Chapter 376 375 Sick Leave

The loss of four thousand households was not only a loss of troops, but also a blow to the morale of the army.

The troops of the four thousand households could not be counted on in the short term. Without a victory, it would be difficult to restore their fighting spirit.

The Mongolian thousand households were also in a dilemma.

Who should be sent if the attack continued?

The four thousand people failed to attack in batches. There were still six complete thousand households under his command. What if the cavalry on both wings of the Ming army rushed up again?

For the first time, he felt that the infantry of the Ming army was so difficult to deal with, and he also felt that his troops were insufficient.

This combat power was a bit weird. In the past, when attacking those military forts, he had never seen such fierce guns and cannons, which had more powerful firearms.

Yesterday, when he had confirmed that the Ming army had only 8,000 cavalry and infantry, he was still full of confidence, but now, his mood has completely changed.

Now he is a little hesitant and doesn't know what measures to take.

Yu Dayou has already felt the hesitation of the other side. As long as he thinks about it in his mind, he can understand the other side's difficulties.

Liu Han behind him also thought of it at this time. He inadvertently urged his warhorse, but he was reined in after taking only a few steps.

"Forward."

Yu Dayou gave the order he had prepared long ago without thinking much.

As the drums sounded, the Ming army's formation no longer remained dormant, but slowly moved and approached the enemy formation on the opposite side.

Not long after, the Ming army's formation had already marched to the area where they had just been fighting. The area was full of the bodies of the Tartars and war horses, and the chariot showed its superiority at this time. The Ming army could lift it up to allow the chariot to roll over the obstacles on the road.

In the Ming army formation that was still firing guns and cannons before, soldiers occasionally saw the bodies around them and showed discomfort. Fortunately, there were relatively few such soldiers.

After all, although the governor's standard camp was not a complete garrison soldier, it was also selected from the border and the surplus of military households. In such years, the people here are used to life and death.

However, the reaction of the soldiers still made Yu Dayou frown slightly.

He made up his mind to let these people clean up the battlefield after the battle to practice their courage.

The central army of the Ming army continued to advance, and the cavalry on both wings began to slowly catch up and protect the side. The might of the army finally broke out completely at this moment.

For the soldiers of the Ming army, what they thought most before the war was whether the mutton they ate this morning would be their last breakfast. No one thought that they could win so easily.

But now, all the soldiers understand that they are afraid of winning a beautiful victory in this battle, and they have a chance to go back alive.

At this moment, the soldiers' desire for victory is erupting, and the military appearance is very different from before. The military prestige has increased inadvertently, completely overwhelming the army of the Altan tribe on the opposite side.

While the morale and prestige of the Ming army are rising rapidly, the fear in the hearts of the soldiers of the Altan tribe is quietly growing.

The first battle was lost. Although many people were shocked by the powerful firearms of the Ming army, they were after all an army composed of Han people. However, the long-term victory made them still doubt the combat effectiveness of the Ming army on the opposite side.

It was not until the retreat of the four thousand households, who were also Mongolians, that they faced up to the fact that the combat effectiveness of the Ming army on the opposite side was really strong.

None of them could get close, and even their riding and shooting skills that they relied on to travel all over the world were not used at all. The fear psychology arose, and no one wanted their team to be sent to the battle by the ten thousand households.

Now the Ming army is slowly advancing, getting closer and closer to them, and the pressure is even greater.

The Mongolian ten thousand households are in a dilemma at this time. They continue to attack, but they can't find a way to win. Should they retreat?

The Mongols are not a nation that fights to the death. Relying on war horses, they know the truth that they can fight if they can, and retreat if they can't.

"General, please make a decision as soon as possible. There is almost no distance to accelerate."

As the Ming army continued to advance, the distance between the two armies continued to shorten.

It takes a certain distance for the cavalry to accelerate when running. Obviously, the Ming army relied on the chariot formation to compress this distance.

Looking at the wall-like shield car, Wan Hu frowned. He finally understood why the car had only one wheel, which was convenient for turning.

Even if he gathered the troops at this time and inserted into the Ming army formation from one side, the central army of the Ming army could easily turn around and keep the entire front facing the direction of their charge.

Tricky.

Time was lost while he was hesitating. When the distance between the two armies was only four or five miles, it was still impossible to send solid bullets into the Tartar army formation, and they had to continue to move forward.

"We need to get closer by one or two miles, and then we can use solid bullets to bombard him."

Yu Dayou couldn't help thinking in his heart behind the Ming army formation.

However, the closer the two armies are, the more cautious they must be. If the other side goes crazy and rushes over regardless of casualties, even if the battle can be won, if the standard camp suffers heavy losses, it will be difficult for him to explain to Lord Li Wenjin.

Thinking of this, Yu Dayou waved his hand and signaled to order the army to pause.

The purpose of the pause was certainly not to start a war with the Tartars again, but to rearrange the formation.

After advancing such a long distance, the Ming army's formation inevitably had some problems, and it seemed no longer so tight and orderly.

The Ming army stopped advancing, but the Altan tribe on the opposite side did not feel the pressure relieved.

After thinking for a long time, the Mongolian Wanhu still couldn't think of a way to deal with this Ming army. Since he couldn't think of it and it seemed that he couldn't beat it, he could only take that step.

Retreating was not that simple.

Of course, he would not willingly admit defeat. If he showed signs of defeat, he didn't know whether the cavalry on both wings of the Ming army would follow him. As long as the cavalry and infantry of the Ming army separated, they could eat up the cavalry first, and then fight back against the infantry. It would be much easier to fight.

Although the Ming army showed strong combat power on the front, Wan Hu still believed that if it were not for the strong cavalry groups on both wings, he only needed to send out three thousand households to attack from the middle and two wings, and the seemingly tight Ming army formation would fall apart.

Seeing that the Ming army stopped advancing, the Mongolian Wan Hu was shocked. He didn't know what the Ming army generals were thinking. Until he saw the opposite side start to form a team, he knew that there was no hope of defeating this army now.

He quickly gave orders to the messenger behind him. The thousand households who had retreated to the barracks to form a team quickly packed up the equipment for camping. Whether it was a real retreat or a fake retreat, they could not leave anything they should bring.

When the Ming army completed the formation and continued to advance, the Mongolian Wan Hu shook his head and issued a retreat order seemingly unwillingly.

The three thousand households under his command formed one team, and the three thousand households of the Wangting Guard formed another team. They went around the camp behind them and began to retreat.

The Ming army, which had just advanced a few steps, saw the retreat of the Tatar army on the opposite side. Many people were still stunned, wondering why the opposite side retreated.

You know, on the battlefield they passed before, less than 3,000 Tatars were killed. This was a battle with 20,000 people. Could it be over with just these few deaths?

The changes in front were all seen by the general Liu Han.

Liu Han was stunned at first, but soon recovered from the shock.

The Tatars didn't know how to break the Ming army formation, and they had their own cavalry to protect them on the left and right. They couldn't find a chance to win, so they retreated.

Thinking of this, Liu Han waved the whip in his hand forward almost without thinking, and said fiercely: "Attack."

As soon as Liu Han finished speaking, the sound of war drums behind him sounded, and the military flags commanded by the side and rear began to dance.

He needed a hearty victory. If the merit of burning down Bansheng City was not enough for him to be promoted, then this victory, a victory against the main force of Altan Khan, should be enough.

As the attack order was issued, the cavalry on both wings of the Ming army began to advance slowly and began to accelerate. They also planned to bypass the Ming army's central army formation from the left and right to start chasing Altan Khan's army.

Hearing the roar of horse hooves behind him, Yu Dayou, who was still calm, felt bad.

The Tartars retreated but maintained their formation. Such an army retreated and could counterattack at any time.

Liu Han had the same idea as him. After a brief excitement, when countless Ming cavalry passed by him and kept urging their horses forward, he also realized that the Tartars on the opposite side were just retreating, not retreating.

At this time, the vanguard of the Ming cavalry had caught up with the central army formation and was about to rush over those infantrymen. Almost at the same time, two harsh sounds of gongs came from the rear.

"Ding Ding Ding"

Hearing the sound of the gong behind him, Yu Dayou breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Liu Han had not been blinded by victory.

Although Yu Dayou found something wrong at the beginning, when he issued the order to call back the troops, he first considered Liu Han.

This is a bit offensive!

So he hesitated for a while. Although he finally issued the order to call back the troops, at least he heard the gong behind him almost at the same time.

The advancing and accelerating Ming cavalry column began to slow down slowly after hearing the gong behind them, although the faces of the Ming cavalry were full of unwillingness.

The Tartars were defeated, and it was time to chase and kill them, but the general did not let them chase and kill them, and went to grab the credit of the head.

The Mongolian Wanhu who was running at the end of the opposite army was happy when he saw the Ming cavalry chasing, but he heard the gong soon after he was happy, and his mood instantly fell to the bottom.

The chance of turning defeat into victory is gone, and the generals on the opposite side are very strong.

This is what the Mongolian Wanhu was thinking at the moment.

Capital, Wei's house.

Wei Guangde came out of Xiyuan and went straight home. The next day, he wrote a note to the courtyard, saying that he was sick at home.

This is not because Wei Guangde was hypocritical, but the more he calculated, the more he felt that if he had not given advice at the beginning, the current situation should be just right. The army from Yansui and Ningxia supporting Xuanfu just arrived in Datong, which was enough to resist the offensive of the Altan tribe against the Datong army.

The small number of troops of the Altan tribe were dispersed to the Datong war zone and the Xuanfu war zone, which was of course a great thing for the Ming army.

The Datong war zone has troops from Datong, Yansui and Ningxia, and although Xuanfu only has troops from Shanxi to help, don't forget that the army of Jizhen is still eyeing it covetously.

All the trump cards of the Altan tribe have been revealed, and Jizhen does not need to hold back, just support Xuanfu with all its strength.

The Ming army has an absolute advantage on both battlefields.

Unfortunately, it is the Ming army that is being dispersed now, and the situation is completely reversed.

Wei Guangde stayed in the study these two days. On the desk was a map of the border town he had silently drawn. Although it was not as good as the one in the palace or the Ministry of War, it was still relatively detailed.

After two days of thinking, Wei Guangde still had no good idea.

According to the time, the battle in Datong should have been over. It was unknown whether the Tartars would choose to directly attack Datong or go to Hetao to eliminate the troops in the two towns first.

"Master, the lady invites you to have lunch."

Outside the study, the little maid said coquettishly.

"Got it."

Wei Guangde replied, stood up and walked a few steps. He inadvertently looked back at the map on the desk, and his eyes fell on Datong in the center.

"I only hope that Yu Dayou can display the strength of the God of War in Datong at this time. If he can keep Datong intact, the responsibility he will bear in the future will be much smaller."

Wei Guangde thought to himself, and looked away, and from the corner of his eye he inadvertently spotted a dark mark on the ground.

It was a note sent by Gao Gong after rising from Xiyuan the day before yesterday. Wei Guangde burned it and threw it there after reading it.

Gao Gong was also responsible for what happened this time. He did not pass the blame. He just wrote a note asking Wei Guangde whether he planned to stay in the capital or go abroad.

This is also planning for possible liquidation after the war.

Wei Guangde decided that he would use his connections with Prince Yu's Mansion to help with the matter.

From the perspective of Gao Gong and other members of Prince Yu's family, what happened this time was that Wei Guangde was unlucky and had to deal with two unreliable chief officials in Datong.

But no one can blame this. Such a thing would not have happened if Governor Xuan had not moved to Xuan Mansion.

In the afternoon, fellow villager Lao Kan actually came to Wei Guangde and said he was catching the autumn wind.

Lao Kan still didn't settle down in the capital, and still lived in a house provided by the yamen, so Wei Guangde's place became his canteen, and he would go here whenever he had something to do.

In fact, Wei Zhai is already a place where Jiujiang officials in Beijing often come.

"By the way, this is the letter from Zhang Ke yesterday. Please read it."

At the banquet, Lao Kan suddenly took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to Wei Guangde.

"Is it okay if he goes to Shaanxi?"

Wei Guangde smiled and reached out to take the letter, and asked casually.

"What can happen to his censor? He didn't just go around and take a look. But he said in the letter that he went to Huashan. I don't understand. What do you think Huashan has to do with him as a censor?

Could it be that the mountain god is also under his control?

hehe"

As he said this, Lao Kan himself laughed.

"Then why did he write back?"

Wei Guangde said in surprise.

Last month I received a letter from Zhang Ke, saying that he had gone to Shaanxi to take over as the censor for a one-year term.

As a censor, in order to clean up the officialdom, he naturally has to travel around frequently. It is difficult to get to Shaanxi, so he must have a look at the famous mountains and rivers here.

"He went to Huashan and met Zhu Shilong's gang. He said that he had a spiritual talk with them on the mountain. Now Mr. Zhu plans to go back to Jiujiang Mansion to study behind closed doors and participate in the next Spring Festival."

Lao Kan smiled.

"I've been traveling around in the past few years, and I'm afraid I won't be able to sharpen my ink anymore."

Wei Guangde smiled and shook his head.

"By the way, do you have any ideas about what that fellow countryman asked you to do? I heard that there might be a position available in the Criminal Division at the end of the year for Shi Zhong."

Lao Kan was talking about Ouyang Yijing, who was a Jinshi in the 38th year of Jiajing and has now gone to Xiaoshan County to serve as magistrate. He wrote to Wei Guangde some time ago, asking him to help with activities in the capital.

Well, he wants to go back to the capital.