Chapter 158: Ambush
If we look at it in the past, Zhang Hu's marching speed certainly cannot be compared with Yan Minwang's mixed Han-Chinese army. Half of the people Yan Minwang led were Tibetan soldiers. The other half were Han soldiers who had lived in Taozhou for generations and had followed the local customs for a long time. Their habits were almost the same as those of the locals. These people's dependence on auxiliary troops is much lower than that of traditional armies - any Ming army, including the most elite Sun Jie's command in the empire, unless they have a long-distance march with a uniformly planned route in advance, food and grass will be prepared in advance at various places along the way. Normally Under such circumstances, some of the auxiliary soldiers camped for the soldiers near the water source, while others had to bury pots to make food, and a group of people had to be separated to chop wood and fetch water. All the auxiliary soldiers had to pull the food and fodder for the horses. Carrying them on their shoulders or using small carts, oxen, horses and animals to follow the large troops. As a result, the marching speed will be very slow - if the average speed can reach 30 miles a day, it is definitely a first-class strong army. Many times, the army's long journey is like a city moving: the blacksmiths, carpenters and other craftsmen accompanying the army, the women's camp in the leather and meat business, pigs, sheep and livestock, and various small businesses... all move with the army, and the marching speed is also very fast. Just faster than a tortoise is limited*. Before the advent of the modern logistics system, this problem was almost unsolvable. It was not until the Manchu Qing Dynasty in later generations that they adopted another method of deploying troops to the front during the Crow War: breaking them into parts. Divide the soldiers who are stationed in scattered units into a number of "risers" and march to the battlefield on their own. For example, a certain battalion in Guizhou has 500 soldiers, and they are stationed in more than 20 key checkpoints (called "flood areas") in a certain state. After receiving the order to set off, the messengers separately informed: Fifteen soldiers were stationed in a certain flood area. Deploy ten people and go to Guangzhou on their own... On the way, they can ask for food from various local officials based on their waist badges or the directions given by the superiors. This trip lasted a few months at least, and the longest trip was more than a year, and some of them hadn't arrived yet after the war was over! Concentrating troops for an assault is even more of a pipe dream.
Speaking of food platforms, there is another phenomenon that seems very unbelievable today. It sounds like a fantasy, but in fact it is absolutely true - in some large-scale wars, in order to ensure the supply of military food on the front line, the court will even organize people Go to a safe area near the front line to colonize. After half a year or a year, the food will be harvested and put into warehouses on the spot to feed the army that will arrive at that time! For example, during the Pingshe'an Rebellion, the imperial court organized people to build large military settlements in Chengdu Prefecture of Jiading Prefecture and other places in advance. This was also the case when Zuo Zongtang later recovered Ili. Hu Xueyan organized grain merchants to purchase nearby, and arranged for reclamation in the Hetao area in advance... …There are two reasons for doing this: first is cost. In ancient times, there were no roads or railways, let alone mechanized transportation capacity. People had to pull and carry food thousands of miles, and the people themselves had to eat. It was efficient to be able to save only one out of ten. If it were further away, 95% might be consumed in No one can afford it on the way. Secondly, if everyone is like this, the opponent's efficiency will not be much higher, so there is no need to worry about wasting the opportunity to fight. Thousands of hungry soldiers who have no food to eat are the biggest crisis for the court.
Yan Minwang's leadership was different. First of all, as long as it doesn’t rain, you don’t need to set up a tent when camping: just wear half of the Tibetan robe wrapped around your waist and the other half, and you can fall asleep. Secondly, they have good physical strength. Soldiers in the ordinary army will be hungry after walking for a long time, and they will naturally become weak and dragging their feet. This group of people was different. They drove hundreds of yaks with the army to carry the baggage. No matter who was hungry, they would just find a cow, pull out a dagger and stab someone, then lay on the wound and guzzle a belly of hot ox blood, and then they would just do it. Grab a handful of wet cow dung and apply it to the wound - the person is refreshed and the cow is fine, just keep walking! The third is that the load capacity is limited. No matter how cold the weather is, you don’t need to bring extra cotton clothes. You can bundle up with the yaks at night to keep you as warm as you want! Last but not least, everyone has horses... What's more, Magistrate Ding issued a death order, and all the prefectures and counties along the way have prepared enough supplies.
Zhang Hu's speed is not slow either. Because he also had nearly 2,000 horses - he exchanged more than 1,000 horses at Cusi on Baima Road, and after entering Taozhou Guard, he successively exchanged some for tea bricks and salt bricks along the way. They didn't carry much baggage, and they were in a hurry to go north, and there was no decent resistance in Lintao Prefecture, so it wasn't until Anxiang (now Yongjing, Gansu) that the rear team was bitten by Yan Minwang.
After entering Shaanxi Province, Zhang Hu took the lead and Fang Ge was responsible for the rearguard. The Sumulian River forks not far to the north of Anxiang. The eastward branch leads to Ganzhou Zhongwei, which is today's Lanzhou. The other branch first turns southwest and then southeast at an angle of 60 degrees to join the Taohe River. Anxiang is located on the north bank of Taohe River. As soon as Fang Ge crossed the river, Yan Minwang's pursuers reached the south bank, and the two armies faced each other across the river.
No matter how anxious he was, Commander Yan could not force the crossing - there was a 100% chance that he would be killed if he was attacked halfway through, and that would be a dead end for Thief Zhang in vain. Commander Yan could not make such a low-level mistake. So the army turned back along the Tao River and crossed near Jiehe Pass downstream. After the vanguard crossed the river, they sent a messenger to deliver a message to the central guards of Ganzhou, asking them to cooperate in the attack: as long as the thieves could be contained, it would only take a day at most before they could arrive.
It took three days for the whole army to cross the river. Just as they were about to break camp, Tangqi came back: Lanzhou has been captured by Zhang Hu's front army, don't count on it! Lu Guangyu took away everyone he could fight and threw them into Sichuan to fend for themselves. The remaining old, weak, sick and disabled heard that King Zhang, who had defeated Lu's commander, was seeking revenge and came to his old place, so they fled to the surrounding forts. Now Zhang The tiger is just sitting comfortably in Lanzhou city munching on the leg of lamb.
Yan Minwang was so angry that he hurried forward, and then plunged into Fang Ge's ambush.
But it was Fang Ge who suffered.
Discovering the ambush, the Taozhou Guard's pursuers quickly formed a defensive circle with yaks. Just like Qi Jiguang's car formation, it was all gained through many actual battles at the cost of human life. The two battalions ambushed by Fang Ge didn't get any advantage at all, and almost every Taozhou guard had a strong bow! This is also a local characteristic - the elite troops in the mainland have a high armor penetration rate, and the armor-piercing effect of bows and arrows is very poor, so the proportion of archers in the army has always been very low. The Tibetan border is different. Except for the leader and a few close associates, most Tibetan soldiers do not have iron armor. The horseback charge starts with bows and arrows shooting at each other, so bows and arrows are standard equipment.
Zhang Hu's armor rate here is not high. After all, he could not have brought iron armor with him after escaping from Baoning in a hurry. After meeting Fang Ge, he did have some in Chaotianguan's arsenal. With the capture from defeating Lu Yuguang, all the armored men in the army were barely able to wear armor. to 40%. Fang Ge gave more than half of his armor to Zhang Hu's battalions. It wasn't that Fang Ge was very righteous, because the first battle in his life was against Lu Guangyu's ambush, and he won a devastating victory, so he took it for granted that all battles were like this, chasing troops. If they find themselves in an ambush, they will run back crying like General Lu's soldiers, but it is not easy to catch up if they are wearing iron armor.
With one order, all the ambush troops came out. There were two to three hundred cavalry in the ambush. I expected them to overwhelm the dog officers and soldiers in one fell swoop. The cavalry would then drive in circles, and the infantry would then press up to chase them. Unexpectedly, not only did the other party not run away, but after a whistle, a large group of yaks crowded in front and blocked the road. blocked! What to do? Deputy Commander Fang was at his wits end. The arrow must be fired when it is on the string, so he beat the two tongs to knock down the infantry and the whole army launched a charge.
The soldiers shouted and rushed forward, and then Fange saw a swarm of locusts coming from behind the herd! The distance was close, only a dozen or twenty feet. The soldiers of the Taozhou Guards all fired flatly. None of the fifty or so cavalry running at the front could escape. They all fell down, tripping the people behind. There was an uproar. In the second round of shooting, the Tibetan soldiers and the Han soldiers, who had become most of the Tibetans, calmly picked out the guys with lances and greeted them. The results of the battle were obvious due to the overwhelming firepower advantage. The third round of arrows was almost shot in front of the guys who couldn't hold their feet back. The shooting effect was surprisingly good. Those lucky guys ran to the cow and found that the knife in their hands was still a foot short of the length. They couldn't reach the enemy on the other side. They were in a hurry when the spear on the opposite side was already stabbed on the cow's back. come over!
Fang Ge, who was behind the formation, saw this and was anxious in his heart - however, he could do nothing but stare. I had the intention to organize archers to shoot at each other, but I rejected this idea as soon as it came up: Not to mention the limited number of archers, more than a thousand bows could not match a hundred, and the opponent was still hiding behind the cow. Whoever loses can win with just his toes. I want to understand! It would be nice if there were more spearmen. It would be okay if you can't stab someone and knock down the cow - well, that's not possible either. How fast can you run with a long spear? Half of the cavalry was lost in one encounter. After all, the sword and shield soldiers still had a small buckler to protect their vital points. How could the spearmen hold up their shields with guns in both hands? At this time, the bows and arrows of the officers and soldiers cannot be brought down by half!
How hateful! I've already charged, why don't you run away? Are you officers and soldiers?
Fang Ge, who was thinking wildly, didn't think of calling Jin to retreat, but there was no need: his own soldiers in front had already turned around and ran back. The only good thing is that everyone still firmly believes that Marshal Zhang is the chosen one. Although they were defeated, their morale did not collapse. They didn't run around aimlessly. They all knew to run to their handsome flag.
After shooting two or three more rounds of arrows at the backs of the deserters, Yan Minwang stopped everyone's desire to pursue and did not pursue further Fang Ge who fled in embarrassment: more than 300 people were dead and wounded on the ground, and these heads were enough for him. It's over. Of course, Commander Yan didn't intend to call it a day just to deal with the errand, he would definitely continue to pursue them. His thoughts were like Sun Jie's: now that he had caught this gang of thieves, Yan Min wanted to continue playing like a cat chasing a mouse, always maintaining contact and always maintaining pressure.
Yan Minwang knew that further forward was the Shaanxi Xingdu Division of the Ming Dynasty. Along the side wall, there are fortresses everywhere, and Zhang Thief will pay a high price for every step he takes! As long as he bites tightly from behind like a shadow, it is only a matter of time before the thieves' morale collapses. Isn't it easy to capture Zhang Hu by then? I don't know if there are any other thieves in front of this ambush. It would be too uneconomical to let the cooked duck fly away for a small advantage.
After cleaning the battlefield, he cut off all the heads and marinated them with lime. Commander Yan took stock of the results: In this encounter, 278 people were beheaded, and the number of people who struggled to escape with injuries could not be less than this number. Half of them will be infected with curare poison in the next few days (Commander Yan doesn't know what infection is) and die. When chasing, pay attention to the new soil that has been turned. If you dig it up, you will get the first-level head skill. Our own casualties were only in single digits. Several yaks were killed, together with the seriously injured thieves and horses whose legs were injured and could not walk. The whole army ate meat at night!
Lord Ding, the prefect of Lintao, was extremely happy. It seems that the thief is just passing through the border, and the target is not my house. Moreover, although our troops are useless, the guest troops from Taozhou Guard are simply divine soldiers descended from heaven, so powerful! After seeing the thieves' heads in person, Lord Ding patted his chest and said: It is the court's business to record merits. I cannot treat the soldiers badly. Come on, I will give you fifty taels of silver for each head!
Yan Minwang's pursuers totaled only 2,000 people. With such a reduction, after one battle, each of them got three or four taels (the officers would definitely get more), and there was thunderous cheers! This deal is so cost-effective, especially for Mr. Ding: the military pay that has been deducted over the years is more than a mere ten thousand taels? Master Ding had a vague idea: Can we lay off more troops in the future? Keep the money in your pocket, and if nothing happens, it will be yours. If anything happens again - just go to Commander Yan directly!
Master Ding sent money, Yan Minwang was of course happy. However, when he saw the food and wine baskets sent by Lord Ding by thousands of soldiers and civilians, Commander Yan almost cried: Lord Ding, Lord Ding, you really don’t understand our hidden troops!
Commander Yan's worries turned into reality in the blink of an eye, and the troops wasted two days of precious pursuit time!
If it were any other army, of course the generals would be sincerely grateful for the food and wine. If there is a lot of wine, the general will order: "Divide each fruit into a jar, and wait for the rest when the victory is over, I will get drunk with my brothers!"
But the Tibetan soldiers are completely different from this! The army will never move forward until the last drop of wine is drunk! Not to mention that the generals can't stop them, not even the King of Heaven can come here in person! After drinking too much, everyone held hands around the bonfire, sang, danced, and danced. They fell asleep and fell asleep. The next day, they got up and peeed. The next thing they did was to continue looking for the wine jar! Therefore, the leaders of the Tibetan army will never bring wine with them: if you take down the opponent's stronghold, you can drink yourself to death. Before that, you must not let them see a drop of wine!
If Fang Ge made a counterattack at this time, Commander Yan would almost be wiped out by the group. But how could Zhang Hu and Fang Ge know this? He gnashed his teeth and ran while hating: He just got rid of the evil star Sun Jie, how could he follow up with such a guy again? He has never heard of it before, but he is more powerful than Sun Jie. He is so fleeting. The location is unfavorable.
In just two days, a huge change occurred, allowing Zhang Hu to escape.
*You can refer to the marching and camping scene of the Roman legion in the American TV series "Spartacus", which is very realistically restored: the camp of the regular legion is quite regular, with camp walls, gates, horses, and observation towers; the auxiliary camp that follows the army looks like a A messy market, with all kinds of vendors, craftsmen, prostitutes... crowded together in a mess, next to the legion camp. At that time, the army's logistics relied heavily on these people, and they also relied on military business to maintain their livelihoods. However, this situation only occurs when the empire is at its strongest and launches an expedition - with strict discipline and confidence in victory. Like the troubled times of the late Ming Dynasty described in this book, it is completely impossible: of course, the bandits will blindly rob, even the officers and soldiers are no different. They are still afraid of hiding from these evil stars, and it is impossible to take the initiative to let them rob.
*For details, please refer to Mr. Mao Haijian's masterpieces "Re-Study on the Collapse of the Celestial Dynasty and the Opium War" and "Military and Diplomacy of the Two Opium Wars in Modern Times".
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