After the archers stopped shooting, the battle came to an abrupt end. Under the fierce firepower of the Ming army, more than 260 Tatar soldiers and horses were killed or injured. Most of the Tatars were injured and lost their combat effectiveness and died in the battle.
The number is not that much. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
Losing 20% of his troops in one attack was obviously unacceptable to Batumeng. If this continued, his thousand troops would not be able to withstand the loss.
After learning from the painful experience, Batu Monk issued an order to withdraw and recuperate. All the Tatar soldiers and horses withdrew to rest under the shade of the trees in the valley. The exhausted and extremely hot Tatar soldiers drank water frantically, hid in the shade of the trees, panted, and recovered.
physical strength.
Batu Munch frowned and looked at the hill. He saw the Ming army standing on the hill pointing and seeming to be laughing at him and cheering for victory. Batu Munch was filled with anger.
The steel teeth crushed it.
"Great Khan, what should we do now? How to attack?" asked the general beside him.
Batu Munch frowned and said nothing.
A general said: "Actually, we don't have to fight with them, we can just trap them. They have no water to drink, no food to eat, and the weather is so hot, sooner or later they will be trapped to death."
"Hey, Badal, are you stupid? Can we afford it? Ming army reinforcements will come at any time, and they may not be far away from us. By then, if others are not killed, we will be besieged." Someone immediately pointed out.
I understand this person's stupidity.
The generals were silent. Yes, time is the biggest enemy. Every moment of delay is a moment of danger. Today is already the eighth day, and reinforcements from the Ming Army should not be far away. They will arrive anytime and anywhere, and by then there will be*
*Tired.
Batu Meng coughed with a livid face and shouted in a deep voice: "Everyone listen to the order. Let the soldiers drink enough water, eat enough dry food, feed the horses enough fodder, and prepare to attack."
The generals around him looked at each other in shock. Suddenly, they seemed to understand what the Khan meant. Until now, it seemed that this was the only way to do it.
…
On the hilltop, the Ming army set up a shady pavilion. After the Tatars withdrew, Zhang Yanling ordered people to drag more than a dozen wooden rafts abandoned on the hillside to the top of the mountain. There was no material on the bare top of the mountain, and the Tatars
However, we have sent so many rafts made of logs, so naturally they cannot be wasted.
The weather was unbearably hot, and the rafts were set up as awnings to provide shade. Otherwise, the soldiers would not be able to hold on if they were exposed to the scorching sun and had no water to drink. Even with the rafts as shade, the soldiers would be exhausted.
My physical strength was exhausted. I was exhausted from a series of hard battles. The weather was hot, I was thirsty and hungry, it was really a torture.
Zhang Yanling regretted a little. The breakout last night was very hasty and some things were not fully considered. For example, dry food and water bags were all stored in the rucksacks of the horses when they were defending the city. It was only before the breakout that they discovered that the horses were frightened and scattered, and there was nowhere to look for them.
.I should have been prepared and made plans.
This is of course also related to the fact that water bladders and dry food are too bulky to carry on the body. It seems that in the future we will have to design aluminum or steel water bottles that are not easy to be damaged in battle, and make some lightweight compression bottles that can be used in emergencies.
Military rations, as an important part of individual soldiers' equipment, can avoid this situation at critical moments.
Of course, the premise is that you can survive today.
Although the Tatar attack was repelled, the people on the mountain were not very excited and the atmosphere was very dull. More than 20 injured soldiers were sitting or lying under the arbor, looking painful and depressed. Several captains were giving them first aid.
Apply loose bandage to the wound.
Several corpses were placed side by side on the ground outside the pergola, with their bodies covered with cloaks and their heads and faces covered. Zhang Yin stood in the sunshine next to the corpses with a frown on his face, looking sad and gloomy.
The Tatar arrow rain was not without its lethality. Under the intensive attack of the arrow rain, the Ming army suffered more than 30 casualties. Among the six killed, one was a flag officer under Zhang Yin. The two were related.
They were as close as brothers, but unexpectedly they were shot dead by Tatars. So Zhang Yin was very sad.
Zhang Yanling walked to Zhang Yin and said in a deep voice: "Zhang Qian's matter, please forgive me and accept the change."
Zhang Yin turned to look at Zhang Yanling, sighed and said: "Master Hou, don't worry, it's okay for me to be humble. My brother has a good relationship with me, and we are as close as brothers. It's just that I can't accept this fact for a while. Tatars are hateful."
To the extreme, I will definitely kill ten Tatars to pay homage to my brother Zhou."
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "Yes. This brother Zhou is indeed very good. He is brave in battle and a kind man. If he could go back safely this time, he should have a great future. It is a pity that he died in this battle."
Zhang Yin nodded and said in a deep voice: "The sun is very hot here. Lord Marquis, please go stay in the pavilion. I dug the soil and buried them. It's so hot that we can't keep the bodies."
Zhang Yanling said in a deep voice: "Let's bury it later. Be prepared to meet the enemy. The Tatars are preparing to attack. It's better to leave some strength to kill the enemy."
Zhang Yin was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said: "As ordered."
Zhang Yanling turned around and walked back under the pergola. Zhao Yuancheng came over, holding a bird gun in his hand, and said to Zhang Yanling: "Master Hou, the bird gun team lost a brother in the battle, please distribute this bird gun to the Lord."
Zhang Yanling was in a heavy heart. He knew that one of his bodyguards had been killed and was lying on the ground outside. It was not easy to train soldiers of the Bird Corps. They were not only loyal and reliable, but also well-trained. It took a lot of effort.
Today, one of the elite musket guards who were trained and selected after spending a lot of time and money was shot dead by random arrows. Naturally, Zhang Yanling felt bad.
Zhang Yanling took the blunderbuss and carried it on his shoulder. He took two paper-wrapped bullets from Zhao Yuancheng and put them into his bag. "The rest of the ammunition will be distributed to other brothers. I will use this blunderbuss. The enemies I killed,
Count it on your fallen brothers."
Zhao Yuancheng nodded in agreement, turned and left.
Zhang Yanling walked to the east corner of the pergola, where Zhu Houzhao, accompanied by Liu Jin and others, sat on the ground to rest.
After seeing the ceremony, Zhang Yanling sat down next to Zhu Houzhao.
"Your Majesty, be prepared. The Tatars will attack soon." Zhang Yanling said casually.
Zhu Houzhao said hurriedly: "Don't be afraid, we have strong firepower and hundreds of arrows, which is enough to repel them."
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "The emperor is extremely courageous. It is really gratifying that he can be so calm under such circumstances."
Zhu Houzhao smiled and said: "Now that the matter has come to this, can I still give in?"
Zhang Yanling laughed and said: "That's true. However, the Tatar attack this time may be extremely fierce. I don't know if I can resist it. The emperor must be mentally prepared. Although I really want the emperor to leave here.
, but after looking at the surrounding situation, I am afraid that there is no way out. Therefore, the emperor may have to fight to the death with me and others. I don’t know what the outcome will be.”
Everyone around looked at Zhang Yanling in astonishment. In the past few days, every day had been extremely tense and dangerous battles, but Zhang Yanling had never spoken in this tone, and had never heard such determination in his words.
Meaning. This shocked everyone around, and an ominous premonition came to their hearts.
"Master Marquis, didn't we just repel the Tatars? Why are we no longer confident? Your words make people feel uneasy," Liu Jin said hurriedly.
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "Eunuch Liu, I'm just telling the truth. The Tatars are preparing for the final fierce attack. I have already seen their intention. They are going to charge forward regardless of everything and use their numerical advantage to fight to the death. They are unwilling to fight to the death again.
Attacked using the same means as before."
Zhu Houzhao said: "Can't we stop it?"
Zhang Yanling said: "They are going to rush up on horseback, and we can't stop them at all. The slope is too gentle. I was worried that they would do this before, and I hope they won't do it. But now it seems that Batu Munch is determined to do it."
Did it.”
Zhu Houzhao stood up slowly. His cloak and clothes were covered with dust and he didn't bother to pat them. He quickly walked to the edge of the mountain and looked down. He saw Tatar soldiers walking around under the shade of the trees in the valley.
, busy and busy. A large group of horses are being led into the shade of the trees from both sides of the valley. The situation is just as Zhang Yanling said.
Zhang Yanling walked to Zhu Houzhao's side and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the Tatars still have more than 700 riders. It will not take more than ten breaths for them to rush up from the gentle slope. There is only enough time for the archers to shoot two or three rounds. Birds
Two or three rounds of gunfire. The best result is nothing more than
We shot two to three hundred of them. But then, we have to face more than 400 Tatar cavalry. We currently have only more than 130 men who can fight, including the emperor and the father-in-law.
We are facing cavalry again. So..."
Zhu Houzhao raised his hand to interrupt Zhang Yanling's words. In fact, Zhang Yanling didn't need to say more, everything was already very clear. Zhang Yanling had already calculated the situation he would face. At the minimum, it would require more than 100 people to face the opponent's 400 cavalry.
Attack. Infantry is already at a disadvantage against cavalry, not to mention the number is three times smaller. This is why Zhang Yanling spoke in that tone.
In other words, Zhang Yanling has no confidence that he can win this battle. It is very likely that everything will end here.
"Uncle, there's no need to say more, I understand. I'm... ready." Zhu Houzhao said in a deep voice.
"Your Majesty, I am incompetent..." Zhang Yanling said.
"No, uncle. You have done a good job. Without you strategizing, I am afraid I would have been captured by the Tatars. You have done everything you can, but the plan depends on people and the success depends on God. Some things, you
It can't be changed." Zhu Houzhao turned around, looked at Zhang Yanling with bright eyes, and spoke very sincerely.
Zhang Yanling nodded slightly.
Zhu Houzhao continued: "But uncle, we still have a chance, right? It's not that there is no chance, right?"
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "Of course. There will always be opportunities, even if they are slim, they are not completely impossible. As long as you don't give up, there will always be miracles in this world."
Zhu Houzhao nodded and said: "Okay, I will listen to this sentence. In this case, we will fight for that glimmer of hope."
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "I obey your order."
Zhang Yanling turned around and saw Liu Jin and others standing aside, with frightened eyes in their eyes.
"Master Hou..." Liu Jin called out, but was speechless.
"Eunuch Liu, I will take all my father-in-laws to see Zhang Qianshi later and get some swords. One more sword will give you more strength." Zhang Yanling said with a smile.
Liu Jin's throat rolled, and after a long while, he finally said softly: "...Okay."