Chapter 122 Deployment of Positions
Yaoshan Mountain Road.
Liu Yan led his troops to the defense line designated by Li Jiwen, and then carefully observed the terrain here.
I saw that this was the southern end of the Yaoshan Mountain Road. The front was very wide. Liu Yan took a look and saw that the front was more than a mile wide. It would be very difficult to defend here.
Liu Yan thought for a while, and then decisively ordered the entire army to retreat, giving up this wide area, and withdrew the entire army to a relatively narrow place, which was more than two miles away from the place designated by Li Jiwen. distance.
The location Liu Yan chose has only a hundred or so steps of frontal defense, which is considered a relatively narrow place on the mountain road of Yaoshan Mountain. Moreover, the location chosen by Liu Yan also has an advantage, that is, the terrain here is higher, much higher than the previous defense location designated by Li Jiwen, which is very conducive for the whistler gunners to shoot from a high position.
This is it!
"Instruct the flag officers and flag officers of all sentries to come to my place immediately to participate in the pre-war military meeting. Order the cavalry sentries to stay at night and immediately go north to explore, and report any situation at any time!"
"Got the order!"
Soon, as groups of horses rode northward at night, Miao Shao, Xu Ming, Wang Bo, Zhang Yi, Shen Tuo, Wang Yue, and the flag officers from each sentry all gathered at Liu Yan around. Liu Yan then began to deploy a defensive strategy.
I saw Liu Yan calling for everyone to come around, and everyone was squatting or sitting to form a semicircle. I saw Liu Yan using a branch to draw a pattern on the ground. This was the frontal defense map of this defense.
"In front of the defense line, a trench that is one foot deep and one foot wide must be dug to directly cut off the Yaoshan Mountain Road to prevent the Qing cavalry from attacking. Then the excavated soil must be used to build a line of one person behind the trench. A high earthen wall for each gunman to rely on to shoot."
"At the same time, sharpened wooden stakes must be inserted at the bottom of the trench, and sharpened wooden stakes must be inserted in front of the trench to delay the enemy's cavalry charge."
At this time, Liu Yan didn't know how much time he had left for himself. It was also the first time for his soldiers and horses to build fortifications in the wild. They had been operating in training before. This was the first time to practice, so Liu Yan didn't dare to design anything. An overly complicated defense line would prevent the Qing troops from arriving before the defense line was completed.
The amount of work on this line of defense is actually not large. Wang Yue led his troops to cut down trees on the mountains on both sides and make sharpened wooden stakes. Wang Bo led his troops to dig trenches, Zhang Yi led his troops to build earth walls, and Miao Shao led his troops to make Good sharpened stakes are deployed in place. Xu Ming led his troops to guard one mile north of the defense line to prevent the Qing soldiers from suddenly attacking.
Watching the officers and soldiers on the outposts begin to divide work and cooperate, Liu Yan felt a lot more at ease. The tense atmosphere before the war began to permeate, but the soldiers on the outposts remained calm. The captains, flag officers and other officers of each unit performed their duties. The entire defense line began to take shape at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"It seems that the effects of rigorous daily training are showing!"
Liu Yan sighed with satisfaction, and then looked at the mountains on both sides of the rear: "I don't know what those Shangguan are doing. If the Qing army really comes to kill them, they won't just run away, right?"
Liu Yan had a trace of worry in his heart, but he shook his head. Now is not the time to think about these things. The number of Qing troops who really rushed here will definitely not be too many. The elite army led by him can win with a high probability. , the only question now is how much price must be paid to win.
At the same time, on both sides of the Yaoshan Mountain Road, Zhang Hailin and others, as well as Li Jiwen and others, were paying close attention to Liu Yan. Both sides simultaneously sent Ye Bushou to investigate the situation. However, the Ye Bushou sent by the two men were obviously parallel imports. They only dared to watch from a distance and did not dare to approach to ask about the situation, for fear that the Qing army would suddenly rush out.
"What? Dig a trench?"
After a while, Zhang Hailin, Wang Wenzhen, Jia Hongyu, Dai Jingbin, and Song Gongming received the reward for not accepting it all night. Everyone was confused at this time, did Liu Yan want to fight the field battle as a city defense battle?
At this time, Liu Yan did not prepare more horses to resist, or cut down trees to block the road. Instead, he dug trenches. Could it be that a trench could stop the Qing soldiers from going south?
"Perhaps Liu Baihu has his own plan, and there may be another secret to digging the trench."
Jia Hongyu talked, but he also lacked confidence. What else could he dig out of the trenches he dug in a short period of time?
Zhang Hailin frowned and hesitated for a while, and then quickly said to Wang Wenzhen: "How about sending someone to remind Liu Baihu? Liu Baihu cannot be defeated. His troops are thousands of people in front of our Xiahe Village. That’s where Tosho’s courage lies!”
Wang Wenzhen looked at the sky and said, "Okay, there should be enough time. I will send someone to contact Liu Baihu right now."
"good."
At the same time, on the other side of the Yaoshan Mountain Road, the conduct officer Li Jiwen was very surprised when he learned that Liu Yan was leading his troops to dig trenches when he received the news.
In Li Jiwen's understanding, the best way to stop the Qing cavalry attack was to build a solid phalanx defense line using a combination of horses, spears, and heavy armor. It would be even better if there were a wave of long-range attacks with bows and arrows and fire guns. 33
But Liu Yan was leading his troops to dig trenches. Can a trench block the Qing cavalry attack? In Li Jiwen's mind, this was obviously impossible.
"This Liu Yan is an exaggeration after all!"
Li Jiwen immediately regarded Liu Yan as the same thing as Ma Su, and immediately called a night guard, wanting to send someone to contact Liu Yan, and ordered Liu Yan to make a defensive horse as soon as possible to prepare for the enemy's defense.
Looking at Ye Bushou who was hurriedly riding his horse to deliver the order, Li Jiwen prayed in his heart: "I hope the Qing army will not come, otherwise this battle will be in danger!"
Less than half an hour later, Ye Bushou sent by Wang Wenzhen and Li Jiwen arrived one after another. After listening to the news brought by the two men, Liu Yan couldn't help but sneer and doubted the military capabilities of Zhang Hailin and Li Jiwen.
At this time, it was naturally impossible for Liu Yan to obey the remote control commands of Zhang Hailin and Li Jiwen. After all, the people in front were his own soldiers and horses, how could he be controlled by others?
So Liu Yan said to the two Ye Bushou who came to deliver the order at the same time: "Go back and report to the conduct officer Mr. Li and the defense officer Mr. Zhang for me, saying that the foreign military orders will be violated!"
"How I defend here has my own reasons. If I can't win this battle, I will take the blame. If we win, everyone deserves credit. What do you two adults have to worry about?"
The two Ye Bushou were in trouble after hearing this and didn't know how to respond. Liu Yan said with a smile: "Don't think about it. Just report it truthfully. If anything happens, Liu Yan will take care of it!"
After sending away the two Ye Bu Zhai, Liu Yan's defense line was almost ready. After a short rest, all the sentry soldiers basically recovered their strength.
Liu Yan immediately summoned Wang Bo, Zhang Yi, Miao Shao, Xu Ming, Shen Tuo, and Wang Yue and began to deploy troops.
"This line of defense is not wide. In this battle, the rear post led by Wang Xiaoqi and the middle post led by Shen Zongqi are the front defense forces. The soldiers of the two posts immediately stationed in the fortifications to defend themselves."
Wang Yue and Shen Tuo clasped their fists and accepted the order.
"The Chinese military sentry led by General Miao Qi is on standby a hundred and fifty steps behind the defense line as a reserve force. The cavalry sentry led by Xu Zongqi is on standby one hundred and fifty steps behind the defense line as a pursuit force for this battle."
Miao Shao and Xu Ming also clasped their fists and accepted orders.
"The right outpost led by General Wang Qi is deployed on the slope on the right, and the left outpost led by General Zhang Qi is deployed on the slope on the left. The slopes on both sides are lush with trees and can ambush troops. If the Qing army really attacks, The two of you will lead your troops to attack the enemy troops on the mountain road of Yaoshan from the left and right flanks!"
Wang Bo and Zhang Yi clasped their fists and accepted the order.
After the troops were deployed, Liu Yan looked at a few people. If the Qing army really attacked, would there be fewer of his brothers after this battle?
Liu Yan looked at everyone for a while, and then said in a deep voice: "It's best if nothing happens this time. If the Qing soldiers really attack, then this battle will be our life and death, and you must do your best to fight it."
"This line of defense is our tomb. Even if the sentries fight to the last man, they must not retreat!"
Wang Bo, Zhang Yi, Miao Shao, Xu Ming, Shen Tuo, and Wang Yue stood up one after another, clasped their fists seriously and said: "I swear to follow you to the death, and kill Hu to serve the country!"
It was still early in the day and had not yet reached noon, so Liu Yan ordered all the troops to immediately enter their respective defensive areas and then take turns eating dry food.
"Each post is not allowed to light fires to make food, and only eat dry food. The messengers at each post must keep in touch with the Chinese army, and no news must be delayed!"
"Got the order!"
Then Wang Bo, Zhang Yi, Miao Shao, Xu Ming, Shen Tuo, and Wang Yue led their troops to mobilize. Liu Yan stood there and looked at the officers and soldiers of the Dun Army who were mobilized. In addition to being moved and fighting in his heart, he also felt He secretly thought: "After this battle, we need to find time to build a supply team for the army. Building fortifications and distributing food and grass can no longer be done by the sentries."
On the battlefield, soldiers must maintain their physical strength at all times and must not waste their precious physical strength on things other than fighting. Therefore, the presence of heavy troops or auxiliary troops is very necessary at this time.
"In addition, the army must be equipped with auxiliary personnel such as craftsmen, doctors, and veterinarians. Once the battle starts, someone must do repairs, rescue the wounded soldiers, and treat the horses in time. This can avoid many battle casualties."
Liu Yan thought about these things, and then said to Miao Shao beside him: "Do you think the Qing soldiers will come?"
Miao Shao looked at the outposts who were setting up defenses and replied excitedly: "My subordinates think it is better for the Qing army to come, so that we can have military merits. The heads of the Qing soldiers and Tatars are real gold and silver. They are real." A military position of honor!"
Liu Yan looked at Miao Shao who was so belligerent, smiled and shook his head. Just as he was about to speak, he heard the sound of a three-eyed blunderbuss from the north. He immediately looked to the north and saw a group of four soldiers who stayed at night. He was galloping back on his horse.
"Prepare for war! Prepare for war!"
Without Liu Yan's order, Miao Shao roared loudly, and the trumpeters and trumpeters of the central military sentry blew their horns one after another, and the soldiers in each department suddenly became nervous.
All the cannon players in the frontal defense line held their cannons flat, and the black cannons pointed forward. On the slopes on both sides, the cannon players on the left and right sentries were also ready. More than 180 of them were The gunners aimed at the Yaoshan mountain road from the left and right directions, forming a three-sided pincer attack with the gunners on the frontal defense line.
In addition, the spearmen and sword and shield men at each post were also ready to fight, and Liu Yan's soldiers at each post were ready to fight.
Some people died, but not completely...
