Chapter 524 523 Ambush

According to the Liaodong Chronicles, "Xiongshan is 190 miles northwest of the city, Kaiyuan, and the west bank of the Liaohe River."

This historical book records: "Zongzhou is located in Shixiongshan, Liaodong. Yelu Longyun (Han Derang) established it with captured Han people. Emperor Shengzong established it as a prefecture under the jurisdiction of Prince Wen Zhong's palace." The important reference coordinates for confirming the specific location of Zongzhou are "Shixiongshan, Liaodong".

In the "Wujing Zongyao" written by Zeng Gongliang in the Song Dynasty, an important information about the geographical location of Zongzhou was left: "Zongzhou, governed by Xiongshan County, is located on the south of Xiongshan, east of Liaoshui, and south of Xianzhou for 100 miles".

Here, "East Liaoshui" and "Xianzhou" are mentioned, and "Xiongshan" is mentioned again.

It's just that now, Xiongshan no longer has a county seat. In the early Ming Dynasty, a post station was set up here, namely Xiongshan Station, also known as Anqing Station.

However, with the contraction of the northern land in the early Ming Dynasty, Xiongshan was isolated outside the border wall, so the post station was abolished early, leaving only a place name.

However, today, at the foot of Xiongshan Mountain, two armies were galloping on the Liaohe Plain, with nearly 10,000 horses galloping and causing clouds of dust. The scene was also spectacular.

After Yang Zhao's order was issued, the Ming army at the back separated two cavalry units of hundreds of people, accelerating at full speed, and soon caught up with the front Ming army from the left and right sides, and then surpassed them, rushing towards the Mongolian cavalry not far ahead.

However, the Ming cavalry unit near Xiongshan Mountain was affected by the mountain and was closer to the middle road, blocking the way of the Ming army's vanguard.

Xiongshan Mountain is named as a mountain, but in fact, the mountain is not very high. It can only be regarded as a hilly hill, but it is on the Liaohe Plain, which makes it stand out.

East of Xiongshan Mountain is the Liaohe River, which is also a famous yellow flood area on the Liaohe River. Every rainy season, it will inevitably become a swamp due to the flooding of the Liaohe River.

Liaoze actually refers to the east of Xiongshan Mountain, close to the Liaohe River.

However, now the rainy season is over, and the swamp is gradually receding.

However, because of this, the east side of Xiongshan Mountain is not suitable for large-scale military operations.

Moreover, as the pursuing Ming army, it is naturally impossible to take a long detour and pass through the other side of Xiongshan Mountain to encircle the fleeing Mongolian Tartars, not to mention that there are no road conditions on the east side of Xiongshan Mountain for them to pass.

The two pursuing troops soon caught up with the Tartars' rear guard troops, but the two sides did not come into contact. The Ming army intended to encircle from both sides and naturally did not want to fight with the Tartars' rear guard troops.

However, in this way, the Ming army's pursuers far away from Xiongshan Mountain were fine, while the Ming army close to Xiongshan Mountain was affected in speed, and the cavalry formation was no longer dense, gradually turning into a long dragon, and the formation also seemed much thinner.

At this time, the Tartars' vanguard team had already left Xiongshan Mountain, and the two sides became wider. The pursuing Ming army had also surpassed the Tartars' rear guard troops and approached the Tartars' central army.

However, the two Ming army guerrillas keenly noticed that the Tartars' vanguard cavalry did not continue to flee to the north, but began to circle to the left, obviously to change the direction of the army's advance.

The two guerrilla generals knew that the Tartars would not continue to flee after the Ming army pursued them to this extent, but would line up to fight the Ming army.

However, seeing the Tartar cavalry formation, from the vanguard to the rear guard, because there were a large number of grain carts in the central army, the formation was stretched out very long.

Moreover, the number of Tartar cavalry was obviously not as many as the Ming army that went out to pursue.

So the two were still quite confident at this time that the Ming army had the ability to annihilate this group of daring Tartars.

Yes, the Liaodong troops of the Ming army, perhaps because of the bitter cold Liaodong, still maintained a tenacious spirit in the army, and the combat effectiveness was also relatively strong.

After all, they often had to fight with Mongolia and the Jurchens in the north, and even the troops around Liaoyang often had to be pulled out to support various places.

During this period, in terms of field battles, perhaps only a few Ming armies such as the Liaodong Army had the power to compete with them.

And this group of Tartars is too hateful. In the past two months, they have repeatedly raided the border wall west of Liaoyang, looting the nearby border wall and towns as if no one was there, which really hurts the face of the Liaodong Army.

In the past, the Tartars would break through the border wall from time to time to plunder and then leave in a swagger.

And this time, they repeatedly raided a place, which was disgusting enough. It felt like they were bullying them.

Otherwise, it would not have inspired Yang Zhao, the general commander of Liaodong, to lead the army around Liaoyang to go out and risk going out to pursue.

If this group of Tartars cannot be eliminated, there will be no peace on the border wall of Liaodong in the future, and I am afraid that it will be harassed by the Tartars.

Well, killing them all is also a way to establish prestige.

As long as the prestige is established, their lives will be better in the future.

Seeing that the Tartar army turned to prepare for a head-on battle, the two Ming army guerrillas began to restrain their horses at the same time, and no longer galloped like before.

Before the battle even started, the horses under their crotch were exhausted and had no power to fight.

On this Liaohe Plain, if they didn't have horses under their crotch, these cavalrymen who were once looked up to by other Ming troops would not even be as good as infantrymen.

They had even thought that if the Tartars stopped running, they would lead their troops to retreat behind the formation after the arrival of the general commander, and take advantage of the opportunity when the two armies were arranging their troops to feed their horses some bean cakes to restore some horsepower.

To ordinary people, it seems that as long as they ride on horses, they are cavalrymen.

But for those who make a living from this, they know that cavalrymen are actually far from that simple.

If you can't keep enough horsepower, even if the knight's riding skills are superb, it is very dangerous in the battle.

The warhorse may lose the ability to run due to lack of physical strength, or even fall down directly.

It can be imagined that when the two armies are fighting, if you fall off the horse, your comrades in the rear will not have the opportunity to make way, so the result will be either being trampled to death by countless horse hooves or being hit by the warhorse.

When they rushed out of the Ming army just now, they had already consumed a lot of horsepower, but this was because the military order was difficult to disobey, not because they didn't know the danger of this military order.

In fact, the reason why these two guerrillas were assigned to this dangerous task was naturally because they were not Yang Zhao's direct troops, so they received this task.

It's just that in the army, once you have joined the team, you naturally have to go all the way to the end. There is no way out if you look ahead and behind.

Just like this order, if they dare to disobey, Yang Zhao may stop and stop chasing the Tartars, but all the blame will fall on them.

As for the result, it is highly likely that they will not be defeated in one go. They may even be killed directly, and the people behind them cannot say anything about it.

After all, the punishment for disobeying military orders in military law is just like this.

Soon, the Tatar vanguard appeared in front of them. As they had judged, it stopped after a circle. The central cavalry had already rushed out of the Xiongshan territory at this time, and was also turning along their previous route, completing a 180-degree turn.

However, they also found that the Tatars had abandoned the grain carts in front of them on this road, and they chose to turn around lightly.

The Ming army slowed down, allowing the Tatars' central and rear troops to gradually overtake them.

However, when facing the Tatar vanguard army that was already on full alert, the Ming army's outflanking troops did not dare to rashly launch a charge to hit the Tatars' elite vanguard cavalry.

What's more, they were obviously at a disadvantage in numbers.

In this way, the Tartar cavalry stepped on the second, and completed the army's turning work before the Ming army caught up. They were already facing the Ming army directly, no longer leaving their backs in front of them.

At this time, the two guerrilla generals had a trace of regret.

If they had not mechanically followed Yang Zhao's military orders, not rushing to the front of the opponent's central army, but directly rushing to the rear of the Tartar central army, perhaps they would still have a chance to create chaos for the Tartar army.

However, the result of doing so is actually disobeying military orders, and it is hard to say what will be waiting for them.

Yang Zhao is a man with a somewhat irritable temper and self-willed.

Maybe if they win, they will only be given a slight punishment, but if the loss is large, they may have to take the blame.

The two teams of Ming troops gradually began to slow down, rein in their horses, gather their cavalry, and reorganize their formation.

At this time, it is not the time for them to relax.

The Ming army is about to arrive, and it is very dangerous if the Tartars launch a surprise attack at this time.

However, whether it is the Mongols or the Ming army, when the two armies are fighting head-on, they will also follow some battlefield rules.

At the very least, they will not rush over before the other side has completed the formation or before three consecutive military drums are sounded.

This is different from an ambush, which is of course an unexpected attack.

And this time the two armies are fighting on the plain, which is naturally in accordance with the rules of head-on battle.

Soon, Yang Zhao, the general of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty, urged his horse to the front, and his men began to organize the troops.

A pursuit battle turned into a head-on battle. In fact, Yang Zhao was mentally prepared at the beginning.

Apart from anything else, after he led his troops out of the border wall, as long as the Tartars turned back to fight, they would face such a scene, so he didn't care at all.

However, the previous change of the Tartar formation can be said to be timed at a loss. Obviously, the leader of the other team is also an experienced veteran. He couldn't help but pay attention to it and ordered his men to carefully organize the formation.

However, at this time, the Tartar cavalry was outside the mountain, while one side of the Ming army's formation was Xiongshan, which was naturally not conducive to their formation.

However, for the cavalry, such a formation had limited impact.

If the formation was not wide enough, then the thickness would be strengthened, anyway, the two armies would collide at that time.

Their cavalry had more people and a thicker formation, which actually gave them an advantage in such a battle.

After the two armies collided, they killed through the opponent's formation, and then circled back to kill again. This group of Tartars would definitely be unable to escape.

Yang Zhao was thinking in his mind at this time, and he also issued the order to assemble the team.

With so many Tartars, there would be at least thousands of heads in hand after the war. If he reported to the court, he would be promoted to a higher level. Even if he could not become a great governor, it would be reasonable to give him a governor-general.

During the confrontation between the two armies, Yang Zhao was thinking about good things in his heart, and his face showed a smug look.

At this time, in the Tartar army, Huang Taiji and Dalai Sun beside him were also pointing at the Ming army in front of them, with an excited look on their faces.

Yang Zhao's flag was in the enemy's army. It was certain that the one who was caught this time was Yang Zhao, the Liaodong general of the Ming army.

Killing him or capturing him alive would be a great achievement for them, at least it would hit the morale of the Ming army hard.

Thinking of the offensive they planned, if they took Yang Zhao to attack the city of the Ming army, what would the morale of the Ming army on the opposite side be like when they saw their general being captured.

The generals on both sides were full of confidence, and they were all thinking about defeating the other side in one battle to win the game.

But, all this was calculated without intention.

As the Ming army completed the formation at the foot of Xiongshan Mountain, the army was densely arranged and ready to launch a decisive battle with the Tartars, a Tartar cavalry unit had quietly bypassed from the side of Xiongshan Mountain and blocked the rear of the Ming army.

The sudden change was naturally discovered by the soldiers behind the Ming army. When they saw a large group of Tartars appear and rush towards them in an attack formation instead of forming a formation, they were all horrified.

Surrounded.

At this time, this was the thought that came to the minds of all the Ming soldiers.

The Tartar cavalry rushed out from behind, and the ground trembled slightly, which was naturally discovered by Yang Zhao who was reining in his horse. When the Ming army in front looked back, the smoke and dust trampled by the cavalry was clearly visible.

And when Yang Zhao looked back at the Tartars in front, the opposite side had already blown the horn, which was a signal for attack.

Yang Zhao didn't know that he was calculated by the Mongols at this time. Not only was he attacked from both sides, but he also lost the most important thing for the cavalry, that is, speed.

Now they are standing quietly in place.

If the cavalry can't charge, they are not as good as the infantry.

At this time, the only way out for Yang Zhao is to charge forward, and he must not run back or to the left, and rush out between the Tatar army in front and behind, although it is close enough to the Ming army's border forts Zhenyuan Fort and Big and Small Black Mountain Fort, which should be only a few dozen miles away.

Because the army's formation is limited, it is impossible to turn around immediately, unless he abandons his subordinates and escapes, there should be a chance.

But he can't.

For a head-on battle, when the formation is deployed, it is the time for the generals of the two sides to fight wits and courage.

And after the formation is completed, winning or losing is the last fight.

Yang Zhao did not hesitate at all. Now he wanted to rush forward, break through the Tatar army formation, and then run directly to the Ming army's border wall in the west, instead of going back and fighting again.

As long as he can run to the border wall, he can get the protection of the city wall.

He has seen that there are at least 3,000 Tatars behind him, and they are elite soldiers who are waiting for the opportunity.

"Beat the drums, charge."

Yang Zhao drew out his long sword and waved it, commanding the entire Ming army to charge.

At the foot of Xiongshan Mountain, the three cavalry teams began to move.

However, at this time, the Tatar cavalry led by Huang Taiji did not charge directly at the Ming army, but instead slid diagonally towards the right wing of the Ming army.

In this way, although the Ming army's vanguard could charge forward without hindrance, their rear team would definitely be disrupted by this group of Tatars and completely destroyed by their attack.

What's more fatal is that the Tatar rear army, which was waiting for the opportunity, also charged towards the right wing.

The right wing of the front and rear armies was surrounded by the Tatars on both sides when it came to the Ming army.

Before the Ming army's formation had fully accelerated, the rear team had been caught up by the Tatars, and the battle formation was torn apart like a crushing blow.