Wanli 1592

Chapter 499 The Embarrassed Wang Shiyang
No one cared about Li Chengliang's sorrow, and likewise, no one cared about Wang Shiyang's difficulties.

As the governor of Xuanda, Wang Shiyang has obviously neglected his duties. His responsibility is to appease the three towns and three governors of the Xuanfu in Datong, Shanxi. He has a high position and authority. One-third of the nine sides of the Ming Dynasty are under his jurisdiction, and the middle section of the nine sides of the Ming Dynasty He is fully in charge, and his base is Yanghe City, where he guards the center of the three towns and takes care of the overall situation.

When Mei Guozhen's warning letter was sent to Yanghe City, he had already set off to Taiyuan to inspect the arsenal. When the warning letter arrived in Taiyuan, he thought it was nonsense. Shanxi governor Wei Yunzhen was a little concerned. Persuading him to strengthen the defense of Yanmen Pass and Hepingxing Pass, he said——

If the Yanmen Pass is in the way of peace, then the first person to be held accountable is Mei Guozhen, who is the governor of Datong, and the first line of defense of Ming Dynasty is in his hands!
So he ignored Mei Guozhen, who seemed to him to be whimsical. He trusted San Niangzi's yearning and loyalty to Daming very much. A woman and child who have nothing, not only has prestige, but also the ten thousand fine horses I Da left her.

But three days later, when he received Wei Yunzhen's urgent rescue letter from Baili, he was completely panicked.

Mongolia has really invaded, and the main force is the cavalry of Tumote led by Lalik. San Niangzi has no news at all, and the [-] Mongolian cavalry have broken through the Datong defense line, tearing Datong apart. Currently, the troops are divided into two groups. Attack Yanmen Pass and Pingxing Pass.

The only good thing is that Wei Yunzhen and Mei Guozhen have a good relationship. He felt that Mei Guozhen would not issue a warning letter for no reason, so he dispatched Shanxi General Dong Yikui to take 5000 soldiers and horses to Pingxingguan, and he brought [-] soldiers. When people go to Yanmen Pass, it is only a routine inspection and routine training, which is not of much significance.

Then they happened to run into the Mongols attacking, and in shock, Wei Yunzhen and Dong Yikui served as the guards of the Yanmen Pass and Hepingxing Pass respectively. They concentrated their forces and barely defeated several Mongol onslaughts. Yanmen Pass and Hepingxing Pass.

Wang Shiyang was shocked. After the panic, the mind trained by the ups and downs of the officialdom forced him to calm down. He has been in charge of border affairs for many years and has rich experience. After reading the map, he immediately knew that the Mongols divided into two groups for a purpose.

The goal of attacking Yanmen Pass all the way must be the prosperous Shanxi, and the goal of attacking Xingguan Pass all the way is obviously the Zijing Pass and the capital behind it.

Some days ago, Mei Guozhen kept arguing with himself for food and weapons, saying that the army had no food to eat and had to support the Tumed Ministry. He also came to Shanxi with the idea of ​​sending a batch of food and weapons back to Mei Guozhen.

He knew the actual situation in Datong, but he didn't expect the Mongols to come so fast and so suddenly.

Datong didn't know if it had all fallen, and Yanghe City, where he was stationed, didn't know if it had fallen. He felt a sudden fear——

If it wasn't for Mei Guozhen's request to go to Taiyuan to check the inventory, he would probably be doomed, at least he would be besieged in Yanghe City and unable to move.

The majestic Xuanda governor, who restrained the three Fu and three towns, was actually besieged and unable to move. Whether he should be an official or not, whether his life can be saved is still a question.

Right now he is still alive, still in a safe place, and can still give orders, this is the greatest luck.

So he immediately ordered the soldiers and horses in Taiyuan to divide into two parts to help the Yanmen Pass and the Heping Pass. The Mongols must not be allowed to break through one of these two passes. If he was allowed to enter the plain area, it would be over.

The Ming army's field combat ability has long been exhausted, and this year's catastrophe, everyone is short of food, the last batch of food is almost exhausted, and the next batch of food does not know when it will arrive, the three towns are short of food, everyone is desperate Live, some fringe troops even only have three days of rations left.

And winter clothes are also very problematic. When Wang Shiyang went to the treasury to inquire about military supplies and equipment, he found that the winter clothes that should have been issued had serious problems in terms of thickness and quality. This was not the first time.

He has inspected the treasury three times before and after, and this is the third time. There were many problems in the previous two times, but there was no warning at the border.

But when things came to an end, he realized how wrong his previous actions were. The soldiers did not have enough winter clothes to keep warm. If you can't move, how can you fight this battle?This is even more impossible to fight in the wild.

In the eyes of the civil servants of the imperial court, war is about launching a large army, defeating the enemy, and then coming back to count the results of the battle. As for how the army is deployed and how to defeat the enemy, they don't care at all, and they don't want to care.

When a large army sets off, the first thing is money, food, clothes, shoes, military caps, and trousers. If it is winter, the requirements are even higher. If soldiers do not wear enough clothes, they will not be able to fight at all.

However, all of this is not a problem at all in the eyes of those crazy people who are making money. To lose a battle means that the military officers are incompetent, the civilian commanders are incompetent, and the soldiers are incompetent. It has nothing to do with them.

Once a civil official goes to a place to be a military commander, he is different from the civil servants of the imperial court. If you don't know, you don't care about understanding and sympathy, and if you want to make money, you will be crazy and have no scruples.

The weapons are inferior, the uniforms are inferior, the shoes are inferior, and the rations are all short.

Wang Shiyang felt extremely regretful for his cowardice, but right now he can only drive ducks to the shelves.

He ordered the troops to move out, but after ordering for a long time, no army was dispatched. He was furious, thinking that the soldiers were timid and disobeyed.

So he rushed to the garrison barracks outside Taiyuan City against the strong wind and severe cold. He wanted to personally supervise the army's deployment, and decided to kill a few people as an example, so that these people who are greedy for life and fear of death know that only by rushing forward can they have a chance of survival. .

After arriving at the barracks, he discovered that this was not the case.

After his angry questioning, a thin Mr. Qian led him into a military tent with a bitter face, and when he opened the tent, there were soldiers wrapped in all kinds of rags, all shivering, their faces turned blue with cold. Black, chapped lips, and dull eyes.

"Supervisor, it's not that we don't go out, it's just that the military uniforms froze to death before we went out for a few steps! It's so strangely cold this day, and the military uniforms don't keep warm at all. We put them on as if we didn't wear them. In such a cold day, how can we fight this battle?"

(End of this chapter)