The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 111: Fighting the Northern Tartars
Wanli's fighting style is becoming more and more incomprehensible.

He actually left the 50,000 main forces of the Beijing Army stationed on the south bank of the Qingshui River instead of suppressing the rebellion.

Moreover, the grain carts of the Beijing camp also brought a lot of grain and fodder as well as craftsmen, who worked busily to build forts and dig trenches on the hillside on the south bank of the Qingshui River.

Altan Khan's sons were almost driven insane by the torture.

Does this young Ming emperor want to attack Guihua City or what else does he want to do?

If you want to attack Guihua City, send 50,000 troops across the river and advance northward quickly.

This way we can use our familiar terrain and the speed of our cavalry to launch a surprise attack on the rear of your army and cut off your food supply.

What should we do if you station 50,000 main forces of the Beijing Army on the south bank of the Qingshui River and do not move?

At this time, the main force of the Beijing Camp seemed to be stationed on the south bank of the Qingshui River and did not move. In fact, 40,000 cavalrymen from the Shenwu Camp had already left the border from Gubeikou!
On the grasslands beyond the Great Wall to the north of Jizhou Town, a large number of cavalrymen were forming a line along the edge of the mountain and spreading westward.

The tens of thousands of cavalrymen in Xuanfu Town seemed to have gone crazy and swarmed out of Zhangjiakou directly, and no one knew what they were going to do.

In the evening of the first day, the two black lines converged on the grassland more than 200 miles north of Xuanfu Town.

The next morning, just after daybreak, Dong Yikui led tens of thousands of cavalrymen from Xuanfu Town to attack the Balin tribe in the west.

At this time, the cavalry of Datong Town also swarmed out of the border from Yanghewei like crazy and rushed towards the Bayuete tribe.

The Balin tribe and the Bayuet tribe are both among the five major Tumed tribes. They all developed from the three major plains of Waokou. The population of their main tribes is tens of thousands, and there are five or six small tribes under their command. They have more than 30,000 young and strong people under their command.

If it were normal times, the mere 10,000 cavalrymen from Xuanfu Town and Datong Town would be courting death if they dared to charge into their grazing areas.

They all have tens of thousands of cavalry and nearly 20,000 infantry, and their grazing areas are always maintained at a radius of about 200 miles. The distance between each tribe is not far, and it only takes an hour to notify them by riding a horse.

Under normal circumstances, if 10,000 cavalrymen from Xuanfu Town and Datong Town rushed into their grazing area, they would quickly be trapped by the swarming cavalrymen. Then the infantry would surround them from the outside, and it is possible that they would encircle and annihilate all the cavalrymen from Xuanfu Town and Datong Town.

However, they had no way to stop the cavalry from Xuanfu Town and Datong Town from rushing into their grazing area, because their cavalry had all fled to the north bank of the Qingshui River, five or six hundred miles away. Even if the remaining infantry had mares and old horses to ride, they were no match for the elite Ming border troops.

Soon, the small tribes to the south of the Bayuet tribe and to the east of the Balin tribe were defeated by the cavalry from Xuanfu Town and Datong Town. Almost all the young and strong men who could fight were killed, and all the horses that could run were taken away.

At this time, the cavalry of Xuanfu Town actually killed their way southward along the east side of the Balin tribe, and the cavalry of Datong Town also killed their way eastward along the south side of the Bayuete tribe.

It seemed that they were going to meet in the south of the Balin tribe, then sweep across all the tribes of the Balin tribe in one fell swoop, and then sweep across all the tribes of the Bayut tribe to the west.

At this moment, the Bayuete and Balin tribes really could not withstand the 20,000 border cavalry of the Ming Dynasty. They could only send fast horses to rush to the north bank of the Qingshui River to report the news.

The trip back and forth took two or three days.

The cavalry from Xuanfu Town and Datong Town did meet up in the south of the Balin tribe, but they had to send the looted horses back before they could rush into the Balin tribe to continue looting.

After all, the war horses of the Bayuet and Balin tribes had basically been ridden away, and what they robbed were old horses, mares and foals. Not only could they not be ridden wildly, but they also had to send many people to guard them.

This gave the Balin and Bayut cavalry time to return to support.

Upon hearing the news, Buyan Taiji and Balin Taiji immediately led their cavalry and rushed back.

They didn't even bother to let their horses rest. In one day, they galloped more than 500 miles from the north bank of the Qingshui River to the western edge of the Bayuete tribe.

As the sun sets, on the grasslands outside the Great Wall about 300 miles north of Datong Town, a black line is galloping eastward along the blood-red setting sun. The momentum of thousands of troops and the thunderous sound of horse hooves are truly terrifying.

However, at this moment, the war horses under their crotch were as tired as if they had been fished out of the water. They were covered in sweat and foaming at the mouth.

It is obvious that these war horses have reached their limit. If they don't stop to rest, they will foam at the mouth and fall to the ground.

Fortunately, the westernmost small tribe of the Bayuet tribe is still there. The tents that look like flower buds are still evenly scattered on the grassland, and the herds of cattle and sheep are slowly pouring into the cattle and sheep pens.

This proves that the Ming cavalry had not yet reached here, and the Bayuete tribe should have been saved.

Seeing this, Buyan Taiji couldn't help but let out a long sigh, and his tense face relaxed.

Balin Taiji's face was still tense and his eyes were full of anxiety.

The Bayuet tribe is fine now, which proves that all the Ming cavalry are on the side of the Balin tribe. Can the tribes under their command withstand 20,000 cavalry?

The two men raised their right hands almost at the same time, asking the cavalry behind them to slow down and prepare to enter the westernmost tribe of the Bayuet tribe to rest.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, there was a sudden sound of thundering hooves at the mountain pass more than ten miles away in the south, and the dense black spots swarmed out and soon formed a black line.

Ming cavalry launched a surprise attack!

When Buyan Taiji and Balin Taiji saw this, they could not help but look at the war horses under their crotch with horror on their faces.

Their war horses can't run at all!
What should I do now?
There was no other way. They couldn't run, and even if they ran, they couldn't escape. They had no choice but to risk their lives and see if they could withstand this Ming cavalry. The two men exchanged glances, then raised their hands and shouted, "Archers, stand back. Spearmen, advance! Quick, all of you face south and prepare to shoot."

A burst of orders were passed down, and the cavalry under their command all moved. Soon, more than 20,000 cavalry formed two black lines. The front row was full of people holding long spears, while the back row put away their scimitars, unloaded their longbows, bent their bows and drew arrows, ready to attack.

If they encountered the former border cavalry, this trick might be of some use.

Because the border cavalry in the past were only equipped with goose-feather swords and long spears, and not many bows and arrows.

The problem was that they encountered the well-equipped cavalry of the Shenwu Camp.

Although the cavalry of the Shenwu Camp cannot be equipped with muskets and cannons at this moment, they can have as many cold weapons as they want.

Each of them was armed with a spear, a saber, and an iron shield.

However, not every one of them had a longbow and a tube of arrows, because the Beijing camp relied on muskets and artillery for long-range attacks.

Among the cavalry of the Shenwu Camp, only the officers with super strong arms and superb archery skills are equipped with a strong bow made of one stone.

Because the range of a stone bow is about one hundred and fifty steps, which is dozens of steps farther than an ordinary longbow.

The officers and soldiers of the Shenwu Camp were always at the forefront, because they all wore fish-scale armor that could resist damage from ordinary cold weapons.

Xiao Ruxun, Liu Jing, Man Gui, and Du Song almost simultaneously drew their powerful bows from their leather bags and shouted, "Bows and arrows ready."

The officers in the front row almost simultaneously drew out their powerful bows, bent their bows, put arrows on them, and pointed them diagonally forward.

"Shoot", "shoot", "shoot", "shoot"!
Hundreds of arrows, nearly twice as long as ordinary arrows, flew into the sky.

"Shield", "shield", "shield", "shield".

A burst of loud shouts rang out, and the black cavalry raised their iron shields like waves.

"Gun", "gun", "gun", "gun".

Another round of roars rang out, and tens of thousands of soldiers drew their spears from their holsters like waves.

At this time, hundreds of long arrows had already shot down many of the spearmen who were rushing forward on the opposite side.

The distance between the two sides was close to a hundred steps, and the opposite side was also shooting out a rain of arrows.

Under the cover of a row of arrows, almost all of them hit the iron shields of the cavalry of the Shenwu Camp, and the "ding ding ding ding" sound continued.

At this time, the black lines on both sides, which were more than ten miles long, were less than a hundred steps apart.

"Throw", "throw", "throw", "throw".

Tens of thousands of soldiers from the Shenwu Camp actually took advantage of the momentum of their horses and threw their spears into the air.

The sky suddenly darkened, and the spearmen in the front row of the Bayute and Balin tribes were covered by dense spears.

The long spears thrown by the 40,000 cavalrymen of the Shenwu Camp using the momentum of their horses were so terrifying that it was as if the sky was covered with crossbow arrows shot from powerful crossbows.

This time, not many people could deflect all the spears. After this round of spear-throwing, there were less than a thousand of the tens of thousands of spearmen from the Bayute and Balin tribes still standing on their horses.

Xiao Ruxun, Liu Jing, Man Gui, and Du Song drew their sabers almost simultaneously and shouted, "Kill!"

With a "bang", the two black lines collided with each other.

The cavalry of the Bayut and Balin tribes were almost defeated at the first contact.

Because their war horses could no longer run, they were just standing there waiting for the soldiers of the Shenwu Camp to charge.

The soldiers of the Shenwu Camp relied on the momentum of their horses and swung their swords with more than twice the force of their own.

In addition, the soldiers of the Shenwu Camp were still holding an iron shield in their left hands, so their scimitars were useless, and their spearmen had already collapsed.

The battle lasted less than a quarter of an hour from the time the Shenwu Camp soldiers launched the charge to the time the Bayuete and Balin cavalry collapsed.

The cavalry of the Shenwu Camp was like a powerful black wave crashing into a loose sand wall, and was dispersed with a "boom".

The cavalry of the Bayut and Balin tribes collapsed almost at the first contact, and fled in all directions after the collision.

Moreover, their war horses were extremely tired and not many of them could escape.

Buyan Taiji and Balin Taiji saw the opportunity early.

They ignored the fact that their mounts were failing, whipped their horses hard, rushed into the tribe not far away, asked for a few fast horses for sending messages, and fled on horseback!
(End of this chapter)