Anhua City in the Ming Dynasty is now Qingyang County, Gansu Province. In the Ming Dynasty, it belonged to Qingyang Prefecture. To get here, Li Dong had to cross the entire Shaanxi. Fortunately, the terrain of Shaanxi is long and narrow from north to south, and it does not take too long to cross from east to west. Li Dong's army crossed Shaanxi along Yichuan and Fuxian in only five days. This was the result of Li Dong's requirement that the troops only march thirty miles per day.
Before entering Anyang Mansion, every place where they camped was supported by Jin Yiwei. The fuel the army needed in the winter, the fodder needed by the horses, and some military ration supplies had long been stored. Everywhere they arrived, barracks were prepared. , after boiling hot water, the Guardsmen could eat hot meals directly, and there would be hot water for bathing every few days. Therefore, although they were marching in winter, the Guardsmen did not feel hard, but felt very relaxed. easy.
Because Li Dong did not deliberately conceal the purpose of this trip from his subordinates, most of the Guards already knew that this time they were going to Anhua City to quell the rebellion. Although there was going to be a war soon, the Guards From top to bottom, there was no tension as before the war. Neither the veterans nor the recruits took King Anhua seriously. Needless to say, the veterans, after several battles, achieved zero casualties and complete victory. Recording, I couldn't help but regard fighting as a pure warm-up activity for killing enemies, and there was no possibility of nervousness and fear.
And the new recruits in the Guards are not young ones who have seen blood. Before the Guards, the regiments and camps were the most elite troops in the Ming Dynasty. They were all carefully selected from various guards. They were the most elite troops in the Ming Dynasty. The important armed force used to defend the capital has now been rigorously screened by the Guards. The new recruits are no worse than the veterans in all skills, but they are just a little less tempered by the war.
Various intelligence shows that Anhua City is only a county. How many soldiers can there be in such a small place even if it is full? With more and less fighting, and with the terrifying combat effectiveness of the Guards, countering the rebellion is not an easy and pleasant task. When the time comes, you will receive military honors and rewards. It will be really relaxing and satisfying.
There was a feeling of pride and underestimation of the enemy throughout the Guards. To be honest, Li Dong was not unaware of the existence of this emotion, but he did not blame his subordinates for two reasons. First, he needed his soldiers to be strong and strong. Showing pride and contempt for all enemies.
The second point, let alone others, even he himself couldn't figure out what kind of tricks King Anhua could play. If he hadn't been so depressed in the capital, he would have been too lazy to lead his troops. To counter the rebellion, he was fully confident that he could raze the entire Anhua City to the ground with just one legion of the Guards. What's more, for the sake of safety, he also brought five thousand cavalry to help. Even the Monkey King cannot escape from the clutches of Tathagata Buddha.
Everything was progressing as scheduled and as Li Dong had expected, until. . .
Su He is the third son of the leader of the Otok tribe. This time he led the troops into the pass to help King Anhua Jingnan. The Otok tribe is less than a hundred miles away from the Ming border. They dare to The tribe's tent was placed so close to the border, which showed that they were brave and self-reliant. In several battles with the Ming army, the Ming army was defeated and returned. From then on, the Shaanxi border army did not dare to provoke the Otok tribe. Tiger power.
Naturally, the Otok tribe would not have any good intentions to help King Anhua Jingnan, nor could they believe King Anhua's empty promise. They did this because of the unusually cold winter last year. , their tribe suffered heavy losses. A large number of newborn children did not survive the severe cold, and the cattle and sheep in the tribe were also frozen to death in batches. Just when they were helpless, King Anhua actually sent someone to negotiate. He promised that if E The Tok tribe sent people to help them and immediately sent a batch of food and grass to help them tide over the difficulties. Therefore, although the Otok tribe was very embarrassed now, they still gritted their teeth and sent two thousand of the best warriors from the tribe to enter the pass. In this way As a result, not only could the tribe receive relief, but the rations for the warriors who entered the customs were not borne by the tribe, and were all the responsibility of King Anhua.
The Otok Ministry actually had another purpose in doing this, which was to draw a map of the Shaanxi interior. Although the warriors of the Otok tribe are extremely ferocious, they are helpless in the face of the forest-like castles at the border. They have never gone deep into the interior of Shaanxi to plunder, so they want to find a feasible passage through this time to enter the border, and then escape. They crossed the border castle in Shaanxi and entered the interior to plunder to make up for their losses during the winter.
In view of this purpose, Su He went straight south to Anyang Prefecture after entering the customs. Instead, he went southeast through Yan'an Prefecture and Ganquan, then walked in Fu County in a big circle, and recently entered Anyang Prefecture, so He ran into Li Dong's army.
The marching deployment of the Guards can be described as quite satisfactory. The left and right battalions of the Bald Army are at the front, serving as sentinels and early warnings. The First Infantry Brigade follows closely behind, followed by the Second Infantry Brigade. In between the two Infantry Brigades are the baggage trains. Battalion, artillery battalion and some othersThe officers were placed in the middle for protection. The cavalry was divided into two to protect both sides of the army.
The various ministries are about three miles apart, and Li Dong is in the middle of the arrangement. The army is basically huddled together and can take care of each other. This arrangement is foolproof, not to mention that they are walking in a plain area with an extremely wide field of vision. In addition, Li Dong's With his abnormal eyesight, Li Dong believed that if there were enemies around, he would be able to detect their whereabouts before they saw him.
The Guards did not put sentinels behind because there was really no need. They had not entered Anyang Mansion yet and were still in Shaanxi. Naturally, there would be no enemies to attack them from behind. Moreover, the Guards have reason to believe that the enemy does not know their existence, but sometimes it is difficult to tell what happens on the battlefield.
In the afternoon, the wind suddenly started blowing on the plain, and it got stronger and stronger. The sky above his head was gradually covered by clouds. Li Dong looked up at the sky, feeling a little uneasy in his heart. He didn't know why he suddenly thought of Wayao. That night in Koubao, the weather suddenly turned bad without any warning.
Sure enough, after walking another four or five miles, some snowflakes gradually fell from the sky, dancing with the strong wind on the plain.
The guide accompanying the army suddenly changed his face at this time. These people who have lived in this area all year round are of course very clear about the weather here. Such erratic winds are blowing, and snow is falling in the sky, although it has not arrived yet. It was night, but the horror was already evident.
He hurriedly found Li Dong, "General, we can't leave now, we have to set up camp as soon as possible!"
"What's wrong?"
"We will get lost, we will get lost" He looked at the heavy snow falling from the sky in horror.
Li Dong was a little surprised to see fear on his face.
"This is snow falling from the sky. If you don't have a suitable place to hide and just walk around, you will get lost in the snow and freeze to death." The guide's voice was trembling.
At this moment, Li Dong understood something. In his previous life in the Northeast, he often heard people outside the customs talk about the horror of the white snow. At that time, the temperature dropped to the lowest. The most terrifying thing was in the dark night, the strong wind and the Xiaoxue made it impossible to tell the way. I heard that someone walked around in circles all night. When someone found his body, there was a three-meter-square circle next to the person, which was full of his footprints.
Before Li Dong could think about it, the wind and snow began to fall all over the sky. Even though there was still a little light, the road ahead had turned into a vast expanse of white. The temperature began to drop sharply. Although the north wind was blowing at this time, It was as violent as before, cutting the skin, but there was a strong chill in it, getting through the gaps in the clothes and penetrating into the depths of the body. This was only during the day, it was hard to imagine what it would be like at night. situation.
"The transport camp will set up camp here! Order all the ministries to move closer here quickly." Li Dong gave the order loudly.
"Yes, Commander!" the ordering soldier responded loudly
Immediately afterwards, the shrill sound of the copper horn was heard echoing on the plain.
Then I heard the sound of a brass horn not far away.
At this time, the weather began to darken, and Li Dong's uneasiness began to worsen. The second infantry brigade behind him did not blow the horn in response. He turned around and looked behind him. The heavy snow in the sky obscured his sight, and the infantry could no longer be seen. The second brigade, a smell of danger got into his nose.
"I'll pick up the Second Infantry Brigade. When Wang Ping arrives, let him arrange the defense of the camp!"
"Yes, Marshal!"
Li Dong and his horse reins rushed into the wind and snow, and Li Dong's personal guards hurriedly followed.
Li Dong knelt on the horse's belly and accelerated the horse's speed. However, after running for a while, Li Dong realized something was wrong. The second infantry brigade was less than three miles away from him just now. He turned around and ran for a while, but he hadn't met the second infantry brigade yet. The direction of the brigade is correct, which means that the second infantry brigade did not move where it was and did not come in this direction at all.
Li Dong slowly pulled the reins of the horse, opened his eyes and looked hard, there was no sound at all, something was wrong, something must have happened.
Li Xiang followed him with his personal guards, "Commander, what's wrong?"
¡°There¡¯s no movement at all from Dewey¡¯s side.¡± Li Dong frowned and used his strength to the fullest. He was stunned when he saw a figure shaking about 500 meters away.
"Commander, let me know if you want to blow the trumpet."
Li Dong shook his head, "Dewey didn't blow the trumpet just now. He must have noticed something and didn't want to be exposed, so he didn't blow the trumpet! They seem to be over there, go and have a look."
Before Li Dong could get closer, he heard a crashing sound. Li Dong knew that it was the sound of a firecracker being raised. Someone asked softly, "When will the bright moon come out?"??
"Look up and take a look," Li Dong replied softly. This was the command of the Guards today. Hearing that Li Dong answered the command correctly, the firecrackers were put down, and a man pushed through the crowd to greet him. Li Dong saw that it was Dewey.
"Commander, why are you here?"
Li Dong did not answer him but asked instead, "What's going on? Why did you stop here?" As he spoke, Li Dong looked around. His expression changed. The guards he could see looked solemn. They had already A battle order was formed.
"Commander, Lu Biao discovered this first," Dewey said, pulling someone out from beside him and introducing him, "He was originally from the Imperial Horse Guards, and later he joined our Guards. Before that, he was captured by the Mongols." Crossing the grassland. Lu Biao, you can tell the rest yourself."
As soon as Lu Biao saw Li Dong, he immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, General Lu Biao, long live your Majesty!"
"Just give a military salute in the military camp. Tell me what happened!" Li Dong said while helping Lu Biao up.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. The general was captured by the Mongols in the grasslands before. At that time, the general wanted to escape back to the Central Plains. In order to avoid the Mongolian pursuit, the general secretly learned a skill. The general could lie on the ground. I heard the sound of horse hooves more than ten miles away." Lu Biao paused and said, "There is a large group of cavalry behind us!"
"There are quite a few of our cavalry around here, you heard that right, right?"
Lu Biao shook his head, "Replying to the emperor, that sound came from behind us. I have heard the movements of our cavalry. It is different."
Li Dong lay on the ground and listened for a while, "Why can't I hear anything?"
"I lay on the ground and heard the sound of their horses' hooves, but when they arrived about seven or eight miles away from us, they slowed down. They seemed to have discovered us."
At this time, Li Xiang interrupted and said, "Commander, can he be an officer or soldier from any of the surrounding guards?"
Li Dong thought for a while and shook his head.
"We are flying the banner of the Ming Dynasty. If we are our own people, why are we approaching so cautiously? How many people do Lu Biao and the others have?"
"Go back to the emperor, at least a thousand cavalry!"
Li Dong's expression changed, the corners of his eyes twitched, and his breathing became rapid.
Li Xiang's expression changed drastically after hearing Lu Biao's words. The same number of infantry faced the cavalry. If the infantry did not have the advantage of the terrain, it would be a lamb to be slaughtered. What's more, in such weather, the vision is blurred, which is more conducive to the cavalry's mobile attack. The infantry of the army simply cannot take advantage of their firepower.
"Commander, blow the trumpet to the camp quickly and let them come for reinforcements."
Li Dong squinted his eyes and looked into the distance, feeling secretly bitter in his heart, "This battle is not going to be easy"