Chapter 234 233 Fight or retreat?

Chapter 234 233 Fight or retreat?

Anda tribe Qianhu Sahatu led the cavalrymen to bravely rush towards the Ma Fang tribe who broke out, but he soon discovered something was wrong. The movements of these elite cavalrymen seemed to be somewhat deformed.

They did not maintain their previous formation and confront the fleeing Ming army head-on. Instead, they clearly separated to the left and right, and a gap appeared in the middle of the formation, which was enough for the Ming army to escape.

It is indeed rare for cavalry to collide head-on on the battlefield. In the past, it was normal for them to use such formations in cavalry battles.

The cavalry was divided into two groups, one on the left and one on the right to flank the enemy.

However, the order he issued was to "stop them." He was surrounded by his old subordinates who had followed him for many years, so they would not fail to understand what he meant.

In just an instant, he understood what his subordinates were thinking. Like him, they felt a little fear deep in their hearts towards this demon that was like being killed from hell, and were unwilling to stop them head-on.

At this time, the distance between the two armies was very close, and he could not adjust his response. Sahatu had no choice but to shout loudly: "Kill them all, don't let anyone go."

At this point, he had no other choice but to shout these words.

There were not many people following him, and the large groups were already scattered on both sides. It was impossible for them to stop the hundreds of Ming army cavalry with just a few of them.

Unknowingly, his horse's head was slightly pulled to his right, allowing him to pass to the left of the Ming army's cavalry.

Although doing this will make it difficult for your right hand, which is good at chopping, to use force to cut people, it can also avoid being attacked by the Ming army to the greatest extent.

This is what only experienced veterans on the battlefield will know.

Of course, if the opponent happens to be left-handed, you can only ask for luck.

As the cavalry crossed each other, the sound of weapons clashing could be heard endlessly. Although they also caused some damage to the cavalry, many Ming soldiers had already reached a state of exhaustion after continuous battles, and many of their movements could be easily parried or evaded. It can't be done anymore.

When the Ming army's cavalry rushed out and intercepted the Anda cavalry, there were less than 500 soldiers left.

On the road they were moving forward, countless corpses of soldiers lay down, they fell dead on the way to survive.

Sahatu was unwilling to be able to completely eliminate this Ming army.

When the two armies crossed each other, he had already discovered that this Ming army was at the end of its war effort. If his subordinates faithfully carried out their orders, they could kill them all here, right in front of those Ming troops, and kill all the Ming troops. cavalry.

His subordinates should have discovered it by now.

Sahatu thought of this, regained his fighting spirit, and wanted to turn around and chase after him again when he heard the rumble of horse hooves behind him.

When Sahatu heard the sound, he hurriedly turned around and saw that it was indeed the Ming army. The nearly two thousand cavalry troops that had been wandering on the flanks of the Ming army's formation had come in with great force and dust.

Needless to say, Sahatu knew that he had no chance to catch up with the fleeing Ming army cavalry.

Although the Ming Army cavalry was much closer to him, when he turned around to catch up and tried to escape back to the military camp, it was already too late. By then, after he killed all the Ming Army cavalry, he would face the Ming Army cavalry head on. hit.

Maybe he didn't care about them before, but today's Ming army gave him too many surprises, and he didn't dare to look at them the same way anymore.

With a long sigh, he chose to give up, but deep down in his heart, he felt a sense of relief for no reason.

Giving up the pursuit of the Ming army cavalry, Sahatu did not rush back to the Anda Khan camp. Instead, he sent his ten and one hundred household chiefs to separate on both sides and recall the fleeing tribesmen.

These people scattered and ran, and when they finally encountered the Ming army, they had no ability to resist.

Although I look down on these people in my heart, the tribe still needs them.

As for retrieving these people and how the Great Khan would punish them, that was not his business.

He restrained hundreds of his men and continued to stay outside the gate of the Anda Khan camp to monitor the movements of the Ming army and report inside at any time.

After the Ming army saw Ma Fang's troops rushing out from the blockade of the last Anda cavalry, although they suffered heavy losses, they finally rushed out and escaped. Wei Guangde noticed these dozens of steps. Moving forward, the lack of training in the army was still very obvious. The formation began to scatter, and Tian Shiwei immediately gave the order to stop and regroup.

After advancing rapidly for a while, the Ming army stopped its offensive again, and the front army quickly began to organize its formation and rearrange the iron barrel formation.

At this time, Wei Guangde actually had no idea whether he should continue the fight or not.

Keep fighting, the opposite side is the last territory of the Anda Department here. If the Anda Department is determined to fight to the death, their tens of thousands of people may not be able to take advantage of it.

Previously, they took advantage of the lack of troops in the camp in front of Anda's troops. They originally had 6,000 people, and they had to divide their troops to rescue Anda Khan. The Ming army was several times the number of Anda's cavalry who stayed in the camp, so they could naturally attack.

But when we got here, the Anda tribe had already joined forces. A simple calculation would show that when the former camp was captured, it did not cause much damage at all. Although we still don’t know the actual losses caused by Ma Fang’s tribe to Anda Khan. , but it can also be estimated.

The main force of the Ming army lost less than a thousand people when they attacked the former camp. Most of the losses were caused during the final outflanking process. The losses in previous confrontations with the Tatars were not large.

The cavalry losses were a bit heavy, with more than half of the casualties. Ma Fang's troops escaped from about 500 people, and almost 2,000 cavalry were sent in. Liu Huan's troops also lost about a thousand people.

Now there are only more than 2,000 cavalry left here. Only when Ma Fang and Liu Huan join forces can they form a new cavalry unit.

After rushing out of danger, Ma Fang breathed a sigh of relief.

After just killing the Anta cavalry, I unexpectedly discovered that these people had no fighting spirit. After seeing them kill them, they fled in all directions. If this was a good opportunity to make military exploits in the past, chasing the Tatar cavalry would be a violent attack. , an opportunity to harvest heads.

But in the current environment, Ma Fang did not dare to continue playing like this. He just wanted to rush out of the Anda military camp and return to the ranks of the Ming army.

Enough people have died today, and I don’t have many brothers left behind me.

Facing the last intercepting Anda cavalry, Ma Fang still chose a frontal charge, and the effect was unexpectedly good.

Although the Tatars divided into left and right wings, which would cause greater damage to them when they rushed out, he finally saw a way to survive, especially when he saw the well-organized Ming army formation in the distance also moving at this time, like a tumbling sea. A sea of ​​red rushed towards them.

Ma Fang knew that this was because the Ming army accelerated towards them after seeing them rush out of the Tatar camp, providing them with stronger security.

It would be a lie to say that he was not moved. When did the Ming army ever be so united? In the past, Ma Fang had to pay attention to whether his comrades around him would cheat him, and whether they would come to rescue him like this.

There are also mutual rescues, but those who are truly willing to provide full support often take action because of their particularly good personal relationships, but never because of military orders from above.

"Brothers, rush over and we will be saved."

Ma Fang led the team and shouted loudly from the front, waving the blood-stained sword in his hand and rushing forward. In order to survive, he had to use all his strength at this time.

After a brief confrontation with the Anta cavalry, hundreds of people from the Ma Fang tribe finally broke out of the encirclement of the Anta cavalry and escaped.

Looking at the Ming cavalry rushing to meet them in the distance, the leading general was Liu Huan, Ma Fang didn't bother to go up to say hello and thank him, he was still thinking about the brothers who were running out behind him.

At this time, their group was really at the end of their rope.

Unconsciously, Ma Fang slowed down his horse, unable to continue running for his life as before. Continuing to run would not only kill the horses, but also put the soldiers on the horses in great danger.

After the horse's speed slowed down, Ma Fang's tribe no longer stumbled, and they continued to approach Liu Huan's tribe.

When Liu Huan saw Ma Fang, the leader of the cavalry, he was certainly shocked.

Ma Fang was riding a yellow war horse. He knew this very well. They were both influential figures in the Xuanfu army.

But at this moment, Ma Fang's mount has been replaced by a red and white war horse.

For generals like them who want to go into battle to kill the enemy, White Horse would generally not be chosen because the target is too obvious.

Obviously, the battle was fierce and Ma Fang had no choice.

Looking up, the armor was covered in blood. Liu Huan had good eyesight and could even see a few cracks in the armor. It was obvious that Ma Fang was injured.

The two teams of horses did not collide head-on. Liu Huan and Ma Fang just shook their heads and clasped their fists on their horses. The two teams of horses passed by each other. Ma Fang returned behind the Ming army's forward. This was the real safety.

After Liu Huanbu took over Ma Fang, he naturally would not be stupid and continued to rush forward, making a circle and withdrawing from the battlefield.

Ma Fang led his troops jogging towards the flank of the Ming army's formation. Wei Guangde and Tian Shiwei glanced at the formation, and Wei Guangde said: "Let them rest where they are."

It can be imagined that after more than an hour of fierce fighting, Ma Fang's tribe could not fight anymore in the short term. People need to eat and drink, and their horses also need to eat, drink and rest. Otherwise, if they are used desperately, the horse will be scrapped.

In fact, Wei Guangde also guessed that most of the five hundred war horses would no longer be able to be used as war horses in the future.

Soon, a fast horse ran out of the Ming army's formation and ran towards Ma Fang's troops to convey Wei Guangde's order.

"Master Wei, you see there are hundreds of Tatars staying outside the camp to monitor us. Should we attack them?"

Tian Shiwei now asked Wei Guangde's opinion in a low voice.

I really encountered a big surprise today. Liu Dazhang was afraid that he would not get any good results because the Ming army won the battle.

Yes, if Liu Dazhang were defeated today and returned alive, his guilt would be very small.

And if he is defeated today, Liu Dazhang's guilt will be greater. Just being timid and afraid of fighting is enough to remove him from his official position.

The right governor, if he writes a memorial, he will become a common man in an instant, and it is possible that he will be imprisoned.

And I have always been cautious, both in front of Liu Dazhang and in front of Wei Guangde, but nothing happened.

It's also good luck. It looks like I won the battle today.

In Wei Guangde's view, it was an unwinnable battle, but Tian Shiwei regarded it as a great victory.

Strategically speaking, they failed to complete the beheading plan and failed to cause the Anda tribe to collapse without a leader after entering the pass. However, tactically they were victorious, seizing a military camp of the Anta tribe and disrupting the Anta tribe's troop deployment.

The most important thing is that from then on, the Ming army no longer suffered a complete defeat against the Anda tribe, but could also be considered a victory.

Since the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing, the Ming army's invasion of Anda tribe in border towns has not achieved any decent victory. Instead, they have made people go horse racing outside Beijing.

When Wei Guangde was still hesitating whether to continue fighting, two fast horses galloped towards Baoan Prefecture, obviously messengers delivering a message.

Wei Guangde naturally didn't notice, but Dong Yiyuan next to him was always paying attention to the things around him, and he could naturally see far while riding a tall horse.

"Sir, there is a messenger coming from the direction of Baoan Prefecture."

Dong Yiyuan reminded Wei Guangde in a low voice.

"oh?"

Wei Guangde was slightly surprised. He turned his head and looked over. Sure enough, two fast horses were approaching quickly.

"Go and see what's going on."

Wei Guangde ignored the instructions and continued to think about the gains and losses between fighting and not fighting.

At this time, he needs to settle accounts and find an opportunity to withdraw his troops. Today is a victory, and at least he can explain it to his superiors.

If you continue to fight, you will either expand your results or make mistakes.

The pros and cons can be easily distinguished, and Wei Guangde understands this.

But retreating cannot be done at this time.

Retreat to where? Tatar military camp or Baoan Prefecture?

It is about ten miles away from the Tatar camp, and more than twenty miles away from Anzhou. It is naturally the safest to go back to Baoanzhou, but there is no guarantee that there will be no accidents on the way. Anda Khan will probably choose to intercept them halfway.

Of course, they can also choose to advance and retreat in the form of military formations. This will mean that the marching speed will be slower, and the terrain of Baoan Prefecture also supports them in making this choice.

"Sir, this is an urgent report from Huailaiwei."

Wei Guangde had just thought of a rough plan when he heard Dong Yiyuan's words. He took the emergency report and read the seal. There was no problem, so he opened it and took a look.

"The Datong Army has arrived in Huailai."

Seeing the first few lines, Wei Guangde read them out loud.

"Has the Datong Army arrived?"

Upon hearing the news of the reinforcements, Tian Shiwei immediately became energetic and drove his horse closer.

"Three thousand pioneers arrived at Huailai Acropolis a few days ago. According to time calculation, they should have arrived at Huailai County in the past two days."

Wei Guangde was also pleasantly surprised. With the Datong Army on his side, the Xuanfu Army would be safer.

At this time, even if you retreat to the Tatar camp for repairs.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde shook his head, it was still too dangerous.

He only ordered them to quickly go to Huailai County, but he did not order them to quickly move closer to Baoan Prefecture and participate in the attack on Anda.

In fact, Wei Guangde wanted to attack the Anda tribe in Huailai County, but he was later attracted to Baoan Prefecture by the big fish of Anda Khan.

Perhaps, the vanguard troops of the Datong Army have already been stationed in Huailai County. Should we issue a warrant to let them come over?