Victory begins

Author: Silent

Victory begins

At nightfall on the third day of June.

Wang Shouren and Ma Yi's surprise attack on Weininghai had just passed the Daqing Mountains. After experiencing the lofty mountains, the troops had finally passed the Yin Mountains, and the soldiers were already exhausted.

"Master Wang, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to move forward." Cao Shun ran to Wang Shouren to complain, "It has been two days and two nights. We have just passed Daqingshan, and we are still nearly 200 miles away from Weining Sea. How about one day and two nights?

Can they arrive? The soldiers still need to rest now. If it's too late, I'm afraid we won't have to fight this battle. Otherwise, we'd better withdraw."

The team's progress was obviously hindered by the terrain.

First of all, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were not familiar with the grassland terrain, and when they arrived at Daqing Mountain, it rained. In addition, in order to carry artillery through the mountain, the journey was even slower.

When crossing high mountains and ridges, people can dismount and walk, but artillery must be carried by horses.

At this time, Ma Yi, Sun Shangqi and other generals accompanying the army also came over. They also came to seek Wang Shouren's opinion.

It seems that this group of troops was led by Ma Yi personally, but as the head of the Ministry of War, Wang Shouren was a civilian official accompanying the army and had a special status in formulating strategies. Moreover, Cao Shun was also the eunuch guarding the Xuanfu, and his status was superior to Ma Yi.

"We have already passed Daqingshan. Do you want to turn back from here?" Wang Shouren asked a very practical question.

We finally got here, but you want to back down?

Ma Yi said: "Mr. Wang, the morale in the army is... a bit low now. The morale was high when we set out on the expedition, but after two days of trekking through mountains and rivers, the soldiers are already... very tired. How about resting overnight and continuing the march tomorrow morning?

!”

Compared with Cao Shun's proposal to withdraw his troops, Ma Yi's request was relatively more practical.

The soldiers are too tired, so it is better to rest first and then continue to set off.

Wang Shouren said firmly: "The three armies can only rest for two hours... I will give you half an hour more, and you must set off at midnight! From here to the west, it is a smooth journey, and you can ride your horse without stopping!"

"What a torment!" Cao Shun almost wanted to sit on the ground and roll around.

Sun Shangqi said: "The deadline given to us by Zhang Zhitai is to arrive at Weining Sea tomorrow night. After a short rest, we will raid Weining Sea early the morning after tomorrow. Even if we set off at midnight, we are still nearly two hundred meters away from Weining Sea."

Here, the march day and night is very urgent, and there is no room for slacking off."

Sun Shangqi came to supervise the army. He was responsible for supervising not only Ma Yi, but also Wang Shouren and Cao Shun. He was equivalent to Zhang Zhou's representative in the army.

With Sun Shangqi's support, Wang Shouren's marching arrangements would be easier to implement.

…

…

The army continued to set off after midnight.

One man and two horses, each carrying his own weapons and rations, and some horses also carried artillery and cannonballs.

During the march, Wang Shouren stayed close to the artillery. They were all old acquaintances. If there was any encounter, the group of people from the artillery battalion could be mobilized to maximize the advantage of the soldiers and horses traveling long distances.

"...Instructor Wang, the brothers have all seen it. The cannonballs are not affected by moisture, but some of the oilcloths on the barrels are broken and there is water inside. After dawn, if the sun rises, you can tear the oilcloths and dry them.

.”

There was a rain before, which made Wang Shouren very nervous.

If the artillery and firearms become damp and cannot be used, it will be difficult for this group of troops to compete with the Tatars without the support of firearms and relying only on the cold weapons they bring.

Even if the main forces of the tribes around Weininghai are gathering in the west to fight, how can there be no people left behind around Weininghai?

The number is not important. The key point is to catch the opponent by surprise and then use firearms to suppress them in order to win... Otherwise, the combat quality of the Ming Dynasty soldiers will still be far inferior to the tribesmen on horseback relying solely on cold weapons.

After daybreak, Wang Shouren was fortunate to finally see the sun that day.

"It's so empty here."

Liu Gui is riding on the horse.

Less than a year ago, he was just a low-level gangster in Nanjing city who couldn't even make a living. Now he went on an expedition with the army, still serving as a member of the Jinyiwei Baihu.

In his opinion, this grassland also has a beautiful scenery, which makes him feel relaxed and happy.

At least it was much better than the cloudy and rainy weather the previous day.

Wang Shouren said: "Instruct the front, middle and rear troops to speed up the march. They can march at least thirty miles in an hour in the open area, and they can only bury the stove after they have marched a hundred miles!"

…

…

Just when Wang Shouren was marching at the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain.

The Chinese army led by Zhang Zhou was in the south of Yinshan Mountain and was also advancing rapidly towards Maoerzhuang.

Compared with the quiet and peaceful northern foothills of Yinshan Mountain, the south of Yinshan Mountain is full of the atmosphere of war and smoke. As the main force of Zhang Zhouzhong's army marches, signs of tribal activities can be seen everywhere.

"Didn't we agree that we would come out to shoot cannons to kill eagles? I'm so exhausted!"

After marching for two days, Zhang Heling and other pampered ministers could not bear it at first. After listening to Zhang Zhou, they thought that this group of people was just to support Wang Shouren and came out to cover. They would not have any fighting with the grassland tribes and they would not march.

It would have been too fast, and it turned out that...the march had been over a hundred miles every day for the past two days.

This is too fast for the general army to march.

Because Zhang Zhou's side is not a light force raid from Wang Shouren's side. They are bringing food, grass and baggage, and more importantly, they are bringing more than 70 artillery pieces. Although they are all cannons, and there are no heavy cannons, because they have

The horse-drawn carriage was waiting, and the journey was already quite hurried.

When the team was resting, Zhang Heling came to Zhang Zhou to complain.

At this moment, Zhang Heling also looked shabby, as if he hadn't washed his face in decades, and his whole body was like a briquette.

Zhang Zhou pointed to the west and said: "Our march is too slow. If we cannot reach Mao'erzhuang within the set time, we will not be able to repel the Di Yi over there. The vanguard troops who made the surprise attack on Weininghai will not be able to defeat them."

Escape!"

Zhang Zhou knew that his marching speed was not as fast as Wang Shouren's.

But he couldn't delay. His mission was to go to Mao'erzhuang and other areas close to the Daming Fortress to clear the way for Wang Shouren to go south back to the Daming Pass after his surprise attack on the Weining Sea.

The road on his side is relatively safe, because almost all the attention of the grassland tribes is currently on Chi'er Mountain, six to seven hundred miles west of the Weining Sea, which is the main battlefield for annexation within the grassland.

Zhang Zhou looked at the tired looks of the soldiers below, and knew that fortunately he did not expect these people to have a big fight with him. The Ming Dynasty's frontier army had not experienced a decent war in the past ten years. For the frontier soldiers,

The gap is just one generation. Unless he is given three to five years or even ten years to organize his troops, it will not be that easy to completely conquer the grassland.

It's not that the soldiers can't do it, it's that no one except Zhang Zhou can do it.

There is no one as eager to change the situation in the northwest as he is.

Most of the frontier soldiers want to maintain the status quo. It is a very practical question... If the grassland tribes disappear, what will they fight and eat? Should they go back to farming? Where is the land?

"A hundred miles a day is too common for a grassland march. Are you all so lazy when trying to take credit?"

"I didn't ask you to go to the front line to kill the enemy. I just raised the momentum to wave the flag and cheer for the front army. If you still want to push back, then just don't come to the northwest!"

These words are specifically meant for people like Zhang Heling who are naysayers.

At this time, Zhang Heling acted as a negative example, which also allowed Zhang Zhou, the coach, to find a target. If he did not teach Zhang Heling a lesson at this time, but went directly to teach the generals in the army, he would probably encounter resistance from those soldiers.

Once this group of people give up their choices, this team will be unable to lead.

"What are you giving in to me? You're tired! When will this end? Forget about torturing people to death!"

Zhang Heling was just complaining.

Let him go back to the pass alone, and he can still go. It would be a disaster if he was captured by Tatar stragglers on the way back.

…

…

The night of the fourth day of June.

Wang Shouren's troops and horses were less than fifty miles away from Weining Haizi. At this time, the troops and horses were resting for the last time.

After experiencing the extreme fatigue before, the spirit of the soldiers seemed to have calmed down at this time. This was also because the soldiers knew that they had now penetrated deep into the hinterland of the grassland. If they retreated at this time, there was no way out and the only way was to fight to the death.

.

Wang Shouren chose to rest and recuperate before arriving at Weininghai, and also planned not to make any reorganization before the war started.

In other words, after eating and resting here, we will march directly to the Weining Sea.

Victory or defeat depends on this.

"You are not allowed to bury the stove, and you are all eating the dry food you have on hand." Wang Shouren said, "After you have eaten and drank enough, there will be a battle tomorrow morning!"

At this time, there are still three hours before dawn, and the rest is only one hour at most.

It was still very hard to walk the fifty miles with only two hours left.

After the soldiers ate dry food, there was no fire around them, and they were in a valley. The soldiers did not set up camp, so they just slept in the open air, giving them an hour to take a nap.

But when Wang Shouren inspected the military camp, he found that the soldiers slept very little.

"Why don't you rest? Close your eyes!"
To be continued...