After noon, the scorching sun burned everything. A gust of wind blew, and the heat wave swept, making people feel uncomfortable even breathing. There are many Ming soldiers who were waiting for heatstroke outside the city and were carried away due to heatstroke. Novels.

Until the sun sets westward, as clouds float, the sky and the earth slowly become dimmed, the heat is slightly reduced, and later it is covered with dark clouds and it is slowly starting to rain.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier. The Ming officers and soldiers who had nowhere to hide in the wilderness became dripping in the heavy rain. At first, they felt comfortable all over, but after a long time, they felt cold.

Zhu Houzhao, on the second floor of the city gate building, had already slept on the back of the chair. When he woke up, the heavy rain outside showed no signs of stopping.

"Your Majesty, why don't you go back and rest earlier?" Zhang Yuan went over and persuaded carefully.

Zhu Houzhao yawned and glanced around, and found that there were not many familiar faces around her. Wang Shouren and others were still waiting by the emperor to wait for orders, but as time went by, Zhu Houzhao snored and showed no signs of awakening in a short period of time, so they all couldn't help but go downstairs.

"What's going on outside? It's raining! By the way, have you won the battle on the front line?"

Zhang Yuan replied: "No news has come yet... the infantry lined up outside the city are waiting. There is no sign of the heavy rain stopping. Should we transfer people back first?"

Zhu Houzhao seemed very stubborn: "How can we easily transfer infantry back? They also have to cover the cavalry's actions, and retreat first is what's wrong... My arrangements cannot be changed by slaves like you. Let the Wang Qing family, Hu Qing family and others come up, and I have something to ask them."

Zhang Yuan was despised by Zhu Houzhao and felt very uncomfortable, but he still respectfully accepted the order. Just when he was about to retreat to find Wang Shouren and Hu Lian, suddenly there was a mess outside the city. Zhang Yuan went to the terrace and looked in the distance. Because the rain was too heavy and the visibility was not high, he had no idea what was going on.

"What's going on?"

Zhu Houzhao also heard the sound from outside, dressed up, then came to Zhang Yuan with a telescope and looked into the distance.

The rain and fog are hazy, and even if you use a telescope to see the situation outside the city, you are still confused.

Just as Zhu Houzhao scratched his head, Hu Lian and Wang Shouren hurried into the city tower, "thump" to the second floor, and went straight to Zhu Houzhao.

After Wang Shouren saluted, he said, "Your Majesty, war reports have been heard from the front line. Our cavalry and Tatar cavalry started a war forty miles north of the city. The Tatars first sent troops from the camp to fight, and then Tatar reinforcements continued to come around. Our cavalry and the Tatars fought fiercely, and the battle situation is currently in a stalemate."

"Take it seriously?" Zhu Houzhao was not worried at all after hearing this. Instead, her eyes widened, as if the battle report in front of her was exactly the situation he had been looking forward to.

Zhang Yuan asked nervously: "What is the result of the battle now?"

For Zhang Yuan, how to fight doesn’t matter, he only cares about the final result.

Zhu Houzhao stretched out his hand, pulled Zhang Yuan behind him, and said, "Since the battle is still in a stalemate, what are you waiting for? Get the infantry up quickly, this battle cannot be missed!"

Wang Shouren said: "Your Majesty, our army has only five thousand cavalry attacked. If the Tatars try their best to fight our army, the situation will be unfavorable to our army. The infantry outside the city has been lined up outside the city for a long time, and their spirit and energy have dropped significantly. Now it is raining heavily. If the infantry marches for more than 30 miles to participate in the battle, it may be difficult to exert their combat power. If our cavalry retreats, the Tatars take the opportunity to cover up and kill them, and they are caught off guard, and they don't know how many infantry will die!"

Zhu Houzhao frowned: "What do you mean? I won't care?"

Hu Lian said: "At present, our cavalry and infantry are seriously out of touch. It will take at least an hour for the infantry to arrive at the battlefield. By then, the situation ahead has been determined... According to previous information, the number of cavalry sent by the Tatars to fight is roughly the same as our army. In addition, the number of Tatar soldiers gradually retreating from various parts of the border will be more than twice that of our army in the short term."

Zhu Houzhao was furious: "What? The number of Tartars is twice as high as ours? Isn't it said that the number of troops in the court is not inferior? How could this happen?"

Wang Shouren reminded: "Your Majesty, the number of soldiers includes infantry and cavalry. This time, there were only 5,000 cavalry pursuing the Tatars."

After Wang Shouren reminded, Zhu Houzhao suddenly remembered that the number of troops sent this time was not large, and the planned 50,000 were mainly infantry, with mobility far less than that of cavalry. The Tatars retreated, and infantry could not go deeper, so they could only send cavalry to pursue. As a result, they were disconnected from each other and could not form a response, which finally led to the current unfavorable situation.

Of course, Zhu Houzhao would not admit that everything in front of him was caused by his incompetent dispatch. He immediately said: "Since the infantry cannot play a role and the rain outside is so heavy, so just withdraw to the city, and at the same time avoid blocking the cavalry's retreat path!"

Zhang Yuan asked in surprise: "Your Majesty, the Ming cavalry has not yet decided on the victory or defeat with the Tartars. What should I do when I transfer the infantry back? Leaving the troops outside can at least strengthen the momentum and make the Tartars dare not approach easily!"

In Zhang Yuan's view, the Tatars were only about 10,000, and the Ming army was several times higher than the enemy. Even if the cavalry suffered a loss in confrontation, as long as they merged with the infantry and formed an army to fight the enemy, the Ming army could still gain the upper hand.

So he wanted to keep the infantry outside the city, so that even if the cavalry was defeated, he could eventually "turn defeat into victory."

Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense. Now the people who are leading soldiers outside the city are not Mr. Shen. Can they fight the attack of the Tatar cavalry head-on? Hu Qing's family has said that there are constant Tartar reinforcements, and our cavalry will gradually be in a disadvantageous position. Due to the delay in sending the message, it may not be that the battle ahead is defeated at this moment. The imperial army is gathering, but this time it is just a tentative attack. Why bother to pay off the old man?"

Zhang Yuan was very anxious and thought to himself: "What's wrong with Your Majesty? He didn't mean that before. Why did he retreat first now?"

Hu Lian received the order: "I will arrange the withdrawal of troops now!"

Zhu Houzhao focused on the key points, and Hu Lian immediately went down the city tower, which made the inside and outside the city lively again.

After the city gate was opened again, the infantry arranged in groups retreated. At the same time, more news came from the front line, and each message was not good for the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Houzhao had a headache after hearing this and asked, "What's going on? Why are the Tartars' reinforcements constantly? The Ming cavalry fought against the Tartars and collapsed in the entire line in less than a quarter of an hour. This is too inadvertent!"

Zhang Yuan told the news he heard: "Your Majesty, I heard from the scouts that the Tatars were the three princes of their Khan tribe. This man was brave and good at fighting. Our troops could fight with the Tatars at the beginning, but he suddenly led the troops and divided our cavalry into two sections from the middle position. It was difficult to echo each other, and soon the entire line collapsed... At this time, the defeated soldiers were retreating to Zhangjiakou Fort."

Zhu Houzhao asked nervously: "Have all the infantry outside the city returned to the city?"

Wang Shouren replied: "Retreat in an orderly manner!"

"Retreat quickly!"

Zhu Houzhao urged, "Since the front line has suffered a defeat, it is the right thing to consolidate the city defense. You must not let Zhangjiakou Fort have any crisis... I am still here!"

Suddenly, Zhu Houzhao became nervous. When he knew what the Khan prince was leading the other party, and the Tatars were coming in a fierce manner, the people outside the city had not withdrawn to the city, and there were not many soldiers in the city, Zhu Houzhao was of course afraid that the city would be in trouble. He, the emperor, was captured by the Tatars and followed the footsteps of his ancestors.

Just when Zhu Houzhao was panicked and at a loss, Wang Shouren was calm and orderly. No matter who came to ask for the order, Wang Shouren could make appropriate arrangements and there was no need to ask the emperor for instructions.

Zhu Houzhao seemed to have insufficient confidence in his command ability at this moment, and delegated power to let Wang Shouren dispatch the three armies.

"Your Majesty, there are cavalry coming here in the distance."

Xiao Guozi took Zhu Houzhao's telescope and looked at the distance from the edge of the terrace. After detecting the abnormality, he hurriedly shouted inward.

Zhu Houzhao rushed over quickly, grabbed the telescope into his hand, looked into the distance for a while, and took a deep breath: "The cavalry has really retreated, and it seems that he has been defeated... hurry up and let the infantry in the city gate enter the city, then move out of the position and let the cavalry return to the city first!"

Wang Shouren said: "Your Majesty, don't worry. There are Folang cannons on the top of the city, and the Tatars dare not approach the city casually."

Zhang Yuan complained: "Mr. Wang, you are really good at saying sarcastic words. Can firearms be used casually on rainy days? Even if the leads are lit, they will be destroyed by water, right?"

“Yes, yes!”

Zhu Houzhao was reminded by Zhang Yuan and suddenly remembered something, "The cavalry who came back early, if they could enter the city, if they could, don't worry about those who escaped from behind. Be sure to guard the city gates. Zhangjiakou Fort cannot be missed!"

At such a dangerous moment, Zhu Houzhao no longer cared about the life and death of the cavalry and cared more about his own safety. He was afraid that the Tatars would kill the city to make him prisoners or be unjust dead, so he would rather sacrifice those cavalry who were futile after attacking.

Wang Shouren said: "Your Majesty, no. Judging from the current retreat, the cavalry formation is not scattered. It is obvious that they retreated to the middle and re-arranged the formation. They still have the power to fight! The soldiers and horses have a chance to retreat all of them back into the city to avoid greater losses."

Zhang Yuan scolded: "Mr. Wang, is the lives of those soldiers important, or is the safety of His Majesty important?"

At this critical moment, Zhang Yuan was afraid of death. He had ambitions to win the battle before, but suddenly the Tatars came, and Zhu Houzhao and Zhang Yuan took their own interests as the first consideration and could no longer share the shares.

Fortunately, Zhu Houzhao was somewhat rational at this time. She walked to the terrace and took a telescope to look into the distance again: "Yes, the cavalry retreated is quite neat. Let the infantry enter the city quickly. There is a moat outside the city. If it really doesn't work, just use the cannons to bomb his mother... Wang Qing's house, can the cannons be used when it rains?"

Wang Shouren seemed very sure: "Yes! Most artillery cannons are placed in corner towers, not afraid of wind and rain!"

Zhu Houzhao breathed a sigh of relief, with a long-lost smile on her face and said, "That's good, this is good, can you be afraid of a bird if you can use cannons? Let's put the cannons up, and when they see the Tartars rushing over, they will fire... I want to see if they dare to attack the city!"

As the soldiers inside the urn city were crowded into a group, they finally stepped on the situation. The subsequent cavalry arrived at the city and rushed to the urn city to escape. Everyone knew that only by returning to the city could they save their lives. Once the city gate was closed, they would stay and fight the Tartars to the death.

The subsequent number of people and horses was large, most of them were frightened birds. They saw that they had lost their heroic figure when they went out of the war. The subsequent pursuit of Tatars finally came.

"Your Majesty, the Tartars are here, the Tartars are here!" Zhang Yuan was very nervous and jumped up at the Tatar cavalry four or five miles away.

Zhu Houzhao said nervously: "Wang Qing's family, let the artillery be prepared. If the Tartars dare to approach, they will fire the artillery! If it really doesn't work, close the city gate first!"

At the last moment, Zhu Houzhao hesitated again. He was unable to determine whether the Tatars would follow the Ming army to rush into the city and launch an attack. Therefore, he issued a decree to Wang Shouren to consider. If the city defense was not guaranteed, the city gate would be closed and the officers and soldiers who had not yet entered the city were sacrificed.

Wang Shouren seemed very confident: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. The Tatars would never dare to approach the city. I will go to the artillery position to prepare!"

Zhu Houzhao didn't want Wang Shouren to leave, but he had no better choice at the moment. After all, Hu Lian had already gone to the city to coordinate his troops into the city.

"Wang Qing's family, it's all up to you now!"

At this critical moment, Zhu Houzhao remembered who was capable, staring at Wang Shouren with a trustworthy look and watched him leave.

Zhang Yuan murmured: "This Wang Bo'an is becoming more and more unruly. He dares to turn around and leave in front of His Majesty. See if we don't follow his book!"

Under the coordination of Hu Lian and Wang Shouren, all the troops of the Ming Dynasty retreated to Zhangjiakou Fort. Even though there were many casualties and injuries due to crowding and stampede in the middle, at least they did not result in the loss of the city blockage.

The Tatars tried to send troops to attack the city gates twice, and followed the Ming Dynasty to retreat into the city. They were all suppressed by the Ming army artillery at the top of the city. Finally, the rain gradually stopped. The Ming army's dragon cavalry even launched a counterattack and killed hundreds of enemy cavalry... This was completed under Hu Lian's planning, and the only result of this battle was achieved by Hu Lian's dispatch of his troops.

Seeing that all the Ming Dynasty men and horses entered the city and the city gates were closed, the Tatars voluntarily withdrew from the city gate ten miles away to station, the war came to an end.

The Ming army was defeated first, but achieved some small results at the last moment, but it was still a crushing defeat in the end.

Zhu Houzhao returned to the garrison yamen in a nervous and uneasy mood. Then the relevant personnel of the war rushed here to "apologize", including Hu Lian and Wang Shouren, as well as many generals in the army leading the army to fight. The biggest crime was of course Bai Yu, the general of Xuanfu who was forced to lead the troops by Zhu Houzhao.

Because Zhu Houzhao was frightened, and had no meals in the morning and noon, she lay down in the backyard, so those who came to apologize could only kneel in a row in the main courtyard.

Zhang Yuan was also a little nervous, but he was quite calm. In his opinion, he did not show up too much in this war. At most, he only blew some wind in Zhu Houzhao's ears. The main responsibility was not on him, which was also a part of gratitude.

Zhang Yuanxin said, "Fortunately, I didn't take the initiative to take charge of the commanders and commanders this time... Then again, even if I want to command the three armies, His Majesty will not agree. Now there is a problem, no matter how hard it is to blame me. This is best. If I have credit, I can take the big head, and if I make a mistake, I can hide aside."

After a long time, Xiao Tiaozi came out of the backyard, and his face was extremely depressed: "My sirs, Your Majesty said that his headache was so broken. You should take a break first. Please come back first... Your Majesty will ask about military information tomorrow."

Wang Shouren said: "My father-in-law, please ask Your Majesty for the order. Now the Tatars are stationed outside the city and are guarding empty. This is a good opportunity to send troops to attack."

Xiao Taozi didn't say anything, Zhang Yuan had already accused: "Mr. Wang, are you crazy? Or do you think the previous failure is not enough? This time, it was Mr. Wang who advocated sending troops, but the situation happened. Do you want to make up for the merits? I am afraid that you will not get credit for the night attack on the Tartar camp, but will ruin more Ming soldiers!"

Wang Shouren glared at Zhang Yuan, his eyes full of anger.

Xiao Zhuozi said, "Don't argue, two, you are indeed unintentional about military information today. As for what Lord Wang said, Your Majesty will not be able to make it clear, please go back!"

At this moment, except for Wang Shouren and Hu Lian, they will also consider the overall gains and losses of the battle situation. Everyone else wants to protect themselves, and no one is willing to send troops again.

Zhang Yuan then went in with Xiao Tiaozi, wanting to have a breath of wind with Zhu Houzhao and leave himself aside.

Xiao Tiaozi reached out to stop him: "Eunuch Zhang, please stay. Your Majesty clearly stated that no one who participates in the war today is allowed to meet. If anyone dares to violate it, he will deal with it according to military law... Please do not let Xiao Zi be embarrassed."

Zhang Yuan was stunned, and then realized that Zhu Houzhao was suspicious of him.

Zhang Yuan shook his sleeves in anger and followed Wang Shouren and others out of the garrison yamen—
Chapter completed!