"Master, there is an urgent military situation on the grassland." The officer came to Yang's house and saluted before saying.
"Well, come to the study with me." Yang Fan turned around and walked towards the study.
Yang Fan's study is in the west wing of the first hall. It is heavily guarded and is the most heavily guarded place in the Yang Mansion. All the military secrets of Yang Mansion are here. Usually Mo Zhui and his trusted servants are responsible for guarding.
The officer handed Yang Fan a kraft paper bag with three layers of pheasant feathers on it. Yang Fan took it and inspected it carefully. The fire paint is intact. Then use a paper cutter to open the document bag.
After receiving the information, according to the rules, the officer was given a seal to sign the receipt, and then the officer left.
Yang Fan sat on the chair and looked at the documents inside one by one.
This is a summary of recent intelligence sent by An Sanxi from the grassland.
After Yang Fan's squadron returned, An Sanxi's cavalry army has been stationed in the grassland. Some time ago, the cavalry went around attacking the winter camps of the Tumuts. Wipe out all the Tumuts outside Guihua City.
The nobles and their cavalry all fled into Guihua City. Ansanxi took the opportunity to annex the people of the eight major Tumut tribes east of Guihua City. The joining of these people has greatly enhanced the strength of Duolun City.
Now the Tumut people have been compressed into the area around Guihua City, Jiuyuan City, and Linhe City, which is a narrow area south of Yinshan Mountain and north of the Yellow River. They are closely related to each other across the Yellow River from the Ordos people.
This place is the Chile River in Yuefu folk songs. Chilechuan, at the foot of Yinshan Mountain, is a lush land where cattle and sheep can be seen under the wind and grass.
Yang Fan looked at the information and used red and blue pencils to draw the locations of various forces on the map on the table, marking the distribution of their military strength and various detailed information.
According to intelligence, since the beginning of winter this year, there have been strange movements among the Khalkha people. From Guihua City to Nuruerhu Mountain, reconnaissance light cavalry from Mobei appeared in many places. These cavalry are mainly from the Three Mobei Khanates of the Khalkha people, and there are even people from Bayinnuoyan.
At this time of year, it is extremely cold on the grasslands of Outer Mongolia. People and animals will hide in winter camps and suffer until spring. At that time, see how many people and livestock survived, and then plan for the new year.
Since the beginning of winter this year, Tushetu Khan's light cavalry has crossed the Gobi many times to conduct reconnaissance in the Monan Mongolian region. Even the people of Bayinnoyan and even the Chechen Khan began to cross the Gobi and peer southward.
Scout cavalry frequently encountered patrolling militiamen. A firefight broke out, and some cavalrymen were killed by militia muskets. A few were captured. The small group of Khalkha scout cavalry even reached as far as the Great Wall.
An Sanxi was worried that the Khalkha Mongols were uniting with the remnants of Monan Mongolia.
After next spring, when Yang Fan attacks Guihua City, people from the Three Khalkha Khanates and Bayinnoyan will cross the Mongolian Gobi from the north and enter the Monan Mongolia region on a large scale to attack the logistics route of the Western Expedition.
After all, after the army left Zhangjiakou, there was only one city in Jining as a military stronghold on the vast grassland.
It takes three hundred miles to reach Jining from Zhangjiakou, and then continue marching for at least 260 miles to Guihua City. The long logistics supply line of nearly 600 miles is very difficult to defend. ….
The territories of Chechen Khan and Tushetu Khan were on the back of this supply line. I'm afraid a lot of troops will be needed to protect the transport of baggage troops. The enemies are all cavalry, and they come and go quickly, which is very difficult. I'm afraid it will tie up a large number of troops.
Yang Fan touched his chin and thought.
Rather than passively defending, it is better to proactively attack.
Strike first to gain the upper hand. Take the initiative to attack Chechen Khan and Tushetu Khan. Before the battle of Guihua City begins, resolve the two parts of Khalkha and completely resolve your worries.
The cavalry army is currently forming a camel force, and its strength has risen to 50,000.
Each of the three Mobei Khanates only had 20,000 to 30,000 cavalry. If you fight any one alone, it will be a devastating crushing blow. Not to mention the equipment advantages.
A surprise attack could easily take out one of the khanates. The remaining two are easy to deal with.
At present, the biggest problem with sending troops is that it is cold
winter festival. In the extreme cold, soldiers and horses were at high risk of freezing to death.
It is the coldest time of the year on the Mongolian Plateau. It is about minus 20 degrees Celsius during the day and about minus 30 degrees Celsius at night. If there is a cold wave, the temperature will drop to about minus 40 degrees Celsius, accompanied by strong winds above level 5 and blizzards.
Yang Fan was hesitant. Is this season suitable for sending troops? Of course, the enemy would never have thought that Yang Fan would send troops in the harsh winter. In order not to freeze to death, they all huddled in the winter camp and suffered.
Yang Fan can strengthen winter clothing for the soldiers. Knee-high felt boots, super thick cotton trousers and cotton jacket, cotton coat. These cold-proof equipment can be solved.
When the Daqing Oilfield was developed, thick cotton trousers were made that could withstand minus 40 degrees Celsius and be worn overnight in the field. The effect was very good. People could stand on them when they put them on.
These winter clothes are very reliable and even played an important role during the conflict on Zhenbao Island.
At that time, the Chinese soldiers entered the position to ambush at dark, and Maozi entered the position to ambush in the middle of the night. When the battle started at dawn, Maozi was half frozen to death. However, the Chinese soldiers wearing large cotton-padded jackets and thick cotton trousers did not suffer from frostbite.
The way to wear it at that time was to tuck the chin of the cotton-padded jacket into the trousers and then tighten the belt. Tie your trousers tight and put on knee-high felt boots. The head is wrapped in a hood, with only the eyes and nostrils exposed, and a dog-skin hat is worn outside. Wear a cotton coat as the outermost layer.
Yang Fan has these things in his warehouse. Because he has to prepare for the battle in Liaodong direction, Yang Fan has been stocking up on these materials for a long time.
Winter clothing is not the problem, can other problems be solved?
For cooking and heating the tent at night, Yang Fan has a kerosene stove. The kerosene burns well, so he doesn’t need to carry too much, so this is not a big problem. Water can be used to melt ice and snow. Yang Fan has dehydrated vegetables, compressed biscuits, and fried noodles that can be made in large quantities, so food is not a problem.
However, horses are the big problem.
First of all, it certainly wouldn’t work without horses. You absolutely cannot go to Outer Mongolia to fight on foot. Yang Fan must be crazy to be so unreliable.
However, at this temperature, horses can easily freeze to death. Especially at night. In addition, horse fodder is also a big problem.
Think about it, why do the Mongolians huddle in overwintering pastures? Isn’t it just to have the wind at their back and to have dry grass for their livestock to eat?
What did Yang Fan's cavalry feed their horses on along the way? Does it all depend on food? How much food will be obtained and how will it be transported?
The roads on the grassland are extremely poor and covered with ice and snow in winter. The wheels can easily get stuck. How to transport.
Yang Fan thought over and over again, and a bold idea emerged. Just ditch the horses and use camels instead.
. .
A book full of poems and thousands of flowers
