Chapter 221 220 Attack Signal

Chapter 221 220 Attack Signal

The dark figure walked quietly in the wilderness. If you listen carefully, you can still hear the faint sound of footsteps.

This extremely disharmonious scene was taking place in the wilderness outside the silent city of Baoanzhou.

The dotted bonfires in the distance seemed to be the light that was attracting them forward.

At this time, these Xuanfu soldiers had gradually calmed down from the slight panic after they lined up out of the city. Especially when the troops inside and outside the city completed their assembly, they spread out their military formations and began to march quietly in the wilderness. They could only Hearing the sound of footsteps makes people feel a little at ease.

They have seen how powerful they are, at least there are so many robes around them.

Although whenever I think of the Ming army's past defeats, I still can't help but feel a little scared.

There were a large number of cavalry behind the infantry formation, but at this time they did not ride on their horses and run away. Instead, they dismounted one by one and held the reins of their horses and walked. I don’t know whether it was to save horsepower or to keep the place quiet. environment.

After leaving the city gate of Baoanzhou or the military camp outside the city, all the officers and soldiers of the Xuanfu Army of the Ming Dynasty were holding a small wooden stick in their mouths. As the saying goes, "when a man has a title, a horse picks a bell." The bells on the war horses are also left in the military camp. Bring it out.

After leaving the city, the Ming army did not rush directly to the Anda army camp under the city. Instead, they walked forward from the west of the Tatar army camp. According to the current military formation, the Ming army obviously wanted to be on the flank of the Anda army. From here Launch an attack.

After the infantry formation was in place and after a simple reorganization, the entire army sat down and began to rest. At this time, the sky was still dark, the moon was obscured by clouds, and it was not known whether it would rain. It has not rained here in Xuanfu for a long time. It's raining.

During the march of the entire army, no one held a torch to light the way. They could only move forward holding the hem of their robes in their hands, and judge their trajectory based on the undetectable bonfire in the distance.

The person leading the way obviously has a strong sense of space and is very good at controlling the direction.

The infantry began to rest, but the cavalry leading the horses were still moving forward slowly.

Many of them had served as patrol cavalry, so they naturally knew where they were sent. There was also a Tatar military camp behind the Anta military camp, although I didn't know what was inside.

At this time, many people were already wondering whether there was a granary there, and whether their general wanted to learn from Cao Mengde's Battle of Guandu and burn Yuan Shao's rations to win the war.

Although they didn't understand why the Tatars separated the granary and the military camp, they thought that what the storyteller said seemed to be true. That is, after Cao Cao's cavalry attacked Wuchao and burned Yuan Shao's rations on fire, Yuan Shao's army Defeated without a fight.

Well, maybe the Tatars followed Yuan Shaoxue's camp and placed the food and army separately.

The Xuanfu cavalry was so confused and continued to move forward in random thoughts.

The bonfire in the distance behind them was no longer visible, and sparks appeared in front of them.

Soon, the cavalry walking in front realized that something was wrong, because the group of cavalry following them did not catch up, but stopped in the middle. The cavalry who were originally in the middle suddenly realized that they had become the rear group. .

It wasn't until the horses in front stopped moving forward and the cavalry behind them gradually stopped. As the flag officer trotted over and kept shouting "rest where you are" in a low voice, the cavalry sat down.

They didn't understand why they were asked to come here on foot instead of rushing over on horseback like in the past, which would save at least half of the time.

The sky was still dark, and the moon was obscured by clouds, unable to cast the slightest light on the earth.

"We are so lucky today. There is no moon out, otherwise we would have to form a formation at a longer distance to avoid being discovered by the Anta Department."

This is the rear of the military formation, where hundreds of war horses gather to protect the senior officials of the Xuanfu Army in the center.

Tian Shiwei looked up at the sky and said somewhat happily. Although he couldn't see other people's faces clearly, he felt that his words should be right and everyone should think so.

But after he finished speaking, no one else picked up his words. Everyone just stood there quietly on horseback, waiting for the sky to light up.

As a result of the final discussion yesterday morning, after Wei Guangde insisted that the battle must be fought quickly, everyone finally just modified the time to launch the attack, and began to attack the Ada Khan barracks when the sky was dim, thus kicking off the war.

The night covered the march and formation of the army, and the attack was launched at dawn. At this time, most of the Tatars were still sleeping and the night watch soldiers were also the most tired, which was very conducive for them to observe the battlefield situation and issue orders.

Without absolute strength to crush the Tatars, it is not advisable to rely on darkness to fight in a melee. The risk is still too great.

Most of the mobile forces of the Xuanfu Army are gathered here. If this battle is defeated and the losses are heavy, the entire Xuanfu will become the pasture of the Anda tribe, and the Xuanfu army will completely lose the strength to confront the Anda tribe.

At that time, we can really only ask for help from the capital and other border towns.

Tian Shiwei was asking for trouble by talking. No one answered him, so he could only go back in anger and said nothing.

I don’t know how long it took, but Wei Guangde’s words came from the darkness, “What time is it?”

After the Ming army set off, they marched quietly. In order to avoid the noise produced by the march attracting the attention of the night sentries of the Anda tribe, they not only took a long circle before returning, but also deliberately slowed down their pace. Therefore, although Baoan Prefecture is far away The Tatar military camp is not far away, but the time it takes is not short.

"It should be the second quarter of Yinshi now, it's almost dawn."

Dong Yiyuan, who had been following Wei Guangde as a bodyguard, quietly answered Wei Guangde's question.

Ancient China did not use the current 24-hour clock, but used twelve hours of time, namely Zichou Yinmao, Chensiwuwei, Shenyouxinhai.

Each hour is two hours, and the hour is divided into the first quarter and the first quarter, each with five small moments, so there are ten quarters in an hour, namely the first quarter, the first quarter, the second quarter, and the third quarter. , the fourth quarter, the first quarter, the first quarter, the second quarter, the third quarter, and the fourth quarter.

Among them, the first tick time is the shortest, and the other four tick times are the same.

The second quarter of Yin Shi is about 4:30 in the morning in later generations. According to past conditions, the sky here in Xuanfu will be slightly bright at Mao hour, which is 5 o'clock.

In half an hour, the eastern sky will gradually light up, and that's when the battle will take place.

But at this moment, an inappropriate voice still sounded in Wei Guangde's ears.

"Master Wei, the risk of a decisive battle with the Mongolian Tatars in the wild is still too high. I don't think it is necessary. We can wait until the Datong army arrives on the battlefield.

As for the problem of food shortage in the army, since the army rations are in Huailai County, we can completely requisition food locally and reduce the rations of the soldiers during this period. As long as the army gathers for the decisive battle with the Tatars, I think Lai An Da Khan took a photo of our army Military power will also collapse without a fight. "

It was Liu Dazhang who spoke. Perhaps he had been in the border town all year round and was used to seeing the Tatars coming and going like the wind. This was conducive to their advantage of riding horses to attack the Ming army for a long time, so that the Ming army was always on the weak side.

Well, in the final analysis, I just lost my courage.

Liu Dazhang's words made many people who were still looking forward to winning this battle feel a chill in their hearts for no reason.

In fact, yesterday morning, although Liu Dazhang expressed his support for starting a war with Andu, his subsequent performance was very hesitant. He basically opposed any plan to go to war, and his unwillingness to go to war was very obvious.

But no one around them expected that Liu Dazhang was still saying such depressing words at this time.

Yes, the army has been assembled and deployed. At this time, they are still hesitating whether to fight.

However, what people didn't expect was that Wei Guangde's attitude was extremely resolute at this time, "It's impossible. We're already here. If we withdraw, the Xuanfu Army will be really doomed. No one will be willing to fight against our army in the future. This way You are not allowed to say anything else today."

Wei Guangde, who was extremely polite to Liu Dazhang yesterday, showed his firm side at this time.

"Just wait. If you feel tired, you can dismount and rest for a while."

Wei Guangde continued.

According to the previous plan, Ma Fang actually controlled the time for the war to begin.

Yesterday afternoon, the Xuanfu cavalry army was divided into two teams, led by Ma Fang and Liu Huan respectively.

The combat plan was not much different from the plan Ma Fang had considered before, except that the attack time was adjusted to avoid the impact of darkness on the command.

Not far from them, there was a row of tall black figures, which were war drums carried by carriages.

Time passed by moment by moment, and Wei Guangde, who was riding on the horse, could already see the bright light on the horizon.

It will be dawn soon.

"Fire."

A few miles away from Wei Guangde and the others, in front of a large group of black figures, the leader suddenly whispered.

After the voice fell, a person behind him took out a fire folder in a place where many people were shielding it with their bodies. A soldier next to him had already piled a pile of fire starters. As the man shook the fire folder gently, when the flames rose, he used the fire folder again. Zhezi danced twice in the air, signaling to others behind him.

After that, he squatted down without hesitation and lit the kindling on the ground. The flame grew from small to large, and soon burned violently.

Obviously, there were not only dry firewood piled on the ground, but also tung oil or other "kerosene" produced in military towns.

After the fire ignited on the ground, dozens of fires appeared quickly behind.

"superior."

It was still the same voice, very simple, just one word.

But after he finished speaking, a dozen figures behind him had already stepped out on horseback. When they passed by the fire, they all held torches and waved them on the fire. After the torches burned, they had already surpassed those standing at the front of the queue. people.

The sound of horse hooves began to sound in the previously quiet wilderness, followed by the barking of dogs.

The horse speed increased from slow to fast, and soon they were close to the fence of the Tatar military camp. The few people in front had already seen a wooden stake inserted into the ground, and a dog tied next to the wooden stake.

Without much hesitation, they drew out their swords with torches in one hand and their swords in the other. When the horse passed by the big dog, the blade of the knife slashed across the barking dog.

Then a dozen torches were thrown out by them, some fell in front of the fence, and some fell to the ground after hitting the fence.

The torches did not go out immediately, but under the light, the dozen or so people started dancing with the ropes tying the horses in their hands. When the strength was right, they threw out the ropes in their hands.

The rope flew to the wooden fence, and most of them managed to get it on. Then they all started to beat their horses back, and began to pull on the weak wooden fence.

“Lax Mix”

At this time, the voices of Tatar soldiers could be heard from the wooden fence. Perhaps it was because of the fierce barking of dogs just now, but it became quiet again at this moment. The soldiers on night watch thought that their companions were passing by for business, so they asked in the camp Who is that person outside?

However, the only answer they received was a "boom". The wooden fence was pulled by a dozen strong soldiers. At some point, a large number of torches appeared behind them. Under the torches were human faces. There are also helmets and fiery red battle armor.

"Rumble"

As the horse team accelerated, the sound of horse hooves gradually became louder, and the ground began to tremble slightly.

The soldiers who had been dragged to the wooden fence had already turned their horses and became the first batch of cavalry to rush into Ada Khan's camp.

"There is fire to the east."

In the quiet crowd, suddenly a guard outside loudly reported to the inside.

Everyone here knew that the Ming army had begun to attack, and they had been waiting for this moment to arrive.

However, what surprised everyone was that after the guards reported the matter, Liu Dazhang, the chief military officer of the Xuanfu who was supposed to give orders, did not make any move.

Wei Guangde was riding on one side of Liu Dazhang at this time, and on the other side was Tian Shiwei, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu.

Wei Guangde frowned slightly. Although he only waited for a moment, he couldn't wait any longer. He couldn't let Liu Dazhang hold back and affect the war. He was gambling with his future career.

Originally, Wei Guangde didn't have to do this at all. For example, at the beginning, he could have stayed at Juyongguan and waited for the Ming army to fight with An Dabu here. No matter whether he won or lost, it would not have a great impact on him.

However, in the end, he couldn't bear the influence and chose to leave seclusion, and finally came here.

I am still too young to suppress my restless heart.

In fact, when Wei Guangde observed the Tatar military camp from a distance yesterday afternoon, he had a hint of regret.

After leaving Baoanzhou City in the early morning, this mentality became even heavier.

However, judging the situation, this is definitely not the time to be indecisive.

Even if you really lose the fight, you can just run away. At most, you won't be able to become an official and continue to lend money to make money. There is still no problem in becoming a rich man.

Now, even if he is deprived of his official status and has no fame, he is confident that ordinary people will not dare to provoke him.

Because those of the same age will not ignore him or take care of him just because he has been deprived of his fame. On the contrary, if they want to gain a good reputation, they must provide him with as much help as possible.

He, Wei Guangde, was not dismissed from office because of a crime, but was demoted after losing a bloody battle with Anda. He was different from those cruel officials who accepted bribes for corruption.

Without waiting for Liu Dazhang's order, Wei Guangde simply shouted: "Light up the torch and give the order to attack."

Soon, several fires were lit here, and on the carriage not far away, the war drum was sounded "dong dong dong" three times, which was the signal for the attack.

The sound of the drum spread very far, passing through the Ming army's already prepared military formations in front, and also reached the Anda military camp.