Chapter 234 233 Fight or Retreat?

Sahatu, the captain of the Altan tribe, led his cavalry to bravely charge towards the Ma Fang tribe that had broken out of the encirclement, but he soon discovered something wrong. The movements of these elite cavalrymen seemed to be a little deformed.

They did not maintain the previous formation to face the fleeing Ming army head-on, but clearly separated to the left and right, and a gap appeared in the middle of the formation, enough for the Ming army to escape.

It is indeed rare for cavalry to collide head-on on the battlefield. It is normal for them to use such a formation in previous cavalry battles.

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

However, the order he issued was "stop them", and he was surrounded by old subordinates who had followed him for many years, and they would not fail to understand the meaning of this sentence.

In just a moment, he understood the thoughts of his subordinates. Like him, they also felt a little fear in their hearts about this demon that was like a demon 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 to shout loudly: "Kill them all, don't let any one go."

At this time, he had no other choice but to shout this.

There were not many people following him, and the large group had been scattered on both sides. It was impossible for them to stop the hundreds of Ming cavalry.

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

Although doing so would make it difficult for his right hand, which was good at chopping, to chop people, it could also avoid being attacked by the Ming army to the greatest extent.

These were things that only experienced veterans on the battlefield would know.

Of course, if the opponent happened to be left-handed, then he could only pray for good luck.

As the cavalry crossed, the sound of weapons colliding was endless. Although they also caused some damage to the cavalry of the Altan tribe, many Ming soldiers had been exhausted after continuous battles, and many actions that could have been easily parried or avoided could no longer be done at this time.

When the Ming cavalry rushed out of the Altan cavalry interception, there were less than 500 soldiers left.

On the way forward, countless soldiers lay dead, and they died on the road to survival.

Sahatu was unwilling to fail to completely destroy this Ming army.

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

His subordinates should have discovered it.

When Sahatu thought of this, his fighting spirit was revived. When he wanted to turn around and chase again, he heard the rumbling of horse hooves behind him.

Sahatu hurriedly looked back when he heard the sound. It was indeed the Ming army. The cavalry unit of nearly 2,000 people that had been wandering on the flank of the Ming army formation had already come in a fierce and dusty manner.

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

Although the Ming cavalry was much closer to him, when he turned around to chase them and wanted to turn around and flee back to the barracks, it was too late. By then, after he killed all the Ming soldiers, he would collide with this group of Ming cavalry head-on.

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 with the old eyes.

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

Giving up chasing this group of Ming cavalry, Sahatu did not rush to return to Altan Khan's camp, but sent his ten heads and hundred heads to separate to both sides and recall the scattered tribes.

These people scattered and ran, and when they encountered the Ming army in the end, they had no resistance at all.

Although he looked down on these people in his heart, the tribe still needed them.

As for how the Khan would punish them after finding these people, these were not his business.

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

After seeing Ma Fang's troops rush out from the last blockade of Altan Khan's cavalry, the Ming army suffered heavy losses, but they finally rushed out and escaped. Wei Guangde noticed that the army's lack of training was still very obvious during the advance of dozens of steps, and the formation began to become scattered. He immediately asked Tian Shiwei to stop and reorganize the team.

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

At this time, Wei Guangde actually had no idea in his heart, and didn't know whether he should continue to fight.

If they continued to fight, the opposite side would be the last territory of Altan Khan's tribe here. If Altan Khan's tribe was determined to fight to the death, they might not be able to gain much advantage with more than 10,000 people.

Before, they took advantage of the lack of troops in the front camp of the Altan Khan. They only had about 6,000 people, and they had to divide their troops to rescue Altan Khan. The Ming army was several times more than the Altan cavalry who stayed in the camp, so they could attack freely.

But when they arrived here, the Altan Khan’s troops had gathered together. A simple calculation would show that when the front camp was attacked, it did not cause much casualties at all. Although the actual losses caused by Ma Fang’s troops to Altan Khan are still unknown, they can be estimated.

The main force of the Ming army lost less than about a thousand people when attacking the front camp. Most of them were caused by the final implementation of the two-wing encirclement process. The losses in the previous exchange of fire with the Tartars were not great.

The cavalry losses were a bit tragic, with more than half of them killed or wounded. About 500 people escaped from Ma Fang's army, and almost 2,000 cavalry were sent in, while Liu Huan's army also lost about 1,000 people.

Now there are only more than 2,000 cavalry here, and only when Ma Fang's army and Liu Huan's army join forces can they form a cavalry unit again.

And after rushing out of the dangerous place, Ma Fang also breathed a sigh of relief.

Just after killing the cavalry of Altan, he unexpectedly found that these people had no fighting spirit. After seeing them coming, they fled in all directions. If it was a good opportunity to make military exploits in the past, chasing the Tartar cavalry would be a chance to cut and harvest heads.

But in the current environment, Ma Fang dared not play like this anymore. He just wanted to rush out of Altan's camp and return to the Ming army.

Enough people have died today, and there are not many brothers behind him.

Facing the last cavalry of Altan who blocked him, Ma Fang still chose to charge head-on, and the effect was unexpectedly good.

Although the Tartars were divided into left and right wings, which would cause them to rush out and cause greater casualties, he finally saw a way to survive, especially when he saw the neatly-organized Ming army formation in the distance also moving at this time, rushing towards them like a rolling red ocean.

Ma Fang knew that this was the Ming army speeding up to approach them after seeing them rush out of the Tartar camp, providing them with stronger security guarantees.

It would be a lie to say that he was not moved. When had the Ming army been so united? In the past, when fighting, Ma Fang had to pay attention to whether his comrades around him would betray him, so how could they come to rescue like this.

There were also mutual rescues, but those who were really willing to fully support often took action because of a particularly good private relationship, but never because of military orders from above.

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

Ma Fang led the team and shouted loudly in 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 battle with the cavalry of Altan, hundreds of people from Ma Fang's army finally broke out of the encirclement of the cavalry of Altan and escaped.

Looking at the Ming cavalry rushing to support them from a distance, the leading general was Liu Huan. Ma Fang did not bother to greet him and thank him. He was still thinking about the brothers who followed him.

At this time, they were really at the end of their rope.

Unconsciously, Ma Fang slowed down the horse's speed. He could not continue to run like he did before. Continuing to run would not only cost the lives of these horses, but also put the soldiers on the horses in great danger.

After the horse speed was reduced, Ma Fang's army no longer stumbled, and they kept approaching Liu Huan's army.

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

Ma Fang rode a yellow warhorse, which he knew very well. They were all influential figures in the Xuanfu Army.

But at this moment, Ma Fang's mount had been changed to a red and white warhorse.

For generals like them who are going to fight, white horses are generally not chosen, because the target is too obvious.

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

Looking up, the armor was covered with blood. Liu Huan had good eyesight and could even see several traces of broken armor. Obviously, Ma Fang was injured.

The two teams did not collide head-on. Liu Huan and Ma Fang just shook their fists on the horse. The two cavalry crossed each other, and Ma Fang returned to the back of the Ming army's vanguard. This was the real safety.

After Liu Huan's troops met Ma Fang, they naturally would not be stupid enough to continue rushing forward. They made a circle and withdrew from the battlefield.

Ma Fang led his troops to jog towards the flank of the Ming army. Wei Guangde and Tian Shiwei looked at each other in the army, and Wei Guangde said, "Let them rest on the spot."

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

In fact, Wei Guangde also guessed that most of the 500 war horses would not be able to be used as war horses in the future.

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

"Sir Wei, you see that there are still hundreds of Tartars staying outside the camp to monitor us. Should we press on?"

Tian Shiwei asked Wei Guangde's opinion in a low voice at this time.

Today is really a big surprise. Liu Dazhang is afraid that he will not have a good harvest because the Ming army won the battle.

Yes, if Liu Dazhang returns alive after losing the battle today, his guilt will be very small.

If Liu Dazhang loses the battle today, his guilt will be great. Just the fact that he is afraid of the enemy and afraid of fighting is enough to remove his official position.

What right governor? With a memorial, he will become an ordinary citizen in an instant, and it is possible that he will be sent to prison.

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

It is also good luck. Today seems to be a victory.

In Wei Guangde's view, it is a battle that cannot be won or lost, but now it has been regarded as a great victory by Tian Shiwei.

Strategically speaking, they did not complete the decapitation plan and failed to make the Altan tribe that entered the pass disintegrate without a leader, but tactically they won, seizing a military camp of the Altan tribe and disrupting the deployment of the Altan tribe's forces.

The most important thing is that from then on, the Ming army was no longer defeated against the Altan tribe, and it was also 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 looked at the seal. If there was no problem, 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. Calculated according to time, 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 of the Datong Army has already been stationed in Huailai County. Should we issue a warrant to let them come over?