Chapter 930 1019 Wang Gao's Reaction

In one day, Wang Gao learned from the spies arranged outside Xianshan Fort and Gushan Fort that the Ming army was moving out in large numbers.

Immediately, he summoned his generals to discuss the strategy against the Ming army.

"The Ming army went out a month earlier than expected, which shows that the Ming army had already stored food and grass at the border, otherwise it would not be possible to prepare for the army so quickly."

After Wang Gao told the generals the news that the spies had found out, he said fiercely.

"Man Ge, just tell us how to fight. We don't know either, so we will listen to you."

Hearing that the Ming army had already set out to attack, Wang Gao's subordinate Taqige immediately made a noise.

So, under his leadership, other generals also made a noise, all shouting for Wang Gao to make a plan on how to fight the Ming army.

Among the people in the room, only Wang Gao and his two sons, A Tai and A Hai, and Lai Lihong did not say a word.

They were not taking a break, but thinking about how to fight the Ming army.

Just now, Wang Gao had told the news that the spies had heard. The Ming army set out from Xianshanbao, leading nearly 40,000 elite Liaodong troops, and marched forward with drums beating, and the momentum was quite strong.

Only two days after the departure, they had successively conquered two Jurchen villages along the way and killed dozens of people. The rest of the Jurchens retreated hurriedly when they saw the Ming army's battle formation and retreated to Gule City.

The Ming army that set out from Xianshanbao was led by Li Chengliang, the general commander of the Liaodong army of the Ming army.

Is Li Chengliang powerful?

Everyone present knew that Li Chengliang was really good at fighting.

Although Li Chengliang did not fight Wang Gao's troops head-on, Wang Gao's troops attacked the border towns of the Ming army several times. When they were about to successfully enter the town, they heard that the personal guards led by Li Chengliang had killed dozens of miles away and could arrive in an instant, so they had to retreat hurriedly.

Li Chengliang's personal guards were composed of thousands of Liaodong cavalrymen, and it was no exaggeration to say that their fighting power was the strongest in Liaodong at that time.

Just look at the Mongolian Tuman tribe that fought with him, and you can see that every time the Mongolian army was beaten by Li Chengliang, they fled in a panic.

Moreover, in the Ming army's assault, the Mongolian nobles at the level of tribal leaders often died in Li Chengliang's hands.

Although they had been defeated by the Ming Dynasty for more than a hundred years, because of the miracles created by Taishi Yesen, the little prince, and Altan Khan, there are still many leaders in the Mongolian tribes who do not obey the Ming army.

In their eyes, the fighting power of the Ming army was just so-so, not stronger than the Mongolian warriors under their command, but because they relied on their large numbers.

If it was in the environment inside the pass, perhaps large numbers would still be an advantage.

But when it came to the prairie, the advantage was no longer in the hands of the Ming army.

The two emperors who founded the Ming Dynasty were so talented and wise. They gathered tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of troops to march north several times, but they still failed to defeat the Mongols. They still lived on this land.

Therefore, when facing Li Chengliang's attack, most of the Mongolian leaders were not afraid at first, but thought it was an opportunity for them to show their power, and they led their troops to intercept.

The result is naturally predictable. Li Chengliang's personal guards not only selected the most brave and brave soldiers in Liaodong, but also armed to the teeth, which shows that the sharpest weapons in the army were all supplied first.

Under such armaments, it is not unfair for the Mongols to lose a big loss.

This also led to a long period of time afterwards. When the Mongols heard about Li Chengliang, they were scared to death.

However, the proud Mongols would naturally not say these things out loud. They would only hide them in their hearts and not let outsiders know.

Otherwise, they would only be greeted with endless ridicule and contempt.

And Wang Gao and others naturally did not know these.

As for the Ming army coming out of Gushanbao, the number of troops was obviously much smaller, only more than 10,000 people, and the flags were not the flags of the Liaodong generals familiar to the spies, so Wang Gao did not know the details of the generals.

In fact, Qi Jiguang's military flags were somewhat different from the traditional flags of the Ming army. He would adjust them according to his own military habits in the future for the convenience of command.

It was normal that the Jurchen spies did not recognize it.

"Although the Ming army sent troops in two directions, judging from the direction of advance, it is obvious that they are heading for our Gule City."

Wang Gao glanced at the generals, and under his gaze, the room instantly became quiet, and everyone shut up and waited for the leader to speak.

"It's at least 200 miles from the Ming army's border fort to our Gule City. According to the scouts, the Ming army is extremely cautious in advancing, only 30 miles a day, obviously worried that our army will set up an ambush along the way.

The Ming army came too fast, and they came to our door before we attacked, so..."

Speaking of this, Wang Gao glanced at everyone in the room, and then slowly said: "Atai, you go to the grassland immediately, find the Tuman, and ask them to send troops in advance.

Tell them the situation here. The general commander of Liaodong of the Ming court has led troops to kill me. It's their chance to send troops to attack Shenyang.

Take advantage of Li Chengliang's absence in Shenyang. If we take the fortified city in one fell swoop, Liaodong will be their Tuman's world in the future.

Tell them that we will delay Li Chengliang as much as possible and not give him the opportunity to withdraw to support Shenyang."

As soon as Wang Gao finished speaking, his eldest son Atai stood up and agreed respectfully.

"You set off immediately, the faster the better."

Wang Gao continued.

Ata then said goodbye and left, leading his men to Liaoxi to find Mongolian allies.

"Lailihong, Taqige, you take 2,000 people, and the young and strong men you find along the way to Shidiankou, and find a way to delay the advance of Li Chengliang's army and delay time, understand?"

After Wang Gao saw Atai leaving, he immediately gave the order.

"yes."

"yes."

Lai Lihong and Brother Taqi both agreed, but they did not leave immediately, but continued to wait for Wang Gao's subsequent orders.

"Ah Hai."

"Amma."

Wang Gao looked at his second son Ahai again, and Ahai immediately stood up and took the order.

"Immediately go to the nearby Jurchen tribe, meet with their leader, and tell them that Ming Gou came to beat me this time. If they ignore it and follow their wishes, they will also come to me after I fail. road.

Will Mingren sit back and watch the Jurchen tribe become powerful? They will try their best to eliminate the powerful tribe.

Tell them that if they send troops to help me this time, I will be very grateful after the incident is completed. "

Faced with the threat from the Ming army, Wang Gao had to send his son as a lobbyist to the surrounding Jurchen tribes to find support.

Although he knew that the result of this might not be very good, he still had to arrange it this way.

At least the two sons were sent out, so they were relatively safe.

He understood that Akito's target was him, and if his two sons stayed with him, that would be the real danger.

"Mange, do you want to lead troops to attack the Ming army in Gushan Fort?"

Lai Lihong hesitated for a moment and then asked.

"There are only about 10,000 people there. Although there are tidal flats along the river, don't forget that there is a dangerous place beyond the back three crossings."

Wang Gao pretended to be calm and said.

Lai Lihong naturally knew what Wang Gao was talking about.

The last three crossings are actually a relatively narrow flat land, with the Yalu River on one side and a hill on the other.

This narrow place, about two miles long, is indeed a good place for an ambush.

As long as archers are deployed on the slopes at both ends, the Ming army at both ends of the valley can be stopped from attacking the mountains.

As for the Ming army in the river valley, there was only one way to die.

As for swimming across the river, it may be possible in other areas, but there is a bend here at Sandaokou. The river is fast and the water will be washed away.

Wang Gao also deliberately bypassed this place every time he went south to attack Ming Dynasty because this place was dangerous, and he did not want to take risks.

You must know that their enemies are not only the Ming Kingdom, but also the surrounding Jurchen tribes and the Koreans across the river.

He didn't want to go here, and he got up because he was worried that his whereabouts would be discovered by the Koreans, who would quietly cross the river to ambush him.

Although this side of the river is the Ming Dynasty, in fact, who cares about this in the border area, as long as you don't get caught doing it, just refuse to admit it.

The Ming court would not blame the vassal state for such a trivial matter, and would even be very happy if it came to pass.

"Get ready and set off as soon as possible."

After Wang Gao finished giving his instructions, he asked his men to go down and make arrangements.

At this time, news of the Ming army's attack had spread through word of mouth among the Jurchens fleeing along the way.

Along the way, the Jurchen people packed up their belongings, carried or hid good things, and started running to Gule City.

That was the strongest city owned by the Jurchens in western Liaoning, so they naturally thought they would be safe if they ran there.

At the same time, they also executed the Han slaves in their hands.

Yes, many tribesmen who followed Wang Gao south to plunder could get more or less share of the east, west and population.

Most of the Han people they captured were taken to western Liaoning as slaves, working for them and eating the worst food.

And when they were about to run for their lives, he killed them without hesitation.

However, within two days, in the three Jurchen villages that the Ming army arrived, they found a large number of Han corpses killed by Jurchens. They were abandoned directly outside the villages, hoping to intimidate the Ming army.

But what they didn't expect was that after seeing these corpses, it inspired the Ming army's fighting spirit to kill the enemy.

In fact, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty did not want to fight, but when they saw their compatriots being slaughtered, they felt a sense of chill in their lips and teeth.

You must know that there are not many Han people in Liaodong, especially in the border areas. Most of them are military families, just like them.

Even if I see these compatriots being robbed today and being brutally killed at this time, the atmosphere in my heart is naturally difficult to calm down.

This is also the reason why the general will often indulge his soldiers once in every battle. They need to release the negative emotions accumulated in the cruel war and what they saw along the way.

If he doesn't let them vent, maybe the target will be himself.

Yes, the army is a disciplined unit, but if your soldiers are not allowed to release their negative emotions, and when it becomes difficult to suppress the outburst, no one will care who you are, even if you are your own general, you will still kill them without fail.

"Commander, another Jurchen was found on the hill outside the village."

Just when Li Chengliang led the team into a village, soldiers came to report the news.

"The old rule is to have a group of troops go around the mountain to block their retreat, and order Yu Zhiwen and Qin Deyi to lead the vanguard to attack the mountain from both sides.

This time I kept all the captured Jurchens and trapped them with thick ropes. Some of them walked in front of the trap, and the rest were dragged behind the cavalry, all the way to Gule City. "

Li Chengliang had seen many Han corpses just now. He was used to seeing dead people, so he suppressed his emotions in just a short atmosphere.

However, he also saw a violent emotion in the eyes of the guards around him.

They had to let them vent properly first, otherwise Li Chengliang was worried that they would lose control because of their anger.

In the past, the captured Jurchens were all directly beheaded, but now it seems that the effect is not great.

Li Chengliang did not expect that the Jurchens would be so cruel and would choose to directly kill their slaves.

He thought they would snatch people away. After all, after the war was over, life would still have to go on.

However, they chose the most brutal method, which forced him to consider the previous orders of the court.

Fortunately, there are many Jurchen tribes. Even if all the Jurchens in Wang Gao's tribe are killed, there are still many Jurchen tribes.

In the past two days, the Ming army attacked Gule City with overwhelming force. They only encountered surprise attacks by Jurchens in dangerous places along the way.

It did cause some casualties to the Ming army at the beginning, but after several battles, the disadvantage of the Jurchens was highlighted. In addition to causing some trouble, they really couldn't stop the Ming army's attack.

Therefore, the Jurchens chose to dig traps of various sizes along the way.

Although traps dug on dirt roads are actually easier to see through, they actually played the trick of setting up old traps. There were new soil everywhere along the way, making it difficult for the Ming army to distinguish which ones were real traps and which ones were fake.

Fortunately, some Jurchens were caught along the way who had no time to escape, so they joined the vanguard of the Ming army and were escorted to the front.

"Commander, after taking this place, will you camp in the village?"

These days, in addition to the harassment during the march, the Jurchens' shouts of harmony can be heard from everywhere at night.

But it was mostly a bluff. A small number of skilled Jurchens approached the Ming army camp and shot arrows inside. There was a lot of noise outside, deliberately creating chaos in the Ming army camp.

After a few times, Li Chengliang sent more troops to patrol, and the harassment gradually decreased.

The Jurchen resistance that Li Chengliang encountered along the way could be described as slight. Although it caused some trouble, the army was still approaching Gule City.

On the other side, Qi Jiguang's troops, in accordance with the Ming army's military system, camped about forty miles away and steadily advanced towards Gule City. They did not encounter any Jurchens on the way, and there were not even many Jurchen villages along the way.

However, the Jizhen Army was not familiar with the terrain in this area after all. Although there was a guide sent by Gushan Fort, Qi Jiguang's cautious temper did not choose to rush forward with light cavalry, but acted according to Zhang Xueyan's order.

In a few days, the army had marched more than a hundred miles, completely leaving the Ming Dynasty's sphere of influence and entering the Jurchens' control area.

"Shuai Qi, there is Sandaokou ahead. After passing there, we turn to the west. We will reach Gule City in a few dozen miles."

The guide was beside Qi Jiguang and quietly explained the brief details of the subsequent journey.

"Sandaokou, what do you want to say in the beginning?"

Qi Jiguang asked immediately.

Since this place is famous, there must be a reason for it.

“There is a big mountain in front and a small river at the foot of the mountain. It is formed by the convergence of many streams on the mountain and merges into the Yalu River here, hence the name Sandokou.

Although the Yalu River is straight and open, there is a small sharp bend here, so the water flows quickly.

Coupled with the high mountains next to it, a slightly narrow river valley is formed, which is about two miles long."

The guide whispered the terrain ahead. (End of chapter)