Chapter 417 Battle of Xuzhou III
War clouds shrouded the entire Xuzhou Plain. Abatai's 70,000 troops, except for 30,000 who were promoted to the front line by Sun Degong and Ruilin, had already retracted the defeated defenders at Yunlong Mountain back to the city as planned, and the war was now The western front is concentrated in Xiao County, which is an important town in the southwest of Xuzhou and must be defended.
The order to mobilize 50,000 Green Battalion soldiers to cross the river for support had already been issued when the Ming army arrived at Shuanggou. After more than 3,000 years, Xuzhou City can directly accommodate 500,000 people. It is extremely large and has 20,000 Zhenglan Banner cavalry stationed in the city. Twenty thousand people under the Han banner were stationed in Xiao County.
In the second year of Shengwu, AD 1632, on the seventh day of April, everything went well.
The 15th Company of the 71st Regiment of the 8th Division of the Dingwu Army took the lead in launching an attack on the Qing army entrenched in Huangshi Village, Shilili, southeast of Xuzhou City. Fierce fighting broke out between the two sides outside and inside the village. What started as a company-level combat unit was slowly upgraded to an entire battalion. By the afternoon, the entire 71st Regiment joined the battle.
At the same time, Huang Degong and Lou Xingye's troops also launched attacks on the Qing troops stationed in Shuanggongji and Chencun respectively.
After several battles with Abatai's troops, it was learned that the Jiannu cavalry that ran away on the Xuzhou Plain was obviously not comparable to the Daishan Two Red Banner Cavalry in Huai'an. Their combat effectiveness was stronger, and they started running on flat land. It also greatly increased the combat effectiveness of the cavalry. Although the rifle was incredibly lethal, it still required one shot and then reloading, so both sides did not gain much advantage from the beginning to the end.
As a result, Chen Cao ordered the frontline troops not to allow group defense, and ordered all troops to be centered around the division headquarters. All division troops were divided into combat units with a maximum of battalions. The defense range of each battalion was three miles, and then companies were divided into units. Echoing each other, in this way, when facing a large group of cavalry charges, the head and tail can take care of each other.
In Chen Cao's command tent, all the important generals gathered together. As the commander of the Dingwu Army, Song Che was introducing the strategic deployment to Chen Cao.
"The Qing army did not engage in a battle to defend the city. They knew that our artillery was sharp and defending the city would be a dead end. Abatai sent all his troops outside the city and only made important defenses in Xiao County;
On the plains on three sides of Xuzhou, important villages have deployed heavy troops. Our three divisions were divided into parts according to His Majesty's instructions, and all of them were organized into companies as combat units to fight in response. In the past two days, both sides suffered casualties;
A vanguard company under Yan Chun's command has now reached five miles southwest of Yunlong Mountain and is only twenty miles away from Xuzhou City. "
"They are fighting too fast. Send an order to Yan Chun, telling his troops not to attack in a hurry. One company cannot go deep enough for their cavalry. You Shiwei, your cavalry troops must cover each unit from the flanks, whether it is a division or a division. Level one is still level one in a company platoon.”
You Shiwei nodded, and Chen Cao continued: "We can't find out Abatai's intentions at the moment. Do you have any ideas?"
Huang Chunyao looked at Xu Fuyuan. The two looked at each other and seemed to say something. Then Huang Chunyao spoke first: "Your Majesty, the simplest way is to use Yang Lian's infantry troops to advance, lure Abatai's cavalry out, and then use The cavalry under Commander-in-Chief You intercepted, and the front troops acted as the main force in the decisive battle. The infantry and cavalry advanced simultaneously. Not only could they attack the effective forces of the slave establishment, but they could also clearly detect Abatai's strategic intentions. This move killed two birds with one stone."
Before Chen Cao looked at Yang Lianmaha, he stepped out and said: "Your Majesty, the general is willing to go."
Chen Cao looked at Huang Chunyao again, and then nodded: "Okay, that's it, take action immediately."
...
In the small county of Dangshan, the Qing troops stationed here only had 300 Han soldiers, 500 Green Camp soldiers, and one Manchu supervisor. When Liu Butang's vanguard troops arrived, the Qing troops stationed here were only symbolic. After resisting for a while, they abandoned the city and ran away under the leadership of the Manchurian supervisors.
By the time Chinese Army Liu Butang's troops arrived in Dangshan County, his forward troops were already digging trenches.
Liu Butang and Feng Zhongping inspected the situation of the trenches together. Feng Zhongping's military rank was only an army major general, while Liu Butang was a first-class lieutenant general, and Liu Butang's qualifications were much higher than Feng Zhongping's. Therefore, the actual command of the Dangshan troops this time was Liu Butang.
"Old Feng, I think we still need to arrange manpower at the Yellow River."
Liu Butang was older than Feng Zhongping, so he could be called Lao Feng, but Feng Zhongping did not dare to call him 'Lao Liu', so he was still relatively modest and said: "The army's words are reasonable, we must prevent the Hauge troops from boarding ships in Guide Mansion." Entering the Yellow River and heading east, if there are ships heading east, our garrison on the Yellow River can directly block them."
"Dig more trenches, our artillery will be concentrated outside the city, and yours will be dispersed around the county."
"The military gate is unwilling to defend the city?"
Liu Butang shook his head: "Securing the city means giving up resistance. The cavalry of Hauge's troops will circle the city, and the follow-up infantry will delay us. Do you think this will deviate from His Majesty's original intention of letting us come here?"
Feng Zhongping suddenly realized that he almost didn't understand the matter.
"What's more, Jinyiwei and Dongchang only knew about the eastward march of Hauge's troops, and did not find out how many people were there. Before entering the city, I walked around the city and only found Liu Village in the southwest of the city and Xujiawa in the northwest. The two places are suitable for large troops to pass through. Our army dug trenches on the west side of the city, and Hauge aided Xuzhou in the east. We decided not to spend more time in Dangshan."
Liu Butang analyzed it carefully. After all, he was a top student in the first phase of Huangpu. Feng Zhongping said: "Leave the defense of Liu Village and Xujiawa to me. The military gate will be stationed in the west of the city to command. I will provide timely support to the two places."
Liu Butang nodded thoughtfully: "That's the arrangement. It depends on the wartime situation."
In the evening of the next day, Liu Butang saw the Jinyiwei secret agent who had been rescued by the reconnaissance company at the headquarters. This man was covered in blood, seriously injured, and his breath was weak. It was a miracle that he could resist and survive until now.
"Tatar...thieves...all, not...not...not...thirty...ten...number..."
After finishing a difficult sentence, the secret agent immediately died. Liu Butang frowned, looked at the staff gathered around him, and then said: "Send a message to your Majesty immediately. Hauge has no less than 300,000 people under his command. Maybe more.”
"yes..."
...
The Jin Yiwei who escaped were not tortured, but those who were caught were all quartered to pieces after asking for their confessions. The death was so brutal that even the people in Dongchang were killed.
At this moment, at the Guide Mansion, Hauge was arranging the military situation. This time to aid Xuzhou from the east, he was pressing heavily with troops. He came with the remaining power of the northwest that had just been wiped out. He brought 50,000 soldiers with the yellow flag and 20,000 soldiers with the yellow flag. There are also 10,000 Zhengbai Banner soldiers, 50,000 Mongolian Eight Banner soldiers, 150,000 Han Banner soldiers, and 200,000 Green Camp soldiers, for a total of 480,000 regular soldiers, and nearly 400,000 plundered military servicemen, equivalent to one million the crowd.
There are more than a thousand artillery pieces of various types, including 500 Hongyi cannons.
Prince Su Hauge was very high-spirited and won a great victory in Gansu at the beginning of the year. He captured all the kings of the Zhu family in the northwest, including King Su and King Qingyang of the Ming Dynasty. Those who deserved to be killed were killed, and those who deserved to be sent to Beijing were sent to Beijing. All in all, it was a great victory, and the public security ministries of the northwest provinces were now managed by surrendered Han officials.
He led these millions of people to aid Xuzhou. After all, this was a major matter for the Aixinjueluo family and they did not dare to be careless. Of course, at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the unanimous foreign policy of the Manchus was very traditional and had not yet reached the In the early years of Kangxi, eight kings fought against each other.
"King Su, King Zheng's reinforcements have crossed the Yellow River and are crossing over to Chen Bing at Feiyun as planned."
He Luohui was lucky. He did not die in Siwu Mountain like Ashan Tantai. Instead, after the defeat, he joined the Boluo troops who supported Shuyang and entered Xuzhou, and then went to find Hao in person according to Abatai's plan. Ge, but was left in his tent by Hao Ge. After all, He Luo would fight with the Ming army several times and knew the details of the Ming army. It was a good thing to use it on his side.
Moreover, He Luohui's position is not low, he is a lieutenant general. With the position of lieutenant general, it is not a problem at all.
Hauge looked at the map, and then said: "Send someone to inform Lao Liu and let their troops enter Feng County to station. After our army enters Dangshan, let his troops set up formations by the Yellow River and bombard the Ming army's troops along the Yellow River." Military formation.”
He Luohui nodded: "Yes, but King Su, King Zheng's side is full of firearms soldiers, and they are more than capable of holding the battle formation. If they attack, I will worry that they are no match for the Ming army."
Hauge thought for a long time, then looked at the map behind him and said slowly: "He Luohui, you said that if our army attacks Dangshan County first, and then marches east from the Yellow River and enters the Xuzhou Plain without the knowledge of the Ming army, Then use superior cavalry to outflank Dangshan."
He Luohui pondered for a while, and then said: "King Su's strategy is good, but after all, there is still the main force of the Ming army led by Chen Cao in front of Xuzhou."
"What you said makes sense, so I decided to send a message to my seventh uncle, asking him to try his best to block Chen Cao's main force, and let me first eat the tens of thousands of Ming troops in front of me."
"King Su, this battle must not become a tug-of-war."
Hauge's troops, not counting the soldiers, just eat a huge amount of food for the military servicemen. Therefore, wherever Hauge's troops cross the border, they basically "eat in the wild". To put it bluntly, they rob. ..
Although this happened quickly, it gave the Manchu government a very bad public perception. If the Ming Dynasty was completely destroyed, it would be better to say that once the tug-of-war broke out, it would not only be the food of the Hauge troops, but also the Xuzhou Abate will be in a situation of food shortage.
Hearing this, Hauge deeply agreed, and then said: "After the encirclement of the north, those Han dogs did not accept our Qing education, and many of them fled their country. Although Ning Wanwo, Fan Wencheng and other Han people provided advice and governance , but with little success;
There are even voices within the Eight Banners that want to withdraw from Beijing, suggesting that we move the capital of the Qing Dynasty to Shengjing. The second uncle was completely defeated in this battle. How to deal with the two red flags is still a thorny issue, so there can be no mistakes here in Xuzhou. "
