Ming Empire

Chapter 60 Take the initiative
"Report to Commander-in-Chief, Jiannu's forward troops have arrived only ten miles away from Datong. They have slowed down their progress. I guess they are waiting for the follow-up troops to arrive before concentrating on attacking Datong!"

"Understood," Cao Yue, who was staying in the temporary camp of the city gate tower, did not express much after listening to the report of his sergeant. Call Cao Jie in.

After a while, Cao Jie ran into the room quickly, bowed to Cao Yue and stood still, waiting for Cao Yue's question.

"Cao Jie, the army of founding slaves will arrive at the city of Datong, and the war will begin soon. The victory or defeat of this battle depends on how well your first battalion fights!" Sit down in front of you, and wait for Cao Jie to sit down in front of the table with the combat models, and then say: "It's cold today, and the effect of using firearms is much different from usual. You must be fully prepared, and don't lose the chain at critical times. Something went wrong."

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief," Cao Jie replied very respectfully: "Please rest assured, Commander-in-Chief, I have made full preparations, and all firearms are maintained with antifreeze oil according to the command of Commander-in-Chief. There were no large-scale failures, and the weather was extremely cold, the cooling time of the artillery was much faster than when it was hot, and the firing frequency was also faster."

In the direction of the north gate of Datong, more than a dozen artillery pieces of various kinds, including the red cannon, were placed, all of which were in charge of the first battalion.After the gun is fired, the temperature in the gun barrel rises quickly, and the next cannon can only be fired after it has been lowered. If it is cold today, the cooling time can be greatly shortened.

"That's good!" Cao Yue asked Cao Jie about some military situations, and let him go down.

At this time, the sergeant came to report that the Jiannu army was slowly advancing in the direction of Datong, and it seemed that they were about to attack the city.

"I'm just waiting for them to come. I want to see how the Jiannu attacked the city in this freezing weather." Cao Yue sneered a few times, and motioned for the guards around him to follow him outside to watch the battle. go.

Cao Yue really didn't believe that under this kind of weather, Jiannu could still attack the city.He felt that without cannons, bows and arrows, boiling water and pouring it down could completely scald some Jiannu who were besieging the city to death, and then freeze the other part to death.What's more, the military strength in Datong City is far superior to that of Jiannu. If Jiannu attacked the city under such circumstances, then he felt that he could wipe his neck with a knife and travel to other places.

Putting on a thick coat, he walked outside the door and stood on the verandah. Cao Yue held up his binoculars to check the situation in the distance.In the binoculars, the Jiannu army was lined up in a neat line, slowly advancing towards the north gate of Datong.

Cao Yue's temporary residence was set up on the gate tower of the north gate.In the era of no pollution, standing on the city gate tower and using binoculars can see far away.According to visual estimates, Jiannu's army is still six or seven miles away from Datong City, Cao Yue did not order the defenders to enter the highest state of alert.

It is impossible for Jiannu to march very fast, and it is too late for them to form a formation to meet the enemy after they rush to a place one or two miles away from the city wall.After all, it's freezing cold today, and the temperature is at least ten degrees below zero. It's hard to stay outside for a long time.In the process of waiting for the slaves to attack the city, the sergeants guarding the city wall also took turns to rest and recuperate. One group of sergeants stayed for a period of time and then changed their defenses, and another group of sergeants followed suit. After a while, when Jiannu came to attack, he couldn't raise his gun or draw his bow.

Cao Yue didn't hide in the city gate again, but stood by the corridor all the time, holding up his binoculars to observe the situation.

The ice and snow outside the city still haven't melted, and most of the outside of the city is covered in white.The weather was good, the sun was shining brightly in the sky, reflected by the white snow, it was a bit dazzling, Cao Yue couldn't help squinting his eyes.The slave-building army was still advancing slowly, but Cao Yue soon discovered something abnormal. The number of the slave-building army advancing towards Datong City seemed to be small, estimated to be only 1 to [-] at most.According to the Tanma report, there are at least [-] slave-building troops in this Southern Expedition. What about the rest of the slave-building troops?
"Could it be that this Jiannu is just the Han army or the Mongols, their purpose is just to pretend to attack Datong, and the main force of the Jurchen may have gone to attack other places?!" Thinking about it, Cao Yue felt a little bit in his heart. He planned to attack Datong with all his strength, just as a show, maybe these Jian slaves outside Datong city would not be pushed to Datong city to launch a siege operation, they were just intimidating.

If this is the case, then why did Jiannu do this?Could it be that they wanted to block Datong's [-] troops in the city?

Thinking of this, Cao Yue immediately thought that the Jiannu might split up and attack other weakly defended cities, or even attack Beijing by detour. chase.

Cao Yue was fortunate to report to the imperial court in the form of an urgent report a few days ago, suggesting that the imperial court urgently dispatch troops, and that Beijing and nearby cities be on strict alert to avoid being caught off guard by Jiannu.Even if the main force of slave building today really detours to attack other places, don't be too nervous.

But if this was the case, he would have to change his tactics, instead of passively waiting for Jiannu to attack.

He sent Cao Jie to come to his side again, then summoned the deputy commander Zhao Tai and his confidant Wu Xin, and made a new arrangement.

"Two, Jiannu may split up and leave. The main force may have detoured to attack Beijing. Their slow-moving troops may be just suspicious soldiers. The purpose is to trap my [-] troops in Datong City. We went out of the city to pursue. If the Jiannu just approached and did not attack, then our army would take the initiative to attack and try to annihilate this Jiannu. If the general's prediction is correct, this Jiannu should be the Han army, at most the Mongols, it is impossible They are Jurchen elite cavalry, and their combat effectiveness will not be very strong." After expressing his judgment, Cao Yue ordered: "The first battalion led by Cao Jie went out to form an array at the north gate, and Vice President Zhao personally led the five battalions. Army of Thousand Cavalry, cover the actions of the First Battalion, Wu Xin will lead your thousand sergeants who are good at skiing, and prepare to raid the formation of Jiannu from the side."

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief," the three of them responded in unison, and immediately made preparations.

Cao Yue then sent the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Deputy Ming, and ordered him to lead his men and horses to go out of the city to pursue after the defeat of Jiannu.

Hearing about Cao Yue's new arrangement, Wu Ming was shocked.This Cao Yue, is he really so confident in defeating Jiannu who is attacking the city, and is planning to go out of the city to chase after Jiannu failed in the siege?But he didn't dare to ask back with a ghost in his heart, so he could only obey Cao Yue's orders.

Cao Yue sent Gao Qing and Zhu Yang again, making them ready to go out of the city to chase Jian Nu.Gao Qing and Zhu Yang were also surprised to hear that Cao Yue changed his tactics before the war approached.But Cao Yue didn't give them a chance to ask questions. He just briefly explained the situation and asked them to make preparations.

After the arrangement was completed, Cao Yue continued to check the situation outside the city with a telescope.Sure enough, the founding slave army stopped about two miles outside Datong City, almost outside the artillery fire.Cao Yue carefully observed the surrounding area of ​​the slave-building army with less than [-] people, and after seeing no traces of other troops, he decisively ordered that the first battalion led by Cao Jie should be followed by the first battalion led by Zhao Tai. Under the escort of the cavalry, they went out of the city to take the initiative to meet the invading Jiannu.

(End of this chapter)