Inside and outside the Tumu Fortress, people are building fortifications and weapons in full swing, and the intelligence team in Chenxi is not idle either.

Chen Xi sent Yun Liu and Xier to the outside of the city to spy on information. They took advantage of the night to cover the enemy camp and observed the situation of the enemy camp in detail, and then brought it back and handed it to Chen Xi for details.

It was late at night, and the Tumu Fort was quiet from the hustle and bustle, but the trench digging outside the city was still continuing, and even the craftsman camp in the city did not rest. People worked in shifts, racing against time to sweat to win a glimmer of hope.

In the command post in the west of the city, Yunliu and Xier were reporting to Chenxi.

"...The remaining troops of the Tartars should be less than 20,000, but the current situation is completely contrary to the previous situation. The most bandits in the east of the city are followed by the south of the city, and the north of the city and the west of the city are much weaker..."

Yunliu is rigorous in doing things. She summarizes all the investigations and reports them to Chen Xi after sorting them out. It is simple and clear.

The person who said it was very serious, but Chen Xi had the intention of going in and out of the right ear. He was splashing ink and painting the new trench diagram outside the city constantly outlined the map.

After Yun Liu finished reporting, she waited for a while with Xier, but in the end, Xier couldn't help but remind her: "Did Lord Shen hear it clearly?"

"Do you think this official is deaf?"

Chen Xi raised his head and glared at Xier angrily, "The defense outside the city should be entering a short vacuum period. I expected that in less than two days, the main Tatar force would make a comeback again!"

Yun Liu asked in confusion: "Why did Lord Shen make this judgment?"

Chen Xi lowered his head and continued what he had at hand, looking extremely focused, but his answer was very serious: "The Tatar soldiers are now progressing smoothly. Obviously, they don't want to leave the nail of Tumu Fort behind, let alone... I am the one who makes the Tatars extremely afraid of."

"I guess that even if the Tatar national sage Yisimayin wants to stop, Dayan Khan will not allow it. This involves factional disputes and there are also issues of distribution of merits. Dayan Khan will probably order Yisimayin to lead his troops to continue attacking Tumu Fort. At that time, Yisimayin would not be as polite as the first time to attack the city!"

Yunliu asked in surprise: "Mr. Shen said, will the Tartars make a comeback?"

"Maybe!"

Chen Xi shook his head and smiled bitterly, "It may be a good thing for the Tatars to send troops to attack Tumu Fort. At least the pressure faced by Juyong Pass, Zijing Pass and the capital will drop sharply. Now it is difficult for us to break out of the city, so we can only rely on the fortifications inside and outside the Tumu Fort to defend. Once the Tatars come again, we can only look forward to the right time, place, people and stand on our side... However, the war may not be as smooth as before!"

Yun Liu was silent for a long time and asked again: "Sir, when will the Tartars attack the city again?"

Chenxi Road: "It can be as short as two days, and it can be as long as three or five days. If you don't have any accurate letters, be prepared for any trouble!"

...

...

Since October 18th, Juyongguan began to be harassed and attacked by Tatar soldiers and horses, with Yibula as the pioneer. The Tatars completed reinforcements of the troops and horses under Juyongguan within two days. Not only did Juyongguan suffer from military attacks, but Shuiguan, Shixiaguan, Chenjiabao and other places around Juyongguan were also attacked by Tatars.

On October 20th, Yi Sima led his troops back to Tumu Fort. At this time, Tumu Fort became the last city in the Xuanfu territory between the inner Great Wall and the outer Great Wall.

Chen Xi sent Yunliu and Xier out of the city to investigate again. After summarizing the data gathered from multiple sources, Chen Xi roughly figured out one thing: the number of soldiers and horses in Yisi Mayin outside the city should be between 30,000 and 40,000, mainly cavalry.

The defenders in Tumu Fort are basically infantry, and currently there are about 7,000 combat-capable soldiers and horses.

Compared with the two sides, the military forces were basically at a ratio of 6 to 1, and the Ming army was at an absolute disadvantage.

At the same time, the war resources of the enemy and our army were far apart. There was a shortage of various supplies in the city. The Tatars outside the city were strong soldiers and horses. The more Flang cannons and guns and bullets in the city than outside the city were the ditches and ravines dug by Chenxi on the top of Tumubao Mountain.

...

...

October 19th, afternoon.

The capital, the Wenhua Hall in the Forbidden City.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty court was having a discussion on the war in the Northwest, with all seven consultants and ministers in the court attending, and Xiao Jing also attended on behalf of the emperor.

In addition, there are some officials and generals from the Ministry of War and the Governor's Office of the Five Army. In addition, there are officials from the Six Ministers, Ministers, Censors and Tongzheng Envoys who do not know much about military affairs.

This was like a court meeting, but the emperor did not attend. The two who presided over the court meeting were Ma Wensheng, Minister of Personnel and Liu Jian, Chief Auxiliary of the Cabinet.

In this kind of court meeting similar to the court discussion, all officials present can express their opinions. If the opinions are appropriate, they will be recorded and adopted by the court.

What is currently being discussed is basically related to the upcoming war in the northwest.

After the court debate began for a while, Xie Qian was not very interested in other things, but he was interested in the analysis of the Tumu Fort war.

He wanted to know if Chen Xi had hope of escape.

At this moment, Xie Qian did not ask Chen Xi to achieve great achievements in the Battle of Tumu Fort. What he was looking forward to was that Chen Xi could return safely. Anyway, Chen Xi had fully demonstrated himself in this battle.

Even though it was not appropriate for Chen Xi to "distribute troops privately", Xie Qian believed that through his mediation, he could turn big things into small things. Moreover, Chen Xi also made great contributions and defeated the 4,000 troops of Huo Ling's tribe. In this way, Chen Xi's "crime" would have room for improvement.

"...Tumu Fort has a high terrain. Once a war begins, the soldiers and horses in the city can surge out. If you choose to break through from one direction, you can advance quickly. There are 2,000 cavalry in Tuumu Fort. The infantry is left behind. Two thousand soldiers can rush to rescue Juyong Pass..."

When talking about this person, Xie Qian knew him. He even thought that this son was a talent that could be created before. Li Dongyang praised him many times, but later after Xie Qian discovered Chen Xi's talent, he was less interested in such a slightly mediocre young man.

This person is the son of Xie Qian's old friend Wang Hua, and Wang Shouren, who passed the Jinshi exam in the same year as Chen Xi.

Wang Shouren was transferred from the capital with Chen Xi. Wang Shouren went to Huguang territory, while Chen Xi went to Fujian and Guangdong to take office. After Shen Xi was transferred back to the capital from the south, Wang Shouren returned to the court not long after, and selected the Qing official department for the Ministry of War, and was appointed as the fifth rank of official position.

There were some people in the court who were good at being an official, and Wang Shouren was promoted very quickly. After only four years of entering the court, he became a doctor in the Ministry of War. When the Ministry of War was discussing military affairs, he was also qualified to attend, and even spoke freely. The cabinet ministers and the six ministers of the Ministry of War were listening.

Although Wang Shouren's analysis and explanation were very clear, most people present heard it was a fog, such as two thousand cavalry. Didn't it mean that the Chenxi army was full of infantry, and two thousand livestock were pack horses and mules, and donkeys? How did you imagine that the two thousand cavalry were found?

Li Dongyang took it seriously, nodded from time to time, and even occasionally asked questions, allowing Wang Shouren to make a more accurate analysis.

Wang Shouren answered every time, which was enough to prove that Wang Shouren was quite talented in marching and fighting. The reason why he did not show off before was completely because he was shrouded in the sharp edge of Chen Xi.

PS: Chapter 2 is delivered!
Chapter completed!