The Ming Dynasty: My sister, Empress Ma

Ma Wenyuan was not given much time to rest.

The enemy is not to be trifled with; even if they lose the mudflats, it doesn't mean they don't want to take them back immediately.

They would not allow Ma Wenyuan to flank and launch another surprise attack on the frontal mudflats of Baiyanshan.

Unless the commander of the garrison at Baiyan Mountain is a Ming dynasty general.

Obviously not.

The enemy launched a counterattack after Ma Wenyuan and his soldiers had only rested for a quarter of an hour.

Even if the counterattack wasn't fierce, it still proved that the Mingxia defenders didn't want Ma Wenyuan to have an easy time.

Ma Wenyuan captured the mudflat position close to noon, and at 1:15 noon, he led his troops to repel two enemy attacks.

Noon, 2:45.

Watching the enemy troops flee once more, Yang Hao gritted his teeth and said, "We have to push forward; we can't just sit here and wait to die!"

Next, the wounded soldiers returned home, while the remaining few hundred went into the mountains.

They planned to move towards the frontal mudflat positions to support Li Jingzhi's troops.

They hadn't been traveling very far yet.

Before the few hundred men could even get close to the front, scouts returned to report.

"Your Majesty, Li Jingzhi's troops have retreated."

The scouts who went to investigate were Lin Ye's men, namely the Yi Luan Si (a government agency).

Therefore, the person he was reporting to was naturally Ma Wenyuan, and he didn't address Li Jingzhi with the same respect.

Upon hearing this, Yang Hao's expression turned quite ugly.

Li Jingzhi's retirement meant that all his efforts had been in vain, and the deaths of those who died had been in vain.

Li Jingzhi only needed to hold out for another quarter of an hour at most to reach the rear of the main battlefield, where he could launch a coordinated attack from within and without, and achieve great things.

But then, Li Jingzhi withdrew his troops.

How could this not be infuriating?

Even someone like Ma Wenyuan, who had cultivated his character for many years in his previous life, couldn't help but curse now.

The soldiers and officers below also had many complaints.

If you lose because you're not strong enough, no one can say anything. But if you lose because of an ally, who wouldn't be angry?

In later generations, people would curse if their teammates messed up in a game, let alone in a life-or-death situation like this.

"Sir, what should we do now?"

Zeng Qing looked at Ma Wenyuan.

Not only him, but many people looked at Ma Wenyuan.

This included Meng Chong, He Tao, and even many of Yang Hao's subordinates.

At this moment, there is a tendency to follow Ma Wenyuan's lead.

That's normal.

Firstly, Ma Wenyuan held a high position and status; secondly, today's victory was also due to Ma Wenyuan's command.

With these two factors combined, who would disagree?

"Go back, go back and get on the ship."

Ma Wenyuan had no other choice but to say this.

"Let's just go all the way to the top of White Salt Mountain!"

He Tao gritted his teeth and said this.

The trees on Baiyan Mountain are numerous and abundant; if one were to truly hide deep within the mountains, it might be difficult to find them.

After that, it's all about having the freedom to leap about in the vast sky and sea, whether it's guerrilla warfare or sneaking up on the mountaintop to catch the enemy off guard.

But there's a prerequisite...

Ma Wenyuan shook his head and pointed out the problem: "None of us know the way."

There are guides in the military, otherwise Ma Wenyuan would not have gone around to the front.

Even a tour guide can't possibly be familiar with the entire mountain.

This brings us back to that question: how can you talk about infiltration or guerrilla warfare if you don't even know the way?

Don't let the game get so bad that you don't even know where you are in the game anymore.

There are no BeiDou satellites available now.

Secondly, there is another crucial issue: guerrilla warfare is extremely difficult, as the troops have neither reinforcements nor supplies.

A slight misstep could lead to utter ruin.

Fighting a war under such conditions of insufficient food and clothing, and constant fear and anxiety, requires every soldier to have an unwavering will.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to form a fighting force.

Not every army is the same as the army of later generations.

The soldiers under Ma Wenyuan were clearly not like that.

……

After explaining why the plan was not feasible, Ma Wenyuan led his troops to begin their withdrawal.

It's not about returning the way we came.

The mudflat positions we took here have surely been recaptured by the Ming Xia army. Going back now would inevitably lead to another fierce battle.

It was still a pointless and brutal battle.

In fact, Ma Wenyuan had discussed the evacuation route with Yang Hao before they arrived.

Ma Wenyuan has never liked the feeling of taking things one step at a time. Whenever something happens, he will try to predict what will happen in advance so as not to be unprepared.

Following the pre-arranged evacuation route, Ma Wenyuan led his men to evacuate step by step.

……

Soon.

The attack from Chijia Mountain was also repelled.

Neither the positions on either side of the Qutang River were successful, so naturally the battle on the main river front could not have a good outcome either.

The hour of Wei (1-3 PM).

Yang Jing's warship began to retreat.

His retreat signified the complete failure of the attack.

The ships of the former navy began to retreat one after another.

The Qutang River is narrow, and the Ming Xia garrison would naturally seize the opportunity to retreat in a large-scale retreat.

As a result, during the retreat, the fleet lost several large ships and several medium and small warships.

In an instant, the river surface fell into chaos, and the Ming army inevitably began to flee.

The number of people lost is countless.

It was Shen Shi (3-5 PM) when they arrived.

The entire army completely withdrew from the battlefield and returned to Daxikou.

Ma Wenyuan had just learned of the losses in this battle from Yang Hao.

Of the 15,000 troops, only a little over 8,000 remained after the battle.

The troops that launched the frontal attack suffered the greatest losses, many of them dying on the final retreat.

Despite the enormous number of troops, no mutiny occurred in the Ming army, which impressed Ma Wenyuan.

However, Yang Jing could no longer take any further action, even sending a small force to harass the enemy.

The losses are too great; it will be difficult to stabilize the current situation.

Secondly, it is worth mentioning that the organizational structure under Li Jingzhi's command was the most complete among all the vanguard naval forces.

Wei Quan, who went to attack Chijia Mountain, now only has about a thousand men left under his command.

It's quite a pity that a dignified commander has been reduced to a mere chiliarch.

In contrast, Li Jingzhi, besides Yang Hao's troops who were nominally under his command, even had two thousand-household units under his command.

"He's trying to conserve his strength."

Daxikou, on the shore where the camp is located.

Sitting in the newly erected tent, Yang Hao said this.

Ma Wenyuan was sitting next to him, tending to the wound on his arm.

This was an injury sustained during an attack; it's unavoidable once you're on the battlefield.

Yang Hao watched Ma Wenyuan's actions with some curiosity.

"What do you mean by using a fire-resistant knife?"

"disinfect."

Ma Wenyuan glanced at Yang Hao and asked again, "Is there really no spirits in the army?"

Distilled liquor, also known as shaojiu, was introduced from Arabia during the Yuan Dynasty, according to the Compendium of Materia Medica.

The degree is likely between forty and sixty degrees.

It is mostly used to treat cold and dampness, which is its medicinal use.

It was not widely used for disinfection; Ma Wenyuan's Hundred Household Office did not have it.

But Ma Wenyuan still wanted to ask, if there was liquor, that would save a lot of trouble.

"Really not." Yang Hao watched as Ma Wenyuan rolled up his sleeves after hearing this, then couldn't help but ask curiously, "Victory and defeat are common in war, there's no need to drown your sorrows in alcohol, is there?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Yang Hao saw Ma Wenyuan stuff a roll of burlap into his mouth and then suddenly press a red-hot knife against the wound on his arm.

A sizzling sound rang out, along with a burnt smell.

Yang Hao was startled and jumped up.

Using fire to treat wounds was common practice in the army, but Yang Hao never expected that Ma Wenyuan, the gentle and refined scholar, would be so brutal.

Seeing Ma Wenyuan instantly covered in sweat, Yang Hao quickly said,

"Why go to such lengths? We could use wood ash."

Ma Wenyuan remained silent; in this era, wood ash was also used to treat wounds.

It can inhibit infection and allow the wound to scab over.

However, it may carry tetanus bacteria, which poses a risk.

Actually, salt water could be used, but Ma Wenyuan thought it would be too troublesome and preferred to keep it simple.