In Baihe Bay, three hundred miles away from Chengde, Wang Zaijin was urging the army to break out of camp. He resolutely carried out the emperor's order and killed all the Mongols he met along the way without mercy!
He even met a Mongolian on the road who was returning from trade. He was heading north to the Monan Plain, and he didn't ask the reason at all, and just killed him.
Although he was a civil servant, he was not a soft-hearted person, and he was also someone who knew military affairs well. He also believed that these Mongols must be killed and subdued by thunderous means.
A Ming army soldier came in a hurry all night to report:
"Zhitai, most of the Mongolian cavalry appeared around us. There are tens of thousands of them. They are already here. The distance is less than ten miles!"
Wang Zaijin secretly said that your majesty is indeed wise, and the main force of the Mongolian cavalry is really coming towards him.
Without hesitation, he issued a dozen orders in a row, asking all the troops to form a defensive formation. Relying on the Baihe River behind them, a car formation was placed on the outermost side to form a semicircular defense.
Behind the car array were various firearms and crossbowmen. Xuan Dajun did not bring the general cannon because the general cannon was too heavy. He only brought some small Folang machine cannons, and Zhu Youxiao did not equip Wang Zaijin with them.
Bronze cannons and flowing divine machine arrows.
Although there were no heavy artillery, fortunately Xuan's army was not all infantry. At least they could barely scrape together seven or eight thousand cavalry. He ordered the cavalry to guard both sides.
He also ordered the sergeants to quickly dig a trench in front of the vehicle formation, and then placed horse-repelling devices in front of the trench. After everything was arranged, Wu Sheng was asked to lead two thousand Huben battalion sergeants to supervise the battle.
After these days of observation, he has deeply felt that the border troops are useless and most of the generals are incompetent. If he does not send someone to supervise the battle, he will not know what to do!
Moreover, he secretly sent someone to verify that there were no full 50,000 soldiers in the two towns of Xuanda and Da, but only a little over 40,000, which frightened him greatly.
His Majesty personally issued an edict, ordering the two towns to gather 50,000 soldiers and horses. Unexpectedly, they were so bold that they suffered such serious consequences under their noses.
No wonder His Majesty couldn't wait to personally select elite new troops from across the country after he ascended the throne. It turned out that he had already thought of this aspect.
Under the strict orders and supervision of Wang Zaijin, the tens of thousands of troops quickly formed their formations. However, judging from the expressions of these frontier soldiers, they were in a state of extreme nervousness.
Not to mention fighting the Mongols in the grasslands for hundreds of miles, they haven't even fought a decent war in decades.
"The military order to control Taiwan is to kill anyone who retreats immediately. Everyone sticks to their positions and obeys the order to control Taiwan!"
The sergeants supervising the battle team held up the order flag and shouted loudly everywhere. After the order was given, they stood behind the military formation with knives. If anyone dared to take a step back, they would immediately rush forward and chop down the deserters!
After the formation of the Ming army was completed, tens of thousands of Mongolian cavalry led by Lin Dan Khan also arrived. Some people felt cold sweat on their heads when they looked at the mighty Mongolian cavalry in front of them.
Lin Danhan looked at the waiting Ming army on the opposite side and ordered the army to stop advancing. He had never seen this formation with vehicles in front and firearms at the back, but he had heard of it.
This kind of formation, with the chariot in front, cannons and firearms in front, and the infantry and cavalry in the center of the military formation, isn't it the Qi Army's tactics?
However, he did not believe that this Ming Dynasty frontier army could reach the level of Qi's army. He quickly ordered the Mongolian cavalry to set up a formation. After observing it, he prepared to defeat the Ming army on the opposite side in one go.
"Warriors, use your sharp claws to completely tear the fat sheep across from you. The great Genghis Khan will grant us supreme courage. The Immortal God will bless the brave Mongolian knights. Use your iron hooves to trample the Ming army.
corpse!"
After speaking, he raised his machete to the sky and shouted:
"Wulai!" (transliteration, Mongolian means moving forward!)
After raising the morale of the army to the highest point, Lin Dan Khan appointed several thousand household chiefs to take the lead in launching the attack with 10,000 cavalry.
These Mongolian cavalry screamed strangely when charging, and even howled like wolves. This was the Mongolian fighting style, in order to fully inspire their inner courage.
Seeing that the Mongolian cavalry began to charge into the formation, Wang Zaijin was not in a hurry to order a counterattack, but waited for the Mongolian cavalry to get closer and closer.
When he was less than a hundred steps away, Wang Zaijin fiercely ordered all bows and artillery fire. For a time, the Ming army's Fo Lang machine guns, muskets, and bows and crossbows launched a fatal attack on the charging Mongols.
Most of the Mongolian cavalry charging at the front fell to the ground, but this did not make the Mongols behind retreat, but instead accelerated their charge.
In their opinion, the Ming army's firearms could only fight for a few rounds. As long as they rushed to the front of the formation, the Ming army would be unable to resist them.
But the idea was not reality after all. When they were about to show off their power, they discovered a deep trench.
The most terrifying thing was not the trench, but the rows of horse-repelling devices placed in front of the trench. Some Mongolians were so fast that their horses' hooves stepped on them and they jumped and ran around.
Others who can react can only drive their horses to jump over, but there is a trench waiting for you in front. There are sharp thorns below the trench. Even if you fall down, the Ming army will kill you.
Some people stopped moving forward when they saw this, but the people behind them had no idea what was going on. They still charged forward and soon bumped into the people in front.
It perfectly shows what it means that the waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves in front, and the waves in front died on the beach. The Mongolian cavalry in front was knocked to the ground on the spot, fell on the horse trap and was stabbed in unbearable pain, rolling on the ground.
Seeing that the Mongolian cavalry began to become confused, Wang Zaijin quickly ordered the elite spearmen to come out to attack, and stabbed the Mongolians indiscriminately, making them cry for father and mother.
More than half of the 10,000 Mongolian cavalry were quickly killed or wounded, and several thousand household heads began to think of retreating. As soon as the first wave of momentum of the cavalry passed, or a stalemate occurred, the combat effectiveness of the cavalry had already dropped significantly. It was already difficult to break the formation.
It's impossible.
Seeing that the enemy was preparing to retreat, Wang Zaijin said to the messenger:
"Order all the cavalry on both sides to attack, but do not pursue them too deeply. After killing them, quickly retreat. Anyone who dares to disobey the order will be killed!"
The Mongols had already suffered heavy losses and their morale had dropped sharply. At this time, the Ming army's thousands of cavalry dealt them a devastating blow.
Guerrilla general Ma Shilong took the lead and chopped down a Mongolian with a loud shout. Other Ming troops followed closely behind. In just a few minutes of fighting, all the slower Mongolians were killed by the Ming troops.
Ma Shilong even killed one of the leading troops, the head of a thousand households, and the Mongols fled back with only a few defeated soldiers. The Ming army also completely carried out the military order, did not pursue deeply, and quickly retreated!
Wang Zaijin looked at the corpses of Mongolian cavalry on the ground in front of the battle, and thought to himself, Qi Jiguang is indeed worthy of being a famous general. His tactics are really effective against the Mongols, as if they were tailor-made for them!