The night was solemn, and Yang Yiqing had already ordered the pre-war mobilization of the local soldiers and horses in Ningxia under his personal leadership.

At the same time, the people of Xiangchengbo and Wu'anhou, who had arrived in the east of Shigou City, also received instructions from Yang Yiqing to cooperate with the march, and there was still about half an hour until dawn.

On the side of Li Yan, the uncle of Xiangcheng, when Li Yan learned that Yang Yiqing was going to fight a bloody battle with the Tatars after only one night of rest after arriving in Shigou City, he was still very surprised, and with a general like him who thought he had blood, he was also surprised by Yang Yiqing's courage.

Everyone knows that you Yang Yiqing cowered in the battle of Ningxia last year, how did you become a coach who dared to fight more with less or even a little reckless this year?

Not what we expected from you.

"Uncle Xiangcheng, you see that now Yang Junmen has notified us that we will cooperate in the battle, and it seems that in an hour, we will also have to send troops to fight to the death with the Tatars." Cui Yuan is in Li Yan's array, which will show Cui Yuan his upright side to Li Yan.

Li Yan instantly understood why Zhu Hui, the Duke of Baoguo, had such a figure like a relative of the emperor who didn't know how to cherish it, so he had to give it to him.

It turns out that this is a verbose monster, who seems to have a free and easy personality and dares to say anything, and can be friends with anyone, but this temperament is straight...... It's really unacceptable.

Li Yan wanted to say, you usually make friends to eat and drink, but you are also so straightforward on this battlefield...... Don't you know that we're all afraid of death?

Li Yan said, "Cui Yuma, are you okay? We're only 2,000 people. There are only a dozen cannons, and there are not many shells, even if there are firearms, but the Tatars really want to rush over, tens of thousands of cavalry have lost hundreds, and in the end, they won't swallow us?"

"What do you mean?" Cui Yuan was also wondering.

You are all a pioneer officer, and you also want to be a turtle with a shrunken head?

Li Yan said unceremoniously, "Let's be patient. Wait."

"What are you waiting for?" Cui Yuan asked.

"Either wait for that Governor Yang to fight against the Tatars and win, let's go and put the icing on the cake, if he is defeated and retreats, we will also retreat, no shame." Or you can cover their retreat. If it doesn't work again, let's wait for the arrival of the main force of the Ming Dynasty led by the Baoguo Gongqin, and then we will have a decisive battle with the Tatars...... All in all...... Now is not the time for war."

Li Yan was not ashamed.

Cui Yuan was surprised: "Uncle Xiangcheng, I heard that more than two years ago, in the first battle of the Biaotou Pass, you were the one who established an immortal career with the Marquis of Wei Ning, how can you ...... now?"

Li Yan scolded in his heart, are you exposing my shortcomings?

At that time, I was also a person who was faster and slower than Chen Liangjiu, of course, in terms of running, Chen Liangjiu was more skilled, and finally I personally cooked hot wine for him to welcome him back...... With Wang Weining's small-bellied chicken intestines, are you willing to share the credit with our group of people?

But thinking about today's Baoguo Gong and others, it is not much better.

There is no good person in this group of coaches.

Li Yan said: "No matter how brave you are, you must judge the situation."

Cui Yuan asked, "Then if Wu'an Hou leads the troops forward, shall we follow?"

"He's not going to go." Li Yan seems to be very confident in this, "There are not enough soldiers and horses, and if you go up, you are looking for death. Now we are just waiting for the opportunity, beware that we have become a target for the Tatars, and the arrow target is not much better than the cannon target."

As Li Yan expected.

After dawn, when Yang Yiqing agreed to attack, there was no change in the camp of Wu'an Hou Zhengying.

In general, the border soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are also afraid of death, and no one wants to do this kind of thing to charge...... Since you, Yang Yiqing, have the intention of making meritorious contributions, then we will give you the opportunity, and we will watch the excitement on the side first.

Yang Yiqing reorganized his troops and horses, and when he advanced in the direction of Shigou City, he learned the news that Li Yan and Zheng Ying were slacking off in battle.

Guo Jun was so angry that he roared on his horse, "The thief mistook me and other important things."

Yang Yiqing said: "They are all not rabbits and eagles, I thought that they could receive the errand of the former army commander, and Wu'an Hou and Xiangcheng Bo could shoulder the burden of exterminating Di Yi, it seems that I overestimated them."

At this time, the eunuch Zhang Yan not far away hurriedly rode over, and he had just heard about Zheng Ying and Li Yan

Hold on to the soldiers, and hurry over to ask Yang Yiqing for instructions.

"If we fight all the way, the odds are not high. Or else we'll ...... Win steadily." Zhang Yu almost said, if we force the Tatars away, even if we win, why take the initiative to offend the little Tatar prince?

In the battle of Huamachi, we have a credit, as long as the Tatars retreat, this credit will be stable.

If the battle is lost, then the victory in the previous battle will be a thing of the past. net

Yang Yiqing said: "There are at least 30,000 elite horsemen in Tatars, so if you fight such a tough battle, what difference does it make if you don't have those thousands of soldiers who are afraid of battle?"

Zhang Yu's brows furrowed when he heard this.

There are 4,000 soldiers and horses, and with this group of men and horses, the odds of victory are always much higher.

Yang Yiqing said again: "If the Tatars have no intention of fighting with us, and find that the morale of our three armies is high, they will definitely choose to withdraw, will they take the opportunity to attack the camp of those who are afraid of war?"

When Guo Jun heard this, he pretended to be excited, laughed and said to the generals beside him: "What Lord Yang said is extremely true, the stronger our soldiers, the lower the morale of the Tatars, they are afraid that after being intercepted, they will definitely go and eat those turtle sons who seem to be cowards first, we just rush forward, there will be meat to eat!"

"Yes!"

Now these generals under Yang Yiqing have no choice.

Allies are unwilling to contribute, they can only do it themselves, even if these words are just seeking psychological comfort, but something is better than nothing.

How can you say that there are more than 10,000 soldiers and horses on your side, and they take the initiative to face the battle, if the Tatars really want to pick up soft persimmons and pinch them, they will never think that we are soft persimmons, right?

Xiangcheng Bo and Wu'anhou on the opposite side, proper soft persimmons.

"Report!"

"*** The vanguard has been deployed ten miles north of Shigou City!"

"Report! The Tatars transferred nearly 10,000 soldiers and horses to the north of Shigou City, with strong crossbows and thick shields to resist!"

"Report! Send two lines of cavalry to make a detour on both sides of our army, the number of men and horses is unknown......

As the main Tatar camp approached, more reports of battle from the front came.

When the people on Yang Yiqing's side heard this, they suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Didn't you say that the Tatars were not ready to fight, and would choose to retreat and then eat the two soldiers and horses of Xiangchengbo and Wu'anhou?

What do you think of the stance...... The Tatars are completely laid out in their pockets, waiting for us to burrow into them?

Yang Yiqing shouted: "Di Yi is already terminally ill, they still haven't recognized the situation clearly, those who dare to fight head-on with my Ming border army have been defeated and scattered, think about the fire sieve, and then think about my Ming official army sweeping Huangshui and Guanshan!" Our chance to make a difference! Pass on my generals, attack at full speed, and the front army is ready to fight!"

Yang Yiqing led his troops to attack the main defense area of the Tatars.

The group battle, and even lined up the posture, more than 10,000 soldiers and horses gathered within a range of about two miles, also because of the open terrain north of Shigou City.

When Yang Yiqing's department is only seven or eight miles away from Shigou City, the city wall of Shigou City can already be seen from afar, Shigou City is the key point of the Ming Dynasty in the east of the river to Shaanxi and Gansu, and it is also used as the intersection of the Daming Post Station, although it is only an earthen fort, less than a mile square, but because there is no city next to it within nearly 100 miles of the surrounding area, the strategic significance here is also very great.

The Tatars were already in formation four or five miles ahead.

The Tatars did not launch an offensive, perhaps the Tatars were afraid before, every time they clashed with the Ming artillery array, the Tatars always wanted to use the advantage of cavalry to scatter the Ming artillery array, and at first it may have a certain effect, but with the Ming soldiers equipped with flint guns at medium and short ranges, the Tatars found that rushing forward is looking for death.

So this time, Batu Munk obviously changed his tactics, forming a formation first, waiting for Daming's formation to press forward, and they also knew that Daming's artillery was not advancing fast.

Can't afford to fight, can afford to hide.

"My lord, the Tatars formed several long serpent formations, dozens of feet away from each other, supplemented by shields and wooden carts, etc., and it seems that behind the shield array, there are cavalry lurking, only three miles away from us, but they have not yet launched an offensive."

As the commander of the former army, Guo Jun had already led the troops to the front.

And the one who came to talk to Yang Yiqing was Gao Pi, the deputy chief soldier of Ningxia, Gao Pi was in charge of the fire gun array in the array, and he was at the mercy of Yang Yiqing's orders at any time.

Yang Yiqing looked at the rising sun in the sky, then looked at the east and west sides, and asked, "How far away are the men and horses on the two wings of the Tartar?"

"It's also three or four miles, our two wings of men and horses rushed up several times, and the other side didn't seem to have the intention of retreating in a big way, and the two sides were not damaged." Gao Pi Road.

Yang Yiqing nodded and said, "There is no point in pulling in front of the formation, so rush the opponent's formation. If you can know the city, let the defenders of Shigou City kill them together and cut off their back roads."

Gao Pi said, "There is no sign of troops in the city."

In Gao Pi's view, it is unrealistic to expect the 300 soldiers stationed in Shigou City to kill them, but the Tatars are 30,000 soldiers and horses, and 300 people are not enough to send heads, not to mention that there is only one cannon in the city.

"Within two miles of *** miles, start firing cannons and disrupt the Tatars! Up!"

Yang Yiqing said sharply, "The Tatars want to be shrunken turtles, let us attack this time, they can't defend this cannon."

"Boom, boom, boom......"

With the artillery offensive of Daming Ningxia all the way, the battle of Shigou City officially began.

Twenty miles east of the city, Li Yan and Zheng Ying were watching the fire on the other side, or observing the situation, when they learned the news of the battle, the soldiers of the two roads were still shocked in their hearts, although they did not know how many men and horses Yang Yiqing had brought, but it was expected that the number of soldiers and horses would be less than that of the Tatars, or even far inferior.

That's it...... Yang Yiqing also dared to fight the Tatars head-on, and the soldiers of these two roads could not accept it.

"How dare you fight."

In Li Yan's Chinese military camp tent, after learning the news of the war, Li Yan made such a direct evaluation.

Cui Yuan looked at the surrounding generals, don't look at the fact that there are not many people on their way, only 2,000 soldiers and horses, but the level of the generals accompanying the army is not low, and it is also because of this expedition to the Hetao, Zhu Hui has gathered a large number of ministers and generals who are waiting for mixed qualifications.

Cui Yuan persuaded Li Jun: "If the front is urgent, and we ignore our comrades, the imperial court will inevitably hold them accountable."

"Ben knows."

Li Yan stood up, he was also anxious.

Who made Yang Yiqing a "reckless man"?

Ben still expects Yang Yiqing to retreat knowing the difficulty, but now it's good, this is to roast the two people on the east side on the fire.

A general named Song Qi on the side said, "Now we have tens of thousands of Tatar soldiers and horses in front of us, and we can contain them, and we can also win the battle for them. Maybe the Tatars are waiting for us to fall into the net?"

Those who know Li Yan are still generals who are greedy for life and afraid of death like him.

The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are accustomed to fighting defensive battles in the passes, and many people have not changed this habit, and even psychologically have a kind of "take the initiative to face the battle and die", and they will not take the initiative to touch the mold when they can retreat.

Li Yan said: "It makes sense, it's not that we can't go now, it's that the conditions ahead don't allow it."

"Report ......"

As he spoke.

The herald's announcement was heard at the door.

When Li Yan saw the herald, he asked a little nervously, "But the Tatars are coming to our side?"

In Li Yan's meaning, this is to be ready for the wind to be tight at any time.

But listening to the herald, he said in a very loud voice: "There are reinforcements from the Ming Dynasty arriving in the northeast, and they are Jianchangbo's men and horses, and they are about to go in the direction of Shigou City."

"So soon? Wasn't it fifty or sixty miles away before last night? They didn't rest last night?"

Li Yan looked surprised.

At the critical time of the war, Zhang Yanling, the uncle of Jianchang, who had not been counted in the "number of heads", actually led troops to reinforce?

Is he crazy or can't think about it?

When Cui Yuan heard that Zhang Yanling was coming, he suddenly felt relieved and smiled, "Jian Changbo has experienced several wars, and I think he got the news of the start of the war and rushed to reinforce him

Come."

Don't look at Zhang Yanling's usual reputation is not very good, but here in Cui Yuan...... Cui Yuan is Zhang Yanling's brother-in-law, and no matter how bastard Zhang Yanling is, he didn't bully Cui Yuan, so that Cui Yuan regarded Zhang Yanling as a "model for my generation".

And Cui Yuan knows very well that there are more than 4,000 men and horses on Zhang Yanling's way, if you add the two vanguard men and horses sent by Zhu Hui, it is 8,000 soldiers and horses, and if you kill Shigou City from the east and break the defense of the little prince of Tatar, there will be a great chance.

What's more, don't look at Zhang Yanling's slow arrival, but there are a lot of firearms in Zhang Yanling's array, and there is also heavy firepower.

When Li Yan heard this, he said with a jealous face: "A relative of the emperor, shouldn't he stay behind at this time and watch us die in front? How dare he go into battle in person? What's in your mind?"

That's fine.

Originally, Zhang Yanling was a joke-level existence in the army.

But because there is Cui Yuan, who is also a "relative of the emperor", many generals are a little confused.

They are thinking, dare to ask Uncle Xiangcheng, are you referring to Sang scolding Huai, satirizing this Yongkang eldest princess who has advocated fighting with you many times?

Cui Yuan seemed to be muttering, and his voice was not loud, but it was enough for the people around him to hear clearly, and he said, "If Jian Changbo leads the troops up, and we are still staying here, I am afraid that the previous reason will not be established."

Okay.

Don't hit people in the face, don't slap the horse.

Everyone felt that Cui Yuan seemed to be fighting back.

Let you Li Yan not listen to me, now even my indisputable brother-in-law has been killed, what do you say that the Tatars set up defenses in front of our formation, we are in order to contain the Tatars, so we did not kill them...... Who believes this reason?

Even Zhang Yanling dared to rush forward, and your group of senior soldiers are still shrinking? Do you want to face?