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

Chapter 631: Invasion of Baoding
Zhu Shenzui's army brought enough food and fodder when they set out. In addition to more than 2,000 cavalry, there were also a large number of pack horses in the army.

After all, Zhu Shenzui directly controlled the Tumo grassland, and there was never a shortage of cattle and horses on the grassland. These things were just livestock to him.

Although cattle and horses were rare in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Shenzui had already transported a lot of them from the grasslands over the years. The cattle and horses were hidden in Luzhou Wei, Yangtou Mountain, and Zhaowuling. This cavalry mobilization also brought a lot of war horses. Although it was a bit troublesome to transport them and the journey was long, they are really useful now.

Because there was no shortage of packhorses, the army marched very quickly. The average Ming army marched 30 to 40 miles a day, and the elite frontier troops could march 50 miles a day.

But according to records, in the 29th year of Jiajing, the Gengxu Incident occurred and the capital was in crisis. Troops from all directions rushed to rescue. Among them, the fastest Ming army set a record of marching speed of 150 miles a day. Although nearly half of this army were cavalry, half were infantry. It was amazing that the infantry could march 150 miles a day on their own two legs.

If Zhu Shenzhui's army's marching speed is not taken into account, and other factors, it can reach this level if it is allowed to run freely, and it will only take a few days from the dispatch of troops to the arrival of the capital. However, Zhu Shenzhui did not do so. Although the journey north is smooth now, as the army gets closer to the capital, there are more uncertainties.

Moreover, his army had 20,000 soldiers, which was not a small army. As the saying goes, when there are more than 10,000 soldiers, there is no limit to their strength. The Ming court and local officials were not fools when mobilizing an army of this size. Once they found something wrong, the road ahead would be difficult.

As expected, when Zhu Shenzui's army reached Boye, it seemed that they would reach Baoding in one day at most.

Baoding is the southern gate of the capital, only one day's express horse ride away from the capital. Baoding general Cao Minglei was extremely surprised when he learned that an army had arrived from the south under the banner of the Shanxi Ming army. As a general, Cao Minglei's military rank was not low. Even if the court wanted to mobilize troops from Shanxi to garrison in Jizhou, he would surely be informed in advance. But the problem was that Cao Minglei had never received this news at all.

Moreover, the direction from which the army came was wrong. Normally, the Shanxi army should enter northern Zhili through Juyongguan, and go directly from Xuanda to Jizhou from the north. Why did it come from the south this time? Cao Minglei, who was confused about the situation, felt that something was wrong and hurried to find the governor Yang Wenyue, but Yang Wenyue was also confused and had no idea about it.

For a time, Governor Yang Wenyue and General Cao Minglei were a little worried, fearing that this army was not an official army but was impersonated by bandits. In order to ensure the safety of the capital, the two men hurriedly sent people to contact the vanguard of this army to find out whether it was a normal mobilization of friendly troops. At the same time, Yang Wenyue sent an urgent letter to the capital, asking the Ministry of War and the Cabinet whether there was any plan to mobilize the Shanxi army to garrison in Jizhou, and to assemble troops to be prepared for any eventuality.

At noon that day, the people sent by Yang Wenyue contacted Zhu Shenzhui's vanguard. Zhu Shenzhui's vanguard still stated their identities as they did on the way, and took out official documents proving that they were Luzhou Guard troops. Seeing this, Yang Wenyue's people were relieved. At least this army should not be pretended by the bandits, and the army looked like the Ming army, and it was an elite Ming army. No matter the attire, equipment or morale, it could not be compared with the bandits.

But just as he was breathing a sigh of relief, one of Yang Wenyue's advisers who was accompanying him discovered a problem. It was not that there was a problem with the documents brought by Zhu Shenzui's vanguard, but that he felt that this army looked too elite.

Everyone knows what the Ming Dynasty's garrison troops are. Although the garrison troops are the regular army of the Ming Dynasty, they are far inferior to the border troops.

Right now, the entire Ming Dynasty's finances are in problem. The imperial court simply cannot come up with the money to ensure food and wages for the nine borders, not to mention the local garrisons. After more than two hundred years, the garrisons have long been corrupt. Now the garrison troops are no different from ordinary peasants. The elite among the garrison troops can have a set of cotton armor, a broken sword and an old bow that can be used in battle. How could they be as well-equipped and well-trained as the army before them?
Such an elite army is not even as good as the border troops, let alone the ordinary garrison troops. If the garrison troops of the Ming Dynasty were all like this, then whether it was the Jiannu in Liaodong or the bandits roaming around, they would have been destroyed long ago. How could the Ming Dynasty be in such a difficult situation now?
Once he became suspicious, he naturally wanted to verify it. On the one hand, that person quickly sent his men to report his suspicions to Yang Wenyue, while he continued to deal with Zhu Shenzui's vanguard, asking questions everywhere in an attempt to find out what the problem was.

At this time, Wang Jinwu, who was in the vanguard position, saw the enemy's move and knew that if he continued to delay, he would not be able to conceal it. Although he was leading the vanguard, the main force behind him would arrive soon, and once the main force arrived, it would be even more difficult to conceal it. Not to mention that the new army was extremely well-equipped with a large number of chariots, firearms, etc., just the more than 2,000 Mongolian cavalry could reveal the problem.

Even though these Mongolian cavalrymen were trained by Wang Jinwu and their equipment was the same as that of the elite Ming army, Mongolians are still Mongolians. The difference can be seen in their clothes and gestures. What's more, most of these cavalrymen cannot speak Chinese and can only speak Mongolian. Once they meet, they will not be able to hide it.

Wang Jinwu was extremely decisive in doing things. When he saw that the situation was not right, he pretended to be careless and continued to chat with the other party, but secretly used his eyes to disperse his people. Just when he was chatting with the other party, he heard the sound of horse hooves from the south. Wang Jinwu knew that his follow-up cavalry had arrived. At this time, he no longer hesitated. Without even using his weapons, he stretched out his hand and grabbed the man who had just chatted with him. With a sudden force of both hands, there was a click. The man's neck was instantly broken by Wang Jinwu, and the whole person fell limply to the ground.

"Go! Don't leave any alive!" Wang Jinwu dropped the corpse in his hand and shouted to his left and right. The guards who had been prepared for a long time immediately took action. Under the flash of swords and shadows, screams continued. In just a few breaths, Wang Jinwu killed all the dozen people sent by Yang Wenyue. Then, Wang Jinwu asked someone to report the situation here to Zhu Shenzhui behind him, and he led the cavalry and some infantry who had already arrived without stopping, and rushed directly towards Baoding.

Wang Jinwu acted quickly. Just as Yang Wenyue's men arrived in Baoding and reported their suspicions about Zhu Shenzui's troops, Wang Jinwu's cavalry arrived.

At this time, Baoding was still unprepared. Wang Jinwu watched from afar as the gates of Baoding were wide open, the soldiers guarding the gates were standing lazily, and the people in and out of the city were entering and leaving normally. He was overjoyed. His warhorse did not stop at all. He took the spear from the saddle, waved it forward, and shouted: "Follow me to charge the city!"

As soon as the words fell, the cavalrymen echoed loudly, and with their blood boiling, they followed Wang Jinwu to Baoding. The Mongolians in the cavalry were even more excited, shouting and waving their weapons, rushing forward.

When Wang Jinwu led his troops to charge the city, they were less than three miles away from Baoding. His war horses, including those of the cavalry he led, were all good horses selected from hundreds of miles away. The short distance of three miles was reached in the blink of an eye for the cavalry at high speed.

When the Ming army guarding Baoding realized something was wrong and saw a cavalry charging towards the city gate, everyone was terrified. The people who were about to leave the city turned around and ran back into the city, and the people who had not yet entered the city did not even care about their belongings, and ran towards the city gate crying.

The Ming army guarding the city was so nervous that they were sweating and terrified. They shouted and yelled to close the city gates quickly, and blew trumpets to call their companions to stop the cavalry that was about to arrive. They also sent people to the governor's office and the general's office to report to their superiors that the enemy was invading.

If the Ming army defending the city was given more time and could discover Wang Jinwu a few minutes earlier, perhaps Baoding City could close the city gates in time and prevent the cavalry from charging the city.

Unfortunately, Wang Jinwu did not give them this opportunity at all. When the city gate began to close slowly and was almost half closed, Wang Jinwu finally arrived.

His warhorse was galloping, with the spear in his hand pointing straight ahead. Along the way, he knocked down several civilians who did not have time to escape and return to the city. He rushed directly to the city gate like a whirlwind.

When the city gate was still nearly half wide, Wang Jinwu led his men to rush in. As soon as he entered the city, Wang Jinwu attacked the officers and soldiers who were still pushing the city gate without hesitation. The spear in his hand was like a poisonous snake out of a hole. In two swipes, several officers and soldiers were stabbed to the ground. His subordinates were not idle either. They waved their swords or directly used bows and arrows on horseback. In a few seconds, they killed or drove away the officers and soldiers near the city gate. In a blink of an eye, the Baoding city gate was filled with cries and blood. The people, including the fleeing officers and soldiers, didn't care about anything and ran around like headless flies.

After taking the city gate, Wang Jinwu and the rest of the rear team arrived. He left some of his men behind to guard the city gate while he led the cavalry and charged into the city.

Since the fight has come to this point, we must strike while the iron is hot. There are still several thousand Baoding soldiers, plus the runners and militiamen from various government offices in Baoding, which is not a small number. If we can't solve the problem quickly and give the other side a chance to recover, it will be difficult to fight next.

Wang Jinwu was always good at seizing opportunities, let alone the current situation. He led his men to rush into the city, killing and driving away the Ming troops coming towards him, and advancing directly into the city.

In a short while, Wang Jinwu reached the vicinity of the Baoding Governor's Office. At this time, Baoding Governor Yang Wenyue and General Cao Minglei were both here. They were just listening to the report from people who had returned from the south, but before they had finished listening, the sound of fighting was faintly heard from the direction of the south city.

As the general, Cao Minglei was very sensitive to battle formations and immediately sensed something was wrong. He hurriedly said that he would go out to check the situation. Yang Wenyue agreed and let Cao Minglei go first. He was not idle either. Just as he was about to change into a military uniform and follow Cao Minglei out of the yamen to check, suddenly a soldier stumbled in from outside, and shouted to Yang Wenyue with a terrified face: "My lord, it's bad! Thieves! Thieves have entered the city! My lord! Baoding can't be defended anymore, my lord, leave quickly! Leave quickly!"

(End of this chapter)