Chapter 225 224 Hard Fight

In an open space that could be called a small parade ground, a large banner stood there, but around it, there were nearly a thousand Tatar cavalrymen holding torches.

The flames on the torches flickered, illuminating the people and objects in the entire square red.

"Woo woo woo"

The Tatars who were fighting fiercely with the Ming army heard the sudden sound of the horn behind them.

Sure enough, they had already reached the tent of Altan Khan, so the Tatars here would fight them to the end regardless of casualties, naturally to leave enough preparation time for the elite of the Royal Court Guard.

The Tatars in the battle slashed forward a few times, temporarily suppressing the offensive of the Ming army, and then turned their horses to disperse to both sides.

The battle line entangled between the two sides of the battle was instantly split, with a clear distinction, and only the feather arrows were still flying in the air.

The soldiers in the first two rows of the Ming army waved their weapons to block the arrows shot by the other side, and at the same time, their comrades behind them immediately fired arrows to fight back.

But soon, as the horn stopped, the archers on the Tatar side stopped shooting first, and then the Ming army archers also stopped for a while.

At this time, Ma Fang rode forward, waving his whip to both sides while walking.

The Ming army soldiers in front signaled, and they all moved to the left and right to make way, and then they began to re-form the formation under the command of the officers such as Xiaoqi.

At this time, Altan Khan's royal guards were obviously divided into three groups. The largest group was naturally the nearly 1,000 soldiers under the big flag. At this time, they were looking at the Ming army opposite with firm eyes, waiting for the Khan's order, and they would rush over and kill the enemy.

The retreating Tatar cavalry scattered on the left and right sides to re-form, ready to start charging the Ming army with the big group.

Ma Fang had already stood in front of the Ming army formation at this time. He looked up and carefully observed the opponent's formation, but he was a little disappointed. He did not see Altan Khan's figure, the familiar figure among the people he saw.

But the big banner is here, which means that Altan Khan must be in the huge tent behind the big banner.

Ma Fang raised his right hand holding the whip, motioned to the left and right, and then stretched it forward.

As he moved, the 800 cavalrymen behind him followed the previous arrangement, with 100 cavalrymen from the General's Mansion's standard camp on each side. They held an iron stick in their hands and aimed at the Tatar cavalry on the outside.

And the other 300 standard camp cavalrymen stood in three rows in a staggered manner. On both sides behind them, 300 Ma Fang's personal soldiers had already formed a team and were ready for the final battle.

Seeing that the sky was already slightly bright, Ma Fang knew that he didn't have much time left.

Once it was dawn, the visibility was high, and the strength of the Ming army's attack on the camp would be completely exposed. At that time, the Tatar Wanhu would definitely send troops to rescue Altan Khan, kill the Ming army and chase the Ming army infantry with all their strength, and even perhaps want to take advantage of the chaos to capture Baoan Prefecture.

He looked at the big tent behind the figure in front of him again, and vaguely felt that the door of the big tent moved, and someone came out from inside.

Perhaps it was the order to give the final attack. I don’t know whether Altan Khan came out or not. I haven’t seen him for more than ten years.

But at this time, Ma Fang didn’t have time to think about it. He suddenly moved his horse to the side, waved the whip in his hand, and shouted with all his strength: "Fight."

The moment the voice fell, the cavalry in the front row of the Ming army started together. They held a stick in one hand and took a thin tube from the saddle with the other hand. They put it to their mouths and blew hard. A small flame ignited and then moved behind the stick.

"Bang bang bang bang."

The sticks in the hands of the cavalry in the front row and on both sides of the Ming army instantly made an explosion sound, and the head of the stick flashed. Then, these cavalrymen bit the fire starter in their hands with their teeth, and quickly fiddled with the back of the stick with their bare hands. In just a few breaths, they took out the fire starter again and reached to the back end of the stick again.

"Bang, bang, bang."

Another round of gunfire sounded. At this time, the front row of the Tatar cavalry, which had been in a tight formation before, had fallen one after another. Some horses were injured and began to run away without the control of the knights.

The Wangting Guards, who had been complacent and did not take the Ming army seriously before, were in chaos. The Tatars who were still riding on horses looked at the sticks in the hands of the Ming army with some fear. They were still making gunfire sounds from time to time.

Is that the new fire gun of the Ming army?

The Tatars and the Ming army have been fighting on the border for many years. They are naturally familiar with the various artillery and bird guns used by the Ming army, especially the small cannons that can be fired quickly that have appeared in large numbers in the Ming Dynasty border army in recent years. They are still fresh in their memory.

The main reason why the Tatars are unwilling to attack the city is actually their fear of the Ming army's firearms.

Once the city is attacked, the firearms on the top of the Ming army will continue to sound. They have to rush forward in the hail of bullets, and the casualties will naturally not be small.

But in a field battle, the firing frequency of these weapons is always not as good as bows and arrows, that is, the small cannon is faster, but as long as you bypass the muzzle and disperse the formation, you can still fight.

But in the current environment, can the formation be dispersed?

Just as the Tartars were still in shock, the "woohoo" horn sounded, which was the signal for attack.

Rush forward, these Ming cavalry can no longer hurt them with that stick.

This is what all the Tartar cavalry thought in their hearts. They wanted to play cat and mouse before, but now they don't have to hold back.

Just as they were about to charge forward, the cavalry in the center of the Ming army had dispersed and moved quickly to the sides. The sticks in their hands continued to spray a new round of bullets at the Mongolian cavalry gathered on both sides, and Ma Fang had already led his 300 family servants and more than a thousand surviving Ming cavalry to rush quickly along the middle passage to the tent of Altan Khan, and started a fierce battle with the guards in front of the tent.

The distance between the two sides was not far, and it was futile to rush over by horsepower.

At this time, the Ming cavalry and the Tatar guards were almost hacking at each other on horseback, fighting for their lives.

For the Ming army here, only by killing the enemy in front of them, pushing the front line to the front of Altan Khan's tent, and capturing or killing Altan Khan, the battle would stop and they could survive.

The Tatar cavalry would naturally not let them do as they wished, and even killed all of these cowardly Ming people who dared to attack them.

Just like the synchronized pawns, at this time in the square, the Ming army and the Mongolian army collided with each other. The soldiers in front kept waving their weapons, and the sabers and scimitars collided in the air, making a harsh sound.

The cavalry behind them stabbed forward with long weapons. The cavalry behind them could no longer use their weapons, so they could only take out bows and arrows to shoot at the back of the enemy, but they dared not shoot horizontally. In such a fierce battle, they could only try to hit the people behind the enemy.

Soldiers from both sides were constantly injured and fell off their horses, and they didn't even have time to be rescued by their comrades.

Countless corpses soon lay on the front line where they fought, but the killing continued, and there was no intention to stop.

The continuous sound of muskets finally stopped at this time, and the chaotic Tatar cavalry on both wings finally recovered from the panic and began to rush towards the Ming army from left and right.

After the cavalry of the standard camp had used up the ten pre-loaded cartridges in their hands, they also put down their weapons and drew their sabers to rush towards the other side.

Here, if they don't kill the enemy, they will have no way to survive. When they stepped into the Tartar camp, everyone knew this in their hearts.

Therefore, at this time, no one in the Ming army participating in the raid thought of escaping. Where could they escape to?

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the Ming army on one front during the battle between the two armies, and then more arrows were shot here at a rapid speed, flying towards the Mongolian soldiers on the opposite side.

After paying the price of several lives, the Ming army on the front line finally rescued a man who was already covered in blood and looked seriously injured. He was wearing the armor of the Ming army guerrilla general, but at this moment, he could no longer protect his master. He was cut by sharp blades in many places, and blood was still flowing out.

Ma Fang had just escaped death. He was hit by the Tartar cavalry on the opposite side continuously, and finally couldn't keep his body steady and fell off the horse. Fortunately, several trusted servants around him fought to protect him and pulled him back from the desperate situation of death.

Ma Fang looked back at the fallen warhorse in embarrassment. It was the warhorse that had followed him for many years, but at this moment, it was afraid that it would be trampled into a pulp by the mounts under the crotch of the cavalry of both sides.

The 40-year-old man couldn't help but feel a little wet in the corners of his eyes at this time.

More than half of his servants had been killed or wounded. Now his subordinates and other Ming cavalry had begun to fight the Tatars on the front line. Perhaps Liu Dazhang was right. Before there was an absolute advantage, such a sneak attack was too risky.

However, at this moment, they were already in a bitter battle here. Is there any way to solve the crisis in front of them?

Faintly, he seemed to hear the roar in front of the big tent behind the Tatars. It was Altan Khan venting his anger. He wanted his guards to kill all the Ming dogs who dared to sneak attack him, leaving no one alive.

If they were defeated, they might all be beheaded, regardless of life or death.

Ma Fang's troops were not strong enough to penetrate Altan Khan's camp, let alone capture or kill Altan Khan, but Wei Guangde, Liu Dazhang and others didn't know this yet.

It was already light, and they could barely see far away. The protection provided by the night to the Ming army was gradually disappearing.

At this time, the Ming army was only ten steps away from the Altan Khan camp, and the Mongolian Qianhu troops could no longer withstand the Ming army's offensive and began to retreat.

Wei Guangde felt that they should rush in. At least if they rushed into the enemy camp, the Tartars would not be able to send troops to support Altan Khan, and the Ming army would still have a chance to turn the tables.

Yes, until now, Wei Guangde still felt that based on the record of Ma Fang he had heard about, the probability of success of the more than 2,000 cavalrymen he led to sneak attack the 3,000-man Altan Khan Royal Guard was very high.

So, he insisted that the Xuanfu Army continue to put pressure on the Wanhu of the Altan Khan, and even took out Weng Pu to suppress Liu Dazhang.

However, Liu Dazhang hesitated when there was no news from Altan Khan's camp.

It was already light, and it would soon be bright. Without the cover of darkness, the Ming army would be completely exposed. Once they entered the Tartar camp and the enemy cavalry launched a charge, they would all be killed here.

Just then, a fast horse came from afar. When it got close, the messenger immediately reported: "Report to the adults, there are Tartars gathering at the back camp gate, and they seem to be trying to break out of the camp."

"They are going to send troops to attack Ma Fang's troops, Lord Wei, do you think we can still attack?"

Liu Dazhang heard that the Tartars in the camp finally made a move, and he understood that they had used this time to complete the assembly of the army.

This place is not far from Altan Khan's camp. If they can break through Liu Huan's interception, it can be said that once the support troops arrive, no matter what results Ma Fang's troops have achieved, they can only retreat.

"General Liu, Lord Wei, the Tartars seem to be retreating towards the camp. I'm afraid they want to lure us into the camp."

At this time, Tian Shiwei next to him also spoke up. He had been paying attention to the battle situation in front. The resistance of the Tartars in the camp was getting weaker and weaker, and they seemed to be retreating.

Although a reinforcement had arrived during the period and temporarily stabilized the situation, they still quickly fell behind in the face of an unfavorable situation.

However, at this time, the Ming army did not launch a very fierce offensive, but the Tartars were retreating. Combined with the activities of the Altan tribe near the rear camp gate, Tian Shiwei judged that the Altan tribe seemed to want to lead the Ming army into the camp.

As for whether the six thousand Tartars would attack them first or rescue Altan Khan first, this still needs to be observed.

But in any case, Tian Shiwei's current judgment is the same as Liu Dazhang. He does not think that the Ming army has a chance to win if they continue to fight. Even if he bets on Ma Fang, Ma Fang has never commanded a melee of thousands of people.

Yes, although Ma Fang has many victories, the number of troops participating in those battles is at most two thousand, including the total number of troops on both sides.

No one is a born general, they all grow up step by step.

It was just that at this time, Wei Guangde had not realized this, so he made a rash bet.

Because he saw that Ma Fang gave him the impression of a harmless and simple man, a fierce general.

Although he realized that he might have a strong calculation ability in fighting, which showed that he was not a stupid person, he did not consider that it was the first time for Ma Fang to command an army of more than 2,000 people to fight, and he was still dealing with a Tatar army that was stronger than them.

Although there was a sneak attack factor, what Ma Fang did not calculate was that there were more than 3,000 people in the camp of Altan Khan, including his entourage, that was more than 4,000 people.

Although these people had little combat power, they could still support a person, and the most important thing was that the special camping method of Altan Khan's camp made the traditional night raid on the camp fire attack method invalid, and Ma Fang's troops were already in a bitter battle.

If Wei Guangde knew, perhaps he would choose to agree with Liu Dazhang's opinion and consider withdrawing from this battle.

But there is no if.

Although he did not have the fantasy of winning a great victory and returning to Beijing to accept the reward from Emperor Jiajing, he was still considering the success of Ma Fang's attack. After listening to Liu Dazhang and Tian Shiwei, Wei Guangde smiled and replied: "My lords, aren't the actions of the Tartars within our expectations?

Just now, Lord Liu said that the Tartars might want to lure our army into the camp so that they can be surrounded and annihilated. As for their rescue of Altan Khan, they have to pass Liu Huan's level.

Now we just have to spend time here, steadily advance inward, and hold back their people. There are two thousand households of Tartar troops here, and they can only mobilize four thousand households.

How many can go to rescue Altan Khan? Three at most, unless they don't want this camp."

The Baichu Portuguese is a Portuguese military gun designed by Xuanda Governor Weng Wanda and Jiajing 25 years. It is 3 to 4 feet long, with 10 sub-guns per gun, pre-loaded with ammunition, and can be used by cavalry. It is worth mentioning that the muzzle of the Portuguese musket is equipped with a 6-inch long spear-shaped fork, which can be used as a cold weapon after shooting, and has the prototype of a bayonet!

The production volume was 1,000, and after it was made, it was handed over to Qiu Luan for use. There is no record of the use of this firearm in war and its effect.

It is generally believed that the Baichu Portuguese musket may be similar to the Wansheng Portuguese musket, but it is more miniaturized. The Wansheng Portuguese musket can only be used by infantry, not cavalry, and requires the cooperation of three soldiers to use it.