Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 322: Does the Ming Army Have a Sky Eye? [Subscription Request]

On the ninth day of the second month of the twentieth year of Hongwu, at dawn, Lan Yu led 60,000 Ming troops in the wind and snow to the outside of the Yuan court camp.

Because the Yuan army did not expect the Ming army to find this place, and because of the heavy snow and wind, and the fact that the Yuan court headquarters and the Taiwei Manzi's troops had been in trouble in recent days, they neglected to be vigilant.

Therefore, when the Ming army arrived, the Yuan army was completely unaware!

Lan Yu rode on his horse, looking at the Yuan court camp a few miles away with a telescope for a while, and a wicked smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

After he put away his telescope, he said, "Pass on my order. The Shenwei artillery team should prepare to fire and fire at my command."

"Order!"

"Where is Tang Shengzong, the commander of the left wing cavalry?"

"I am here!" Tang Shengzong, Marquis of Yan'an, rode out on his horse and clasped his fists in agreement.

"Lead your cavalry to circle around to the north of the Yuan court camp. The Yuan court officials, realizing things are going badly, will most likely flee from this direction. Whether you can stop them depends on you."

If we can capture Emperor Yuan, it will be a great achievement!
"Lan Yu is indeed our good brother and good superior!"

Tang Shengzong thought so in his heart, and replied with great joy: "I obey your command!"

Lan Yu smiled and asked, "Where are Guo Ying, Zhang Long, and Ye Sheng?"

"The general is here!"

The other three veteran generals who were enfeoffed as marquises also stepped forward in response.

"Each of you three will lead 12,000 troops and attack the Yuan camp from the west, south, and east. Remember, if the Yuan army is defeated, you must rush into the camp as quickly as possible and capture the Yuan emperor, his ministers, and other important officials!"

"The last general takes command!"

Zhu Zhen, the King of Chu, and Zhu Gui, the King of Qi, who were in the crowd, became anxious when they saw that Lan Yu seemed to have forgotten to assign them tasks.

Zhu Yu could no longer bear it and hurriedly asked, "General, what about me? The thousand guards I brought with me are all elite cavalry!"

Lan Yu laughed heartily. "It would be a shame to leave our elite cavalry unused. Therefore, Your Highnesses, the King of Chu and the King of Qi, please bring their respective cavalry escorts and follow the Marquis of Yan'an's command to the north to stop the fleeing Yuan army."

Zhu Yu was delighted when he heard this and responded loudly, "I will obey your command!"

Zhu Zhen actually wanted to participate in the frontal battle, but since Lan Yu had given the order, he couldn't refuse, so he also responded: "I obey the order!"

As the generals and their personal soldiers left, tens of thousands of Ming troops quickly set into motion.

In less than half an hour, the Ming army completed its tactical deployment. At this time, the Yuan army guards outside the camp discovered the traces of the Ming army as the sky brightened.

“Roar! (Enemy attack)”

The shrill sirens rang out along with the early warning drums, and soon spread to the central area through the camp's warning system.

It was just dawn at this time, and because of the night of wind and snow, even the lower-class herdsmen were still staying in their beds.

Hearing the shrill cries and rapid drumbeats, many herders were momentarily unable to react. Only the veterans (Mongol soldiers and civilians alike) with rich combat experience were startled and hurriedly dressed and put on their armor.

Lan Yu used a telescope to discover that something had changed in the Yuan court camp. Without caring whether the other divisions were fully prepared, he immediately ordered, "The Divine Power Artillery Team, fire immediately!"

Lan Yu himself was to the south of the Yuan court camp.

As his order was given, the thirty Shenwei cannons of the Shenwei Artillery Team soon issued a deafening bombardment.

Boom boom boom...

With a series of cannon fire, shrapnel shells fell into the Yuan court camp, causing bursts of explosions!
The Ming Dynasty developed the shrapnel bomb more than two years ago, but it was the first time it was used in actual land combat.

The Yuan army outside this large camp also saw the shrapnel for the first time, and immediately had a wave of passionate and exploding sour experience.

In the Yuan army camp, Taiwei Manzi, with the help of his personal soldiers, quickly changed into a set of armor, but all he saw was the tents destroyed by Ming army artillery fire and the Yuan army soldiers running around like headless flies.

After a burst of anger, he immediately ordered, "Quickly gather the elite cavalry in the army, put on armor and mount your horses, and charge out with me!" The elite cavalry under the barbarian's command was still quite elite, but when they put on armor and mounted their horses and gathered together, they found that the Ming army three or four miles away seemed to have eyes in the sky, and their artillery shells were fired specifically at where they gathered.

After being hit by several waves of shrapnel, the elite cavalry of the Yuan army suffered heavy casualties and their morale plummeted.

Although the barbarian had no idea how the Ming army was able to accurately bombard them from several miles away, he issued a response order - he no longer pursued unified action by the elite cavalry, but instead ordered a dozen elite cavalry captains to gather their troops and charge towards the Ming army's artillery positions, making sure to destroy the artillery.

This order would cause heavy casualties among the elite cavalry, but faced with the current situation, the barbarians had no better choice.

Although the Yuan army during the Northern Yuan Dynasty was not as strong as their early Mongol elite troops, it was not too bad. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to stop the Ming army for 10 to 20 years.

Although the Ming army's artillery fire continued, the actual casualties caused to the Yuan army were limited, and its main effect was actually to frighten and disrupt.

After the initial panic, the elite cavalry of the Yuan army quickly calmed down and gathered under their respective captains according to orders. Several hundred people rushed towards the Ming army positions in the south.

"Ula!"

The scene of groups of elite Mongolian cavalry charging forward amidst shouts of "Charge" in Mongolian was quite spectacular and terrifying.

However, the Ming army in the south, commanded by Zhang Long and led by Lan Yu, remained unmoved and calm.

Under Zhang Long's command, the tiger squat gunners and bird musketeers calculated the time when the Mongolian elite cavalry would approach, and stepped forward in rows to set up their guns and cannons.

"Tiger Crouching Cannon, ready!"

"put!"

When the first few groups of elite Mongolian cavalry rushed to within two hundred steps of the Ming army, with the waving of command flags and the loud shouts of generals, hundreds of tiger squat cannons fired at the same time!
The crisp sound of cannons rang out in a series, weaving a death net made of Gongsun bullets (a kind of shotgun) in front of the formation, covering the elite Mongolian cavalry!
Any Mongolian cavalry that encountered them would be killed, both man and horse!
In the blink of an eye, there were many corpses of people and horses two hundred steps in front of the Tiger Crouching Artillery Formation - these unrecognizable corpses were nothing. The most terrifying thing was those people and horses who were injured but not dead but could never be saved. They were struggling and howling in pain, which was daunting.

The following Mongolian elite cavalry were stunned when they saw this scene.

Many people subconsciously reined in their horses to slow down, but were knocked off their horses by the cavalry behind them.

Even so, many elite cavalrymen reined in their horses, and then even more turned their horses' heads and rushed to one side.

"Ula! Ula!"

However, there were also a small number of brave men who were not afraid of the horrific death and continued to ride forward!
"Tiger Crouching Gunners, retreat! Bird Gunners, advance!"

"Team one, get ready—fire!"

Bang bang bang...

Crisp gunshots rang out, and the Mongolian cavalry who had rushed to the front of the Ming army and were only a few dozen steps away from the Ming army, ready to draw their bows and shoot arrows, once again crashed into a wall of lead bullets and fell off their horses!

On the Ming army side, after the first row of musketeers fired their shots, the second row stepped forward, followed by the third and fourth rows.

Zhang Long prepared six rows of musketeers, but only the first four rows had finished firing, and no more Mongolian cavalry rushed towards the Ming army within their sight - the remaining Mongolian cavalry had lost their courage and fled!

Lan Yu used a telescope to grasp the situation on the entire battlefield. Seeing this, he decisively issued an order for the entire army to attack and break into the Yuan court camp!

dong dong dong...

The drums of the Ming army's charge sounded!
Inside the Golden Tent.

Emperor Tianyuan was already feeling uneasy due to the chaotic noises, cannon fire, and gunfire outside. Now, when he heard the drumbeats of the Ming army's charge, he was completely panicked.

"Prime Minister, the Ming army has already launched a general attack. The barbarian general must be defeated. What should we do?"

Shi Liemen said, "Your Majesty, at this point, we have no choice but to abandon our camp and flee with our elite guards. As the Han Chinese say, 'As long as the green mountains remain, there's no need to worry about running out of firewood.'"

Emperor Tianyuan thought it made sense and said repeatedly, "Right, right, right. Let's escape from the camp first."

　Second update.

　　Good night~
　　(Sorry, there are a lot of miscellaneous things at the end of the year, and I was delayed today by miscellaneous things, so the number of words to update can only be reduced)
　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)