For several days, the wind was blowing strongly, and all the places where there were water sources were frozen, but the expected snowfall was delayed.

always felt that there was something strange around the camp, so Zhu Qiming took a hundred sword soldiers and guards to check around, but he didn't dare to run too far, not more than twenty miles away from the farthest part of the camp.

Bypassing the cliff to the south, there seemed to be a trail on the hillside leading halfway up the mountain, and strangely enough, the path was covered with dry grass, as if no one had walked for many years.

Zhu Qiming waved his hand, and fifty guards dismounted and went straight to the halfway point of the mountain along the path.

Shang Huaiying rode forward, "Your Highness, it is not advisable to delay here for too long, we should hurry back to Beijing, if the heavy snow closes the mountain, it is inconvenient for the Tartar thieves to have a heavy army, and it is in vain for us to stay here, in case we are trapped here by the heavy snow, we can only set off after the beginning of spring, and there will be no food and grass during this period!" ”

Unwilling in his heart, Zhu Qiming looked around blankly and did not answer.

A personal guard rushed from the hillside, "Your Highness, there is a village on the mountain, but ······" The guards didn't finish their words and were stunned.

Zhu Qiming turned over and dismounted, and ran towards the trail, and Shang Huaiying followed quickly.

Halfway up the mountain, you will see the outline of a village, but there are ruins everywhere, and the charcoal ash that has been left for many years after the fire is still black, which is shocking.

Walking into a relatively intact dwelling, at a glance, there were four skeletons lying on the hall, either with missing heads or severed limbs.

Zhu Qiming's chest was hit hard, he turned around and walked slowly to the edge of the forest, sat on the dry grass with his buttocks, and his eyes suddenly became sharper than a knife.

Most of these people were people who migrated from Shandong and Henan when they immigrated to Shibian during the Yongle and Xuande periods, but unexpectedly, nearly 20 years later, they died in a foreign land, and sadly, the officials may not know whether they are alive or dead.

His mind suddenly went back to a few years ago, on the side of Gu Linji, he had seen more than 100 orphans, and he counted how many villages should have been destroyed by Tartar thieves at that time!

"Look around and bury all the remains!"

After giving the order, Shang Huaiying heard all the guards respond in unison, and then turned around and came to Zhu Qiming.

"Your Highness, it's cold on the ground, get up quickly." Helped Zhu Qiming up, "Don't delay any longer, if you are trapped here and miss the return date, I'm afraid there will be people in the capital who will say strange things that are not so easy to hear!" ”

What a loyal Shang Huaiying! A faint sense of gratitude passed through Zhu Qiming's heart, and after the guards finished burying the remains and finishing the procession, he gritted his teeth and waved his hand to signal everyone to go down the mountain.

When he returned to the bottom of the mountain, he had just turned over and got on his horse, and at a glance he caught a glimpse of Wang Lie galloping towards him.

"Your Highness, hurry up and ride to report, at the right time today, a large number of Tartar thieves have entered more than 100 miles north of the Longmen Guard, the number is no less than 100, all are light cavalry, and the direction of travel is facing south."

Zhu Qiming was shocked, and his passion seemed to be ignited instantly, and he was shocked. "You quickly return to the camp and order everyone to assemble at the training ground and stand by."

"Yes!"

"Drive!" Looking at the halfway up the mountain again, when the whip was raised, Zhu Qiming had a little more strength in his hands than before.

During the gallop, his eyes suddenly swept to Shang Huaiying beside him, "The Tartar thieves are the Great Wall to the west, and the mountains are lofty mountains to the east, so the Tartar thieves can only go south." There are two roads to go south, the west one is a shortcut, but it is facing the dragon gatekeeper, the Tartar thief is not able to break through the dragon gatekeeper with more than 100 horsemen, the king expects the Tartar thief to take the east road, the east road is facing five villages, and the nearest place is about twenty miles from the dragon gatekeeper. ”

Shang Huaiying was slightly puzzled, "Your Highness, where should we intercept the Tartar thieves?" ”

"The east road is winding and difficult, and even if they don't stop on the way, they won't be able to reach the vicinity of the five villages before dusk. The king expects that the thieves will camp on the way. ”

While speaking, Zhu Qiming and his entourage had already arrived at the training ground, but they saw more than 1,000 people lined up there neatly and waiting.

Zhu Qiming raised his eyes and glanced at everyone, and when he saw everyone's faces, he knew that they must be a little excited at the moment, and there was also a sense of tension about the first time they were about to fight.

He deliberately glanced at the guards a few more times. When the guards first arrived, many of them were still nostalgic for their old relatives and uncertain, but after only two months, they seemed to have adapted to the new situation, and they must have really prepared for a bloody battle.

Facing more than 100 Tartar thieves, this was the first time that the Ming army fought head-on with the Warats on a large scale. The Warat's combat prowess is impressive, and he must be extremely careful to minimize his own casualties and turn a tough battle into a quick victory.

At the thought of this, he frowned slightly, and then thought about it for a moment.

"Tang Ji, there is a flat lowland forty miles northeast of Longmenwei, where there is a water source, and it is the first choice for Tartar thieves to camp on a picnic. There is a high ground on the west side of the lowlands, and you shall order a hundred men of the spear and a hundred men of the sword, and go to the high ground at full speed, and if you see the Tartars camping on the spot, you will remain silent and wait for the king's command; If the Tartars are still going south, you must fight to the death to stop them, and if the nearby villagers are poisoned by the Tartars, you must come to the king! ”

"Yes!"

Tang Ji ordered all the people and led the crowd to leave.

Zhu Qiming's gaze fell on Zhao Gang and Shi Feng's faces, "Zhao Gang, you order a hundred guards to follow this king; Shi Feng, take your people and follow this king."

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

As two loud echoes with extremely short intervals overshadowed everyone's heads, most of the rest of the people had disappointed expressions on their faces.

······

Before dusk, Zhu Qiming led the crowd to a low hill due south of the lowland, and after a guard reported the way, Zhu Qiming dismounted, and only took a few close guards to climb the low hill on foot, hidden behind the only few cypress trees on the top of the hill, and looked quietly, only to see a few small bushes scattered on the low ground in front of him, and a few wisps of cooking smoke were emitting from the bushes. When I looked closely, I saw that the Tartar thieves had been separated from the people and horses, and nearly ten Tartar thieves could be vaguely seen guarding the surroundings, and the rest were gathered in several places.

There is a very narrow stream on the east side, which has frozen. Occasionally, the Tartar thief went to the stream to fetch water, as if he had inherited the nature of a wolf, and the Tartar thief looked around when he fetched water, looking as if he was on guard.

It seems that the Tartar thieves have just settled here, and they are extremely vigilant at the moment, so it is not yet time to make a move.

Zhu Qiming turned his head to look at the high ground to the west, thinking that Tang Ji and they must have already arrived in place, and they must be hiding in the dark at this moment waiting for the flag to be issued here.

Moving his gaze to the front, he saw that the northern slope of the low hill was gentle, and there was no lack of gentleness in between, which was just right for the cavalry to dive.

Zhu Qiming was secretly happy in his heart. I don't know if the Tartar thieves were too cautious or careless, and there was no one to guard from a high place. If they are not afraid of exposing their targets and send people to look out from high places, it may not be easy for others to sneak attack them.

As the sun set, the Tartar thieves in charge of the guard no longer turned their heads frequently, and the gathered Tartar thieves seemed to be talking loudly, and the laughter drifted from afar. Suddenly, the white shadow flickered, and someone on the edge of the forest started to build the yurt early.

The Tartars have slackened!

Zhu Qiming ordered a close guard to return to the hill to give orders.

Although Shi Feng and Zhao Gang led the crowd to lead the horses to the top of the hill on foot, they still made some movements, and the Tartar thieves below seemed to be alert, and a few human heads looked straight to this side, probably because they didn't see a human figure, and the Tartar thieves seemed to be committing a crime.

Zhu Qiming decisively waved his hand and motioned for Shi Feng to lead the crowd to attack. But seeing a hundred archers quickly mounted their horses, they rode their horses over the top of the hill and began to accelerate their dive.

Zhu Qiming hurriedly ordered the guards to send out a flag towards the high ground on the west side. As long as the flag was waved here, the people and horses on the high ground soon appeared.

"Your Highness!" Zhao Gang screamed and looked at this side with an anxious expression.

Zhu Qiming waved his hand and issued the last order, and Zhao Gang immediately led the crowd to rush out.

There is an obvious time difference between the sorties of the three shifts, and the effectiveness of the sorties still needs to be tested in actual combat.

The actual combat experience of the Tartar is not covered! Before Shi Feng and the others had completely rushed down the gentle slope, they saw the Tartar thieves rushing towards the war horses, and in the blink of an eye, most of them had already stepped on the horse's back, skillfully turned the horse's head, and faced this side.

But when Shi Feng shouted, a hundred archers moved neatly and scattered a rain of arrows, and almost at the same time, the rain of arrows from the Tartar thieves also hit head-on.

The archers were wearing thick armor, but two of them were unfortunately hit in the face by flying arrows, and more than a dozen fell from their horses due to arrows from their mounts.

The enemy was full of light cavalry, and the situation was very embarrassing, no less than fifteen people were hit by arrows, and no less than ten people fell from their horses because of arrows from their mounts.

Suddenly, the archers were divided into two torrents, and they poured away towards the east and west. The Tartar thieves were stunned for a moment, and then they heard the sound of hooves on the west side, and the horses, with a bright and swaying horse, appeared more than two feet away from them, trying to resist, but they could not do anything.

Between the lightning and flint, more than a dozen figures flew into the air at a strange angle, and the creepy sound of bone cracking immediately floated over.

The formation of the Tartars had been washed into disarray.

The lance cavalry flashed by, followed by the sword soldiers, a hundred long knives with a piercing cold light, the back of the knife was slightly thick, the blade was straight, and the edge of the knife was extremely sharp. For a while, the sharp sound of breaking the air sounded one after another, and flesh and blood flew everywhere, and several heads with bloodshot strings rose into the air, pausing in the air for a moment, like a bodyless ghost wandering.

The sword soldiers rushed out of the enemy formation and crossed the stream, as if they had accurately calculated, Zhao Gang led the crowd to arrive. At this moment, there were no more Tartar thieves immediately, and Zhao Gang ordered his subordinates to clear the remnants of the enemy on the ground.

Zhu Qiming ran forward for a moment, stopped to look, and saw that Zhao Gang had cut off the head of a Tartar thief with his own hands.

The Guards marched slowly, carefully searching every corner of the ground. Suddenly, a red-stained Tartar thief got up, climbed onto his horse, and rode his horse to escape.

Shi Feng slapped the horse and chased after him, bent his bow and arrows, and before the sound of the strings arrived, Zhu Qiming saw the Tartar thief fall under the horse.

After a little searching, the three groups of people gathered in the center of the lowland, Zhao Gang held a knife in one hand and a head in the other, and opened his mouth wide at Zhu Qiming, as if he was roaring, and as if he was laughing wildly, the expression on his face was very hideous and terrifying.

Suddenly, the deafening cheers rang out and drifted into the wilderness.

The souls of countless border people in the sky were comforted, and the shame of torturing the Ming army for many years was washed away, all of which only happened in the blink of an eye. Prior to this, these pro-guards and guards had never participated in foreign wars, but it was they who created a brilliant victory with their own hands, and they won incomparably heartily!

Zhu Qiming raised his head and looked at the sky, only to see the remnant sun on the horizon like blood.