Volume 1: The Wind Rises in Tumubao Chapter 26: Burning the Camps
The Ming army did not care how the Oirat people acted. They only followed one principle: advance step by step and advance steadily.
Under the protection of the shield bearers, the catapult moved forward little by little. Everyone gathered under the catapult. If they saw cavalry attacking, they would stop and fight.
Wait for the enemy to withdraw and then continue advancing.
After being repelled several times in a row, Boyan was almost going crazy.
To this end, he has thought of every possible solution.
For example, covering the mouth and nose with cloth, and then covering the mouth and nose of the war horse, and even covering the eyes of the war horse. Although as long as the riding skills are excellent, the war horse can fight with its eyes blindfolded, but you can't blindfold people, right?
The problem now is that lime powder specifically attacks the eyes, unless you cover your eyes and fight in the dark.
"General, retreat!"
Boyan looked at the slowly and sighed in his heart, "What are you doing? Can you fight properly?"
Is it so difficult to come out and fight?
"withdraw!"
After returning to the camp, Boyan first went to Yesen's tent to apologize, but saw Wang Lin was also there.
When Wang Lin saw Boyan, he quickly saluted and said, "I greet the general!"
Boyan was so angry that he ignored him and said to Yesen, "Brother, the Ming army is defending the trebuchets, there is no way to deal with them!"
Yesen sighed, shook his head and said, "I told you long ago not to be reckless and to think of a solution. What effect will it have if you just rush over with your men?"
Although Boyan looked reluctant, he had no choice.
Yesen said again: "Wang Lin, tell Boyan about your idea just now. I think it is feasible."
When Boyan heard this, he was very dissatisfied and asked, "What ideas can he have?"
"Look, I told you you were reckless, here you go again!"
Yesen finished speaking and winked at Wang Lin.
Wang Lin understood and said quickly: "I think the Ming army's catapults are all made of wood cut on the spot. Wood is most afraid of fire. As long as we seize the opportunity, a fire can destroy them all."
Boyan frowned and said, "You sound nice, but we can't even get close to the catapults, so how can we start the fire?"
Wang Lin smiled mysteriously and said, "You don't have to rush in close to light the fire!"
Boyan was very confused and said impatiently, "What's your idea, kid? Tell me now, why are you keeping me in suspense?"
“Don’t worry, General!” Wang Lin said respectfully and carefully, “Just smear kerosene on the arrow head, light it, and throw it far away…”
Snapped!
Boyan slapped Wang Lin on the shoulder and said excitedly: "Okay, this plan works!"
Wang Lin grimaced in pain, but he had to force a smile.
"Brother!" Boyan swept away his frustration and became excited, "Leave this matter to me, burn it tonight, burn it..."
At this point, Boyan was suddenly speechless, and he looked at Wang Lin and asked, "What did you say? What did the fire burn?"
“Huo shao?” Wang Lin’s stomach was growling with hunger, and he said subconsciously, “Huo shao is still the best in Baoding Prefecture…”
Seeing the anger in Boyan's eyes, he suddenly reacted and quickly changed his words: "Burn... the camp. Yes, burn the camp!"
At night, the Ming army was resting when a sharp bamboo whistle suddenly sounded from the outer sentry post.
This is the signal of an enemy attack, everyone take action immediately.
At this time, the main force had already evacuated in batches, and there were only less than 20,000 people left in the position.
"Your Majesty, the Wala are attacking at night!"
Fan Zhong looked anxious, as if facing a powerful enemy, but he saw that Zhu Qizhen looked calm.
"Come if you want, what are you worried about? You can fight the same way you fight during the day!"
"yes!"
Fan Zhong went down to pass on the order, and the camp was brightly lit, with everyone busy in an intense and orderly manner.
"Prepare……"
"put!"
Lime bombs drew arcs under the moonlight and hit the attacking Wala cavalry.
Boyan watched from afar with a smile on his face.
Maybe it was because he was missing an eye, or because the firelight was too dim, but in any case, his smiling expression was a little... ferocious.
"Pass the order, the feint attack troops retreat, everyone, follow me forward!"
In tonight's attack, Bayan finally stopped being reckless, and instead divided his troops into two groups. First, the feint attack troops lit torches and attacked from the west.
The main force took this opportunity to sneak to the south, waiting for the Ming army to attack in the west, and then secretly look for an opportunity to launch a fatal blow.
Because it was night, the Ming army did not notice that they were actually facing only a few dozen enemy troops. These people lit torches and kept their distance as much as possible, making it impossible to distinguish their numbers in the darkness.
Bayan personally led the main force forward and suddenly started a fire before being exposed.
This position is about two hundred steps away from the Ming army camp, which is beyond the range of ordinary bows and arrows. However, as long as the shooting angle is raised and the speed of the war horses is taken advantage of, it can still be done.
Sure enough, the Ming army discovered that another troop was rushing over from the south, so they hurriedly changed the direction of the catapults and rearranged their defense line.
Immediately afterwards, rockets were seen streaking across the darkness of the night sky and flying towards the catapults on the position.
"Pay attention to defense!"
The soldiers in the front row tried hard to raise their shields, but this time the arrows from the Oirat were all projectiles at very high angles, and the defenses on the ground could not stop them at all.
"Don't panic, keep reloading and attack!"
Under Chen Ying's command, the catapults continued to throw lime bombs. At the same time, the Oirat people's rockets fell like raindrops. There was a lot of wood in the Ming army camp, and the front ends of these arrows were smeared with pine oil, which made them very easy to ignite.
Seeing the lime bombs falling, Bayan adjusted the formation again, ordered everyone to disperse, and continued to fire rockets at the Ming army positions.
These people did not attack, but kept moving around one hundred to two hundred steps in front of the Ming army's formation until they had shot all the arrows on their bodies, and then they withdrew.
The battle ended early, but the fire lasted until dawn. Zhu Qizhen originally thought it was just an ordinary night attack, but he didn't expect that the enemy had actually studied military tactics and set fire to his entire camp.
That night, the Ming army suffered heavy losses, most of the tents were burned down, and more than 30 catapults were destroyed.
"Your Majesty, let's retreat!"
The generals gathered together and suggested that Zhu Qizhen evacuate.
By now, the Oirat people have found a way to break the deadlock. If they stay any longer, the dilemma of Tumubao will reappear.
Zhu Qizhen didn't think so. When he was putting out the fire just now, his eyebrows were almost burned off, and he left in disgrace. How could he swallow this?
I am the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, don’t I have any face?
"Chen Ying!"
Chen Ying hurried forward: "I'm here!"
"How many trebuchets are still usable?"
"Your Majesty, there are still sixty-five."
Zhu Qizhen nodded and named, "Chen Huai!"
"I am here!"
"How much lime powder is there?"
"About two thousand pounds, enough to make one hundred lime bombs!"
Zhu Qizhen thought for a moment, then said: "Tear down all the tents and turn them into lime bombs!"
"Yes!" Chen Huai agreed, and then asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to continue burning it?"
"No more burning!" Zhu Qizhen smiled mysteriously and said, "There is an important task that only the Qing family can do!"
