The Prosperous Era of Longwan

The Xuanfu sent an early warning to the capital, apparently discovering traces of the main force of the Anda Division.

After the military report arrived in Beijing, the news spread quickly like a whirlwind through all the major government offices in the capital.

In the past few years, although urgent military reports have been sent to the border towns from time to time, they can only be regarded as small disturbances. The number of troops dispatched by the Tatars is more than a thousand people, which means that to harass the border forts, more than 3,000 troops There's not much action.

This time, the urgent report from the Xuanfu directly stated that the main force of the Anda Division was obviously tens of thousands of people, and a war seemed to be about to break out.

"Shandai, what do you think?"

At this time, in the pavilion in the garden of the Hanlin Academy, a group of Hanlin officials were sitting together, drinking tea and chatting.

In the past, the content of the chat here was of course a collection of classics and history, poems and songs, but today, the content of their chat was transferred to the Xuanfu.

Yes, after the news spread that a large number of Anta cavalry were discovered outside the Xuan Mansion, many people suddenly remembered that the most recent battle with the Anda tribe was many years ago. Wasn't it commanded by their young colleague?

Therefore, when nothing happened, many people pulled Wei Guang to the pavilion, drank a pot of tea, and asked him what he thought of the current situation in Xuanfu.

Looking at the expectant looks of everyone, Wei Guangde even saw Zhang Juzheng among his colleagues.

It was also strange that today he did not go to the Imperial Academy, but ran back to the Hanlin Academy.

Wei Guangde knew that he might not be able to fool him if he tried casually, so he waved his hands hurriedly and said: "I just learned about this news, and I haven't thought about it too much. Here I will tell you what I can think of now. If there are any mistakes, please let me know." Don’t be offended.”

"Speak quickly, we all want to hear your opinion."

"That's right, time is tight, and it's normal to have some mistakes and omissions. We'll listen to what you say, and we'll discuss it when it's over."

"Well, that's exactly how it should be."

Looking at Zhang Juzheng beside him, who was also stroking his beard and nodding, Wei Guangde had no choice but to continue: "I guess you have never been to Xuanfu, and I have only been to some places.

But at that time in Xuanfu, I heard people talking about the Great Wall stretching for hundreds of miles and more than ten passes in Xuanfu. There is a popular saying among the people, 'Only a thousand days to be a thief, but a thousand days to guard against thieves'.

There are too many city gates and it is difficult to defend them.

I heard from those generals that the Tatar cavalry ran all the way along the Great Wall, and when they found loopholes in the defense, they attacked the city. The Great Wall defense line seemed impregnable, but in fact it was just an appearance. If one point was broken, the entire line would be broken. "

After saying this, Wei Guangde shook his head.

The last time I went out with Tang Shunzhi, the memorial I came back with echoed the opinions of building the border wall and stabilizing people's livelihood, but it also mentioned the weakness of the Great Wall's defense line. It cost a lot but was of little value.

It's just that building the Great Wall is a national policy, and Wei Guangde thinks that it can't change anything. At least until mature thermal weapons are not available for infantry to resist cavalry attacks, it is still necessary to use the Great Wall to delay the enemy's attack.

"You mean, I'm afraid that if the Xuanfu can't hold on, the Tatars will invade again?"

The clever official immediately noticed Wei Guangde's analysis and asked immediately.

"You may have seen the war reports at the border over the years, but I don't know if you have noticed that the Tatars' harassment of border towns has changed in form in the past two years, especially in the direction of Xuanfu and Jizhen. They have repeatedly used hooks. The pole siege method takes advantage of the low weakness of the castle wall to quickly break through the castle wall.

I remember that Jizhen once submitted a memorial, saying that it was a new combat method developed by Qiu Fu and Zhao Quan, the remnants of the White Lotus Sect, for An Dahan. It was extremely hateful. "

The so-called method of making a hook pole to attack the castle is actually to make a long pole with a curved hook at the top. The hook hooks the city wall, and the Tatars climb up the pole to break the city.

Of course it won't work for a large fortress with high walls and thick walls like the capital city, but most of the walls in the border town military forts are low, so you can use this method to quickly rush up to the wall.

When Wei Guangde said this, he was actually reminding his colleagues that the Tatars could not only break through the Great Wall, but also quickly attack the military fortresses inside and outside the Great Wall, making the entire Great Wall defense line lose its defensive and containment functions.

The so-called Great Wall is actually not just an isolated city wall that later generations saw meandering along the high mountains. In addition to the city wall, the Great Wall also includes moats, towns, forts, walled cities, and piers distributed inside and outside the city wall. A three-dimensional defense system.

When building the side wall, soil was often taken from outside the wall, thus forming a moat outside the side wall, which was equivalent to a moat for the city wall, making it more difficult for the Bei tribe's cavalry to cross the border.

When the Northern tribe's cavalry invades, nearby people, livestock, and materials are collected into towns, forts, fortresses, and piers, and the tactics of fortifying walls and clearing fields are implemented to prevent people and materials from being plundered by the Northern tribes, and to achieve the strategic purpose of stopping the enemy. .

In the past, these border forts were not easy to break, but in the past two years, there have been reports of border forts being breached by the Tatars from time to time, but such information has been ignored by most people.

In the past, the Tatars had to use surprise tactics to attack border forts. When the Ming army was unprepared, they rushed into the military fort at the speed of cavalry. Once the military fort was prepared, it would fall into a stalemate if it could not rush in, which would gradually consume the defenders. Find weak points and attack the city after morale and equipment.

The Tatars crossed the Great Wall, but as long as the Ming army's fortress remained, it still had a containment effect, preventing the Tatars from making a large-scale penetration.

"What Shandai means is that if we let our troops come in, there will be another war? Then the Xuanfu's request for Jizhen to send troops to support should be supported?"

At this time, Zhang Juzheng, who had been silent until now, suddenly asked.

He understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words. Now the combat power of the Anda tribe has improved again. If a large army is gathered this time, a big war is inevitable.

“It’s time for Jiubian to take action.”

Wei Guangde nodded and said.

While the officials in the capital were discussing the Xuanfu military report, a secret meeting was also being held in Datong Town.

This is the official residence of Datong Governor Li Wenjin. There are not many people in the house. In addition to Governor Li Wenjin, there are also Datong Chief Soldier Liu Han and former Chief Soldier Yu Dayou.

At this time, Liu Han said loudly to Governor Li Wenjin: "Governor Ge just asked us to mobilize troops and horses to be ready to support Xuanfu at any time, but Mr. Li wants to lead people out of the border wall. Once Mr. Ge gives a formal order, where will I find troops and horses?" Go over and rescue Xuanfu."

The Governor Ge mentioned by Liu Han was the current Governor of Xuanda and the imperial censor Ge Jin. At this time, he was in the Xuan Mansion. While sending an emergency report to the capital, he also did not forget to issue orders to the Datong Army to be ready and support at any time.

Before Anda's troops attacked Xuanfu with all their strength, Ge Jin did not dare to mobilize the Datong army to assist in defense. Once Anda Khan discovered it, he feinted a shot at Xuanfu and turned back to attack Datong, which was empty of defense. He would always run away with two legs. But it has four legs.

However, Liu Han was called here today by Li Wenjin. What was waiting for him was not that he thought he would discuss how to prepare reinforcements for the Xuanfu, but that Li Wenjin proposed a very bold idea to him, sending troops out of the border wall into the grassland to raid Anda Khan. Laochao board promotion.

Bansheng is Fengzhoutan, which was originally the grazing place of the Tumut tribe under the command of Mongolian Ada Khan, but now it has become a city, a big city outside the Great Wall.

For decades, some northern border residents could not bear the oppression of the feudal rulers, so they mostly fled to Mongolia and gradually settled in the Fengzhoutan area, forming Bansheng City where Mongolians and Han people lived together.

Among the Han people who settled in Bansheng, there were White Lotus believers who were counted by the imperial court, there were also border officers who rebelled against the imperial court, there were prisoners who were assigned to guard the border, and most of them were farmers in the border areas who could not afford to pay taxes.

These people did not come here by themselves. Most of them were captured by the Tatars after leaving the customs wall and brought here. Gradually, a large number of Han people settled.

The Han people settled here, built houses, and engaged in production, gradually forming Bansheng City of a certain scale.

The leaders of the White Lotus Cult, Qiu Fu, Zhao Quan, Li Zixin and others came here. After gaining the trust of Anda Khan, they began to instruct the Anda tribe to crack the Ming army's defense methods, and joined the war to promote the composition and tactics of the Mongolian army. further enriched.

At the same time, he also gave Anda Khan advice and helped Anda Khan build a palace in Bansheng City. The palace was "very magnificent" for Anda Khan to proclaim himself emperor.

"Collecting wood, we built nine long dynasty rooms in the city. The nine-couplet hall was raised on the square city board. It was a house of its own. It was imitated as a prince. The painting was golden and green, shining in the dragon court. The country was named 'Jin'."

These news were all reported from within the Anda Department, so the imperial court was very concerned about every move in Bansheng City.

Fengzhou, where Bansheng City is located, is surrounded by mountains and rich in water and grass. The Mongolians graze here, and the Han people have opened up thousands of hectares of fertile farmland. Every summer, young and old go out to Daqing Pass to escape the summer heat, while Zhao Quan and others stay behind in Bansheng City. , prepare to stay with this for a long time.

Not only did they encourage Anda's troops to attack the border towns of the Ming Dynasty, plunder a large number of border residents and bring them to Bansheng City to strengthen their own strength, they also actively lobbied Anda Khan, who had established himself as the Mongolian Khan, and encouraged him to imitate the Han system and ascend the throne as emperor.

It can be said that Bansheng City is not only the hometown of Anda Khan, but also the stronghold chosen by the defecting White Lotus cultists.

Here they kept in contact with the believers who were still in the Great Wall. They not only smuggled iron, food and other strategic materials, but also leaked intelligence about the Ming army. The purpose of doing this was to encourage Anda Khan to raise troops to fight in the Ming Dynasty.

The Bansheng Group of the White Lotus Sect not only supported Anda Khan as emperor, but also suggested that he capture and rule the border areas of the Great Wall, imitate the stories of Shi Jin during the Five Dynasties, and establish a regime that was equal to that of the Ming Dynasty.

In the words of Zhao Quan, Li Zixin and others, it was to "send various captives to capture the Datong, Xuanfu, and Jizhou areas, and divide the world equally with the Southern Dynasty."

They even sketched out the prototype of a huge empire, with Bansheng City as the center, starting from Jiliaobianwai in the east, bordering Uuliangha Sanwei and Haer tribe, extending to Gansu Bianwai in the west, the Great Wall in the south, and the Great Wall in the north. Mobei borders Khalkha Mongolia, and an independent "Jin Kingdom" regime with a Han-style governance system was established in the vast Monan area.

Bansheng's status is very important in the Anda tribe, so after Yu Dayou learned that the main force of the Anda tribe had left the Xuanfu, he hurriedly discussed countermeasures with Li Wenjin, the governor of Datong. His strategy for retreating from the enemy targeted Bansheng. City, planning to play a tactic of besieging Wei and rescuing Zhao.

Breaking Bansheng City, wiping out the remnants of the White Lotus Sect, and forcing Anda Khan to return troops for rescue, thus relieving Xuanfu's predicament.

Li Wenjin was also very surprised when he first heard about Yu Dayou's plan. It was more than 300 miles away from Datong Town and had to cross two rivers, the Heihe River and the Huihe River.

However, after Yu Dayou's detailed explanation, Li Wenjin felt that this combat plan was very reliable, so he hurriedly called Datong Chief Military Officer Liu Han to discuss the matter.

At this time, Liu Han was considering which people to send to the east to reinforce the Xuanfu. When he heard the governor's call, he thought it was to contact him about food and grass.

When the army moves to defend, food, grass and baggage must be the top priority. Once something goes wrong, it is possible to mutiny and flee halfway, so Liu Han rushed to the governor's Yamen as soon as possible.

But what he never expected was that what Li Wenjin summoned him to discuss was not the important matter of food and grass supplies as he thought, but to lead troops north to attack Bansheng City.

Regarding Liu Han's concerns, Yu Dayou immediately replied: "As long as our army succeeds in the sneak attack on Bansheng City, our troops will return to rescue and the danger of Xuanfu will be solved.

In fact, what we have to consider is not the safety of Xuanfu, but the siege of our army by the Tatars after we win, and find the nearest passage to return to Datong."

Hearing Yu Dayou's words, Li Wenjin next to him nodded sympathetically and said, "That makes sense. After Anda Khan learned that Bansheng City was breached, he must have guessed that it was our Datong Army who did it, and he would probably send a rescue team." Shengcheng, and the other one will insert Bansheng between our Datong and intercept our army's return."

"Then you still want to do this? It's too dangerous."

Liu Han frowned and said.

Hearing Liu Han's question, Li Wenjin's expression remained unchanged, but he did not give an answer. He turned his eyes to Yu Dayou who was aside.

As for Li Wenjin, he only focuses on strategic issues.

The plan put forward by Yu Dayou to encircle Wei and rescue Zhao was in line with the strategic goals of rescuing the Xuanfu and attacking the White Lotus cultists outside the Great Wall. By the way, burning Bansheng City on fire could also show the strength of the Ming army and prevent Anda Khan from easily proclaiming himself emperor.

On the grasslands beyond the Great Wall, it is your business to establish yourself as a khan. As long as the Mongolians obey you, Li Wenjin feels that this seems to have nothing to do with them.

But if Anda Khan were to proclaim himself emperor, the nature would be completely different.

There can only be one emperor in the world, and that is the Ming Emperor.

Once Anda Khan is allowed to proclaim himself emperor, the Ming Dynasty will definitely send out a large army to encircle and suppress him. It will definitely be an endless war.

The raid on Bansheng City can let Anda Khan know the combat power of the Ming army, so that he will not dare to proclaim himself emperor easily. No matter how those traitors incite, I believe Anda Khan will make the right choice.

As for the safety of the raiding force's return journey, such tactical issues were considered by generals such as Yu Dayou and Liu Han.

Once the Datong army sets off, Li Wenjin will definitely not stay in the pass, but will set off with the army, but he will only stay dozens of miles away from the border wall and lead the team to respond to the raiding army.

As for the general who will lead the team, Li Wenjin had already made up his mind when he asked Yu Dayou. If Liu Han was unwilling to lead the team to attack, Yu Dayou would lead the team to attack Bansheng City. This was also his strong request.

Following the attack with the army, Li Wenjin understood what Yu Dayou was thinking.

This time, Hu Zongxian's frame-up caused him to suffer unjust injustice. Not only did he lose the military officer position he had won after more than ten years of fighting, but he also lost the hereditary military position passed down from his ancestors. If he could not regain Feng Yin from his hands, then he would Even after death, I would not be able to see my ancestors.