Chapter 60 Jiayuguan shows weakness Gu Shi Khan was fooled

These nomads outside the Great Wall were often brutal in their conquests and plundering among themselves. However, they could often unite against the Han people in the south. The Mongols of Moxi were originally mortal enemies of the Tatars of Mobei, and because they both felt that the rapid rise of the Han people posed a threat to them. Especially after the Han people wiped out Ordos, their worries were even stronger. The Mongols, who attach great importance to intelligence work, also know that their current opponents are too powerful. Therefore, their upper aristocracy strictly restrained their own people, and they were not allowed to harass the Han Chinese. However, their preparations for dealing with the Han people did not stop for a moment. When the Manchus sent people to persuade them to attack the Han together, it was a perfect hit. They were worried that their strength was too weak to deal with the Han Chinese, and now several families were cooperating to launch simultaneous attacks on the Han people from the east, north, and west, so that the Han people could not care about each other and frustrate the morale of the Han people.

However, the Mongols also had a thorny problem that constrained them, that is, the constant invasion of the Tsarist Russians made them afraid to concentrate their efforts on the Han Chinese. The Russians' threats and inducements to divide and disintegrate their tribes brought many destabilizing factors to the already disunited Mongols.

The Mongols of Moxi, the Ming Dynasty used to refer to them as Warat, but in fact, they were divided into four parts, namely Heshuot, Dzungar, Dulbert, and Turgot. He Shuote is a descendant of Genghis Khan's younger brother Habtu Hasar, nomadic herder in the Urumqi area. The Dzungar and Dulbert tribes are descendants of the Yuanchen Bohan, and their surname is Zoros. The Dzungars are nomadic in the north of the Tien Shan Mountains, Lake Balkhash and the Ili River basin; The Dulbert tribe was nomadic in the Irtysh River valley. After the Turghut tribe was the head minister of Wenghan, he was nomadic in the Yar (present-day Urzar) and Tarbagatai regions. Although the four Mongol tribes of Erut formed an alliance and produced the "darga" (alliance leader), they were still "subordinate to each other", "each ministry is its own chief", and "each ministry has its own khan". As a result, there are frequent clashes between ministries over pastures and for various reasons. The most powerful of the four was the Heshute Ministry, and in the tenth year of Chongzhen (1637), Heshuote marched into Qinghai, and its power entered Tibet. The name of the leader of the Heshut Khan, Gushi Khan, was Tulu Baihu.

This time, the Manchu Qing Dynasty attacked the Han people together, mainly with the Heshuo Special Division. Gushi Khan inherited the traditions of their ancestors and began to plan ways to deal with the Han Chinese long ago. They agreed with the Manchus to take action in unison after receiving accurate information that they had begun to act. Before the operation, they sent a cavalry team of more than 2,000 people, led by a thousand households, and wanted them to attack the place of Shandanwei first. The location was carefully chosen by them. Shandanwei was on the east side of Jiayuguan, and the defensive strength was relatively weak. According to past experience, a sudden attack by more than 2,000 cavalry can completely break through the Shandan Guard, so that the defenders of Jiayuguan can be attracted to come back for reinforcements, and then their brigade will attack Jiayuguan. Even if Shandan Wei can't break through all at once, it will attract the defenders to return to support the defense, and it will also respond to the attack in the direction of Jiayuguan.

This time, 30,000 soldiers and horses they gathered were in front of Jiayu Pass, and more than 10,000 men and horses were on the front line of Xining.

After Zhao Jinli received the situation of Shandanwei, the whole army entered the battle position. Zhao Jinli knew that the Mongols in front were going to attack.

Sure enough, the scouts came back one after another to report that the Mongols had come out of the steppe without knowing how and had come over to Jiayu Pass.

Zhao Jinli placed all the artillery on the wall of Jiayuguan, and he knew that he had to fire the cannon first and knock out the opponent's artillery. Otherwise, when they open fire, no matter where their shells hit the pass, they will cause losses. Looking at the Mongolian cavalry walking in the morning fog with a telescope, Zhao Jinli was excited. The heart said, "Good things have finally caught me up." Those boys got the task of the southern expedition, and they were all happy and upside down, but they didn't catch the battle, so they went to have a trip. The Mongolian talent in front of me is a real opponent, I am here to attract them, Li Kui and Zhou Yuji and their reinforcements from the back are a pack, hehe! I'm going to open meat."

Zhao Jinli was already familiar with the Mongols' routines, and after their army was set up, they would send people to persuade them to surrender, and if they did not surrender, they would open artillery to attack. Zhao Jinli ordered the artillerymen to carefully observe the Mongol artillery positions, aim at them now, and cover them as soon as they received the order.

An artillery commander, who commanded all the artillery in Jiayuguan this time, was so beautiful in his heart that it was like a flower, "Commander, don't worry!" If you can't blow up the Mongol artillery, you'll throw my head out of the city. With that, he left.

On the outermost city wall of Jiayuguan, small 60 cannons, 120 heavy mortars, and infantry cannons are all facing the city. By this time, the Mongols, who did not know whether they were alive or dead, had already erected their bulky cannons on a high slope outside the city. Jiayu closed the artillery commander-in-chief and immediately assigned a task to the artillery group. Strive to cover the opponent with the first artillery fire. Because it's so close.

Sure enough, as Zhao Jinli thought, the Mongols lined up and sent a Han speaking man to ride a horse over and call the battle, saying: "Our Khan King said that as long as you open the city and surrender, we will guarantee your life." If we don't listen, we'll go into the city at once, and the chickens and dogs won't be left! ”

After listening to this, Zhao Jinli felt funny, and said in his heart that this person must have stayed in the Han area for a long time, and listened to a lot of storytelling. It's all about the tricks in the story. Zhao Jinli ordered the soldiers around him: "Fire a shot, don't kill him." Just scare and scare. ”

When the soldier received the order, he raised his rifle and slammed the bullet into the man's hoove. The war horse retreated a few steps in fright, and the man was shocked into a cold sweat. He knew that it was the city's men who showed mercy to him and let him go back to report the news. The answer to the city's answer is already there.

Just as they were riding their horses back, the commander-in-chief of the artillery, commanding the 60 guns, 120 heavy mortars, and infantry guns, each carried out a test firing, and the shells were not far from the Mongol artillery positions. Without waiting for the Mongols to evaluate the power of the cannons in the kiln, the artillery group on Jiayuguan was corrected and opened fire together.

Those ambitious Mongolian artillerymen had already loaded the cannon chamber with **, and they were waiting to fire the cannon at Jiayuguan, but they didn't expect the shells of the kiln gang people to rain down. The violent explosion not only blew up the Mongolian artillery and artillery in all directions, but also detonated the ** in the cannon chamber, and for a time on the artillery position, the sound of shell explosions and the sound of artillery explosions resounded. At this time, King Gushi Khan, who personally led the team, couldn't help but walk out of the big tent and watch in the direction of the artillery position. It didn't matter if he looked at it, Gu Shihan suddenly felt a chill in his heart. Before this battle was fought, his artillery positions were like hell, and obviously the artillery was gone. How should we fight the battle of the strong Jiayuguan below?

At this time, Zhao Jinli was worried that Fang Cai's artillery fire was too fierce, and he was afraid that he would scare the Mongols away. When Li Kui, Zhou Yuji, and their reinforcements arrived, it would be troublesome if they couldn't find the Mongols.

This artillery fire, the real Mongols, stopped the attack that was about to begin.

What should I do if the people in Gushi Khan's tent are arguing?

One Qianhu said: "I have long heard that the Han people in front of me are different from the past. They are the kiln people, and the firearms of the kiln people are invincible in the world. Even the Ming army and the Dashun army were not their opponents. Today, everyone has seen it, if I fight them hard, if their shells bombard our cavalry, we will suffer a great loss. ”

Some people were not convinced and said: "Before you engage in the war, you will be majestic to others, what do you mean?" If we don't fight this time, the Han people will look down on us. What kind of face do we have to go back to the grasslands? ”

Someone else said, "Anyway, we're shooting our bows and not looking back." We have to fight with them, and we must not be sent back without a war. ”

….

There was a lot of talk in the big tent, and Gu Shihan knew that it was time to make up his own mind, and he said: "We can't be so frightened by the Han people to go back." This is a rare opportunity for us to act together with our allies in Mobei and Northeast China. In this way, we can't fight with the Han people, and I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to have a foothold. However, our cannons were indeed destroyed by the Han cannons, and you have also seen the power of their cannons. Our original tactics of attacking Jiayuguan will be changed. We don't have artillery to bombard, so we have to use our old tactics. But this requires some preparation. I see that in the afternoon, before dark, we will try to attack and see what is different about the Han people in front of us. ”

No one objected to Gu Shi Khan's words.

Zhao Jin used the binoculars to look at the Mongolian camp that had not moved, and he knew that the Mongols were hesitating, what to do if the cannon was gone. However, Zhao Jinli believes that the Mongols will not withdraw easily if they do not suffer a big loss. As long as they hold out until tomorrow, Li Kui and his brigade will surround them from behind. But now we must show weakness, as long as we do not let the Mongols attack in, and give them hope of attacking.

Zhao Jinli ordered the soldiers to quickly move a lot of stones to the city wall. An officer asked Zhao Jinli who didn't understand, "Commander, we have enough ammunition, and our hands are piled up on the city wall, what are you going to do with the stones?" ”

"Huh! Do as I say," said Zhao Jinli, "and when the Mongols attack in a moment, you take out some bows and arrows from the back treasury and shoot at them." ”

"What? Still shooting with a bow and arrow? "The subordinates don't understand.

"To obey my orders is to show weakness," Zhao Jinli said, "and we must not beat the Mongols away today." ”

The subordinates seemed to understand that Zhao Jinli was deliberately showing weakness, fearing that the Mongols would run away. For reasons of secrecy, Zhao Jinli could not tell Li Kui and Zhou Yuji the information they had copied from the back. Not many people in Jiayuguan know this information.

In the afternoon, the Mongols, who had made some preparations, really began to attack. They lined up in horizontal formations, and the Mongol soldiers in front of them shot rows of bows and arrows up the city when they were within striking distance of the walls. The Yaogang people also began to shoot rifle bullets from below, but the rifle bullets were obviously not dense enough, and occasionally the Mongols were dismounted to prevent their large cavalry from approaching. Closer, the kilnmen in the city began to shoot bows and arrows below. Obviously, the archery skills of the archers in the city are too bad. It was quickly suppressed by the bows and arrows of the approaching Mongol cavalry. The Mongols rushed to the city and began to ram the gates with their carts. However, the cave car was soon blown up and smashed by the ** bag thrown by the kiln man. The Mongol soldiers set up ladders and climbed up to the city. But the defenders of the city suddenly dropped some ** and large stones. The defenders of the city took the opportunity to push the ladder that had been set up in the city.

Gushi Khan, who was watching the battle from behind, saw that in many places, the Mongol soldiers had already climbed ladders and rushed up the city wall. However, the Mongol soldiers who climbed the city wall did not move again. The battle was fought with bloody brutality. The Mongols, who advocated a retreat, themselves blushed. The Han people on Jiayuguan are not as powerful as they imagined.

However, the Mongols still lost more than 2,000 people and were beaten back.

However, the Mongols all know that today's attack is still tentative, and if they concentrate on attacking with all their might, they may be able to capture Jiayuguan today. Although the battle was a great defeat, the Mongols regained their confidence. It's just that King Gushi Khan is bowing his head and is silent.

Someone came over and asked King Gushi Khan, "King Khan, today we have figured out the strength of the Han people. Why aren't you upset? ”

King Gush Khan said, "Don't be busy rejoicing. Did you notice, their artillery didn't fire today. They are retaining their strength! ”

"Isn't that so? King Khan," one might say, "they have several shells, and they are all used against our artillery array." They now have no shells or there are very few shells. I saw that they were shooting at us, with legendary firearms, but also with bows and arrows. There are ** thrown at the city, but more often than not, large stones. ”

Someone took it and said, "They have great firearms, but they also cost a lot of money." It was impossible to use expensive firearms for the entire battle. The ** they threw down from the city was very powerful, why did they still use stones. It's because they can't afford it either. It was for gold and silver. ”

Although King Gushi Khan was not as easy as them, he was very happy to see everyone regain their confidence, and in order not to affect their morale, he said: "Everyone, today's battle, according to the past, should be a big defeat, and we have lost more than 2,000 good Anda. But, as everyone likes to say, we figured out what our opponents were like. We can take Jiayuguan in one go tomorrow. Sweep away the breath we have endured for two years. ”

Zhao Jinli and Li Kui contacted them by telegram and communicated with them about the Mongols' attack today. Li Kui sent a telegram back to Zhao Jinli, saying, "As long as you can drag the Mongols until noon tomorrow." We will be able to surround the Mongols from behind. When the time comes, you can concentrate all your artillery fire and attack the Mongol camp. Kill from Jiayuguan again. We surrounded them from the outside and solved the Mongols in front of Jiayuguan at once. ”

In this matter, when Zhao Jinli reported the situation to Ning De at night, Ning De suggested that we should be prepared to take Yumen and Shazhouwei. On the south side of the road, Xining will take down the entire area around Qinghai Lake.

Soon, Ningde sent a telegram to Zhao Jinli:

Now that the threat of Mobei has basically been lifted, we have a chance to drive the Mongols out of Yumen, Guazhou, and Shazhouwei (Dunhuang). In particular, Mr. Zhang attaches great importance to the place of Yumen, and repeatedly reminds us to look for opportunities to recover Yumen, where there is a large amount of fierce fire oil underground. I think that by defeating the Mongols this time, we will move the defense westward. Put a regiment in Shazhou Wei (Dunhuang), and put a battalion in Guazhou and Yumen. When the situation is stabilized, it will change depending on the situation.

After receiving Ningde's telegram, Zhao Jinli was even more proud, and sent a telegram back to Ningde: I suggest that if we really complete the war of annihilation against the Mongols this time, we should send troops directly to Hami. It is enough to send a regiment in Hami, a battalion in Shazhou, and a company in Guazhou and Yumen to garrison. At the same time, we will move the troops here, give them ten years without paying taxes, can reclaim the land at will, and we will guarantee the purchase of the grain they grow, as well as the treatment of subsidies. It will definitely attract a large number of troops to come. The guards east of Jiayuguan can completely reduce the number of soldiers and horses, and the focus will be shifted to the west.

Ningde called back and said: "The idea of entering Hami can be considered. But now it is necessary to prepare according to the situation of the garrison of Shazhouwei. Also, take as many prisoners as possible. A lot of our engineering construction needs to be captured. ”

At dawn, when Zhao Jinli sent Ning De's suggestion that he wanted to capture more prisoners to Li Kui and Zhou Yuji, the two of them laughed at each other. Li Kui said: "Before the fight started, they were thinking about the usefulness of the prisoners. Hehe! ”

"Hexi is vast and sparsely populated, and manpower is more important." Zhou Yuji said, "I think there are a lot of refugees in the Central Plains, so it is better to let Mr. Zhang arrange more to come to Hexi." There's so much land to cultivate and graze. ”

"Let's talk about those things when the fight is over." Li Kui said, "We see today's harvest like this. After running so far and eating so much sand, if you don't have a big net of fish in your pocket, you will be wronged! ”

Zhou Yuji said while getting on the horse: "The weather is good today, and I think the harvest is indispensable." ”

The Mongols in front of Jiayu Pass also got up very early today, as if they were afraid that they would not be able to catch up if they did not fight a battle earlier.

This time, they quietly hid the few cannons that they could use in the cavalry team and pushed them to the city of Jiayuguan.

This time, Zhao Jinli rearranged yesterday's tactics. He used two heavy machine guns to block the front of the west gate, and neither cavalry nor cave cars were allowed to approach. Order the soldiers defending the city north of the city gate to resolutely keep the opponent fifty meters away from the city wall, but the south wall can put the opponent under the city, and even let them erect some ladders.

This time, the Mongol soldiers launched a full-front attack on the west of Jiayu Pass amid the sound of trumpets and war drums.

The few cannons they hid behind also lifted their sheepskins, fired a few shots at the wall of Jiayuguan, and then quickly hid. Closing the kiln guards is basically ignoring their artillery. The heavy machine gun on the city gate tower is not polite, and the water-cooled heavy machine gun can fire almost infinitely continuously. The number of casualties of the Mongol soldiers attacking the city gate quickly increased. This made King Gushi Khan, who was watching the battle behind, very distressed, because the Mongol soldiers who attacked the city gate were all from his most direct tribe. To Gushi Khan's relief, the attacking team south of the city gate seemed to have achieved better results, although the Han people defending the city today seemed to be more prepared than yesterday, and their firepower and bows and arrows were also more fierce. But today, before organizing an attack, the order was to kill those who retreated. That's why the Mongolian Anda people are working extra hard today. The Mongol brothers in the south had already erected the ladder on the city wall, and the brave Mongol warriors bit their sabers and climbed the ladder vigorously, although the ladders were overturned one by one, there were still Mongol soldiers rushing up to the city. Of course, due to the small number of people who went up, the Mongolian Anda who ascended the city was quickly killed. Gu Shi Khan, who was thrilling to watch, saw hope. He knew that if he attacked like this, the Han people would not be able to withstand it and would soon collapse. However, it was clear that the men from the southern wall who had been reinforced came up, and the Mongols who had attacked the city wall from the south left a ground and the corpses were knocked down. But at this time, the Mongol brothers from the north rushed forward, and they began to build a ladder. Gushi Khan judged that the defenders from the north supported the defenders from the south, so the defensive forces in the north were weak, and his warriors attacked. Therefore, Gushi Khan ordered the Mongol soldiers not to retreat and continue the attack, not to give the Han defenders a chance to breathe.

In this way, the battle was carried out persistently under the direction of Zhao Jinli. Gushi Khan commanded the Mongol soldiers to attack Jiayuguan again and again, and each time it seemed that there was a chance to capture Jiayuguan, but it was all in vain. By noon, Gu Shihan was sweating this time, and an ominous feeling suddenly surged in his heart. Now the defenders of Jiayuguan have not fired artillery, and they are consuming themselves like this, are they waiting for the final counterattack against us. Gu Shi Khan immediately ordered his cronies to organize a team of more than 2,000 people in the back to take precautions, and the people guarding the city and kiln gangs rushed out.

But it was too late, and at this time, Li Kui and Zhou Yuji had already circled behind them with four cavalry divisions and surrounded them. Now there are still two cavalry divisions of the Second Cavalry Army in Jiayuguan.

Just when Gu Shi Khan was about to continue the attack with his whole army, there was a sudden sound of artillery behind them, and the shells fell in their camp, although Gu Shi Khan's brigade was outside the camp, but his own baggage and supplies were in the camp, and the enemy appeared behind, although Gu Shi Khan did not know where the enemy came from, but he suddenly understood that the defenders had been fighting all morning to entangle themselves. Now it is necessary to fight the encirclement from the back, this is Gu Shihan's sober understanding, just when he wanted to rectify the men and horses to kill the back, the cannon on Jiayu Pass, which had not spoken, began to speak. Dense shells continued to rain down on their ranks, and the horses and men in the ranks immediately flew everywhere. It's impossible to straighten out the ranks now. Frightened horses stumbled around. The captain of Gu Shi Khan's guard said to Gu Shi Khan: "King Khan don't care about anything else, I'll protect you and kill you!" ”

Gu Shihan nodded helplessly and said, "Okay! Let's kill it together. ”

After saying that, they killed the back together, and at this time, the west gate of Jiayu Pass was opened, and the Yaogang cavalry also killed. The Mongol soldiers watched Gushi Khan flee backwards, and they followed suit.

Just as Gu Shi Khan and the others had not gone far, a platoon of cavalry appeared in front. Gu Shi Khan reined in his war horse and looked at it, they had never seen the armor of the team in front of him, and Gu Shi Khan knew that this was the legendary Yaogang cavalry. Now that there are interceptions in front and chasing soldiers in the back, Gu Shihan shouted: "Sons, rushing over is the only way to live." Come on! Gu Shihan himself took the lead and rushed forward with a scimitar!

But the sound of light and heavy machine guns suddenly came to mind, and then the red-hot bullets swept over. The Yaogang cavalry in front sat on their horses and watched the Mongols' war horses and people being beaten and falling to the ground one by one. King Gushi Khan himself was the first to be beaten to pieces. The cavalrymen behind did not see it well, turned around and ran away. But everywhere he went, he was stopped by the cavalry of the kiln gang.

At this time, the Yaogang cavalry who came out of Jiayuguan pulled into a horizontal row and pressed over. The Kiln Cavalry from all directions also pressed towards the center. More than 20,000 Mongol cavalry were tightly encircled.

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