The dark moon kills people on a night, and the wind blows high and sets people on fire.
On the fifth day of September at the border gate in northern Shanxi, the wind is getting colder and the autumn dew is frosty.
Just a little while after the ugly moment, the gate of Zhenqiang Fort suddenly opened, and a group of cavalrymen with their heads in hand and their horses in cages quietly poured out from the gate. The soldiers of this cavalry were not wearing the red mandarin duck war robes that are common among the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers.
Instead, they were all dressed in black cotton-padded clothes, covered with unpolished black iron-colored fine scale armor. The horses under their crotches had already taken off the copper bells on their chests. Except that their hooves had not been bound for the time being, they were already looking like a cavalry night raid.
standard attire.
Zhenqiang Fort is less than twenty miles away from Desheng Fort. It was originally within the range of the Anda Chinese Army's horse inspection patrol. However, in the past few days, the Ming Army has figured out the enemy's horse inspection pattern every two hours.
, now is the best time when the last round of exploration horses has already returned to camp and the next round of exploration horses has not yet set off.
The chief and deputy leaders of this cavalry seemed to be quite experienced. They were leading the formation at the front of the team. Their speed was neither too fast nor too slow, and they were always kept at the critical line where the horses would not be too strenuous. It was obvious that they were deliberately conserving their horsepower and would only move when they reached the predetermined position.
Urge the horse to speed up and launch a surprise attack.
Under the thin light of the new moon, the faces of the two leaders were reflected, it was Ma Gui and Gao Jue. As for Gao Mo, although he was a regimental leader, he was born in foot combat and his riding skills were average. Fighting on horseback was not his choice.
The director's strength was that he hid his clumsiness this time and did not attack.
Ma Gui and Gao Jue did not communicate with each other along the way. Fortunately, it was less than twenty miles away, which did not take long for the cavalry. Not long after, they could already see a large number of felt tents in front of them in the weak moonlight -
—That is naturally where Anda’s camp is.
Since the Ming army rarely took the initiative to attack, and with the tens of thousands of Anda troops pressing down on the border, no Mongolian general thought that the Ming army dared to come out to fight. Therefore, the Chinese army in Anda only had ordinary night watch posts, and even
Since it is almost the third autumn, it is the time when the climate in Monan is getting colder quickly. Even the night watch soldiers at the fixed sentry post have warmed up by drinking. Most of them have fallen asleep in a daze. A few of them are more alert, although they can barely keep their eyes open.
But he was already drowsy, and his eyesight was not as good as usual.
The night attack cavalry took a slight detour and finally stopped behind a slightly raised grass hill not far northeast of the Anda camp.
At this time, Ma Gui lowered his voice, waved his hands and shouted: "The soldiers will open the way in a moment, and the Jinghua Cavalry will follow, and follow me and Deputy Gao Tuan directly to kill! But you must remember, this time
In a surprise attack, we do not seek to kill many Tatars, nor do we seek to take away the enemy's head or right ear. When encountering the enemy guarding the camp, we first use a three-eyed musket, and then switch to a waist knife. When we have the opportunity, we often throw fire at flammable objects.
Fact! The other thing is, don’t get entangled with the enemy, remember to follow up with me and Deputy Gao Tuan, if we advance, we will advance together, if we retreat, we will retreat together!"
Gao Jue waited for him to finish, and then added to his cavalry: "Brothers, General Ma just said that merit is not judged by the head. Before setting off this time, the young master had already said that those who successfully attack and return to the camp will be rewarded collectively."
Second-class merit! For those who succeeded in the sneak attack but unfortunately died, collective first-class merit! As for the arrangements for the resettlement of the martyrs’ families, I don’t need to say more, you all know it! If there are sneaky people under such kindness, what punishment will be given to you?
I also know in my heart that your family will not be able to repay that amount of money in ten lifetimes!"
What Gao Jue said earlier was okay. Ma Gui even felt moved when he heard it. He thought to himself: How to resettle the families of the martyrs? It sounds interesting. When I go back, I must ask about it when I have the opportunity.
But Gao Jue's threatening words at the end made Ma Gui a little surprised: Those who deserted or refused to fight would naturally be chopped with a knife. Why did Gao Jue mean that the Gao family's army was actually fined? Is fines effective for this kind of thing? However, the whole family will not be finished for ten lifetimes? It sounds a bit harsh...
Of course, this was not the time to think about these things. Ma Gui quickly concentrated and ordered: "Everyone dismounts, wraps up their horseshoes, and prepares to charge into camp!"
Two flowers bloomed, one on each side. At this moment, except for the occasional horse neighing, there was almost no other sound in the Anda Chinese Army Camp, and the countless felt tents were also dark. It was obvious that everyone was asleep, but at this moment , candlelight suddenly lit up in the main tent of the Chinese army.
Of course I don't have the ability to predict the future. He didn't suddenly get up when he knew someone was stealing the camp, nor did he deliberately set up an ambush. The light in his tent was just because he was the oldest old man in the entire Chinese army camp, and many old people were... There is a characteristic... I can't sleep for a long time and wake up very early.
It just so happens that I am such a normal old man.
What's more, because he was unwilling to easily lose valuable combat power by fighting under the strong Fort Desheng, the army seemed a little idle, and he himself went to bed relatively early at night. Although it was only three o'clock in the morning in later generations. About half an hour later, he was already awake and couldn't sleep anymore, so he simply got up and planned to take dozens of soldiers to Guanxia during the night to see if the Ming army was slacking off in their vigil. Although he refused to fight in vain, But if the Ming garrison slacked off during the night, he would not mind changing his mind. He would concentrate his elite troops on a surprise attack tomorrow night, break through Desheng Fort, capture the imperial envoy there, and come to talk to the Ming court about getting his grandson back. A transaction.
However, just when Anda was fully dressed under the service of the female slaves and was about to leave the tent, he suddenly felt something strange on the ground under his feet. As the king of the Monan Grassland for decades, although Anda is old, he has extremely rich experience. , his face changed, he squatted down and pressed his hand on the ground. In just a few breaths, he suddenly stood up and shouted: "There are enemy cavalry stealing the camp, please beat the drums and blow the trumpets quickly!"
The dozen or so soldiers' tents around the Anda Khan tent were the first to react, and soon they all lit up their torches. At this time, you could not light the lamp casually, you could only hold the torch in your hand to avoid being attacked by the candlelight. He had others take care of it and burned down the camp himself.
The melodious horns and the soul-stirring drums sounded at the same time, and countless Mongolian soldiers were awakened from their sleep. After a moment of dullness, they realized that they had heard correctly, and then they hurriedly put on their clothes, armor, and ran out with sabers, bows and arrows in hand.
But at this moment, it may be a little too late, or in other words, it is still a little slow.
Since there were many horses and even cattle and sheep accompanying the army that needed to be accommodated, the Mongolian army's camp was seven or eight miles long and nearly three miles wide. Even though Anda Khan relied on his extraordinary experience, he did not even send people to check this routine operation. , he decisively ordered the drums and trumpets to be beaten, but after all, he could not inform every Mongolian soldier of the more precise situation at this time.
For example, let me answer the two major points that I can immediately judge just by pressing my hand on the ground: the enemy cavalry has about a thousand cavalry, and the attack direction is the northeast corner of the Mongolian army camp!
No matter how strong I am, I can't change the technological backwardness of the command system in this era. He can only walk out of his main tent majestically and use his calmness to convey confidence to the people around him. So instead of shouting at the top of his lungs, he stood still.
He came out of the main tent, held a torch in person, illuminated his figure and face, and then shouted: "This is the Khan's decree, all ministries must guard their own camps and are not allowed to go out to rescue at will!"
Then he said to a tall Mongolian general who came in a hurry: "Qataiji! My son, hurry up and send Ben Khan's guards to the northeast of the camp to resist the enemy. They must be driven out as soon as possible.
Let it hit the Northeast Horse Circle!"
Qataiji is indeed the best right-wing Mongolian master who is strong enough for Anda to adopt him as his adopted son. He does not need Anda to explain at all. He has already used the same method to know that about a thousand enemy cavalry are coming from the northeast of the camp. After hearing this, I
In response to the order, he replied loudly: "Take care of yourself, the Great Khan, and I will return as soon as you go! Shamul, you take a hundred people to stay and protect the Great Khan, and the rest will go with me to fight the enemy!"