Chapter 362 361 Loophole

Xuanfu Town was one of the nine border towns established in the early Ming Dynasty. It was named after the general of the town was stationed in Xuanhua Prefecture. It was also abbreviated as "Xuan Town".

The border wall under its jurisdiction started from Juyongguan Sihaizhi in the east and reached Xiyang River in Yanggao County in the northeast corner of Shanxi Province in the west, with a total length of nearly a thousand miles.

Xuanfu Town has always been a place that must be fought for by military strategists. Its strategic position is very important. Especially after the Ming Dynasty established its capital in Beijing, Xuanfu Town was the throat to defend the capital and defend against the southward migration of the Mongolians.

In the "Nine Border Maps" during the Longqing period of later generations, Cheng Daosheng said: "Xuanfu is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the land is dangerous and narrow. The number of garrisons is twice that of other towns. Therefore, it is known to be easy to defend because of its perfect momentum. However, it is less than 400 miles away from the capital, and the key is placed there. The key is known."

The status of Datong, which is adjacent to it, is the same. This is why the Ming Dynasty set up the position of Governor of Xuanda, and also incorporated Shanxi behind Xuanda into the management scope of the Governor of Xuanda.

Why it became the throat of the Mongolian southward migration is actually easy to understand.

On weekdays, Altan Khan stayed in Bansheng City for a long time, which is the city of Hohhot in later generations.

Draw a straight line between Hohhot and Beijing, and the line will pass between Xuanfu and Datong.

Well, the shortest distance.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang specially appointed Dai Wang Zhu Gui and Gu Wang Zhu Tan to guard Datong and Xuanfu respectively, and Yan Wang Zhu Di to sit in Beijing, the purpose of which was also to ensure the safety of "Yuan Dadu".

In the fifth year of Ming Xuande, Tan Guang, the general of Xuanfu Town, "requested the establishment of a capital command and divided Zhili and Shanxi into guards." The court approved it.

The capital command, whose seat was in Xuanfu Town, was named Wanquan, borrowing the name of Wanquanwei, but its scale was much larger.

When Wanquan Duzhisi was established, it governed 11 guards, including the front, left and right guards of Xuanfu, the left and right guards of Wanquan, Huai'an Guard, An'an Guard, Weizhou Guard, Yongning Guard, Huailai Guard and Kaiping Guard, and 7 thousand households, including Xinghe Guard, Meiyu Guard, Guangchang Guard, Sihaiye Guard, Chang'anling Guard, Yunzhou Guard and Longmen Guard.

Wanquan Dusi was the last provincial military institution established in the Ming Dynasty. It only had a Duzhisi, but no corresponding Chengxuan Zhengshisi and Tixing Anchashisi. Previously, there was only one example in Liaodong Town.

At this time, on the winding mountain road of Dasong Mountain, dozens of knights in armor suddenly appeared from the previous bend. They urged their horses to run forward desperately, as if there was some wild beast behind them.

Not long after they passed, the ground began to tremble slightly, accompanied by a gradually enlarging rumble, like the sound of the earth when a dragon turned over.

But as the densely packed knights wearing various leather armors emerged from the bend, there were also a few knights wearing iron armor, who were obviously people of high status in this cavalry team. The tremor of the ground and the rumble that came had a source, that is, the large group of cavalry was advancing.

Ununiform military uniforms, this is the standard of grassland cavalry.

Unlike the Ming Dynasty army in the interior, although the Mongols also have military uniforms, they are more made according to their own strength. The rich will consider using expensive iron armor, while ordinary Mongols with ordinary family conditions will use leather armor for protection.

The uniform equipment may only be the treatment of the guards around the Khan and the nobles.

Although the clothes were messy and the weapons were varied, the morale of the whole team was very high. Many people had relaxed smiles on their faces while running along the way, and they were talking and laughing with their comrades beside them, as if they were just gathering to go out hunting.

From a distance, a stone city at the end of the mountain road could be seen faintly, and there were flags of various colors flying on the city wall.

Many people saw this and laughed and pointed at their companions around them with their hands, speaking loudly in Mongolian.

The previous cavalry team had already rushed into the city in front, and the suspension bridge of the city had been lifted, the city gate was closed, and many red figures appeared on the city wall.

A general in full armor in front of the cavalry suddenly pointed at the stone fort in front and shouted to the soldiers behind him: "Take down Longmen Pass, and the things inside will be yours."

"Huru, huru"

After he finished speaking, the dozen knights behind him raised their weapons and began to shout loudly. As they shouted, the cavalry behind them also raised their weapons and joined the shouting, while urging their horses to speed up.

Behind them, the huge Mongolian cavalry kept waving their weapons, and the deafening shouts resounded throughout the fields, making the Ming army on the stone wall in the distance tremble.

Five piles of fireworks had been lit on the beacon tower on the right side of the city gate, and five huge plumes of thick smoke rose up, conveying the information of the enemy attack to the distance.

And on the hillside farther away, bursts of thick smoke also floated.

Beacon fire, also known as beacon tower, was a measure of military alarm in ancient times. When the enemy attacked, smoke was burned during the day and fire was lit at night, with visible smoke and light to alert all parties and superiors.

Beacon towers are usually built on high hills and hills that are easy to observe from each other. There are watch houses and equipment for burning smoke and setting fires on the towers. There are houses for soldiers to live and guard, sheep and horse pens, warehouses and other buildings under the towers.

The distance between beacon towers is generally about ten miles. They are usually built on high hills and hills that are easy to observe from each other. When the soldiers on the tower find that the enemy is coming, they immediately light the beacon on the tower. When the neighboring tower sees it, it will follow suit. In this way, the enemy situation can be quickly transmitted to the military center.

The news of the attack on Longmen Pass was quickly transmitted to all directions through the beacon tower, and Pubing also quickly passed more detailed information to the Xuanfu. However, they relied on two legs, and of course they could not catch up with the distant beacon smoke. Came quickly.

"Ada Khan chose to attack Longmen Pass?"

At this time in Xuanfu, the Governor of Xuanda, Ge Jin, who was sitting here, heard that his subordinates reported that there was an attack in the direction of Longmen Pass. The enemy situation was unknown at present, but the five beacon fireworks were lit, and he suddenly felt incredible.

Xuanfu, topographically speaking, is more like a twin peak and is divided into two parts: east and west.

To the east is the Yanshan Mountains, and the main pass is Dushikou. If you break through Dushikou, you can go south along the river valley to Yanqing, and then attack Juyong Pass.

In the 35th year of Jiajing's invasion, although the Anda tribe did not attack Dushikou, they chose Wafanggou to break the Longmen Station, which was the side wall broken in the river valley, and then followed the river valley to the vicinity of Yanqing.

This place has always been the focus of Xuanfu's defense.

In the west, on the two wings of Yehu Ridge, Wanquan City is now where Ma Fang is stationed. This is also the path often taken by prairie cavalry heading south.

This place is famous for the crucial battle between Mongolia and the Jin Kingdom. It was here that the Mongolian army led by Genghis Khan annihilated the Jin army led by Wanyan Chengyu, clearing the biggest obstacle on the road to attacking the Jin Kingdom.

The Jin Kingdom's defeat in the Battle of Yehuling left Zhongdu open and threatened, so that the Jin Kingdom had to abandon Zhongdu and move its capital to Bianliang four years later.

Because of the importance of this place, Xuanfu sent its most capable general Ma Fang to garrison here, commanding Wanquan's left and right guards and Huai'an guard, which was also one of the key defense points of Xuanfu Town.

However, this time Anda's attack unexpectedly did not attack the west or the east. Instead, it attacked the joint position of the east and west. If we break through here, Anda's army will be very close to Xuanhua City. Obviously, it is The attack was directed at the three guards of Xuanfu.

Ge Jin, the governor of Xuan Dynasty, also saw that something was wrong at this time, and immediately ordered: "Inform the general military officer of Xuanfu to come here to discuss the matter, send military orders to General Ma, and assemble the three guards and horses at Wanquan Left Guard to rescue Xuanhua City at any time. .

Issue military orders to Datong Liu Han and quickly lead the Datong army eastward along the Sanggan River Valley to support Xuanfu. Shanxi soldiers and horses gathered in Yuzhou, ready to come in for reinforcements at any time.

It is extremely urgent to send military reports to the capital. "

Without enough time to wait for Pu Bing to send more accurate and detailed information, Ge Jin issued orders to his subordinates.

These military orders and battle reports will be drafted by the masters and others he hired. After they are written and reviewed, they can be issued with a seal.

Soon, everyone in the room took action, and several people had already started writing official documents.

In the Wenyuan Pavilion in the capital, Yan Song and Xu Jie, the cabinet ministers of the Ming Dynasty, sat in the upper seats of the hall, and below them sat Yang Bo, the Minister of War, and Gao Gong, the Minister of Taichang Temple.

Although Wei Guangde said it very simply in front of Gao Gong, when he actually started to write, he was entangled, and the main reason was calculation.

He needs to calculate the time required for message transmission, the speed of the Ming army and the speed of the Andu cavalry. This is not calculated in a relatively small battlefield space in Baoan, Huailai and Yanqing. This is a two-dimensional calculation. A huge battlefield thousands of miles away.

A slight mistake in the calculations could lead to disaster for the Yansui and Ningxia Ming armies, so Wei Guangde spent several days going back and forth to the Ministry of War to find someone to get relevant information.

After Gao Gong learned in detail what Wei Guangde was doing, he didn't urge him. He just had to run to Wei Guangde's room in the Hanlin Academy every day. His silent actions made Wei Guangde feel even more stressed.

Finally, today's data has been calculated. Although it may still be wrong, it is obvious that the error should be within an acceptable range, and Wei Guangde can hand in the paper to Gao Gong.

After Gao Gong received Wei Guangde's memorial, he rushed to the cabinet to meet Mr. Yan Song.

After Yan Song learned from Gao Gongkou that Wei Guangde had made a plan for a possible war in Xuanfu, he was a little surprised at first. When he learned that Wei Guangde actually had the idea of ​​​​a Loop, there was an unknown emotion in his eyes.

It's a pity that although Wei Guangde wanted to go there, he only sent troops from two towns to carry out a robbery, rather than intending to stay there for a long time and return the Hetao to the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Although he was a little disappointed in his heart, Yan Song concealed this very well and was not discovered by Gao Gong.

"There are still six more movies with Mr. Xu Ge"

Yan Song did not reject it directly, but spoke. However, before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Gao Gong's deep bow.

"Mr. Ge, the stakes in this battle are very important. I think we should be cautious. We only need to summon Mr. Xu Ge and the Minister of War to participate."

Seeing Yan Song frown slightly, Gao Gong hurriedly added: "According to Guangde's plan, our army's consumption is much less than the previous plan. The most important thing is that nowadays the courtiers are scattered in various quarters of the capital, and there are often cases where the government's mistakes are known to the whole city. Condition.

The Jin Yiwei had captured the White Lotus cultists before. They were responsible for collecting news from the capital, and there were many cult bandits wanted by the imperial court around Anda Khan, so we had to guard against them. "

After hearing Gao Gong's concerns, Yan Song's eyes flashed with unclear meaning, but he quickly nodded, "Then we will first summon Cunzhai and Weiyue to discuss. If they have no objections, we will go to Xiyuan to see His Majesty."

Xu Jie was naturally the first one to arrive. In fact, he already knew when Gao Gong walked into Wenyuan Pavilion. Although he was surprised why he would go directly to Mr. Yan Ge, he had not heard of any major events happening in the Imperial College recently.

After the scribe came over and asked Xu Jie to move to Yan Song's room, Xu Jie put down his work and came over. He also wanted to know what Gao Gong was here for.

Soon, Wei Guangde's memorial was handed over to him by Yan Song. Xu Jie sat aside and began to read it carefully. The more he looked at it, the more frightened he became, but in his heart he complained to Gao Gong that such an important thing had not been given to him before. He gave some information.

Wei Guangde's memorial was so unpredictable that he didn't know what Gao Gong was thinking.

If Gao Gong went to find him as soon as he arrived at the cabinet, he would definitely stop this matter. Now that it was in Yan Song's hands first, he was helpless.

It should be said that Wei Guangde's strategy made some sense, but what he was worried about was not whether the strategy was good or not, but the attitude of the man in Xiyuan.

Not long after, Yang Bo, Minister of the Ministry of War, walked into Yan Song's duty room. Xu Jie handed the memorial in his hand to Yang Bo and said, "Wei Yue, let's take a look. This is Wei Guangde's proposal from Zuo Chunfang, Zuo Chunfang, Zhan Shi Mansion." A memorial to discuss the battle of Xuanfu."

After saying this, Xu Jie shut up and said no more. From the time he entered this place to now, Xu Jie has not looked at Gao Gong directly. He may be avoiding suspicion or feeling unhappy.

When Yang Bo entered the room, he was handed a memorial by Xu Jie. He had to smile bitterly, then bowed to everyone in the room, found a seat at the bottom and sat down, and carefully read Wei Guangde's memorial.

But as he looked down, Yang Bo's face became more solemn. If you observe carefully, you can find that he did not read the entire plan in one go, but jumped to the front from time to time and started reading again, repeating this process many times.

Finally, Yang Bo probably finished reading Wei Guangde's memorial, and placed it gently on the coffee table next to him, closing his eyes and thinking, completely ignoring the inquiring looks from Yan Song and Xu Jie above.

Gao Gong on the opposite side could do nothing about this. This Yang Bo was a bit awesome. Even for a big boss like Yan Song, he was usually not very cool. In addition, he had served as the governor and was decisive in killing. He seemed to have a little bit of murderous intent in him. , is a very special existence in the court.

After a long while, Yang Bo opened his eyes and looked at Yan Song and Xu Jie above, and at Gao Gong sitting opposite. He knew what they were waiting for, so he didn't hesitate and said bluntly: 'This strategy is feasible. ’

However, after saying these four words, before Gao Gong opposite could react, he had already stood up, picked up the memorial on the coffee table, walked to Yan Song and Xu Jie, and said, "The only loophole is that if I answer The troops were unmoved and continued to attack Xuan Mansion with all their strength. Once Xuan's army was defeated, only Ji Zhen's soldiers and horses would be left.

You must know that from Xuanfu to Hetao, it is thousands of miles away. It takes more than ten days to reach the cavalry with all their strength. Water far away cannot quench the thirst of the near.

Once Anda Khan chooses to give up rescuing the Loop, the risk of this strategy will be great, and the capital will almost face the Tatar army."