The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Ma Fang naturally knew very well about the troubles of night battles these days, that is to say, he had not told Wei Guangde and Dong Yiyuan before.

But now, Ma Fang feels a little regretful.

He was worried that Wei Guangde would be persuaded by Liu Dazhang and Tian Shiwei and eventually give up the opportunity to raid Anda Khan's camp.

If I had known this, I should have analyzed the battle situation in detail with Wei Guangde yesterday. It was a rare opportunity.

However, at this time, Shangguan did not speak, and he naturally had no chance to speak.

Wei Guangde also heard the conversation between the three of them. Liu Dazhang's statement that he was timid was credible and he did not want to fight. Tian Shiwei could not find a good idea and did not support night fighting out of safety considerations.

After discussing for a long time, Wei Guangde also thought of what to do, and said directly and forcefully to Liu Dazhang and Tian Shiwei: "Before I came, Master Weng Pu had strict orders, and we must fight. You have all read the military orders sent before, and now this is Say, either we will attack our headquarters in a night battle tonight, or you will come up with other plans."

Wei Guangde's tough performance made Liu Dazhang a little embarrassed. He did not doubt Weng Pu's determination to ask their Xuanfu army to fight. The previous military order could not be faked, but it was indeed not an opportunity at that time.

Now I have a chance, but I can't think of a good strategy in a hurry.

Wei Guangde glanced at the generals in the next round and said to Liu Dazhang: "In this way, you keep the generals who have strategies in your account, and let the others go down to rest first. The lieutenants of each battalion go back to prepare. Fighting must be fought." of."

Liu Dazhang knew that his idea of ​​procrastination might not work, so he had to ask a few veterans with battlefield experience to stay and help him figure out a solution later.

But just as the other generals who were not named were about to leave, Wei Guangde suddenly asked: "I came to Xuanfu and saw that the guard here only eats two meals a day?"

"Yes, our Xuanfu has always been like this."

Liu Dazhang was surprised, but he still said.

Wei Guangde thought for a while before continuing: "We will give the soldiers an extra meal at noon today, and then send them all back to sleep. From midnight, we will have another meal."

Although it was not determined whether it was a night battle or something else, Wei Guangde had to get things done first. Let the soldiers eat a meal at noon and then go to bed. As long as they lay in bed, it didn't matter who couldn't sleep. They would be in good spirits at night. of.

In this era, the Ming Dynasty had already had "three meals a day" in the south, while most people in the north still maintained "two meals a day". However, this was only for the lives of the lower class people. For the dignitaries, they naturally did not Worry about food.

Some people who still live barely enough still only eat three meals a day during the busy farming season, and only eat two meals a day in winter when the days are short and the nights are long.

When it came to the Ming army, Wei Guangde had already noticed that they still had two meals a day.

In the morning, we have a meal at about ten o'clock, which is Si Shi, and in the afternoon, we have a meal at four or five o'clock, which is Shen Shi, and then go to bed after dark.

At this moment, Wei Guangde thought that he had thought of everything he should think of. When he was feeling a little complacent, Ma Fang in the hall suddenly said: "Sir, you also need to prepare torches and other items for night use."

"Huh? Yes, Mr. Liu, please tell me to go down."

At this time, Wei Guangde turned around and said politely to the commander-in-chief Liu Dazhang.

A few miles outside Baoan Prefecture, a group of Ming Army patrols were walking slowly forward towards the camp of the Anda tribe.

Different from the Ming Army's cavalry, which used to have as many as thirty or forty people and as few as a dozen people, this group of Ming Army cavalry has a size of nearly a hundred people.

"Master Wei, about ten miles ahead is the Wanhu camp of the Anda tribe."

At this time, a middle-aged man in the uniform of a guerrilla general said to a young man with an immature face next to him, but this young man was wearing a blue official robe.

"We'd better hurry up. After seeing this, we still need to go see what Ada Khan's camp looks like."

That young man was naturally Wei Guangde. As the Xuanfu army began to prepare for war, he asked Ma Fang to take him out to see the situation in the Anda camp, so as to compare it and see if the previously agreed tactics were still there. Mistakes.

Wei Guangde knew very well that if he won this battle, he would get countless benefits. Although there was also a hidden worry, that is, he would be transferred to a military and civilian position by the court, but he could not care about that much at the moment. Everything was still focused on getting promoted and making a fortune.

A military civil servant was a military civil servant. After all, he was also from the Hanlin Academy, and he was considered to be a well-established member of the civil service system. He might still be transferred back if he could figure out a way.

Not long after, Wei Guangde saw the Mongolian tents set up in the wilderness from a distance, and then saw a row of low wooden fences.

"This is their camp?"

When Wei Guangde saw this, he couldn't suppress a burst of ecstasy in his heart.

The Mongolian camp was too crude.

It’s not that Wei Guangde has never seen the Ming army’s camp. Not to mention the arrangement of the internal tents, there are many things to pay attention to. Even outside the camp, in addition to wooden fences being erected to prevent anyone from seeing what’s going on inside the camp, there are also Several rows of horses were placed outside the camp gate.

If the combat readiness level is high, pits and sheep and horse walls will be built outside the camp to prevent sneak attacks and cavalry raids from the opponent.

At this point, although there is no such thing as a telescope in this era, and it cannot be seen clearly from a distance, the general situation is still clear at a glance.

The camp is just a row of low fences, and the tents inside are only roughly arranged, which is relatively messy.

Just as he was about to continue walking forward, Ma Fang on the side pulled his horse's head back, "Sir, you can't get any closer, otherwise the Tatar cavalry will be attracted."

When Wei Guangde heard this, he knew that there was no need to provoke a war at this time, so as not to expose his whereabouts, so that Anda Khan could be prepared.

"Then let's go around and stay away from them."

Wei Guangde nodded and said to Ma Fang.

Immediately, the group stopped approaching the Tatar military camp, but began to walk outward, away from the Tatar military camp, and continued to move forward.

"As we approach the Tatar camp before dawn, can we touch the row of wooden fences?"

On the way, Wei Guangde asked Ma Fangdao in a low voice.

"Absolutely impossible."

Ma Fang shook his head, "Although the Tatar camp is crudely built, they keep a lot of hounds in the camp. They will be divided into four directions at night. As long as our people come close, the dogs will bark."

After Wei Guangde saw the Tatar camp, the first thing he thought of was the special operations of later generations. Could he first send out elite soldiers, those who acted as scouts at night?

According to Ma Fang, most of the brave men in the Ming army will fill this position, and they are also proficient in various weapons, and they all have at least one special skill.

Before the Ming army attacked, they first sent a team of people to search for Anda Khan's tent. When the Ming army's attack caused a brief chaos in the Tatar camp, they could capture or kill Anda Khan alive, and the great success was achieved.

I just heard Ma Fang say that the Mongols would place hounds everywhere when they camped. This thing is really difficult to deal with.

If there is any disturbance outside, it will call out, attracting patrolling soldiers.

There have been dog thieves in later generations, but they usually took advantage of the owners not paying attention, throwing some medicine-laced food at the dog while it was barking, or simply robbed it openly, covering the dog with a bag and loading it into a car before running away.

These tricks obviously cannot be used here.

"Are all the ministries of the Xuanfu like this? I saw that you have dogs in your army."

Wei Guangde said casually.

"I stayed there for a long time, so some of our troops have dogs. Some of the other generals do, and some don't."

As the two communicated, the group traveled farther and farther.

It was summer at this time, and it was getting dark late at night. It started to get dark at the beginning of Wu Shi, and it was already completely dark by Hai Shi.

But in the past, the military camps inside and outside Baoan Prefecture should have been quiet at this time, but today it is different from before.

Although there were not many sergeants in the military camp, there were already many enlisted civilians coming in and out of the military camp carrying a large number of torches and other items. These things that had been prepared all afternoon were placed at the pointing locations.

Many of the sergeants who had slept in the barracks for a long time could no longer lie down. When they got up, they did not dare to go out. They could only stand behind the door and look out through the gaps in the doors and windows.

The main passages of the camp were lit with fires as usual, allowing them to vaguely see the figures moving outside.

At noon, the sergeants were happy to receive an unexpected extra meal. However, after being driven back to the barracks after the meal, the old soldiers realized something. They were afraid that they would not spend the night peacefully.

The newly recruited soldiers were relatively excited at first, but after seeing the performance of the veterans, they gradually guessed something.

At first, some people wanted to get up and go out for a walk after a good sleep. However, as soon as they opened the door, they were kicked back by the soldiers outside. They continued to lie in bed and sleep. If they did not obey the military orders, they would be punished by military sticks.

No one wants to be beaten and has to stay in bed.

But after lying down for a long time, not only could I not sleep, but I also felt uncomfortable all over.

Gradually, they discovered that as long as you didn't go out, the soldiers patrolling outside didn't care much about you. So by this time, many people had already gotten up, sat or stood in the room, and started talking.

In fact, there is nothing much to say, except whether there will be a night battle with the Tatars tonight, otherwise they will never be driven back to sleep.

"Be content. We didn't have this kind of treatment before. I'd beat you when the superior ordered me to, and give you time to sleep. This time, you'll be given food first, and you'll have another meal when you go out later. That's pretty good."

The veterans didn't pay much attention to other people's comments at first, but they were in the same state now. They couldn't sleep, and some veterans spoke unconsciously.

In this era, most generals were not very considerate of their soldiers. In their eyes, soldiers were worse than their own dogs.

Regardless of whether it is a battle or something else, the physical condition of the soldiers will not be considered. Just prepare a full meal before the battle so that they have the strength to kill people.

"Boom! - Boom! Boom!" The sound of the watch, one slow and two fast, sounded on the streets of Baoanzhou. It was the watchman doing night watch.

Although there are Tatar troops stationed outside the city, as an ancient profession, the watchman is still doing his job conscientiously.

It's just that in the past, at midnight, I rarely saw anyone on the street except myself.

Yes, those are also soldiers carrying lanterns and torches who are patrolling the night.

But today, there are obviously many more pedestrians on the street. They are all young and strong men. It’s just that they don’t wear the Ming army’s standard military uniforms. Instead, they are dressed as ordinary people, carrying various kinds of military equipment in their hands or on their backs. Things were sent back and forth between the state department warehouse and the military camp.

Hearing the sound of the watchman outside, Liu Dazhang, the chief military officer of Xuanfu, turned to Wei Guangde and said, "Master Wei, are you sure you want to take action?"

Wei Guangde naturally knew what Liu Dazhang had planned. When he saw Liu Dazhang accepting the order to start the war so readily, Wei Guangde felt that he had preconceived the idea and wrote a document to Lord Weng Puweng, as if he had done something unfair.

But now, he no longer feels this way at all.

Such incompetent officials should be captured, otherwise there will never be peace in Xuanfu in the future.

If something happens to the Xuan Mansion, the capital next to it will not be stable. Wei Guangde doesn't want to be sent to this ungrateful place to wipe his ass for Liu Dazhang's incompetence.

"Of course, now the arrow is on the string and has to be fired."

Wei Guangde replied with a gentle smile on his lips.

"Let us inform you, let the soldiers prepare their meals, and leave them out at night to observe the movements of the Tatar camp."

Liu Dazhang was a little helpless at the moment and regretted going back on his word. He didn't want to offend Weng Pu.

It must be Weng Pu's intention to let the Xuanfu army go to war.

Although he doubted whether Wei Guangde's arrival was under Weng Pu's instructions, he did not dare to question it.

He didn't care about Wei Guangde, at least on such a major matter as starting a war, he didn't care about Wei Guangde's opinion. Although he was an official of the Hanlin Academy, he couldn't care less about Weng Pu.

The watchman who was patrolling the streets of Baoan Prefecture was walking on the empty street now. It was much more normal now. The figures of the civilian workers who were active before were gone. He was the only one on the whole street, carrying a lantern alone. There is a banger inside.

At this time, what he was thinking about was to complete the three clocking tasks as soon as possible so that he could go back and take a rest.

"Dong-dong! Dong! Dong", one slow and three fast sounds, which means that the time is already 1 o'clock in the morning, the fourth watch day.

"Hua Hua Hua"

Not far away, in the direction of the Baoan Prefecture government office, there were sudden bursts of footsteps, and then the watchman watched many people pouring out of the government office gate with torches.

There was a dense crowd of soldiers standing outside the gate. They all stood there quietly, holding a rein in their hands.

As people came out of the official office, people kept approaching, took the reins from the soldiers, and then got on their horses.

The watchman approaching the military camp in Baoan Prefecture City was so frightened that he hid on the street. In the middle of the night, more than ten torches were lit in front of the military camp gate. The gate of the military camp was open, and countless fully armed soldiers lined up. The queue ran out of the military camp gate

The city gate of Baoan Prefecture was opened at some point. When the night watchmen saw it, they hurried over to ask why. They were watchmen, and their responsibilities were not only to tell the time to the residents of the city, but also to prevent fire and theft, and to provide early warning. responsibilities.

Although he saw the bright lights at the city gate and many soldiers standing there, he still had to go over immediately to ask why. He had not received a notice from the Zhizhou Yamen that the city gate would be opened tonight.

"The army is dispatched, quickly avoid it."

When he was about to run close to the city gate, the familiar roar of the city gate official stopped him.

Not long after, dense footsteps were heard from the direction of the military camp in the distance.

The military camp outside Baoan Prefecture was also waking up in the middle of the night. Countless soldiers had already put on their armor and lined up with weapons in their hands.