Both armies are equally composed of well-trained and experienced soldiers. All veterans who witnessed the scene just now understand the difference between superior and inferior, and also understand the pointlessness of continuing the fight. So the battle broke out and ended equally quickly.
When the infantry soldiers of the Black Army arrived from the rear and began to carry their own lightly wounded troops, Ding Haijun had already withdrawn his troops and returned to Zhigu Village. Only a small number of soldiers holding infantry bows stayed on the battlefield, watching eagerly on guard.
It was these archers who caused considerable casualties to the Black Knights. Liang Hu squinted his eyes and looked in the direction of the archers, then at the moaning knight beside him, then leaned down and dragged the knight back.
The injury he suffered during the defeat of Pingzhou City has not yet healed. He walks with a limp and drags the knight's movements. The knight's screams of pain kept rising and falling, even though he was slaying the battlefield, it sounded a bit ridiculous.
Then several archers from Dinghai Navy laughed out loud. This also shows the relaxed mood of Admiral Tadashi. Such a battle is probably not difficult for them.
When the Black Army soldiers heard the laughter, they all found it harsh. Several of them immediately held weapons and glared at them.
Liang Hu noticed that the bows held by these Dingjun archers were all horn bows. There were horse locust face bows with large horns and loach face bows with small horns. They were all very well made.
Even if the workshops in the northern states of the Kingdom of Jin could purchase enough horns, they were still in short supply of raw lacquer, swim bladder glue, arrow shafts and other supplies. Therefore, the bow body is usually wrapped with animal skin or bark, and the arrow shaft is mostly made of birch, peach, or willow. Because the bow power is insufficient, it is useless to use heavy arrows to maintain lethality, but they cannot shoot far. Compared with the weapons of the Ding Navy archers, they are far inferior.
It is said that Ding Haijun controls the sea trade channels, so it is very powerful. Liang Hu estimated that they had also obtained weapon-making craftsmen from the Southern Dynasties, otherwise they would not have been able to gather so many strong bows; and with sufficient armaments, they would be able to make their soldiers proficient in using swords, guns or crossbows, and they would have to put even more effort into training. Horrible.
Fortunately, the black army's strength advantage was too great, and the defenders of Zhigu Village did not dare to really fight far away from the stronghold. The accompanying soldiers, including Liang Hu, brought their rescueable comrades with them and collected all the weapons and armor that could be stripped off and taken away. Then they heard an order from the leading officer, and the cavalry changed their formations back and forth and began to move slowly. Retreat.
Even if they suffered a loss during the charge, the cavalry still had rich experience, and their retreat was not chaotic, but a little frustrating at most.
The front team and the back team alternately switched, and the infantry and knights covered each other. From the salt-alkali land on the seaside to the shrubs and woodlands in the upper reaches of Lushui River, the black-armored warriors gathered in front of the woodland. The team once again became a long queue, and soon , the Dinghai navy officers in Zhigu Village could only see small black dots one after another, and the small black dots quickly disappeared.
A young Dinghai general said in a low voice: "They have many cavalry. If they want to leave, we can't stop them."
Another general beside him also sighed: "What a pity."
The two generals are both young men in their twenties, and they speak with the same accent. They were all from Laizhou who followed Ding Haijun in Haicang Town and fought with Tuo Lei's troops. The two of them had only been in the army for more than a year. With their military exploits in that battle, they were promoted to the position of general. Moreover, they were in the ranks of Guo Ning's bodyguards and had a bright future.
Generally speaking, those who generally occupy high positions in the Ding Navy are mainly soldiers from northern Xinjiang, followed by people from Zhongdu. Shandong people who joined the army in Haicang Town, Laizhou ranked third, and currently occupy many grassroots officer positions. .
But it’s a little difficult for them to continue going up. After all, these people from the state had little experience in the army. Even if they pride themselves on loyalty and bravery, their ability to manage the army and adapt to changes is not as good as the veterans that Ding Haijun continued to recruit from the Red Coat Army and even the defeated Shandong Jin Army.
As long as those veterans are familiar with the military laws and tactical routines of the Ding Navy, they can easily perform well. They first serve as escorts and bureau chiefs, and then reach the rank of lieutenant. As a result, the junior officers who came to the state to borrow money were inevitably a little impatient.
The Dinghai navy treats military personnel favorably, and all officers have benefited greatly from joining the army, so they are eager to advance in the military system. The Ding Navy was established in a very short time and expanded extremely quickly. In this process, whoever can seize the opportunity will almost certainly bring glory that they have never dreamed of.
Luxury and wealth.
But to seize the opportunity, it depends not only on military exploits, but also on luck.
This time, the two young generals obviously lacked some luck. As they retreated, they lamented to themselves: "So many generals, with such a terrifying momentum, just left like this? What is this group of people trying to do? Is it just a nuisance? "
Fortunately, the war continues to become more and more intense, and the two generals are not worried about the opportunity to make meritorious deeds. From this day on, the Black Army and Ding Haijun continued to advance and retreat and fight along the Lu River.
When the black army attacks a certain camp with a huge force, Ding Haijun will retreat from the waterway. Once the black army retreats, Ding Haijun will return and regain control of the camp. In the past ten months, except for Zhigu Village itself which remained intact, several strongholds from Miaoyin County onwards had changed hands, with casualties on both sides.
But if the black army aimed to cut off Zhongdu's external communication channel, it would definitely fail.
After the beginning of spring, the amount of water in Lushui increased greatly, and the Ding navy could often sweep along the river with more than thirty ships and nearly a thousand people, directly reaching Tongzhou. The more than a thousand troops under Chen Ran's command had been rotated after a series of fierce battles. The new troops arriving on the battlefield had the idea of making achievements, and their fighting spirit became even higher.
Although the Mongolian soldiers once captured Zhuozhou and Bazhou, almost cutting off the land connections between Hebei and Jinshan and Zhongdu, the water channel was never cut off, and many people from Tongzhou even passed through Lushui. The navy's navy was ordered to evacuate.
So far, Tongzhou, which has more than 3,000 households, is the last big city that can form an angle with Zhongdu for defense. He led 10,000 elite troops, and stationed here was the emperor's confidant, Marshal Wanyan Chenghui of Pingzhang Political Affairs Department.
Because the Mongolian army surrounded Zhongdu and Tongzhou more and more tightly, the fields outside the city could not be harvested, and the food reserves in the city became increasingly tight. After all, there is a limit to the amount of grain that the navy can transport from Lushui. Therefore, Wanyan Chenghui invited Xu Ding as the middleman, and reached an agreement with Du Shiqing, who represented Ding Haijun, to gradually release the people in the city and hand them over to Ding Haijun for resettlement.
This is indeed what the navy needs.
In order to fight against Zhebie's troops, Han Xuan and Li Yun recruited many subordinate tribes in Liaodong and made many promises. Afterwards, it was implemented one by one, and more than 60% of the registered households in Liaodong Fu and Gai prefectures were tribal people of various ethnic groups in northern Xinjiang. Without Wanyan Chenghui's request, Guo Ning would have planned to relocate the people from Shandong Road to maintain the ratio of Han people and foreigners in Liaodong.
The people of Tongzhou were also happy to leave. In the past two months, Tongzhou's material supply has been extremely tight. All the strong men in the city had to participate in the defense of the city. As the Mongolian army continued to tighten the noose, the elderly, women and children became a complete burden since they could not leave the city to gather wild wheat.
Of course, Guo Ning did not show his kindness out of thin air.
If only the old, weak, women and children arrive in Liaodong and there is no man to support their family, then if they are placed among the surrounding barbarians, what difference will they make to a sheep falling into a tiger's mouth? What's more, the elderly, women and children do not have the ability to open up wasteland. If people arrive in Liaodong and have to starve to death, it will inevitably cause turmoil in people's hearts. In the eyes of the dependent barbarians in Liaodong, it is even more detrimental to the prestige of the navy.
Therefore, according to the agreement between Guo Ning and Wanyan Chenghui, after these women and children left early, the men in their families would also leave. Fortunately, the scale of Tongzhou City is such that the lack of a few strong men will not affect the overall situation, but will reduce the pressure on supply. As a veteran general with long experience in battles, Wanyan Chenghui was very good at controlling his troops and horses, and he did not expect the soldiers to panic and riot after the people left the city.
