Text Volume 3 Road to Empire_Chapter 220 There are traps
Although Mo Hai had the corpses and wounded of Baya and the others carried down, the morale of the Niu Lu around him had plummeted, and it was impossible to drive them to attack again before dark.
By the time Hauge caught up, it was no longer suitable for attacking. Looking at the wounded who were constantly wailing* and the corpses lying on the side of the road, Hauge could not let these soldiers with yellow flags attack overnight, even if he was furious.
Early the next morning, the sky had just dawned, and Mo Hai had already launched an attack under the urging of Hauge. Having listened to the wounded companions for half a night* last night, these soldiers with yellow flags had fallen asleep in a daze before dawn, and now they were called to attack by Hauge, and they could not even eat a bite of breakfast, which naturally made them very disappointed in Hauge.
The demoralized soldiers with yellow flags did not realize that the Ming army had retreated last night until they rushed into the position of the Ming army yesterday. Dudu still left a wooden plaque for Hauge, which was still not a good word.
After Hauge looked at the wooden card, he ordered to continue the pursuit with a grim face. At noon, the Houjin army chased the Ming army who was resting here in front of a passage between two mountains, and Haoge, who had a face-to-face with Du Du, immediately ordered his subordinates to attack.
The two attacking Niu Lu learned the lesson of Baya yesterday and started shooting from sixty paces away. At this distance, it was as difficult to hit the Ming army hiding behind a breastwork made of branches and wood as it was to shoot a weeping willow branch from a hundred meters away.
However, at this distance, against a group of scattered rear * archers, the muskets of the Ming army also lost their accuracy, and the mutual fire between the two sides could only be regarded as a mutual deterrent. Prevent each other from entering their respective defensive circles.
The Ming army held on here for more than an hour, and Du Du scolded Haoge for most of the day, until the Houjin army planned to bypass the hills on both sides of the pass, and Du Du retreated with the Ming army blocking the road.
Hauge, who was furious, moved those half-hearted ox-inlaid yellow flags to the back, and he personally rushed to the front with the Niu Hulu brothers, who were loyal to him.
The next battle began to become fierce, and the Ming army, which was tightly bitten by Hauge, could no longer retreat as leisurely as before. The soldiers with the yellow flag naturally did not dare to let Haoge rush to the front, they could only throw aside everything and rush forward against the bullets of the Ming army.
Although the casualties of the yellow flag increased rapidly, but under the stimulation of blood, these Jurchen soldiers who were originally cowering began to forget the old lord Du Du on the other side and put their minds on combat.
Although Yan Yingyuan divided the four battalions he brought out and the more than 200 people under Du Du who could continue to fight into four teams, they formed a barrier to support each other and retreat on the road in the rear. But there were only two battalions armed with reed wheel guns, and the other two battalions had only flintlock muskets that had just been finalized.
In the process of continuous combat, the defect of the reed wheel gun was magnified, that is, after the steel wheel was contaminated with mud, the success rate of firing began to decline. Although some cavalry had more than two reed guns, they were about as efficient at firing as cavalry with only one flintlock musket.
The flintlock musket, which has just been finalized, although it is easier to operate than the reed wheel gun, is still inefficient in loading ammunition, and the most skilled soldiers are only two rounds a minute, and ordinary soldiers can do one round a minute on the battlefield, which is already quite good.
So when the shooters with yellow flags endured the first round of shooting from the Ming army, it was the turn of the Ming army to retreat. Hauge soon realized the weakness of the Ming army's firearms and modified the tactics of attacking with yellow flags.
He divided the attacking troops into three groups, the first of which consisted of only a dozen marksmen, and they came forward to shoot in an extremely loose formation to lure the Ming army's muskets into firing.
After the Ming firearms were fired one round, the second team of shooters stepped forward in a dense formation to shoot, disrupting the queue of Ming musketeers.
When the Ming army began to retreat, the first and second teams of archers moved the barricades, allowing the third team of cavalry to overrun the line in pursuit.
After Hauge changed his tactics, the Ming army suddenly suffered a big loss. Fortunately, this section of the river valley is extremely narrow, and although the troops with yellow flags have an advantage, they cannot bypass the defense line from the flank to cut off the retreat of the Ming army, so the Ming army fell behind.
Fortunately, it was getting dark, and today's pursuit battle finally came to an end. In the fierce battle of this day, the Yellow Banner lost one and a half Niu Lu, and the Ming army also lost half of the cavalry battalion, and the Ming army suffered a slight loss in comparison.
After the Ming army was stationed in Nanwan that night, after checking his own losses, Yan Yingyuan said to Du Du: "Tomorrow we can't entangle with Haoge like this anymore, we need to throw away from them for some distance, otherwise we will not be tempting them, but giving them meat to eat." ”
Du Du said with some concern: "There are at least more than 30 miles from here to the scheduled Xiahe Mountain, if we are away from Haugera, what if he doesn't chase him?" ”
Yan Yingyuan looked at the fire in front of him and thought for a long time before he said: "Then we can't continue to fight like today, we are at a disadvantage now but we are still carrying it and not running, even if Hao Ge is not suspicious, it is impossible for Dai Shan behind him not to see it."
I came out this time with some*, which I never had a chance to use before, so I'll use them all tomorrow. Then pretend that we can't support it, and the whole line is broken.
From the South Bay to the fork of the Yakniu River, there is a right-angled canyon in which there is no place to ambush. In Hauge's enraged state today, he has more than a seventy percent chance of chasing us. ”
Du Du still asked a little unwillingly: "Then what about the other three percent?" ”
Yan Yingyuan pulled down the fire with the wooden stick in his hand, and then let out a long breath and said: "Then it depends on whether God favors me Daming, if God blesses me Daming, then Haoge will inevitably chase him down..."
Early the next morning, seeing that the Ming army did not flee at night, and was still guarding behind a rudimentary breastwork, Haoge reorganized his team and let the two Niu Lu hide behind two cars that had been made overnight, and launched an attack on the Ming army's defense line.
Although these two chariots were extremely rudimentary, they were not easily penetrated by the muskets of the Ming army. After releasing a row of guns, the Ming troops behind the defense line turned around and retreated, and there was no longer the momentum of yesterday's insistence.
The withdrawal of the Ming army immediately boosted the morale of the attacking Jurchens, and Mo Hai immediately rushed forward with a group of cavalry, trying to entangle the tail of the Ming army in order to delay the retreat of the Ming army.
However, as soon as Mo Hai and the others crossed the low wall made of trees and stones by the Ming army, a series of explosions rang out behind the low wall. In this group of cavalry, including Mo Hai, in addition to a few people who were injured by the stones that flew from the explosion, there were also more than a dozen cavalrymen who fell off their horses because their mounts were frightened, and Mo Hai was also one of them.
The sudden explosion interrupted Houjin's pursuit, but it was soon recognized that the explosions were made by Akito*. The Ming people's * is not very powerful, and it is easy to find, so it is rarely used in field battles except for defending the city.
The reason why Mo Hai and the others were recruited was also because there was this low wall blocking their view, and they were too anxious to pursue them, which made the Ming army trap them.
By the time the Jurchens came to their senses, the Ming army was about to disappear from their field of vision. Several Niu Lu Ezhen with yellow flags couldn't help but step forward and persuade Haoge at this time: "Master, Big Baylor is about to arrive, let's stop chasing it first, and wait for Big Baylor to come?" ”
Before Hauge could speak, he saw that Chaohar, who had been unconscious since his brother fell from his horse, stopped doing it first, and he pointed to the direction of the retreat of the Ming army and said: "These Ming troops fled in a hurry, obviously they have fallen into fear.
They have even used such means, will there be any means in their hands that can resist us? Since the day before yesterday, we have followed the pursuit all the way, and finally beat these Ming troops without the will to resist.
Now you say that you will suspend the pursuit and wait for the Great Baylor to come up. When the fighter plane is gone, how can it come again? If we let these Ming troops breathe their breath, can we still arrest the rebellious Du Du back? The closer you get to the grassland, the more likely it is that reinforcements from the Ming army will appear.
Master, please allow the minions to lead people to continue the pursuit, and whether it succeeds or fails will be known today. ”
After listening to Chaohar's words, Haoge finally made up his mind, and he said to a Niu Lu Ezhen: "Zhangtun, you stay and take care of these wounded soldiers, and when Da Baylor arrives, tell him." Du Du's troops seem to have exhausted their strength, and whether or not they can catch him, my pursuit will end today. And I ask the Great Belle to wait here for a day, and tomorrow I will return with him..."
By the time Dai Shan and his team arrived at the camp with the yellow flag slowly, Hauge had already pursued with the remaining 16 cattle with the yellow flag.
Dai Shan heard from Niu Lu Ezhen Zhangtun that Haoge seemed to want to fight one last time, and when he pursued for the last day, he didn't take it to heart.
He already had a very clear understanding of the Ming army's fight with the yellow flag yesterday. As long as the Ming army took out half of yesterday's strength, Haoge would not be able to chase the canyon in front of him for more than 20 miles today, and could only run back in disgrace.
Judging from the current situation, it is unlikely that the Ming army will suddenly collapse, otherwise they would have run away last night. Dai Shan thought that this was Haoge's attempt to put gold on his face, so he was ashamed to say that he had collapsed the Ming army, so he had to pretend to pursue it.
Daishan, who didn't want to expose Hauge's lies, camped down in the camp with the yellow flag, ordered his subordinates to prepare food, and planned to wait here for Hauge's return.
Of course, Dai Shan, who had always been cautious, still sent a Niu Lu as a scout to investigate the battle between Haoge and the Ming army, so as to keep abreast of the situation on the front line.
When it was almost noon, the scout Niu Lu in front sent someone to report that they had already walked through half of the canyon, but they still did not see any trace of Haoge and the Ming army, as if the Ming army was really pursued by Haoge and collapsed.
Dai Shan, who was drinking milk tea, suddenly jumped up, ignoring the milk tea spilled on him, and ordered his subordinates in a panic: "Hurry up and assemble the team and prepare to go to receive the yellow flag." In addition, he sent someone to chase after Hauge, and told him that the Ming army must have a trap outside the canyon, and told him to stop the pursuit quickly, and those who violated the order were to be dealt with by military law..."