Soon a tall white horse with a straight and long head, short ears, long limbs and solid bones was led by two grooms in front of Emperor Chongzhen. After seeing this, everyone couldn't help but secretly admire this horse in their hearts.
The horse's body is all white with no stray hairs. It is one foot long from head to tail and eight feet high from hoof to top. It screams and roars as if it is flying into the sea.
Horses are rare, of course. Can the horse the emperor rides be good? It is not an exaggeration to say that it is one in a million. But none of the ministers present showed a happy look on their faces. It is not because the horse is not good.
, but because it is so good. This horse was paid tribute to Chongzhen by a tribe in Mongolia a year ago. However, as Chongzhen was the emperor, there were very few opportunities to ride a horse. This horse has been raised in
He was kept like a god in the royal stables, and he was finally pulled out today. He had not been let out for a long time, and he was so excited that he shook his head and howled repeatedly. The two grooms almost couldn't hold him back.
All the ministers are knowledgeable. They can tell at a glance that this wild horse is not something ordinary people can ride. If you don't have any real ability and you really want to ride on it, this horse will kill you.
, who said that horses can't play with people? If a horse plays with people, it will be much more ruthless than ordinary people. If Emperor Chongzhen rides this horse now, isn't that asking for death?
Not only the minister, but also Chongzhen obviously suddenly realized this problem. He looked at the muscular and slender horse, then looked at his thin arms and legs, and finally shook his head with a wry smile and said to Wang Chengen behind him: "Big companion.
, you win, I’m really not suitable for riding a horse, forget it, I’ll just go in a sedan chair.”
Chongzhen also knew that it must be Wang Chengen's idea for the groom to bring this horse. Otherwise, the young eunuch and the groom who lent them would not dare to bring these untamed horses. Could it be that there are still no horses in the palace?
Did a trained and docile horse come out? Wang Chengen was implicitly reminding himself not to take risks himself.
Wang Chengen also knew that he could not hide it from Chongzhen, and he quickly prepared to kneel down and apologize. Chongzhen waved his hand with a wry smile, "Since I am the eldest companion with this heart, then I will listen to you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for understanding the sufferings of this slave, and please get into the sedan chair." Wang Chengen waved his hand, and a small sedan chair soon appeared in front of Chongzhen, and Chongzhen had no choice but to sit in it speechlessly.
At this time, outside the city, Lu Xiangsheng was standing in the Ming army camp and starting to order troops. Next to him stood the Shandong General Soldier, the Datong General Soldier Wang Pu, the Baoding General Soldier Dong Yongwen, the Shanhaiguan General Soldier Zu Dashou, and other generals.
Ning, Ji, Mi Ge's commander-in-chief Zu Dale, Li Chongzhen, Ma Rulong and dozens of other generals all stood beside him.
Today's Lu Xiangsheng is different from that day in the palace. At this time, Lu Xiangsheng is fully clothed, wearing a helmet and crown, a red cloak on his body, an iron helmet on his head with dragons and tigers carved on it, and a Longquan sword on his waist.
His face showed an expression of calmness and dignity, and he looked majestic. Behind him, there was a Ming army colonel holding a sign with the eight characters "Governor of the Capital, King of Qin, Soldiers and Horses" written on it.
At this moment, Lu Xiangsheng said with majestic eyes: "Everyone knows what we are going to do today. The emperor gave me five days to relieve the siege of the capital. Today is already the fourth day. If I cannot defeat the Tatars, I will do it tomorrow."
I have no shame to sit here and command you all. Therefore, I hope you can work hard today. The outcome of today’s battle with the Tatars is not yet known, but I hope that no matter whether you lose or win today’s battle, you will win.
You cannot disgrace me, a soldier of the Ming Dynasty, can you do it?"
Lu Xiangsheng's status in the Ming army is still very high, and he is also very popular with the military. As soon as he finished speaking, the generals immediately clasped their fists and said: "I will obey the orders of Governor Lu, kill the enemy and serve the country, and I will never embarrass Governor Lu!"
"Yeah!" Lu Xiangsheng nodded and shouted loudly: "Order the gunner to fire the cannon!!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Heavy cannon fire rang out in the immediate camp. Lu Xiangsheng looked at the generals and asked calmly, "Since the terrain of Xibianmen is not very open, the army cannot be deployed at once. I wonder which of you is willing to take the lead."
At this time, a burly middle-aged general came out. He came to Lu Xiangsheng and clasped his fists in front of him and said, "Master Lu, why worry? I am willing to fight the Tatars."
Lu Xiangsheng took a look and saw that it was Dong Yongwen, the commander-in-chief of Baoding. He smiled and said: "Commander Dong is very brave. I promise you that your troops from Baoding will take the lead later."
"Thank you, Commander!" Dong Yongwen quickly thanked Lu Xiangsheng and stood up. He immediately walked out of the tent and started ordering troops. Lu Xiangsheng smiled and looked at Dong Zongbing who had left and walked out. He turned to the generals and said: "
Everyone, let’s go together to raid the formation for General Dong’s soldiers!”
Although Lu Xiangsheng's voice was gentle, it carried an undeniable dignity.
All the generals did not dare to neglect, they all clasped their fists and said: "Yes, I will obey the command of the commander-in-chief!"
As all the soldiers and horses came out of camp, one by one the Ming army headed towards Xibianmen, and soon gathered into a huge torrent...
On the 18th day of March in the ninth year of Chongzhen, 80,000 Ming troops and nearly 50,000 Qing troops prepared for a showdown outside the west gate of the Ming capital.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen and all the civil and military officials also climbed onto the wall of Xibianmen. They were very excited when they saw the groups of soldiers and horses approaching from outside the city. If the Ming army won this battle, the Qing soldiers would have to retreat.
Outside the Pass, if the Qing army wins, the Ming capital will be in danger.
At this time, 80,000 soldiers and horses of the Ming army first formed a formation on the right side of Xibianmen. The 7,000 Flying Bear Army directly under Lu Xiangsheng was in the center, and the soldiers and horses of the other general troops were on both sides, with a total of 80,000 soldiers and horses.
It looked ridiculous. Since the armor flags of the Ming army were all red, it looked like a sea of red everywhere from the city wall.
Seeing the flags fluttering outside the city, and the victory flags flying to the sky, Chongzhen was quite excited. He had never seen such a scene since he was a child in the royal palace. For a moment, he not only smiled and said to the ministers around him: "Even if
Seeing how powerful our army is, I think the Tatars will be able to be wiped out in one fell swoop."
As soon as Chongzhen's words came out, several censor officials among the hundreds of officials quickly followed Chongzhen's words, "Your Majesty, looking at the military might of our army, how can the Tatars be invincible?"
The smile on Chongzhen's face became thicker after hearing the words of these famous officials, but most of the officials did not agree with their words, and several officers from the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion looked at these words with contempt.
Officials, I secretly laughed at these officials who only know how to use pens and make small reports. If the Tatars were defeated so easily, my Ming Dynasty would not be beaten to the capital by them. This is really a rotten scholar's view.
As soon as Chongzhen's words fell, a desolate horn sounded, and then the ground trembled faintly, and finally it started shaking violently. It seemed that at the same time, ocean-like flags appeared from the ends of the horizon on all sides. Countless flags appeared.
The knights of the Qing army came running wildly, and the black pressure was boundless. They let their horses run wildly, and the sound of iron hoofs shook everyone's hearts.
Seeing the sea of fluttering flags and the boundless war horses, the expressions of Chongzhen and the civil and military officials all changed. They had never experienced a battle before and had never seen so many cavalry and such fierce soldiers and horses.
Slowly, those boundless war horses and the torrent slowly converged into a torrent and stopped a few miles away to the left of Beibianmen. The sound of hoofbeats had been ringing for an unknown period of time and gradually weakened, and the large plume of smoke and dust also disappeared.
They flew away, revealing dense layers of flags of various colors around them, as well as Qing knights wearing various armors. They gathered several miles away, densely packed, and there were no one knows how many people there were.
At this time, both sides had already prepared their respective battle formations, but since the terrain outside Xibianmen was not large enough to accommodate more than 100,000 troops fighting, the generals on both sides knew that this was a battle destined to only accommodate no more than 100,000 troops.
It was a battlefield where many people were fighting on a large scale, but this did not affect the cruelty of this war at all.
After seeing the lineup of Qing soldiers outside the city, Chongzhen could no longer naively think that with 80,000 Ming troops, he could easily wipe out the 50,000 Qing soldiers outside. He turned his head and looked at Yang Sichang, who had been standing next to him.
He asked worriedly: "Yang Aiqing, do you think Lu Xiangsheng can repel those Tatars?"
Yang Sichang smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Your Majesty, soldiers are unpredictable, power and water are unpredictable. The most uncertain thing about the war is that even the veteran doesn't know."
Chongzhen looked blankly at the two armies confronting each other outside, and he couldn't help but feel a burst of regret in his heart. If he hadn't forced Lu Xiangsheng to defeat the Qing troops within five days, they would not have abandoned their camp and came out to fight the Tatars.
Let's fight in the field. Almost half of the elites of the Ming Dynasty have gathered here. If Lu Xiangsheng is defeated, can the capital of the Ming Dynasty still be saved?
When Chongzhen was thinking about deserting, a team of more than 5,000 people had left the Ming army's camp and headed towards the battlefield of the Qing army. This was a pure cavalry unit. In front of them, except for the flag of the Ming Dynasty, there was written "
The flag with the big Dong character is the most eye-catching. They are the troops of Dong Yongwen, the commander-in-chief of Baoding.
Seeing a cavalry unit appearing in the Ming army's camp and fighting towards them, the Qing army's camp immediately separated into a group of four to five thousand cavalrymen wearing white armor and attacked the Ming army's cavalry.
As soon as a cup of tea was reached, the two sides collided, and the two colors of red and white instantly fought together. Even though they were more than a mile apart, Chongzhen and the civil and military officials could hear the collision of weapons and roars of the two sides fighting.
And screams, cavalrymen kept falling off their horses, and people kept wailing after their limbs were cut off.
Chongzhen and his civil and military officials had never seen such a cruel and merciless battlefield. In just an instant, dozens and hundreds of lives were taken away. There were clashes of weapons, neighing of war horses and gleaming blades everywhere.
To the civil and military officials on the city wall, this was a hellish scene.