Chapter 531 530 Grass Valley

In just one night, the document requesting help from Shunyi was sent to the capital, and at the same time, Miyun and Huairou in the north also sent war reports to the capital one after another.

"After the Tartars failed to attack Miyun, they immediately went south and attacked Shunyi County. Huairou didn't even go there?"

Wei Guangde was also stunned when he learned from Zhang Ji, who was responsible for inquiring about the news, that the news sent to the capital last night was also stunned. He didn't expect that this time, Altan Khan entered the pass without even planning to guard the rear road.

Yes, so far, the Ming court still thought that it was Altan Khan who led the team into the Great Wall, just like more than ten years ago.

The war report sent from Qiangziling Pass has actually been sent to the Ministry of War, but it has not been passed out because it has not been verified.

If it is hastily reported that only more than 10,000 Tartars came in, and in the end the Tartars still have a rear team or the judgment is wrong, the Ministry of War cannot escape responsibility.

At this time, it will not hurt to delay it for a while.

At least, the Ministry of War was not wrong to report that tens of thousands of Tartars entered the pass at the beginning.

However, Wei Guangde was also thinking about this matter in his mind at this time.

Although Miyun's location does not completely block the Tartars' way back to the grassland, it is strange that the Tartars have completely given up the attack.

You know, once the Ming army gathers a large army to attack, the Tartars retreat back to the front of the mountain. The Miyun garrison will go out to fight. Even if they cannot block their escape route, they will delay their retreat time. When the Ming army rushes up to surround them, what will they do?

Wei Guangde couldn't figure it out. According to the battle report of Miyun, the Tartars' strength is indeed tens of thousands, but now there are only a few Tartars outside Miyun City.

Of course, they are surrounded and worried that the Tartars are hiding in the dark, so they dare not go out of the city to eliminate the remaining Tartars outside the city. This makes sense.

But when the Ming army really gathers to launch a major counterattack, Miyun will not be able to use such an excuse to avoid the battle. That would only be sending themselves to the guillotine. The Miyun defenders will not be so stupid.

Moreover, Miyun reported that the garrison at Gubeikou had sent people to contact them in the city, which meant that the Gubeikou Pass had not been attacked by the Tartars, and even outside the wall, no trace of the Tartars was seen.

As a rule, it was impossible for only tens of thousands of Tartars to penetrate too far into the Ming territory.

Or the Tartars still had a large army hiding outside the pass, such as Gubeikou.

They were waiting for an opportunity for the Ming court to dispatch troops to besiege the Tartars who entered the pass, and then the large group of troops took advantage of the opportunity to enter?

However, this possibility is very low, and many places do not make sense.

If there were really a rear team, why didn't they come in from Qiangziling Pass together? It would be slower, after all, they had crossed the Great Wall.

At this time, based on the fact that the Tartars did not attack Miyun and Huairou, Wei Guangde began to doubt the purpose of the Tartars' attack.

In fact, during this period, the Tartars' offensives along the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty were often in the form of raiding the grass valley, that is, rushing in, robbing and running away.

However, such tactics were more often used against border towns such as Liaodong, Xuanda, and Yansui.

Because Jizhen was behind the capital, the Ming army had more troops stationed there, so it was not suitable for launching such an offensive, or it had never been done before.

There were similar actions to the east of Jizhen, but that place was still far from the capital, so there was no need for martial law in the capital.

Once they entered Jizhen, especially the pass near Miyun, most of the spearheads were directed directly to the capital.

Under inertial thinking, when they first knew that the Miyun Great Wall was broken, everyone thought that the Tartars were going to attack the capital, and then there was panic.

However, if they threatened the capital, the Tartars with such a small force of more than 10,000 would definitely fall into the dilemma of insufficient troops.

After entering the pass, they did not guarantee the safety of their retreat. They gave up attacking Miyun and hurried south to appear directly in Shunyi, which was similar to entering the pass to raid the valley. They came in just to plunder.

On the contrary, the Ming army, due to insufficient combat power, did not dare to take the initiative to attack the Tartars, because they were worried about losses, after all, this was the capital area.

No matter what time, the safety of the capital must be the first priority.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde felt that he seemed to be unable to do anything.

So what if they knew that they were just here to take advantage of the situation?

Do you still expect to use the old soldiers of the Beijing camp to go out of the city to defeat them?

There are indeed many troops around the capital, but they are all scattered in the city. The only mobile troops around the capital are actually the old soldiers of the Beijing camp. Otherwise, they would not have hurriedly mobilized the Xuanda troops to Baoding Prefecture to gather reinforcements.

Wei Guangde has never seen what the guards around Baoding Prefecture look like, but the guards of the Ming Dynasty seem to be in a similar situation.

That's it.

It seems a bit presumptuous to expect them to expel more than 10,000 Tartars.

After leaving his house, Wei Guangde was still thinking about this in the carriage.

But after thinking for a long time, it seems that they can't do anything except waiting for the Xuanfu and Datong troops to arrive.

Another thing is to wait for Jizhen to collect the remaining troops in Santunying.

However, Wei Guangde is not very optimistic. The elite troops should still be near Shanhaiguan at this time.

Shanhaiguan is about 600 miles away from the capital. It takes the Ming army ten days to march at a normal speed. Even if the march is accelerated due to the emergency, the cavalry is simple and can arrive in two or three days. However, the horses are exhausted and they will definitely not be able to be deployed to the battlefield immediately.

The infantry will take at least five or six days to march. For the same reason, it is impossible for them to fight as soon as they arrive at the battlefield.

The Ming army from Santunying can shorten the time by half, but I don't know how strong they are.

Although Wei Guangde had gone to see the soldiers in Jizhen, it was several years ago after all, and the soldiers he showed to them were naturally elite soldiers. Wei Guangde was worried that the Santun camp could only produce a bunch of old, weak and remnant soldiers.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde's heart moved.

If you can figure this out on your side, the Tatars who have been at war with the Ming army for a long time will not know it.

Moreover, due to the relationship between the White Lotus Sect, it seems that the Tatars are also very familiar with the Ming army. Ma Fang also said that the Tatar attack was very purposeful and organized.

He calculated that there would be several days during which there would be a gap in defense near the capital. During these days, the Tatars only needed to be on guard against the Ming army in the Santun camp and then they could plunder as they pleased.

It will be safe to evacuate before the surrounding reinforcements arrive.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde felt more and more that it seemed very simple for the Tatars to enter the border, and they had no intention of threatening the capital. After all, they only had so many people, so what could they do?

Do you want to be promoted through meritorious service?

Of course Wei Guangde thought so.

But he felt it was a bit risky to jump out at this time.

Moreover, with his level, I'm afraid he won't be able to do much.

If you want to take over the command of Ji Zhen or Xuanda reinforcements, you must at least be at the level of Minister of War.

Shaking his head, he sighed.

Although he was able to get a letter from Ma Fang, asking him to lead his troops not to go directly to the capital, but to go to Huairou, attack Miyun, and cut off the Tatars' return route.

But they were also worried that if they really blocked the people in the pass, they would run around everywhere, looking for passes along the Great Wall to break through, and the Ming army would not be able to stop them.

At that time, the entire border defense will be messed up and messed up, and the guilt will be even greater.

Or only by letting the reinforcements enter Beijing from Changping, then starting from Beijing to drive the Tatars out of the Great Wall, and the Jizhen army squeezing the Tatars on the right wing, can the losses be minimized.

As for encircling and annihilating this group of Tatars, without enough cavalry, it will be very difficult.

The carriage slowly stopped while shaking, and the driver announced from the front: "Master, we have arrived at Prince Yu's Mansion."

Since the war started in the past two days, Wei Guangde naturally had no intention of going to the ceremony, so he arrived at Prince Yu's Mansion early this morning.

It would be more practical to take advantage of the crisis and show up in front of Prince Yu to improve your status in his mind.

Although these are of little significance now, once King Yu ascends the throne in the future, his own benefits will come.

There are some positions that are vacant above. In the eyes of King Yu, those people are not the first to think about the people who come from his own palace.

Lifting the curtain, Wei Guangde quickly jumped out of the carriage and looked up at the weather. It was gray, just like the current atmosphere in the capital. He shook his head slightly and walked into the palace.

"What did Hu Zhen say?"

At this time, Sun Bin, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, was riding on his horse and asked the soldiers beside him. They had just received a report from Miyun guard Hu Zhen.

After receiving the news yesterday, he hurriedly gathered the remaining cavalry of the Santun Camp to march westward, and stationed in Zunhua that night. Early this morning, he led all the cavalry out of the city and rushed towards Jizhou City.

Today we don't plan to spend the night in Jizhou, but go directly through the city to Sanhe. We will camp wherever we go. We must reach Sanhe as soon as possible to ensure the safety of Tongzhou's flanks.

If the Tatars continue to go south to attack Tongzhou, he will have no choice but to take risks to relieve Tongzhou even with a small number of generals.

"Commander, Deputy General Hu sent someone to contact Gubeikou General Guo Hu yesterday and dispatched a group of elites to Miyun to be on standby.

According to the investigation, after the Tatars failed to attack Miyun this time, they went directly south to attack Shunyi and failed, so they began to loot the surrounding areas. Some troops also entered nearby Sanhe, Huairou and other places. "

The soldier replied hurriedly.

"The Tatars are not approaching the capital or Tongzhou?"

Sun Bin asked with a frown.

"Yesterday afternoon, the Tatars broke into the vicinity of Shunyi. Because a beacon fire alarm was set off on a pier, the gates of Shunyi City were closed early. Seeing that they could not enter the city, the Tatars began to loot. It is unknown whether they will continue to move south today."

The soldier replied, "In addition, Deputy General Hu also said that he had contacted other officers and soldiers at the pass and found no signs of large groups of Tatar soldiers and horses outside the pass wall. He is suspicious."

Having said this, the soldier hesitated slightly.

"What does he suspect?"

Sun Bin also became suspicious at this moment. When he heard that Hu Zhen was also suspicious, he immediately asked dissatisfiedly.

"What Deputy General Hu means is that this group of Tatars seems to be here to plunder. According to the report from Qiangziling Pass, there are tens of thousands of Tatars entering the pass, and no Tatar army has been found elsewhere. Assembling, there should be no backup.”

The soldier replied.

"Throwing grass in the valley?"

Sun Bin actually had such a guess before, but because there was no precedent, he couldn't be sure.

Now that I heard that Hu Zhen also analyzed it like this, I suddenly felt that the possibility was very high.

Immediately, Sun Bin thought that since the Tatars came in to rob, let them rob.

He has received news from the Ministry of War that the imperial court has transferred the King of Guards from the four towns in the west and Dusi in the south.

Since a large army will arrive here soon, it is estimated that the Tatar will escape by then. He only needs to lead his army to follow and kill him. There is no need to take the lead.

I don't have enough troops around me, but the responsibility lies with Yang Xuan and has nothing to do with me. When the time comes, I can just hand over Yang Xuan's order to the Ministry of War.

"knew."

Sun Bin agreed, and then ordered: "Send the order, the whole army speeds up, and must reach Sanhe County as soon as possible."

With the speed of cavalry, it takes half a day to reach Tongzhou from Sanhe, and then it is not far to the capital. In fact, it can be reached in one day.

He led the army to station in Sanhe. If the Tartars really want to attack the capital, he can rush to rescue them.

At this time, Hu Zhen, the deputy general of Miyun, was also staring at a map.

After he received the news of the scouts' investigation last night, he combined the news from various passes of the Great Wall and had a rough guess, so he said that to Sun Bin.

This group of Tartars will not stay in the pass for long, and the Ming army will definitely choose to escape after gathering.

However, he is staring at the map now, not thinking about strengthening the defense of Miyun, but looking for an opportunity, an opportunity to make merit and get promoted.

Although he is also a deputy general, he is guarding Miyun. If he makes merit and gets promoted, he can become the general officer of a town.

For military generals, it is naturally their ultimate goal, to add the title of governor.

However, the opportunity is not obvious now, so Hu Zhen does not intend to act rashly, but wait and see.

For the officials of Jizhen, the one who is most worried at this time is definitely not him.

Although the Tartars broke through the Miyun defense zone, he saved Miyun, which is not a small contribution, and even if he is punished, it will not be a big crime.

On the contrary, the guilt of Yang Xuan, the governor of Ji and Liao, is the biggest.

He, the deputy general of Miyun, also knows about the dispute between Jizhen and the Ministry of War.

After this time, Yang Xuan's official position is probably not guaranteed.

Just as Hu Zhen thought, Yang Xuan, the governor of Ji and Liao, was like an ant on a hot pot, and he was in a panic all day long.

After he learned from Shanhaiguan that the Tartars broke through the Modao Valley and Qiangziling city walls and entered the pass, he felt that something was wrong.

Miyun went south and would be able to fight to the capital in a few days.

The garrisons in Miyun, Shunyi and other places along the way could only protect themselves. Those soldiers were there to reinforce the pass when the Great Wall pass was in danger. Of course, they were no match for the Tartars in the field.

In a hurry, he ordered the army to return to the capital, and reorganized the troops around him to rush out of Shanhaiguan and head towards the capital.

At the same time, he also issued a military order to Sun Bin, the general of Jizhen, ordering him to lead troops to attack the enemy.

At this time, whether he could win or not was no longer within his consideration. What he had to consider was how to make up for his mistakes and prevent the Tartar army from approaching the capital.

However, due to the distance, when his order was delivered to Santunying, Sun Bin's men were almost in Sanhe County.

However, he was still clear that the elite troops of the Ming army in Santunying were all in the direction of Shanhaiguan, and Sun Bin had few troops to use.

So he didn't care about the fatigue of the soldiers. He personally urged all units to speed up and move closer to the capital, hoping to create threats on the flanks and make the Tartar retreat.

Even if he could feel the dissatisfaction of the Ming soldiers, he would not hesitate even if it caused a mutiny.

Now, all he could think of was to rush to the capital as soon as possible, command the Jizhen army to repel the Tartars and atone for his sins.