"That's a good thing to say, but, just—" Lu Boqi smiled bitterly, "I just think it's up to this kind of Jedi?" “

Seeing this, Liu Cheng knew that if he didn't explain the matter separately, Lu Boqi would never agree, so he said in a low voice: "My lord, in fact, this is not as dangerous as you think, or you will listen to me in detail." With that, Liu Cheng walked to the map and explained it in detail.

Lu Boqi summoned Liu Cheng for a long time, and it was not until lunchtime that the generals who were waiting outside saw Liu Cheng come out from the inside, and before they could come forward to greet them, they heard the Chengqi official come out and announce that they would invite the generals to have lunch first, and that the governor would continue to convene everyone in the afternoon. Cheng Qiguan led everyone to the courtyard next door, and after a quick lunch, he returned to the festival hall, and just stood still, he heard Cheng Xuanguan say in a loud voice: "The governor has arrived!" “

The generals hurriedly bowed and saluted, Lu Boqi walked out from the back of the hall, sat down behind the desk and said in a deep voice: "Rank, this governor has just discussed with Lord Liu, and decided to cross the river and fight a decisive battle with the sweat!" Speaking of this, he didn't wait for the next generals to object, so he said to Liu Cheng, who was standing in the first place of the generals: "Lord Liu, you come out and explain the strategy to the generals!" “

"Yes, sir!" Liu Cheng walked out of the ranks and saluted Lu Boqi after the case first, before turning around and saying in a deep voice: "Unrelated personnel immediately withdraw from the hall!" ”

After the rest of the people withdrew from the hall, Liu Cheng walked to the wall on the right side of the bookcase, opened the curtain, revealed the map behind him, stretched out his hand and pointed to the map and explained: "Rank, according to the deployment of the governor, our army will cross the Yellow River west near Wuzhongbao in eight days, go north along the Yellow River, and relieve the siege of Ningxia Fucheng." In order to do this, after returning home, Hu Shouyu, who was guarding Jinji Fort, and He Shoubei, who was guarding Wuzhong Fort, immediately recruited 500 people, collected materials, and then joined forces to cover Zhu Shouyu under my command to build the pontoon bridge needed for the army to cross the river near Wuzhong Fort——"

"Lord Liu!" Hu Ke interrupted Liu Cheng's narration: "On the other side of the river, the Tartar rangers are frequent, if we build a pontoon bridge." I'm afraid that the Tartars will send troops to obstruct it! ”

"Hu Shoubei!" Liu Cheng smiled: "You don't have to worry about this! Then he pointed to a place in the lower reaches of the Yellow River and said: "This is the pontoon bridge of the Tartars, and while you are building the pontoon bridge, I will order the fleet to pretend to attack its pontoon bridge to distract the Tartars, and you only need to prepare the materials for the people and the pontoons." Also, it is forbidden to speak falsely in the festival hall, and if there is any uncertainty, it is not too late to ask questions after the official has finished explaining. ”

"Yes, the lower official is guilty!" Hu Ke hurriedly bowed down to thank him, he wanted to find a bad pool for Liu Cheng. didn't want the other party to be ready to stop, but it was boring.

After the rest of the generals returned, they gathered all the troops to gather in Lingzhou first, made a feint on the riverbank, attracted the attention of the Tartars, and after the pontoon bridge was repaired, they then went southwest along the Yellow River, crossed the river near Wuzhongbao, and went north along the Yellow River. The baggage of each army was carried by the fleet, and the auxiliary troops should prepare more vans, shovels, carts, long plates, and other things to block arrows. If the Tartars come to intercept it. If the Tartars can't come, they will advance to Ningxia Mansion. “

"Lord Liu, there are many captives. Why should our army stay with the enemy for a long time? ”

"Although there are many riders, I am lined up with my back to the river, can I still come up from the water?"

The generals asked questions one after another, but they were rejected by Liu Cheng one by one. The generals couldn't help but look at each other, and to tell the truth, they were not willing to cross the river and engage the Mongol cavalry on the flat Hetao Plain when they were at a disadvantage. But Lu Boqi, as the governor, proposed a battle plan, and they had to obey orders. Therefore, what they can do is to pick and choose in this plan and find all kinds of flaws to obstruct it, but they don't want this Lu Boqi not to come alone, and they also brought Liu Cheng, who is skilled in martial arts, so they have nothing to do.

Finally, a middle-aged general came out of the column and said to Lu Boqi: "Lord Governor, it's not that we are afraid of the enemy like a tiger, but there are 60,000 captives, and our total is only 20,000, most of them are foot soldiers, the difference between strength and weakness is huge, please think twice!" “

"Please think twice, Lord Governor!" The generals said in unison.

In the face of such concerted opposition from his generals, Lu Boqi couldn't help but feel a little weak, and subconsciously turned his attention to Liu Cheng. Seeing this, Liu Cheng smiled slightly, and said to the generals in a deep voice: "When the two armies compete, how can the victory or defeat be determined only by the number of people? Although the captives claimed to be 60,000, a considerable part of them were obtained by sweating and invading the various departments of the right wing, and the people's hearts were uneven; And this year, the frost on the grassland fell early, and most of its horses were thin, and then deducted the people who surrounded Ningxia Mansion, among them, there were no more than 30,000 or 40,000 people who could go into battle. Moreover, his armor is broken, there are no firearms, I carry the river as a formation, and the grain and baggage are loaded by the fleet, so as to wait for work, although he is many, how can he show it? ”

"This?" The general couldn't help but be dumbfounded, he was thinking about how to refute Liu Cheng, but heard Liu Cheng continue: "But if it drags on, the hungry Tartars will be full, and the weak will be fed. ”

Liu Cheng's last sentence reminded Lu Boqi that if Ningxia Mansion City was lost, others would not know, and he, the governor of Ningxia, would definitely not be able to escape, so he stood up and said sharply: "Don't say more, all the generals should go back and act according to the plan!" “

"Yes, sir!"

Uguru, the Mongol battalion.

"Great Khan, 'Maha Kala' has been repaired!" Shalhutuktu bowed down and said to Lin Dan Khan.

"Great, take me there!" Lin Dan Khan jumped up from the couch, Shal Hutu Ketu whispered a few words to the lama beside him, and two lamas outside carried in a small altar, on which the 'Maha Kala' was enshrined, Lin Dan Khan stretched out his right hand and gently stroked it, and found that unless he looked closely, he would never see anything abnormal, so he breathed a sigh of relief and asked in a low voice: "What about the repairer?" “

"It's been disposed of, and it will never leak out!" Shahrhutuktu said in a low voice.

"Well, that's good!" Lin Dan Khan nodded, if the damage to this statue of the protector of the Great Yuan Empire leaked out, I was afraid that those Gelug monks and Mongolian nobles who had a grudge against their conversion would spread rumors again, and at the critical juncture of their great cause of reviving the Mongol Empire, they would never allow any more mistakes. Thinking of this, Lin Danhan couldn't help but feel a little flustered, he waved his hand to signal the others to withdraw from the tent, and asked in a low voice, "Master, will this affect the protection of the Great Black Heavenly God?" ”

"Never!" Shahrhutuktu also saw what was on Lin Dan Khan's mind: "How brilliant is the mana of Guru Paspa. How can this demonic way be harmed? Even if there are one or two wounds, it is enough to use the blood of 100 Ming prisoners of war as a guide to do a ritual. ”

"Oh?" When Lin Danhan heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "If this is the case, it will be simple, until I take the Ningxia Mansion City, it will not be difficult to sacrifice the blood of a thousand people." “

"Thank you, Great Khan!"

"It's just that this Ming army is strange, since the last night attack on my pontoon, it hasn't come again, but let me prepare in vain!" Lin Danhan said with a smile.

The two were talking and laughing, when a person suddenly came in from outside. Loud and loud: "Great Khan, the fleet of the Ming army is here again!" “

"What a bold man, this time he actually came during the day!" Lin Dan Khan stood up excitedly: "Okay, this time Ben Da Khan wants to give Hangou a little bit of power!" ”

The wind on the river was not strong, and the sails on the mast were only blown slightly, making a slight rattle from time to time. The flagship was in the middle, and the remaining seventeen ships were arranged in two columns, with no more than twenty paces between each two. Seeing that his subordinates had skillfully maintained the formation, Du Gu felt a burst of pride in his heart.

Although before leaving, he already knew that this was just a feint mission to attract the attention of the enemy. But Dugu, who knew most of the battle plan, knew that his fleet would have an extremely important task ahead of him, in other words, if he could win this time, he would also be rewarded accordingly. Du Gu is convinced of this.

There was a whining trumpet on the shore, deep into the ears, like the call of the devil. "The Mongols already know we're coming!" A smug smile appeared on Du Gu's face. He ordered loudly: "Put away the sails, tie up all the superfluous things on board, and the oarsmen are in place!" ”

As the loud-voiced herald passed his order on. The sailors quickly lowered the sails - which were good targets for rockets in water battles, and sprinkled fine sand on the deck - so as to avoid slipping and raise the bamboo rafts on both sides. Open the powder keg and light the rope on the bird's gun. The deck was busy, but not flustered.

Dugu looked west, and a horde of archers appeared on the embankment, the distance between the two sides was too far to be within range of bows and arrows, but Dugu could see the Mongols shouting at them. He was considering whether to lean over and give them a hard beat, when he saw the shadow of a ship in the harbor not far ahead.

"The Tartars want to fight us in the water?" Du Gu almost burst out laughing, especially when he saw that the enemy's fleet was actually made up of hundreds of kayaks, sampans, rafts, and large ships of various sizes, he could no longer suppress his laughter.

"Paddle down, in a row, and teach these Tartars a lesson!" Du Gu arrogantly gave the order. It's no wonder that he is so proud, the most taboo thing in water warfare is to mix big ships and small boats like this, because the performance and speed of the ships are different, which will only make the small boat not run fast, and the big ship will not be able to exert its power. In the face of such an ignorant enemy, Du Gu did not even bother to use any tactics, and the problem could be solved with a basic impact.

The drills of the days had paid off, the oarsmen paddled the long oars to the rhythm of the drums, the first ships side by side maintained the same speed, the bow of the ships almost in a straight line, and the two ships kept twenty-five paces between them—if any daredevils rushed into it, a devastating pinch awaited him. The second column of ships maintained a distance of seventy paces from the first, and their task was to sweep away the embers and prevent the first column from slipping through the net and turning back.

On the Mongol side, on the other hand, the formation was much more chaotic, and after rowing more than a hundred paces, the boats were separated by their different speeds, and from the sky they looked like a huge spindle. Seeing all this, Du Gu's face showed a contemptuous smile: "Speed up, sink these Tartars!" ”

The rhythm of the drums grew faster and faster with the sound of Dugu's command, and the wooden oars stirred the river so fast that the boats almost flew with these wooden wings. At this time, the distance between the two sides had been shortened to within the range of bows and arrows, and without any orders, the Mongols on the ships released arrows at the Ming fleet on the opposite side.

"Raise your shield, and don't let it go! It is necessary to drive the Tartars between the two ships and then open fire! “

Most of the Mongol arrows fell into the water, and even the occasional ones did little damage, and in the period after that night attack, Liu Cheng modified all the ships that used combat ships - adding angles of attack and adding a deck so that not only could they carry more soldiers, but also the oarsmen in the bilge would not be harmed by the arrows.

As the two sides drew closer, the river was filled with roars, shouts, trumpets, drums, and other musical instruments, most of which belonged to the Mongols, each of whom had one or two musicians in each boat, making a sound like a swarm of bees. Arrows rained down on the Ming fleet, and the beams on the bow of the ship had been nailed like a giant hedgehog, Du Gu smiled disdainfully and crouched down slightly, ready to fall in the imminent impact.

Bang!

With a loud bang, the flagship's angle of attack was like a hammer smashing into enemy ships, mixing flesh and wood, and the surviving Mongols let out screams of despair and jumped into the water, most of them would have their heads shattered by the wooden oars and drown at the bottom of the river. The vast majority of the collisions turned against the Mongols, whose ships had no angle of attack, were not specially reinforced, and were smaller, and the other ships, seeing the lessons of the previous experience, turned their bows in an attempt to cross the gap in the ranks of the Ming army and lean up from the side to engage in a broadside battle. But they only fell into another trap, and the guns and archers of the Ming warships, who were well formed, safely hid behind the bamboo rafts on the sides of the ships and fired arrows and lead bullets at the enemy ships on the flanks, and they were condescending and wore iron helmets; The Mongols, on the other hand, were in unsheltered cabins, almost at the mercy of men. Even if a few people threw torches over the tall bamboo rafts and landed on the deck, they were quickly extinguished by the fine sand prepared in advance. When these daring assaulters passed through the ranks of the first row of Ming warships, there were no more people still standing on them, and blood flowed from the bilge that could drown the surface of their feet.

"Crush them, shoot them through!" On the bow of the flagship, Du Gu stomped his feet and shouted loudly, victory is already undoubted, the Ming army only invested half of the troops to sink more than seven enemy ships, captured twice as many ships, and more than 600 enemies fell into the water and were shot. The surviving Mongol ship began to turn its bow in an attempt to escape, but the Ming army chased after it without Du Gu's order, victory was the best stimulant, and the oarsmen seemed to feel that the wooden oars in their hands became lighter. (To be continued.) )