Xuanfu warned the capital that it was obvious that the main force of Altan's army had discovered the traces.

After the army reported to Beijing, the news spread rapidly across the major yamen in the capital like a whirlwind.

In recent years, although emergency troops have been reported to the border town from time to time, it can only be considered a small fuss. Most of the Tartars dispatched were more than a thousand people, which means that they were raiding border forts and more than three thousand people.

Actions are rare.

This time, the urgent report from Xuanfu directly stated that the main force of Altan's army was obviously a gathering of tens of thousands of troops, and a war seemed to be about to break out.

"Shandai, what do you think?"

At this time, in the pavilion in the Hanlin Courtyard garden, a group of Hanlin officials sat together to taste tea and chat.

In the past, the content of chatting here was of course a collection of classics, history, poetry, songs, and essays, but today, their chatting content was transferred to Xuanfu.

Yes, after the news of a large number of Altan cavalry outside Xuanfu spread, many people suddenly remembered that the recent battle with Altan was many years ago. Wasn’t it the command of their young colleague?

So, while there was nothing wrong, many people pulled Wei Guangde to the pavilion, drank a pot of tea, and asked him what he thought about the current situation of Xuanfu.

Looking at everyone's expectant gaze, Wei Guangde even saw Zhang Juzheng among his colleagues.

It was also strange that he did not go to the Imperial College today, but ran back to the Hanlin Academy.

Wei Guangde knew that he was afraid that he would be unable to fool him, so he waved his hand and said, "I just learned about this news, and I haven't thought too much about it yet. Here I will talk about what I can think of now. If there are any mistakes, everyone will also be fine.

Don't be surprised."

"Speak quickly, we all want to hear what you think."

"Yes, time is tight, and it is normal for some mistakes and omissions to be made. You say we can listen and we will discuss it after we finish."

"Well, check for missing and fill in leaks, that's what it should be."

Seeing Zhang Juzheng next to him nodding while stroking his beard, Wei Guangde had to continue saying: "You probably haven't been to the Xuanfu place, and I have only been to some places.

However, at that time in Xuanfu, I heard that the Great Wall stretches for hundreds of miles and has more than ten passes of all sizes and sizes within the Xuanfu. There is something good among the people, "Only a thousand days of being a thief, but there are thousands of days of guarding against thieves."

There are too many city gates, so it is difficult to guard against.

I heard what the border generals said, the Tartar cavalry ran along the Great Wall and attacked the city when they found a loophole in defense. The Great Wall defense line seemed solid, but in fact it was just a mere appearance. If one breaks a little, it would be broken all the way."

Speaking of this, Wei Guangde shook his head.

Last time I went out with Tang Shunzhi, although the memorials when I came back also agreed with the opinions of repairing edge walls and stabilizing people's livelihood, they also mentioned the weaknesses of the Great Wall's defense line. That thing cost a lot but not much value.

It is just that building the Great Wall is a national policy. Wei Guangde believes that he can't change anything. At least it is still necessary to use the Great Wall to delay the enemy's attack before giving infantry to fight the impact of the cavalry.

"What do you mean is that if the Xuanfu cannot be defended, the Tartars will come in again?"

The smart official immediately noticed Wei Guangde's analysis and asked immediately.

"You may have read the border war reports over the years, but I don't know if you have noticed that the harassment of border towns by the Tatars in the past two years has changed somewhat in form, especially the direction of Xuanfu and Jizhen. They have repeatedly used hooks.

The pole siege method can quickly break through the military fort walls by using the weaknesses of the low walls of the military fort walls.

I remember that Jizhen once wrote a memorial saying that it was the new combat method developed by Qiu Fu, Zhao Quan and others for Altan Khan, which was extremely hateful."

The so-called hook-making rod-to-strike attacking castles is actually to make long rods with hooks at the top, which hooks hook the city walls, and the Tartars climb up the pole to break through the city.

Of course, it is not possible for large fortresses like Beijing with high and thick walls, but most of the walls of the military fortress in the border town are low, so you can use this method to quickly rush up the city wall.

Wei Guangde said this, in fact, to remind his colleagues that the Tartars can not only break the Great Wall, but also quickly break the military forts and villages inside and outside the Great Wall, making the entire Great Wall defense line lose its defense and cause its effect.

The so-called Great Wall is not actually what later generations saw, only an isolated city wall winding along the mountains and ridges. In addition to the city wall, the Great Wall also includes moats, towns, camps, squads, and piers distributed inside and outside the city wall.

A three-dimensional defense system.

When building a side wall, soil is often taken from outside the wall, thus forming a trench outside the side wall, which is equivalent to a moat of the city wall, increasing the difficulty for the Northern cavalry to cross the border.

When the Northern Cavalry invaded, they would contain nearby people, livestock and supplies into towns, camps, hamlets, and piers, implement the tactic of strengthening walls and clearing the fields to prevent population and supplies from being plundered by northern ethnic groups, and achieve the strategic purpose of stopping the enemy's army.

.

In the past, these border forts were not easy to be broken, but in the past two years, there have been reports of border forts being broken by the Tartars from time to time, but such information has been ignored by most people.

In the past, the Tartars had to use raid tactics to attack border forts. When the Ming army was not prepared, they rushed into the military fort at the speed of cavalry. Once the military fort was prepared, they would fall into a stalemate and consume the defenders little by little.

Morale and equipment are behind to find weaknesses to siege the city.

The Tartars passed the Great Wall, but as long as the Ming army fort was still there, it still had the effect of restraining the Tartars, which prevented them from going deeper.

"Shandai means that if Altan's army comes in, I'm afraid another big battle? Then should the Xuanfu request for Jizhen to send troops to support him?"

At this time, Zhang Juzheng, who had not spoken much, suddenly asked.

He understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words. Now the combat effectiveness of Altan's troops has improved. This time, a great war is inevitable.

"It's time for the nine sides to move."

Wei Guangde nodded and said.

Just as the officials in the capital were talking about the Xuanfu military newspaper, a secret meeting in Datong Town was also being held.

This is the official residence of Datong Governor Li Wenjin. There are not many people in the house. In addition to Governor Li Wenjin, there are also Datong General Liu Han and former General Yu Dayou.

At this time, Liu Han shouted to Governor Li Wenjin: "Governor Ge just asked us to mobilize people to support Xuanfu at any time, but Lord Li wanted to bring people out of the side wall. Once Lord Ge issued a formal transfer order, where would I find troops?

Go and rescue Xuanfu.”

Governor Ge, whom Liu Han mentioned, is the current Governor of Xuanda, the chief censor Ge Jin. At this time, someone else was in Xuanfu and sent an urgent report to the capital. He did not forget to issue an order to prepare the Datong Army and support it at any time.

Before Altan's army attacked Xuanfu with all its might, Ge Jin did not dare to call Datong Army to assist in defense. Once Altan Khan discovered that he would turn back in Xuanfu with a fiery shot and attack Datong with empty defense, his legs would always run

But four legs.

However, today Liu Han was called here by Li Wenjin. What was waiting for him was not what he thought he would discuss how to reinforce Xuanfu, but Li Wenjin proposed a very bold idea to him, send troops out of the wall to enter the grassland, and raid Altan Khan.

The old nest is rising.

Bansheng is Fengzhoutan, which was originally the garrison of the Tumot tribe led by Altan Khan of Mongolia, but now it has become a city and a big city outside the border.

Over the past decades, some northern border residents have fled to the Mongolian region because they cannot withstand the exploits of feudal rulers and gradually settled in Fengzhoutan area, forming Bansheng City, where Mongolian and Han dynasties live together.

The Han people who settled in Bansheng include the White Lotus Sect who were counted by the court, the border soldiers who rebel against the court, the prisoners who were sent to guard the border, and more are border farmers who could not afford taxes and service.

In fact, these people came here, but they didn't come here by themselves. Most of them were captured by the Tartars after they left the wall, which gradually led to a large number of Han people settled.

The Han people settled here, built houses and engaged in production, and gradually formed Banshengcheng of a certain scale.

The leaders of the White Lotus Sect, Qiu Fu, Zhao Quan, Li Zixin and others came here. After gaining the trust of Altan Khan, they began to guide Altan's troops to crack the defense methods of the Ming army and join the war to promote the composition and combat methods of the Mongolian army.

Further enrichment.

At the same time, he gave Altan Khan the idea of ​​building a palace in Bansheng City. The palace was "very magnificent" to serve as Altan Khan's use to proclaim himself emperor.

"The wood was collected and built in the city, and the nine-column hall was raised in the square city, and it was built into a house and room. It was a king and a prince, with green and green paintings shining on the dragon court, and the country was named 'Gold'."

These news were all reported from the Altan tribe, so the court was very concerned about Banshengcheng's every move.

Fengzhou, where Bansheng City is located, is surrounded by mountains and rich in water and grass. The Mongolians grazed here, while the Han people opened up thousands of hectares of fertile land. Every summer, the young and old went out outside the Daqingshan Pass to escape the summer heat. Zhao Quan and others stayed behind Bansheng City.

, prepare for a long-term stay with this.

They not only instigated Altan's army to attack the border town of Daming and plundered a large number of border residents to Bansheng City to strengthen their strength, but also actively lobbled against Altan Khan, who had already established himself as the Mongolian Khan, and encouraged him to imitate the Han system and ascend the throne to emperor.

It can be said that Bansheng City is not only Altan Khan's old nest, but also a stronghold chosen by the defected White Lotus Cultists.

Here they kept in contact with the religious people who were still in the Great Wall, not only smuggling iron, grain and other strategic materials, but also leaked the information of the Ming army. The purpose of these was to encourage Altan Khan to raise troops to fight in the Ming Dynasty.

The Bansheng Group of the White Lotus Sect not only supported Altan Khan as emperor, but also suggested that he conquer and rule the frontier of the Great Wall, imitate the story of Shi Jin during the Five Dynasties, and establish a regime that was equally divided with the Ming Dynasty.

In the words of Zhao Quan, Li Zixin and others, that is, "spun off the enemy to capture Datong, Xuanfu, and Jizhou, and divide the world equally with the Southern Dynasty."

They even outlined the prototype of a huge empire, centered on Banshengcheng, starting from outside the Jiliao border in the east, connecting with the three guards of Urianha, the Har tribe, reaching the west to outside the Gansu border in the south, and the Great Wall in the north

The northern desert bordered the Khalkha Mongols and established an independent "Jin" regime with a Han-style ruling system in the vast southern desert area.

The status of Bansheng is very important in the Altan tribe, so after Yu Dayou learned that all the main forces of the Altan tribe had left Xuanfu, he hurriedly discussed countermeasures with Li Wenjin, the governor of Datong. The strategy he said to retreat to the enemy was directly aimed at the board.

The city, planned to play a plan to surround Wei to save Zhao.

He defeated Banshengcheng, wiped out the remnants of the White Lotus Sect, and at the same time forced Altan Khan to return to rescue the situation in order to relieve the dilemma of Xuanfu.

Li Wenjin was also very surprised when he first heard Yu Dayou's plan. This was more than 300 miles away from Datong Town, and he had to cross two rivers, Heihe and Huihe.

However, after Yu Dayou's detailed explanation, Li Wenjin felt that this combat plan seemed to be very reliable, so he hurriedly found Liu Han, the general of Datong, to discuss the matter.

Liu Han was considering who to draw the troops to reinforce Xuanfu at this time. When he heard the summons summoned him, he thought it was about contacting food and grass.

When the army moves defense, food, supplies and supplies are definitely the top priority. Once there is a mistake, it is possible to mutiny and flee on the road if there is no trouble. Therefore, Liu Han rushed to the governor's office as soon as possible.

But what he never expected was that what Li Wenjin summoned him to discuss was not what he thought was food and supplies, but was to lead his troops north to attack Banshengcheng.

Regarding Liu Han's concerns, Yu Dayou immediately replied: "As long as our army attacked Banshengcheng, Altan's army will return to rescue, and the danger of Xuanfu will be resolved.

In fact, what we need to consider is not the safety of Xuanfu, but the encirclement of our army by the Tartars after we succeeded, and find the nearest passage to return to Datong,"

Hearing Yu Dayou's words, Li Wenjin next to him nodded in agreement and said, "It's reasonable. After Altan Khan learned that Bansheng City was broken, he must have guessed that it was my Datong Army who was responsible for it. He is likely to send a rescue board.

Ascend to the city, the other part is inserted into the board and promoted to the Datong period between us, intercepting our army's return."

"Then you still have to do this? It's too dangerous."

Liu Han frowned and said.
To be continued...