My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 819 Kaiping Guards Moved Inward (Part )

"Kill~"

At the foot of Fenghuang Ridge, two cavalrymen collided fiercely. In this cavalry duel, both the man and the horse seemed extremely insignificant. The two armies were like two millstones, grinding the man and the horse into one. The lumps of flesh and blood dyed the earth red.

On a hillside next to Fenghuang Ridge, a Ming cavalry group was quietly ambushing behind them. The leader was a veteran with snow-white beard and hair, who was calmly observing the battle situation below.

"Grandfather, let me lead my elite cavalry out and kill them all. I will definitely wipe out all the invading Oara cavalry in one fell swoop!"

A very young general next to him asked the veteran for orders.

"Don't be impatient, it's still time!"

The veteran general was very calm. One of the two fighting parties below was the Ming cavalry he sent to intercept the Wala people. Although the Ming cavalry was now at a disadvantage, he still had no intention of sending troops to support them.

"But……"

The young general wanted to say something more, but when the old general glared at him, he was so frightened that he immediately retreated, not daring to say another word.

This old general with snow-white beard and hair is Xue Lu, Marquis of Yangwu. The young general who just spoke is Xue Lu's grandson Xue Shen. Because Xue Lu's eldest son died young, only one son, Xue Shen, was left, so he was also taken by Xue Lu. around.

Compared to Sun Tzu, who could not hold his breath, Xue Lu had a very sophisticated vision. In his opinion, although the cavalry on his side below were at a disadvantage, they could still hold on for a while.

In contrast, the Wara cavalry on the opposite side has not yet exerted its full strength. There is a cavalry guarding the formation behind. If they attack at this time, they will definitely be blocked by the cavalry behind them. Even if Xue Lu can win by then, he will not be able to defeat him completely. Annihilate the opponent.

However, as the two cavalry battled, the cavalry on the Ming side became increasingly exhausted, and the general on the Wala side finally lost his composure. He immediately waved his hand, and the cavalry guarding the formation finally came up to fight, ready to attack in one go. Defeat the Ming cavalry.

Seeing that all the Ora cavalry finally joined the battlefield, Xue Lu, who was ambushing on the hillside, finally shouted excitedly: "Follow me and charge!"

Following Xue Lu's order, he rushed out at the lead. Xue Shen, who was next to him, was afraid that his grandfather would be wrong, so he followed him closely. After all, Xue Lu was already in his early seventies, no matter how young he was, Xiaoyong, now that he is also old and frail, it is not easy to be able to ride a horse and run wildly.

Seeing that the veteran general Xue Lu was so brave, the Ming army soldiers behind him also moved forward bravely. In the blink of an eye, they entered the battle group and suddenly opened a large gap for the Ora cavalry.

As a new force, Xue Lu's cavalry played a decisive role. The Wala cavalry, which originally had only a slight advantage, was beaten to the point of disorientation. In the end, it was broken into several sections by Xue Lu's cavalry. It was so difficult to take care of that even the generals under command were surrounded by the Ming army and could no longer direct the army to respond.

In the blink of an eye, the situation on the battlefield was reversed. Except for a few Wala people who saw that the situation was not good and desperately escaped from the battlefield, the rest were all surrounded and annihilated by the Ming army.

"General, our army has wiped out more than 3,000 enemies in this battle, and our own casualties are still being counted!"

At this time, only one general came to Xue Lu to report.

This man's name was Huang Wei, and he was the commander of the Kaiping Guard. He had previously led his cavalry to entangle the Wala cavalry, and this gave Xue Lu a chance to succeed with a single blow.

"Commander Huang deserves the first credit for his effective command in this battle. I will personally ask your Majesty for your reward!"

Xue Lu laughed and said.

"Thank you, General, for your appreciation!"

Huang Wei was very excited and saluted again when he heard this.

Xue Lu is currently the general of Zhenshuo, responsible for patrolling the border defense and guarding the area from Kaiping to Xuanfu. It is also because of his presence that Oara's many invasions were repelled by the border troops.

Xue Lu asked people to clean the battlefield. Not only did they take away weapons such as swords and arrows, but they also took off the armor from the dead bodies. After all, these Wala people were extremely poor, and only this weapon and armor was more valuable. By the way, there were also injured Wala who were not dead. People will also be stabbed by them.

As for the dead bodies and wounded on the Ming army's own side, they were all carried back for burial or treatment.

Xue Lu looked at the soldiers who were brought down from the battlefield, and his old face also showed a bit of sadness. He had been fighting for a lifetime and was used to seeing dead bodies and blood, but every time he saw these young soldiers dying on the battlefield, Even though he was sleeping, he felt a little congested in his chest.

"Grandpa, the statistics have been calculated. Our army has 876 dead. Almost all of Commander Huang's men were injured, including 371 serious injuries."

At this time, Xue Shen stepped forward to report to Xue Lu.

"More than a thousand people were lost again. Now the strength of Kaiping Guard has been weakened again. If the enemy attacks again next time, they will definitely not be able to defend Kaiping Guard!"

Xue Lu couldn't help but sigh after hearing this. Although he is the general of Zhenshuo, he can send troops to support Kaiping Guards, but the supporting troops cannot always be stationed in Kaiping Guards. They will have to go back sooner or later in the future. Moreover, the imperial court has been reducing the strength of border defenses, and many guards cannot get the troops they lack. To replenish the troops, the border defense forces became increasingly empty.

"Grandpa, didn't you write a letter requesting that Kaiping Guards be moved inland? Hasn't the imperial court responded yet?"

Xue Shen asked again at this time.

He was also very aware of Kaipingwei's plight, and even everyone at the border knew about it. But except for his grandfather, even if others knew about Kaipingwei's plight, they would not dare to write a letter to tell the truth. After all, abandoning the country is not only It doesn't sound good to say it out loud, and it may even lead to disaster if someone is taking advantage of it in the future.

"No, what I'm most worried about now is that His Majesty is unwilling to let the Kaiping Guards move inward because of the Jiaozhi incident. Without an order from the court, Commander Huang will force them to defend Kaiping."

Xue Lu also sighed when he said this. If the guardsmen did not have orders, they could only stay within the scope of the guardhouse. If they evacuated without authorization, they would also be dead.

"Grandpa, please don't worry about these things for now. We won the battle today, so we should go back to celebrate and boost our morale. We can talk about the rest later!"

Xue Shen saw the anxious expression on his grandfather's face, so he persuaded him in a low voice.

Xue Lu also nodded after hearing this, and then led the army to leave Phoenix Ridge. They did not return to Kaiping until evening.

Kaiping was originally the upper capital of the Yuan Dynasty, but was later captured by Chang Yuchun's troops, and Zhu Yuanzhang established the Kaiping Capital Division here.

Later, when Zhu Di was in power, he sent Zhu Gaoxu to send troops to guard Kaiping. However, as soon as Zhu Gaoxu left the capital, someone wrote a letter, worried that Zhu Gaoxu's guarding Kaiping would repeat Zhu Di's old troubles. So Zhu Di used the excuse of changes in the celestial phenomena to send Zhu Gaoxu to Kaiping again. Called back.

As an important military town in northern Xinjiang during the Ming Dynasty, Kaiping's city walls are very tall and majestic. However, if you get closer, you will find that Kaiping's city walls are somewhat dilapidated, especially near the city gate. He and the Uuliangha tribe came to attack what Kaiping had left behind.

Commander Huang Wei has written many times, requesting the imperial court to provide money to repair Kaiping City, but there has been no response. Even the Kaiping Guard has a serious shortage of soldiers and it is difficult to supplement them. This has also led to a rapid decline in the strength of the Kaiping Guard. If this time Without Xue Lu's support, they would not have dared to leave the city for a decisive battle with the Oara army.

But no matter what, the battle was won this time. Xue Lu and Huang Wei returned to the city with several carts of tiled heads, which also caused the whole city to rejoice.

Xue Lu also asked people to kill sheep and pigs to reward the three armies. For a time, the entire Kaiping Guard was immersed in a sea of ​​celebration.

In order to celebrate this victory, there was jubilation in Kaiping City for three days and three nights. Except for the patrolling soldiers, everyone was drunk. After all, wiping out all the elite troops in Oala this time will at least guarantee that there will be no one left in the city within half a year. Dare to open up Pingcheng's idea again.

However, after the celebration, Commander Huang Wei found Xue Lu again and said with a worried expression: "General, although this battle was a great victory, we also lost a thousand households. The troops that I could have used There were only three thousand households, but now one-third has been removed at once, leaving only two thousand soldiers and horses. With just these few people, it is impossible to defend Kaiping City!"

Originally there were five thousand-household stations in Kaiping Guard, but due to the shortage of soldiers, only three thousand-household stations were available. As a result, more than a thousand people were lost in this battle, and the remaining two thousand men were even able to defend the city. It's difficult, let alone repelling the enemy's attack.

"I will personally report this matter to the imperial court and try to get you more troops!"

Xue Lu replied in a deep voice at this time.

"General, tell me the truth, will the imperial court still send troops?"

Huang Wei smiled bitterly at this time. He shouldn't have asked this question originally, but he had no choice. He had heard similar words too many times. He had also written to the court many times, asking for additional troops, but the court ignored him.

"If the imperial court does not send troops again, I will personally return to the capital to report the situation in Kaiping to His Majesty. Speaking of which, I once again submitted a letter requesting that the Kaiping Guards be moved inward. I don't know if the imperial court will agree?"

Xue Lu did not blame Huang Wei, but sighed and continued.

In recent years, the imperial court has reduced its military strength at the border, not only in Kaiping, but also in other places such as Xinghe and Xuanfu. However, Kaiping is the closest to the capital, so it lacks the most troops and is the least affected. The court's attention.

"General, do you really want us to abandon Kaiping City?"

When Huang Wei heard about the internal relocation, he asked again with a complicated expression.

As the commander of Kaiping Guards, he has guarded here for many years and has extremely deep feelings for this border town. Now that he is asked to give up here, he is very reluctant to give up.

"Instead of being breached by the prairie people in the future, it is better to give up voluntarily, so that after you retreat to the rear, you can reorganize a line of defense, instead of holding on to an isolated city on the prairie and waiting to die!"

Xue Lu replied in a low voice.

Huang Wei was reluctant to leave, and Xue Lu was even more reluctant to leave. As a veteran who followed Zhu Di Jingnan in raising troops, he had participated in the Northern Expedition many times, and his feelings for Kaiping City were even deeper, but now that the situation was forcing them, they had no other choice.

(End of this chapter)