On the street in the inner city of Jinzhou, Zu Dabi watched the people around him being persuaded by him. He nodded with great satisfaction and shouted: "This time, although the Tatars are powerful, there are still more than 200,000 reinforcements from Governor Hong.
The men and horses may not be missing the Tatars.
At present, it seems that our Ming Dynasty is still very powerful. In the first battle of the first month of the month, we killed two Tatars.
As long as we can defend Jinzhou City in this battle, the ancestral family's prestige will definitely be even greater. The soldiers and horses lost today, the money, food and other materials consumed will definitely be replenished by the imperial court for us afterwards.
In the end, we have the final say in this area of Liaoxi!"
He then raised the mace club in his hand and roared angrily: "Brothers, the Tatar soldiers are about to attack the city again. I will rush over now and kill the Tatar soldiers without leaving a single piece of armor behind."
So that you, the thieves, can take a good look at how powerful the children of our ancestral family are!"
"Kill the slaves...kill the slaves...kill the slaves!"
"Yes, I'm going to fight the Tatars today!"
"Let's go and fight with the Tatars!"
All the generals around him were inspired by Zu Dabi's heroic words. They all raised their weapons and let out roars and roars.
Of course, some people looked at Zu Dabi with a thoughtful look on their face: I didn't expect that our second master was thinking so deeply. I never saw it before!
In the past, everyone thought that Zu Dabi had only the courage of an ordinary man, but now, everyone's evaluation of him is higher. It seems that those who can occupy the top position are definitely not stupid.
…………
"The Tatars' behavior is a bit strange. They are acting like this. Could it be that they want to capture Jinzhou City? But why are they bombarding fiercely but not attacking the city effectively?"
To the east of Jinzhou City is Muye Mountain; to the west is Dong and Xi Hongluo Mountain; to the far southwest is Xingshan Mountain; due south and west is Rufeng Mountain, due south is Shimen Mountain, and southeast is Huangtu Ridge and other places.
In addition, there are the Xiaoling River and the Daling River flowing east of Jinzhou. In particular, the Xiaoling River flows eastward in the south of Jinzhou City, then turns and flows south until it enters the sea.
In addition, Shamao Mountain and Putuo Mountain are more than ten miles west and northwest of Jinzhou City.
At this time, in the jungle on Putuo Mountain, there were several night warriors from the Huwei Camp of the Xuanbei Army, holding up telescopes and looking down the mountain in the direction of Jinzhou City.
For two consecutive days, the Ming army set up a post on Rufeng Mountain and observed the Tatars intensifying their attack on Jinzhou City. Every day, artillery fire roared continuously, and the shouts of killing shook the world.
Feeling that everything in Jinzhou seemed strange, Zhang Cheng secretly mobilized a large number of soldiers under his command to go out at night to conduct detailed detective work on the developments in the west and south of Jinzhou.
He had vaguely remembered that during this battle, Huang Taiji felt that the Ming's reinforcements were huge and the defense became stronger, making it difficult to break through directly, so he sent a surprise force of tens of thousands to cut off the Ming army's retreat between the pines and apricots.
Then they raided the rations stored by the Ming army on Bijia Mountain. This caused the Ming army officers and soldiers to panic, low morale, and unstable morale, so that most of them fled.
But these are only his memories after all. Whether this is the case or not, without sufficient intelligence support, he will not tell Hong Chengchou, Zhang Ruoqi and others.
In fact, as early as when the army was stationed around Songshan, there were a large number of soldiers who stayed out at night. Under the leadership of their respective team officers, they were ordered to go out and disperse to all sides of Jinzhou to scout the military situation.
They even crossed the Xiaoling River and Nuerhe River for activities, and even reached the Daling River. Their activities ranged widely, including Jinchang Fort, Shahe Fort, Daling River Fort, Dading Fort and Tuanshan Castle in the south of Yizhou.
Everywhere in the fort is the target of their reconnaissance.
However, compared to previous wars, hundreds of thousands of troops were concentrated in such a narrow area in this battle, and the range of activities of the sentries was inevitably smaller.
And the danger is also greater, because the Qing army is active outside in large numbers, and the Ming army's sentries and cavalry are intercepted and killed the most. Especially in response to the Xuanbei army's non-stop at night, the hunting and killing efforts are even more intense.
The death rate collected is also very high.
At this time, this team of night warriors only wore chainmail armor on the inside and no iron armor on the outside. They just wore clothes similar to the Mongolian soldiers with their arms turned outwards. This way they were less likely to be noticed and made it much easier to move around.
Moreover, each team of their sentry riders is assigned two or three Mongolian knights, so that when they encounter the Tatar sentry riders, they can deal with them on the fly. Even if they cannot cope with them, they can still kill the Tatars when they are not prepared.
Each person's body was still randomly wrapped with some grass, branches and leaves. They huddled carefully in the mountains and forests, trying their best not to let the reflection of the telescope reveal their location.
These are bloody lessons. There was once a brother who was sent out in the Tiger Guard camp. He was spotted by the Tatar Bagara army because he was looking with a telescope in the sun. In the end, he was outnumbered and died fighting.
The corpses could not be retrieved.
Therefore, after summarizing their experience and lessons, the officers of the Tiger Guard Camp concluded that they should not look out in the sun, try to be in a dark place, and avoid telescopes being exposed to the sun.
Putuo Mountain in Jinzhou is known as the No. 1 Buddhist Mountain outside China. It has a vast range of mountains, strange caves and strange rocks, and there are many hiding places. However, it is still very cautious not to hide at night.
After all, not far from the foot of the mountain is the Tatar camp, surrounded by enemies. It's like being in a tiger's den and a dragon's pond. No one can help but be careless. Any slightest care will be fatal.
Moreover, because Jinzhou was surrounded by Qing soldiers and captives who came and went frequently during the day, they all stayed in hiding at night and tried to avoid appearing during the day, and only came out to take action at night.
The speaker was none other than Shi Meng, the left sentry officer in the central part of the Huwei camp. His original name was Shi Zhuzhu. He was a blacksmith from the north of the capital. He had a good figure, a round waist, broad shoulders, and great strength.
Ever since he was rescued by Zhang Cheng from the Qing army in Mafang, he has followed Zhang Cheng wholeheartedly and vowed to join the army and kill slaves. Although he is strong and capable, he is not stupid and can endure hardships and stand hard work.
While others went to camp to rest, he still practiced hard on the school field. Although he didn't see any results for a while, as time went by, the results of such hard work became apparent.
In the military examinations, Shi Meng repeatedly stood out. What was even more rare was that he was loyal to Zhang Cheng. In addition to both father and son following Zhang Cheng and working hard for him, they also obeyed his words and never compromised in executing military orders.
.
Take the requirement of literacy as an example. Many soldiers in the Xuanbei Army still disagreed with it, but Shi Meng implemented it very thoroughly. Apart from practicing every day, he devoted himself to reading and memorizing words.
He started with his own name, then his father's name, and remembered the fortresses, rivers, and mountains in Xuanbei one by one. In more than two years, he has learned more than 500 words, and can read simple military orders.
You can also write simple military reports independently, which is not easy.
It was precisely because of his loyalty and diligence that he was promoted step by step under Zhang Cheng. When Henan Province was suppressing bandits, Zhang Cheng reorganized his personal guards in view of the needs of the situation at that time, and Shi Meng was also promoted to the post of Sentinel of the Central Left Sentinel.
Although they are just sentry officers, the Tiger Guard Battalion is different from other camps because they are all Zhang Cheng's personal guards. Not only are their selection requirements extremely strict, but besides fighting on foot and cavalry, the most important thing is loyalty.
Moreover, following Zhang Cheng all year round, there are many opportunities to get his personal guidance. The outstanding ones will be promoted to team commanders and sentry officers. Once the soldiers of the Tiger Guard Battalion with outstanding performance are released, they will at least be at the team commander level.
Therefore, the military positions in the Tiger Guard Battalion are slightly higher than those of other battalions by one to two levels, and the treatment of its officers and soldiers is also slightly higher than that of other battalions.
At this moment, beside him were Yu Shanhu, the captain of the Zuo Shao Third Team under his command, and more than 30 soldiers in his team.
Yu Shanhu was originally an old man in Zhang Guodong's headquarters. After the Battle of Julu, he began to defect to Zhang Cheng together with Zhang Guodong. He was also an old man.
Although Yu Shanhu was not from the Liao Dynasty, he had been stationed with the army in the land of Liaodong for two or three years. Since he was a night warrior in his early years, he often traveled outside and was quite familiar with the topography of Ningjinjian.
In the past, Lu Xiangsheng was the servant of Supervisor Biao Camp, but now he has become a very qualified commander of the Xuanbei Army's Night Guard Team. It was precisely because he was familiar with this area that Shi Meng led his brothers from the third team to investigate like this.
Go deep.
Next to Yu Shanhu was Qian Haichuan, a new member of the Tiger Guard camp who was not a warrior at night. He was also dressed as a Mongolian cavalryman from a foreign vassal, and with a beard on his face, he really looked like that.
Even though Qian Haichuan has a beard, he is a bit thin and a silent person. He is not outstanding among the third team and is inconspicuous.
He was originally from a military household in Xuanbei, but he was not good at growing crops and suffered from hunger in recent years. Since he was no longer good at farming, he raised horses and grazed for the military chiefs.
As a result, he learned good riding skills. When the Xuanbei Army recruited troops, he was assigned to the cavalry battalion soon after joining the army. Later, he was selected to join the Tiger Guard Battalion and became a night guard.
At this time, he was leaning quietly next to a big tree, and his somewhat thin body seemed to merge with the shadow of the tree. It was obvious that he already understood the secret of sentry investigation.
Looking at the Ye Bu Sui next to them, everyone is dressed like this. In fact, the military uniform of the Xuanbei Army Ye Bu Sui is a short dark red hood with no arms and hands, mainly for speed and lightness.
However, if you are on sentry duty in enemy territory, this outfit will be too eye-catching and increase the risk of exposure, so if you don't cover the battlefield around your own position.
The members of the Tiger Guard Battalion who go out to conduct inspections in enemy areas will all disguise themselves as necessary to better hide themselves and complete their inspection tasks.
Now, the Tatar camp is at the foot of the mountain. Everyone is acting very carefully. Each horse has a bit on its mouth and its hooves are wrapped in cloth.
The soldiers of the Huwei camp of the Xuanbei Army all have one man and two horses, but they can indeed lead three horses when they go out. Their maneuverability is extremely powerful. With many excellent horses, when they encounter a large group of enemy cavalry chasing and intercepting them, they can
It is often possible to escape.
In the Xuanbei Army, they are the branch with the most war horses besides the cavalry and iron cavalry. In fact, a qualified cavalry also needs three war horses.
One of them is the main horse, which is used when fighting in battle. The other is the auxiliary horse, which is usually ridden. If the main horse is weak, it can also be ridden into battle. The last one is basically a pack horse, used to carry cavalry armor and weapons.
Waiting for equipment.
Zhang Cheng really wanted to equip his cavalry battalion with three war horses for each person, but such a battalion of cavalry would require 10,000 war horses, which he could not afford at present.
Shi Meng was half-crouching next to a big rock, so that the shadow of the big rock enveloped his whole body. He held up a telescope in his hand and looked at the Qing camp at the foot of the mountain cautiously.
Looking down the mountain from a high place, the Xiaoling River looks like a cloth belt, winding between the vast brown fields in the south.
On the south bank of Xiaoling River is Jinchang Fort.
On the north bank of Xiaoling River, northwest of Jinchang Fort, and at the foot of the southern foot of Putuo Mountain, there is Shahe Fort here.
Looking eastward from Mount Putuo, about ten miles away, the towering Jinzhou City stands stubbornly there. Looking through a telescope, one can almost see the scene over there very clearly.
In the telescope, there seemed to be an endless tide of Tatar soldiers from all banners of the Qing army, wearing various armors, storming towards Jinzhou City.
The roar of artillery and the killing cries of the soldiers on the attacking and defending sides could be faintly heard even as far away as Mount Putuo.
In addition, there are densely packed Tatar Aha followers who are coming and going from Jinchang Fort and Shahe Fort, constantly transporting various baggage vehicles and horses.
The Xiaoling River flows into Shahebao and passes through the southwest section of Jinzhou City. Although it seems to be a little dry, even so, people and horses are not allowed to wade through it.
I saw that the section of Jinchang Fort spans both sides of the Xiaoling River. Teams of coated Aha servants are nervously building a pontoon bridge. The scene is quite spectacular, and the bridge that has been built is full of ants.
flow of people.
From Shi Meng's point of view, although the Qing soldiers' attack on Jinzhou City seemed massive and fierce, he always had a vague feeling that something was wrong.
"Stone, something doesn't look right. The Tatar artillery fire is very fierce. Why didn't you try your best to climb the city?"
As the saying goes, "One word can wake up a dreamer." Qian Haichuan's unintentional words gave Shi Meng a great inspiration. Yes, he did not try his best to attack Jinzhou City.
Shi Meng raised his hand and patted Qian Haichuan's shoulder heavily, and said with a smile: "Okay, you have done a good job!"
After he finished speaking, he picked up the telescope and looked in the direction of Jinzhou carefully, fearing that he might have missed a small detail, and muttered: "You bastard, I was just acting, and I almost got fooled by you.
"
In these days, he also observed that the Qing cavalry stationed in Dasheng Fort and Dafu Fort in the west of Putuo Mountain seemed to be converging towards Jinchang Fort, while there were also fewer Qing troops stationed in several forts around Shahe Fort.
Better.
Long before the battle at Shimen Mountain, Shi Meng had led an outpost to explore there. At that time, there were thousands of Qing soldiers stationed in each fort for defense, but now they were almost completely evacuated.
"What does this mean? Is it possible that the Tatars have some conspiracy?"
Although the outposts from the Tiger Guard Battalion are only responsible for collecting reports, the aircraft inside have their own specialized agencies and personnel to analyze them.
However, Shi Meng still couldn't help but wonder what the hidden meaning of the Tatars' behavior was.
Moreover, in the past two days, he also observed that the Tatar soldiers around Jinchang Fort were increasingly on guard, and they were in frequent contact with the White Temple Fort.