Zhang Da, the general of Ningwu Pass, was named Xueshan, and was from Liangzhou Guard, Xingdu Si, Shaanxi. He was born in an ordinary border guard. He fought in Hetao, Liangzhou, Zhuanglang and other battles. He was extremely brave and won numerous awards. He was promoted to rewards for his merits and advanced to the general officer of Shanxi.

Speaking of how could Zhang Da, an ordinary border guard with no background, climb to the high position of the general officer? Isn’t this a bit too much?

Not all generals have been promoted by nepotism these days, especially among the border troops, many have been promoted due to their merits.

For example, the Hou Qiu Yue of Xianning was promoted by his military merits. It turned out that he was just a guerrilla general;

For example, the title of King Shouren of Xinjian Bo was also obtained through military merits. Otherwise, as a civil servant, he would at most be awarded three or three dukes, and it would be unlikely that he would be awarded the title.

Zhang Da can be said to be a veteran who has been through many battles. He has experienced countless wars and is quite familiar with the Tatar cavalry. However, he couldn't understand why Cui Hao, the governor of the Later Army Governor's Office, brought the new top scholar to Ningwu Pass for what he did.

The governor and the magistrate were from the first rank, and he was only the general of the second rank. The Taiyuan border army was under the jurisdiction of the Governor's Office of the Later Army. Cui Hao could also be considered his superior. Naturally, he could not wait in Guancheng, so it was necessary to come down to greet him.

However, he, the general, was not under the jurisdiction of the Governor's Office of the Five Army, but under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. Cui Hao was not considered his direct superior, so he did not seem very attentive. After going down the mountain, he just turned over and got off the horse, came to Cui Hao and Yang Cong, and bowed and said politely: "Mr. Cui, Lord Yang, I don't know that the two masters are coming to Ningwu Pass. If you are wrong, please forgive me. I will forgive you."

This general is a powerful general, and Cui Hao did not dare to act as a big shot in front of others. He bowed politely: "General Zhang is polite. We are here without notice in advance, and I hope he can forgive me."

Zhang Da shook his head with a smile and said, "Where, where, Lord Cui is happy when he arrives, it's too late. By the way, Lord Cui doesn't know what's going on this time?"

Cui Hao didn't know what Yang Cong was coming, so he could only flatter him: "I have nothing to do, but Lord Yang is very nervous about the border situation and wants to see the style of the border soldiers, so I came with him. General Zhang, you don't know yet. This palace examination test was exactly how to deal with the invasion of the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. Lord Yang's top scholar was very exciting, and even the emperor praised it."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Da couldn't help but say curiously: "Oh, I wonder what the top scholar has to do?"

Damn, it was finally my turn to speak. Yang Cong hurriedly bowed: "I dare not say that I am a good person. I am just talking about military affairs on paper. It is not worth laughing at or laughing at."

Unexpectedly, Zhang Da still said with interest: "Mr. Yang is too humble. If your article stands out among hundreds of tribute scholars, there must be something extraordinary. If you don't think you are stupid, you might as well say it out and let it open your eyes."

I'm so terrified, you're really interested in this.

When Yang Cong saw Zhang Da's expression, he knew that he was not pretending or mocking himself, but he really wanted to know how to deal with the Northern Yuan cavalry.

Yang Cong didn't want to hide this question, but how to deal with the Northern Yuan cavalry is not clear in one or two sentences. He could only shake his head and smile bitterly: "Since General Zhang really wants to hear it, I will naturally say everything, but this matter cannot be explained clearly in a short time. Why don't we go to Guancheng first and then discuss it carefully, what do you think?"

Zhang Da laughed and said, "Okay, Lord Cui, Lord Yang, please."

After saying that, he took the lead in turning over the horse, took Yang Cong and Cui Hao along the mountain road and headed straight for Zhenshuocheng.

The closer it was to Zhenshuocheng, the more shocked Yang Cong was. No wonder the Tartars did not dare to come to attack Taiyuan Town. The city walls that were more than ten meters high were enough to make the Tartars despair.

With such a high city wall, infantry who are good at siege will be afraid, let alone the Beiyuan cavalry who are not good at siegeing the city. Even if they come here, they may not be able to take over the Zhenshuocheng.

After the group entered Guancheng, Yang Cong couldn't help but suggest going to the city wall to take a look. Zhang Da naturally had no objection. He immediately ordered people to take away the horses, and then took Yang Cong, Cui Hao and others to the city wall.

At this moment, Yang Cong finally saw the real border army up close. He saw the weather-beaten soldiers standing straight on the city wall. Their expressions were so strong and their eyes were so firm that everyone was as if they were cast with steel and iron.

However, their equipment was really shabby. The soldiers on the city wall either held wooden poles and spears about a meter long and shouldered long bows, or captured a wooden shield with a short blade, and had no other weapons. Moreover, their uniforms were worn out, with dense patches and cold protection, let alone resisting swords and guns.

What's going on?

Logically speaking, the elite equipment of the border army should not be so backward!

Yang Cong was not in a hurry to ask questions because he saw something he was more interested in, that is artillery.

It was the first time he saw the artillery of this era. He said he was not curious that it was fake. When he saw the first artillery, he couldn't help but lie down.

How to say this cannon is so large that it is scary. Each cannon is about half a person tall, thicker than its thigh.

However, the workmanship is not very good. The outer periphery is cast directly, and it has not been processed. It looks extremely rough and the inner ring is not very smooth. You can clearly feel the inside bumps when you touch it with your hands.

He looked carefully for a while and frowned. This thing was just a larger earth cannon, and its range and power were worrying. If you could kill a few people with one shot, you would be lucky.

This cannon seems to have a lot of room for improvement.

He visited a few cannons, asked casually, and then nodded and said that he had seen almost the same thing.

Seeing this, Zhang Da hurriedly took them down the city wall and came to the welcoming lobby of the General's Mansion.

Everyone sat down and made some polite conspiracy, and he couldn't help asking, "Mr. Yang, how do you think this Tartar cavalry should deal with it?"

this.

Faced with such a veteran who has been through the battlefield for a long time, he really dared not brag about his chariot and soldiers' tactics. He thought for a while and simply said, "General Zhang should have more experience in this. After all, I have never seen the Tartar cavalry. Why don't you talk about the tactics you often use first, and then I will talk about my opinion. What do you think?"

Zhang Da said generously: "Okay, the last general will throw bricks and jade, and it will be ugly. When it comes to dealing with the Tatar cavalry, the cavalry is of course the most effective. However, our border troops are mainly infantry, and the number of cavalry cannot be compared with the Tatars, so we can only barely cooperate with a small number of cavalry. Our tactics are very simple, which is to be in front of the tower shield and the long bowman, first release a few rounds of arrow rain, and then fight with spears, swords and shields. However, this tactics requires mobilizing enough troops in advance, and only more than twice the strength of the Tatar cavalry can be expected to win. A few years ago, we used this tactics in Liangzhou and Zhuanglang. The main force of the Tatars was plundering in the area of ​​Helan Mountain at that time, but they divided more than 10,000 troops to Liangzhou and Zhuanglang to plunder. As a result, we gathered superior forces and surrounded them. The two battles were really satisfying!"

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Chapter completed!