The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 37: Barbarian Attack
Why did the Northern Tartars choose to suddenly invade at this time?

In fact, they did not invade suddenly, they were well prepared.

Historically, after Zhang Juzheng's death, Qi Jiguang was accused of being ineffective in guarding the northern border and was transferred to the south where he was left idle.

This is actually the three major families in Puzhou preparing for the invasion of the northern barbarians.

After Qi Jiguang was transferred to the south and left idle, the northern barbarians immediately attacked.

Xuanfu Town, Datong Town and Jizhou Town were frequently invaded. Officers from the three towns jointly wrote a petition requesting that Qi Jiguang be transferred back to take charge.

This passage was erased from official history using the Spring and Autumn style of writing.

There is only one sentence in the official history, that is, when Qi Jiguang was transferred from Jizhou Town, "all the elders of the town went to the imperial palace to ask him to stay, but the emperor refused. So they closed the market, blocked the road, and cried, and there was an endless stream of people climbing on the carriages to see him off."

Then the northern barbarians invaded, and then the censors frantically impeached Qi Jiguang, and then Qi Jiguang had no choice but to resign and died in poverty.

Qi Jiguang did nothing wrong in the south, so why did the censors madly impeach him?
There are many absurd things in history, and there must be reasons behind them.

There is no record in official history of why Qi Jiguang was madly impeached, but there are many biographies of officers guarding the northern border who mentioned requesting that Qi Jiguang be transferred back to Jizhou to take charge.

This was the reason why Qi Jiguang was impeached so fiercely, because the three powerful families in Puzhou did not allow him to return to Jizhou Town.

This period of history was recorded by the three great families of Puzhou at that time. Naturally, they would not record anything that was unfavorable to them.

Of course, history has changed by this time.

Qi Jiguang was not transferred away from the northern border by Zhang Siwei, but was transferred to the Beijing camp by Wanli.

However, the history of the northern barbarians' invasion cannot be changed.

Because they had been blocked outside the Great Wall by Qi Jiguang for so long, they had long wanted to break into the rich land of the Central Plains to plunder.

Autumn is coming. If we don’t harvest the grass and grain, we will have a hard time this winter.

As dusk fell, in the Mongol Yuan camp outside Gubeikou, Tumen Khan looked at the layers of city walls on the distant mountain tops, his eyes full of fanaticism and greed.

The three great families in Puzhou have already sent him accurate information that there are more than 3,000 defenders in Gubeikou. This time he has mobilized more than 100,000 infantry and cavalry. He doesn't believe that he can't break in.

If Altan Khan could break in, he could definitely do it too. By then, women, food, various goods, and daily necessities would be inexhaustible!
In fact, Altan Khan was not the Great Khan of Tatar, he was.

At this time, the Tatars were divided into about 30,000 households, or six major tribes.

Altan Khan was only the leader of the Tumed tribe among the three major tribes on the right wing. He was the Khan of the six major Tatar tribes.

The six major Tatar tribes, the Chahar, Khalkha, and Uriankhai tribes on the left, and the Ordos and Yongshebu tribes on the right, were all under his command, including the three Doyan guards who surrendered to him, and the Tumed tribe also had to obey his orders in name.

He had 60,000 elite cavalry and hundreds of thousands of followers under his command. The Ordos grassland, Chahar grassland, Khorchin grassland and other places were all his grazing areas.

This time, he not only mobilized 40,000 elite cavalry, but also brought 60,000 to 70,000 infantry. He didn't believe that he couldn't take Gubeikou.

At this time, on the towering Wangjing Tower in Gubeikou, the defending general Dong Yiyuan was looking behind him with a look of shock on his face.

There was a thunderous sound of horse hooves coming from the rear. There must be at least several thousand of them!

Could it be that the Northern Tartars are going to attack us from behind again?
If this is true, he will have nowhere to defend. In order to facilitate the transportation of food and grass, there are roads leading to various checkpoints to the south of Gubeikou!

However, soon, a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

Because he saw the big flag with the word "Qi" on it in the twilight.

This is Qi Jiguang, Marquis of Penglai, the general of the Beijing camp, leading his troops to support us!
Sure enough, not long after, this peerless general came galloping over with thousands of cavalry.

After a while, Qi Jiguang led a group of officers and soldiers and walked quickly up to the Wangjing Tower.

Dong Yiyuan hurried forward, bowed, and said, "I pay my respects to the Marquis."

Qi Jiguang nodded slightly, then asked solemnly: "Yiyuan, what's the situation?"

Dong Yiyuan said without hesitation: "The Tumans have come a long way and are exhausted. They will probably need a night's rest before ordering people to build the ladder."

It turned out to be the Tuman attack, no wonder it was so powerful.

Tuman is a folk name, in fact Tuman is the Tatar Khan Tumen Khan.

Tumen Khan was an old rival. However, because he was guarding Jizhou Town, Tumen Khan did not dare to attack. He had previously attacked Liaodong and Nurgan.

He once led his troops to support the Liaodong Regional Command and fought several rounds with them.

This guy does have some strength.

However, this guy's strength is mostly in cavalry.

This is not Liaodong. The Mongolian cavalry has no place to use their skills in this terrain.

If we just fight with infantry, the infantry under Tumen Khan are not that good.

This siege requires siege equipment, otherwise it would be impossible to climb the Great Wall, which is seven or eight meters high.

The terrain of Gubeikou is like this, with steep slopes all below the Great Wall. Other siege equipment cannot reach the top at all, so the only option is to use ladders to attack.

Tumen Khan must have led his troops here in a hurry and didn't even bring any ladders.

If Tumen Khan had ordered his men to build a batch of ladders in advance and then launched a fierce attack, the defenders of Gubeikou might not have been able to withstand it.

Now the effect of the surprise attack has disappeared, his reinforcements have arrived, and there are two more batches of reinforcements behind. It seems that defending Gubeikou will not be a problem.

Qi Jiguang thought about it carefully, then said decisively: "Yiyuan, I will lead the elite troops of the Beijing Camp to guard the first line of defense in front, and you will lead the troops to support the second line of defense in the back."

He and Tan Lun had built the Gubeikou Great Wall into two front and back lines of defense. The two lines of defense were connected and could support each other. As long as there were enough troops, the Northern Tartars would not be able to break through at all.

Dong Yiyuan heard this and said cautiously, "My Lord, you are leading the army to support us. How can I let you lead the charge? Otherwise, I will lead the army to hold the first line of defense."

Your equipment is not as good as that of the Beijing Camp.

Qi Jiguang shook his head without hesitation and said, "No, you don't have enough shields. Most of Tumen Khan's cavalry have bows and arrows. When the time comes, there will definitely be a volley of arrows, like rain, and you will be crushed to the point where you can't even lift your heads.

You're at a huge disadvantage defending the first line of defense. This time, each of my 4,000 elite soldiers from the Beijing Camp has an iron shield, so no matter how many bows and arrows they have, they'll be useless."

It turns out that each of you has an iron shield!
Dong Yiyuan hesitated when he heard this.

He is the commander of Gubeikou. Can he let Marquis Penglai lead his troops to guard the front line?

This time, there are more than 100,000 barbarians. Can the 4,000 soldiers of the Beijing camp withstand them?
If something happens to this world-famous general, he will never be able to redeem himself!
Qi Jiguang saw this and gave detailed instructions: "After noon tomorrow, the Emperor should arrive with reinforcements. Tell him not to go to the first line of defense.

The first line of defense in front is less than ten miles wide in total. It is enough to be guarded by the soldiers of the Beijing Camp. No matter how many more troops are placed in the front, they will not be able to exert their strength.

Tell His Majesty to send all the soldiers of the Imperial Camp to the front first, and that your own men and the Imperial Guards will serve as backup. If the soldiers of the Imperial Camp suffer heavy casualties, you will take your own men and the Imperial Guards to take their place."

what?
His Majesty will personally lead the army to provide support!

Dong Yiyuan heard this and said anxiously, "My Lord, I dare to ask you why you don't persuade His Majesty to return to the capital. It's too dangerous here."

I advised him.

However, His Majesty is right. If all the Jinyiwei and the elite imperial guards return to the capital, Gubeikou will not have enough troops to guard it and will most likely be captured.

Qi Jiguang said with reverence, "Your Majesty, this is also for the sake of the overall situation. The Beijing Battalion is understaffed and has not been training for long. If only the Beijing Battalion came to support Gubeikou, they might not be able to hold it.

It would be different if we add the elite Jinyiwei and the Imperial Guards. The Beijing Camp, Jinyiwei, the Imperial Guards, plus the troops under your command total more than 40,000. We will take turns guarding the first line of defense, and it will definitely be no problem to hold out for three days.

His Majesty has already issued a death order. In three days, the 20,000 troops on rotation in Jizhou Town will arrive. By then, we will rotate the three armies. No matter how many troops Tumen Khan has, he will never be able to capture Gubeikou."

It turned out that the reinforcements brought by His Majesty were more than 30,000, and there were 20,000 reinforcements from Jizhou Town behind them.

Then defending Gubeikou will definitely not be a problem.

However, he still couldn't let Penglai Hou take the risk.

Dong Yiyuan thought about it and simply pretended to be worried: "My Lord, I have never met His Majesty. Will His Majesty listen to me?
How about this? I will lead the soldiers of the Beijing Camp to the front line to defend it, and you will stay here and wait for His Majesty. What do you think?"

This one.

His Majesty may not necessarily understand Dong Yiyuan.

Qi Jiguang frowned and thought for a while, then nodded slightly and said, "Well, then you will lead the elite troops of the Beijing Camp to guard the garrison first."

(End of this chapter)