"Report to the general army, Jiannu's forward men and horses have arrived only ten miles away from Datong, they have slowed down their march, and they guess that they are waiting for the follow-up men and horses to arrive, and then concentrate on attacking Datong!"

"Got it," after listening to the report of his sergeant, Cao Yue, who was staying in the temporary line of the city gate tower, didn't say much, waved his hand to signal the sergeant who came to report to retreat, and asked Cao Jie, the general of the first battalion, to come in.

After a while, Cao Jie ran into the room quickly, stood still after saluting Cao Yue, and waited for Cao Yue's questioning.

"Cao Jie, the Jiannu army will arrive at Datong City, the war will start soon, the victory or defeat of this battle depends on how well your first battalion fights!" While speaking, Cao Yue motioned for Cao Jie to sit down in front of him, and after Cao Jie sat down in front of the desk with the combat model, he said: "If it is cold today, the use effect of firearms is much different from usual, you must be fully prepared, don't drop the chain at a critical time and make mistakes." ”

"Yes, Lord General Soldier," Cao Jie replied very respectfully: "Please rest assured that the General Soldier has made full preparations, and the firearms are all maintained with antifreeze oil according to the instructions of the Chief Soldier, and there have been no large-scale failures in the training in the past few days, and the weather is very cold, the cooling time of the artillery is much faster than when it is hot, and the frequency of shooting is also faster." ”

In the direction of the north gate of Datong, more than a dozen artillery pieces, including red-coated cannons, were placed, all of which were in charge of the first battalion. The temperature in the chamber of the gun rises very quickly after the gun is fired, and it must be lowered before the next shot can be fired.

"That's it!" Cao Yue asked Cao Jie some more information about the army, and let him go down.

At this time, the sergeant came to report that the Jiannu army was slowly advancing in the direction of Datong, and it looked like it was ready to attack the city.

"Just waiting for them to come, I want to see how Jiannu attacked the city in this kind of dripping and icy weather," Cao Yue sneered a few times, and motioned to the guards around him to follow him outside to watch the battle.

Cao Yue really didn't believe that under this kind of weather, Jiannu could still attack the city. He felt that without artillery, bows and arrows, boiling the water and pouring it down could completely scald some of the siege Jiannu to death, and then freeze the other part to death. What's more, now the strength of Datong City is far superior to Jiannu, if in such a situation, Jiannu is still attacked by Jiannu, then he thinks that he can wipe his neck with a knife and travel to other places.

Wearing a thick coat and walking outside the door, standing on the verandah, Cao Yue held a telescope to check the situation in the distance. In the telescope, the Jiannu army lined up in a neat line, slowly advancing in the direction of the north gate of Datong.

Cao Yue's temporary line was set up on the city gate tower at the north gate. In the era when there was no pollution, standing on the city gate tower with a telescope can be seen to go far away. Visually estimated, Jiannu's army was still six or seven miles away from Datong City, and Cao Yue did not order the defenders to enter the highest state of alert.

Jiannu's march speed could not be very fast, and it would be too late for them to rush to a place a mile or two away from the city wall and then set up a formation to meet the enemy. After all, if it is freezing today, the temperature is at least more than ten degrees below zero, and it is not comfortable to stay outside for a long time. In the process of waiting for Jiannu to attack the city, the sergeants guarding the city wall also took turns to rest, a group of sergeants stayed for a period of time to change the guard, and another group of sergeants followed, the previous batch went into the house to warm up, saving the cold numb hands and feet, and when Jiannu came to attack, he couldn't raise his gun and couldn't pull the bow.

Cao Yue did not hide back in the city gate tower, but kept standing in the corridor, holding a telescope to observe the situation.

The ice and snow outside the city still haven't melted, and most of the outside of the city is covered in white as far as the eye can see. The weather was good, there was a bright sun hanging in the sky, and the sunlight was a little dazzling under the reflection of the snow, Cao Yue couldn't help but squint. The Jiannu army was still slowly advancing, but Cao Yue soon discovered that the situation was abnormal, and the number of Jiannu troops advancing in the direction of Datong City did not seem to be much, estimated to be only 8,000 to 10,000 at most. According to the report of Tanma, the number of Jiannu troops in this southern expedition was at least 20,000, and what about the rest of the Jiannu?

"Could it be that this Jiannu is just a Han army or a Mongol, their purpose is only to feint to attack Datong, and its female Allah may turn to attack other places?!" Thinking about it, Cao Yue chuckled in his heart, it is possible that Jiannu did not intend to attack Datong with all his strength, but just made a show, maybe these Jiannu outside Datong City would not be pushed under Datong City and launched a siege operation, they were just intimidating.

If this is the case, then what is Jiannu doing this for? Could it be that they just want to block Datong's 50,000 troops in the city?

As soon as he thought of this, Cao Yue immediately thought that it was possible for Jiannu to divide his troops and move to attack other weakly defended cities, or even to attack Beijing by a detour, this Jiannu just wanted to contain the defenders of Datong and prevent Datong's 50,000 horses from following and pursuing.

Cao Yue was glad that a few days ago, he played the imperial court in the form of an urgent report, suggesting that the imperial court urgently dispatch personnel and horses, and Beijing and nearby cities should be strictly guarded, so as not to be caught off guard by Jiannu. Even if the main force of Jiannu really makes a detour to attack other places today, don't be too nervous.

But if this is really the case, he also has to change his tactics, and he can't passively wait for Jiannu to attack.

He summoned Cao Jie to his side again, and then summoned Zhao Tai, the deputy commander-in-chief, and Wu Xin, a close confidant, to make new arrangements.

"Two, Jiannu may divide the troops and leave, its main force may make a detour to attack Beijing, their slow-coming men and horses may just be suspicious soldiers, the purpose is to trap my 50,000 troops in Datong City, not let us go out of the city to pursue, if Jiannu is just approaching and not attacking, then our army will take the initiative to attack, and strive to annihilate this Jiannu. If the general's expectation is good, this Jiannu should be a Han army, at most Mongols, it can't be a Jurchen elite horseman, and their combat effectiveness will not be very strong. After speaking his judgment, Cao Yue ordered: "The first battalion led by Cao Jie will go out of the north gate to line up, Deputy General Zhao will personally lead five thousand cavalry troops to cover the actions of the first battalion, and Wu Xin will lead the one thousand skiing sergeants under your command to prepare to raid Jiannu's array from the side." ”

"Yes, Lord Chief," the three of them responded in unison, and immediately went to prepare.

Cao Yue sent the deputy commander-in-chief Vice Ming again, and ordered him to lead his men and horses to go out of the city to pursue after the defeat of Jiannu.

Hearing about Cao Yue's new arrangement, Wu Ming was shocked. This Cao Yue, does he really have such confidence to defeat the siege of Jiannu, and is still ready to go out of the city to chase after Jiannu failed in the siege? But he didn't dare to ask a ghost in his heart, so he could only obey Cao Yue's orders.

Cao Yue sent Gao Gao and Zhu Yang again, so that they were also ready to go out of the city to pursue Jiannu. Gao Gao and Zhu Yang were also surprised to hear that Cao Yue had changed his tactics before the big war approached. But Cao Yue didn't give them a chance to ask questions, just briefly explained the situation and asked them to prepare.

After the arrangement stopped, Cao Yue continued to hold the telescope to check the situation outside the city. Sure enough, the Jiannu army came to a halt about two miles outside the city of Datong almost outside the artillery fire. Cao Yue carefully observed the surroundings of this Jiannu army of less than 10,000 people, and saw no trace of other horses, and decisively ordered that the first battalion led by Cao Jie was escorted by the cavalry led by Zhao Tai and went out of the city to take the initiative to meet the invading Jiannu.