In the middle of the night, everything is silent.

Wang Xiao, who was lying on the couch in armor, suddenly got up and listened attentively to the movement outside.

Yu Qian, who was on duty at night, looked over from the brazier, "What's wrong?" ”

Wang Xiao didn't speak, picked up the iron helmet on the side, put it on, and walked out of the main general's tent directly.

Outside, the fire was red, and all the sergeants, except for the guards who were on night duty all around, had gone into their tents to rest.

Wang Xiao came all the way to the barracks fence and listened to the outside.

Wang Xiao, whose physical fitness has been greatly improved, has a much stronger facial sense perception than ordinary people.

Yu Qian chased after him, "What's wrong?" ”

Wang Xiao turned his head to look at him, "Call everyone up, be on full alert!" ”

Yu Qian paused, his expression solemn, "If you call everyone up at this time, something will happen." Give me a reason. ”

Stretching out his finger to the dark and silent grassland outside, Wang Xiao said, "There is no sound outside!" ”

The savannah is not empty, only weeds and shrubs. In fact, cattle, sheep, horses, camels, donkeys, sika deer, wolves, leopards and brown bears live here. As for all kinds of birds, small animals and so on, there are countless of them.

Even outside the barracks where the army is stationed, there are still many animals that do not haunt them, because this is their habitat.

Many animals are nocturnal, and the sounds of various animals can be heard in all directions at night.

But at this moment, there was silence outside, and there was no sound except the howling of the wind.

The torches in the barracks were hunting, and Yu Qian looked at Wang Xiao in a daze.

"Go now, quick!"

A few miles outside the barracks of the Shenji Battalion, the people of the tribal alliance who were black and oppressed like dark clouds were wrapped in strips of cloth on their mouths and leather pads around their feet. With a blade in one hand and a war horse wrapped in a cloth and mouth wrapped in the other, he slowly walked towards the camp of the Shenji Battalion.

In front of them, a group of warriors, carefully selected from various tribes, were quietly removing the hidden sentinels that were hidden everywhere.

Ma Hamu has been in Daming for 20 years, but he really didn't waste time drinking all day, he really learned useful things from Daming.

Although they didn't make a sound, so many soldiers and horses who couldn't see the end gathered together and moved slowly, and the strong sense of oppression caused the birds and beasts around them to scatter and flee. Those who couldn't escape were also hidden, and they didn't dare to make a sound.

Three o'clock in the morning is when concentration is at its worst. This is a flaw that is rarely noticed.

Wang Xiao noticed.

The tribal warriors who were familiar with the terrain and environment of the grassland knew very well where to hide, and all the secret posts arranged by the Shenji Battalion were quietly cleared, and not a single warning could be issued.

The large team came to a halt less than a mile from the camp of the Divine Machine. Thousands of people hunched over and carrying bags slowly forward through the half-human-high grass.

It's the height of summer, and the weeds on the steppe are growing wildly, giving them the best cover along with the nightfall.

The men went to the trench outside the camp, put down their bags, opened them, and dumped the dirt into the trench.

There is a shortage of supplies on the grassland, and these bags are important resources, and they are reluctant to throw them down.

"Something is wrong."

Mahamu, who was observing the camp of the Shenji Camp from a distance, suddenly said this.

The people next to him were also puzzled and asked, "Grandpa, what's wrong?" ”

In Yexian's opinion, tonight's operation has been very smooth. Now even the first trench has been filled, and the Han people have not moved in the slightest. He couldn't see anything wrong.

"The outer trench is only 200 steps away from the barracks, and no matter how secret the thousands of people fill the trench, it is impossible to be completely silent. Moreover, the secret posts of the Ming army had to be contacted by the agreed signals at regular intervals. Such a long time has passed, and there has been no movement on the Ming army's side, so they must have discovered us a long time ago. ”

Ma Hamu said very firmly, he has been in Daming for so many years and knows the situation in the Ming army well. Be sure that your judgment will never be wrong.

He was also shocked in his heart, and hurriedly asked, "Grandpa, what should we do then?" Withdraw first? ”

"Withdraw?" Mahamu looked at his beloved grandson, "Do you know how difficult it is to gather the soldiers and horses of these tribes to fight a battle?" This time, we withdrew, and then we wanted to gather them all together and twist them into a rope, unless the Ming army drove them to the brink of destruction. ”

"Then fight?"

"Hit!"

Ma Hamu waved his hand heroically, "I know the Shenji Battalion, that is the ability of the three-plate axe." As long as we carry the firearms in front of them and rush in, then we will win. ”

also thought about it first, and whispered, "Let the people of Arutai take the lead?" ”

Mahamu shook his head, "Let our people take the lead." ”

Looking at Yexian, who looked puzzled, Mahamu explained aloud: "I know that if you want to gain a foothold in the grassland, tribal herdsmen are fundamental. But if you want to do great things, you have to be willing to pay. There is absolutely nothing in this world that can benefit without paying. ”

"Grandpa, I see."

The movement outside the camp grew louder and louder, and soon a second trench was filled in a section nearly two hundred paces wide. Then the herdsmen quickly stepped forward and began to clear the thorns.

The herdsmen at the front were less than thirty steps away from the camp gate. The light of the fire in the camp brightened the faces of the men, who were flushed with nervousness.

Many generals wearing iron armor turned their eyes to Wang Xiao.

This distance is already considered dangerous. After all, the gate of the barracks was only a wooden gate, not a towering and sturdy iron gate.

Wang Xiao exhaled slowly.

"Hit!"

'Bang bang bang ~~~' A series of dense firecrackers sounded continuously.

The sound of the firecrackers sounding like firecrackers.

On the edge of the fence of the Shenji Battalion was a row of guards holding iron shields, and the iron shields in their hands were pasted together one after another, forming a great wall of steel.

Behind the guards were three rows of musketeers armed with muskets. The men in the second row stepped forward and put their guns on the iron shield in front of them, pointing out through the gap in the fence and firing at the outside.

This is the three-stage shooting tactic that Mu Ying used when he conquered Yun Nan. This is definitely not a black technology golden finger, it has been used by the Ming army decades ago.

In the continuous sound of popping beans, the herdsmen outside fell to the ground one by one.

Mahamu drew his knife and killed a herdsman who was frightened by the sound of gunfire, and then shouted "Kill it!" ”

He is indeed a firearm that understands the Ming Dynasty. Know that those firearms are slow to reload and not of high quality. After using it for a long time, it often causes the barrel to become red and hot, and even explode the chamber directly.

As long as you can use your human life to carry the three-plate axe in the early stage, you can take advantage of the weakening of the Ming army's guns to kill it. It didn't take an hour to slaughter the entire Shenji Battalion. When the time came, the ignition retreated, and the sky had just dawned. The Ming troops in the other camps couldn't catch up even if they wanted to.

In fact, after the start of the battle here, many Ming army camps scattered on the border for dozens of miles have entered a state of combat readiness.

It's just that at this time and in this day, no Ming army dares to fight. They were mainly infantry, and the possibility of being ambushed was too great for them to attack the blackened wilderness at night.

The 3,000 battalions were capable of fighting in a battle, because they were mainly cavalry, and there were quite a few Mongols serving in the battalion.

But the 3,000 battalions are the sphere of influence of the Han King, and tonight's night attack is all the information he provided to Mahamu, of course, it is impossible to come to the rescue.

As for Zhu Gaoxu's reasons, they are also very tenable. The moon is dark and the wind is high, if you go out of the camp and are ambushed, who is it?

Mahamu's control over his tribe was still very strong, and the Warats shouted desperately, rushing to the gate one after another.

But no matter how brave they were, they couldn't cross the dozens of steps to reach the gate.

In the face of the intensive fire of the firearms, their counterattack was very weak.

There are no strong crossbows on the grassland, even if they have captured the strong crossbows of the Ming army, they will not be repaired and maintained, or they will break down in a short time. You can't shoot that far with a bow and arrow alone.

Even if a lucky feather arrow fell into the camp, it would not pose any mortal threat to the Ming troops wearing iron armor and holding iron shields.

It didn't take long for a gentle slope to form near the gate, a hillside of flesh made of the corpses of the Warats.

The expression of Mahamu, who was watching the battle from a distance, changed from calm to solemn, from solemn to gnashing teeth, from gritting teeth to red and white.

"First too!"

Mahamu let out a low roar.

"Grandpa."

I also hurried over first.

"Go and tell the Arutai Tatars to tell them that their men will also go out and besiege the Ming camp from the other three sides."

was also stunned for a moment, didn't grandpa say before that he would let the people of the Warat tribe take the lead, how did this change again.

"Grandpa is going to retire."

Mahamu lowered his voice, "The Shenji Battalion is very wrong, it is different from the Shenji Battalion in my impression." We don't have a chance to get in, so we'll leave now. ”

"Grandpa means to let people from other tribes be outcasts and contain the Ming army?"

"That's right." Mahamu smiled with satisfaction, "I used to win the war, so I can't retain my strength." Now it's about retaining strength, so there are trade-offs and sacrifices. I am a maham across the grassland, and I can afford to put it down. This time I'm blind, I admit it! If you can't beat it, you can leave, there's no shame in that. If you really fight to the death, you will be a fool who will bury the entire tribe. ”

also bow your head and salute, "Grandpa, remember it first!" ”

The Mongol coalition suddenly intensified its offensive, not only storming the main gate, but also a large number of soldiers and horses on other sides trying to attack the fence.

"Taisun."

All the generals around him were looking at Wang Xiao.

"It's fine." Wang Xiao waved his hand: "They're going to run." It's a pity that the 3,000 battalions are not there, otherwise at least half of them would have been left today. ”

Even in the future, the withdrawal of troops on the front line is a very difficult technical task. Otherwise, Mahamu would not have thrown people from other tribes as cannon fodder.

In this era, once they take advantage of their chaos to invest strong forces to counterattack, they can definitely defeat a large number of Mongol tribal alliances.

"Don't worry about anything else, kill as much as you can. Wait until dawn to go outside and clear the battlefield. ”

The Shenji Battalion is not without the strength to fight back. Even without horses, it would be enough to send a few thousand sword and shield soldiers to chase down the Mongols when they collapsed.

It's just that Wang Xiao has no intention of doing so.

Wang Xiao didn't feel any regrets, if he really completely defeated the Mongol tribal alliance here, then this expedition would be meaningless.

Once Zhu Di returned to Shuntian Mansion, the first thing he would do was definitely to take the Shenji Battalion away from Wang Xiao's hands.

As an emperor, he is suspicious of anyone who might threaten him. With such a strong army in his hands, Wang Xiao's threat will inevitably increase rapidly.

So, at this time, you can let them go.