Chapter 123: Ambush
In Liaoyang, Yuan Yingtai, who had been full of gloom for several days, finally received Fushun's battle plan at the last moment. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Info Although the plan was a little late, now that he was the manager of the slope, he automatically ignored the unpleasantness. After opening the letter and reading it quickly, Yuan Yingtai was taken aback, he was frightened by the plan in the letter.
"Nonsense, it's just nonsense, come on, go and invite Hou Shilu, the chief soldier of Ningxia!"
Yuan Yingtai clutched the letter, biting his lip, worried. If it was half a year ago, the reinforcements from all walks of life in Liaodong were strong and strong, and there were many of them, and they could still fight a decisive battle with Jiannu in the field. After the fiasco of Jifengbao, Zhu Wanliang's attack on Tieling was defeated, and Liu Bingzhong was killed in Tieling, these three fiascos made the Ming army's vital force greatly lost, if it were not for the support of the battle of Shen Fu, the situation of the Ming court outside the pass may have been a mess.
The situation is not as good as before, when the main thing is to stick to and wait for the opportunity, even if it is attacking, it should also be the main purpose of Tieling, but in this plan, Tieling is not mentioned, and only seeks to kill the enemy and make contributions. This kind of military adventure of putting the cart before the horse, Yuan Yingtai is naturally angry.
"Xiaguan meets Master Jingluo!"
"Excuse me, Chief Soldier, has there been any movement in the direction of Qinghe Fort recently?"
"Back to my lord, everything is as usual in the direction of Qinghe, and there is nothing abnormal, do you have any ideas?"
Yuan Yingtai sighed and handed the letter to Hou Shilu. Hou Shilu took it carefully, and couldn't wait to browse it after opening it. The letter was long, Hou Shilu read a few sentences, his face was red, there were too many words, and it was a little difficult to fully understand the meaning.
Hou Shilu frowned, thought about it, and hurriedly said: "My lord, did Fushun send someone to report it?" Just ask him if you can't. ”
How could Yuan Yingtai not know Hou Shilu's little trick, he glanced at Hou Shilu with disdain, turned his back and said slowly: "The person who reported the news doesn't know the inside story, in short, Fushun wants to fight first, and sent a new army east out of Salhu, hey, it really makes the old man worry!" ”
"Your Excellency!" Hou Shilu asked cautiously, "Are you worried about Fushun's safety?" ”
"How can you not be worried? The old man has been thinking all night for days, and he is at a loss for the predicament of Liaodong, how can a slippery boy who claims to be an overseas master be able to cut off a piece of fat in Liaodong, which is surrounded by strong enemies? ”
"My lord, isn't there still that assault vehicle?"
"The assault vehicle was mothballed when it returned to Fushun, and the Fushun generals used the excuse of lack of fuel, and the waterways near Salhu were vertical and horizontal, and the terrain was complicated, even if it was an assault vehicle, it was difficult to give full play to the speed advantage, not to mention, they did not take the assault vehicle to attack."
"What do you mean?"
"How many remnants do you have gathered? Come with me to Fushun, the speed should be fast, I am worried that Fushun rashly attacked, I am afraid that it will induce Jiannu to pour out of the nest, and then in January is the autumn harvest season, Jiannu lack of food is already a well-known thing, Fushun is the top priority, there must be no mistakes, otherwise the old man can only return to Beijing. ”
"Your Excellency!"
Yuan Yingtai looked gloomy and added: "Tell the Liaoyang garrison to pay close attention to the movements of Jiannu in the direction of Qinghe. ”
Hou Shilu pondered for a while, and replied solemnly: "My lord, there are still more than 12,000 foot soldiers by my side, and there are only hundreds of cavalry guards, and the detailed number can only be known after statistics. ”
Yuan Yingtai waved his hand and said: "That's enough, you remove the old, weak, sick and disabled, take eight thousand foot soldiers, set off with me in the early morning tomorrow, and arrive in Fushun in three days."
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Mang Gurtai commanded the rapid advance of the army, and the pursuing Ming army panicked and fled. Seeing the Ming army being driven around like a lost dog, Mang Gurtai laughed, and the depression in his heart suddenly dissipated without a trace. There was another valley ahead, and Mang Gurtai ordered the army to follow. Tobo Hui suddenly said: "Lord Belle, do you want to send the striker to go in to find out the movement?" ”
"No need, the other party escaped for several miles in one go, and he was already a water dog, how could he have the time and spare strength to deploy a counterattack, and ordered the army to follow up quickly, and there was a heavy reward for catching the dog!"
On the orders of the commander, the soldiers of the Eight Banners swarmed in, and soon Mang Gurtai also entered the valley.
"Tobo Hui, Minggou has lost his heart, look at it, this place is steep, the terrain is excellent, Minggou is unexpectedly unknown, haha!"
Suddenly, several explosions interrupted Mang Gurtai's laughter, and Mang Gurtai raised his eyes and quickly the herald ran over to say that the army was meeting the enemy at the mouth of the valley on the west side. Mang Gurtai laughed, and then ordered to speed up and get out of the valley as soon as possible to confront the enemy.
A few minutes later, the rear of the Eight Banners Army all entered the valley, and the valley mouth in front was narrow, and the troops could not be deployed, and the valley was crowded for a while. Just as the soldiers of the Eight Banners were arguing about this, dozens of grenades were suddenly thrown under the cliffs on both sides, followed by waves of explosions in the valley. The sudden attack completely stunned the Houjin soldiers, the valley was narrow, the cavalry could not turn, and many people stayed on their horses and did not know what to do.
The Ming army seized the opportunity and quickly threw out a large number of incendiary canisters, and the raging flames quickly rose into the air. Many horses could not withstand the scorching flames, and galloped wildly. The valley was full of people, and the horses collided with each other or rose into the air, and the cavalry was thrown to the ground. The soldiers of the Eight Banners had nowhere to hide, so they huddled tightly together, and the Ming army was even more happy, and they greeted the dense flow of people with grenades.
"Brothers, block the retreat of the Jiannu and don't let them escape." It was Hong Cheng, the commander of the third battalion, who spoke. After receiving Li Fulai's new battle plan, Shen Jia decisively transferred Hong Cheng's third battalion to Li Fulai's command. And Hong Cheng lived up to his trust, and finally entered the ambush position in advance before the enemy arrived.
The horses fell in a neighing, and countless knights were overturned from their horses. A loud explosion was heard from the rear of the valley, and the dense crowd prevented the Houjin soldiers from turning around, and they stubbornly dodged arrows from both sides as they galloped wildly. Many unfortunate people who fell off their horses did not die under the sword of the Ming army, but became the souls of their own people. Mang Gurtai ordered the whole army to attack, and rushed to the valley mouth on the front and back sides of the valley, trying to fight his way out of this hell on earth.
Taking advantage of the terrain, the Ming army organized crossbowmen to shoot while throwing incendiary canisters and grenades into the dense crowd. The Ming army's long-range attack power is limited, and most of the crossbowmen are learned and used, even if the crossbow machine generally has a slower rate of fire, but in the face of dense crowds, the Ming army still gives the opponent a large range of damage. The flames raged everywhere in the valley, and the Ming army threw burning asphalt, and soon the irritating black smoke filled the valley, making people dizzy and disgusting.
The threat posed by the grenade is limited, and at best it leaves the Houjin soldiers in a state of confusion and fear of the unknown. The middle and lower-level officers of the Eight Banners had rich combat experience, and they encouraged and cooperated with each other, and they were able to find some way to avoid casualties. But the burning flames, the thick smoke, the irritating poisonous gas, once these are released, like a beast of prey, will surely return bloodthirsty. Gradually, some Eight Banners soldiers soon felt chest tightness, palpitations and dizziness because they were close to the poisonous smoke, and some Eight Banners soldiers' combat effectiveness began to decline.
The battle situation was stalemate, his own casualties continued to expand, Mang Gurtai's heart was like fire, his face was pale, he gritted his teeth and said slowly: "Tobo Hui, order Taniguchi to continue the attack, organize the remaining archers to shoot on both sides, suppress the opponent's firepower, you must be fast, do you understand?" ”
Tobo Hui nodded solemnly and began to organize and adjust the direction of the attack.
Facts have proved that in a team battle of life and death, the reason why the winner can defeat the loser most of the time depends on the organizational advantages of the whole team, flexible battlefield decisions, offensive focus, etc., followed by weapons and individual bravery. After the Eighth Banner Army faced a sudden and fierce round of attacks, the command system fell into disorder, and the soldiers were panicked and did not know how to face such a situation. At this time, as long as the decision-maker gives the group a goal and a direction, and the group relies on its own organization, it can carry out flexible self-help and attack. Clearly, Mang Gultai made the right decision at the right time, and he managed to point the way for a desperate team, and even developed a good counter-attack.
As soon as the Houjin offensive returned to normal levels, the Ming army felt very painful. Even if the Ming army, which had been training for months, had weapons such as grenades and incendiary canisters, they still could not get much advantage in front of the archers who were dense in Houjin. Some people got up and threw grenades, but they were shot on the spot, and the fighters on the side of the bluff hurriedly threw the grenades after pulling the strings.
Blocking the front of the valley mouth were two companies of a battalion led by Zhao Changshun and Liu Wu. The Houjin soldiers' bows and arrows at Taniguchi hardly stopped. The frontal resistance is also skillful, and the valley mouth is narrow, and only two war horses can barely pass. When the Houjin cavalry charged at high speed, the Ming army wanted to resist head-on, and it was inevitable that they would suffer heavy casualties. Zhao Changshun had already planned for this, he thought that breaking through a few cavalry was not enough to pose a threat to the Ming army's battle line, Zhao Changshun deliberately arranged a sharp knife company at the valley mouth to shoot this kind of fish that slipped through the net. Using defense in depth instead of linear defense, Zhao Changshun's strategy worked.
The trenches at the mouth of the valley were dug deep and wide, and although they could not prevent all the horses from crossing them, they were used to block the infantry, and they were one by one. The incendiary canisters were capable of inflicting extensive burns on the swarming Houjin soldiers, who were somewhat cowering after the previous waves of attacks were thwarted. They changed their tactics and began to gather archers to suppress the Ming firepower, and then saw the opportunity to roar. The Ming army used grenades to blow up the gap, isolated the support from the side, and then used incendiary canisters and crossbow machines against the enemy who came forward.
The remnant sun was like blood, there was a sound of killing all around, the raging fire was burning wildly, the smoke was raging everywhere, the valley was full of corpses, and the thick smell of blood was disgusting from a hundred meters away. This is a never-ending battle, the Ming army is small, but there is the advantage of the terrain, Houjin relies on the number of people and the archers are skillful, slowly, the battle situation fell into a stalemate. The commanders on both sides were anxious and desperate to end the battle as soon as possible, so as not to fall into a catastrophe after reinforcements arrived.
Tong Erniu, who was guarding the valley, took advantage of brute force and weekday training, and used the terrain to cover the terrain to stab the three cavalrymen who jumped into the position off their horses, but he was unharmed, and Feng Xiaosi, who was cooperating on the side, was shocked.
"Deputy squad leader, you... You... You're too godly, aren't you? ”
Tong Erniu grinned, turned his head and quietly looked in the direction of Taniguchi.
"Pay attention to the third platoon, Jiannu is coming, the enemy has a large number of people this time, everyone will throw it when they see it!"
The soldiers of the Eight Banners, under the supervision of the archers, rushed over in dense clusters. Unlike before, the soldiers of the Eight Banners gathered their horses together and tried to act as a barrier to cover the charge of the brigade. However, this method has long proven to be uninnovative, and the fear of fire in animals is unimaginable to humans. With the throwing of the incendiary canister, a sea of fire formed in front of the valley, and the war horses of the Eight Banners Army refused to move forward again. The Eight Banners Striker had no choice but to abandon the barrier and use the cover of the archers to charge forward.
Immediately after a round of explosions, the Eight Banners team suddenly scattered. The soldiers of the Eight Banners at the front tried to bypass the trench with the help of the side rock wall, but were stuck by the sword and shield soldiers on both sides. The soldiers of the Eight Banners couldn't pass, but the Ming army couldn't pass either, and the trench became a talisman for both sides, which made Liu Wu quite helpless. The soldiers of the Eight Banners left dozens of corpses behind and hurriedly withdrew from the corpse-strewn position.
After the battle reached a stalemate for a while, most of the Eight Banners archers were exhausted, and many of them shot bows and arrows that were so weak that they couldn't even wear the cotton armor of the transparent army. The exhaustion of archers meant that it was impossible to suppress the long-range attacks of the Ming army, which had high morale and became more and more courageous the more they fought.
"Battalion commander, we don't have many grenades, what next?"
Hong Cheng frowned, the valley mouth on the east side was wide, and the strength of a battalion was placed here, and it was only barely enough. The relative openness allowed the Houjin to charge with the advantage of cavalry, and there were no trenches here, so the Ming army barely relied on the terrain advantage to fight a draw with the Houjin. As the battle situation stalemate, the main offensive force of Houjin began to be placed on the retreat road of Taniguchi on the east side, and the third battalion had to suppress the opponent's attack with the help of a large number of grenades and incendiary canisters, which also made the loss of grenades amazing.
"How many more?"
"There are only eighteen left in the first company, and the second and third companies are about the same, and there are even fewer incendiary canisters, and there are only six left in the first company."
Hong Cheng bit his lip tightly, punched the edge of the earth cliff, and said hatefully: "Arrange the spearmen on the periphery, prepare for hand-to-hand combat, Company Commander Zhao is at the mouth of the valley on the west side, who the hell will give Lao Tzu a slack at this time, Lao Tzu is not finished with him!" ”
The third battalion was expanded on the basis of Zhao Changshun's previous three companies, and many veterans in the battalion were familiar with Zhao Changshun, and no one wanted to let Jiannu go in front of the old company commander. As the trumpets sounded, the 3rd Battalion placed some of its crossbowmen armed with grenades on either side of the cliff, while the rest were concentrated to hold the crumbling frontal line.