Yang Fan thought for a while and said: "Actually, we don't need to fight, just show off, it will be enough to force Tuxie Tuhan's army back. This money is really free."
Zhang Shize clapped his hands and said: "It's a pleasure to do things with you, no need to talk nonsense. Eighty thousand soldiers from the capital and one hundred thousand civilians, as long as they go to Zhangjiakou, it will be enough to scare away the Mongols. We won't suffer any losses at all.
The cashier’s name is just right.”
Yang Fan said with a smile: "Don't be too happy. If the camp soldiers and guards drive the Mongols out, you won't get a penny from the beatings of those Shanxi old men."
"Don't worry about this. Just wait for the money to be divided. I will take care of the rest. You just need to cooperate with me and stand still. At this time, we are not the ones who are anxious. We must hold steady."
Yang Fan smiled bitterly, he actually wanted to delay it the most, so as to buy time for An Sanxi. It was better now, it took no effort at all.
After all, Yang Fan is the coach, and Zhang Shize is just his deputy.
Today, he came here just to get an accurate word from Yang Fan. Based on his understanding of Yang Fan, as long as he promises you, he will never break his promise. Even if the situation changes, Yang Fan would rather lose money himself than lose his credibility.
Although Zhang Shize comes from a top-notch noble family, the British public administration is very strict, so he doesn't actually have much pocket money. Moreover, they, the noble yamen, usually spend a lot of money. It's really impossible not to make some extra money.
Such a fat pig walked to the door by itself.
If he doesn't get stabbed a few times, is he still a human being?
Based on his understanding of Yang Fan, Yang Fan can usually tolerate other things as long as it doesn't ruin anything major. They can play together, and they have a good temper.
At this time, you must keep your composure before you can kill someone ruthlessly.
Yang Fan said, just tell me when you are leaving. Don't bother with other things.
This was what Zhang Shize wanted. He immediately slaughtered the fattened pig happily.
At this time, there was a short valley in the middle of the confrontation between the East and West Taiping Mountains in the south of Zhangjiakou. The squadron that blocked the caravan was setting up defenses at the exit.
At this time, a squadron of people was building fortifications, digging trenches, burying wood spikes, and laying mines. Two Gatling guns were deployed on the mountains on both sides.
The valley is very narrow, less than thirty meters wide.
A squadron of fusiliers, a squad of three-pounder artillery, and a squad of two hand-operated Gatling light machine guns are enough to seal this place.
Now, Yang Fan's army has a lot of experience in building fortifications. They got the news last night and took action immediately.
First, we evacuated the people in the inn and obtained an additional small team. In this way, the number of defenders has reached nearly 200.
Then sacks were filled with sand, and the valley mouth was quickly cut off, and a sandbag wall ten meters high and five meters thick was built. An Sanxi sent a deputy battalion commander Tian Peng to take charge of overall command.
Tian Peng came, and after seeing the situation, he ordered the ice and snow to be melted in a large pot, and then poured on the outside of the sack wall. Overnight, it froze into an ice wall.
Because, for the sake of stability, the sack wall can only be built in the shape of a terrace. It is wide at the bottom and gradually narrows upward. Otherwise, the top and bottom are the same height and it is easy to collapse. But if it is built into a trapezoid, it is easy to climb.
When Tian Peng saw how cold the weather was, he came up with this idea. He cut down the trees in the valley, melted the ice and snow with a large aluminum cauldron, and then poured it down from the outside of the wall, freezing the facade into an ice wall.
The thick ice wall is very strong in this extremely cold and low-temperature era. It is a very good bulletproof material.
Xuanfu Town sent troops and it took three days.
It took three days to build the fortifications here.
When reinforcements arrived, under the harsh climate, the sandbags and ice water froze together, becoming as hard as steel. Although the outer wall had a certain slope, the frozen ice was very smooth and impossible to climb.
Regarding the configuration of generals guarding Xuanfu Town, according to the "History of the Ming Dynasty·Zhiguanzhi":
There is one general military officer who guards Xuanfu. It is an old establishment and is stationed in the town of Xuanfu.
There is one deputy general soldier who assists in guarding. The deputy general soldier was also stationed in the town in the past. In the 28th year of Jiajing period, he moved to Yongning City.
There are seven guards and generals.
Said North Road Dushi Maying General,
Said the East Road Cup came to Yongning to join the general,
Said the right guard commander Wan Quan on the West Road,
Yue Nan Road, Shun Sheng Wei Guang, General,
Said General Geyubao on Zhonglu,
He said, "Commander General Chaigoubao on the 4th Road,"
Said Nanshan Ginseng General.
There are three guerrilla generals, two officers in the camp, thirty-one guards, and two foremans.
Zhangjiakou is just a fortress, and Heiyunlong is just a garrison. There are more than 1,000 soldiers and horses, and the actual number is more than 500.
At this time, it was Hou Shilu, the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, who led the troops. In the second year of Chongzhen, that is, this year, Jiannu launched a large-scale invasion. He was the unlucky guy in the Jiji Rebellion. In the second year of Chongzhen, he was the most miserable.
Hou Shilu had a close relationship with the eight major business groups. No matter who came to this place, they could not avoid interacting with the eight major business groups.
Although Zhangjiakou City is under the jurisdiction of Beizhili and is located at the junction of Shanxi and Beizhili, the people active here are Shanxi merchants, especially the eight major business groups.
The military pay for the seventh year of the Apocalypse was only paid out this year. The court is in such a difficult situation that the generals guarding the country must make their own decisions. Otherwise, if the army rebels, his official position will be over.
Hou Shilu relied entirely on financial support from Shanxi merchants to barely be able to support the situation. He also raised an additional 200 servants who could fight.
Zhangjiakou Fort is located 19 kilometers northwest of Xuanfu City. It is literally under the nose of the commander-in-chief. Now that such a big thing has happened, he must express his feelings and reasons.
Therefore, he directly led the team here to see what was going on in Zhangjiakou.
In fact, he didn't believe it was the Mongols or the Tuxietu Khan who came to fight. The Waikarkha people in Mobei, in the severe cold that could freeze their horses to death, climbed over the mountains and ridges, crossed the Gobi, and came to Zhangjiakou.
.It doesn’t seem real when you think about it.
Xuanfu has not fought a decent battle in many years. It took a lot of effort to assemble the soldiers from various guard posts this time. It has been three days since the men and horses were assembled.
This is also the reason why the shareholders behind the eight major business groups are anxious. With such a slow gathering speed, it is estimated that the marching speed will not be that fast. It makes the big battle even more uncertain.
So they all ran to Jimingyi to find the Beijing camp stationed outside Xuanfu Town and begged Zhang Shize to send troops. They had no way to find Yang Fan. However, Mr. Zhang had a wide circle of friends. It was not difficult to find him.
Before the army set off, he cooked a meal and gave the officers and soldiers a full meal. Then he cashed in the departure money. These were raised by the shareholders of the eight major business groups. After all, the emperor had no shortage of hungry soldiers. He had to coax these Qiu Ba
It’s better for the ancestors to go into battle.
The official road from Zhangjiakou to Xuanfu is very good, because this is an important trade route. Businessmen are willing to raise money to build the road. The army marched very quickly, and arrived at the mouth of the valley at noon.
Looking at the blocked valley entrance in front of him, Hou Shilu took a breath of air.
I saw an ice wall more than ten meters high blocking the way. The ice shone in the sun. It was very beautiful. But at this time, Hou Shilu was so angry that he wanted to curse.
How can we fight this battle with such a solid ice wall?