In the vast night, the lonely city of Zunhua faces the majestic Yanshan Mountain Range, which looks extremely small and helpless.

Above the city, Zhu Youzhen looked out of the city in horror, and always felt that the black and oppressive Mongols were approaching again. Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded behind him: "The last general Dengzhou Baihu Shi Biao, see His Royal Highness King Xin!" ”

When Zhu Youzhen hurriedly turned around, he saw that Shi Biao, a brave officer of the Qi family's army, was kneeling on one knee covered in blood at this moment.

Only then did he remember that if Shi Biao hadn't opened the city gate at an emergency moment and rushed across the moat to resist the Mongolians who were chasing, he was afraid that he and Qi Meifeng and the others would have been shot into a hornet's nest.

Zhu Youzhen hurriedly helped Shi Biao up, and asked with concern: "Shi Baihu, the current military situation is urgent, there is no need to give this big gift!" Are you hurt? Today, you led dozens of cavalry to fight the Mongols, how was the battle? ”

Shi Biao's expression darkened, and he replied bitterly: "Your Highness doesn't ask, the last general has only suffered some minor injuries, and it's okay to fight." But the last general was incompetent, and at dusk, more than a dozen brothers were broken! …”

Zhu Youzhen had seen with his own eyes the terrifying combat effectiveness of the cavalry of the Qi family's army. The day before, with only thirty horsemen, they dared to charge into the camp of thousands of bandits, and slew ten times as many enemies as themselves, without a single death of their own.

Unexpectedly, the opponent was replaced by the Mongols, but they suffered such heavy casualties, accounting for almost half of the cavalry strength of the Qi family's army!

After careful questioning, I learned that Shi Biao was eager to save people at that time, and personally led people to rush to the city, and after killing the city gate officials who refused to open the city, he immediately led thirty cavalry to open the city gate and rushed out.

At that time, the Mongols were across the moat, firing arrows at Zhu Youzhen and others, and the situation could be said to be extremely critical.

Shi Biao's cavalry suddenly rushed out, caught these Mongolian cavalry off guard, and the formation was rushed to pieces in an instant, and they had to stop firing arrows and scatter and escape, which saved Zhu Youzhen's life.

But the Mongol cavalry was born in the steppe, and since childhood, they have been inseparable from horses, and it can be said that they spend more time on horseback than they dismount, and they can even doze off during the march, and their superb riding skills have penetrated into the bone marrow.

At this time, although they were attacked by the cavalry of the Ming army, the Mongols did not panic at all. Except for two or three horsemen who were cut off from their horses because they were too close to the moat and didn't even have time to turn their horses' heads, the rest of the dozens of horsemen were deftly scattered, seemingly chaotic, but in fact they cooperated tacitly.

The cavalry of the Qi family army suddenly lost its target, and its momentum stagnated slightly.

The situation on the battlefield can often undergo critical changes in an instant. At this time, the Mongolian cavalry saw that the formation of the Qi army was roughly in the shape of a "long snake formation", and Baihu Shi Biao took the lead and rushed to the front, while the cavalry formation behind was slightly longer, and immediately captured this fighter extremely keenly.

They didn't need to shout at all, they spontaneously formed a squad of three to five horsemen, and outflanked the Qi family's army from the front, left, and right directions.

The cavalry of the Qi family army rushed out of the city gate hole in turn, and just came to the open battlefield outside the city, and before they had time to sort out the formation, they suffered a fatal impact from the Mongols.

This formation lined up from front to back is actually the most commonly used formation when cavalry attacks infantry formations, which can often chisel the infantry formation in an instant, and kill a bloody alley from it, thus completely disrupting the opponent's formation.

However, in the face of well-trained and scattered cavalry, the biggest disadvantage of this formation was also very obvious, that is, the flank defense was insufficient, and it was extremely vulnerable to attacks from the left and right flanks.

The Mongol cavalry charged and cut the ranks of the Qi army into several sections. Immediately, they were still in the squad and fought with the Qi family's army. They seldom approached each other's horses, but were extremely nimble in circling each other as much as possible, and when they saw an opportunity, they fired their bows and arrows on their horses.

The cavalry of the Qi family's army was originally smaller than the other party, and at this time, the formation was disrupted, and they could only fight separately, and they fell into a short period of confusion.

Their usual way of fighting is to engage the enemy in close combat, fighting with broadswords or spears on horses. However, the cunning Mongols did not give them a chance to get close at all, but only used flexible routes and elusive bows and arrows to deal with the Qi army. After a short battle, seven or eight cavalrymen were pierced through their bodies by cold arrows fired from the side or from behind, and fell off their horses screaming.

Shi Biao saw that the battle situation was unfavorable, and the Mongol cavalry of the brigade was getting closer and closer, and if he did not retreat, he would be in danger of being annihilated. Moreover, the purpose of his army rushing out of the city was just to rescue Zhu Youzhen. Seeing that Zhu Youzhen and the others had entered the city safely, there was no need to fight here and make senseless sacrifices. So he turned his horse and led the remnants of his cavalry into the city.

In the process of retreating, several Qi family soldiers were shot off their horses, and Shi Biao himself was hit by an arrow on his back. The arrow was so sharp that it pierced through his back armor and was deep in his flesh and through the marrow.

When the Mongolian cavalry saw that the other party was defeated into the city, they did not dare to pursue blindly, but only restrained the war horses from a distance, beheaded all the soldiers of the Qi family who fell off the horse, raised their heads high, and showed off their might to the city, and then proudly retreated to their own formation.

After listening to Shi Biao's painful introduction, Zhu Youzhen gasped, thinking that this Qi family army could be regarded as the most elite unit in the Ming army. If even they were no match for the Mongols, then Zunhua City would be in danger.

Shi Biao said: "Your Highness, don't worry, although the Mongols are good at field warfare, they are not good at attacking cities. And the number of Mongol cavalry this time is not too much, only about 5,000 people. With the help of a strong city, our army can also protect itself. Please also ask Your Highness and the General to arrange the city defense immediately! ”

When Zhu Youzhen heard that the enemy army was only 5,000 people, he was a little relieved. He glanced at General Zhang Ming, and saw that he didn't say a word, only trembling all over, and there was a burst of light in his heart, so he had to hold back his anger and ask: "I remember that when I was in the Jiliao Governor's Mansion in Jizhou, I heard Governor Yan introduce him and say that there were 10,000 defenders in Zunhua. Now there are only about 5,000 Mongols, and we have the advantage of troops, and we are defending the city, but we must not go wrong! ”

Zhang Ming whispered: "Your Highness, don't hide it, there are only ... There are less than two thousand troops..."

"What!" Zhu Youzhen was taken aback and asked urgently, "Aren't there 10,000 people?" ”

"The capacity is indeed 10,000." Zhang Ming hurriedly explained, "But among these 10,000 people, including those guards at the passes, there are only 6,000 troops in the city..."

"That's not right! Didn't you say that there were not even two thousand? Zhu Youzhen asked.

Zhang Ming saw that Zhu Youzhen was looking for the bottom of the matter, so he had to say embarrassedly: "Over the years, the imperial court has repeatedly defaulted on military salaries for no reason, and the soldiers can't support themselves on food, and there are many escapees, and there are no more than 6,000 people for a long time. The same is true for those subordinate passes, the quota should be at least two hundred, but in fact, some passes are not even twenty people! ”

"Then why the are you hiding it!" Zhu Youzhen was furious, and couldn't help but curse again, "I said how did the Mongols come over so easily, there are few people in your passes, and you still fucking keep a fart!" ”

Zhang Ming was scolded by Zhu Youzhen, but he said aggrievedly: "Your Highness, don't hide it, isn't this just to eat some empty salary!" The last general also had to do it, and the border armies everywhere were also like this, even Governor Yan also acquiesced! ”

"Stop, stop! What does it mean to be 'paid for nothing'? Zhu Youzhen asked in surprise.

Zhang Mingfu said with a smile: "For example, there were originally 10,000 defenders here at the end of the general, and the daily salary of each soldier was one cent of silver and one liter of grain. According to this calculation, the daily salary of these ten thousand people is 100 taels of silver and 1 stone of grain, and a total of 40,000 taels of silver and 40,000 stones of grain are needed every year..."

"Slow down, slow down, you are a point, a liter and a stone, this king is confused!" Zhu Youzhen was confused.

Zhang Ming smiled secretly in his heart, and patiently explained: "Your Highness, two and one cent is a unit of weight, ten cents is one coin, ten dollars is one tael, and sixteen taels is one catty. Whereas, liters and stones are units of capacity, ten liters are one bucket, and ten buckets are one stone. ”

Even this kind of common-sense thing was not clear, Zhu Youzhen suddenly felt a fever on his face, so he had to hide it: "You are a fool to be the king, you don't even know this?" Hurry up and go on, how do you call it 'empty salary'! ”

Zhang Ming hurriedly said: "There are so many fixed salaries. The grain should have been paid once a season, with 10,000 taels of silver and 10,000 stone of grain per quarter. But the imperial court not only dragged on in time, but became once every half a year, and directly reduced it by half; And only 5,000 taels of the 10,000 taels issued were silver, and the rest were treasure money. Your Highness, you also know that no one will accept that treasure banknote at all, which is equivalent to a piece of waste paper! ”

"What about the grain? As the saying goes, people are iron and rice is steel, and if you don't eat a meal, you will be hungry and panic, and this food must not be less, right? Zhu Youzhen broke out in a cold sweat when he heard this, and asked eagerly.

"Your Highness, you owe more food!" Zhang Ming shook his head and said, "Only 3,000 stones are sent every six months, if there are really 10,000 people, it is equivalent to each person not getting two taels of food per day, then they will all starve to death!" The last general also had no choice, and it happened that there were not enough soldiers, so he still reported according to the quota. In this way, although the court is in arrears of food and wages, there are not so many soldiers who eat food. ”

"You can deal with it in your life, but now that the enemy is coming, I see how you can deal with it!" Zhu Youzhen was crooked by his crooked reasoning and heresy, and pointed at him and jumped to his feet and scolded!

Zhang Ming said in fear: "Palace... Your Highness, the last general will let all the soldiers go to the city wall to defend the city! ”

But there were less than 2,000 soldiers under his command, and the four walls of Zunhua City, each of which was about a few miles long, was equivalent to less than 500 troops in each direction, and there was not even a reserve left.

And if the Mongols attack the city, they will inevitably choose a breakthrough direction, and thousands of people will attack together. Under the disparity of numbers, it is only a matter of time before the city is broken!

Zhang Ming's heart is like a mirror, he doesn't say anything, but he is thinking about other things in his heart.

Zhu Youzhen was scratching his ears and cheeks, and suddenly heard a group of people in the Mongolian camp outside the city shouting and neighing!

When he looked up, his heart sank, and he said to himself, "It's coming!" ”