Chapter Fifty-Three: Dolgon Attacks the Wall Ridge Again, and the Kiln Gang Division Attacks Again

When Emperor Chongzhen heard the news of the Manchu attack on Qiangziling, the defenders of Qiangziling had been resisting for a day.

Those ministers who usually look down on the Yaogang people, and even want to put the Yaogang people to death and then hurry up, this time they ignored the previous suspicions and asked Emperor Chongzhen to ask the Yaogang people to send troops to help. However, the situation is not clear, the Manchu Qing Dynasty has not yet threatened Beijing, and Emperor Chongzhen is not ready to invite the Yaogang people to send troops. Because of the matter just now, Emperor Chongzhen suffered a big loss from the Yaogang people. Now can you not invite the kiln gang people to send troops, or try not to ask for people. Emperor Chongzhen also has an abacus in his heart, that is, the strength of the Ming army has also been strengthened. Last time, most of the muskets and ** sent by a kiln man were sent to Wu Sangui in Shanhaiguan, and some of them were sent to the checkpoints on the Great Wall. The Imperial Military Department and the Ministry of Industry have also developed the same ** as the kiln gang people, and a large number of equipment has been sent to various checkpoints. The combat effectiveness of the Ming army has also been greatly improved. Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen thought that as long as the support was strong, the wall should be able to hold it.

Li Zhi arranged for the intelligence station in Miyun to send the information of the Manchu attack on Qiangziling back to Yaogang in a timely manner. Therefore, the people of Yaogang knew the news of the Manchu attack on Qiangziling much earlier than Emperor Chongzhen.

Chen Yufeng knew that the threat of the Mongols in Mobei to the north had been lifted, and the two cavalry armies that Liu Yun and the others had withdrawn could be used on the east and west.

This kind of decisive battle is the most in line with the wishes of the Yaogang people, otherwise it will be troublesome to chase these Mongols everywhere. However, the Yaogang people did not have time to celebrate, so they sent the First Cavalry Army and the Third Cavalry Army again. This time, Zhou Yuji led the Third Army to the west, bypassing the west of the Yellow River to block the Mongols in Mobei and support the western route; Li Wei led the First Army from the north of the Great Wall to the east, blocking the Manchu retreat. Although they were all long-distance raids, they were still different from the raids that had just been carried out. Because the rush that has just been carried out and the rush that will be carried out can only be regarded as a short-distance run. In this long-distance operation, horse-drawn carriages must be followed by the advance, so as to ensure the supply of the army for a long time.

For the sake of secrecy in the attack, Li Wei and Zhou Yuji both led their teams to the north, and they both headed north and then suddenly split up to the east and west. Due to their sudden and quick movements, they don't give Hosaku time to send information. Because they don't have a telegraph, it's too late to send information by fast horses. It is okay to use carrier pigeons here for short distances, but it is not easy to go long distances, because there are especially many eagles in the grasslands. It is not safe to send information over long distances.

In fact, after the Manchus determined the time of the attack, they sent several groups of men and horses in advance, and quickly reported the Mongols who were acting together with them. Of course, the people who sent the letter to the Mongols in Gray Tengliangshan must not find anyone, but this is meaningless. However, the messengers to the west of the Yellow River completed their mission and rushed to send the information before Zhou Yuji and them.

The Mongols in Mobei this time were divided into two routes, one was from the north to prepare to directly deal with the Yaogang people in the Baotou area, if they succeeded, they could cross the Yellow River and take the original Ordos people's treasure land as their own; The other way is to attack from Helan Mountain, to capture Ningxia Wei first, and if you succeed, you can march to Lanzhou.

These Mongols on the north road never dreamed that the Yaogang people would take the initiative to attack and block them in the camp. Their tactics, which often led to extraordinary results, were useless, and their high-speed and mobile cavalry were useless, and they were almost completely annihilated, and only a few thousand men and horses fled back to Mobei. However, they fled in a hurry, and they did not expect to send a message to the Mongol Andas who were attacking along the western road.

The Mongolian brothers on their western route gathered more than 20,000 horses this time, and it was inevitable for Ningxia Wei.

Previously, the Khans had repeatedly restrained them and forbade them to provoke the Han Chinese. Because the Khan kings learned according to intelligence that the Han people who are now stationed here are different from the past, and the firearms in their hands are very powerful. Even the army of King Li Chuang, who was rampant in the Central Plains, fled when they saw them. And the Ordos Mongols fought a few battles with King Li Chuang, but they also lost more than they won, which shows that they are really powerful, so the king of Khan resolutely did not allow them to provoke the Han people.

In the past two years, they have not been able to plunder the Han people, and these Mongol Andas have a very poor life. Now that the Khan kings are finally going to war against the Han people, these heroes on the steppe, who have long been holding back their strength, are eager to try one by one. It was only because of the need for unified action that the Khans asked them to stand by in seclusion. This can be very uncomfortable for these Mongols. However, the Mongols had strict military discipline, and they had no choice but to enforce it.

From the time the Tatars drove the Warats out of the Helan Mountains, they occupied the northern and western parts of the Helan Mountains. The Tatars covet the temperate and humid eastern plains of Helan Mountain.

Historically, none of China's mountains has been in a state of war almost all the time, as Helan Mountain. It is located at the junction of farming people and nomads, and the migration of ethnic groups is very frequent, and it is an important barrier for nomads to the Central Plains in history. For thousands of years, there have been Xiongnu, Xianbei, Qiang, Turkic, Uighur, Tubo, Dangxiang, Mongolian and other ethnic groups living and grazing here. The numerous valley mouths are important trade and transportation routes in peacetime, and they are battleground for soldiers in wartime.

Helan Mountain is basically a north-south trend, with a length of more than 200 kilometers from north to south and a width of 20 to 40 kilometers from east to west. There are several east-west valleys in the mountains of Helan Mountain, and the famous ones are Helan Pass, Suyu Pass, Sanguan Pass, and Baisi Pass, which have been the main roads of east-west traffic since ancient times.

After the Yaogang people occupied Ningxia Wei, they strengthened several passes on Helan Mountain. In particular, forts were added. After Li Kui arrived in Ningxiawei, he knew that the defense east of the Yellow River was no longer so important, so he focused on the defense north and west of Helan Mountain. Helan Mountain is easy to defend and difficult to attack. However, it also has the characteristic that the western side is very gentle, not as steep as the eastern side. Therefore, it is also easy to attack west from a few mountain passes. Li Kui is not a general who only wants to defend, if it weren't for Chen Yufeng's repeated requests to only defend and not attack in the west, I'm afraid Li Kui would have been unable to sit still.

Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He had personally inspected Helan Mountain, and they were well aware of the importance of defense here. That's why they decided to let a general like Li Kui come over to guard the palace. Li Kui looks like a rough person, but in fact, he is not the case, when he is thin, his heart is thinner than anyone else. And this person has excellent psychological qualities, which is related to his experience. There are some things that cannot be learned, and they must be experienced.

After Li Kui learned the news of the Mongol assembly, he sent a lot of scouts to cross the Helan Mountain to reconnoitre, and it was generally clear that there were 10,000 or 20,000 Mongols who were going to attack. Dealing with the attack of 20,000 people, Li Kui was not worried, how could Li Kui think about annihilating these 20,000 people. Therefore, he asked Ningde to transfer the cavalry army in his hand. However, Ningde had already transferred two divisions of the Second Cavalry Army to Jiayuguan, and only one cavalry division was transferred to Li Kui. However, Ningde also transferred a division of the Second Infantry Army to Li Kui. Fortunately, the Second Army also had a lot of horses, and the infantry could also rely on horses for quick maneuvering when things happened. The eastern side of Helan Mountain is also a semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral area, and there is no shortage of war horses. Li Kui also has a naval brigade on his side. They had several tugboats to tow barges and patrol back and forth on the Yellow River, and barge guns to deter opponents on shore.

The Mongols were not stupid, they knew the advantages of the Yaogang people, so they all gathered on the west side of Helan Mountain, away from the Yellow River.

Li Kui knew in his heart that with the firearms in their hands, it would be impossible for those Mongols to cross several passes in Helan Mountain. Even if they rushed into Helan Mountain and arrived in the Ningxia Plain, they could not escape the siege of the Yaogang cavalry.

However, the Mongols in the west of Helan Mountain, who have never suffered the loss of the Yaogang people, do not know this. They had been listening to others say how powerful the Yaogang people were, and they had never believed that anyone could stop the charge of their Mongol iron cavalry group. Now more than 20,000 of their Mongolian elite soldiers are gathered together, and this is a force that no one can match.

Zhou Yuji led the Third Cavalry Army to the west, crossed the Wuliangsuhai from the north, then followed the Wujia River to the west, and then to the south, along the edge of the desert to Helan Mountain, and from the north of Helan Mountain to the west of Helan Mountain. After contacting Li Kui by telegram, the approximate location of the Mongol camp was determined. Zhou Yuji knew that the opportunity had come. Just when Zhou Yuji and his team rushed to the Mongol camp, Li Kui sent a telegram saying that the Mongols were probably no longer in their original position, because they had begun to attack the Helan Pass, and they had the intention of taking the Helan Pass in one fell swoop. Therefore, it was impossible for the Mongol brigade to stay where it was. It is likely that their brigade will move outside the Helan Pass.

Zhou Yuji asked people to dig out the map of the Helan Mountain area, and discussed with everyone: "The Mongols attacked the Helan Pass. They wouldn't have thought we'd come up from behind them. We surrounded them from the west, and then asked Li Kui and them to counterattack from the Helan Pass, and we surrounded and annihilated the 20,000 Mongols outside the Helan Pass. ”

Someone said: "Actually, there is no need for General Li Kui to attack, as long as they hold the Helan Pass." We had an average of more than two points per person, and it should have been done with ease. ”

Zhou Yuji looked at the map and said, "The problem is that the encirclement we started from the west is too large, and the troops everywhere are very weak. If the Mongols find out that it is not good, and concentrate in one place to break through, it will not be easy for us to do it. ”

The commander of the 3rd Cavalry Corps said: "I see it this way, we now have three cavalry divisions, three transport regiments. We will use the three transport regiments as one division. They relied on vehicles to form a line of defense and was responsible for the southern face. The 1st and 2nd Divisions were responsible for the west and north respectively. The 3rd Division was responsible for maneuvering, and the concentrated artillery was due west. The 3rd Division of the Mongol Army, which found that there had escaped, was in charge of the pursuit. I don't think it's very likely that they will break through to the south, because that side is not the direction of their hometown, so let the transport regiment rely on vehicles to fortify the south. ”

At this time, the reconnaissance returned from the reconnaissance and reported that the Mongol camp was indeed no longer in place, and they had all moved to the west of the Helan Pass. The Mongols attacking Helan Mountain attacked very strongly, and they mobilized a lot of artillery to attack the Helan Mountain Pass.

Zhou Yuji said: "It's okay, the Mongols can't take advantage." We'll let them fight for a day, and tomorrow they'll go to war, and we'll surround them. ”

After Li Kui learned that Zhou Yuji's brigade had arrived, he knew that the opportunity to encircle and annihilate the Mongols in front of him had come. If the Mongols in front of them can be destroyed, Helan Mountain can be exchanged for a few years of peace. At that time, maybe the Mongols didn't come, and we should go out to find them.

When Li Kui learned that the Mongols had begun to move towards the Helan Pass, he knew that the Mongols must have learned that the Manchu attack had begun, and they were about to attack. Li Kui thought to himself that we should take advantage of the favorable position of Helan Pass to kill and injure more Mongols, and then cooperate with Zhou Yuji to attack and encircle and annihilate this group of Mongols.

Helan Pass is located in the middle of Helan Mountain, the location is very important, but the mountains here are also very steep. Because the mountains on both sides could not be climbed, the Helan Pass only had a city wall built on the mountain pass. The Mongols had a lot of brains on how to capture the pass. Before the attack, he first brought in a lot of artillery to bombard the pass. But Li Kui would not stand up and let them fight, and the forts on the Helan Pass, the infantry guns, and 120 heavy mortars were arranged to cover the Mongol artillery positions. Soon the Mongol cannons were dumbfounded. These cannons were blown away after a single shot at most.

This time the Mongols were terrified. They knew that if the shells of the kiln men were not to blow up the artillery, but to shoot at them, they would be in danger. But the battle can't be stopped. At this time, they didn't know that the three khans of Mobei had been defeated, otherwise they would definitely not be able to fight. The artillery was not good, and the Mongols sent archers and bed crossbowmen to shoot rockets at the pass, trying to set the pass on fire. However, the buildings were built with huge stones, and the newly built fortifications were still built with reinforced concrete. The rockets basically did not do much, and the Mongols rushed by with ladders, and many of them were killed by machine guns. In just one day, in front of the Helan Pass, the corpses of the Mongols were piled up.

The Mongols received a fatal blow to their momentum. In the evening, the Mongols held a meeting to study and decided that there was no other way, so they would adopt the old way, and tomorrow they would organize cavalry to pile up earth and stones under the pass.

It's May, and the corpses in front of the pass will decompose quickly, and if you don't attack the pass as soon as possible, the soldiers surrounding the gate will also be prone to the plague.

However, they did not have the opportunity to pile up earth and rocks in front of the pass. In the evening, Li Kui and Zhou Yuji contacted by telegram, and they were ready to be cleaned up tomorrow.

Zhou Yuji's brigade has not been discovered by the Mongols. The Mongols they encountered along the way were basically disposed of, leaving no chance for them to report the news.

After night, Zhou Yuji let everyone have breakfast, and bypassed the Mongol camp in front of the Helan Mountain Pass, and completed the encirclement of the Mongols from the south, northwest, and north before dawn.

After daybreak, the Mongols sent five thousand cavalry, each with a sheepskin pouch, which was intended to be used to carry earth and stones to the front of the pass. Transporting mound cities was a traditional Mongol tactic, and they used this tactic in almost all difficult cities. Although this tactic seems to be very clumsy and time-consuming, it is very practical, and the opponent has no way to counteract, and you will run out of bows and arrows.

When the Mongols rushed forward on horseback and carrying sheepskin bags, the artillery on the pass opened fire. One by one, the horses were blown up, but the Mongolian soldiers behind did not retreat, and rushed to the front of the pass one after another to pour down the soil and stones in the sheepskin bag, and ran back if they were not hit by the bullets of the kiln gangmen. This style of play is also very powerful for the psychological deterrence of the defenders.

But Li Kui knew that he didn't have time to play these things with the Mongols. Zhou Yuji and Li Kui sent a telegram to confirm that everything was ready, and then ordered the artillery to open fire on the Mongol camp. At the same time, the three-sided encirclement began to compress inward.

At this time, the Mongols found that when they had concentrated all their attention on the Helan Pass, they were supposed to be very safe behind, and a large number of Han people came up, and at this time they were firing at them, and kept pressing over. The inside of the camp was immediately thrown into chaos after the shelling, especially the shells that were not very powerful, but could indeed blow up a sea of fire, and some of the horses were blown up and caught on fire, and the fire horses would crash in all directions, knocking down all the tent people. Those who reacted quickly rushed to the outside of the camp after grabbing their horses, knowing that the things in the camp could not be extinguished when they set up. If the Mongol soldiers and the Mongol soldiers who retreated from the pass were not burned to death, it was clear that if they did not break out of the encirclement now, the Han people in the Helan Pass would rush out again, and they would be attacked on all sides, and there would be no way to live. But they were afraid of something, and at this moment the cannonballs on the pass shot at their heads, and at the same time the door was wide open, and a group of cavalry rushed out. This is the cavalry division of the 2nd Cavalry Corps that rushed out. At the same time, the Han cavalry surrounding outside also surrounded them. In desperation, the Mongols found that only the Han in the south advanced more slowly. Someone took the lead, and the Mongols rushed south.

The Mongols hit by mistake, and the breakthrough point they chose was really the weak link of the kiln gang people. It was a line of defense formed by three transport regiments, which were built by horse-drawn carriages, and moved a little slower to maintain formation as they advanced. However, their weapons were not weak, and they found that the Mongols in the brigade were rushing towards them, and the light and heavy machine guns mounted on the wagons opened fire together, and the automatic rifles in the hands of the transporters also opened fire one after another. Seeing these Mongol soldiers bullying the transport soldiers, the Yaogang cavalry on the other three sides quickly pressed towards them. Originally, the Mongols were not surprised by the blow of the transport troops, they had never encountered such a formation, and the bullets in front of them were like a wind, and they were really sticking to death and dying. Just when they wanted to stop, the other three sides had already pressed up, and they had to grit their teeth and rush forward. Not to mention, it really made these Mongolian cavalry rush through a few openings and rush out. The Mongolian cavalry that did not rush behind turned around and waved their sabers and fought desperately with the Han people who were chasing after them. However, they found that the Han cavalry did not have swords, and the things they carried in their hands may have been rifles. Those Han people who approached, holding guns and "popping", as soon as they met, they would hit a string of bullets, and the armor on their bodies was useless at all. They were all knocked off their horses. This time, the Yaogang cavalry felt that it was too much, because when they were fighting the Mongol camp in the north, it was not their turn to shoot at all, and the cannon and heavy machine guns basically solved the problem. This time it's a meat opening. It was very difficult for the cavalry to shoot accurately, but the opponent could not run away from the face-to-face point shot.

Zhou Yuji also found that someone had rushed out from the north, and commanded the two regiments at hand to hurry over to surround the Mongolian soldiers who had leaked through the net.

However, the Mongol soldiers were also very clever, and as soon as they rushed out, they scattered and fled for their lives. Therefore, although Zhou Yuji sent people to besiege it, more than 2,000 Mongols escaped.

By noon, the battle was over completely. The sparse gunfire on the battlefield gradually disappeared. It turned out that when the soldiers saw the Mongols who were seriously wounded and did not die, they gave a humane shot to make up for them, so that they would suffer a little less crime.

When Li Kui rode his horse to Zhou Yujimian, he bowed his hand on the horse and said, "Lord Commander, I haven't seen you for a long time!" We're not drunk tonight. ”

"Huh! General Li, how can there be any general soldier now. We're all family, so you have to have enough wine for the night! Zhou Yuji was also very happy to see Li Kui. At this moment, at the foot of Helan Mountain, they are well-deserved heroes.

Li Kui pointed at the corpses of the Mongolian soldiers everywhere with a horsewhip on his horse, and said: "Tell me, the battle I have been looking forward to for so long is over, it's so boring!" It is said that Mongolians are like wolves and tigers, and I don't think they are much stronger than sheep. More than 20,000 people are still violent, now look at ....."

"Come on! I said General Li, don't talk about it. We have such good guys in our hands, and they are also wielding big knives and spears. If we hadn't defeated them so easily, we would have been killed at the foot of this Helan Mountain. Zhou Yuji said, "They are not only too poor in weapons, but also worse in means of communication." We're killing them here. If they were to be put in formation to attack us, 20,000 cavalry, two horsemen each, I would really need to deal with it for a while. ”

"Okay! In any case, our battle will bring peace to Helan Mountain for a few years. Li Kui said: "Just like what Mr. Zhang said last time, we will have a few years to do a good job in internal affairs." We'll come back here in a few years. I won't go back. ”

"Huh! General Li thinks long-term! Zhou Yuji said with a smile.

"That's right!" Li Kui said: "However, I also saw this battle. Fighting the Mongols, the infantry played little role. General Ningde added a division to me, and I left it in the back and didn't move. The infantry was okay to defend the city, but it was still necessary to rely on cavalry to deal with the Mongols. ”

"That's right, if we attack and fight in the future, we will need cavalry even more." Zhou Yuji said, "In the evening, I will tell you how we dealt with those Mongols in Gray Tengliang Mountain. Hi! Li Wei and his automobile soldiers were very powerful, and several of them drove a car to chase the Mongols, and the car was equipped with a large-caliber machine gun. It's like the devil. In the future, the right way to deal with cavalry is to use cars. And our artillery carriage hasn't used you yet. That thing was just slower, but more powerful. ”

After Li Kui heard Zhou Yuji's words, his eyes glowed green, and he said, "Okay!" I've got enough wine tonight, so tell me about the car. Obediently, if we all had cars, we would be able to drive all the Mongols to the edge of the sky. ”

"The two of us don't blow at each other first, and send a telegram to Mr. Chen and Mr. Zhang to report the good news." Zhou Yuji said, "I will see that the results of tomorrow can be counted." Let's send all the dead bodies to the grassland first. The wolves would dispose of the corpses of the Mongols. ”

"Yes, yes! Let Mr. Zhang and them be happy. Li Kui said: "There is also a telegram to General Ningde, it is estimated that the Mongols in Jiayuguan and Xining should also act." ”

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Mt. Fuji erupted, Japan was earthquaked. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".