Madeng had just gotten up in the morning and was washing up under the care of his wife and maid. He saw the housekeeper Ma Youfu and a cavalryman waiting under the second door, holding a document in his hand.
There are three pheasant feathers affixed to the document. This is a characteristic of emergency military situations.
Madam Malan was a little surprised. Chifeng City was only built this autumn, and there were no human settlements for hundreds of miles around. Only the Liao River was covered with forts like a string of pearls. They were used for warning, so where could the emergency military situation come from.
Malan was born into the Ma family, a general family, and was also a general lady who was skilled in bow and horse.
The Ma family is equally extraordinary. It is known as one family with two governors and three generations with seven generals. The Ma family is marrying to the Ma Fang family, who are also top generals.
Ma Fang was the first master of cavalry and archery in the Ming army during the Jiajing period. He was known as "the braver than the horse". The Ming army ranked him above "Yu Long, Qi Hu", and praised him as a powerful and powerful general in the border areas.
crown.
His personal experience is also very legendary, and he is the prototype of An Sanxi. He was really robbed to the grassland at the age of ten. When he was a boy, he saved Anda Khan's life by shooting a tiger to death, and became his captain, and later escaped back to the Ming Dynasty.
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After returning to the Ming Dynasty, he joined the army as a cavalryman and became the chief soldier of the Xuanfu regardless of accumulating military exploits. The history of the Ming Dynasty said that in his life, he "captured dozens of ministers and killed them without any hope."
Ma Fang's son Ma Dong served as the commander-in-chief of Jizhen and eventually became the governor.
The second son Ma Chun also became the commander of the guards.
The third son, Ma Lin, became the commander-in-chief of Liaodong (Saerhu died in battle and was posthumously awarded the title of Commander-in-Chief.)
Sun Tzu Ma Jiong and others also held positions such as "Huguang General Soldier" and Ganzhou General Soldier. This family has produced seven general soldiers in three generations.
Ma Dengyun was washing his hair and asked the maid to make hot water to wash away the soap foam on his head. While he lowered his head to rinse, he said to his wife: "Uncle Dingyuan's stuff is easy to use. Although this soap is a bit expensive, it is still good."
It costs two silver a piece, but it’s really useful for washing your hair and taking a shower. And this hot air dryer is also very comfortable.”
There is also a hot air fan on the wall. This thing looks a bit like a modern cabinet air conditioner. In fact, it is a gasoline stove below, used to heat the air. Then the hot air rises, and there is a Stirling fan above to blow the air. Stirling
The engine is also heated by the gasoline stove below.
This is a fantastic design created by the fan factory’s imagination.
Now the officials, gentry, and wealthy businessmen of the Ming Dynasty have all accepted gasoline stove water heaters and modern style bathtubs. They can take a hot bath every day.
But it’s very cold after taking a shower in winter, so I designed this weird thing.
After taking a shower, I stand in front of the hot air machine, drying myself with a large bath towel, and generally enjoy the hot air blowing. It is really a great pleasure. This thing does not cost much, but it can be sold for fifty taels of silver.
Modern bathhouses also have similar full-body blow-drying equipment. You can blow-dry while standing after taking a bath.
After the maid dried her hair with a bath towel, Ma Dengyun lowered her head and dried it with the hair dryer.
"Sir, the housekeeper is outside with the military report. Do you need to call him in?" Malan said.
"Well, military reports. There have been no military reports for three months. What happened? Let him in." Ma Dengyun said with some surprise.
This autumn, the entire upper reaches of the Liao River defense line was completed. Nearly a hundred forts were set up along the Liao River from Ningcheng to Kailu. These forts are not large, and each has a small number of troops. Generally, there are only 50 people in a general banner.
Act as a warning.
They grew some food nearby to be self-sufficient, and at the same time guarded the beacons and lit them if necessary. In the past two days, Jiannu and the Chahar people fought successively, and both sides suffered heavy losses. At present, it seems that Huang Taiji has the upper hand.
Lin Danhan can no longer shrink back.
From any aspect, neither party seems to be trying to bring bad luck to Ming Dynasty.
Especially after the defeat of Lin Dan Khan, he relied even more on the Ming Dynasty to help each other. Could it be that Jiannu came to fight? It is wrong. Jiannu did not take a rest for a year before continuing to launch the war.
The housekeeper came in with a tired messenger. After saluting the master and his wife, the two handed the military newspaper to Madeng Yun.
Ma Dengyun blew his hair while taking the military newspaper. After taking a few glances, his face suddenly changed. He didn't care that his hair was still dry, and he immediately walked quickly to the study.
"Hey, sir, my hair isn't dry yet." The lady called him quickly.
Madeng ignored him and opened the door and went out. It was very cold outside, more than ten degrees below zero, and his hair was suddenly frozen solid. It looked like it was standing on end.
Madengyun came to the study, opened the map, and read it carefully.
Madeng Yun had 50,000 soldiers under his command. They were on the front line of the Laoha River in the upper reaches of the Liao River. He did not put heavy troops on the riverside. Instead, the main force was 30,000 people stationed in Chifeng City, and 10,000 people were stationed along the river.
Arrangement. Another 10,000 people were deployed at various passes in Yanshan Mountain.
Because Ma Dengyun knew that if the troops were dispersed and the hundreds of castles arranged on the edge of the Liao River were attacked by Jiannu, they would be completely defeated. Even the troops could not be recovered.
If you defend everywhere, you will be empty everywhere. In the end, you will not be able to defend yourself.
Only the Pinghu Fort on the riverside in front of Chifeng is larger in scale, with five thousand elite soldiers stationed there. These soldiers are all old subordinates of the Ma family, and they guard Chifeng City from the front.
Now, Pinghu Fort reported that the Jiannu invaded in large numbers, with as many as 250,000 people. He was almost so shocked that he fell down.
Is Huang Taiji crazy? The truce with Lin Dan Khan has only been less than three months. It is still the coldest time of the year, and he wants to attack the front line of the Great Wall at this time.
Weren't they been attacking Jinzhou and Ningyuan before? Why did they suddenly change direction?
You know, behind the Liaohe defense line, there is an uninhabited grassland. How will they provide supplies? After passing the uninhabited area, there is the valley in the Yanshan Mountains. There are dangerous cities in it. If they cannot defeat it and it takes a long time, what will they eat?
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Even if I want to hunt for grass and grain, there is no place to do so. Because Uncle Dingyuan has taken away all the Mongols, there is nowhere to find food in the wilderness.
In this season, dripping water turns to ice, even if there is no fuel, there is no water to drink.
The grasslands are no better than the mountains. There are no trees here. The Mongolians all boil dried cow dung. What did the Jian slaves use to cook and keep warm? If they had no fuel to melt the solid ice, would they chew the ice with their teeth when they were thirsty?
But it's useless to say all this now, because Huang Taiji has already arrived.
Pinghu Fort was besieged and blocked. Fortunately, when the city was first built, Pinghu Fort was located on the east side of Chifeng and was an important fulcrum. Therefore, it was built with rammed earth and bricks, making it very strong.
There are also 5,000 elite soldiers stationed inside. There are also enough firearms and bows and arrows. It is estimated that they can defend it for a period of time. Jiannu's siege ability is actually not very good. Most of the large cities they captured in Liaodong were by tricking the city gates into opening, or by inciting the Mongols to rebel. water, open the city gate in the middle of the night.
Only the city of Liaoyang was captured by them. It was Yuan Yingtai who commanded blindly and played the piano randomly. He did not put the army on the city wall to hold on, but had to pull it out to fight in the field. As a result, the army was lost, the strength was insufficient, and the city could not be defended. The same was true for Shenyang. So lost, He Shixian went out to fight in the city, was ambushed, and the entire army was wiped out. The city also fell due to lack of troops.
Ma Dengyun thought in his mind that it would be impossible to go to the rescue at this time. Jiannu was in full swing. The 30,000-step cavalry in his hands would be like meat buns beating dogs when he went out. He could only harden his heart and let Ma Xi carry it first. , use up Jian Nu’s energy and slowly look for opportunities.
