Ming politicians

It was already the 29th of the twelfth lunar month when Su Tiancheng led [-] soldiers of the Jiangning battalion and arrived at Ningxia Wei.

Time is precious. According to the memorial reported by the commander of the Ningxia Guard, Xibe and Daur soldiers like to attack villages and towns on New Year's Eve. At this time, the common people are reunited at home, and the Chinese New Year is a day for family reunion , There are also a lot of food and other materials stored at home.

Su Tiancheng believed that the news of the dispatch of the Jiangning battalion should not have spread. Although it has been three months, the situation in Shaanxi is still bad. When walking along the road, he did not see many farmers, especially those who entered Ningxia Behind the guard's station, there were hardly any common people, but this situation also made Su Tiancheng suspicious.

The leaders of the Mongolian tribes should also be aware of the situation here. After many years of invasion, it is said that ordinary people would not wait for the Tartars to come and slaughter them. According to common sense analysis, the more the Spring Festival is, the more attention needs to be paid.

Liu Tiehan and others suggested whether to directly contact the commander of the Ningxia guard, but Su Tiancheng did not agree, and asked the scout battalion to step up the investigation. As for thinking about it, Qu Qingze had already arranged it. After that, Jin Yiwei contacted secretly and served as the leader of the army.

It can be said that when the Wan family was reunited, Su Tiancheng was in the tent, thinking nervously, while the soldiers of the Jiangning camp were ready to fight the Mongolian Tartars at any time.

This time, Liu Tiehan personally led the scouts and cast a net for investigation.

Many places in the Ningxia Wei garrison are deserted. If you look at it, they are all high slopes of loess. If the army is stationed in one place, it will not attract attention at all.

Thirty of the twelfth lunar month.New Year's Eve.

Su Tiancheng was a little anxious. Two days later, the scouts led by Liu Tiehan still had no news. It shouldn't be, the scouts of Jiangning Battalion.After many conquests, in terms of investigation, he has already become proficient. When he arrives at a place, he knows where to go to investigate.

Besides, the army is stationed here, and the days are special. In this special festival, everyone misses their loved ones.On the one hand, one has to be vigilant at all times. After all, there is no real fight with the Mongol Tartars. They don't know the details of the opponent, and they don't know how many troops the opponent has. No one dares to be negligent, and no one dares to make fun of his own life.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Su Tiancheng couldn't sit still any longer, and got up to get out of the tent.

Just at this time.Liu Tiehan appeared outside the tent covered in dust.

"Tie Han, come in quickly. What happened?"

Liu Tiehan's face was full of tiredness, more of a kind of bewilderment.

When marching and fighting, the hardest part is the scouts, who have to be responsible for the investigation. Sometimes, they stay up all night and all night.That's a common thing. If you don't have such endurance and perseverance, then don't think about being a scout.

Su Tiancheng handed the kettle to Liu Tiehan. He was marching and fighting, but there was no tea to serve him.

Liu Tiehan didn't have time to drink water.A hoarse voice spoke.

"My lord, my subordinates sent out a thousand scouts to scout out their nets. They did not find a large army of Mongol Tartars, but only two small troops. The number is about 300 people. The specific location is here."

Liu Tiehan pointed to the map, where the Mongolian Tatars were found, between Gaoping Fort and Tiezhu Spring.

The scouts were still in the process of investigation, so they couldn't make a sand table, so Su Tiancheng could only rely on the map.

"My lord, there are three hundred scouts who have entered the Ningxia Wei garrison to investigate. According to the time calculation, there may be news tomorrow."

"You mean, the scout battalion only found two groups of Mongolian Tartars in the Ningxia Guard's camp, and each of them had no more than 300 people?"

"This is the case, and the subordinates also feel strange. Gaoping Fort is close to the Great Wall. It is said that there is a natural barrier. I don't know how the Mongolian Tartars came in."

Su Tiancheng's face was very ugly. What he thought of was not how the Mongolian Tartars entered the pass. Although the border pass was guarded by the Great Wall, but after so many years, the imperial court had no money, and there was no time to repair the Great Wall. Those places collapsed As for the frontier troops stationed on the Great Wall, needless to say, because of the lack of money and the greed of the officers, sergeants fled in large numbers, and the so-called guards in some areas became decorations.

The point is that the scout camp only found two groups of Mongolian Tartars, less than 600 people. What is the situation? Could it be that the Mongolian Tartars are so courageous that a few hundred people dare to enter the pass, or that the Mongolian Tartars here The son was a part of the large army, who harassed and looted the people in Ningxia's rear guard.

Su Tiancheng's heart began to sink. After entering the Ningxia guard's camp, what he saw along the way was indeed chilling. There were hardly any people in sight. If he chose, he would not come to this deserted place to plunder .

Ningxia Wei and Ningxia's former central defenders are stationed in a special situation. Most of the frontier army's garrison here belongs to the frontier army. It is all cultivated land of the army. After many years of development, the military households have gradually grown here. According to the rules of the court, some military households with many children and grandchildren gradually changed their status and are no longer military households, so ordinary people began to appear.

However, the memorial made by the Ningxia Guards stated very clearly that a large number of Mongolian Tartars entered the pass and looted the people. This memorial has already gone to the court, so there is no fake.

In any case, these two groups of Mongolian Tartars will also be eliminated.

As for the large army of Mongol Tartars, it is possible that they are located in Ningxia Wei. Ningxia Wei has a much larger base and more people than Ningxia Guards.

After thinking for a while, Su Tiancheng gave the order.

"Luo Chang, you lead all the soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion to destroy these two groups of Mongolian Tartars. Remember, don't underestimate the enemy. Although the number of Tartars is small, they are used to fighting on the move. My request is to wipe out these two groups of Mongolian Tartars. The two groups of Mongolian Tartars are not to drive them away, but also, they must be caught alive."

There were 600 soldiers in the Qianfeng Battalion, and when dealing with the Mongolian Tartars who had less than [-] people, it was obviously anti-aircraft artillery that killed mosquitoes.

Just as Su Tiancheng gave the order, Liu Tiehan on the side spoke.

"My lord, this subordinate will also go with General Luo, and this subordinate is familiar with the road."

"Okay, from the map, our station is less than three hundred miles away from where the Tartars are. I'll give you two days to wipe out the Tartars. The army is still stationed here. You must remember, We must wipe it all out, we must not leak information, we must not disturb the large troops of the Mongol Tartars, and we must not let them escape."

Su Tiancheng didn't use the artillery battalion. The artillery battalion couldn't play a big role in dealing with less than [-] Mongolian Tartars. Besides, Su Tiancheng also had his own ideas. The horses of the Mongolian Tartars are very good. It is also good to wipe out these two groups of Tartars and seize all the horses.

On the night of New Year's Eve, Luo Chang set off with four thousand soldiers from the Pioneer Battalion, and Liu Tiehan took a hundred soldiers from the Scout Battalion to follow the action. Time is the most precious thing. If it lasts too long, the news will be complete. If it was leaked out and disturbed the large troops of the Mongolian Tartars, the Jiangning Battalion's conquest this time may be in vain.

The days of waiting are an ordeal.

Su Tiancheng made all the requirements clear. At this time, he still wants to miss the five thousand soldiers of the Jiangning Battalion led by Hong Chengchou. They went deep into the Hetao area. Most of the places there are deserts. The degree of hardship can be imagined. , and the guide is also a problem, there are no farmers who are particularly familiar with the Hetao area.

In fact, the biggest worry in Su Tiancheng's heart was the accuracy of the information. If there was a huge deviation in the information, the consequences would be unimaginable. This is a situation that Su Tiancheng could not believe.

At noon on the first day of the first lunar month, the scouts sent to Ningxia Wei returned.

Ningxia Wei did not notice that the Mongol Tartar army and the soldiers of the scout battalion had gone through untold hardships, and some of them were almost unable to stand when they returned.

Su Tiancheng began to lose control of his temper, and an increasingly frightening situation was looming.

The biggest possibility is that the commander of the Ningxia Guards lied about the military situation in order to allow the imperial court to allocate more military pay. This kind of situation is not uncommon. There are actually not many Mongolian Tartars, but the Commander of the Guards reported that there are many Mongolian Tartars , which aroused the attention of the court.

To do such a thing, in the eyes of the officers of the guard, it is not a big deal. They may have done it often before. If they can get the money allocated by the court, everyone is happy. If they can't get the money, it will not have much impact.

However, the Ningxia guard officer's actions hurt Su Tiancheng.

What's annoying is that Jinyiwei's dark line is also weak in Ningxiawei, and can't provide any useful information at all.

You must know that the troops of the Mongolian tribes all follow the activities of the tribes. When fighting, they are sergeants. In normal times, they are farmers and herdsmen. Staying inside, if this is the case, the five thousand soldiers led by Hong Chengchou will encounter great danger.

Thinking of this, Su Tiancheng became impatient. Since the establishment of the Jiangning Camp, he has never encountered such a crisis. If the [-] soldiers led by Hong Chengchou suffered a disastrous defeat in the Hetao area, the attack from the imperial court would come violently. All my plans will be in vain.

It's a pity that the officers of the Ningxia Guard lied about the military situation, and Su Tiancheng couldn't deal with it directly. He holds the Shangfang sword, but it can only be used for people's livelihood, and cannot interfere with the military. This is the deadly rule of the court, and Su Tiancheng dare not violate .

Su Tiancheng quickly issued an order, asking Ma Huabiao, the commander of the Jianrui Battalion, to contact the commander of the Ningxia rear guard quickly, and prepare the necessary food and grass, etc., and buy them with silver. Regardless of the price, they must be prepared adequately. (To be continued..)