On 10 November, three battalions of the 1st Cavalry Division and another unit transporting military supplies arrived at Mashen Bridge. The number of troops reported by the General Staff to Chongzhen's Ma Shenqiao was 12 cavalry battalions, 8 chariot and cavalry battalions, 2 infantry battalions, 2 squadrons at night, and 4 infantry battalions that used the defeated Ming army and an auxiliary to remix and marry.

Li Hongyuan, who had stayed up all night without sleep and his eyes were red, and two colleagues were reporting a rearranged battle plan to Chongzhen: "... Cui Zongbing's 4 infantry battalions were the forward troops to induce the enemy army in Shimenzhai to attack. Our army dispatched all the cavalry units, 6 chariot battalions and 1 infantry battalion, to follow in the rear. Once the enemy army in Shimenzhai attacked our forward troops, the main force of our army quickly approached the battlefield, and when the enemy army lost its formation in the attack, it divided and surrounded and eliminated the other party..."

Zhu Youzhen listened and listened, and couldn't help but interject and asked: "In case the enemy army in Shimenzhai does not attack our forward troops, what backup plan does our army have?" ”

"Then the forward troops crossed Shimen Village and directly blocked Shimen Gorge. Our main force will attack Shimen Zhai head-on, strive to compress the enemy army in the narrow Shimen Village, and then gather all our forces to destroy it..."

After the incident of being criticized by Mao Yuanyi at the last military meeting, Li Hongyuan's revised battle plan is undoubtedly much more detailed in detail, not only lacking many imaginary combat orders, but also setting up a backup retreat plan to deal with the worst situation.

Zhu Youzhen nodded, and said to Li Hongyuan: "I agree to this plan in principle, but I ask to send troops early tomorrow morning, regardless of whether those Mongols accept the idea of ransom Shimenzhai or not, we must start to act." ”

Li Hongyuan said to the emperor with some hesitation: "But today, those officers are only grouped with auxiliaries, and without two or three days of effort, I am afraid they will not be able to form any combat effectiveness."

It is about 20 miles from Mashenqiao to Shimenzhai, and it takes about 4 hours for an ordinary march and at least 3 hours for a rapid march. If the enemy army in Shimenzhai wants to attack, it will inevitably choose the area where our army is more than half of the march. In this case, in order to implement the entire battle plan, the forward troops must insist on entanglement with the enemy for about one hour, otherwise the enemy will have enough time to react and retreat calmly..."

Zhu Youzhen waved his hand and interrupted Li Hongyuan's explanation, "I know that according to normal circumstances, what you said is correct. The cavalry assaults an infantry on the march, and if the infantry is not prepared, it is difficult to hold out for 1 hour.

Not to mention that the current troops, which are only organized with auxiliaries and defeated armies, have neither training nor morale, and it is even more difficult to get them to hold out for an hour.

But even if you are given time to train this army, can you guarantee that in 3 or 5 days they will be able to turn them into an army that can last more than an hour in the face of cavalry assault on the battlefield? ”

Li Hongyuan subconsciously shook his head, "I'm afraid not, Your Majesty." ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded and said: "Yes, now the training to catch this army is no longer possible, if you want them to persist in fighting the enemy army on the battlefield for an hour, you can only let them fight hard."

And if you want them to work hard, you can't leave them too much time to think. Once those defeated soldiers and auxiliaries realized how difficult their task was, would they still obey the orders and set off for Shimen Village?

Once you have drawn up your battle order, you will convey it to the armies and prepare for battle. Tell the officers and men of the 4th Battalion under General Cui that their task is simple, to go to Shimenxia at an ordinary marching speed and block the Shimenxia passage. As long as this task can be completed, all the sins of the defeated army and fleeing will be written off, and I will not pursue it again.

Tell them again that there are only a few hundred enemy cavalry in Shimen Village, and they should not attack them out of the village. If the enemy does attack, I will personally lead my troops to rescue them.

Therefore, they had to hold out for an hour when they were attacked by enemy troops. Those who collapse in less than an hour shall be punished for both crimes and shall be punished on the spot with battlefield discipline; Those who collapse after more than 1 hour are not guilty; Those who persist for more than 2 hours will have merit and can be incorporated into my Imperial Army after the war.

In addition, before the expedition tomorrow, according to the practice of the border towns, this unit will be given an allocation fee of 5 yuan per person, and the officers will be doubled. ”

After Li Hongyuan and two colleagues walked out of the lobby, a younger colleague said with some unbearability: "In this case, the forward troops that are used as bait will suffer heavy losses, will we really carry it out like this?" ”

Li Hongyuan's face turned a little blue and said, "Since it is a plan I made, it is naturally up to me to bear it." I will set off with the forward troops, and I will leave the deployment of the two of you after that..."

On November 10, Zhang Xianzhong, who represented Cui Ningxiu, and Batu Zayan, who represented the Mongolian garrison stationed in Shimenzhai, finalized the deal for the purchase of Shimenzhai at a staggering speed.

Zhang Xianzhong, who got the order, also pretended to cut the price, and Batu Zayan, who wanted the Ming army to move east as soon as possible, even saved the pretending bargain, he only hesitated slightly, and then agreed to Zhang Xianzhong's revised conditions.

The two sides agreed to pay 35,000 silver dollars, 1,000 pieces of cotton cloth and 300 horses of various colors of silk as the cost of redeeming Shimen Village. The Ming army will depart tomorrow morning and arrive at Shimen Village around noon. The Mongols collected half of their belongings at the west gate of Shimenzhai, and the other half of their belongings were collected after handing over Shimenzhai.

In the afternoon of this day, Erji Taiji sent a letter back to Shimen Village, and once again reported to Gushan Ezhen Engdeer of the Mongolian Left Battalion that there was no follow-up Ming army except for yesterday's Ming army reinforcements, and the Ming army of the Ministry sent several sentry spies today, and it seemed that there was an intention to send troops to the east in the near future.

Engdel has recalled all the Mongolian troops who were eating nearby to the vicinity of Shimenzhai, in addition to the two Mongolian Niulu in Qiuerji to monitor Mashenqiao, there are also 7 Niulu who went out to explore the road did not receive the news and did not return, the Mongolian left battalion has gathered more than 1,700 troops in Shimenzhai.

Engdel immediately reorganized the Mongolian left battalion, with nearly 600 Mongolian Niulu soldiers as the core, and more than 1,000 tribal coalition troops as the auxiliary, and prepared to defeat the Ming army that dared to attack Shimenzhai at one time, so as to deter the Ming army near the left side of Jizhou City, and did not dare to have any thoughts of sending troops.

Engdel asked the messenger to go back and tell the Ming army to closely monitor the movements of the Ming army, and once the Ming army was dispatched, it must be reported to Shimenzhai as soon as possible. On the other hand, he sent his younger brother Manggoldai to the Great Khan of Zunhua, informed the Great Khan of the truth here, and asked the Great Khan for instructions.

All of a sudden, the Ming army at Mashenqiao and the Mongolian left camp at Shimenzhai became nervous, and both sides were waiting, and the other fell into their trap.

Regarding Li Hongyuan's request to join the forward troops, Zhu Youzhen only thought for a moment and agreed. At this time, he will not refuse any means that can boost morale.

Those officers who had retreated from the defeat saw that there were staff officers by the emperor's side by their side, and they thought that they should also increase their confidence in battle.

Zhu Youzhen told Li Hongyuan that the military order to hold on for one hour was equally effective for him, and if he was willing to go down in this way, then he would not refuse him to participate in the battle of the forward troops.

When Li Hongyuan came to make a request to Chongzhen, he was obviously ready, and he still insisted on his request without hesitation in response to Chongzhen's warning.

Regarding Li Hongyuan's insistence, Zhu Youzhen nodded, and then called Jin Shengheng, "You send a platoon of capable soldiers to Staff Officer Li, responsible for protecting his safety, don't let him be killed in the chaotic battle..."

Li Hongyuan also asked the emperor to allocate some of the equipment of the chariot division to the forward troops, and Zhu Youzhen also complied.

Zuo Liangyu was a little unhappy when he heard about it, most of the equipment of the rider came from the ordnance superintendent, and Jizhou City basically couldn't replenish it, so he allocated these equipment to the forward troops, and the rider's use felt a little overstretched.

However, Chongzhen said to him disapprerovantly: "... It's just that you will temporarily lend these equipment to the forward troops, as long as the current Mongols are defeated, these equipment will still belong to your fourth division, and no one will be able to take it away..."

Under the persuasion of the emperor, Zuo Liangyu finally reluctantly allocated more than half a battalion of equipment to Li Hongyuan, so that he could use it to equip the forward troops to resist the surprise attack of the Houjin cavalry.

At 7 a.m. on November 11, darkness continued to cover the earth, and the stars in the sky were still clearly visible, except for the eastern sky, which showed a hint of whitening. The camp of the Ming army on the east bank of the Lin River on the east side of the Mashen Bridge began to be lively, and one group after another of soldiers were gathered by the grassroots officers, sorted out the ranks and distributed breakfast and dry rations, and loaded all kinds of materials needed for the march according to the orders of the officers.

At 8 o'clock in the morning, when the sky had begun to dawn, the first Ming army squad finally walked out of the camp and advanced along the official road in the northeast. Despite the constant reprimands of many officers, it took more than half an hour for this team of 3,877 people to all walk out of the camp gate.

According to the marching plan formulated by Li Hongyuan, the first battalion opened the road in front, the two battalions responded in the center, and the first battalion served as the rear guard to defend the baggage. The team is divided into three echelons, with a length of no more than 1 kilometer.

However, after leaving the camp, the whole team quickly lost its formation and became a long dragon connected from end to end, and there was no longer the appearance of echoing back and forth in the plan.

Zhu Youzhen and his generals were standing on the east gate of Mashen Bridge to observe this unit, and for a while, almost everyone had doubts about whether this unit could hold out for an hour under the onslaught of cavalry.

Wu Huai and Zuo Liangyu both worriedly suggested to the emperor: "Your Majesty, should we leave some time in advance. The minister thought that if he set off on time, he might not be able to meet this force. ”

Zhu Youzhen hesitated and said: "Half an hour in advance, let the night not be closed to clear the Houjin sentinel in the direction of Shimenzhai first, and if it can't be cleared for the time being, it will cut off the communication between them and Shimenzhai." ”