Chapter 226: The Balance of Victory

Ao Bai analyzed the terrain of Europe and looked for easy places to set up ambushes. The agriculture of the West cannot be compared with the Ming Dynasty, there are many wastelands, valleys, and places suitable for ambush warfare. It is not possible to "lure the enemy into depth" like when dealing with the Eight Banners Army. Westerners have few cavalry and do not like to fight at night, so it is difficult to get set. The Spaniards were even less crazy than the Eight Banners, they were mainly naval battles, and if they came by boat, the role of the chain crossbow was limited.

No wonder most of their wars are hard-hitting. There were too few cavalry here, and the battle mainly relied on musketeers, phalanxes and pikemen, such a formation was very simple, and it was very difficult to break through in one fell swoop without casualties. Spain has garrisons in many places, the Madrid Legion, the Barcelona Legion, the Lisbon Legion and many more. If you can't take out the Spanish navy, you can't completely defeat them.

Perhaps, the Ming Dynasty came early, and Ao Bai didn't want the Ming army to sacrifice. However, the situation soon changed again, and they had a new ally, the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

The Ottoman Empire was an Islamic state founded by the Turks, and like France, they had a strong enemy in common, Spain, and the two sides clashed not only at sea, but also on land.

In the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire's naval power was challenged by rising Western European powers, especially in the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, and the Moluccas, possessions from Spain and Portugal. This was the reason for Spain's constant enmity with the Ottoman Empire. Religious struggle is just a pretext. Europeans are hypocritical, and the biggest difference between them and Asians is that they like to make a reasonable case before expanding.

The Ming army provided weapons to the Franco-Swiss coalition army, hot air balloons, parachutes, and strategists, Ao Bai, Li Yan, cold-blooded Thirteen Eagles and others followed the Franco-Swiss army to attack the cities occupied by the Spanish. Mao Wenlong and Zheng Zhilong stayed behind to prepare for a naval battle with Spain.

The Ottoman Empire was responsible for containing some of the Spanish forces. The French and Swedes joined forces and marched on the Spanish-occupied cities, and the war officially began at the end of the year.

They were not in a hurry to attack the city, but took the approach of stationing ten miles away.

Ao Bai told them how to use the hot air balloon and wait for the wind to change. When the French saw the hot air balloon, they were amazed that it was the greatest invention. When the wind was in the direction of the city, the coalition forces moved.

A group of people, including Zibu and others, boarded the hot air balloon, to demonstrate to the coalition forces how to conduct air strikes. After the hot air balloon lifts off, it follows the wind over the city. In the evening, people have rested. There was no light outside, only some fire inside the city. They watched the firelight and carried out the airborne.

The tactics of the Airborne Forces were applied on the European theater. It is likely that such a technique was learned by the Europeans and endured by it. Anyway, this is not such a profound theory, as long as it is practiced repeatedly, they will use it sooner or later. After the airborne troops landed, the troops were divided into two routes, one group of people was responsible for opening the city gates, and the other part was set on fire everywhere. Qi Bu and others were responsible for killing people and setting fires. They used the same method they had used to attack the city of Geranza. Light a fire, and when someone comes to put out the fire, hide in a dark place and sneak attack with a chain crossbow. This method is too detrimental and extremely practical.

As soon as the gates were opened, the Franco-Swiss army entered the city in large numbers, formed into small teams, and slaughtered. The attack took place in the second half of the night, and by the early morning of the next day, the coalition forces had easily captured a city. The Spanish army was wiped out before they could stop their effective counterattack, and some surrendered with guns surrendered.

The next day, the interpreter sighed: "Huang Taifu, no wonder the Ming army can defeat 100,000 cavalry with 20,000 people. It is impossible to defend the city in this way. It was an eye-opener for us. In the future, it will be too easy to attack the city like this. ”

Ao Bai said with a smile: "In the future, night attacks will be used to attack the city, which is the most convenient way to fight." Have you counted the number of people? How many people did we lose in this battle? ”

The interpreter said: "One hundred and twenty-one infantrymen and one airborne soldier." ”

Ao Bai wondered: "Why are there still airborne troops who are dead, aren't they all masters?" ”

The interpreter said: "That person is more unlucky, he jumped directly into the well." It was only discovered in the morning. ”

Aobai: "......"

The way the hot air balloon attacks at night makes the enemy unguardable. The coalition forces took the three cities lightly. The Catholic League and Spain were shocked. Because it was a night sortie, the airborne troops landed after the hot air balloon was released, and they still haven't figured out how the enemy troops entered the city.

In the European theater, night raids are a rare occurrence, let alone air raids plus night raids. The Spanish high-level was angry and suspected that the Ming army was in the way, but the Ming army did not directly send troops and was really doing business. Ao Bai found a stand-in, and also stayed in the port to "command" the work, not many people have seen Ao Bai, so it is not clear that he has joined the battlefield and is being a military division.

Three cities were lost in a row, all at night. Spain began to strengthen their defense at night. But the Franco-Swiss forces changed their tactics. They no longer siege cities.

Ao Bai said: "Let the soldiers deploy the army from the farthest place they can see from the castle." Give the enemy tens of thousands of people a false direction to encircle on three sides. ”

The French commander Givash asked, "But we have only 15,000 men." ”

Ao Bai said to the interpreter: "I'm talking about a false direction, as long as you don't let them see it." The cavalry in front was lined up, and the formation was scattered, making it appear that there were many people. It only takes a few hundred people to complete the task. The horsemen in the back hung branches on their horses and ran back and forth, blowing up dust. When they saw this scene, they would think that there were also cavalry behind, and they would never dare to go out of the city. ”

Givash asked, "Taifu, why are we doing this?" If they don't go out of the city, how can we annihilate them? ”

"This city is different from the others, surrounded by mountains on two sides and the sea on the other. If they were asked for reinforcements, their reinforcements would only come from two directions. If you come from the land to help, send people to set up an ambush on the way. It can be caught in one go, and if it comes from the sea, it will be even better, they can't come directly to bombard us, the navy must land. Even if we can't take it, the Spanish navy will be pinned down by us. ”

This is the most basic encirclement point reinforcement. It's worse than taking the city. As long as there is an ambush battle, the musket team and the power of the large phalanx will be greatly reduced. Ao Bai doesn't go head-to-head with people. Hot air balloons scout in the sky and can grasp the enemy's movements. Then inform the people below to set up an ambush at any time. The Spanish forces were outnumbered in reconnaissance.

Ten days later, a Spanish army set out to aid the besieged city. Back-to-back defeats have put the pressure on the Spaniard. After the French army entered the battle, it was even more effective than the Swedes. They lost too quickly. Gustav II, who was a man of great military talent, could not have conquered three cities with such a strong force.

Now that a city is under siege, immediately call for help. It is said that the enemy numbered in the tens of thousands. In order to defeat these people, Spain produced an elite this time. This team consisted of 30,000 men, 4,000 artillery, 14,000 muskets, and 3,000 cavalry. Both numbers and weapons prevailed.

With such a position of the enemy, Ao Bai is not in a hurry. There is a mountain nearby, and if you want to rescue you as quickly as possible, you have to cross a canyon. The Spaniards marched in a hurry, and the vegetation was dense and it was not easy for large armies to ambush. The spies sent out found nothing. So the army entered the canyon. In fact, the elite of the Franco-Swiss alliance has long been on standby nearby.

As they were about to leave the canyon, the Spanish army felt that something was not quite right. The spies said that a large number of enemy troops had been spotted ahead, blocking the mountain pass. If you force a breakthrough, I am afraid that you will suffer heavy losses.

The Spanish commander was hesitating what to do, and the woods caught fire.

At this time, they realized that there were a lot of flammable materials in the woods. Many of the trees are also oiled. There were no Franco-Swiss troops in the woods. They are protected from heaven. People threw Molotov cocktails down from hot air balloons. Bombs are not easy to make, but Molotov cocktails with low power are easy to make. As soon as it was thrown into the woods, it immediately burst into flames.

Such tactics. Europeans are creepy when they hear it. Now that it's really being implemented, they all feel a little inhumane. This does not give the other side a chance to surrender at all, but to kill the other party. And in this way, a large area of the forest was burned, and the fire was not easy to save. The Taifu from the Ming Dynasty is simply a demon.

Ao Bai is not a demon, he is a military strategist. with the fastest method. to strike at the opponent. The Franco-Swiss army had also set up an ambush in the front of the valley before, but did not move. Now that the Spanish army had entered the gorge, they had set up cannons and muskets in the back, blocking the way back.

The Spaniards, if they were surrounded by a clashes, were faced with muskets and artillery. The exit is narrow, and they are going to be unlucky in this battle. In case of retreat. A group of people will also die in the smoke and fire on the way, and there are enemy troops in the rear. Someone will definitely make it out alive. For example, if you throw away your armor and run for your life over the mountain, you can escape a catastrophe. If you want to maintain the formation and fight the enemy to the death, the end will only be their death.

The Spaniards chose the worst option - retreat. After losing a lot of people, they spotted the enemy on the other side of the valley. Brutally shelled. Seeing that the tide was turning, the Spanish commander chose to surrender with the remnants of his troops. The French did not massacre prisoners of war. They achieved the completion of the campaign with fewer victories.

Now the generals of the coalition army are very excited, they found that with the help of the Ming people, it will be easier to fight, and the Ming army also agreed to let the French imitate and improve the hot air balloon and chain crossbow. The premise is that they sign an agreement, and they will develop together in the future, and they cannot break their promises. After Richelieu learned of the battle, he did not hesitate to sign the agreement and gave the Ming army some money as payment. As long as the powerful allies do not abandon them, they will not abandon the Great Ming.

Spain was losing and retreating, and in order to save the defeat, the navy had to be dispatched. Their idea was to attack the French coast. And sent troops to take Paris. This approach is a bit like encircling Wei to save Zhao. Westerners are not without tactics. However, the Ming navy was in France, and if the Netherlands was sending troops to help France, the form would still be quite unfavorable to Spain.

The scales of victory began to tip in favor of the Protestant League...

More to, address