Qi Jiguang took the Qi family army as a pacesetter, trained the army in a down-to-earth manner for three years, and basically solved the chronic disease of arrogance and laziness of more than 100,000 northern army generals in Jizhen. Especially the 30,000 battalions he newly recruited, which have been tempered and can be called elite.

The third thing he did was to explore a new set of tactics. Qi Jiguang knew that fighting the Tartars in the north and fighting the Japanese in the south were completely different things.

The south is a swamp with dense water networks and lakes, which is not conducive to the operation of large corps and cavalry, so Qi Jiguang fought against the Japanese with thousands of elite infantry, and he could be invincible by relying on the mandarin duck array.

However, the north is mostly open areas, which are conducive to cavalry combat. The strong Mongol cavalry was good at riding and shooting, and their mobility was super strong, coming and going like the wind and clouds, and they were erratic. And every time it is a nest out, it is often tens of thousands of rides.

At this time, relying on the infantry to meet the attack with a mandarin duck formation is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg.

Different battlefield environments require new strategies and tactics to deal with them. Qi Jiguang did not linger on the glory of the past, and immediately began to study new tactics.

He knew that the advantage of cavalry was speed, and that if he had to defeat a strong enemy at a galloping speed, he would either have a faster and more fierce cavalry unit himself, and be like the champion marquis.

Either you have to try to slow down the enemy's speed and fight the enemy in a chariot formation like Wei Qing did.

The Ming Dynasty was seriously short of cavalry, and it took too long to train elite cavalry, although it was a long-term solution, but it could only be slowly figured out. Until then, it's obviously the latter that is more realistic.

Of course, it's not a pure car formation...... That's too passive. He exerted great efforts, tightened his belt, and formed a powerful army of chariots, cavalry, and infantry.

At the same time, Qi Jiguang also proceeded from reality and vigorously grasped tactical training. He believes that when employing troops, it is necessary to adopt different strategies and tactics according to different terrains, and we must not stick to conventions and be ignorant of changes.

He divided the terrain of Thistle Town into three types. One is the plain, a place south of the Guannai Baili; the second is half dangerous and half easy, near the border; The third is the valley and the border. The plains are wide and moor, and the land of Lima is half dangerous and half easy, and the valley is conducive to foot war. Based on this, the mixed training of vehicles, horses, and infantry should be carried out, and different branches of the army should play the leading role according to local conditions, so as to give full play to their advantages.

But the quality of the army can only be tested on the battlefield. After three years of careful preparation, the moment for the big exam has finally arrived......

~~

A rush of footsteps recalled Qi Jiguang's thoughts.

He looked up and saw that it was Feng Ziming, the general under his command.

"Dashuai." Feng Ziming clenched his fists and reported in a deep voice: "The scouts in front have reported that the Dong Fox brothers have led 50,000 Tartar cavalry to the south!" ”

Daning is Daningwei, Mongolian language is called Bagou, known as "Tongqu Liaomeng, Yanzhao lintel", "old horse knows the way", "Wangmei quenches thirst" and other allusions, are all from here. Since ancient times, it has been the only way for nomadic and agricultural peoples of the steppe to conquer each other. After the national dynasty recaptured Youyan, it was also the residence of the commander of the Northern Parallel Capital.

However, since the change of Tumubao, the Ming Dynasty is no longer majestic, the national strength is declining, and the defense line has been shrinking under the repeated attacks of the Mongolian departments.

Today, Daningwei has long existed in name only, and has become the pasture of the Uliang Habu. The Great Wall of Xifengkou was the front line of the Ming army against their invasion.

Daning to the south is mountainous, and Wuliangha poured out his nest, obviously with only one purpose, that is, to take advantage of the autumn harvest in the Ming Dynasty to launch the annual raid.

Half a month ago, Qi Jiguang learned through the merchants outside the customs that the various departments of Wuliangha had assembled. As soon as the time was almost up, he personally led the elite of his headquarters to move to the area of Xifengkou, where he was most likely to meet the enemy, and waited for the Tartars to come to the door.

"Haha, they did!" Hu Shouren, as Qi Dashuai's right-hand man, naturally came like a shadow. He stroked his beard excitedly and said, "This time it can be regarded as enjoyable, grandma's, I haven't been fighting for a few years!" ”

"Of course they will come." Qi Jiguang's younger brother Qi Jimei laughed loudly: "I didn't get any benefits after the side wall was repaired last year, and if I don't loot it this year, Dong Fox won't be able to get through this winter." ”

The Mongolian tribes did not farm, there was almost no handicraft industry, and they could not even produce iron pots for boiling water and cooking, and the Ming Dynasty imposed a material embargo on them...... Although Lao Xi'er helped with the smuggling, it was far from satisfying their needs.

Moreover, under the influence of the Xiaoice River, the winter outside the Guanxi is extremely cold, and a large number of livestock freeze to death every year. By plundering the interior every autumn, the ministries can barely survive.

Last year, Qi Jiguang repaired the side wall, and Dong Fox hit his head and broke the bloodstream, but he returned in vain. Fortunately, he had saved some money before, and bought rations from Ming merchants in Liaodong, Shanxi, so that he survived the long winter. But this spring there was still a famine, and many people died of starvation.

So this year they will definitely come again, and they will be even more ferocious, and they will not stop until they achieve their goal!

I saw the generals under him gearing up one by one and eagerly trying to try. Qi Jiguang frowned slightly, in fact, according to his plan, this year should also focus on defense, as long as Wu Liangha returns in vain, it will inevitably be greatly damaged next year, and it is even possible to fall apart.

But now the head of the court is Gao Ge Lao, although Zhang Xianggong is still in charge of the military, but everything has to listen to Gao Xinzheng. This time, Gao Xianggong gave a death order, Jizhen spent a million taels of silver in the imperial court, and this time he must win a big battle, otherwise he will be punished for delaying the fighter.

Zhang Xianggong also wrote a letter to explain to Qi Jiguang that he and Gao Ge Lao wanted to implement a plan to solve the northern border troubles in an all-round way, and the heavy responsibility of putting the first cannon on his shoulders was handed over, and this battle was not only to be won, but also to win beautifully. Otherwise, it will affect the implementation of the entire program.

Gao Xiang and the benefactor have already talked about this, Qi Jiguang knows that it is useless to think too much, and he has only one mind to fight this battle well.

Shaking his head slightly, shaking off those inappropriate feelings, Qi Jiguang commanded in a deep voice: "Prepare to fly the magic lamp." ”

"Yes!" Qi Jimei responded, hurriedly went down to the city tower, half an hour later, a large bonfire was lit in the city, and a large white balloon was slowly inflated under the action of hot air. The balloon is bound by four sturdy cables to keep it from taking off.

This is exactly the kind of hot air balloon that Zhao Hao released in Yuyuantan back then, when he was flying over the Shenji Battalion, he was seen by Qi Jiguang, and he was immediately keenly aware that this thing had a great military use. asked Zhao Hao for it and imitated it. also gave a domineering name called the Flying Divine Lamp.

Although after research, it was found that this thing could not fly autonomously, and it was all up to the wind where it flew, which made Qi Jiguang's idea of forming a formation and bombing at high altitude come to naught. But if you can scout condescendingly out of thin air, coupled with the telescope invented by Zhao Hao, you can even see the situation hundreds of miles away, what else do you need a bicycle?

Moreover, Qi Jiguang found that if he tied the rope and rose into the air on the spot, as long as the fire below did not stop, the flying magic lamp could always be suspended in the air, so that when the two armies faced each other, the enemy's arrangement and all the changes could be seen, it was simply a cheat, okay?

He refused the persuasion of Hu Shouren and his younger brother to go to heaven for him, and in the worried eyes of the generals, he personally boarded the hanging basket.

The soldier who was in charge of the magic lamp turned the winch at the same time, loosened the rope, and the balloon slowly rose into the air under the support of hot air.

"The handsome man has gone to heaven!" Looking at this miraculous scene, the soldiers up and down the city exclaimed, and many knelt on the ground to bow and worship, and their loyalty to the commander increased.

As the height continued to rise, the Xifengkou Pass and the long side wall gradually fell at Qi Jiguang's feet. The mountains also turned into an undulating yellow picture, which was in full view of his eyes.

Although it was not the first time he had gone to heaven, Qi Jiguang still felt extremely shocked. The feeling of having everything under your feet is so intoxicating.

"Looking at it horizontally, it is a peak on the side of the ridge, only because you are in this mountain." Qi Jiguang sighed lightly, feeling that the whole person's realm had been sublimated. The balloon blown by the cold wind shook violently, and he came back to his senses, and quickly tied the cloth belt in the hanging basket firmly around his waist to prevent accidents.

Then Qi Jiguang took out the precious brass-shelled binoculars from his arms.

At present, his craftsmen can already imitate monoculars, but the quantity is limited and the quality is not up to par. It's still far from catching up with the batch that Zhao Hao gave him. As for binoculars, they still can't be built, let alone such a clear high-powered telescope.

The cold wind blew the balloon violently, and Qi Jiguang struggled to stabilize his body and look north with a telescope.

I saw that the earth was depressed, and the mountains and rivers had turned into patterns, corresponding to the map in his mind one by one. After searching for a long time, he finally saw the rising smoke and dust in the north, and looked down along the smoke, and could vaguely see a black line moving southward along the Leopard River.

He knew that it was the Tartars' team, and that it was still two days before they could get here.

Qi Jiguang moved the telescope again to continue to observe, but on the other routes that the Tartars might invade, no trace of the large army was found.

When the hot air balloon stopped rising, he could even see the Shanhaiguan and the sea more than 200 miles away, but still did not see any new enemies.

Qi Jiguang put his mind at ease, it seems that as he guessed, this time the Tartars will not divide their troops, and the various departments of Wuliangha will join forces and come towards Xifengkou.

This is easy to understand, before the Tartars often divided their troops, because the side walls were full of holes, they could come and go at will, and the division of troops could improve the efficiency of robbery. Now that the side walls are strong and heavily garrisoned, of course, we must concentrate superior forces and go all out to dig a hole, and then we have to defend the way, wouldn't it be too stupid to divide the troops again?

Carefully retracting the telescope in his arms, Qi Jiguang leaned over to look at the area around Xifengkou under his feet, but his eyes were not on Guancheng. Guancheng has three high walls, the city wall is more than two zhang high, and there are six hollow enemy towers that are horns of each other, even thousands of troops and horses cannot be attacked, not to mention that the Mongols are not good at attacking cities.

Therefore, he estimated that Dong Fox would choose one or several of the passes such as Dongjiakou and Shijiayu on the west side of Xifengkou to break through.

Then how to arrange the troops is about to come out.