On February 17th, the wind was a bit strong and the weather was a bit gloomy.
In the evening, after a busy day, Li Junqing and his generals prepared a few dishes and drank wine in the city's Yamen.
I had just had a few glasses of wine when I heard the howling wind outside. Looking out the door and window, I saw a dark scene. Gravel and dust swept in from the door and window, and the house was also filled with sand and dust.
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The soldiers under his command quickly closed the doors and windows to prevent sand and dust from entering the house and falling on the food and wine, affecting the adults' drinking.
For Li Junqing and others, this situation has happened many times in just over a month in Baichengzi. After taking Baichengzi, the weather here has been very bad. It is either snowing or snowing.
There are only a handful of windy and sunny days.
Although it hasn't snowed recently, the wind is very strong. Every time it blows, the sky is dark and dusty. After standing outside for a while, a lot of dust will fall into your clothes, hair, mouth, and boots.
Although I hate this kind of weather, it is actually understandable. After all, a few miles to the northwest are the huge sand dunes on the edge of the Mu Us Desert. The wind comes from the desert, picking up gravel and scattering it in the air, which is actually a very big thing.
A common thing. The sand dunes of Mu Us advance dozens of steps into the Gobi every year because of the continuous convolution and invasion of sand and gravel.
Li Junqing and others didn't pay any particular attention. They just cursed the terrible weather here and continued drinking.
But soon, everyone discovered that the sand attack seemed to be more violent this time. The wind was very strong, and the gravel crackled on the doors and windows, and even the tinkling sound of the roof tiles being hit could be heard.
Li Junqing stood up, walked to the window on the leeward side, opened the window and looked outside. The world outside was completely chaotic, and the sky was filled with yellow sand. He could no longer see clearly even more than ten steps away from the window.
Any scenery. The wind and sand swept through the air, with a sharp whistling sound, as if thousands of troops were sweeping in. This momentum is really frightening.
Only then did Li Junqing realize that this was a sandstorm, not an unusual situation of wind-blown sand and dust. In this season, large-scale sandstorms are still rare. Generally, sandstorms gather more frequently in spring and autumn. Today, we caught up with one.
.
Li Junqing was a little worried about a group of soldiers and horses that set out two days ago to escort supplies to the north. They should be still on the way to the Ordos Plateau on the east side of the desert at the moment. The wind and sand are so fierce, I wonder if they can resist it.
However, there are tens of thousands of convoys and soldiers and horses escorting the grain and fodder, and they are well-equipped. Temporary stations have been set up along the way to protect them from wind and snow, so there is no need to worry too much.
"Sir, this kind of weather is the most suitable for drinking. Everything has been arranged. Your Excellency has been working very hard. Have a few drinks tonight and have a good sleep." A general laughed loudly.
"Yes, sir, don't worry. In this kind of weather, as long as the city is not blown away, nothing will happen." Everyone nearby agreed.
Li Junqing nodded and closed the window. There was really nothing to worry about. Even if the convoy on the road was worried, there was nothing he could do to help. It was better to drink in peace and have a good sleep tonight.
Li Junqing returned to the wine table, exchanged glasses with several generals, and kept drinking. The sound of the storm outside continued, but he ignored it.
The jar of wine was drained quickly, and everyone in the audience was already feeling drunk. Someone suggested drinking another jar, but Li Junqing stopped him. He was a restrained person, and drinking in the military was an exception. It was absolutely forbidden.
I was drunk to the point of drunkenness. My drinking capacity was average, but in fact it was almost the same.
"I see, that's it. Mo Zhen is drunk, and the brothers don't look good. After a while, the storm stops, and we will go to patrol the city to see if there is any damage. We will deal with the aftermath.
I'm afraid there will be some trouble happening in this storm. Let's have a last drink and let it go." Li Junqing said.
The generals were indifferent, but they did not dare to disobey the order. They raised their wine glasses and were about to drink together. Suddenly there was a clang, the hall door burst open, and a gust of wind mixed with wind and sand blew in. Suddenly the hall was filled with wind and sand.
A candle went out in an instant, and the hall suddenly became dark.
Li Junqing and others couldn't open their eyes for a moment.
"Sir,...Sir, it's not good, it's not good...!" A hoarse voice shouted in the wind, sand and mist at the door of the hall.
"What's going on? Who's there? What happened?" Li Junqing shouted.
"Sir..." the hoarse voice shouted weakly, and then with a thud, someone fell into the door.
Several personal guards had already rushed up and found the man lying on the ground. The man was lying on the ground, motionless. At the same time, Li Junqing drew his sword in his hand, and he and several other generals also rushed over. Someone quickly
They closed the door and lit candles. In the darkness, they saw the man wearing Ming-style armor crawling on the ground.
One of the guards turned the man over, and saw that his face was covered in blood, and there was an open wound on his chest, with blood oozing out.
Li Junqing was startled and reached out to wipe the dust off the man's face. Everyone around him screamed: "It's General Song..."
That person is Song Dayun, who is in charge of the city's defense. He is a deputy general. Today he is on duty and is responsible for the city's defense and security.
Li Junqing's scalp felt numb and he stretched out his hand to check his breath and found that Song Dayun had died.
"What's going on? What's going on?" Li Junqing shouted.
“Sir, there seems to be… the sound of fighting outside,” a general suddenly shouted.
Li Junqing opened the hall door, and along with the dust coming from the pavement, the whistling dust was mixed with the sound of fighting. Listen carefully, and you can hear screams and howls. Before that,
Li Junqing and others seemed to have heard such a sound before, but they all thought it was the sound of a sandstorm, but now, they all realized that it was the sound of a fight.
Li Junqing shouted loudly: "An enemy attack is an enemy attack. Quick, quick."
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The generals woke up from a dream, rushed out of the Yamen hall, and followed Li Junqing to the street. The wind and sand were thick, and the sky was dark. But after taking a few steps, they found corpses lying scattered under their feet. At the same time, people who could not see all around were
In the wind, sand and mist, the sounds of fighting, shouting, screaming and roaring could be heard endlessly. There were sounds of fighting almost everywhere.
Li Junqing stood there blankly, his heart feeling cold.
…
More than a month ago, Turjiang, the lord of Baichengzi City and the left wing of Chahar headquarters, abandoned Baichengzi City and led his troops to withdraw into the Mu Us Desert, handing Baichengzi over.
According to Turjiang's temper, he would not give up the city so easily. However, the instructions from Dayan Khan required him to do so and not engage in head-on combat with the main force of the Ming army.
Batu Mengke made it very clear: to avoid its sharp edge, get out of the city and preserve the troops and horses. Wait for the main force of the Ming army to move north, and then cut off its retreat and food routes.
Turjiang faithfully carried out the order. The night before the Ming army attacked the city, under the cover of darkness, more than 10,000 of his cavalry quietly left the city and entered the desert, leaving only a few thousand cavalry to force the people in the city and
The slaves of the Ming Dynasty defended themselves to confuse the Ming army.
Although the Ming army guessed that Turjiang's soldiers and horses entered the desert, they did not realize that since the Tatars dared to enter the desert, how could they not be prepared. A place like the desert is extremely dangerous, and the Tatars
How could a Tatar seek death?
In fact, at the southern end of the Mu Us Desert, ten miles into the desert, there is a small oasis. It is a place blocked by several huge sand dunes. In this valley covered by the sand dunes, there is a small oasis.
Pools of water gathered together, creating a small oasis.
In fact, there are many such small oases in the Mu Us Desert, scattered throughout the desert. The Mu Us Desert is not the most hostile environment in the desert. There is a lot of rain and snow here, but most of the rain is difficult to collect and retain. But
Among the large sand dunes, such an oasis will be formed by chance.
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This oasis is not far from Baichengzi, so it is naturally regarded as a secret base of the Tatars in the desert. In the past few years, the Tatars have built sand walls and sand-proof fences in this oasis, and stored
The large amount of supplies makes this place a secret place to station troops.
Stationing troops in the desert is something no one would have imagined.
Facts have proved that the Ming soldiers and horses were completely unaware of this. Although they sent soldiers and horses to search deep into the desert, they could not find the oasis at all. They arbitrarily believed that the Tatar soldiers and horses must have crossed the desert.
Fleeed north.
For more than a month, the men sent by Turjiang have been spying on the Ming army's every move at the edge of the desert. They are waiting for an opportunity.
Two days ago, Batu Mengke's order came, asking them to wait for an opportunity to cut off the Ming army's supply lines. Turjiang was immediately prepared. He decided to directly seize Baichengzi City and completely destroy this transit station where the Ming army stockpiled supplies.
Occupy. This is much more direct than attacking the grain-carrying vehicles and soldiers and horses on the road.
It happened that a group of Ming troops escorted the supplies and left for two days. Turjiang decided to take action. However, the Ming army was very guarded and every move might be noticed. The Ming army had established a defense system based on the city wall in Baichengzi.
Some are difficult.
However, God had his way. When a sandstorm swept across this evening, Turjiang immediately decided to attack Baichengzi under the cover of the wind and sand. Under the cover of the wind and sand, the Ming army would know nothing.
The Tatar soldiers and horses put on masks specially designed to protect against wind and sand. It was a mesh mask woven from wattle. The face was wrapped with a cloth. Wearing this mask, it can effectively resist the wind and sand and allow normal breathing. This is the Tatar
unique equipment.
When the Tatar soldiers and horses jumped out of the wind and sand and rushed into the Baichengzi city, most of the Ming soldiers hid in their houses to avoid the wind and sand. They did not realize that the Tatars would rush out in the sandstorm.
Attack. The results can be imagined.
In the early morning of February 18th, as the sandstorm subsided, Baichengzi changed hands.
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Most of the 20,000 Ming troops in the city were killed or wounded. The leading general called on the deputy commander-in-chief Li Junqing and died in the battle. A small number of soldiers and horses escaped from the city and fled to the Gobi Desert. A large amount of military supplies in the city, a large amount of grain, grass, armor, tents, bows, arrows, weapons and other materials were all captured by the Tatars.
After this battle, the supply line of the Ming army was cut off. The main force of the Ming army of 130,000 in Dongsheng City fell into a serious situation of logistical isolation.