still don't understand that they should give up the little power in their hands that allows them to survive, and welcome a hero as soon as possible who can truly lead them to avoid this disaster.

If we don't wipe out those insects, how can we resist the increasingly powerful Ming Dynasty?

(End of this chapter)