In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 35 Eight plus eight coalition forces
Inside the big tent, the lights are brightly lit.

Although Lin Rui guessed that even if the Houjin Tartars really came, they would not go to great lengths to fight against their mere gang of horse bandits, but he still made complete preparations.

The first thing is to transfer a thousand horses from the small castle to the big castle overnight.

There is no way, although the wall of the big castle has been built, the wall connecting the two castles has not yet started.

Once they are really under siege, they will not be able to support each other, and the small castle with low walls is likely to be breached. Therefore, if the Tatars come menacingly, it is better to abandon it directly and only defend the big castle.

The next step is to dig wells and manure pits, transport all the adobe bricks outside the walls, build the walls, and then temporarily lay a layer of wooden boards for defense.

Otherwise, once the Tatars attack, they will not be able to climb up the six-meter-high earth wall. How can they defend themselves? Even if they climb up, where will they stand to defend?

After Lin Rui made arrangements, everyone hurried out of the big tent and started working with their own people throughout the night.

Those who led the horses led the horses, those who carried the bricks carried the bricks, and the craftsman Qi was responsible for digging wells and manure pits. He was obviously prepared to hold on for a long time.

In fact, Lin Rui was helpless. If there were more Tatars from Houjin, he would not choose to defend like this, but would retreat to the mountains. But now he can only rely on guesswork, which is too risky.

After all, being trapped in an isolated city with no reinforcements from outside is a taboo for military strategists.

But we can't just leave our belongings and run away before we even see the shadow of Hou Jin Tatar. Then everyone will probably be even more afraid of Hou Jin Tatar in the future.

Thinking of this, Lin Rui also sighed lightly. Their exploration range was too small.

Twenty or thirty miles, this is on the grassland. For the cavalry, it is only a quarter of an hour. Such a short reaction time can only evacuate people and horses to the castle. Even if they want to retreat to the valley on horseback, they will be chased. risks.

If you want to retreat to the valley leisurely, you need at least a day's reaction time. But if you want to do this on the grassland, Tanma's detection range must be about a hundred miles.

Such a long distance, and with their current equestrian skills, is too dangerous. Once they meet the Tatars, it will be difficult to escape, let alone fight.

Therefore, they are in urgent need of probing horses with good riding skills, and the only ones who can do this are the Mongolian Tatars. At this time, Lin Rui already regretted that he traded all the captured Mongolian women.

Some young girls should have been chosen to stay, so that they could herd and take care of the horses, and also go and find out the news.

As for the hatred of genocide, in the grasslands where the strong are respected, women are just accessories to men. As long as they find a man and sleep for a few more times, they will gradually return to their hearts while sleeping.

Thinking of this, Lin Rui also made a secret mistake.

.........

Three days passed by in a blink of an eye, when Lin Rui discovered that five Khalkha tribes from the south had also sent people, totaling more than nearly a thousand people, and a huge team from the north was also slowly coming, with thousands of people in total. After a long time, they gave up the small castle without hesitation. They didn't even bother to move the more than 1000 horses inside, and drove them out directly to be captured by the Tatars.

The others were even more frightened. Fortunately, not long after, they discovered that although the team coming from the north was large in number, almost all of them were Han Chinese, and the majority of the drivers were Han people. Houjin Tatar did not see any of them. , everyone let out a heavy sigh of relief.

Lin Rui's heart was also relieved.

"Sir, the Han people coming from the north should be the caravan returning from Liaodong."

"Yes, sir, I can't be wrong."

Huang Ben and Zhou Meng quickly explained.

Obviously, as former guards, the two of them were very familiar with the eight caravans and recognized them at a glance.

"How many guards like you are there among the eight caravans?" In fact, Lin Rui also guessed it, but he did not take it lightly. Compared to the Tatars, the Han people were better at attacking cities and demolishing strongholds.

"This time, the total number of guards from each family should be about five hundred. The rest are all horsemen and coachmen, so there is nothing to worry about."

Huang Ben replied.

Lin Rui frowned. Those guards all had armor and shields. Once they participated in the attack, they would definitely cause a lot of trouble.

At the same time, the caravans and Tatars outside gathered together and began to camp a mile outside the castle. For a while, the scene was chaotic, with people shouting and horses shouting.

The eight Tatar tribes all chose to camp alone, separated by 200 meters from each other. The eight caravans camped together, directly surrounding the cart in a circle.

The Tatars and the caravan were at odds with each other. One side was good at defense and the other was good at raiding in the wild. In addition, the number of people on both sides exceeded [-]. Lin Rui almost gave up all thoughts of sneak attacks at night and chose to defend honestly.

Fortunately, their fortress wall was six meters high and was in a circular shape with no dead ends. The outer trench was seven meters wide and two meters deep. With the number of people exceeding four hundred, Lin Rui would not have been sure he could hold it otherwise.

There was a commotion outside the fort for most of the day, and it didn't quiet down until nightfall. Kashgar also summoned the eight clan leaders and the managers of the eight caravans into his big tent.

Eight on each side, sitting opposite each other, gave Kashgar in the middle seat a feeling of elation. The air between his brows could not be concealed, and he was completely different from the look of the bereaved dog when he left the grassland. .

"Everyone, under the orders of Empress Jin Heshuo Beldorgon, I am responsible for convening various ministries to eliminate this group of Han people. I hope that everyone can work together to eliminate this great harm on the grassland..."

Kashgar first showed Dorgon's orders, and then began to talk loudly. When he talked about Lin Rui and the others, his face was slightly distorted.

"Kashgar Clan Chief, we are not here to participate in the battle, but to watch the battle. Make no mistake."

"good."

As one of the stewards said, except for the steward of the Fan family, the other six people all nodded, indicating that they would not participate in the war.

Kashgar frowned suddenly. After seeing the opponent's fortress walls and trenches, he knew that it would be difficult to capture the eight tribes. After all, the eight clan leaders would definitely not let the warriors fight for their lives.

But at that time, Dorgon only asked him to rescue the third son of the Fan family, and did not ask the caravan to participate in the battle, so he could only look to the side of the Fan family steward and said: "Mr. Fan, you also saw it during the day. This group of Han people built the castle. After digging trenches, it is said that their number has now increased to nearly 1000. During this period, they have been practicing every day. We Mongolians are not good at attacking cities. With only the more than [-] warriors of our Eight Divisions, I am afraid it will be difficult to attack the city in a short time. Rescue the third young master of your family!"

This time it was Manager Fan's turn to frown, but he also knew that what this guy said was true. He was a branch of the Fan family, and after all, he was the uncle of the Third Young Master. He knew clearly that the Third Young Master was arrested, although it was none of his business. If we don't go all out to rescue, it will be hard to explain when we go back.

After thinking for a while, he said: "Kashgar Clan Chief, look at this. Our eight families will dismantle some carriages and ask craftsmen to help you build a batch of shields and wooden ladders for siege. As for participating in the war, in order to rescue the third son, I, the Fan family, will naturally protect you. This is an unshirkable responsibility, and the other families will have to look at their own wishes, what do you think?"

"Brother Fan is serious. Our eight families are united. Now that the Fan family is in trouble, it is only natural that we should do our best!"

"Yes, our Wang family is willing to use a hundred carriages to build wooden shield ladders."

The other seven stewards all expressed their willingness to contribute, but no one proposed to send people to join the battle.

After all, it was not their young master who was captured, and it was not their goods that were robbed. If their people were to risk their lives, even if they agreed, the owner of the family would probably skin them when they returned.

As for whether this group of Han people will continue to rob caravans in the future, let alone the Jurchens will never allow this to happen. Even if the Jurchens don't care, the eight caravans will go to Liaodong together, and the formation will not be able to be achieved by just a few hundred horse bandits. Peeping.

As for Manager Fan's proposal, Kashgar could only nod in agreement.

(End of this chapter)