On a dark and windy night, outside the Great Wall of Yutailing Village in the northwest of Xuanfu Town, a large number of cavalry was gathering.
Batu Meng rode his horse and stood on a hill, looking at the steady stream of cavalry gathering in the distance, his eyes cold and determined. Beside him were more than a dozen senior generals belonging to the Khitan right wing.
In the past few days, Batu Meng and his generals led 40,000 cavalry on a journey through the stars and nights. It took them four days to travel more than 800 miles from Heishui City to the Yutailing Great Wall Pass northwest of Xuanfu Town.
In addition, all the cavalry rested in Shacheng for a day today, and together with the eight thousand border troops stationed in Shacheng and Xinghe, they gathered here overnight.
The arrow is on the string, and a war will soon begin.
A man flew up the hill on horseback. The man on the horse was Batur, the general manager of all households in Chahar headquarters.
"I am reporting to the Great Khan that the troops are about to be assembled and they will be able to advance to Yutailing on the border of the Ming Dynasty within an hour." Batur raised his hand and reported loudly.
"Okay. Before the sun comes up, we must destroy the Yutailing Great Wall pass and break into the Xuanfu territory. There must be no mistakes." Batu Meng shouted in a deep voice.
"Yes!" all the generals shouted in unison.
In the hunting night wind, the plains between the hills below were neighing with people and horses, and it was extremely lively. Dozens of catapults rumbled forward. More than a dozen iron cannons, pulled by strong horses, rumbled towards the south. The torches were shining.
, bright as day, the scene is spectacular.
"Great Khan, I have something unclear." A general asked suddenly.
Batu Munch said solemnly: "Say!"
The general said: "Didn't the Great Khan say that this time he was going to capture the little emperor of the Ming Dynasty? Didn't the little emperor of the Ming Dynasty already arrive at the Monolith Castle in the east? We should gather eastward and attack the Monolith Castle.
Why are they gathering at Yutailing in the west instead?"
Batu Mengke laughed loudly and said: "Yisima, I'm afraid you're not the only one who has this question? I think you all have this question, right?"
Batur and others nodded. Indeed, this was also the doubt in their hearts. They said they came to capture the young emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but they attacked Yutailing. This is really puzzling.
"Brothers, I know that you can't turn around. You are all my Tatar warriors, and you are not afraid of life and death when fighting. However, you must also learn to use strategies. When fighting against enemies like the Ming Dynasty, they have many conspiracies.
, we must also learn to use their strategies."
Batur said: "Great Khan, what do you want to learn from them? What do those people in the Ming Dynasty have to learn from? They are full of tricks. We Tatar warriors don't know how to speak sweet words. We can only use scimitars, bows and arrows to reason with them."
Batu Munch waved his hands and smiled bitterly: "That's all, I can't tell you clearly for a while. But this time, this Khan is bound to win, and must use some means. Yes, the latest information has been sent, Ming Chao Xiao
The emperor is in Dushi City. But we can't directly attack Xuanfu Shangbei.
The reason is very simple. Once we attack Xuanfu Shangbei Road, the Ming Dynasty army to the west will immediately go to the rescue. The terrain over Dushi City is not conducive to the attack of our cavalry army. Once we fall into the mountains, we will be
The Ming Dynasty's army was blocked there, and the consequences would be disastrous."
Everyone nodded slightly, and this was true. The Shangbei Road to Xuanfu in the east was crisscrossed by mountains and ridges, which was not conducive to the sudden advance of our cavalry and was not conducive to rapid action. It was not a good place for a large-scale attack. The rescue of the Ming army was very fast. Once the army arrived, it was entangled in
In the lofty mountains, our own advantages are completely lost and we will suffer heavy losses.
"So, if we want to capture the young emperor of the Ming Dynasty calmly, we need to contain a large number of Ming troops so that they cannot rescue them at all. Because of this, we have to attack the west and attack Yutailing. Not only must we attack, but also
To attack fiercely. To attack
They were caught off guard and had to use all their forces to deal with this. Then, if they attack Monolith City again, they will not be able to use their hands. This is called attacking from the east and attacking from the west. Do you understand?" Batu Munch said in a deep voice.
Everyone suddenly realized that this was the Great Khan's plan. The large-scale attack at Yutailing here was actually a feint attack. The purpose was to attract the attention of a large number of the opponent's troops and force the opponent's troops to gather here to meet the enemy. In this case, the east side would
There will be enough time to attack the Xuanfu Shangbei Road and capture the young emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The attack to the east is the real attack.
"This Khan has ordered Asbas and Dorlie to gather 10,000 men on standby. After launching here, we can storm the North Road. Everyone, after dawn, this Khan will take my 3,000 bodyguard cavalry to the east and A
Sibas and the others will gather together. After Ben Khan leaves, this place will be handed over to you."
"This humble position respects the orders of the Great Khan." Everyone said in unison.
"You remember, after taking Yutailing, they attacked their Wanquan right guard non-stop, attacked down the Great Wall, captured Zhangjiakou Fort, and approached Xuanfu Town. The more fierce the attack, the more they came without thinking.
Rescue. Best, you give Ben Khan their perfect left and right guards,
All the soldiers and horses of the three guards of Xuanfu, Huai'an Guard and even the Chang'an Guard below are attracted here. But you don't want to fight with them. Our cavalry is mobile and you lead them by the nose. Do you understand? It's involved.
The longer it lasts, the better it will be for the east. Do you understand?"
"We will understand. Don't worry, Khan. We will definitely hold them." The crowd shouted loudly.
"Great Khan, what if they are not fooled? What then?" asked a general.
"If they don't mobilize all the troops and horses to encircle and suppress them, aren't you going to wipe out all the northwest areas of Xuanfu of the Ming Dynasty? I want you to raze cities and villages to the ground wherever you go, and loot all the people's cattle, sheep and supplies. If the other party
They didn't have many troops, so they killed one or two of their guards. I didn't believe they could keep their composure." Batu Munch said with a laugh.
When General Ma Mingde, who was guarding Yutailing, received the report and came to the pass of the Great Wall, he saw the overwhelming Tatar soldiers and horses under the city. There were torches all over the mountains and fields, like a sea of fire.
Ma Mingde was so shocked that he almost fainted. Although the Tatars made frequent nuisances, there had never been such a large-scale attack on the border of Xuanfu Town. The Tatars also knew how to bully the weak and fear the strong. They knew that there were heavy troops stationed in Xuanfu Town, so even if they
Ningxia Town and Yansui Hetao were also chosen to launch large-scale harassment. However, this was the first time that such a large-scale Tatar army was launched in Xuanfu Town to gather at Yutailing.
The first order Ma Mingde issued was: light the beacon tower, send a message, and quickly call for help. Four large fires were lit on the beacon tower, which conveyed the message that the attacking enemy had at least 40,000 troops. Ma Mingde knew that,
There was no way the three thousand defenders at Yutailing Pass could withstand such a large-scale attack.
The battle started at dawn. More than a dozen Tatar cannons roared. Huge iron cannonballs hit the city wall, causing rocks to fly. The roar was like a mountain falling apart. Dozens of trebuchets smashed a large number of stones into the city wall.
At the same time, more than 5,000 Tatar longbowmen cooperated with cannons and catapults to form a comprehensive suppression of the city wall about 150 paces wide.
Of course, the defenders of the Yutailing Pass were not vegetarians. There were two Shenwu cannons on each of the five side piers of the Yutailing Pass. At this moment, they also began to roar back.
Violent roars, deafening shouts, and sharp whistling sounds of arrows piercing the air resounded throughout the mountains and fields.
The Ming army hid by the crenellations of the Great Wall to avoid the opponent's fierce bombardment and bow and arrow suppression. But soon, more crenellations were blown down, and two side piers were also blown down. The denser bows and arrows completely overwhelmed the defenders on the wall.
The army could not raise its head. Even if it occupied a favorable geographical position, it was useless under such a fierce attack.
When the sky was dimming, the Tatars launched a fierce attack. At the pass that was only less than 200 paces wide, six thousand Tatar siege infantry used various climbing equipment such as ladders, rope ladders, hooks, climbing poles, etc. to start directly.
Climb the Great Wall.
The soldiers of the Ming army naturally began to use the height of the city wall to shoot arrows and stones to stop them, and the two sides began a bloody siege.
The walls of the Great Wall in the Yutailing area are not very high, with the highest point reaching seven or eight feet, just like a cliff. But the Tatars have already had a way to deal with it. They invented a diagonal ladder with horizontal beams in a herringbone shape to support the posts.
Standing against the city wall. Soldiers can climb to a height of several feet, and then use long poles with iron hooks and long ropes with hooks to throw them against the city wall.
Once the hook ropes and long poles with sharp iron hook tips hook the soldiers on the city wall, the soldiers guarding the city will be hooked by the sharp iron hooks, and their whole bodies will be pulled down directly as their flesh and blood fly everywhere.
They were smashed into a pulp. The Ming soldiers fought back with huge rolling logs and boulders. In a very short period of time, both sides suffered the largest casualties since the war began. Hundreds of soldiers from both sides lost their lives in this brutal siege.
The Tatars soon gained the absolute upper hand. There were less than a thousand defenders on the city wall, and the number of Tatars attacking the city was six times their number. In order to avoid the opponent's hook pull, the Ming army had to be careful in its defense. But these
The hooks and poles are actually climbing tools. They cannot hook anyone. Once hooked onto the city wall, they immediately become ropes and climbing poles for climbing. Soon, Tatar soldiers continued to attack the city wall.
Ma Mingde did not flinch. He led seven to eight hundred defenders in a bloody fight on the city wall. But as the Tatar soldiers and horses continued to pour onto the city wall, the Ming soldiers were outnumbered and fell one after another. In the end, only the horses were left.
Mingde and the dozen soldiers around him were completely surrounded.
Ma Mingde was covered in blood, with as many as a dozen wounds on his body, and the injuries on his legs were so deep that the bones were visible. But even so, he still ignored the Tatars' persuasion to surrender. After rushing towards the Tatars and killing a Tatar soldier, he was
The Tatars cut the body into pieces with knives.
When the first ray of sunshine shone on the earth, the Yutailing city wall pass at the northwest end of Xuanfu in the Ming Dynasty was occupied by the Tatars. All the two thousand defenders of Yutailing died for their country. General Ma Mingde died for his country in the battle. The Tatars paid almost two lives.
The pass was broken at a cost of twice as many casualties.
Subsequently, a large number of Tatar soldiers began to destroy the city wall and carry logs to build a trestle. Half an hour later, a two-foot-wide wooden bridge was slanted across the two ends of the Great Wall, becoming a passage for the cavalry. Then countless Tatar cavalry crossed on horseback.
The Yutailing Pass surged into the Ming Dynasty like a black tide.