Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Eight: Beacon smoke rises
Border, Datong City.
As the most important and stable fortress on the Ming Dynasty's border defense line.
Datong City is like a prehistoric beast that has gone through hundreds of battles, scarred but still standing.
On the high and solid city wall, you can see the faint red color after the blood has dried, the newly repaired bricks and stones, and the guards standing on the wall, fully armored and motionless.
The afterglow of the setting sun shines on the high city wall, as if it is coated with a soft golden shell.
The wind outside the Great Wall was raging wildly, rolling up yellow sand all over the sky, blocking people's eyes from looking into the distance.
"Dong, dong..."
The ground was trembling slightly, the gravel and fine sand scattered on the ground kept jumping, and on the distant horizon, a long black line emerged.
It was a torrent made up of countless black spots, growing from small to large, accompanied by rising yellow sand. In just a moment, the sound of galloping horses could be heard.
"Enemy attack!"
A shrill and loud military whistle sounded, and countless guards moved up and down the walls of Datong City upon hearing the sound.
First there was the long sound of the bugle, which kept blowing, spreading the news to all parts of Datong City as quickly as possible.
Following this, officers and soldiers in full armor came, in just a short moment.
The number of guards on the city wall suddenly nearly doubled, with each man carrying a crossbow and rolling logs and stones at his feet.
In the center of the city wall, there is a person wearing bronze armor, with eyes like a hawk and a face as deep as water. This person is Guo Deng, the chief military officer of the Datong garrison.
There were two people standing next to Guo Deng.
The person on the left is wearing a light crimson robe, embroidered with Xie Zhi, and has a solemn face. He is the deputy capital censor Zhu Jian who was sent by the imperial court to coordinate the defense.
The person on the right, also wearing armor, is none other than the capital commander Fan Guang who had been sent to Beijing a long time ago.
The advantage of cavalry is that it comes and goes like the wind. Even a large group of cavalry will not affect its mobility.
In just one stick of incense, the black line in the distance grew from small to large, arriving at the foot of Datong City like a torrent.
It is said that the number of people exceeds 10,000, and there are no boundaries.
At this moment, standing on the wall of Datong City and looking out, all I could see was densely packed cavalry, with more than ten thousand of them as far as the eye could see.
These cavalrymen lined up about two thousand steps away from the city gate, and the scene was spectacular.
Two thousand steps is exactly the farthest range of the city's artillery.
Immediately, a group of about thirty or forty people came out from the army on the opposite side. The leader was dressed in the uniform of a middle-ranking official and was holding something like an imperial edict in his hand.
Arriving about a hundred steps below Datong City, he shouted loudly.
"I am the emperor's eunuch Xi Ning, and I have come here with an order. Where is Guo Deng, the chief military officer of Datong?"
Guo Deng stood on the city wall, expressionless, and shouted.
"I'm here, please tell me if you have anything to say."
Xining got off his horse, unfolded the yellow silk in his hand, and said.
"The emperor has an edict. My army went out to fight and stayed in the court of Wala Khan. Now I have reconciled with Grand Master Wala and sent him back to the capital to take his rightful place. I heard that King Qi Yu of Qi was enthroned as emperor in the capital. This is an unfair accession to the throne. I now order the commander-in-chief of Datong Army.
Guo Deng, open the city gate quickly and welcome me back to the capital."
After reading, Xi Ning shouted sharply.
"The sacred mandate is here, Guo Deng, why don't you open the city gate to receive the edict!"
Compared to Xi Ning's harsh words, Guo Deng looked calm and said coldly.
"The imperial court has long issued an edict that everything related to the Holy Emperor coming from Oala is a false edict. If you really want to return it to the Emperor, please send a team of fifteen cavalry to escort it. When the time comes, I will
We should open the city and welcome back the Emperor."
Xi Ning looked gloomy, got on his horse and said.
"Guo Deng, you dare to disobey the Holy Order. Afu, the false emperor, is so audacious and obstructs the emperor from returning to the capital to take up his throne. The Grand Master will definitely raise an army to attack you. When the time comes, your reputation will be ruined, and you will know the pain."
After that, without saying a word, he led his men and horses straight back to the army.
Following this, a torrent of cavalry troops retreated.
"Your Majesty, our army's spies have reported that there are more than 10,000 captured bandits, and they are now camping five miles away."
Guo Deng still stood on the city wall, looking at the setting sun and the rising fireworks in the distance. Then he waved his hand and signaled the soldiers who came to report to retreat.
Although the civil servants and military generals are like fire and water in the court, these civil servants still know how to deal with the current war.
Especially in the exchange just now, Guo Deng's resolute attitude made Zhu Jian, who was responsible for implementing the court's orders, nod secretly, so he took the initiative to ask.
"General Guo has already declared war on the Ming Dynasty. There must be more than 10,000 troops. It must be that these troops are not the main force. Is it possible?"
Guo Deng frowned and looked towards the east. Through the vast grassland, he seemed to see the rising flames of war, gritted his teeth and said.
"Aries mouth!"
Before Guo Deng could continue, Fan Guang on the other side spoke.
"Master Zhu, the walls of Datong City are high and it is really difficult to break through. In the previous round, he also led a main force of 70,000 people and attacked the city for three days. Naturally, he will not seek this trouble again this time, and now he has occupied Yanghe.
, in terms of geographical location, we will definitely choose to attack Aiyangkou."
Zhu Jian twirled his beard and frowned.
"So his ten thousand troops are used to contain Datong's army and prevent us from going to support Aiyangkou?"
Guo Deng nodded and said.
"Yes, if my prediction is correct, the war has already begun at Aiyangkou. If I remember correctly, the ones currently guarding Aiyangkou are the Governor-General Xie Ze and the Councilor Yang Xinmin, right?"
Zhu Jian saw that Guo Deng looked wrong and thought he was worried about the battle situation in Aiyangkou, so he spoke.
"Yes, Mr. Yang is as fierce as fire. Mr. Guo can rest assured that even if he dies in battle and marries his country, Mr. Yang will not take a step back and will definitely defend to the end."
A trace of sadness flashed in Guo Deng's eyes, and he murmured softly.
"Hold on, yes, Xie Ze will stick to it too..."
Fan Guang cursed secretly at the side, this Zhu Yushi was simply a fool and couldn't speak a word.
This Xie Ze was once a trusted general under Guo Deng in his early years. Later he was promoted to the governor of Qianshi, leading the troops alone to guard one side.
Although Baiyangkou is a dangerous pass, it is difficult to compare with Datong in terms of military strength and the strength of the city.
I'm afraid that at this moment, facing Ye Xian's fierce attack from the main force, we are already in danger.
The Commander-in-Chief was not worried about the situation of the war. He was clearly feeling helpless because he had to watch his confidants die in battle, but he could not send troops to rescue him.
As a result, this Zhu Yushi insisted on which pot he wanted and refused to open it. He was really a fool!
Fan Guang took a step forward, clasped his hands in a military salute, and said.
"Your Majesty, the General of the Army, first sent more than 10,000 troops to station outside to make sure that the defense inside Datong City was empty. Then, General Mo led 20,000 troops this time and divided them into four groups to enter from Yanmen Pass. The first batch of 6,000 people has arrived. Please
The Commander-in-Chief ordered General Mo to lead his troops to attack the bandit camp outside the city at night to defeat their sharp edge!"
On that day, after setting off from the capital, Fan Guang secretly rushed to Juyong Pass and took over the command of the 30,000 troops recruited from various passes from Sun An.
Then these 30,000 people were divided into parts, 5,000 people were allocated to support Zijing Pass, and 5,000 people were left to garrison Juyong Pass.
Then the remaining 20,000 people were broken into pieces, divided into four groups, and rushed to Datong from Yanmen Pass and other places.
Except for the 6,000 people he personally led who rushed directly to Datong, the remaining 14,000 people lurked in other passes and only came secretly after the war started.
This is not only to disturb Ye Xian's line of sight, but also to prevent the mobilization of too large a number of people and arouse Ye Xian's vigilance.
So to this day, he only thought that there were less than 10,000 remaining soldiers in Datong City, so he dared to boldly send troops to attack Aiyangkou.
But even so, he still cautiously placed nearly 10,000 troops outside Datong City to prevent Datong from sending troops to reinforce other passes.
After all, since the Battle of Tumu, the imperial court openly responded to Datong's increase in troops, plus the original remaining troops and horses, the total total is almost 10,000.
Facing Fan Guang's invitation to fight, Guo Deng shook his head, a trace of pain flashed in his eyes, and said.
"Your Majesty ordered you to lead 20,000 troops to come secretly for reinforcements. It is actually of great use. At this moment, it is not time for you to send out the army."
After saying that, a chill flashed across Guo Deng's face. He looked at the beacon smoke rising in the distance and spoke softly.
"Wait a little longer. After a while, I will definitely do that first. I will regret that I dare to offend my Ming Dynasty in this life!"