Chapter 358 357 Bansheng City

The Xuanfu sent an early warning to the capital, apparently discovering traces of the main force of the Anda Division.

After the military report arrived in Beijing, the news spread quickly like a whirlwind through all the major government offices in the capital.

In the past few years, although urgent military reports have been sent to the border towns from time to time, they can only be regarded as small troubles. The Tatars dispatched more than a thousand troops, which means that to harass the border forts, more than 3,000 troops Not much action.

This time, the urgent report from the Xuanfu directly stated that the main force of the Anda Division was obviously tens of thousands of people, and a war seemed to be about to break out.

"Shandai, what do you think?"

At this time, in the pavilion in the garden of the Hanlin Academy, a group of Hanlin officials were sitting together, drinking tea and chatting.

In the past, the content of the chat here was of course a collection of classics and history, poetry and poetry, but today, the content of their chat was transferred to the Xuanfu.

Yes, after the news spread that a large number of Anda cavalry were discovered outside the Xuan Mansion, many people suddenly remembered that the most recent battle with the Anda tribe was many years ago. Wasn't it commanded by their young colleague?

Therefore, when nothing happened, many people pulled Wei Guang to the pavilion, drank a pot of tea, and asked him what he thought of the current situation in Xuanfu.

Looking at the expectant looks of everyone, Wei Guangde even saw Zhang Juzheng among his colleagues.

It was also strange that today he did not go to the Imperial Academy, but ran back to the Hanlin Academy.

Wei Guangde knew that he might not be able to fool him if he tried casually, so he waved his hands hurriedly and said: "I just learned about this news, and I haven't thought about it too much. Here I will tell you what I can think of now. If there are any mistakes, please let me know. Don't be surprised."

"Speak quickly, we all want to hear your opinion."

"That's right, time is tight, and it's normal to have some mistakes and omissions. We'll listen to what you say, and we'll discuss it when it's over."

"Well, that's exactly how it should be."

Looking at Zhang Juzheng next to him, who was also stroking his beard and nodding, Wei Guangde had no choice but to continue: "I guess you have never been to Xuanfu, and I have only been to some places.

However, when I was in Xuanfu at that time, I heard people say that within the scope of Xuanfu, the Great Wall stretches for hundreds of miles and there are more than ten passes, large and small. There is a popular saying among the people, 'Only a thousand days to be a thief, but a thousand days to guard against thieves'.

There are too many city gates and it is difficult to defend them.

I heard from those generals that the Tatar cavalry ran all the way along the Great Wall, and when they found loopholes in the defense, they attacked the city. The Great Wall defense line seemed impregnable, but in fact it was just an appearance. If one was broken, the whole line would be broken. "

After saying this, Wei Guangde shook his head.

The last time I went out with Tang Shunzhi, although the memorial he came back echoed the opinions of building the border wall and stabilizing people's livelihood, it also mentioned the weakness of the Great Wall's defense line. It cost a lot but was of little value.

However, building the Great Wall was a national policy, and Wei Guangde believed that it could not change anything. At least until mature thermal weapons came out to allow infantry to resist cavalry attacks, it was still necessary to use the Great Wall to delay the enemy's attack.

"You mean, if Xuanfu cannot hold it, the Tatars will invade again?"

The clever official immediately noticed Wei Guangde's analysis and asked immediately.

"You may have seen the war reports at the border over the years, but I don't know if you have noticed that the Tatars' harassment of border towns has changed somewhat in form in the past two years, especially in the direction of Xuanfu and Jizhen. They have repeatedly used hooks. The pole siege method takes advantage of the low weakness of the castle wall to quickly break through the castle wall.

I remember that Jizhen once submitted a memorial, saying that it was a new combat method developed by Qiu Fu and Zhao Quan, the remnants of the White Lotus Sect, for An Dahan. It was extremely hateful. "

The so-called method of making a hook pole to attack the castle is actually to make a long pole with a curved hook at the top. The hook hooks the city wall, and the Tatars climb up the pole to break the city.

Of course it won't work for a large fortress with high walls and thick walls like the capital city, but most of the walls in the border town military forts are low, so you can use this method to quickly rush up to the wall.

When Wei Guangde said this, he was actually reminding his colleagues that the Tatars could not only break through the Great Wall, but also quickly break through the military fortresses inside and outside the Great Wall, making the entire Great Wall defense line lose its defensive and containment functions.

The so-called Great Wall is actually not just an isolated city wall that later generations saw meandering along the high mountains. In addition to the city wall, the Great Wall also includes moats, towns, forts, walled cities, and piers distributed inside and outside the city wall. A three-dimensional defense system.

When building the side wall, soil was often taken from outside the wall, thus forming a moat outside the side wall, which was equivalent to a moat for the city wall, making it more difficult for the Bei tribe's cavalry to cross the border.

When the Northern tribe's cavalry invades, nearby people, livestock, and materials are collected into towns, forts, fortresses, and piers, and the tactics of fortifying walls and clearing fields are implemented to prevent people and materials from being plundered by the Northern tribes, and to achieve the strategic purpose of stopping the enemy. .

In the past, these border forts were not easy to break, but in the past two years, there have been reports of border forts being breached by the Tatars from time to time, but such information has been ignored by most people.

In the past, the Tatars could only use surprise tactics to attack the border forts. When the Ming army was unprepared, they rushed into the military fort at the speed of cavalry. Once the military fort was prepared, it would fall into a stalemate if it could not rush in, which would consume the defenders bit by bit. Find weak points and attack the city after morale and equipment.

The Tatars crossed the Great Wall, but as long as the Ming army's fort remained, it still had a containment effect, preventing the Tatars from making a large-scale penetration.

"What Shandai means is that if we let our troops come in, there will be another war? Then the Xuanfu's request for Jizhen to send troops for support should be supported?"

At this time, Zhang Juzheng, who had been silent until now, suddenly asked.

He understood what Wei Guangde meant. The combat power of the Altan tribe has improved. This time, a large army is coming. A big battle is inevitable.

"It's time for the nine borders to move."

Wei Guangde nodded and said.

Just as the officials in the capital were discussing the military report from Xuanfu, a secret meeting was also being held in Datong Town.

This is the official residence of Li Wenjin, the governor of Datong. There are not many people in the room. In addition to Li Wenjin, there are Liu Han, the general officer of Datong, and Yu Dayou, the former general officer.

At this time, Liu Han said loudly to Li Wenjin, the governor: "Governor Ge only asked us to mobilize troops and horses to be ready to support Xuanfu at any time, but Lord Li wants to take people out of the border wall. Once Lord Ge issues a formal order, where can I find troops to rescue Xuanfu?"

The governor Ge mentioned by Liu Han is the current governor of Xuanda, the chief censor Ge Jin. At this time, he was in Xuanfu. While sending an urgent report to the capital, he did not forget to issue an order for the Datong army to be ready and ready to support at any time.

Before Altan Khan attacked Xuanfu with all his strength, Ge Jin did not dare to transfer the Datong Army to assist in the defense. Once Altan Khan discovered it, he would make a feint in Xuanfu and then turn back to attack the empty Datong. Two legs will never be able to outrun four legs.

However, today, Liu Han was called here by Li Wenjin. What awaited him was not what he thought was a discussion on how to prepare to reinforce Xuanfu, but Li Wenjin proposed a very bold idea to him, to send troops out of the border wall into the grassland and raid Altan Khan's old nest Bansheng.

Bansheng, that is, Fengzhou Beach, was originally the grazing place of the Tumed tribe led by Mongolian Altan Khan, but now it has become a city, a big city outside the Great Wall.

For decades, some northern border residents, unable to bear the oppression of feudal rulers, fled to the Mongolian region and gradually settled in the Fengzhou Beach area, forming Bansheng City where Mongolians and Han people lived together.

The Han people who settled in Bansheng included White Lotus sect members counted by the court, border soldiers who rebelled against the court, prisoners sent to guard the border, and more were farmers in the border areas who could not pay taxes and labor service.

In fact, these people did not come here on their own. Most of them were captured by the Tartars after leaving the wall and brought here, gradually forming a situation where a large number of Han people settled here.

The Han people settled here, built houses, engaged in production, and gradually formed a Bansheng city of a certain scale.

The leaders of the White Lotus sect members, Qiu Fu, Zhao Quan, Li Zixin and others, came here. After gaining the trust of Altan Khan, they began to instruct Altan's troops to crack the defense of the Ming army and joined the war, promoting the further enrichment of the composition and tactics of the Mongolian army.

At the same time, they also gave advice to Altan Khan and helped him build a palace in Bansheng City. The palace was "very magnificent" for Altan Khan to use when he became emperor.

"They cut wood and built a nine-bay palace in the city. The nine-bay palace was built on the square city wall. They used it as their own house, imitating the king and princes, and painted it in red and green, shining on the dragon court. They named the country 'Jin'".

These news were all sent back by the insiders of Altan Khan's tribe, so the court was very concerned about every move of Bansheng City.

Fengzhou, where Bansheng City is located, is surrounded by mountains and has abundant water and grass. Mongolians graze here, and Han people have opened up thousands of hectares of fertile land. Every summer, the old and the young go out of the Daqing Mountain Pass to escape the heat. Zhao Quan and others stayed in Bansheng City, preparing to stay here for a long time.

They not only instigated Altan Khan's tribe to attack the border towns of the Ming Dynasty, plundered a large number of border people and brought them to Bansheng City to strengthen their own strength, but also actively lobbied Altan Khan, who had established himself as the Khan of Mongolia, to encourage him to imitate the Han system and ascend the throne to become emperor.

It can be said that Bansheng City is not only Altan Khan's old nest, but also the stronghold chosen by the defecting White Lotus Sect members.

Here they kept in contact with the believers who were still inside the Great Wall, not only smuggling strategic materials such as ironware and food, but also leaking intelligence about the Ming army. The purpose of doing all this was to encourage Altan Khan to raise troops to fight against the Ming Dynasty.

The Bansheng Group of the White Lotus Sect not only supported Altan Khan to become emperor, but also suggested that he capture and rule the border of the Great Wall, imitate the story of Shi Jin during the Five Dynasties, and establish a regime that was equal to the Ming Dynasty.

In the words of Zhao Quan, Li Zixin and others, that is, "dispatching various barbarians to capture Datong, Xuanfu, and Jizhou, and share the world with the Southern Dynasty."

They even outlined the prototype of a huge empire, with Bansheng City as the center, starting from the Ji-Liao border in the east, bordering the three Wuliangha guards and the Har tribe, west to the Gansu border, south to the Great Wall, and north to the border with Khalkha Mongolia, and established an independent "Jin Kingdom" regime with a Han-style ruling system in the vast southern desert area.

Bansheng's position in Altan Khan's army was very important, so when Yu Dayou learned that Altan Khan's main force had left Xuanfu, he hurriedly discussed countermeasures with Li Wenjin, the governor of Datong. The strategy he proposed to repel the enemy was to target Bansheng City, intending to play a strategy of Wei Wei to save Zhao.

Break through Bansheng City, wipe out the remnants of the White Lotus Sect, and force Altan Khan to return troops to rescue and thus resolve the dilemma of Xuanfu.

Li Wenjin was also very surprised when he first heard Yu Dayou's plan. This was more than 300 miles out of Datong Town, and it had to cross the Black River and the Gray River.

However, after Yu Dayou's detailed explanation, Li Wenjin felt that this battle plan seemed very reliable, so he hurriedly found Liu Han, the general of Datong, to discuss the matter.

Liu Han was considering which troops to withdraw to the east to reinforce Xuanfu at this time. When he heard the governor summon him, he thought it was a matter of contacting for food and grass.

When the army was relocating, food and supplies were definitely the top priority. If there was any mistake, there was a possibility of mutiny and escape halfway, so Liu Han rushed to the governor's office as soon as possible.

But what he never expected was that Li Wenjin summoned him to discuss was not the food and supplies he thought, but to lead the troops north to attack Bansheng City.

Regarding Liu Han's concerns, Yu Dayou immediately replied: "As long as our army succeeds in the sneak attack on Bansheng City, our troops will return to rescue and the danger of Xuanfu will be solved.

In fact, what we have to consider is not the safety of Xuanfu, but the siege of our army by the Tatars after we succeed, and find the nearest passage to return to Datong."

Hearing Yu Dayou's words, Li Wenjin next to him nodded sympathetically and said, "That makes sense. After Anda Khan learned that Bansheng City was breached, he must have guessed that it was our Datong Army who did it, and he would probably send a rescue team." Shengcheng, the other unit was inserted between Bansheng and Datong to intercept our army's return. "

"Then you still want to do this? It's too dangerous."

Liu Han frowned and said.

Hearing Liu Han's question, Li Wenjin's expression remained unchanged, but he did not give an answer. He turned his eyes to Yu Dayou who was aside.

For Li Wenjin, he only focuses on strategic issues.

The plan proposed by Yu Dayou to encircle Wei and rescue Zhao was in line with the strategic goals of rescuing the Xuanfu and attacking the White Lotus cultists outside the Great Wall. By the way, burning Bansheng City on fire could also show the strength of the Ming army and prevent Anda Khan from easily proclaiming himself emperor.

On the grasslands beyond the Great Wall, it is your business to establish yourself as a khan. As long as the Mongolians obey you, Li Wenjin feels that this seems to have nothing to do with them.

But if Anda Khan were to proclaim himself emperor, the nature would be completely different.

There can only be one emperor in the world, and that is the Ming Emperor.

Once Anda Khan is allowed to proclaim himself emperor, the Ming Dynasty will definitely send out a large army to encircle and suppress him. It will definitely be an endless war.

The raid on Bansheng City can let Anda Khan know the combat power of the Ming army, so that he will not dare to proclaim himself emperor easily. No matter how those traitors incite, I believe Anda Khan will make the right choice.

As for the safety of the raiding force's return journey, such tactical issues were considered by generals such as Yu Dayou and Liu Han.

Once the Datong army sets off, Li Wenjin will definitely not stay in the pass, but will set off with the army, but he will only stay dozens of miles away from the border wall and lead the team to respond to the raiding army.

As for the general who will lead the team, Li Wenjin had already made up his mind when he asked Yu Dayou. If Liu Han was unwilling to lead the team to attack, Yu Dayou would lead the team to attack Bansheng City. This was also his strong request.

Following the attack with the army, Li Wenjin understood what Yu Dayou was thinking.

This time, Hu Zongxian's frame-up caused him to suffer unjust injustice. Not only did he lose the military officer position he had won after more than ten years of fighting, but he also lost the hereditary military position passed down from his ancestors. If he could not regain Feng Yin from his hands, then he would Even after death, I would not be able to see my ancestors.