Chapter 537 536 Interception

Chapter 537 536 Interception

In the large tent of the Central Army in the temporary camp of the Xuanfu Army, Ma Fang was reading official battle reports from all sides, when suddenly there was a call from outside the tent.

"Commander, the messenger from Mr. Wei's house in the capital is here."

Without raising her head, Ma Fang only said, "Please come in quickly."

The Wei Mansion in the capital was naturally Wei Guangde's place.

Now the sign on Ma Fang's head is the name of Prince Yu's Mansion. In this era when civil servants are respected and military officials are humbled, ordinary civil servants really don't dare to look down on him.

And all of this was brought about after he decisively took refuge in that Hanlin official.

When you are an official, you have to stand in line.

If the team is well established, not only will it be easy to be an official, but it will also be easy to rise to the top.

And now, he is fully enjoying these benefits.

Wei Guangde can see through the current situation, stand in a good team, and lead his disciples well.

Not only had he been promoted quickly since he took office, but even if he occasionally lost a battle in a border conflict, the court would just give him a gentle reprimand and not let him enjoy the treatment of an elevator.

When the Ministry of War and the Military Bei Dao received food, wages and equipment, they also gave priority to the Xuanfu.

Although Xuanfu itself is located very high and its priority status does not seem to have improved, it provides a lot more things than before, although these are all forced out of the mouths of other border towns.

Ma Fang didn't realize that he felt sorry for others because it was all issued by the court anyway.

Anyway, he got the benefits in real terms, and his subordinates became more obedient and diligent in doing things.

Soon the person was brought into the tent. Ma Fang recognized the person at a glance and was very familiar with him.

We meet several times a year, how can we not be familiar with each other?

"My lord asked you to come here overnight?"

Ma Fang thought of the letter she sent to the Wei Mansion. She calculated the time and realized that Wei Guangde should have arranged for them to leave the city after reading his letter. They were in a hurry.

"Marshal Ma is hardworking and works hard for days without rest. He is really a role model for the imperial court."

The two soldiers of the Wei Mansion hurriedly flattered Ma Fang when they saw that Ma Fang was working instead of resting so late.

While talking, a person on the right had already untied the bamboo tube behind his back, took out the letter contained in it, and handed it to the Ma Fang soldiers who came over.

"Master Wei, do you have anything to say?"

Ma Fang was not in a hurry to read the letter, but asked.

"The master just asked the commander to act as soon as possible after reading the letter. There should be no delay. The Tatars should be running to the grassland."

The man on the left replied immediately.

"oh?"

Ma Fang whispered, hurriedly put down the official document in his hand, took Wei Guangde's letter from the soldier, opened it and read it.

The letter was written on high-quality rice paper, and the edge of the paper even had the mark of Prince Yu's Palace printed on it.

Wei Guangde wrote this in Prince Yu's Mansion, either because he didn't have enough time, or to represent the importance and remind him that this was what Prince Yu meant.

After reading the letter from beginning to end, most of it analyzed the recent battle reports and finally came to a conclusion. The main meaning was actually the same feeling that Ma Fang had when reading the battle reports just now.

Of course he saw Wei Guangde's request and marched eastward with light troops, intercepting some of the Tatars and annihilating them.

In fact, after entering Ji Town, the Xuanfu Army's scouts had several contact battles with the Tatar sentries. They had already discovered the identity of the other party, who was a member of the Xin'ai tribe and an elite cavalry.

Thinking about the troops entering the customs this time, the Ministry of War also stated in the Tang newspaper that there were tens of thousands of people, which was basically consistent with the situation grasped by the Xuanfu.

Ten thousand elite troops, relying solely on the Xuanfu cavalry, are really not sure they can survive in the field.

However, Wei Guangde did not ask him to annihilate all the Tatars, but to eat one of them, which can be done.

At least, in Ma Fang's view, it's not difficult.

This time, after receiving the edict from King Qin in the capital, Ma Fang did not gather all the Xuanfu troops to come to the rescue.

The various departments are scattered in various places, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive to mobilize. It will also lead to the defense of Xuan Mansion being empty, which is definitely not a good strategy.

However, under Ma Fang, there is a troop of soldiers and horses that he personally trains all year round as the main force.

When the Xuanfu was invaded by the Tatars, he personally commanded the troops to fight, and their combat effectiveness was relatively strong.

This time Ma Fang brought all the troops.

There were not many people and horses, nearly 20,000 people, more than 18,000 people to be precise.

Among them, there were five thousand cavalry.

The light soldiers rushed in and intercepted the tail.

Ma Fang is not thinking about whether the strategy is correct at this moment, but what should be done.

After all, this order has the shadow of Prince Yu's palace, and things must be done well according to Prince Yu's requirements.

In fact, Ma Fang already had some concerns in her heart.

Even if we don't have enough time to march eastward to Pinggu this time, we will continue to chase north, or even chase beyond the Great Wall into the edge of the grassland to bring back the heads of the Tatars.

All five thousand cavalry must be taken away, and the speed must be fast.

Even if the opponent is a Mongolian elite, with these soldiers who have been trained by themselves, they can definitely fight against the same number of Tatar elites.

"I won't reply to the letter. You go back and tell Mr. Wei that Ma will leave tonight."

After speaking to the Wei government messenger, Ma Fang immediately sent out two soldiers, one responsible for notifying the cavalry commander, one for the general and more than ten guerrilla generals, and the other for arranging the baggage.

When the cavalry is dispatched, they must bring with them no less than dry food, bean cakes and soybean cakes.

Without these things, it would be impossible for the war horses to have the strength to show their fighting power in subsequent battles.

When the two messengers were sent out of the Xuanfu Army Camp, the entire Xuanfu Army Camp was already boiling.

A large number of torches were lit, and the cavalry camp was abuzz with people, so the cavalry had been awakened and were noisily waiting for their generals to come and arrange tasks.

Working under Ma Fang is much better than before.

Not only was he well fed, but he was also given a lot of rewards for winning the battle, and he was not in arrears. Although there were deductions, there were clear ratios.

Therefore, after a battle, the soldiers knew how much reward they would receive. Unlike in the past, they could not even think about it.

The people above are very black. They eat everything and wipe it clean. If there is any leftover, it will fall into their hands.

In other words, only the top is satisfied, but the bottom is not satisfied at all.

And now that Ma Fang has become the chief military officer of the Xuanfu, it is clear how much they can get, and everyone is hopeful.

Basically, after leaving the camp to fight, you will start to report your merits on the way. When you return to the camp, you will give as much as you should give.

Therefore, Xuanfu soldiers are still very enthusiastic about participating in the war, which means they can earn money.

This time we rushed from Xuanfu to the capital. Along the way, we only heard that there was a conflict between the sentries and cavalry. They didn't even see the shadow of the Tatars, so many people thought that this trip was in vain. Unexpectedly, this At that time, they were suddenly woken up from their sleep. It was said that there might be a war, so they kept talking among themselves.

No one wants to travel in vain, let alone fight.

For those of them who live in border towns, it seems that they have been inseparable from war since they were born.

After entering the guardhouse, their lives are actually no longer their lives. No one knows when they will die.

Therefore, they don't care about their own lives, they just hope to make more money for their families before they die.

Opportunities that didn’t exist before are different now.

You can earn money by following Ma Fang, and you can bring a lot of things to your family, so what you are thinking about right now is not the danger of the war, but how many Tatars you kill in the battle formation, and how much silver reward you can get.

Wheelbarrows ran back and forth in the military camp, transporting dry food and bean cakes that the cavalry needed to distribute when going on expeditions.

This is the sign before the war breaks out.

As the general accepted the order from the Chinese army's tent and left, returning to his barracks, the news of sending troops to Pinggu soon spread in the camp.

When the morning sun appeared in the eastern sky, a long cavalry team had passed through the Miyun border and headed straight for Pinggu to the east.

At this time, Pinggu County was also in turmoil. Although there were more than a thousand Ming troops resisting the county before, countless Tatar cavalry soon swarmed in from the surrounding areas and filled the surrounding villages and towns of Pinggu.

The magistrate and other officials could only guard the city wall in panic, looking out through the battlements.

Groups of Tatar cavalry passed by and headed north.

Although they knew they were going back to the grassland, they could only watch and dare not do anything.

They were even afraid that they would make a noise so that the cavalry outside the city would notice them, and then they would give up heading north to attack the city.

Although Pinggu is an important defense area along the Great Wall and belongs to one of the four counties in Jizhou, there are not many people in the county.

The garrison in Pinggu is actually on the Pinggu section of the Great Wall in the north of the county. That is the defense area of ​​the Zhenlu Camp. There are more than 2,000 soldiers guarding the five passes in Pinggu. There is no spare power to support Pinggu County.

In fact, the various departments of the Ming Army at the Great Wall were extremely nervous during this period because they did not know from which direction the Tatars would break through the wall and return to the grassland.

Of course, none of them expected their zone to be picked by the Tatars.

"Why are there so many Tatars outside the city?"

At this time, on the city wall of Pinggu County, the magistrate and the Ming army guerrilla generals who had entered the city before were watching the actions of the Tatar army through the crenellations.

Yesterday, there were only a dozen or so sparse groups of Tatars, but today the number of Tatars that appeared was obviously several times that of yesterday.

"It might have been the forward army yesterday, but it should be the Chinese army group coming now."

The speaker was a guerrilla from Ji Town of the Ming Army. Now he regretted it. If he had known this, he would have walked slower and waited for the Tatars to pass Pinggu before driving over.

Well, walk faster, now you are stuck in the city.

Fortunately, we didn’t encounter so many Tatars before entering the city.

With the more than a thousand men in his hand, even if he formed a formation to face the enemy, looking at the elite Tatar cavalry outside the city, it would only be a matter of one or two charges.

Judging from the fierceness he saw, it would be difficult to find an opponent in the Jizhen army who could match him.

"How much property must be robbed? What a crime."

The magistrate now saw dozens of carriages piled with things. He knew without even thinking that they must have been stolen by the Tatars.

We saw such carriages yesterday, there were two or three, and today there were even more, passing through the official road outside the city in an endless stream, heading straight north.

At this time, the magistrate will only show his concern for the country and the people, and will never say that he is jealous of so many properties.

However, the guerrilla general of the Ming Army still glanced sideways at him. His red eyes looked like he had stayed up all night or something.

"Brothers, cheer up. The Tatars should be gone by tomorrow at the latest, and everyone will be fine."

The guerrilla ordered the soldiers behind him to pass a message to the people below.

This should be the last moment. He didn't want anything to happen at this time and throw his life away here.

I can only remind my subordinates to guard the city wall from today to tomorrow. I will be able to defend the city by then, and I should be rewarded in some way.

Soon, a group of hundreds of cavalry appeared next to the carriage. The capable knights passed by surrounding these few people who were obviously Tatar generals.

No, why did they stop outside the gate of Pinggu City and point at this place with their hands.

At the next moment, the Ming Army guerrillas felt a sudden shock in their hearts.

Those few people who were obviously Mongolian nobles were immediately outside, gesturing towards Pinggu County. They were not going to attack the city. They should rob it again before leaving.

Although there is a city wall, Pinggu's city wall is not very tall. At least in this guerrilla's mind, compared with the walls of other Ming Dynasty cities, Pinggu is relatively easy to fight.

Fortunately, they gestured for a while and then ran north again, so they probably wouldn't attack the city.

Soon, several more groups of hundreds of cavalrymen crossed the border in a majestic manner, and now the carriage convoy finally passed and left.

It's really heartbreaking to see those carriages parked in front of you.

At this time, the officers and soldiers of the Zhenlu camp in the north were also frightened. From time to time, a group of prisoners passed by the city and continued to go north, which was the direction of Qiangziling Pass.

The city walls they guard are built against the mountains, and their defense is mainly aimed at the outside of the pass, while the defense inside the pass is much smaller.

Against tens of thousands of Tatars, they are still the elite among the Tatars. What can they do with more than two thousand people?

Fortunately, the city wall only needs to be guarded. Anyway, as long as they don't leave the Guanzhai, these Tatars will be fine.

Although they had some guesses, the officers and soldiers of the Zhenlu camp did not dare to take it lightly.

I don't know since when, the Tatars have also learned to use tactics. They often use tactics to mistrust the soldiers, pretend to deceive them, and then launch a surprise attack.

Just like this time, they agreed to attack Liaodong, but in the end they were allowed to pass through the Miyun Defense Zone, causing a big fuss in the capital at the feet of the emperor.

"Although the terrain in Huigukou Village, Xiongergu Village, and Yuzi Mountain Village is not dangerous, the Ming army built many hollow enemy towers here and protected them layer by layer with five large and small walls. There will be no loss from here. It will be small.”

At this time, Huang Taiji and others, who had just passed Pinggu County, were also heading north immediately, while discussing where to exit the customs.

Jiang Duer was cautious and thought it would be best to go back from where they entered the customs.

Although the place was abandoned after they entered, it was impossible for the Ming army to rebuild it in such a short period of time.

Even if it is built, it is very easy to attack.

On the other hand, Da Lai Sun thought that he might as well find a place on the Great Wall and get out of the wall first.

However, Ba Du'er knew that the Great Wall to the north of Pinggu looked easy to fight, but there were too many hollow enemy towers, and those enemy towers were really difficult to conquer.

It was easy to pass, but when the Ming army used crossbows and firearms on the enemy's platform, they would inevitably pay a heavy price in casualties, which was not cost-effective.

The two inevitably started to argue immediately, but Huang Taiji's attitude was ambiguous and he did not express his opinions.

If he had a God's perspective and could look at the ground from a high altitude at this time, he might find that a huge Ming army cavalry force was coming at high speed from the direction of Huairou, approaching them from the west.