Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 668 Trap
Under the moonlight.

The Tatar cavalry followed closely in pursuit.

Inside the camp, Ming soldiers disguised as herdsmen were hiding in various tents, waiting for the arrival of the enemy.

The man who rushed out just now was not one of them, but a young shepherd in the camp.

The young man shouted loudly as he rode his horse towards the camp.

Although the Ming soldiers could not understand what he was saying, they could probably guess that he was telling them that you were not actively fighting and were trying to achieve a surprise victory by setting an ambush. I had no way to change your established strategy, so I could only use myself as bait. Now that I have successfully brought the Tatars here, you have no reason to escape now, right?
When the Tatar vanguard cavalry approached this small camp, they did not think that there would be many young and strong tribal men inside who could be armed to launch a counterattack.

Perhaps before they arrived they had already figured out how insignificant this small tribe hidden in the valley was. Not to mention that it has now declined, even when it was at its strongest, it would be difficult for a tribe to gather a hundred warriors who could go into battle and kill the enemy.

Now there are still people who come out to provoke?

It’s so boring!

When the Tatar cavalry approached the outskirts of the camp, the Ming officers and soldiers remained motionless, which made the young men who were outside trying to lure the enemy very anxious.

He rode his horse straight into his own camp and wandered around, as if he was afraid that all the Ming soldiers who had been hiding here and waiting for an opportunity had run away.

Because according to the boy's usual understanding, the Ming soldiers really don't like to ambush and attack. Usually when the Tatar troops come, they hide in the city and are highly defensive. Once they fight, the two sides will either disperse peacefully or the Ming side will retreat...

It is unheard of that we have to stay in the camp and wait for the enemy to attack like today.

It was precisely because of this that not only had the young man never heard of it, but even the invading Tatar cavalry themselves had never heard of the Ming army having this set of tactics.

In fact, it was just that they were ignorant. When Wang Yue led his troops out of the border and attacked Weininghai, he did not wait for the enemy to tire themselves out, but instead massacred the old, weak and sick of the Tatar tribe after a long raid.

If the Ming army were also here, they would have started looting this small tribe active in the border area long ago. Why would they have to wait for the Tatar cavalry to arrive?
The problem was that the commanders of the battle this time were not officers from the nine important border towns of the Ming Dynasty, but Li Zisheng and Tan Chang from the capital. The tactics they adopted were obviously very different from the routines usually used by border army officers. This directly led to the fact that the party standing on the opposite side of the Ming Dynasty was completely unaware that the opponent could use such tactics.

……

……

The Tatar cavalry charged directly to the gate of the herdsmen's camp.

They did not rush in.

Although in their view, winning a victory over the small tribe in front of them is the trend of the times and is inevitable.

But... my life is my own after all. It is certainly gratifying if my side wins the battle, but it would be a waste of time if I rush in like a headless fly and lose my life unjustly.

Using our own lives to help others plunder and make a fortune? Sorry, we are not saints!

Although we are angry about the guy shooting arrows at us just now, it did not cause any substantial harm to us. So we will follow his example and shoot arrows at you as well. But unlike the last time when that guy shot arrows at us, this time we will shoot rockets.

Then, one by one, the Tatar cavalry shot the burning arrows into the herdsmen's camp.

As a circle of tents near the camp gate caught fire, many herdsmen and Ming soldiers hiding among them ran out in a panic.

Then the Tatars, who had ridden their horses to the camp gate and set it on fire, burst into laughter.

In their opinion, the herdsmen in front of them were too stupid to send one person to attack us? They also wanted to set an ambush here and kill us by surprise?
Sorry, your little thoughts are all under our control, and now it’s time to let you know the consequences of disrespecting us.

The Ming soldiers who ran out of the burning tent were all in a state of confusion.

We were well-prepared for the ambush, so how could we be suddenly attacked by fire? Could it be that the Tatars discovered our intention? Did they rush into the camp and burn us alive?

Then don't we lose?

The ambushes in the camp were mainly carried out by veteran soldiers from the Beijing camp... It wasn't that Li Zisheng didn't trust Wang Fang and his Datong Town border troops, but because the soldiers from the Beijing camp who came this time were equipped with magic guns and magic muskets, which were hot weapons similar to hand-held cannons.

Border troops had very few of these firearms. Even if they did, they were mostly in the hands of the most elite Shenjiying officers and soldiers in Yansui and Datong towns.

These soldiers from the Beijing camp had never been on the battlefield before. When they encountered such an emergency, they did not think of rushing forward, but rather escaped from the camp and ran to the rear. After all, the main force of the Ming army was hidden in the valleys on both sides.

Your tracks have been discovered and you are under rocket attack, but you still want to go out and fight?
You Tatars are the only ones who value your lives? Sorry, we Ming soldiers value our lives even more.

As a result, what was happening inside the camp seemed ridiculous to the Tatar vanguard cavalry outside the camp.

A group of people ran out of the burning tent and fled around like headless flies. The chaotic scene made people laugh.

And along with the man ran out were the elderly, the weak, women and children...

When the Tatar cavalry outside the camp saw this scene, they were no longer as calm as they were when they set the fire before. It all came down to... In their eyes, these men were also a kind of wealth.

But the Tatars were still not in a hurry. They were still waiting, waiting until the camp became more chaotic before rushing in to harvest.

……

……

Beside the valley, Qin Chang was so anxious that he almost wanted to rush up with a knife and fight himself.

"You bastards! You ran away after someone set you on fire? Why didn't you charge forward bravely? Why are you all running backwards? Minister Li, give the order to charge quickly, maybe there is still a chance to turn defeat into victory!"

Tan Chang could only put pressure on Li Zisheng.

In his opinion, it was not easy to get such an opportunity to fight the Tartars head on. Even if he only captured one or two heads, he could report to the emperor and the court officials.

A victory in the war against foreign invaders might allow Qin Chang to return to the top.

But Li Zisheng didn't seem to be in a hurry. He stared at the battlefield situation below with a telescope and comforted him: "Don't worry, looking at the situation... everything is still uncertain."

Qin Chang looked around and asked, "Where is the variable? Our people have started to flee to the back of the camp! And the Tartar cavalry has not entered the camp yet. As the fire spreads, the people behind will probably not be able to hide and will probably run away."

Li Zisheng pointed to the distance and said, "Look, aren't there more Tartars coming? Money can attract people's attention. How can the Tartars in front and behind not rob them?"

"What?"

Qin Chang was confused and couldn't think clearly for a while.

However, just as Li Zisheng was speaking, unusual movements really occurred outside the herdsmen's camp.

They were the group of Tatar cavalrymen who had arrived outside the herdsmen's camp first. They were originally waiting to receive property and goods, but now they changed their plan and prepared to launch an attack into the camp.

For no other reason...

It all depends on the fact that the second cavalry group is approaching the camp.

Before that, they had their time and leisure, first shooting rockets and setting fire, and then watching the joke in the camp from outside... just waiting for the camp to be in complete chaos so that they could go in and take advantage of the situation.

But now with the arrival of subsequent Tatar troops, those who enter the camp later will suffer losses when scrambling for wealth and goods.

If the herders pay the ransom "voluntarily" and it is a peaceful acceptance, then the wealth obtained may be distributed equally.

But once a war breaks out and guns are used, whoever grabs it will own it.

Seeing that there were many men in herdsmen's clothing in the camp, and that someone had previously attacked and shot arrows at them to provoke them, deliberately luring them to the camp... didn't this just prove that this was a long-planned war?
No matter how it is judged in the end, just get the things into your own hands, especially the women and property, and make them yours. Then you just need to pay a little to the higher-ups, and the bulk of the profits will still be yours, right?
In this case, it would be pure stupidity to just stand outside the camp and watch what happens.

Therefore, for the first group of Tatar cavalrymen who arrived at the camp, the best choice at the moment was to rush in and rob before the subsequent troops arrived. Anyway, the camp was already in chaos, and looking at the chaotic situation, it did not look like a well-trained regular army.

These herdsmen are simply taking things for granted and trying to lure us into a trap?

When you saw us coming, you didn't rush up to fight us, but ran away. Doesn't this just prove that you don't have the courage to fight us head-on?

(End of this chapter)