No matter what, the news that the emperor decided to lead the army in person still had a certain hegemonic effect.
The troops from various places who had been reluctant to approach quickly gathered in Sanhe County from all directions.
After rushing and hurrying, they finally arrived in Sanhe County on the date designated by the emperor.
However, when the generals settled their troops and went to the Beijing Camp on the banks of the Chaobai River to pay a visit to the admiral, they heard a piece of news that left them stunned.
"What? The expedition was cancelled?!" The three of them held their chins and asked, "Can such a thing be ignored?"
"What are you yelling about? You all know that the emperor has not been in good health these years. A while ago, he was so angry that he suffered from dizziness again. He can only stay in bed and rest." Yin Bingheng glared at him and coughed.
"Your Majesty insists on leading the army in person. But the troops coming here are only a small force of less than 10,000 people, not the main force of the rebels. Why should Your Majesty force yourself to fight? To protect your health, I will ask the Emperor to postpone the expedition in person."
"Is that so..." The generals nodded doubtfully, vaguely realizing that the admiral was shouldering a huge blame.
"Then should the date of the war be postponed as well?" Wang Huaxi asked in a deep voice.
"The date of war remains unchanged, it will be the day after tomorrow." Yin Bingheng said lightly.
"General, please think twice..." Zhang Chen, who was lying on a stretcher, coughed twice and said, "The enemy is much stronger than we imagined, just like an adult bullying a child..."
"Yes." The other two also nodded vigorously in agreement. "The gap is so big that it cannot be measured in miles..."
"The general knows me. I was born as a soldier and fought my way through with swords and guns. When have I ever been afraid of death?" Zhang Chen couldn't help crying when he talked about his sad moments.
"But the problem is, facing such an enemy, we don't even have the chance to cut or fire a shot! This way of dying is too cowardly, I, Zhang, really can't stand it..."
Wang Huaxi and Du Tong also had red eyes. The former sighed, "He really lost his temper."
"General, we have nearly 200,000 troops gathered in Sanhe County." Du Tong also said unhappily, "But the enemy is still laying the tracks step by step, and is coming towards us. What does this mean? They don't take us seriously at all!"
"Be quiet for now and listen carefully. What's going on outside?" Yin Bingheng raised his hand and said expressionlessly, "Did you hear that? It's the sound of water! The Chaobai River has already frozen over!"
"..." The three of them shuddered together, obviously thinking of something terrible.
The Chaobai River has already frozen over, so the sea is probably open to navigation. The main force of the Jiangnan Group may have already landed in Caofeidian!
"So there is no time, everyone." Yin Bingheng stroked his gray beard and said slowly: "The reason is very simple. If we try our best and still cannot defeat a small part of the enemy's army, then there is no need to let our subordinates die in front of the enemy's main force."
The three of them understood immediately. After all, the enemy only had 10,000 people, and there was no way they could be wiped out.
If we face the main force, no one will be able to escape...
"So we must fight this army before the enemy's main force arrives, and see if we can figure out a suitable tactic." Yin Bingheng said in a deep voice: "There are fifty great ways, forty-nine of which are derived from heaven, and one of which is hidden by man! There is no enemy in this world that cannot be defeated. As long as we find the one that has hidden, we will have the secret to victory!"
The three of them thought that the old man must have been playing the Book of Changes at home every day since he retired...
But Yin Bingheng was a famous general who was both civil and military, and he immediately followed up with some practical advice.
"After all, we have an absolute advantage in numbers now, and we are fighting on a plain, which can offset their firearms advantage to the greatest extent. This is most suitable for the cavalry of the Divine Camp and the Five Army Camp."
"Yes." The three nodded. Fighting on the Sanhe Plain was indeed much more comfortable than their attack on Tangshan City.
At least the enemy only brought two hundred cannons. On the flat battlefield, it was impossible for them to rely on artillery and sniper fire to repel enemies from all directions as they did in Tangshan.
Therefore, the cavalry of the Shenshu Camp and the Five Army Camp can use their mobility advantage to break into the weak links in their defense line!
No wonder the admiral didn't give up...
Finally, Yin Bingheng looked at the three of them and said, "You have all worked hard before. In this battle, you can just raid the three camps!"
There was no other way. Because the enemy kept their formation dense, and they didn't distinguish between the vanguard camp, the left sentry camp, and the right sentry camp. No matter how many routes you come from, I will only go one route.
This would certainly make it easy to be surrounded, but the battlefield would be reduced to just one place, greatly limiting the amount of troops the government troops could deploy.
No matter how many people there are, they can only watch, which will only lead to chaos.
Of course the three of them were more than happy to do so, so they agreed after some false politeness.
~~
On March 12, the 19th year of the Wanli reign, Zheng Yiluan led his Tangshan garrison troops and finally advanced to the Dachang area of Sanhe County.
Dachang was the royal horse farm of the Yuan Dynasty, commonly known as "Dachang", which gradually evolved into "Dachang" by homophony. Although horses are no longer raised here, the flat terrain will not change.
Just five miles away from Chaobai River, the two armies finally met.
Opposite the 10,000 Tangshan garrison troops was the strategic force directly under the Ming Emperor, a full 100,000 elite soldiers from the three battalions!
Except for the 20,000 officers and soldiers of the Shenshu Camp who stayed in the capital to guard the house, the three major camps have already gone out in full force.
In addition, there are nearly 100,000 government troops eyeing the situation covetously on the other side of the Chaobai River in the south and in the Sanhe County area in the north.
This focal battle with a huge disparity in military strength is bound to attract countless people's attention!
In addition to the emperor in Beijing, Zhao Hao in Pudong and other commanders of both sides, the generals who guarded one side were also paying close attention to the outcome of this battle.
Under the plaque of the No. 1 Pass in the World, Yang Siwei leaned on the arrow stack and looked west, as if he wanted to witness the grand spectacle of this life-and-death battle with his own eyes.
Unfortunately, it was six hundred miles from the capital, and even if he raised the hot air balloon left to him by Qi Jiguang, he would only be able to see loneliness.
But he did not dare to leave Shanhaiguan at all, because the task given to him by Zhao Hao was to stay here to prevent Qi Jiguang from leading his troops south.
This was no longer a combat issue. The Qi Family Army was born out of the Qi Family Army. Zhao Hao could not imagine how chaotic the morale of his officers and soldiers would be when they faced Qi Jiguang.
So he had to transfer Qi Jiguang outside the Great Wall first, and then let Yang Siwei guard the door and keep him out.
Although Zhao Hao believed that Qi Jiguang would not wade into this muddy water again. Moreover, in such a short time, he, a dragon crossing the river, should not be able to deal with those Liaodong generals who were too powerful to be removed.
But that was Qi Jiguang, the "light of miracles" after all! Who knew he would unexpectedly return with his army?
In times of great change, people's hearts are unpredictable, and inconstancy is the most common phenomenon...
Even Yang Siwei was not really determined to work with Zhao Hao.
When the world is in chaos, any soldier is a king. To be honest, it is impossible for the generals not to have their own troops, or at least to wait for a good price.
But before he could open his mouth, the Battle of Tangshan left Yang Siwei stunned and disheartened.
He had already thought about it. If the government army was still defeated in the Battle of Sanhe, he would completely adjust his mentality, obey orders and follow instructions. Zhao Hao would chase away dogs instead of chickens. After the world is pacified, he would be able to make a fortune with his achievements today.
Otherwise, we need to have a good talk about the future status... For example, can we obey orders but not announcements?
~~
Xuanfu Town, thousands of miles away from Shanhaiguan.
Li Rusong, the general commander of Xuanfu, was receiving Ma Gui, the general commander of Ningxia who had come from afar.
Ma Gui was ordered by Wei Xuezeng, the governor-general of the three borders, to lead 50,000 border troops from the four towns of Shanxi to enter the capital to defend the king!
When an old friend of many years passed by his territory, Li Rusong of course had to do his best to be a good host.
Ma Gui gladly accepted the invitation to visit the general's residence. At this critical moment, he also wanted to find out Li Rusong's bottom line.
They were all straightforward warriors, and they didn't play tricks. After three rounds of drinks, Ma Gui asked in a deep voice, "Zimao, didn't you receive the imperial edict to go to the capital to defend the king?"
"Got it." Li Rusong said frankly, "But I have the governor and the governor-general above me, so it's not my turn to make the decision on this matter."
Of course, Ma Gui also had a governor-general above him, but the governor-general of the three frontiers, Wei Xuezeng, was Zhang Juzheng's mortal enemy. He was reinstated by Zhu Yijun in the 15th year of Wanli, so of course he had to serve the emperor.
The governor of Xuanda, Wang Daokun, was from Shexian County... and was restored by Zhao Hao. Different positions led to different choices.
"What are you thinking? Don't you want to avenge your father's death?" Ma Gui said in a muffled voice. He knew that Li Rusong, a bastard with an imperial edict in his hand, would not take the governor seriously.
So the fact that he is not taking action is probably because he himself does not want to move, so he just goes with the flow...
"My father is fine, why should I seek revenge?" Li Rusong skillfully played with the sterling silver lighter and lit a thick cigar.
Looking at his behavior, Ma Gui suddenly felt enlightened.
"You wouldn't..."
"What do you mean?" Li Rusong asked with a smile.
"Would you like to smoke Victory cigars too?" Ma Gui took out a cigar from his sleeve, and it was of the same brand.
The two men immediately showed expressions as if they had seen comrades.
"I didn't expect that you, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, would also... smoke a cigar?" Li Rusong lit one for Ma Gui with a smile.
Ma Gui took a deep breath and said with an intoxicated look on his face: "This is an irresistible temptation."
"Yes, it's very addictive." Li Rusong nodded with a smile.
"How long have you been smoking?" Ma Gui asked.
"I have never stopped practicing since I learned from my master." Li Rusong said. His master was Xu Wei...
"And you?"
"As for me, I haven't been in contact with them for as long as you have." Ma Gui said, "Do you remember the battle of Baimiao Township?"
"Well, the twelfth year of Wanli." Li Rusong nodded.
In the 12th year of Wanli, Harlin, the commander of Pingliang Guard, ordered his troops to disguise themselves as bandits and massacre the Jiangnan Group Immigration Office. This was the "Pingliang Massacre" that shocked the world.
After the tragedy, Ma Gui was demoted from the position of Governor of Sanbian to the lowest position, and was urgently transferred to the position of General of Guyuan.
"It's true that I led the army to surround Baimiao Township, but I didn't take any action. I just built a fence outside." Ma Gui smiled bitterly and said, "I was accused of being an executioner for no reason."
"The one who took action is..." Li Rusong asked softly.
"Yes, it was them." Ma Gui nodded and said, "After seeing with my own eyes how they razed the well-fortified Baimiao Township to the ground, I decided that I would make friends with them."
"Hahaha." The two of them laughed at each other.
After laughing, Ma Gui whispered, "Tell me, what are you going to do? I will stand by you through thick and thin..."
"Just smoke cigars here for two days and see the results," Li Rusong said calmly.
"Okay, I'll listen to you." Ma Gui nodded heavily.
This idiot doesn't know that Li Rusong's father is already the chairman of the Northwest Company...