After the three armies of the Left Route Army were ready, Tang He came to the main tent of the Chinese Army to ask for orders, and then a military order was formally issued.
Now blocking Timur's expansion east of Lanzhou is General Li Wenzhong's 50,000-horse army. According to reports from the Ma Lai, the fighting between the two sides was extremely brutal. In just half a month, Li Wenzhong's 50,000-man army had already lost two out of ten. At this moment, they are occupying the Guanchuan River area. Stay safe in danger.
Xu Da warned: "Let's go to Lanzhou and join Li Wenzhong's troops. We will only defend but not attack. If something unexpected happens, we will retreat to the Liupan Mountain area east of the Hulu River. If the Yuan soldiers rush through Liupan Mountain, then our army will be attacked from both sides. The big thing is over,"
Tang He took the order and turned away with the vanguard Pang Heihu. Xu Da led the generals to the outside of the big tent in person. Outside the tent, the banners were fluttering and the horses were neighing. Fifty thousand soldiers were already ready to go.
Tang He came to the front of the army, saddled up his horse, and raised his hands to Xu Da and the generals: "Tang He is gone." Afterwards, the large group of men and horses went westward in a mighty manner, kicking up dust all the way. Da Kui led more than a hundred soldiers and drove hundreds of carts to follow behind the group. Before leaving the village gate, Da Kui waved to Xu Da and other generals. , Xu Da just smiled slightly and all the generals ignored him.
As a result, Da Kui felt bored. He thought that when he was the political envoy to the south of the Yangtze River, when he married Huang Ying, many people here had drank together. Now that he has become a gang leader, they are actually like this. Indifference, the world is really cold and cold.
The convoys are all pulled by mules and donkeys, so they move slower than the army. Now that Li Wenzhong's troops have been holding a stalemate with Timur for half a month near Lanzhou, they must not have much food and grass, so the army allocates food and grass to accompany Tang He's army. They set off. Although the food and forage team was at the end of the team, it was still guarded by two thousand cavalry.
Lao Huo was driving the car, and Da Kui was sitting on one side, holding two big coats in his left hand and a big piece of meat in his right hand. It was a great pleasure to eat. It was a pity that drinking was prohibited in Tang Hejun, otherwise there would be two more burning knives. After eating it, it is called a beauty. The cavalry on both sides looked at Dakui's eating, and they were not only a little envious. Going to Lanzhou was like going to danger, but they didn't know why the captain of the group was so leisurely and eating so happily. .
After traveling for nearly half a month, the team crossed the Hulu River and approached the Shifjord to the east of the Guanchuan River. This is where General Li Wenzhong camped. The camp was located in the north and south, winding for dozens of miles. Although the battle line was long, it was in the right direction. It was on a long slope, and the river beach was still several miles away. The Yuan soldiers were camped on the other side of the Guanchuan River. If they were to attack by force, the Yuan soldiers would have to cross the river first. However, Li Wenzhong could not wait until the Yuan soldiers crossed the river. At half time, he led his troops to attack him.
This was the case at dawn, and Li Wenzhong's men also suffered heavy losses. The Yuan soldiers' cavalry and shooting skills were better than those of the Ming army. Whenever the Yuan soldiers invaded, they would always use the cavalry as the vanguard. When they crossed the river, the sky was filled with arrows. , both sides fired several rounds of volleys, and then fought hand-to-hand. It was the Ming army's advantage, but under the cavalry fire of the Yuan soldiers, it turned out to be a lose-lose situation for both sides.
Looking at the tidal flats, corpses littered the fields and rivers of blood flowed. This was the case at dawn. Yuan soldiers would launch several charges every day regardless of casualties. Tang He and Li Wenzhong stood side by side on the lookout, looking at the winding river beach.
"General Tang, the Yuan army's offensive is so fierce that I am afraid that all my tens of thousands of soldiers and horses will be exhausted before January. Fortunately, General Tang came to reinforce me. Wenzhong would like to express my gratitude," Li Wenzhong said sincerely.
Tang He said seriously: "You and I both serve the Ming Dynasty, why would Wen Zhong say this?"
Li Wenzhong was the nephew of Emperor Taizu, and his life experience was quite miserable. Taizu adopted him as his adopted son when he was young, and everyone in the army called him the prince. Only Tang and Huan were close to Wenzhong, who seemed close to him.
Li Wenzhong looked at the Guanchuan River: "Now on the west bank of the Guanchuan River is Timur's general Hu Linchi."
"Oh, but I don't know how many troops there are in the Yuan army," Tang He looked far away and asked.
Li Wenzhong said: "According to the reports from the Malays, Hu Linchi led more than 50,000 elite troops, followed by Timur's 100,000-strong army."
Tang He smiled softly and said: "Now that Li Siqi is stationing troops in Lanzhou, Kuaikuo Timur can't get in. It seems that there is still a rift between the two of them. If Kuaikuo Timur attacks with all his strength, it will be difficult for us to resist."
"So, Kuai Kuo Timur is not in a hurry to rescue Zhang Liangchen," Li Wenzhong said, somewhat confused.
"Hahaha, over the years, Timur, Li Siqi, and Zhang Liangbi have been attacking each other. Now Yuanting's strength has been exhausted. The three of them have separated themselves from the city in an attempt to survive. What is an alliance with such scheming?" Tang He couldn't help laughing: "That's it. As soon as the marshal has accomplished his great task,"
At this moment, a horn sound sounded from the other side of the river. Amidst the sound of "woo woo", a black mass of Yuan soldiers appeared on the high slope on the other side. The Yuan army was stationed behind the high slope on the other side of the river, which could block the sight of the Ming army. The enemy general's ability to prevent the Ming army from seeing reality was also a strength.
Li Wenzhong looked at the other side attentively and said slowly: "Today is the last charge of the Yuan soldiers. The offensive will be terminated before the sun sets." Li Wenzhong said and pointed forward: "General Tang, please look at the person at the front of the queue. They are the elite cavalry in the Yuan army. These cavalry are well-equipped. The horses and the soldiers on them are all protected by iron armor. They can neither be hurt by swords nor guns."
Tang He just nodded, and Li Wenzhong added: "Following them are the sword and shield soldiers, and the covering spear soldiers are behind. Whether they are forcibly crossing the beach or fighting on land, their formation is very strict."
The two of them watched the Yuan soldiers arrive at the river bank and begin to cross the river. The river was not deep and only reached the horse's belly. Then they saw that there were thousands of soldiers behind the Yuan army pushing more than a hundred artillery pieces and setting them up on the other side. Their purpose was obvious. , that is, to use artillery to cover it when the army is crossing the river. In this way, if the Ming army wants to attack and kill the Yuan soldiers when they are crossing the river, they will pay a bloody price.
The war drums sounded, and the Ming army opened a gate in the north and south of the stronghold. Ten thousand elite cavalry were waiting at each gate of the two gates. The trumpets on the other side of the river sounded, and Yuan soldiers were hurrying to cross the river. At this moment, the Ming army did not move. Slowly, After the Yuan soldiers, thousands of cavalry arrived on the shore, and then about 20,000 swordsmen, shield bearers and spearmen also crossed the river.
After half a month of bloody battles, both sides have gained experience. The front of the Ming army's stronghold is the buffer zone. Once the Yuan army enters the artillery range of the Ming army, it will be the beginning of the war. The Yuan army arrays in front of the beach, three neatly The phalanx was arranged in the shape of a cross, with the cavalry in front and a phalanx of 10,000 people on each side guarding the flanks.
With the sound of a cannon, nearly 30,000 soldiers screamed and charged towards the Ming army's stronghold.
Li Wenzhong looked coldly at the Yuan soldiers rushing towards him and said to Tang He: "This is a division of Yuan soldiers who dare to die. Once they rush into the military tent, a large army will cross the river. Life and death will depend on Baizhang." "Hearing this, Tang He didn't say anything. He just stood on the watchtower with Li Wenzhong and watched the battle.
The Yuan soldiers charged so fiercely that the cavalry in front of them raised up a sky full of sand and dust. In just five miles, they had already covered half of the charge in an instant. After another tea break, the Yuan cavalry had already reached the two arrows in front of Dazhai.
Without Li Wenzhong's order, flag bearers had already waved the red battle flag. The Ming army's Dazhai suddenly roared with gunfire and smoke. Hundreds of artillery fired one after another. In the distance, the Yuan cavalry array roared and bursts of flames appeared. In a blink of an eye, That is to say, people were thrown over and their horses were thrown over, causing heavy casualties.
Such a fierce bombardment did not withstand the Yuan cavalry's offensive at all. Before the sound of cannons stopped, the Yuan cavalry had already rushed to the ground of 100 meters. The Ming army's flag bearer waved the battle flag again, and there were several people at the fence of the Ming army's stronghold. Unclear arrows poked out, and the Ming army's crossbowmen inside the fence stretched their bows and nocked arrows, waiting for orders.
On the observation platform, more than ten soldiers holding round shields stood in front of Li Wenzhong and Tang He. Li Wenzhong said: "The armor of the Yuan soldiers is extremely strong, and our crossbows have little effect." Tang He nodded and said, "We still need to do this again." We have a good plan, but if we fight head-on, we will both lose."
Sure enough, a round of arrows was fired, which was like a step away from the Yuan soldiers. Amidst the urgent sound of war drums, 20,000 Ming Dynasty elite cavalry rushed down the slope from the north and south gates of the village, and the sound of hoofbeats was heard for a while. The swords were rumbling with light, and the cavalry from both sides collided fiercely like two torrents. The Yuan soldiers had eight thousand cavalry at best, while the Ming army had twenty thousand. Such a disparity in strength was actually evenly matched.
Two pairs of men and horses were strangled in one place. For a time, the shouts of killing and the clashing of weapons and the mournful neighing of war horses resounded throughout the world. The Ming army once again rushed out of the camp with 20,000 infantry, which was Li Wenzhong's entire force.
Looking at the Yuan soldiers slowly crossing the river, Tang He smiled coldly, and then said: "I will send two lines of cavalry to attack on the left and right, and give them a severe blow before the enemy's reinforcements arrive," he said, looking back at Pang Heihu under the observation deck and shouted "You and Meng Qi each bring 10,000 fine cavalry to the battle. Don't defeat the enemy Yuan soldiers before they arrive." Pang Heihu accepted the order and turned around to prepare the army and horses. For a time, the Ming army's stronghold was busy. Although Tang He In an impromptu move, but only for a short cup of tea, Pang Heihu and Tang He's general Meng Qi led 20,000 cavalry out of the stronghold and went straight to the battlefield.
Hu Linchi never expected that the Ming army's reinforcements would come so quickly. He thought that the victory would be determined by the arrival of Timur's enlarged army today, but who knew that the Ming army would increase its troops to defend the east without knowing it? On the other side, for the Yuan soldiers, Tanghe's participation in the war was nothing more than making things worse for the Yuan soldiers. Seeing that things were not going well, the generals leading the troops hurriedly ordered gold medals, and then retreated westward with less than 5,000 cavalry. The infantry who arrived also turned around and retreated. The Ming army took advantage of the situation to cover up the massacre. Looking at the Chuyuan soldiers, corpses were strewn on the ground, and flags and armor were scattered everywhere.
When Li Wenzhong saw the Yuan soldiers retreating, he couldn't help shouting: "Don't chase the poor invaders!"
Tang He laughed loudly and said: "Now that we are sure of victory, why don't we kill the Yuan soldiers on the east bank?"
Li Wenzhong said anxiously: "Once they get close to the river bank, the Yuan soldiers will fire artillery fire regardless of the enemy or ourselves. This is how I lost nearly 10,000 soldiers."
Tang He couldn't help being surprised when he heard this: "That Hu Linchi was so ruthless with his soldiers. Doesn't this mean he doesn't care about the life and death of his subordinates?"
Li Wenzhong didn't have the heart to chat with Tang He, so he quickly ordered Ming Jin to withdraw his troops. Unexpectedly, before the order was issued, he saw the Ming army chasing him from a distance and then stopped the pursuit.
"Hey, why did your troops stop?" Li Wenzhong was puzzled.
Tang He laughed loudly and said: "The marshal gave an order before leaving, not to attack but to defend. How could Tang disobey the military order?"