The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 333 Snowy Night, Final Battle Night

The ninth day of November.

Lu Wan, Zhang Heling, and Zhang Yong personally led nearly [-] troops from Liaodong. After three hundred miles from Shenyang Zhongwei, they finally started a rapid march on the north bank of Huangshui.

Although the first snow on the grassland has not yet arrived, the wind is already piercing and the water is rushing. The soldiers will feel the piercing cold whenever they want to cross the river. Whether they are cavalry or infantry, they need to take off their boots. Carrying the boots, the horse quickly crossed the river.

"Lord Zhongcheng, Wuliangha is in the first fifty miles!"

"Cross the river! Reorganize the army! Where is the right army? Song Ling!"

Song Ling is the commander of the Yizhou Guards and is good at horse fighting. This time he is responsible for leading the cavalry from Ningyuan and Yizhou.

"The end is here!"

A cavalry force of about [-] crossed the river first. This group of people and horses was also a team of one man and two horses carrying light artillery, and was specially responsible for the rapid advance on the grassland.

For more than 20 days before, this group of people and horses walked slowly on the winding mountain road together with the Chinese army. This time they finally wanted to take advantage of the cavalry.

"Chase!"

"Yes!"

The cavalry was divided into two groups.

One was pure light cavalry, which harassed the route of Duoyan Sanwei's north retreat, while the other was led by Song Ling personally, implementing the strategy of "driving the dog into the poor alley".

Zhang Heling came from the river in embarrassment. Everyone else dismounted, even Lu Wan was no exception. He was the only one who came here on a horse, so that the horse was already staggering after crossing the river...

"Shouning Marquis?" Lu Wan frowned at Zhang Heling.

Zhang Heling sat slumped on the ground, looked back at the pawns crossing the river, waved his hands and said, "I'm fine! The horse is fine, if I sink again, will those artillery sink?"

Because in this trip, in addition to light artillery, there are also mother and child artillery, that is, flowering artillery that looks like a machine gun.

As a result, crossing the river was very difficult, and some soldiers had to help the horses to drag the chariot across the river.

Zhang Yongdao: "Damn the weather, after winter, shouldn't the water flow be slowed down?"

"It's different, this is the grassland." Lu Wan looked up into the distance.

In the low-pressure sky, clouds were rolling everywhere. He murmured, "It looks like it's either heavy snow or snow and rain. Let the soldiers pack their bags and keep chasing!"

Zhang Heling got up from the ground and said, "Don't you want to warm up before leaving?"

Lu Wan said anxiously: "It's only past noon now, how can we delay the trip? Ma Heng!"

"The end is here!"

"Lead your troops and go thirty li to the north. If there are Tartars approaching, fight and retreat! Forty cannons across the river, drag them away!"

"Order!"

"Zhu Yanning!"

"I am humble!"

"Escort the soldiers and horses across the river, and send another [-] cavalry along the north bank of Huangshui, across the sand dunes! Set up camp first in two hours!"

"Order!"

……

Lu Wan's army seemed to be stragglers, a temporary conscript team formed temporarily.

The men and horses in the cities of Liaodong also had little experience in taking the initiative to attack. Even if they wanted to fight, they mostly fought against Jianzhou and other troops in Liaodong, or stationed in the city fortress.

In terms of tactical literacy, it is far inferior to the frontier troops of the three sides or Xuanda.

But Lu Wan can still achieve coordination.

"Are you going to be stationed tonight?" Zhang Heling was afraid that Zhang Heling would have to march in a hurry, even day and night. What he wanted most now was to be able to rest in time after dark.

Lu Wandao: "The camp is to confuse Duoyan's three guards. Now we are not sure which one we are chasing. At present, it is likely to be Taining or Duoyan. The journey is fifty or sixty miles. If all goes well." , can catch up with the old and the weak behind them in the middle of the night."

"Is there going to be a war tonight?"

Zhang Yong also came over, but Zhang Yong still didn't seem to understand how this battle should be fought.

It all looks too messy.

There are more than 7000 soldiers and horses under Lu Wan's command, which were recruited from seven or eight cities and guards, and the infantry and cavalry are different. The time is not dealt with.

These troops can hardly be distinguished as regular combat troops or logistics soldiers. They all have two legs and carry weapons. They seem to be able to go into battle to kill the enemy, but it seems that not many people can fight to the death when encountering tough battles. in the end.

No matter how you look at it, it is a motley army.

Lu Wan said: "Don't worry yet. We haven't reached the ambush circle yet."

"Are we going to wait for another group of troops?" Zhang Yongdao, "According to this posture, once the Duoyan Sanwei army is over, we will not be able to fight against them! Let's advance slowly first."

Lu Wan frowned and looked at Zhang Yongdao: "Eunuch Zhang, if you delay the pursuit, you may even be a little slack. With Duoyan Sanwei's familiarity with the terrain here, you can find nowhere overnight!"

Just as he was talking, a general pointed to the distance and said, "It seems to be snowing!"

"Good guy! It's been a while?" Zhang Heling looked into the distance.

The scene was very scary.

It was snowing in the distance, as if the sky and the earth were in a line of gray and black, but there was no snowflakes falling where they were.

Lu Wan cheered up and said, "Very good, facing the wind and snow, Duoyan Sanwei has no choice but to walk along Huangshui!"

Zhang Heling said: "What's the truth?"

Lu Wan got on his horse and shouted: "The rear army quickly catch up, the cavalry will split up and go north!"

"Still dividing troops?"

"Go away..."

The scene is messy.

The wind came, and the soldiers had to wrap their clothes tightly. They had just waded through the icy river, and now they were about to encounter a baptism of strange weather, which was likely to be mixed with wind and snow.

Zhang Heling complained: "In this kind of weather, you should find a shelter from the wind and leave after resting!"

He wanted to get on the horse, but found that his body might be a little frozen.

Zhang Yong pulled him and helped him get on the horse. Zhang Yong said: "Marquis Shou Ning, the battle must not be slack, this battle is very important to Ming! We must not disappoint His Majesty! We must not disappoint Mr. Zhang either! Walk!"

"Damn it!"

Zhang Heling got on the horse while cursing.

Riding a horse is extremely difficult.

Lu Wandao: "The Hulu's advance has been blocked, catch up before tonight! Chase and not fight! Drive them all the way west!"

……

……

More than 3 horses were divided into four or five groups.

The cavalry is mainly in the vanguard and the outer circle, used for pursuit and protection, while the central army led by Lu Wan mainly consists of more than 2 infantry. These infantry are different from the previous infantry. There are very few crossbowmen, and they basically carry firecrackers. , The clothes are very heavy.

All the way along Huangshui to the west, the road is relatively flat, suitable for the transportation of artillery.

Following the information reported by the pioneers, the Chinese army also knew the current situation... neither advancing nor retreating, and the two sides kept a distance of about fifty miles.

Until nightfall, it was rumored that the camp set up by the first group of people was actually only three to five hundred tents, and no more than six thousand people could be stationed there.

At this time, the wind and snow were blowing, and the road was very difficult. Even the cavalry could not gallop, and the morale of the army seemed very weak.

"Stop!"

Zhang Heling finally couldn't help it. He got into a tent to keep warm, but found that the tent was colder than outside.

After Lu Wan got off his horse, he walked to the direction near Huangshui, and asked someone to hold a torch. He carefully identified the direction of the water flow, looked up into the distance and said, "If you walk for another three hours, you should be able to reach the preset place." !"

"Master Lu, are you sure you're going in the right direction? Why do I feel like we're going backwards? Can you tell the direction clearly?"

Zhang Heling shook the snow off his body. As the commander-in-chief, he would never leave the Chinese army for a while.

It was as if this war had nothing to do with him directly.

Lu Wan took out the compass in his hand, which was also assigned by Zhang Zhou to the army. Through the glass shell, the conditions for use are very mature, and the direction can be judged without any decoration.

"Yes."

"Where is this?" Zhang Heling asked again.

"do not know!"

Even Lu Wan couldn't answer this time.

Wherever they went, Ming's army almost never came. Apart from some guides who could provide approximate routes along the way, many places didn't even have names. The soldiers of Ming were simply resigning themselves to their fate.

"Hahahaha..." Zhang Heling laughed, and the smile was a little desolate, "How does Ben Hou feel that we are going to be buried here tonight? We don't need to be buried tomorrow, just cover us with snow!"

"Report!"

A messenger came quickly, and when he was approaching the Chinese army, the rider fell off his horse.

"Say!"

Lu Wan went over in person, and a group of people hurriedly picked up the messenger from the ground.

The messenger straightened the brim of his hat, panting, and said, "It's Wu Liangha, the stove was buried three hours ago, and there were at least 6000 people... There are more than [-] people on the North Road!"

"Chasing the south! Go all the way along the river!"

Lu Wan tried his best to make his voice louder to cover up the wind.

He also felt a little weak when he gave orders in this environment.

However, the big strategy is already in place, that is, the pursuit battle. If you catch up, you can't catch up and you don't fight... This is the understanding of ordinary soldiers, but what Lu Wan wants to convey is that you must keep your distance and wait until you meet Peng Quan. , Wang Xian and the others joined forces along the way, and then they attacked back and forth.

Zhang Yong led the horse over, with a puzzled look on his face: "It seems that at this hour, I'm afraid I can't even walk five miles. Even if we meet, the cannon will be useless. How can we fight this black light? Why don't we let him go first?" The soldiers are stationed! It will not be too late to chase after tomorrow!"

Lu Wan said: "There is no choice! If we go forward for more than a hundred miles, we will reach the range of the Chahar Department, and there will be results before dawn!"

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

When Zhang Yong left, he would always pull Zhang Heling, and every time Zhang Heling turned in the east of the way he came.

For one thing, Zhang Heling took that as the direction of his struggle... that is, to withdraw troops.

What's more... because the northwest wind was blowing that day, at least if you turn your back to the west, you won't eat a few more bites of snowflakes blown by the northwest wind.

Zhang Heling scolded: "Zhang Bingkuan tricked me, and you cheated me too!"

……

……

The blizzard is still going on.

Under such a cruel environment, a pursuit battle is still going on.

After midnight, even Lu Wan began to wonder if this was torturing people.

"Some soldiers can't walk anymore! The temperature is dropping very fast!"

"The Tartars are more than 20 miles ahead!"

"Chasing, chasing!"

Now that Lu Wan had no way out, he could only grit his teeth, and so could the soldiers.

Fortunately, after midnight, the wind and snow were much lighter, but the snow on the ground was already a bit thick. It might be better for the cavalry, but for the infantry and the soldiers transporting the artillery, the environment was simply terrible. It is to challenge their limits.

"It's up!"

When the news of the war broke out, the soldiers were already a little desperate.

They didn't know why they were walking, why they were fighting, and they didn't even know if they would still be able to keep their eyes open at dawn on such a cruel night.

But at this moment, an exciting news came.

More than a dozen miles away, the battle has already started.

"Ambush, Daming's ambush!"

"Follow up! Catch up! Don't go south, look for the road, and don't get stuck in the mud!"

Although the snow is very thick, the ground of the grassland is not frozen, and the river is not frozen. At this time, there are only more than ten miles left to chase along the river. For the soldiers, they must first ensure that they can catch up alive. to the battlefield.

Zhang Heling twitched all over and said, "Is there a fight?"

"Marquis Shou Ning, it's an ambush, Daming's ambush! We are here to make dumplings, dumplings with big stuffing! Slow down, the military merits are all due to the ambush!"

"What are you waiting for? Come on!"

Zhang Heling was so excited that he rolled off the horse, but he didn't fall because the ground was covered with snow anyway.

After he rolled on the ground, by the light of the torch, he grabbed the reins of his horse. This time he had experience in riding a horse, so he found two soldiers to resist himself.

"Chase! Chase!"

Zhang Heling didn't know how to be afraid now, even though he never wanted to go to the battlefield, but after these few days of tossing, he even felt that it was a relief to rush to the battlefield and finish the battle.

Many soldiers in the army probably thought the same as him.

What life and death... If you continue on your way, then life is really worse than death!
……

……

For Taining and Duoyan guards among Duoyan's three guards, this ambush was almost without warning.

They only knew that there was Da Ming's army chasing after them, and they could even send sentry riders to investigate the situation behind them clearly. They also felt the great patience of the Ming soldiers in such a difficult and unfamiliar environment.

As a grassland tribe, they should have an advantage in marching in the wind and snow, but they migrated in large groups. In addition to the cavalry, they also had the old, weak, sick and disabled in the tribe, as well as their cattle and sheep.

In the past two days, their tribe has abandoned a lot of livestock, and even abandoned some property on the side of the road, but even so, they were still caught up by Daming's army little by little.

Just when they were preparing to send out cavalry to fight against Da Ming at dawn, taking advantage of the right time, place and people, they first dealt a severe blow to Da Ming's pursuers, and the result...

In an ambush? !
The road ahead was so dark that it was impossible to see where the river was and where the mountains were.

It was black everywhere, and they could only walk along the river based on their experience, relying on the sound of the water to identify their bearings.

But with the sound of "rumbling" and the flames, they thought it was thunder, but when their former soldiers were blown up to the sky, they realized that a group of troops from Daming had detoured to them Before, an ambush was made with artillery and gunpowder.

As the easternmost tribe of the grassland tribe, the Duoyan Sanwei didn't mean that they didn't have any war literacy. For them, night raids and anti-night raids were also the normal state of war on the grassland.

Even in this kind of snowy weather, they are experienced.

But when they sent out thousands of cavalry to rush forward, they found that Daming's ambush was not on the road at all, but on the other side of the river? !That is, the south side?

Walking along the river made them a target instead.

Daming's artillery can shoot one or two miles away, directly from the other side of the river, and explode in their army, but they can't send cavalry across the river under this environment.

It's embarrassing.

When the Duoyan and Taining guards found that the shells were coming from the south and the river was to their south, it seemed that they had only one option, which was to go north...but the north happened to be mountains, and the horses were going up. Those who don't go, let alone ordinary animals, people seem to have no way to climb up, and can only help with ropes and so on!
This last option also becomes unavailable.

According to Zhang Zhou's plan, to ambush Duoyan Sanwei's soldiers and horses walking along the river, it must be completed in a narrow area with mountains on the north bank, and it must be fought at night, which requires the cooperation of two groups of troops.

But I didn't expect that the wind and snow would be heavy, which would be a great test for the chasing Lu Wan team, but it would be relatively easy for the ambushing men like Peng Quan, Wang Xian, and Ma Yongcheng, because they were waiting for work at leisure.

The hardest part of this pursuit battle was Lu Wan's troops who braved the wind and snow to pursue.

……

……

The battle begins.

The Duoyan and Taining guards have pursuers behind them, and there is no choice for the rear, and the north is blocked by mountains. It is obviously not in their interest to cross the river and fight with Ming Dynasty, so the only option is to brave the Ming's shells and continue to go west advance.

As for the old and weak of their tribe, it seems that they don't care about it.

It is best to retain vitality.

But even so, Da Ming's army would not let them do what they wanted.

On the north bank of Huangshui, Daming also set up an ambush. The gunpowder had been laid long ago, and even the artillery was in ambush in the grass and low bushes. When Duoyan and Taining's cavalry approached, they were covered by snow and bushes area, with fire and rumble.

"boom!"

There is no frontal cold weapon engagement.

That's not the commander of the Ming generals. In this ghostly weather, both sides can't even see their faces.

In fact, it was also difficult for the gunners of the Ming Dynasty to tell the direction of the enemy. They only fired artillery in one direction, and whether it exploded or not was all based on feeling.

Taining’s cavalry, with about 1000 soldiers, crossed the icy river to the south bank. However, the platoon guns of the Ming ambush also played a role at this time. Ordinary arquebus guns are difficult to be effective in this environment. But these soldiers were after all the Shenji Battalion trained by Daming to fight in a difficult environment.

At this time, the flint gun can still emit a coquettish tongue of flame.

"North Road!"

"Don't let Hulu escape!"

"Kill, kill!"

Whether it was the pursuers on the north bank, the ambush on the west road, or the gunners on the south bank, on such a snowy night, everyone seemed to be in a state of madness.

It seems that only this kind of madness can drive away the cold and bury the inner fear.

(End of this chapter)