On the second day, on 26 March, the Shandong Army, which was in charge of advancing on the Western Front, stopped at Haizhou and waited for the third-line troops behind to follow.

As for the rescued Han people, as well as the captured Manchu savages, they were all handed over to the administrative personnel who rushed to deal with them, and left a thousand people to garrison Haizhou.

Relatively speaking, Haizhou is relatively empty, but two infantry battalions of the Liaodong Army have landed on the Liaodong Peninsula, and at the same time, a cavalry battalion has also landed in Liaodong, and there is also a cavalry artillery battalion of the Shandong Army.

At the same time, the 3rd Infantry Battalion and the 4th Infantry Battalion of the Liaodong Army, under the assignment of the Liaodong General Staff, were rushing to various captured towns and passes to take over the city defense.

The Liaodong Army was far inferior to the Shandong Army in terms of training, and in addition to the 1st and 2nd Infantry Battalions, which were relatively elite, the 3rd and 4th Infantry Battalions were still a little immature, and they had hardly experienced any battles except for some anti-bandit missions.

The reason why Zhao Yan transferred them to Liaodong was to let them undertake the task of city defense. City defense is a thing that needs a technical surname very much, and it is very untechnical to have a technical surname.

The required technology is the hardware of weapons, and the defenders can be competent in the defense of cities and passes as long as they have a period of training.

For example, there are city defense drills in Denglai every year, and at that time, the people of the tundi either stick to the official affairs of the tundi, or enter the city to take refuge, and the militia conduct drills under the command of the guards.

This is a common occurrence in Denlai, which is lined with forts. When the fortresses in Shandong are completed, it is an existence that surpasses the French Vauban defense system, and in the era when firearms have not left the preliminary stage, as long as Zhao Yan is not injured by the fundamental things, he is already invincible.

Denglai's militia are very familiar with the defense of the fortress, although the training of the Liaodong Army is not as good as the Shandong Army, and it has not experienced much baptism of war, but it is not a problem to defend the city, that is, to fight hard with the Qing soldiers, with their equipment, the chance of victory is also very great.

…… After the third-line troops joined forces with the Shandong Army on the western front, at noon, the scouts finally encountered the traces of the Qing soldiers thirty miles north of Haizhou.

Zhao Yong and Lin Yi immediately arranged the scouts mainly in the northern direction of Haizhou, but they did not relax their vigilance in other directions, and the basic no-dead spot vigilance was to be retained, and the reason why most of the scouts were sent to the north was to prepare for a brutal battle with the Qing scouts.

After joining forces with the third-line troops, Zhao Yong and Lin Yi continued to advance northward with the Western Front Combat Group, not caring about the Qing army that appeared in the north.

As long as the Qing army did not come close to within ten miles, there was no need to react too much.

Just as the first battalion, the cavalry battalion, and the artillery battalion were advancing towards Anshan, the scouts in front had already started a fierce conflict with the Qing scouts.

I saw that in the green grass and green plains, there were constantly cavalry colliding with each other, and then killing each other and cutting off each other's heads.

In such a front-line conflict, the scouts of the Shandong army were almost invincible in the face of an equal number of Qing army scouts.

The scouts of the Shandong army were all carefully selected, the most arduous in training, and the most well-equipped, proficient in warning methods, mapping, and estimating the number of enemy troops.

In terms of reconnaissance, the scouts of the Shandong army each have a telescope, and the squads echo each other, after discovering the Qing scouts, if the enemy is small, they will rush up and cut off the heads of the Qing scouts, if there are many people, they will contact other scout squads to cooperate with the action.

The army was thirty miles away, and they had enough buffer distance.

After the Qing army scouts and the Shandong army scouts encountered, they were all cut off and dismounted, and the plate armor on the Shandong army was very defensive, which was very advantageous.

At the same time, the scout team of the Shandong Army paid great attention to cooperation in the fight, some held knives, some held maces, and some held boring handles.

However, the scouts of the Shandong army also often suffered casualties, and the casualties and death rates of the scouts have always been the highest among all arms, this is their profession, this is their battle.

The number of scouts of the Qing army is not comparable to that of the Shandong army, and the Shandong army has scouts from the company level, and at the same time, the scouts of the Qing army are not as good as the elite of the Shandong army.

Under the suppression of the scouts of the Shandong army, the scouts of the Qing army were defeated and retreated, and within half an hour, the scouts of the Qing army saw the scouts of the Shandong army, which was already like a mouse seeing a cat.

Anyway, on this front line, there is no one to supervise the battle, so why not run if you know that you can't fight?

The retreat of the Qing scouts without a fight made them completely useless, and the scouts of the Shandong army have successfully achieved the purpose of covering the whereabouts of the main force.

At the same time, the Qing army scouts were defeated and retreated, so that the scouts of the Shandong army saw the main force of the Qing army.

In the Qing army forty miles north of Haizhou, Shuotuo and Jierharang were each holding a monocular, watching the approaching Shandong scouts in the distance.

"Prince Su, our scouts can follow Taizu's soldiers to fight the world at the foot of the White Mountain of Kedu Mountain, and they are unexpectedly defeated by the Ming army scouts, it seems that these Ming army scouts are very strong!" Zilharang said to Shuotuo: "And the Ming army seems to be very vigilant, so they scattered the scouts so far. ”

"It's really elite." Shuo Tuo nodded, "But the squad scouts are useless, we can send a large team of scouts, the scouts of the Ming army are all five or six people in a small team, even if they unite ten squads, there are only fifty or sixty people, I see how they can resist." ”

Shuotuo said, pointed out five Niu Lu, a total of 1,500 people, divided into five directions, and searched for Haizhou, with Shuotuo estimating, in this way, it will be possible to find where the main force of the Ming army is.

The five oxen were scattered, and Shuotuo and Zilharang began to wait, and the Ming army was near here, and they had been driving for two days, and the horses were already in need of rest.

When they discovered the main position of the Ming army, they could wait for the opportunity to surprise and give the Ming army a thunderous blow.

Whether it is Shuotuo or Zilharang, they are very careful, whether it is the defeat in Guannei in the past nine years or the defeat in Zhenjiang, they are all losses due to cannons.

The sharpness of the Ming army's artillery has exceeded their imagination, and because they don't understand the Ming army's artillery surname Neng, Abatai, Haoge, and Daishan were all killed in the battle.

Azig escaped with his life under the artillery of the Ming army, but his life was not good and he was captured alive. Duoduo also escaped from the artillery of the Ming army, but now he is emperor. The Manchu high-level leaders in the entire Liaodong have forgotten about Huang Taiji at this moment.

So now Shuotuo and Zilharang have decided that when they fight against the Ming army, they must hide far away, because even if the Ming army's artillery is fierce, it is impossible to kill all their soldiers and horses, but it is possible to blow them up.

Not long after the five Niu Lu set off, the cavalry battalion that was marching quickly received the news of the report from the scouts in front, only to see Lin Yi order out a thousand cavalry, and then divide into two teams and kill the approaching Qing army Niu Lu.

The two Qing army Niu Lu, who were marching towards the main force, advanced all the way to five miles away, and then they saw a cavalry of 500 men rushing towards them violently.

The marching cavalry of the Ming army looked very neat, all black plate armor, all height war horses, and all the pace, just like a sophisticated machine.

One of them, Niu Lu of the Qing army, who was quite conceited about cavalry combat, also crashed into it with an indomitable head. However, as soon as they rushed, the formation immediately became sparse and stretched.

A rain of arrows shot down, causing several Ming soldiers to fall off their horses, and the Qing army's bows and arrows were of little effect on the cavalry battalion in plate armor.

At this time, the cavalry battalion in front also fired a row of cavalry guns at this time, but there were not many of them, and the Qing army Niu Lu was only a few people who fell off their horses, and the two sides were half a catty and eight taels.

"Charge!"

The soldiers of the cavalry battalion drew their weapons one after another, maintained a dense arrow formation, and rushed towards the Qing army Niulu on the opposite side.

The two sides collided together in an instant, the Qing army in a scattered formation broke as soon as it rushed, and the cavalry battalion easily tore open a hole, and the mouth gradually expanded, and the cavalry battalion soldiers themselves had an advantage in the overall number, and the dense formation gave them an absolute advantage in the local area, and the protective ability was stronger than that of the Qing soldiers.

The soldiers of the cavalry battalion who broke through the Qing army Niulu turned their heads at this time, quickly sorted out the formation, and then rushed towards the Qing army Niulu again.

The Qing army Niu Lu was greatly frightened, and when he saw the soldiers of the cavalry battalion rushing towards him, he immediately slapped his horse and fled.

Although the Qing army is a nomadic nation, it is not good at cavalry combat, but since the anti-Ming Dynasty, the number of cavalry has been expanding, and it is already more familiar with horse warfare, so it naturally knows that the formation of cavalry is the key.

These two Niu Lu were chased and killed by the cavalry battalion all the way to ten miles away, and the cavalry battalion began to return. The other Niu Lu went to the direction of Haizhou to reconnoitre, and the cavalry battalion ignored them, and the main force continued to advance towards Anshan.

Both the 1st Battalion and the Artillery Battalion had a large baggage force, numbering 3,000 men, all of which were carried by horse-drawn wagons, carrying a very large amount of supplies.

According to the usual situation, it is not a problem to use the supply for more than half a month, but 15,000 third-line troops have been recruited, and the grain and grass are only enough to support seven days, but the time is still very sufficient.

Even if there is a problem with grain and grass, it is a big deal to kill horses, and the horses of the third-line cannon fodder troops are all inferior horses, and there is no shortage of such inferior horses in Shandong.

After killing the horses, the grain was solved, and the grass was saved.

Shuotuo and Zierharang waited there for nearly an hour, but what they were waiting for were the two Niu Lu who came back from the rout, which made Shuo Tuo a little angry, and the horse whip slammed a few times on the face of the Niu Lu who came back from the rout of the whole team, "Waste, I was defeated without even fighting, and I really lost face to the Qing Kingdom." ”

Pumping the cow Lu and his face was covered with blood, Zilharang stretched out his hand at this time and said: "Okay, Prince Su, now that my Qing Dynasty has not recovered, the cavalry of the Ming army is extremely elite, and there are more people, it is good to be able to bring all the people back." ”

"Hmph." Shuotuo snorted coldly at Niu Lu Ezhen, the whip in his hand listened, and scolded Niu Lu Ezhen: "Don't give me back yet." ”

"Yes." The cow Lu Ezhen hurriedly retreated.

"What does Prince Zheng think is the best thing to do now?" At this time, Shuotuo asked Zilharang that he was inferior to Zilharang when he led the troops to fight.

"Judging from the scout's reconnaissance, the Ming army is already advancing towards Anshan." Zilharang said.

"But the scouts didn't detect anything?" Shuotuo questioned, "How does Prince Zheng know that the Ming army is heading towards Anshan again?" ”

"Since the cavalry of the Ming army appeared north of Haizhou, it means that their main force is nearby, and since they have come to the land thirty miles north of Haizhou, they naturally want to go to Anshan." Zilharang said with a smile on his lips, faintly with some contempt, but he looked down on this Shuotuo in his heart.

"What Prince Zheng said is reasonable, then we will go and stop them."

"Prince Su will look at it!" Zilharang didn't want to say anything, anyway, now facing the Ming army, it was necessary to preserve his strength.

30,000 Qing troops, under the order of Shuotuo, went directly to Anshan. Then it was blocked on the road from Haizhou to Anshan, and began to move southward again.

The scouts of the Shandong army naturally could not compete with such a large-scale Qing army, and could only send the news back at all times. At dusk on 26 March, the main forces of the two sides finally met 50 miles away from Anshan.

When the cavalry of the Qing army entered within six miles, they were shelled. Six miles is exactly three thousand meters, and 15 1,000-kilogram 200-millimeter howitzers of half an artillery battalion fired fifteen-kilogram shells.

30,000 Qing cavalry, just like a black line, and it is relatively dense, although it is 3,000 meters away, but the artillery battalion does not need to aim at all, as long as the direction is right.

The fifteen-kilogram 200 mm caliber grenade exploded in the marching Qing army, and the power was definitely not ordinary, and all the Qing troops within a radius of 10 meters were shocked to death.

Many horses were frightened and jumped around, and the horses themselves were timid, and these war horses, which had not been trained for the surname, could not withstand such fright.

Both Shuotuo and Zilharang were so frightened that they immediately led their troops back two miles, and did not dare to come forward again. And the Shandong Army, which was eight miles away, continued to advance, and did not even put in formation.

Naturally, there is no need to put up any formation so far away, they still have to go to Anshan! was so easily pinned down by the Qing army, wouldn't that be exactly what the Qing army meant?

With the speed of the Shandong army's formation, it was completely late three miles away.

At this time, it was already getting dark, so Zhao Yong and Lin Yi asked the soldiers to stop and camp on a small hillside to rest.

Shuo dragged Zilharang and did not go to attack the camp that night, and the next day the Shandong army on the western front had breakfast and then continued to advance.

Early in the morning, Shuo sent a cavalry of 5,000 men to disturb the Ming army.

However, as soon as the 5,000 cavalry entered a distance of 1,800 meters, they were immediately bombarded by heavy artillery fire, which was a 300-kilogram 75-mm howitzer of the artillery battalion, with a maximum range of 2,000 meters, and the whole battalion was equipped with 220 guns, and half an artillery battalion was 110 guns.

The firepower was absolutely fierce, but the five thousand cavalry of the Qing soldiers quickly increased their horse speed after being shelled, and quickly fled from the shelling area, and a round of shelling only caused them three or five hundred casualties, but such a high casualty had already made those Qing soldiers reach the rout cordon, and they all reined in their horses, and quickly turned around and ran away.

Under normal circumstances, the Qing army's ability to resist casualties was very low, and if they felt that it was not easy to fight, they would run away, and such a strategy would help them retain their vitality.

The robbers themselves are like that.

In addition, the Mongolian cavalry who came to harass this time had participated in the Battle of Zhenjiang, and the artillery of the Ming army had reached a level of nervousness.

Shuotuo's harassment plan went bankrupt directly, and the Ming army seven or eight miles away, it was no longer appropriate to use a hedgehog as a metaphor, more like a cobra on the move. If anyone comes near, spray him with venom first.

"Prince Zheng, what should I do now?" Shuo was so anxious that his forehead was sweating, at this time he had just been crowned king, and Duoduo was trying to raise him up as a cronie.

If you don't perform well, it's all over.

"The Ming army's firearms were sharp, and they could smash cannonballs seven or eight miles away, let alone in recent times. At that time, as soon as the firearms of the Ming army exploded and the cavalry rushed, our Qing soldiers would inevitably suffer heavy casualties. Zilharang said: "Let's not talk about my Qing soldiers, even if those Mongols die some more, they will also rebel." ”

"Then watch them go to Anshan and Liaoyang?" Shuo Tuo asked with a glare.

"So what do you want to do? Kill those Ming troops? Liaodong is not only this batch of Ming troops, how many batches can you handle? Zilharang asked.

"......" Shuotuo suddenly fell silent, thinking that the Ming people were still dealing with it in the wild, but they didn't think it would be so difficult, if the Ming army only artillery, then they could rush forward, but unfortunately the Ming army had elite cavalry, but Shuotuo did not dare to take this risk.

Before he set out, Duoduo had repeatedly instructed him to be careful of the artillery of the Ming army, and at the same time, he could not fight hard with the Ming army, and he should give full play to the advantages of the cavalry.

The advantage of the cavalry is to disturb, but their horses are very afraid of artillery, if they get too close, the cavalry of the Ming army will rush again, and the consequences will definitely be catastrophic.

Can't get closer, let alone bother.

If they have a war horse that is not afraid of artillery, they can naturally rush over quickly, so that there will not be too many casualties, and they don't have to worry about being blown up by artillery.

The artillery of this era cannot be compared with the artillery of the future, but after all, this is the most advanced weapon, and the Shandong Army is also equipped with a large number of them.

It was Ming Chengzu Zhu Di, who used worse than the Shandong army and less artillery to attack the cavalry, although it could not cause too many casualties, but the horses of the nomads were terribly afraid, and the formation was naturally chaotic, and then the cavalry charged, this trick was used to deal with the nomads It can be said that it has been tried and tested.

Shuotuo, who was worried, and Jierharang, who was not strong in war, watched Zhao Yong and Lin Yi slowly run over Anshan.

On 28 March, the attacking troops of the Western Front had reached Anshan, and they immediately launched an attack on Anshan. The 30,000-strong army of Shuotuo and Zilharang seemed to have been completely ignored.

Shuotuo and Zilharang watched from eight miles away, already ready to move. At this time, the first battalion and the cavalry battalion had already set up a defensive formation and were waiting for them to collide, and even the scouts were withdrawn, and only the third-line cannon fodder troops and artillery battalions were attacking the city.

They are already enough to deal with the small city of Anshan.

(To be continued)