In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 103 Jian Nu knocks on the door again
The Datong area in the Ming Dynasty was somewhat special. It was one of the Nine Borders, a major military town such as Xuanfu, and it was also a prefecture under the Shanxi Chief Envoy. It was a strange phenomenon of coexistence of military and civilians and separation of civil and military administrations.

There are not only large and small Baihu Forts, Qianhusuo and Acropolis in the territory, but also more than a dozen state and county towns, as well as countless civilian forts built by gentry and landlords.

In the whole of Datong, there are more than [-] million soldiers and civilians, and there are not only [-] but also [-] walled military and civilian forts.

Because it is located in northern Xinjiang, whether it is the military attaches in the military forts or the landlords and gentry in the civilian forts, their awareness of prevention is far from that in the Central Plains. They not only built the fort walls tall and strong, but also paid great attention to their respective armaments.

There can be as few as one hundred or as many as two hundred servants, which must be maintained, and they are equipped with high-quality weapons, especially those military attaches. Not only do their servants have knives and armor, but some even have firecrackers, bows and arrows. war horse.

Because of this powerful armament, there are very few bandits and bandits in the entire Datong area. The military households who have been in dire straits for a long time are also suppressed and do not dare to rebel. At most, they are deserters.

Strange to say, when they heard that the slaves were attacking, even if there were only 2000 or [-] people, the military attachés and gentlemen in these castles were so frightened that they cowered and swept away the snow in front of their doors. No one would rescue the other. If it is conquered by the Tatars, you will have no choice but to consider yourself unlucky.

But when they heard that the intruders were Han people, they were extremely active as if they had been given blood. This was because under the call of the Datong prefect, the commander of the Shanxi Xingdu Division, and the Shanxi general soldier Hu Dawei, they all prepared their own food and grass. , and rushed to Datong City with his servants.

In just ten days, 6 to [-] people were gathered, and together with the [-] Hu Dawei frontier troops, the number exceeded [-], and there were even people coming in a steady stream.

Although the servants who arrived were like a pile of scattered sand, they were all tall and powerful, equipped with knives and guns, and many even had armor and horses.

Such strength almost scared Lin Rui to death.

At this moment, in the general tent of the camp outside Yanghe City, those who were qualified to enter the tent had serious expressions on their faces.

"Rui Lang, why don't you run away? I didn't expect that this small Datong would have so many soldiers and horses. I really don't know how those Jurchens managed to get out of the customs safely with so many people and supplies..."

Namuzhong looked frightened, but she couldn't figure out why the Mongols and Jurchens were allowed to come to Datong every year when this small Datong could gather tens of thousands of sword-carrying warriors. Loot?
She remembered that in the past few years, Lin Danhan would lead Chahar's warriors to go south to Datong to clear grass valleys almost every year. Each time, they would return with a full load and minimal casualties.

"Belle, did you read that correctly? Do all the soldiers and horses under Datong City really have swords and armor?"

Lin Rui was still in disbelief, suspecting that a large number of guardsmen were pretending to be fake.

"Husband, it's true. Those people really have knives and armor, and the clothes they wear are very clean, unlike the tattered and dirty clothes worn by ordinary military households."

Hubbell nodded quickly, his face turned pale, and he was obviously frightened by the strength of the Ming army in Datong City.

"Fuck, what about the direction of Xuanfu?" Lin Rui slapped the case hard and realized that he had far underestimated Datong's strength.

"There are also [-] to [-] people in Xuan Mansion. They set off yesterday. It is estimated that they will be here in seven or eight days. Husband, why don't you listen to Sister Namuzhong and run!"

"Well, as the saying goes, if there are too many ants, they will kill the elephant. We must deal with them immediately. Let's retreat to the grassland first and settle the accounts with them later."

Lin Rui nodded. He was not stupid. The two towns combined had more than [-] troops, and the ones who fought back were all servants who dared to fight. If he didn't run away, would it be possible to stay and fight?

Anyway, in the past half month, he had grabbed enough supplies and food, and recruited enough people. It was the same as going to the grasslands to train troops. Originally, he wanted to dominate Datong, so he stayed and became the emperor, and ran away when he couldn't do anything.

At this moment, Lin Rui also realized how powerful Lao Zhu was, and also understood why Jiannu entered the pass seven times, but could only grab one wave in the first six times, and finally retreated obediently.

The reason is that the Ming Dynasty has this unique border town defense system. Although the entire system is in bad shape, you can poke a hole at any point, but you will never be able to completely destroy the entire system.

Jian Nu can break through from a certain pass and come every year. However, as long as they cannot capture Datong, Xuanfu and many acropolis, as well as Juyongguan, Shanhaiguan and other transportation arteries, they can only choose to retreat in the end.

Otherwise, when reinforcements from other places arrive, they are likely to be blocked south of the Great Wall.

As long as the capital of the Ming Dynasty is not breached and the emperor is not dead, the countless acropolis, thousands of households, and hundreds of forts will not surrender voluntarily, but will defend to the end.

Because the military attaches in those castles and cities are all hereditary, it can be said that they are completely tied to the Ming Dynasty. They will be prosperous and suffer losses. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, it will be difficult for these military attaches to betray the Ming Dynasty.

No one can afford the casualties and time required to remove the numerous castles and cities one by one.

Thinking of this, Lin Rui also knew that his plan to occupy Datong would be ruined.

It is now the ninth year of Chongzhen, not the 17th year. He is not the Li Zicheng who attacked Luoyang, went to Kaifeng and killed King Fu, so he is not qualified to aspire to the world.

In this case, even if he breaks through Yanghe Acropolis and Datong, and even kills all the military attaches and tens of thousands of servants under Datong City, I am afraid that the cities and castles everywhere will not surrender voluntarily. The sons of those military attaches We will continue to hold on to the end.Following Lin Rui's order, the entire camp became busy and began loading mountains of supplies onto carts.

Today, the number of people gathered outside Yanghe City has reached as many as [-] to [-], of which only [-] are members of the Lin Family Army who are to be taken away.

In addition to the 7000 veterans, there are still about 2000 young and strong people, [-] men and women who have been rescued, and more than [-] blacksmiths, carpenters and their families.

As for the remaining 3 people, more than 3000 of them were the family members of the captured military attachés. They should be released, otherwise the number would have to be doubled.

The last 2 or so were mercenaries. For better management, Lin Rui divided these people into three classes. The first class was more than 4000 real border troops. Their weapons were no longer collected. The money they distributed was They also have the most and the best food.

The second class is the ordinary young men or bandits who have attacked Zhuangbao. There are more than 8000 people in total. The treatment of these people is worse. Weapons are only distributed during wars and collected during normal times.

The third class is the young men who have just joined in the past few days. They have never participated in a siege battle. They only manage two meals a day, and the tools they hold are only wooden sticks and dung forks.

If it weren't for the purpose of attacking Yanghe Acropolis, and with Han Xin's idea of ​​​​ordering troops, the more the merrier, Lin Rui would not have wanted these people, and now naturally they would all be disbanded.

As for the first and second class mercenaries, Lin Rui decided to let them choose to stay or stay on their own.

After all, these people are really worthless, especially the more than 4000 frontier troops. Although they are all veterans who have fought in the war, their discipline is too lax. They are all veteran veterans. It is a pity to abandon them and they are tasteless.

What really gave Lin Rui a headache was the family members of the more than 3000 military attachés and landowners. Most of the adult men were killed, leaving only some wives, concubines, underage children, and personal maids who were unwilling to leave.

I just let it go, but I wasn't willing to do it. It was obvious that I was dragging it with me, and it was really troublesome.

Just as the Lin family army was busy evacuating, the beacon tower to the north lit up the smoke again, sweeping across the entire Datong Xuanfu in a short period of time.

At this moment, the Xuanfu coalition forces who had arrived at Wanquan's left guard naturally discovered the smoke from the nearby beacon tower.

The commander-in-chief Yang Guozhu and the governor Chen Xinjia immediately issued an order to stop the advance. The servants of more than 2 frontier troops and more than 2 military attachés also became somewhat flustered and commotion.

"What's going on? Are there really Tatars knocking on the door again?"

"This is such a coincidence. Could it be that the Lin family army lit the beacon tower on purpose to confuse me?"

Yang Guozhu frowned, looked at the wolf smoke in the distance, and said with some suspicion.

Chen Xinjia, who was on the side, shook his head and said solemnly: "The smoke is coming from the east. It can't be fake. Commander Yang, you'd better retreat quickly!"

"Not bad, hurry up, go back to Xuan Mansion..."

After his reminder, Yang Guozhu also reacted and immediately yelled.

If it is the Lin family's army's plan, the smoke will definitely come from the west. Now that the smoke is coming from the east, it means that there are really Tatars knocking on the pass. Fortunately, it is not far from Xuanfu City, only a few dozen miles. , otherwise something big will really happen.

As the army began to turn around and retreat, the scene soon became chaotic. All the military attaches and their servants rushed towards their own city.

The 4-strong army was instantly dispersed. Obviously, these military attachés were more worried that their home base would be overrun by the Tatars. Yang Guozhu and Chen Xinjia were also worried that Xuanfu City would be overrun by the Tatars.

The two men led [-] frontier troops in a hurry. When they reached the gate of Xuanfu City, they happened to collide with the leading Jurchen cavalry. After a fierce battle, the two men finally fled into Xuanfu City with more than [-] remnants of defeated troops. middle.

This time, not only was the Xuan Mansion invaded again by the Jian Nu, but the beacon towers in Jizhen also lit up with smoke.

After Hauge left, he was not willing to return to Liaodong. Instead, he planned to go to Zhangjiakou or Dushibao to find an opportunity to enter the pass again. When he came near Dushibao, he happened to encounter the slave-building army led by Abatai.

After the two joined forces, they led [-] cavalry into the Xuan Mansion.

At the same time, Azige and Yang Guli also led [-] cavalry each, knocking in from Xifengkou and Gubeikou. Together with Hauge's [-] cavalry, the total force of the Jiannu troops in this invasion actually exceeded ten. Ten thousand.

The capital was shaken for a time, and the government and the public were in an uproar. Emperor Chongzhen had to urgently issue an order for troops from all over the country to go north to Qinwang, including Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of seven provinces who was presiding over the suppression of bandits in Huguang, Henan, and Nanzhili.

(End of this chapter)