Chapter 183 Tribute
The enemy general Changhui was originally a horse thief. Later, during an anti-suppression campaign, he decisively defected to Altan's tribe and was incorporated into the army.
Because he was a horse thief, Changhui was alert and agile in fighting, and gradually became prominent.
However, because he was a horse thief, Changhui had no one to rely on and no foundation in Altan's army, which resulted in him making little progress for many years.
After Altan's subordinates were defeated twice by Jiang Qingzhi in Datong, there were some complaints within the army, some feeling that Altan only knew how to use his own direct subordinates, while the collateral troops were either used as cannon fodder or left idle.
Therefore, this time Changhui was brought out as a general from the side branch.
Three thousand cavalrymen, with the mission of plundering Xuanfu.
Whenever the foreign tribes on the grassland suffered losses, their first reaction was to plunder.
This was the first time in many years that Changhui had received such a lucrative job, but he was an ambitious man and knew that this was a rare opportunity for him to shine, so he was not in a hurry to plunder, but instead cruised back and forth in Xuanfu.
After cruising back and forth for several days, Changhui had a clear understanding of the Ming army's troop deployment and the various reactions of the soldiers in the city.
He dared to bet that if he was given another 30,000 troops, he would be able to capture Xuanfu and attack the Ming capital directly.
But as a collateral general, he had less than 10,000 troops, let alone 30,000.
So he was ready to take the risk.
Hundreds of cavalry are patrolling the periphery. Qian Jun, do you dare to attack?
Hundreds of rangers!
The infantry dare to leave the city!
But Qian Jun stood still like a mountain.
Then we will strangle this small group of Ming troops and undermine their morale.
I have to say that Changhui's ability to respond is indeed outstanding.
The morale of the Ming army on the city wall was at its lowest point.
"Just give me 10,000 troops! Ten thousand, and I can break through Longmenwei!" Changhui looked at the top of the city with some regret.
"Capture a few alive." Changhui ordered. He needed to know the situation of the Ming army in more detail.
After the two disastrous defeats at Datong, Altan was brewing a desire for revenge. But how to retaliate? Attacking a strong city was not the style of the grassland tribes. If it was plunder...
In the past, whenever Altan Khan said he was going south to plunder, his subordinates would be ecstatic. But this time, they had some doubts.
——Robbery is fine, but will that killer come?
——If that killer god is here, how should we deal with it?
The bandit nickname "God of Killing" is a bit funny. After Jiang Qingzhi defeated the enemy in Datong, he ordered people to build a Jingguan outside the city of Datong to intimidate Altan's tribe.
At that time, Jingguan had been out of people's memory for hundreds of years. When the news came, a respected priest trembled and said: "That is the Han and Tang... the Han family's favorite thing."
The priest looked towards the south with fear in his eyes. "After the Han and Tang Dynasties, the people of the Central Plains lost their backbone and had long forgotten the dignity of their ancestors. Now it has come... The God of Killing, the God of Killing has come to the world..."
Thus, the God of Killing became Jiang Qingzhi's bandit nickname.
The Jingguan Temple, a famous Han building that had been forgotten for many years by the foreign tribes on the grassland, is once again being mentioned frequently by people.
After Changhui led his troops to set off, he deliberately took a detour to Datong.
He saw the pile of corpses and remained silent for a long time.
Then he told his subordinates, "If I encounter Jiang Qingzhi, I will use the corpses of his subordinates to build a Jingguan, and put his head on the top of the Jingguan, to repay him tooth for tooth!"
If he succeeds, he will become a hero of the entire Altan tribe.
Looking at his subordinates chasing and besieging the dozen or so Ming soldiers like a cat playing with mouse, Changhui's mouth curled up slightly.
Before leaving, he learned that Jiang Qingzhi was a close minister of the Emperor Ming and spent most of his time in the capital.
Then we won't meet him this time. Chang Hui said in front of many generals: "What a pity."
The sound of horse hooves could be heard from afar.
Chang Hui's first reaction was anger. "Didn't I tell them to hide nearby and wait for the Ming army in the city to leave before attacking?"
A soldier stood nimbly on the horse's back and raised his hands to create a canopy in front of his eyes.
Then his body shook a few times, "Qian Hu!"
Changhui heard something strange.
The sergeant shouted: "It's the Ming army!"
Chang Hui was not angry but happy, "How many troops are there and who is leading them?"
The lookout must be literate.
The soldier looked intently, "There are only 1,000 Ming troops!"
not much!
Changhui waved his hand, and the horn behind him sounded long, summoning his ambush troops.
"It's... it's Jiang Ziqi!" The soldier's voice was filled with fear, "It's that killer god coming!"
In an instant, the Jingguan outside Datong city appeared in everyone's mind.
Those dried heads looked as funny as the corpses of rats. But no one could laugh. At that moment, everyone felt a chill down their spine.
"Meet the enemy!"
Changhui shouted.
The cavalrymen who were besieging the dozen or so Ming troops began to withdraw.
The general commander of the Ming army did not know why this happened and thought the enemy had set a trap.
"Brothers, fight out!"
But before he could take action, the enemy troops retreated like a tide.
Hundreds of enemy troops quickly assembled.
The general flag slowly looked in the direction the enemy was facing.
A thousand Ming troops were galloping towards them.
Under the banner with the character "Jiang" on it, a general pointed his sword to this side, and then the Ming army split into two groups and encircled from the left and right.
"Who is Jiang Ziqi?" someone asked breathlessly.
A sergeant suddenly remembered something, "It's... it's Long Wilbur!"
"It's him!" The general flag officer looked about thirty years old and said softly, "Is he the young nobleman in the rumors?"
"General, everyone says that Chang Wei Bo is a famous general!" said a soldier.
"Words are not enough..." The general flag ordered: "Gather the injured brothers and prepare to evacuate."
Two groups of cavalry passed by them on their left and right.
"The men and horses are like dragons!" The general looked at these cavalrymen carefully and saw something extraordinary about them from their spirit.
Jiang Qingzhi came surrounded by people.
The general knelt on one knee and said, "My Lord, the enemy has hundreds of ambushes nearby."
Jiang Qingzhi nodded on horseback, "Do you dare to follow me to kill the enemy?"
"dare!"
The general flag mounted his horse and said, "Brothers, let our comrades in the capital see the courage of the frontier men!"
Of the seven cavalrymen, one was left behind to look after the wounded, while the remaining six mounted their horses.
"That's right." Jiang Qingzhi's eyes turned, and the enemy troops on the opposite side actually gathered and made a gesture of attacking.
More than 600 enemy troops were preparing to launch an attack against 1,000 Ming troops.
On the top of the city wall, Xia Yan was roaring, "Why don't you attack?"
Qian Jun said slowly: "The enemy's situation is unclear."
Jiang Ce glanced at Xia Yan and said, "These hundreds of cavalry are most likely baits." "But Chang Wei Bo took the initiative to attack with a thousand cavalry. Longmen Guard has more than two thousand defenders and eight thousand reinforcements. Why don't they dare to attack?" Even if Xia Yan didn't understand military affairs, he knew that he had a clear advantage in this battle.
"Mr. Xia, you don't understand martial arts." Qian Jun said calmly, "You only saw hundreds of enemy troops, but you didn't know that they were fierce and could defeat ten with one. Over the years, Jiubian has fought with the enemy many times and gained a lesson."
Jiang Ce said: "If you can't outnumber the enemy by ten times, you can't attack."
Qian Jun nodded. "It seems that we have ten times more troops than the enemy at the moment, but the enemy army has ambushed them secretly, so we can't fight recklessly! Long Wei Bo... is being careless."
Jiang Ce said bluntly: "One thousand men and horses, what does he think they are worth? Outside the border wall, a thousand men and horses are like a drop in the ocean. The hundreds of enemy troops on the opposite side are elite. If things go wrong, there is no need for the enemy to ambush, and Chang Wei Bo will be defeated."
The corner of Xia Yan's mouth trembled.
You have to be ten times larger than the enemy to attack?
Is this the Ming Dynasty that I have ruled for many years?
However, Jiang Qingzhi launched an attack on more than 600 enemy troops with only 1,000 men, and the enemy also began to counterattack...
"Go and help him!" Xia Yan roared, "Otherwise I will definitely impeach you, Qian Jun, for standing by and doing nothing!"
Qian Jun was shocked by the former Prime Minister's aura, and then sneered, "Mr. Xia, you can go by yourself."
You are just a down-and-out old dog. Do you really think you are still the former Prime Minister?
If you want to go, go by yourself!
"go!"
But what he didn't expect was that Xia Yan got angry.
Sun Bu Tong said softly: "Mr. Xia, look..."
Mr. Xia turned around slowly.
One thousand Ming troops and more than six hundred enemy troops are approaching quickly...
The Ming army merged into one.
A sharp arrow formation was formed in the front, ready for a sudden attack.
The Ming army on the city wall held their breath. Some looked at the Ming army with sorrow, while others looked at the shouting enemy troops with fear...
At this moment, the Ming army's flag waved, and then the sharp arrow formation in front suddenly dispersed, and the Ming army behind them split into two groups.
Two groups of Ming troops bypassed the enemy from the left and right sides.
The changes were so fast that Changhui couldn't react at all.
This is the accuracy and speed that can only be achieved through repeated training. This Ming army is not bad... This thought flashed through Changhui's mind, and he shouted confidently: "Shoot through them."
You can outflank yours, and I just need to break through.
The Ming troops on both sides suddenly took out something.
Hold it flat.
"It's a crossbow!"
Someone screamed.
The Central Plains dynasty had two powerful weapons to fight against the grassland cavalry: iron discipline and powerful crossbows.
"Hold on for one round and then disperse to fight the Ming army!" Changhui's reaction was quick, and his response was so excellent that even Altan would have to praise it.
Withstand a round of crossbow arrows and then change the tactics of penetrating the Ming army to strangulation.
As long as the Ming army was entangled and the ambush arrived, Changhui swore that no one in this Ming army would escape.
After a wave of crossbow arrows, the Ming army no longer made detours, but broke up into groups of three or five and infiltrated the enemy.
This was the entanglement battle that Changhui had been expecting. He was overjoyed, "Jiang Qingzhi is just like this. He can entangle them! Hahahaha!"
His laughter boosted the morale of his men.
But then, the laughter stopped abruptly.
The Ming army rushed in in groups of three or five, some holding bows, some with spears, and some with swords and shields... With just one wave of attack, they actually broke through.
They cooperated so well that the enemy's so-called bravery became a laughing stock.
"Stop them!" Chang Hui shouted in shock, "Stop them!"
He never expected that the Ming army would be so fierce... He had been fighting against grassland enemies for Altan over the years, and this was the first time he fought against the Ming army.
But he learned from inside many times that the Ming army was corrupt and the soldiers were weak, and they did not dare to fight with the grassland warriors at all.
But the scene before him completely overturned Changhui's cognition.
"Qianhu!"
A centurion was chased after him, screaming.
Changhui looked at the three Ming soldiers... Even when facing more than ten cavalrymen on his side, they still refused to retreat, and cheered as if they had discovered a treasure.
"The enemy is here!"
In an instant, the big flag rushed towards this side.
When did the Ming army become so brave... Changhui took a deep breath.
Raise the long knife.
He looked at the boy and shouted, "Retreat!"
Damn it!
Jiang Qingzhi was very angry that the enemy general fled without fighting.
And on the top of the city wall, an old man was roaring.
"Look, those soldiers are fighting bloody battles, and you are just sitting there watching?"
He roared at the shocked soldiers.
"Open the city gates. Today, I, Xia Yan, will fight side by side with Chang Wei Bo!"
Qian Jun looked pale.
He glanced at Jiang Ce, who clenched his hands tightly, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
And crazy jealousy!
"The enemy is defeated!" a sergeant shouted.
"Open the city gate!" Xia Yan's saliva sprayed on Qian Jun's face.
Qian Jun knew that if he didn't take action, he would be criticized.
"Open the city gate!"
"Long Wilbur has turned."
Jiang Qingzhi ordered his men to stop, turned around and prepared to enter the city.
The city gates are open.
Xia Yan rode out first.
The old man looked at the enemy troops fleeing in panic, his blood boiling, not knowing how to vent. He drew out his long sword awkwardly, his face flushed.
He raised his long sword and shouted: "I am the Ming Dynasty..."
The soldiers who emerged from behind looked at the big flag and the young nobleman, and couldn't help but draw their swords and raise them high.
There are many long swords.
Salute to that boy.
"mighty!"
(End of this chapter)
