Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 496: Encountering the Enemy during Camp Relocation
Zhu Shencui's worries were not wrong at all. Just a few days after the court once again let Man Gui take control of the various tribes, the military supervisor eunuch Lu Zhi quickly found Man Gui again and urged him to send troops to fight a decisive battle with the Jiannu as soon as possible.

Man Gui patiently explained to Lü Zhi that the Jiannu were powerful and the Ming army was inferior to them in field battles. If they rushed to attack, they would probably lose more than they won. Man Gui told Lü Zhi that he planned to wait a few more days. He heard that the troops from various places were not far from the capital. Once they arrived, the number of Ming troops would be enough to overwhelm the Jiannu. At that time, they would have more confidence in attacking or defending.

But Lu Zhi didn't listen to Man Gui's explanation at all. Lu Zhi sneered at Man Gui and said, "Didn't you say you would make preparations two days ago?" Well! As the military supervisor, he gave Man Gui two days. Now it's the third day, but Man Gui still has no signs of going to the battle. Could it be that the promise he made before was just an excuse?
Lu Zhi said to Man Gui, it’s okay for you to try to fool me, he is just a eunuch anyway, but don’t forget that he is the military supervisor sent by the emperor. As a military supervisor, who does he represent and who is behind him? You, Man Gui, should know this.

Yuan Chonghuan's previous example is not far away. Do you want to learn from Yuan Chonghuan? Don't think that you can disobey the emperor's will just because you have made contributions to the court and the Ming Dynasty. It only takes a word from the emperor to arrest you, Man Gui, or even to punish you by military law.

That's all I have to say. Whether you listen or not, Man Gui, I have fulfilled my responsibility to remind you. If you don't send troops, I will report to Emperor Chongzhen. As for how Emperor Chongzhen decides, that is the emperor's business. As a eunuch, I can do nothing about it.

Lu Zhi's words made Man Gui feel bitter, and he didn't know what to say. Faced with this situation, Man Gui could only agree to fight tomorrow and ask Lu Zhi to give him one more day.

When Lu Zhi heard the promise, he smiled instantly, and his expression suddenly changed from cold as frost to warm as spring breeze, as if he had practiced changing his face.

Patting Man Gui on the shoulder, Lü Zhi said with a smile that General Man was indeed a person that His Majesty valued, with a pure heart and loyalty to the court. It would be good to go to the battle tomorrow, that's good! He immediately went to report to the emperor, and waited to sit and watch Man Gui and Jian Nu fight tomorrow, and when Jian Nu was defeated, he would definitely ask for credit for Man Gui.

After saying that, Lu Zhi patted his butt and left. After Lu Zhi left, Man Gui sat there for a long time. After a while, he finally pulled himself together, called everyone over to explain the situation, and told everyone that they would fight tomorrow.

When they heard that they would go to war tomorrow, all the generals were shocked and raised objections. But Man Gui told them directly that this was not his intention, but the intention of the court and the emperor. If they did not go to war tomorrow, they would be afraid of the enemy and avoid fighting, and the consequences would be unimaginable. After hearing what Man Gui said, everyone was silent and did not know what to say.

"Everyone, I know this battle is dangerous, but don't worry, I plan to test the waters tomorrow. If I see that it is not going to work, I will withdraw my troops in time. Even if there are losses, I can still save my headquarters."

"Marshal Man, what do you mean?" asked Hou Shilu, the general of Xuanfu, with a frown.

Man Gui glanced at everyone and said, "Everyone, come and see!"

As he spoke, he walked to the side and pointed at a hanging map. The map showed the topography of the capital, including the capital and surrounding areas.

Man Gui pointed at one of the places. This was where they were now, and the location of Anding Gate.

Since the rescue of the capital, the position of the Ming army's garrison has changed several times due to the movement of the Eight Banners. At the earliest, Xuan's army was at Deshengmen, and later, in cooperation with Yuan Chonghuan, the troops moved to the vicinity of Deshengmen and Guangqumen, that is, from the north gate of the capital to the east gate, and the most intense battle was fought at Guangqumen in the southeast direction.

The subsequent battles also broke out near the North Gate and the East Gate, and several times at the South Gate, also known as the Yongding Gate. Now Man Gui's troops are stationed at Anding Gate, which is close to the northeast. To the left is Desheng Gate, and down to the east is Dongzhi Gate to Guangqu Gate.

The Eight Banners of the Jiannu were all cavalry, and they were roaming around and attacking from all directions in the north, northeast, east, southeast and south of the capital. In the past few days, the Jiannu had moved south to the vicinity of Guangqumen and Andingmen. According to the garrison situation in the capital, Man Gui originally planned to move his troops to Yongdingmen. Now Lu Zhi has urged him several times to go to war with the Jiannu, and Man Gui plans to take this opportunity to move his troops from Andingmen to Yongdingmen, as a way to show his attitude to his superiors.

"Tomorrow the army will move out of Anding Gate, go south along Dongzhi Gate, pass Guangqu Gate and Zuoan Gate, and camp at Yongding Gate. When we reach Yongding Gate, each unit will set up camp and set up defenses. If the Jiannu do not come, it will be fine. If the Jiannu come to attack, our unit can hold on with its back to Yongding Gate."

Having said that, Man Gui hesitated for a moment and pointed his finger at the location of Guangqumen again. This was the garrison area of ​​the Guanning Army, and Zu Dashou was at Guangqumen with the Guanning Army.

Man Gui continued, "Guangqu Gate of the Guanning Army is very close to Yongding Gate. After our troops move, they will be directly connected with the Guanning Army. Once the Jiannu attack, whether they attack Yongding Gate or Guangqu Gate, they can come back to support them in time. This way, safety will not be a problem."

"But Marshal Man, can Zu Dashou help us? Don't forget that the Guanning Army simply abandoned the capital and left. What if the war breaks out and the Guanning Army does not take any action?" a general asked immediately.

As soon as this was said, the others also looked worried. Everyone knew about the conflict between the Xuanda Army and the Guanning Army. Not to mention that Man Gui had a bad relationship with Yuan Chonghuan, Zu Dashou and others, let's talk about Yuan Chonghuan's imprisonment. It was also due to Man Gui. If Man Gui hadn't severely sued Yuan Chonghuan in front of the emperor, perhaps this would not have happened.

Later, Zu Dashou led the Guanning Army away in anger for this reason. Although the Guanning Army has returned, who can know what Zu Dashou is thinking? If a war really breaks out, as the Guanning Army on the left wing does not contribute, can the Xuan Army alone stop the elite cavalry of the Eight Banners? No one knows for sure. "Don't worry about this, I have already written to General Zu. Since General Zu can lead his troops back to Beijing, it naturally shows that General Zu has a sense of justice in his heart. Moreover, this is a national war. Zu's family has been generals for generations in the Ming Dynasty. He still knows what is important and what is not, and he will definitely not stand idly by."

"This..." Everyone didn't know what to say for a moment. Although Man Gui patted his chest to assure Zu Dashou, everyone was still nervous. Not to mention ordinary generals, even Hou Shilu, the general of Xuanfu who was second only to Man Gui, was worried.

"This battle must be fought no matter what. If you don't fight, I will resign and be punished. But what about the two armies of Xuan and Da? There is no need for you to say more. Go back and prepare. We will move out early tomorrow morning!" Man Gui made the final decision without waiting for others to object.

Listening to Man Gui's words, everyone was at a loss. What else could the commander say after he had said so much? Moreover, Man Gui made it clear that if he did not start a war and remained stationed in the same place under the pressure of the court and the emperor, then he would not have a good ending as the commander. Once the court arrested Man Gui and punished him, or sent someone else to lead the Xuanda army, the consequences would not be something the generals of Xuanda could bear.

Helpless, everyone could only obey the order and leave. After everyone left, Man Gui kept Hou Shilu and talked with him for a full hour. After the conversation, he sent Hou Shilu away. After leaving the big tent, Man Gui looked up at the horizon. It was already evening. The sunset in the west was a piece of red clouds, which looked extremely beautiful. What a pity! The sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it is almost dusk, and I don’t know what will happen tomorrow.

The next day, the Xuan army began to move under the command of Man Gui, set up camp from Anding Gate, then marched along the east side, then turned back to the south, passed Dongzhimen, Chaoyangmen, Dongbianmen, and then arrived at Guangqumen where the Guanning Army was stationed.

When passing Guangqumen, the Xuan and Da armies did not stop, but sent people to inform Zu Dashou in advance. Zu Dashou also cooperated very well and made way for the Xuan and Da armies to pass near Guangqumen.

Near noon, Man Gui's troops had passed Guangqumen and arrived at Yongdingmen from Zuoanmen.

Yongdingmen is the largest gate in the outer city of the capital. It was built in the 32nd year of Jiajing. It not only has a city tower, arrow tower and urn, but also a moat.

Because the gates of the capital had been closed long ago and the drawbridge had been pulled up, it was impossible for the Xuanda armies to cross the river directly and camp under the city wall. Therefore, Man Gui commanded his troops to camp two miles outside Yongding Gate, that is, about a mile forward from Yongding Gate across the moat.

The order was given, and the Ming army that arrived at Yongdingmen began to set up camp. At the same time, they erected fences outside the camp in preparation for defense.

By the evening, the camp was basically completed. There was no sign of the Jiannu army invading. Except for harassment by a small group of Jiannu cavalry, everything was normal.

Seeing this, Man Gui and other generals breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that everything was going well. It was good that the Jiannu did not come. Then they continued to reorganize the camp according to the previous plan and wait for changes. If the Jiannu did not come, at least Man Gui had an explanation with Emperor Chongzhen. If the Jiannu came, relying on the current camp and the artillery cover on the top of the Yongding Gate behind him, Man Gui was confident that he could hold on.

After a sleepless night, the day passed peacefully soon. When the second day came and the sky gradually turned white in the east, many people in the Ming army camp had just woken up from their sleep and were preparing to eat breakfast and other things. Suddenly, Zhu Shenzui in the tent felt something was wrong because there was a faint vibration coming from the ground.

Having been on the grassland for a long time, Zhu Shenzui was very sensitive to the movement. He stood up immediately. Having not taken off his armor all night, he picked up the long sword beside him and inserted it into his waist. Then he took out two plum blossom spears that were loaded with bullets, and then took his usual spear and walked out of the tent quickly.

"Sixth Master! The Jiannu are here!" Li You rushed over as soon as he stepped out of the tent.

"Let the troops assemble immediately! Prepare to fight!" Zhu Shenzhui said sternly. Li You hurriedly bowed and ran away. At this time, the neatly dressed Hei Yunlong and his son also came. Seeing Hei Yunlong and his son, Zhu Shenzhui nodded slightly, then turned his eyes to Hei Mingzhong and said, "Fifth Young Master, from now on, stay with me and never leave."

"Father!" Hei Mingzhong subconsciously looked at Hei Yunlong.

Hei Yunlong said sternly: "Listen to the master, don't forget what I told you the other day!"

Hei Mingzhong hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and saluted to Hei Yunlong, saying: "Father, swords and spears are blind in battle, please be careful!"

Hei Yunlong nodded silently and didn't say much to his son. He turned his gaze to Zhu Shenzhui. Zhu Shenzhui gave him a reassuring look and then strode away in one direction. At this time, at Hei Yunlong's signal, Hei Mingzhong saluted his father again, turned around with a resolute look and followed Zhu Shenzhui.

(End of this chapter)