Chapter 231 230 Fight to the Death

With a thousand cavalrymen from Altan Khan's army joining the encirclement and suppression of Ma Fang's army, Ma Fang's life became increasingly difficult.

In fact, after Ma Fang was injured and fell off his horse, he had already realized that the raid had failed.

However, at this time, his sense of smell honed by years of battlefields still allowed him to see the opportunity to escape.

Yes, at this time, Altan Khan had not sent anyone to block their retreat, and they could rush out of Altan Khan's camp along the way they came and escape.

However, at this critical period, he did not choose to do so, but chose another direction that seemed like a dead end.

There was no shortage of generals who sold out their teammates in the Ming army, and there was no shortage of generals who put the overall situation first.

Ma Fang knew very well that most of the battle plan this time was made by him. In fact, what Liu Dazhang called people to do later was just a modification of his plan. He knew the entire battle plan very well.

Now once he escapes from the Tartar camp, what will be the next result?

Altan Khan's entire army was dispatched to reinforce the Altan army camp in the front camp. Liu Huan's troops would definitely not be able to stop them. Then the two forces joined forces, and the rest was how to deal with the more than 10,000 Ming army infantrymen who were feinting.

The Ming army had not fought a large-scale field battle with the Tartars for a long time. Ma Fang did not think that Liu Dazhang was capable of leading them to defeat all of Altan Khan's troops in Bao'an Prefecture.

At this time, he had realized that there were many more troops in Altan Khan's camp than he expected. Now there were at least 3,000 elite soldiers around him, and there were already hundreds of Tartars killed by them before.

A cavalry of tens of thousands of people was not something that the Xuanfu Ming army could defeat.

Even if he rushed out and returned to the Ming army camp, what would be waiting for him?

He was defeated, his plan failed completely, and a large number of Ming soldiers were killed. Such a result, Ma Fang, could not bear.

Then, his only choice now was to hold on, attract Altan Khan's attention, prevent him from deploying his troops to the front, buy time, and allow the main force of the Ming army to calmly withdraw from the battlefield and return to the city.

So, Ma Fang finally chose to fight to the death, although it was very unfair to the more than 2,000 comrades who followed him out.

Fighting to the death certainly does not mean being trapped and killed by the Tartars here. He, Ma Fang, would not be so stupid.

After finding that things were impossible, he decisively led his army to retreat and exit the situation of being surrounded on three sides.

Altan Khan thought that Ma Fang's troops wanted to escape, and hurriedly ordered the guards around him to chase him and block Ma Fang's retreat, but he miscalculated.

After escaping from the encirclement, Ma Fang led his troops to wander around Altan Khan's camp, looking for areas where the Tartars were weak to attack, and even killed them to the edge of the camp several times.

However, to Altan Khan's surprise again, the Ming army did not escape, but played a cat-and-mouse game with the Wangting guards in the camp.

However, Altan Khan also saw that this group of Ming troops had no intention of surviving. They ran back and forth in the military camp and seemed to be in a mess, but their target was always locked on him.

Yes, although Ma Fang was determined to fight to the death, he never forgot his mission. His target was Altan Khan. Whether it was to capture or kill him, this was his only mission now. He would either die here or complete the mission and be killed.

But until now, Ma Fang's space for activities has become smaller and smaller, especially with the investment of a thousand households.

Before, Altan Khan only invested more than 2,000 people to encircle and suppress the remaining more than 1,000 Ming troops. Now that new troops have joined, Ma Fang's space for maneuver has naturally been blocked.

Yes, after discovering that Ma Fang's target was himself, Altan Khan would naturally not be stupid enough to send all his troops to participate in the encirclement and suppression. If the Ming army found a gap during the period to kill him, would his face as the Khan still be saved?

"Sir, it's not okay to continue like this. The Tartar reinforcements are here. I'm afraid the Marshal has already..."

On the galloping warhorse, Ma Fang's personal guard captain said to him.

Ma Fang actually discovered that reinforcements from Altan Khan's army had joined the encirclement and suppression of him. It was obvious that Liu Huan's army had failed to stop the reinforcements from the Tartars.

But he was a little sad after fighting until now. His men were exhausted. Could they still rush out?

In their view, the offensive of the Ming army had probably been disintegrated by the Tartars, so they could spare their time to support Altan Khan.

Since the main force of the Ming army had withdrawn from the battle, there was no need for Ma Fang to let the remaining brothers accompany him on the road.

Ma Fang had already anticipated what would be waiting for him when he returned this time.

The court would not consider whether you fought with all your strength, they only looked at the results.

Your plan failed, and you suffered heavy casualties, so naturally you had to pay the price.

But he did not regret it. He regretted proposing this plan and leading his troops in a surprise attack.

He only regretted not being able to capture or kill Altan.

He would not forget how he was taken away by the Tartars and what kind of life the Han people in Mongolia lived.

This is why he had come to Altan's side and lived a better life than other Han people, but still looked for a chance to escape back to the Ming Dynasty.

He wanted revenge, revenge for those Ming people who were tortured and killed.

Altan had always left nearly a thousand royal guards around him. Ma Fang knew that he had no hope this time, so he could only lead his troops to rush out and keep as many people alive as possible.

Ma Fang continued to lead his troops to charge back and forth in Altan Khan's camp, looking for opportunities.

At this time, there were cavalry troops surrounding them on all sides, and there was really no chance.

Gradually, Ma Fang became a little desperate, and he felt a little sorry for the brothers behind him.

Altan was heavily protected by heavy troops, and he had missed the opportunity to escape.

Until now, it seems that he has only one last option left, which is to fight to the death, and finally bring out the spirit of the Ming Dynasty soldiers and ignite his final glory.

Although the court may not see all of them being loyal, they fought for the Han people in the world and died in peace.

He was looking for a fighter plane in Ma Fang, intending to teach the Tatars a lesson, letting them know that the generals of the Ming Dynasty were not greedy for life and fearful of death, but also bloody, because he knew that no one would come to save them.

The main force of the Ming army had been defeated, and Liu Huan's troops had also retreated. They were alone.

After changing direction twice in a row, they avoided the main Tatar force and fought out again from the enemy's weak spot. The Ming army behind them had also dropped to less than a thousand men.

From the time of the surprise attack to the present, in about an hour, most of them had suffered casualties. Even the people following them were mostly injured, and the horse power was almost exhausted.

Ma Fang knew that he had no time to continue looking for opportunities.

At this time, in the distance from the camp gate, more than ten war horses galloped into the camp. The people on the horses did not pay attention to the tragic situation in the camp, but ran straight towards the Khan's camp.

That's where, whoever they were, Altan should be.

Ma Fang, who once again jumped out of the encirclement, finally made up his mind and turned his horse's head. This time, he chose the center of Anda Khan's camp as the direction for his attack. He wanted to attack the Altan camp again, even if he died, he would die there. On the way to charge.

At this time, the generals following Ma Fang also roughly judged the general's intention from the direction he was heading, which was to choose to die together.

But no one was timid.

In fact, when the war reached this point, they had no way to turn back.

The way out is completely blocked, and there is no possibility of reinforcements coming.

No one knows the virtues of the Ming army better than these border soldiers.

They mobilized their war horses and squeezed out the last of their horsepower to rush towards the tent where Ada Khan was, just for the last bit of dignity.

"Boom boom boom"

Just when they chose to charge desperately, continuous gunfire suddenly sounded from the front of the camp.

The Anta Department has cannons, but most of those cannons will not be retained after they are captured by them. They will be melted down and made into weapons, and only a small amount will be left.

Ma Fang and the others have been fighting here for so long, and they have not seen any Tatars launch firearms to attack them. This can only mean that Anda Khan did not bring any remaining firearms when he entered the customs this time.

Most of the firearms of this era were heavy and unwieldy. In fact, not only the Mongols thought so, but also many people in the Ming army thought so.

Guns are not as good as bows and arrows, and artillery is worse than trebuchets, but they are too heavy.

Naturally, there are so many cannons that cannot be used by the Tatar army.

Are reinforcements coming?

Has anyone come to pick them up?

Ma Fang, who was charging, suddenly felt something in his heart.

In fact, the Ming army at this time was already at the end of its strength. If there was no strong support, they could only rush to Altan's tent like moths to a flame and make the final blow.

It was just the sudden sound of artillery that disrupted his thoughts. The Ming army was coming, and those people who came just now might...

But thinking of this, Ma Fang still knew something was wrong. It was impossible for the Ming army to rush outside the gate of the Tatar camp. They discovered that the Tatars on those horses were obviously tired from the journey. They looked like they were traveling all night. They were not pretending. .

Could it be that the imperial court has sent reinforcements?

There is also the sound of cannons just now. There will only be one Ming army near Baoan Prefecture, and that is the Xuanfu army.

Wasn't the Xuanfu army defeated?

Ma Fang, who was already desperate, now had her survival mentality reactivated. Why should she die if she could live?

He had already begged to die once before, and when the opportunity to live appeared again, he could no longer think.

Becoming a hero may be the impulse of that moment.

But after being impulsive, if they were asked to make a choice again, it would be difficult for any hero to do that.

That's what happened to Ma Fang. Of course, he didn't stay in the Anda Khan camp just to become a hero. He wanted to buy time for the main force of the Ming army to retreat, and he also hoped to find an opportunity to give Altan a fatal blow. In fact, it wasn't right. The whole plan was hopeless, he had no way to survive.

Now, if you find a chance to fight out, you may not have to be an unknown hero. Although your future is still worrying, the soldiers behind you don't have to die.

Seeing the chance of survival, Ma Fang adjusted the direction of advance again. It seemed like it was another feint attack on Altan's tent as before. Then when he saw that the opportunity was not right, he immediately evacuated.

When the cavalry drew an arc, Ma Fang saw a glimmer of life in the eyes of many people in the Ming army behind him.

These people were all soldiers who had understood the sound of the cannon just now. They knew that Ming troops were coming to meet them outside the camp.

They didn't know the details of the plan and thought it had been planned long ago, so General Ma took them in circles in the Anda Khan camp, destroying it as much as they wanted, waiting for the main army to arrive.

Only Ma Fang knew that there was no such link in the plan.

Among the plans they designed, the worst-case scenario was to attack and annihilate the entire Ming army. There were more than 2,000 people left to guard Baoan Prefecture until the Datong Army arrived on the battlefield.

"Boom boom boom"

Another burst of intensive gunfire came from a distance, and Ma Fang knew that only the Fran cannon could fire so quickly.

The moment the gunshots sounded, he counted them silently in his mind. Twenty-two shots seemed to be the number of medium-sized Franco machine guns in the Xuanfu Army of Baoan Prefecture.

They are still there.

Those reinforcements were not sent by the Tatar camp, but were driven out by the Ming army. Their camp had been breached by the Ming army, so they fled here.

Thinking of this, Ma Fang did not dare to fight anymore. He suddenly turned back and shouted: "Brothers, the main force of the Xuanfu Army has breached the Tatar camp. Our mission is completed. Everyone, follow me and rush out."

At this time, he could not care about many things. As long as he rushed out, he could give people a chance to survive. He could no longer selfishly choose their own fate for them.

In order to survive, the remaining Ming army at this time knew that the direction of the cannon fire was their chance to survive.

As long as they rushed over, they would be alive.

Before this, most people had actually given up, thinking that they could not leave here alive.

The hope of life filled their bodies, and the lost strength was refilled all over their bodies.

It's not that no one has thought about why they came here and why they had such an experience, but for the soldiers, everything is unimportant, as long as they are still alive.

"Shoot"

An officer in the queue shouted loudly, commanding the soldiers behind.

A few scattered arrows flew out and pierced into the intercepting Tatar cavalry. They had consumed almost all their weapons in the previous fierce battle. Among the nearly 1,000 cavalry, there were not many who could still shoot bows.

The Tatars on the opposite side would naturally not wait there to be shot by them, but cut into their forward route diagonally, and at the same time shot clusters of arrows at the huge Ming army cavalry.

"Ahh.ah."

Under the attack of the rain of arrows, many Ming soldiers were shot off their horses.

In fact, the Ming army that survived to this day are all veterans who have experienced hundreds of battles and are skilled in archery and horsemanship, but they have exhausted most of their physical strength in the long battle, and they no longer dare to hide in the stirrups to avoid the Tatars' arrows. They are afraid that they will not have the strength to turn over the horse, or simply fall off.

"Charge forward, and we will win."

Ma Fang rode in front, but he was always paying attention to the situation in his team. Seeing many people fall off their horses, he felt distressed.

What a good soldier.

They have been fighting for the Ming Empire until now. They saw a way out in front of them, but they were unable to rush forward alive.

Ma Fang's eyes were wide open at this time. He grabbed the reins with his left hand and wielded a sharp saber with his right hand to slash at the Tartars who rushed up from the side.

At the moment when he raised his hand and fell with his sword, several horse spears stabbed out from behind and stabbed into the bodies of the other two Tartars.

The Ming army and the Tartars were like two straight lines intersecting each other. A fierce battle broke out at the intersection, and people kept falling off their horses.

There were more arrows flying around the Ming army, but no one was hiding.

At this time, they would rather take an arrow, as long as they held the reins tightly, they still had a chance to rush out.