The Denglai area is located at the eastern end of the Shandong Peninsula, surrounded by sea on three sides. It becomes narrower towards the east and does not have much strategic depth.
With sufficient troops, the Liaodong Army must stick to Laizhou, because once it retreats to Dengzhou, there will be no room for maneuver.
Except for Wei County in the north, which belongs to the salient, it is a stronghold ready to be abandoned at any time.
Li Xianzhong was not prepared to give up other strongholds.
He ordered Lu Xiangsheng to hold Changyi on the northern line and Mao Wenlong to Gaomi and Jiaozhou on the south line.
Use these three strongholds to form the first line of defense.
He believed that the Ming army's combat power would not be able to break through here from the front. Once Hong Chengchou's elite Yulin battalion suffered heavy losses, the Ming Dynasty would be unable to fight again.
At that time, whether you take the opportunity to seize Qingzhou or even the entire Shandong depends on your mood. You may be able to let Zheng Zhilong come forward to humiliate Chongzhen.
He was looking forward to seeing Chongzhen furious.
In addition to the thousands of elite troops deployed in each city, there are tens of thousands of cavalry on patrol and standby behind the first line of defense.
Once there was sneaked in by the Ming army, the cavalry was responsible for quickly destroying the small groups of enemies that had penetrated.
That's why Mao Wenlong gave up the Lingshan Guard outside Jiaozhou's defense line.
However, he was indeed careless. The powerful Liaodong Navy was stationed in the Denglai area. He did not expect that the Ming army would risk being bombarded by the navy and cross the sea from Lingshanwei.
Even the Liaodong Navy itself placed its main force on the coasts of Dengzhou and Laizhou in the north, leaving only a few small boats for cruising in the southern waters!
Hong Chengchou did not recruit ships directly from the coast, so he avoided the patrol ships of the Liaodong Navy during the day.
He asked the soldiers to cooperate with the craftsmen to make small boats for crossing the sea in the woods. After all, Lingshan Guard and Fushan Guard were located on both sides of the bay exit, only a few nautical miles apart. An ordinary small boat could ferry people and war horses.
After several days of observation, they also mastered the patrol routes and times of the Liaodong Navy. The enemy did not have patrol boats at night.
So he decided to take advantage of the night to sneak across and capture Fushan Guards in one fell swoop.
The location of Fushan Guard is today's urban area of Qingdao. However, in the Ming Dynasty, Qingdao was only a guard station, and its superior port was not developed.
In Mao Wenlong's eyes, this place was inconspicuous, with only 300 people stationed here.
Although there were not many troops, Hong Chengchou did not dare to take it lightly. If these people recruited the bandits' navy, then their army crossing the sea would be destroyed.
On the first day of August, it happened to be dark and windy, with a little drizzle.
From the perspective of crossing the sea, this is not a good weather. Their boat is small and there is still a risk of sinking if the wind is strong and the waves are rough.
But from a sneak attack perspective this is a rare opportunity.
It is absolutely impossible for a patrol ship to appear in this kind of weather, and even the patrol soldiers will be much fewer than usual.
Soon the soldiers of the Yulin Camp came to the shore carrying hundreds of small boats.
Although the distance is only a few miles, there is still a certain risk in crossing the sea late at night. Small sampans like theirs can only engage in stowaways at short distances. If they really drift to the open sea, it will only be a matter of time before they sink.
Therefore, Hong Chengchou and the others did not walk in a straight line, but tilted slightly towards the bay. Although this slightly increased the distance, it basically ensured that they would not stray to the open sea.
After all, He Renlong had the experience of sneaking across the Yellow River before, so he took the lead and personally led the vanguard troops to land. Soon 200 small boats carried nearly 3,000 Yulin Guards and headed for Fushan Guards.
Fortunately for them, the ship sailed directly along the tide to the other shore.
Although Fushan Guards arranged for sergeants to patrol, it was dark and windy today, coupled with the rain, they reduced the number of patrols and stayed in the garrison on the seaside to take shelter from the rain.
The Liaodong Navy had complete control of the sea, and they never thought that the enemy would sneak across.
In addition, there was no moonlight tonight, the visibility was very low, and the huge sound of wind and waves prevented them from discovering the stowaway Yulin Camp in advance.
When the soldiers saw many ships approaching the coast, He Renlong had already led his men to jump into the sea.
"Bang, bang, bang"
Soon the defenders on the shore fired at the enemy who boarded the case.
With such visibility, it is naturally difficult for a firegun to hit its target, but the sound caused by shooting is particularly harsh in the dark night.
Soon the Liaodong soldiers stationed at Lingshan Guard were awakened by the continuous sound of firecrackers.
The continuous sound of shooting could only mean that there was an enemy attack. Everyone put on their armor almost immediately, picked up their weapons and rushed to the shore.
When they arrived, the soldiers on patrol had been killed, and countless Ming troops were attacking their camp.
Although it was difficult to see the exact number of people in the dark night, it must have been more than two thousand people.
The commander who stayed behind quickly said to the two soldiers: "Go and inform General Mao that the Ming army sneaked into Fushan Guards!"
I saw several sounding arrows piercing the night sky, leaving obvious traces in the endless night, and finally bursting into brilliant fireworks in the night sky.
Even Hong Chengchou, who stayed on the other side and had not yet landed, could see it clearly.
He secretly thought that the Liaodong Army was really not simple. These loud arrows must be their way of transmitting information. These loud arrows could be seen clearly from 20 miles away.
If that's the case, it won't be long before their reinforcements arrive.
So he quickly urged the second group of soldiers to drive 500 small boats to the other side.
After seeing these noisy arrows, the intelligence point in the distance quickly continued firing.
After three transmissions, the news was received in Jimo City, 80 miles away.
Jimo is located behind Jiaozhou City. Together with the ancient city and Pingdu Prefecture, it forms the second line of defense of Laizhou.
In addition to the 3,000 defenders, there were originally 2,000 cavalry stationed here.
But two days ago, Mao Wenlong discovered signs that the Ming army was building ships near Gaomi Lake. He judged that the Ming army was probably trying to sneak across Gaomi Lake.
So he ordered all 5,000 cavalry scattered on the second line of defense to be gathered near Gaomi Lake to prepare for a surprise attack on the Ming army.
At this time, the highest officer of Jimo was Guangning General Liao Dexing. The three ringing arrows were the most urgent military situation. According to the military regulations of the Liaodong Army, he had the right to make a judgment.
So while he sent people to deliver information to Mao Wenlong, who was 150 miles away, he gathered 1,500 troops to support Fushan Guards.
According to intelligence, there were about two to three thousand Ming troops who made a sneak attack. There were only 300 people there, so they probably couldn't resist it for long.
Although support involves certain risks, we cannot sit back and ignore friendly forces.
In addition, he needs to block the landing enemies in the Fushanwei area to prevent them from continuing to harass the rear!
Soon Guangning General Liao Dexing led 1,500 Liaodong troops to Fushan Guard on foot.
Although 80 miles is not a short distance, they usually do 50-mile cross-country runs when they have nothing to do in Liaodong. Many times they march with heavy loads, so they are physically able to adapt.
At this time, the battle of Fushan Guards has reached its final moment.
Hong Chengchou's face was very ugly, because there were only three hundred "bandits" in Fushanwei at most.
Congratulations, the 3,000 vanguard battalion led by Renlong has been laying siege for a full stick of incense (half an hour), but they haven't captured it yet.
Hong Chengchou said loudly: "The squatting cannon that I asked you to transport has not been delivered yet?"
At this time, a commander said: "Governor Qi Hong, the luck has arrived, but now the enemy and we are fighting together, and we are afraid of accidentally injuring one of our own!"
Hong Chengchou said: "If you don't fire the cannon, I'm afraid more of our people will fall. Adjust the muzzle of the cannon and try to fire it into the camp!"
In the end, with the cooperation of the Tiger Crouching Cannon, He Renlong completely annihilated the three hundred defenders.
He Renlong said: "Thanks to Governor Hong's artillery help, the general was able to eliminate this group of bandits. They were extremely powerful, with less than three hundred people in total, but they withstood our elite vanguard battalion for so long. In this battle, the vanguard The battalion lost nearly 800 men."
"General Yimo, there is no doubt that these people are from the Liaodong Army!"
Of course Hong Chengchou knew that they were the Liaodong Army, but now he was ready to take action.
He said: "While it is still dark, hurry up and transport. The enemy has already fired arrows, and it is estimated that their reinforcements will arrive soon."
Three hours later, the main force of Yulin Camp had basically arrived at Fushan Guard via waterway.
Only some baggage is still being transported.
Hong Chengchou knew that this was not a place to stay for a long time. It would not be long before the Ming army's navy would block this place, and soon they would become a lone army.
He must capture Jimo City, which is 80 miles away, as soon as possible so that he can have a foothold, and then work with Yang Wenyue and others to attack from inside and outside to break through the bandits' defense line!
At this time, the sentinels suddenly came to report that reinforcements of the bandits were found 15 miles away.
Hong Chengchou did not expect that the enemy troops would come so quickly. He had already thought about it. Laoshan Mountain was next to Fushan Guard.
Now that the bandits react quickly, he can rely on the favorable terrain of Laoshan to stop the bandits.
I thought it was cavalry, but I didn't expect it was 1,500 infantry.
He said loudly: "Commander He, it's time for your cavalry battalion to show its full potential!"
He Renlong said: "The eight thousand elite cavalry of the Yulin Battalion under the general's command are also experienced in hundreds of battles. A mere 1,500 infantry are not worth mentioning!"
Soon He Renlong led the cavalry northward.
At this time, the cavalry of the Liaodong Army responsible for exploring the path had discovered He Renlong and others.
Send the signal quickly.
After receiving the signal, Liao Dexing quickly ordered the soldiers to stop and put on their armor to meet the enemy.
The well-trained Liaodong Army quickly took off the armor from the carriage accompanying the army.
When He Renlong's cavalry arrived, the Liaodong Army had already completed its formation.
At this time, of their 1,500 people, there were 200 shield soldiers in the front row, 600 spearmen behind them divided into three rows, and 600 fire gunmen behind the spearmen.
Finally, there is the artillery team composed of 100 artillerymen, with a total of 30 tiger squatting guns.
He Renlong was shocked when he saw that the other party had formed a neat formation.
These bandits all wore the Ming Dynasty's heavy cloth armor, and they were almost indistinguishable from the army.
If there is a difference, it is that their equipment is better than that of the official army.
The Yulin Battalion can also do the same with armor and firearms, but they still carry artillery during the rapid march, although it is only a squatting cannon, which is better than the Yulin Battalion.
In fact, Liao Dexing was also complaining terribly. If Mao Wenlong hadn't taken away all Jimo's 2,000 cavalry and 6-pound Franco machine guns, he wouldn't have used the Crouching Tiger Cannon to make up the numbers.
Now I can only make do with it.
The left side of the Liaodong Army was surrounded by woods, and the right side was the remnants of Laoshan Mountain. It was obvious that He Renlong had no chance to flank the Ming Army's infantry formation.
He had no choice but to fight head-on.
But he had nothing to worry about. With 8,000 cavalry against 1,500 infantry, he had nothing to worry about.
The only flaw is that the place they encounter is relatively narrow, which prevents the cavalry from taking full advantage.
Soon the cavalry of the Yulin Camp urged their horses to attack the Liaodong Army's infantry formation.
Although fighting cavalry in infantry formations in the field has always been a training subject for the Liaodong Army, these soldiers are no strangers, but this is almost the first time in actual combat.
Even when the Liaodong Army faced the Tatar cavalry before, they arranged their positions in advance and relied on a huge number of firecrackers to suppress the opponent's battle with artillery!
What's more, they marched continuously for nearly three hours, and they suffered a lot in terms of physical strength.
Some recruits felt the vibrations caused by the galloping horses' hooves, and their hands would tremble unconsciously.
Fortunately, the veterans on the side stabilized their emotions.
When the cavalry of Yulin Camp were 200 steps away from them, the Tiger Crouching Cannon began to show its power. Countless lead balls exploded among the cavalry, knocking many cavalry off their horses.
This made the advancing team appear a little confused, but fortunately, the Yulin camp quickly adjusted and continued to rush towards the opponent's infantry formation.
"Bang, bang, bang"
As the Yulin Battalion entered within the 120-step shooting range, the fire gunners in the formation began to exert their strength.
After the three teams of gunmen finished shooting, almost all of the hundreds of cavalry rushing at the front fell.
If their Rumi guns can fire continuously, then the cavalry of the Yulin battalion will not be able to rush over anyway.
It's a pity that as the gunmen entered the reloading time, the cavalry from behind soon came up again.
The soldiers of the Yulin Camp also knew that their best chance was when the bandits were reloading.
At this time, they had advanced to within fifty steps of the formation.
The cavalrymen of Yulin Camp also raised their spears and prepared to attack the enemy's formation.
But instead of the imagined scene of cavalry colliding with thieves and shield soldiers, the neighing of war horses was heard instead.
It turned out that these bandits actually scattered a lot of caltrops on the ground.
The war horse traveling at high speed couldn't stand the pain at all and began to slow down.
When the Yulin Battalion's cavalry attacked the shield formation, the impact of the horses had been greatly reduced.
As long as a small number of shield soldiers did not withstand the impact, they would be knocked down.
At this time, the spearmen of the Liaodong Army began to stab the cavalry of the Yulin Camp.
Soon these spears, emitting a dazzling cold light, directly pierced the chests of the cavalry with the fierce thrust of the Liaodong Army.
He Renlong in the rear was also dumbfounded. His elite Yulin camp cavalry did not break through the bandit's infantry formation. How could this be possible?
However, the cavalry lost its impact and its combat effectiveness was greatly reduced.
Moreover, they who were riding horses soon became the targets of thieves and bandits.
"Bang, bang, bang"
As another round of gunfire sounded from the bandits, He Renlong had no choice but to order his cavalry to retreat so that he could charge again.
In this battle, he lost more than 700 riders, while the bandits in front lost more than 100 people at most.
The cavalry must maintain impact. If a wave of attacks does not overwhelm the opponent, then retreating and charging again is a common tactic for them.
But this is only for ordinary infantry and cavalry.
Now when they charge again, they will face another round of Crouching Tiger Cannon and Lumi Gun, which will kill hundreds of people first.
He Renlong did not expect that these thieves who had been traveling for so long could still have such strong fighting power.
At this time, he could only take out his trump card at the bottom of the box.
In fact, the Yulin Camp was not so much designed to deal with the Liaodong Army as it was a product of imitating the Liaodong Army.
The most feared thing of the Liaodong Army is naturally the indestructible Liaodong Iron Cavalry.
Yulin camp also has a similar organization.
At this time, He Renlong had a heavily armored cavalry of 2,000 men in his hands.
The Ming Dynasty can build a lot of equipment, but heavy cavalry horses are hard to find. Now Mo Nan and Liaodong are already under Li Xianzhong's control.
The Ming court could only trade war horses with the Oirat Mongols to the west, and the number of good horses was extremely limited.
The year 2000 was already the result of Ming Dynasty’s best efforts.
He gritted his teeth and sent this trump card forward.
After all, the Liaodong Army had been marching for a long time, and its physical strength was already exhausted. It was just relying on its strong mental strength to barely support it.
In the end, the shield bearers of the Liaodong Army failed to block the impact of the Ming Army's cavalry, and the probability of their thick armor being directly pierced by a spear was greatly reduced.
The shield bearers and spear bearers of the Ming army in the front row suffered heavy losses.
However, the armor could not block the attack of Rumi's gun. As the sound of gunfire sounded, hundreds of heavy cavalry fell into a pool of blood.
The battle was very fierce.
Although the gunmen of the Liaodong Army had installed bayonets and fought with the enemy.
But their bayonets were still powerless against the heavy cavalry.
Some artillerymen directly ignited the shells and powder barrels, blowing up the Tiger Crouching Cannon.
Liao Dexing directed the remaining artillerymen to use the baggage train as cover and continue to resist with the muskets and spears they carried.
But in the end the army was wiped out.
However, He Renlong couldn't be happy at all. The personnel losses of both sides in this battle were similar. The Yulin camp lost more than 1,600 people, but more than 800 of them were heavy cavalry. This made He Renlong feel bad. .
The cavalry fought the infantry like this. If it weren't for the heavy armored cavalry, they wouldn't be able to break the opponent's infantry formation.
This also made Hong Chengchou full of worries about the next battle.
It seems that fighting hard won't work, we have to outsmart him!
Hong Chengchou asked: "Are there any survivors among these thieves?"
He Renlong shook his head and said: "These bandits are too stubborn and they will not surrender even if they fight to the death!"
However, the soldier cleaning the battlefield said: "Governor Qi Hong, we found a man pretending to be dead. Judging from his appearance, he is still an officer."
Hong Chengchou thought that all his companions would die in the battle, but he managed to survive. It seemed that he was a man who was greedy for life and afraid of death!
This is easy to handle!
So under Hong Chengchou's coercion and inducement, Hou Yaozong, the governor of Guangning, told all the truth and falsehoods of Mao Wenlong's troops on the southern front.
Hong Chengchou's secret plan is not good, and Mao Wenlong's main force is on the high-density front line. I am afraid that Yang Wenyue's 20,000 troops will be in trouble.
Both sides were also thieves. Their side only annihilated 1,800 second-line troops, but lost 2,500 elite main force.
As for Yang Wenyue's 20,000 people in Gaomi, it is likely that all of them will be eaten by Mao Wenlong, or at least half of them will be lost.
In this way, his original strategy of attacking Gaomi and Jiaozhou from the rear of these bandits would be impossible to realize.
Because the Ming army on the front battlefield on the southern front had been defeated by Mao Wenlong.
However, he got an important piece of information from Hou Yaozong: there was almost no garrison in Dengzhou.
And Li Xianzhong himself is likely to be in Dengzhou.
If he could capture Li Xianzhong in this battle, then not only would he be a high-ranking official with a generous salary, but he would also be granted a title.
Since Dengzhou was so empty, he might as well take a gamble and go deep alone to attack Dengzhou.
After all, Yang Wenyue had 20,000 people in Gaomi, so it was expected that Mao Wenlong would not be able to end the battle so quickly.
At this time, he didn't know that it was his main force of 30,000 that attacked Fushan Guard, so there should still be a good chance.
Even if Li Xianzhong cannot be captured and Dengzhou can be captured, the bandits will inevitably collapse across the board.
He Renlong is also a gambler, and he also saw the opportunity.
Said: "Governor Hong, this is a golden opportunity, it must not be missed and it will never come again!"
At this time, Mao Wenlong and Zhao Shujiao had completed the encirclement of Yang Wenyue's tribe.
Mao Wenlong led 8,000 men to attack directly and penetrated Yang Wenyue's camp in the west of Gaomi.
Zhao Lijiao led five thousand cavalry to bypass Gaomi Lake and directly cut off Yang Wenyue's retreat.
The combat effectiveness of the 20,000 Baoding Army under Yang Wenyue was far inferior to that of the Yulin Camp.
Three thousand people have been lost under Gaomi City, and now there are only 17,000 left.
Mao Wenlong's Liaodong Army was almost completely destroyed, and soon it went straight to Yang Wenyue's Chinese army camp.
Yang Wenyue was leading the remaining troops to retreat, but was blocked by Zhao Piaojiao's cavalry.
In the end, only less than two thousand remnants fled back to Anqiu City in Qingzhou.
Just as Mao Wenlong and Zhao Wanjiao were discussing whether to invade Qingzhou, they received an urgent report that the Ming army had attacked and captured Shanwei.
However, at this time, some Ming troops were still resisting in their encirclement, so Mao Wenlong decided to let Zhao lead 3,000 cavalry to rescue first. After he cleaned up the remnants of the Wan Ming troops, he immediately returned with the entire division to deal with Hong Chengchou, who was attacking by surprise.
However, Zhao Shujiao ran into the Liaodong Army who came from Jimo to report the news as soon as he reached the halfway point.
General Liao Dexing led his troops to support Fushan Guards and died in the battle. Hou Yaozong, the governor of Guangning, rebelled and deceived some of the defenders out of the city to support General Liao. Finally, Hong Chengchou took the opportunity to capture Jimo City.
Zhao Lijiao sighed and said: "Liao Dexing was too careless. He rushed to support without knowing the enemy's situation. If his three thousand troops defended Jimo, it would be difficult for the Ming army to capture the city."
"If he can hold on for at most one day, we can return to the division!"
The cavalry led by Zhao quickly arrived at Jimo City, but there were many Ming troops left behind, and since he had no siege equipment, he had to temporarily camp outside the city, waiting for Mao Wenlong's main force to return.
In fact, there are only 10,000 Ming troops in Jimo City at this moment.
At this time, Hong Chengchou and He Renlong had led their troops deep into Dengzhou.
The cunning Hong Chengchou continued to use Hou Yaozong to pretend to be the Liaodong army to open the city gate of Laiyang. Only a few hundred Bailian followers were defending the city. They were not familiar with the Liaodong military order, so they did not see through it!
At this time, they were only 150 miles away from Dengzhou, but Li Xianzhong in Dengzhou city didn't know anything about it!
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(End of chapter)
