On the earth mountain, more than 2,000 soldiers under Wang Shouren's command were very excited, but they were also reorganizing the soldiers and horses to prepare to join the main force of the Ming Dynasty.

But for the more than 10,000 captured prisoners of the Menggol Jinbu who were captured, the scene in front of them was almost a death sentence, even if they did not die, they would be placed in the inland by the Ming Dynasty to cultivate and become slaves under the command of the army.

And the male in their family may not be seen for the rest of their lives.

It could be their husband, it could be their son, it could be their father......

"Boom, boom!"

After the Ming army under the mountain came, it was firing artillery in the distance, and the sound of the cannon needed to travel far before it could be transmitted.

This move even Wang Shouren wondered.

Obviously, the cavalry of the Menggol Jin Department has already fled, where can they put their artillery?

Ma Yi rode his horse to Wang Shouren and asked: "General Wang Shao, the soldiers and horses have been prepared, and they can go to join Zhang Zhitai's Chinese army at any time." ”

Wang Shouren said: "How can you be sure that it is Zhang Zhitai's people? Stay put, don't move! Wait for Yamashita to send an envoy! ”

"This ......"

Ma Yi and other generals couldn't understand it.

Obviously, the army of the Ming Dynasty has already come, and the Menggoljin Department has retreated, why is this head of the military department still so cautious? Won two battles and floated? Is this afraid of the Tartars camouflaging the Ming official army?

……

……

The officers and soldiers of the expeditionary force on the mountain were waiting, and after the Ming army under the mountain was stationed, a group of men and horses came up the mountain first, led by Zhang Heling, the deputy commander-in-chief.

"Oh, it's pretty lively."

As soon as Zhang Heling came, he saw that the mountain was full of cattle and sheep, and that feeling was no different from Grandma Liu's entry into the Grand View Garden.

Wang Shouren saw that it was Zhang Heling, so he personally went out to greet him.

After a brief salute, Wang Shouren immediately asked where Zhang Zhou was.

"Mr. Zhang is at the bottom of the mountain, you don't go to greet you, but you are very lazy, but he is too lazy to bother with you, and let me come up to inform you, rectify the soldiers and horses, pass Maoerzhuang, and enter the Datong Pass!"

Zhang Heling smiled.

When he saw the groups of captives tied to the wagons, he found it even more amusing.

Wang Shouren said: "Why would you fire a cannon in the distance? ”

"You go and ask Mr. Zhang yourself. Gone, gone! ”

Wang Shouren nodded, and then beckoned Ma Yi, Guan Jing and others to come over, and organized people and horses to drive the prisoners and livestock on the mountain down the mountain.

……

……

The camp of Daming under the mountain is only temporarily stationed, but it is not a formation to attack, and it is a bit of a defensive meaning.

Wang Shouren took 200 people from the front army to the camp at the foot of the mountain, but when he saw that Zhang Zhou was already under the horse, he greeted him from afar, with a soft smile on his face.

"Zhang Zhitai!"

Everyone turned over and dismounted, and Guan Jing and Sun Shangqi, who came with Wang Shouren, hurriedly saluted Zhang Zhou.

If Wang Shouren has won their respect before, then Zhang Zhou has always been deeply respected by them, just like Wang Shouren is a hero by virtue of military merits, Zhang Zhou's military merits are more than Wang Shouren.

And the battle in front of him was all planned by Zhang Zhou, even if Zhang Zhou did not participate in it personally, but at the critical time, it was up to Zhang Zhou to bring reinforcements and force the soldiers and horses of Menggoljin to retreat.

Wang Shouren stepped forward first, and then he gave his hand: "I've seen Zhang Zhengtai." ”

"You're welcome." Zhang Zhou had a smile on his face, "Congratulations to Bo'an, the two battles of the grassland have played the majesty of the Ming Dynasty, and the champion Hou is nothing more than that!" ”

"Don't dare!"

Wang Shouren knew very well how many catties and taels he had.

He said: "If it weren't for the mighty gunpowder of Zhang Zhitai, as well as artillery and flint, the results of the previous two battles would be difficult to judge. All of this is due to Zhang Zhengtai's strategy. ”

Wang Shouren also knows in his heart.

To win, it all depends on the gunpowder and firearms given by Zhang Zhou, he is nothing more than to temporarily dispatch and command these gunpowder and firearms to give full play to their effects, and how can his subordinates compete with the leader?

Zhang Zhou shook his head with a smile: "Without Bo'an, if your command is determined, there will be no feat of the second surprise attack on Weininghai by the Ming Dynasty." But now is not the time to talk about merit, hurry up and pack up your belongings and go south to Datong Town. ”

Guan Jing walked over and hugged his fists and said: "Zhang Zhitai, the thief has just withdrawn for less than an hour, it is better to transfer a few thousand cavalry to the last general, and the last general is willing to go to pursue." ”

"Haha. It's really a show, are the Ming soldiers so confident in the grassland? This Xiaoguan general, don't be too anxious, this is the land of the grassland tribe, you see that this official only brought 7,000 men and horses, or riding and foot mixed, so many artillery pieces were finally transported all the way over, if the fire sieve headquarters killed, it would not be easy to deal with. ”

Zhang Zhou's words seem to have no great skills, and he doesn't dare to compete with the fire sieve head-on.

This is obviously different from the expectations of Guan Jing and other expeditionary force officers.

What's going on?

You have a good eye, and one of the military department directors selected directly from the new science and technology is so awesome, you brought more soldiers and horses here, and you actually just came to cover our retreat?

That doesn't make sense.

Zhang Zhou faced the puzzlement in Guan Jing and the others' eyes, and sighed: "Speaking of which, before that, this official prepared almost all the mighty heavenly gunpowder that could be used in the Xuanfu Mansion for your surprise attack on Weininghai, and there was not much left. Why do you think I shot at them? In fact, I don't want to show my cowardice, and we don't have many shells, so the official came to the grassland to perform artillery on the order of the emperor, and to put it bluntly, he used artillery to shoot rabbits. ”

"Fighting outside the Xuanfu is also fighting, and fighting in Maoerzhuang is also fighting, and it is not against His Majesty's intentions. It's just that while fighting rabbits, with the help of this Wang Zhongcheng, the grassland has achieved a little success, why don't we hurry up and bring the results back, what are you delaying here? ”

This time, even Wang Shouren was surprised by Zhang Zhou's modesty.

But then he also noticed the change in Zhang Zhou's address to him, and he only thought that Zhang Zhou was wrong, and did not refute anything.

Zhang Zhou said in front of the people present: "The king of this war has made great contributions, and after the official returns, he will protect His Majesty, take the king as the imperial history of the capital, and patrol a town in the northwest." ”

"This ......"

This remark made Wang Shouren a little embarrassed.

Although Zhang Zhou didn't say it explicitly, even those who were a little dull could think that Zhang Zhou was likely to let Wang Shouren governor Datong or Xuanfu as the imperial history of the capital, and the possibility of governor Xuanfu was high...... After all, Ma Zhongxi himself resigned, and it was very reasonable to let Wang Shouren, who had made military achievements, replace Ma Zhongxi.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "But this is just the wishful thinking of the official, after the meritorious reward, today's meritorious soldiers will definitely be able to get the imperial court's additional officials and knights, and then I am afraid that the official will have the intention to keep Wang Zhongcheng on the three sides, and he may also be recalled by His Majesty to the Beijing Division and given him a title." ”

"What are you waiting for? Baoguo Gong, why don't you hurry up and cooperate with the soldiers of my Daming expedition to help them bring the spoils back to Daming? ”

Zhu Hui smiled and said, "Order!" ”

For Zhu Hui, although the expedition to Weininghai has little to do with him, according to the rules of the Ming Dynasty's reward, even if he just leads troops to Maoerzhuang, the credit is not small.

Moreover, he is also the chief soldier of Xuanfu, and his merits in this battle may not be below many front-line soldiers.

He didn't want to be promoted to a higher rank...... There is not much room for improvement, but the accumulation of his prestige in this battle alone is enough for him to protect the country's reputation for the next ten years or even decades, which is the point.

……

……

After the expeditionary force converged with Zhang Zhou's main force, it did not even rest, and immediately drove south, retreating in the direction of Yanghekou around Fangshan in the border pass outside Datong Town.

After a night's march, the soldiers and horses began to camp and rest.

This night was also the first long rest after Wang Shouren entered the grassland, he sat in the carriage and slept in the bumps for a night.

With Zhang Zhou here, it seems that he finally doesn't have to worry about strategic matters, and he can rest with his eyes closed.

"Are you alright?"

When Zhang Zhou saw Wang Shouren early the next morning, he saw Wang Shouren's drowsy face, and he obviously had a cold.

It's a problem with exhaustion.

Wang Shouren saw that the generals had already left in the temporary tent, and he seemed to have missed an important meeting, so he hurriedly said: "It is the dereliction of duty of the lower officials. ”

"It's okay, I didn't let them bother you, don't worry, I'm not trying to take credit from you." Zhang Zhou smiled.

"The lower officials don't dare to speculate like this." Wang Shouren was ashamed.

Zhang Zhou now not only understands his hard work, but also understands his situation.

If he used the grassland to win the respect of the soldiers, he also felt the new gunpowder and artillery brought by Zhang Zhou through these two battles, and for the change of the battlefield pattern, he also had to put away the arrogance unique to the children of the official eunuchs before, and re-examine Zhang Zhou from the perspective of the people of the Ming Dynasty or the generals in the army.

He also seemed to understand why the whole army would respect Zhang Zhou so much, and why the emperor would trust Zhang Zhou so much.

At this time, he also felt that his father, as well as his father's colleagues, seemed to have a paranoid prejudice against Zhang Zhou, and now he thought that this prejudice was not advisable.

Zhang Zhoudao: "You didn't take the initiative to go down the mountain yesterday, it's good, if the soldiers and horses from Datong Town come over, what will happen to the results, it's hard to say." ”

Wang Shouren originally wanted to explain to Zhang Zhou that he didn't deliberately snub Zhang Zhou yesterday, and when he saw the soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty, he had already determined that it was not Di Yi's disguise with a telescope, so he should hurry down the mountain without delaying time.

But the problem he was thinking about was that there might also be a situation of grabbing merit within the Ming Dynasty.

More than 10,000 captives, as well as nearly 100,000 cattle, sheep and livestock, etc., are a person will be red-eyed, and the soldiers and horses of each town on the nine sides will go their own way.

It's not good, for this military feat, the soldiers and horses of the two towns of Daming will be related to each other in Maoerzhuang.

Obviously, Zhang Zhou, like him, understands the urine nature of the Ming border army.

Wang Shouren said: "Thanks to Zhang Zhengtai's timely arrival, if it is delayed for a few more hours, the result may be very different. ”

Zhang Zhou sighed: "I can only say that from Xuanfu, even if I walk along the border pass, the road is not smooth, I should have arrived a day in advance, but after all, unlike you, one person and two horses, the army can march to such a point, I don't have the luxury." ”

"Datong Town ...... for some reason"

Wang Shouren asked half a sentence and did not finish.

What he meant was actually to ask, the border pass of Datong Town was only more than 100 miles away from Maoerzhuang, even if it was from Datong Town, it was only more than 200 miles to Maoerzhuang, why had he never seen reinforcements from Datong Town?

Didn't you say that you had already given an order to Hong Han, the governor of Datong, and he should have set off a long time ago?

"Hehe, the border army of the Ming Dynasty has always adhered to the principle that more is better than less, and no fault is meritorious, even if he is willing to send troops, the daily march is estimated to be no more than ten miles, and whether it will approach the front line of Maoerzhuang is still unknown."

Zhang Zhou's meaning.

Hong Han or the garrison of Datong Town, when they learned that Maoerzhuang had soldiers and horses in front of the Menggol Jin Division, how could they concentrate on galloping to help?

Menggol Jin's department in Maoerzhuang is not just a pretense, but there are more than 5,000 soldiers and horses to guard against the Ming Dynasty's northward march, and it is precisely because of these 5,000 soldiers and horses that they can deter the garrison of Datong Town...... The effect is really obvious, and sure enough, the soldiers and horses of Datong Town did not dare to rush north.

It was also because the generals of Datong Town didn't believe that Zhang Zhou's surprise attack on Wei Ninghai could achieve any results at all, so they didn't think it was any good to go to Di Yi in Maoerzhuang.

Even if we defeat Maoerzhuang and destroy the expeditionary force that went to attack Weininghai, wouldn't we be lonely? Who is responsible for our deaths and injuries? If the army is defeated, who is responsible?

When Wang Shouren heard Zhang Zhou's words, he felt a sense of anger in his heart, probably because he hated the soldiers of the border towns of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Zhoudao: "The towns on the nine borders of the Ming Dynasty need to be reformed, but this kind of reform cannot be completed overnight, so that the soldiers have confidence and know that they can win the battle, and they dare to fight." Don't look at the cavalry of the steppe tribes, but as long as you win them a few more times, you can look at the present...... In the past, if they had nearly 10,000 soldiers and horses, would they have withdrawn when they encountered our thousands of soldiers and horses? That's the change! ”

Wang Shouren thought about it and couldn't help nodding.

Zhang Zhou's 7,000 soldiers and horses came over, of which the cavalry was only three or four thousand, and there were still three or four thousand infantry, dragging artillery, etc., and the artillery shells were not enough.

Even if Wang Shouren's part of the expeditionary force is added, if it really has to fight a decisive battle with the remaining seven or eight thousand cavalry assembled by Menggol Jin's army in Maoerzhuang, the outcome is still unknown.

But now it's just not the same as before.

Zhang Zhou came, fired a few shots at the open space casually, and the seven or eight thousand soldiers and horses of Menggol Jin's department ran away in such a gray manner.

The change of confidence on the battlefield comes from the change of the battle situation, or the change of offense and defense, victory and defeat.

Wang Shouren also talked to Zhang Zhou about the surprise attack on Weininghai with the expeditionary force, and Zhang Zhou listened carefully to his story.

Wang Shouren sighed: "All this is due to the new firearms and gunpowder brought by Zhang Zhitai. ”

"Brother Bo'an, if you don't mind, you can call me Bingkuan in the future, we are the same year, and we work together, you are still a few years older than me, there is no need to see each other like this." Zhang Zhou smiled, "After this battle, there will be many opportunities for cooperation in the northwest in the future." Even if I return to the court in the future, and you still stay in the northwest, don't you need me to help you plan in the court and help you make more requests in front of Your Majesty? ”

"This ......"

Wang Shouren was a little defeated by Zhang Zhou's straightforwardness.

But what Zhang Zhou is saying now is the real truth.

After experiencing this battle, of course, he felt that he was confident that he could establish a career in the northwest and realize his ambitions, if he was allowed to return to Beijing...... He would feel that it was the imperial court that suppressed him, or that the ministers or Zhang Zhou were dissatisfied with his merits.

Zhang Zhou said this, which clearly meant that he wanted to keep him in the northwest.

If he was in the northwest and faced with so many bad things in the officialdom and the army, not everyone would obey him like the officers and men of the expeditionary force.

In the end, Wang Weining still relied on four or five victories to establish his reputation, and it was Wang Weining's own organization of troops and strategies to complete the victory, and he relied more on Zhang Zhou's tricks and weapons.

He needs Zhang Zhou, in addition to relying on Zhang Zhou's prestige, he also needs Zhang Zhou's connections in front of the emperor.

"Hehe, Bo'an, don't mind." Zhang Zhou smiled.

"No, it won't."

Wang Shouren also smiled.

The estrangement between the two seems to have disappeared.

As he was talking, a voice came from the door: "Report...... Director Tang asked to see him. ”

"Let him in."

Zhang Zhou let Tang Yin into the tent.

Tang Yin had been in charge of logistics before, and he didn't go to greet Wang Shouren yesterday, and when he saw Wang Shouren again today, he suddenly had a feeling of "the vicissitudes of life and things are wrong".

Before the expedition, you were the main officer, I was the main officer, and only a few days later, I was still the main officer, and you were already another famous "Wang Weining" in Daming, and you became a famous general in Daming.

Isn't it just the courage to make a surprise attack on Weininghai?

Why didn't I go at the time......

Wang Shouren did not shy away from Tang Yin, he asked: "Zhang Zhitai, this time I went to Yanghekou, what if the guards deliberately made things difficult?" ”

"Huh." Zhang Zhoudao, "I am the general system of Xuanda, and you dare to block me from entering the customs?" Whoever stops me, I will directly smash the city to him! The responsibility is not on me! Since you want to lead the troops, you naturally have to have some courage. Bo'an, you're so bold in this battle, I think you'll do the same, right? ”

After Wang Shouren listened, he felt embarrassed.

Bomb the city pass of the Ming Dynasty?

Or cannibalistic bombing?

Wang Weining has this courage, and you Zhang Banxian also have this courage, and I dare not compare with you.

Zhang Zhou said to Tang Yin, who was listening to the excitement next to him: "What are you doing with the pestle? Go and tell the soldiers outside, rest until noon, then continue to move, and the next two days must not be stopped, if there are cattle, sheep and herdsmen difficult to drive along the way, kill! If you want to enter the customs within two days, you must arrive before nightfall the day after tomorrow. ”

"Yes."

Tang Yin hurriedly went out to give the order.

I was annoyed that I was now a herald.

People are more ...... than people Angry.

Zhang Zhou took out a draft battle report, handed it to Wang Shouren and said, "I have written a report note, you can refer to it." ”

"Do you want to wait until you get back to the border?" Wang Shouren said.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "It's not a big deal, if the fire sieve really chases after me in the past two days, you will bring the hostages into the customs, and I will meet him." Hehe, I'm here, I'll see if he can still burn this fire. Fire sieve? I'll make him a colander! ”

(End of chapter)