The heron flies across the sky leaving a lonely shadow, the Huangshui ripples at sunset, and the willow branches with new buds hang down on the river bank and sway in the evening breeze.
On the farmland that is five miles wide from south to north, the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers crawled out of the zigzag trenches holding high Z-shaped flags. The sound of horns echoed in the river valley. They were more like a torrent than the Huangshui River.
The 20,000 officers and soldiers were divided into three groups and attacked from the south, east and northeast of the earthen fort respectively. Each group was divided into five sentries, forming fifteen thousand army brigades. Each group was divided into front and rear in the form of an array within an array. On the left and right sides of the center, they pounced on the Huangshui River with a full-scale offensive attitude.
Liu Chengzong looked around the battlefield with a brass telescope. He had favorable geographical advantages on all three roads. The northeast road was narrow and the Huangshui River was difficult to cross in the east. The easiest place to break through was the stone bridge in the south. That was also the main attack he expected from the army. direction.
In that direction, about five to six thousand officers and soldiers were preparing in the trenches. At the edge of the trenches in front of the battlefield, five large carriages were being slowly pushed to the edges of the trenches.
Then the soldiers in the ditch filed out and formed a military formation under the cover of the carriage.
Although he couldn't see the structure behind the chariot, Liu Chengzong could clearly see that it was not a chariot, but a large siege machine.
The front guard plate of the carriage is very thick, one foot high and one foot wide, with a row of gun holes on it. The wooden chassis frame with four pairs of wooden wheels is about one foot and five feet long.
It looks like a wooden city, moving slowly with the small military formation behind it, and it looks very intimidating.
This thing can protect the enemy troops from crossing the stone bridge, but it can only protect the enemy troops from crossing the stone bridge, because there are also trenches dug by the Mongolian soldiers at the front of Liu Chengzong's position. Such large equipment has to lie down after crossing the bridge. nest.
As a result, the real battle will begin in the trenches.
Liu Chengzong shook his head silently. This was very magical. The northwest Ming army carrying biological and chemical weapons was about to fight hand-to-hand with his vaccinated army in the trenches.
Compared with the marquee chariot, the simple formation and indescribable temperament of the officers and soldiers behind the marquee chariot attracted his attention more.
The five carriages belong to the five Qianzongs of the South Road Army. The officers and soldiers are divided into five posts under the Qianzong organization. It is probably composed of two generals under Qianzong, each with a hundred headquarters, to form an outpost column.
Liu Chengzong looked at the flags and saw that the level of the grassroots officers on South Road was not low.
Their column behind the carriage was simple in structure, with clear layers and formations within formations.
The entire group of more than 200 people is in a vertical formation, but the vertical formation is composed of two hundred-general square formations arranged front and back, and the square formation is composed of two horizontal formations of management teams.
The commander and deputy flag bearer of each horizontal team are in the front, and the team leader, flag bearer, drum bearer and trumpet blower are in the middle. There is a very standard and complete Ming army grassroots officer corps.
But corresponding to this set of things, their soldiers can't even stand neatly in horizontal and square formations. They obviously lack training, and the overall equipment level is very low. A large number of soldiers wear guard army-style bubble nail armor, and even There were many soldiers wearing mandarin duck coats.
The entire five columns dispatched by the South Road official army looked like this.
Liu Chengzong pointed to the military formation and said to Yang Yao firmly: "It's the Guyuan Army."
Yang Yao nodded slowly: "They are difficult to deal with."
Although the equipment of this group of people is very similar to the banner army of the Wei Suo, both Liu Chengzong and Yang Yao know very well that these are not the banner troops of the Lanzhou Guard, but the Guyuan army newly recruited by Yang Qi after Liu Shizi left Guyuan.
The military households in the guard station have a low status because they are half-soldiers, half-peasants, and physically dependent. Therefore, their morale, fighting will, and equipment level are poorer than those in the regular army. However, the military foundation of queues is innate to military households.
A flag soldier may not be able to use weapons other than hoes, but he will never lead a formation with this virtue.
Only Yang Qi's newly recruited Guyuan Army, which had been fighting the peasant army since its founding and had no chance to conduct formal training, could achieve this effect.
Yang Yao said that they were difficult to deal with because Liu Chengzong's southern defenders were 3,000 soldiers of the Shooting and Hunting Battalion led by Qian Zonggasi and Buchi of the Shooting and Hunting Battalion.
The composition of the hunting battalion is exactly the same as that of the Guyuan Army. They are both based on veterans of the border army as officers, heavy armored infantry or servants as elites, and hungry people who have experienced bloody battles.
So Yang Yao said: "Let half the hunting camp block twice the Guyuan army. Even if we occupy a good location, I'm afraid there will be a lot of casualties."
In Liu Chengzong's eyes, the battlefield situation at this time was very interesting... The official army of 20,000 troops divided into three groups to attack westward, and they also prepared large equipment such as catapults. However, he only had 10,000 people on the front line, and he had to be strategically defeated. surrounded.
The officers and soldiers needed to cross the river. After crossing the river, they had to attack the trenches and then attack the Tucheng, so they had very few horsemen.
If we fight this battle defensively in the trenches and rely on hand-to-hand fighting until dark, it will be difficult to determine the outcome.
Even if they pursue the enemy when they are retreating, there will be no benefit. It is getting late and the hunting camp cannot see its fingers. It would be a good thing if the hunting camp does not collapse. With rivers and trenches blocking the way, Yang Yao's horse camp cannot pursue them very far.
Combined with the tactical goal that the government and army hoped to achieve, namely to infect Liu Chengzong's army with smallpox - an interesting tactic took shape in Liu Shishi's head.
"I want to withdraw from the army."
Liu Chengzong turned to face Yang Yao's astonished expression. He nodded and stretched out his arm, pointing to the northeast and said: "But if you don't retreat, the mountain road over there is very narrow. There are not many enemy troops and they don't have chariots. I'll give you a few cannons." , bring troops and provisions, and the horse camp will break through from there."
Yang Yao's mind was still confused, and he nodded and asked: "How does the commander plan to fight, kidnapping horse?"
The various names of "Guaizi Ma", "Soldiers divided into five sentries", "Divided advance and combine attack" are all in the final analysis anvil-hammer tactics. In the traditional art of war, they are called "Zhenghe Qisheng".
It is to block the enemy head-on, and use extra troops to break through or encircle and annihilate. The small army formation tactic is called five sentries, the large army tactic is called divided advance and combined attack, and the flanking assault cavalry is called Guaizima.
"I will give them the earth fort and trenches, and lead the army to retreat to the west. After you break through, you don't have to worry about me. Go all the way east and capture their camp. The generals of the three towns are busy digging trenches. The horses, food, grass and baggage are all in the camp. .”
Yang Yao looked at Liu Chengzong a little strangely.
"They have dug trenches everywhere. If you break through from the north, they should have laid trenches. If you want to turn around and chase you, you need to cross the river from my trench and then cross your own zigzag trench one mile away. I will not be able to catch you."
Liu Chengzong said: "You have captured the camp. If the enemy comes to chase you, take away everything that can be taken away, and burn what cannot be taken away. Wait for the opportunity to move. If you can turn around and kidnap the horse, hit him. If you can't hit him, you will be killed." Just move east from the river mouth to Yongdeng Liancheng and help my brother clean up the diseased rice seedlings in Gansu."
Yang Yao was quite excited when he heard the transfer plan, but it sounded like there was a serious flaw in the plan.
What if the general soldiers of the three towns are all in the army, regardless of the main camp, and only Liu Chengzong's Chinese army is captured and attacked? Using 6,000 people from the hunting camp to block an army of 20,000 people has no chance of winning.
Therefore, Yang Yao shook his head and said: "If the commander-in-chief cannot protect the army... it is better to be safe."
"It's very safe. The hunting camp can't do anything else. Follow me and march more than a thousand miles from south to north. There will be no problem in retreating. Aren't there still Mongolian soldiers in the west?"
Not to mention retreating, Liu Shishi felt that he would not lose even if he retreated. All his loopholes had been patched by the deployment of the army.
It was getting late, and the officers and soldiers were fighting at this time, so they had no intention of letting the battle last too long. However, the officers and soldiers considered the disadvantage and retreated as soon as they could infect smallpox. They certainly did not consider that the powerful Liu Chengzong would retreat.
On the one hand, the pursuit of Yang Yao was impossible, and on the other hand, the river mouth became a no-man's land due to the presence of smallpox; the Gansu frontier troops who took the northern route to attack Liu Chengzu would also feel that their buttocks were safe, making it convenient for Yang Yao to launch a long-distance assault.
As for retreating, Liu Chengzong didn't think it would bring him any disadvantages. On the contrary, it was all advantages.
To the west, there are nine thousand Mongolian cavalry preparing for vaccination. Further west, Liu Chengzong can retreat to Xidatong Fort to join forces with Liu Chengzu. Further west, he can retreat to Nianbosuo, where he can even add tens of thousands of troops.
There are Wang Wenxiu's infantry training camp, the troops that have been transported and accumulated, and the three thousand Mongolian cavalry that went to support Wang Wenxiu.
However, Liu Chengzong did not intend to retreat that far: "If everything goes well, we will surround them tomorrow."
The nine thousand Mongolian cavalry in the west can't do anything else. They are very capable of keeping the enemy awake all night and torturing people.
Hearing Liu Chengzong's explanation, Yang Yao felt relieved and immediately clasped his fists and accepted the order: "Since the commander-in-chief has made up his mind, the general will be the one to make this kidnapping horse. However, the cannon is too slow. Please ask the commander-in-chief to mobilize twenty soldiers for the horse camp." A gun truck will rush over from the north road!"
Yang Yao led the cavalry troops to prepare. Liu Chengzong stood at the top of the city and watched the enemy troops rushing towards Hexi like a tsunami. The carts were pushed up the stone bridge and the infantry rode rafts to occupy the Hexi coast. He took a deep breath and sent out the messenger horses. Soldiers, issued orders to the hunting camp and the Mongolian fishing camp to the west.
They must prepare to retreat, but they cannot retreat now. At least they must fight and retreat to give the illusion of being driven out of the trench before retreating. Moreover, if they want to retreat as a whole division, they must have the Mongolian cavalry from the fishing camp come to support them.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to take away all the supplies in the city.
Just as orders were being conveyed rapidly among the army, Huang Shengxiao's heavy artillery team had just launched a battle line on the north side of the stone bridge. Twelve artillery pieces launched an oblique bombardment at the army column that climbed onto the stone bridge.
The fire burst out, and twelve seven-pound iron balls were fired in front of the formation, and hit the stone bridge heavily. The iron and stone collided and sparks bounced back, jumping into the formation, grinding out a path of blood, breaking flesh and bones along the way.
There was no rout or escape. When the shells smashed into the railings of the stone bridge on the other side, the bridge fell into an eerie silence, and you could hear a pin drop.
After the carriage, the lone flag-bearer's pupils dilated in fear. He only heard a few whooshing sounds in his ears. When he turned around, the military formation behind him was like a field plowed by rakes, with his brains and livers everywhere covered.
In front of the formation, President Bai struggled to get up from the ground. He looked around dumbfoundedly at less than a third of the military formation. He saw that the chest of another President was pierced by a cannonball, and his portrait was embedded in the railing of the stone bridge; facing the soldiers, The drummer was writhing on the ground, the poor man's backbone was broken.
There was also the deputy flag-bearer next to him, whose head was smashed to pieces, and his broken neck spurted blood all over his face.
Twelve shells almost smashed the two hundred regiments into pieces.
In just a few seconds, people's brains were so consumed by panic that even those who were injured forgot to shout.
It wasn't until President Bai raised his hand to wipe away the blood on his face that he saw that his right hand was gone.
He looked at the broken arm and the iron arm binding, as if all the short-lived memories he had lost rushed into his mind, and he was dragged down by his own hands.
The soul of Mr. Bai, whose hand had been smashed out of his body, finally returned to his body. With a ferocious expression on his face, he used his left hand to pull out the severed hand holding the knife from his subordinate's chest. He held up his hand and knife in a strange posture, shouting at the top of his lungs like a roar or a wail: " go ahead!"
The army behind blocked their retreat. On the bridge, they had no way to escape but to advance.
With this roar, the soldiers' brains were reactivated in panic. People screamed on the bridge where corpses were strewn, until the other two columns composed of the generals rushed forward and groaned as they fell to the ground. The soldiers continued to push the carriage forward.
However, the follow-up troops who witnessed a column in disarray were not calm. They could no longer walk in a straight line. They pushed the cart across the stone bridge as quickly as possible and immediately turned to the left, making the cart move diagonally toward the artillery. go ahead.
The small artillery carried on the carriage also bombarded Liu Chengzong's heavy artillery team.
But they had just stepped down from the bridge, no more than ten steps away, when the Fran machine cannon on the edge of the trench threw a cloud of debris over them, and another group of people fell down.
In close combat, the scattering scattered by the Folang machine was obviously a more frightening weapon than the heavy artillery. The severed-hand commander who withstood the heavy artillery bombardment could still order the soldiers to move forward, while the frightened soldiers could only scream on the bridge. Wow.
But facing the threat of the Fran cannon, even if one shot only shaved off a corner of the edge of the column, the rest of the team would instinctively turn around and run away, even jumping into the river a hundred paces wide.
Heavy artillery is very powerful, but if you are hit by a heavy artillery once, you will hardly be the target of the second artillery. However, it is different if you are hit by a Franco machine. If you dare to stand still, the Franco machine will dare to bomb you six times in a row. gun.
The situation did not get better until the second catapult cart was pushed onto the stone bridge. The two catapult carts blocked both sides. Every bombardment from the heavy artillery almost knocked the catapult cart to the ground. The rapid volleys of the Franco machine even knocked the lead statues to pieces. It rained down on the car.
But except for those artillery shells that fell into the formation by luck at high angles of fire, it was difficult for the artillery to cause huge damage to the soldiers protected by the carriages.
The frontier troops of Ningxia Town, who were catching up with the attack across the river from due east, also crossed the Huangshui River and launched an attack on the trenches. Only then did the pressure on the Guyuan Army on the South Road drop sharply.
But when the Guyuan Army rushed towards the trench, they discovered that the enemy was not fighting them at all. The cavalry actually dragged the heavy artillery and escaped. The enemy infantry also retreated from the trench, dragging the Franco machine gun while retreating and firing. .
The battle to capture the trench was much easier than they imagined, and even the enemies on the earthen city fled in terror as they were surrounded on both sides.
This made the border troops in the two southeastern towns happily attack the earth fort.
But at the same time, in the eyes of the Yansui Army on the North Road, or to be precise, in the eyes of General Tang Tong, who was responsible for attacking the footpath of the North Road, the performance of the Marshal's Mansion troops on the battlefield was completely different.
Three thousand cavalry troops were densely packed in the north of the battlefield, galloping towards the north road. He was so frightened that he quickly ordered his four hundred border troops to form a formation.
As soon as he formed a formation, he discovered that in front of the enemy's densely packed cavalry formation were dozens of long-barreled guns and carts. The war horses dragged the carts past his line and stopped forty or fifty steps away, with all the soldiers on the carts. When he opened fire, a huge lead ball hit his airtight military formation.
The military formation is not ventilated by wind, but it is permeable by lead.
The phalanx was scattered, and the rampaging cavalry attacked. Tang Tong only knew that he had dodged a spear, and his sword was knocked off by someone with a weapon. He finally dodged the trampling horseshoes, and carried a The rusty pumpkin hammer had already struck his helmet.
Regarding this war, Tang Tong's last memory was a thud as someone blew out the sun.
On the other side of the city, Liu Chengzong watched the horse camp galloping eastward under the sunset. Amidst the shouts of the siege troops charging bravely under the city, he opened his arms and laughed happily as he stepped off the horse path, turned over and rode on the red flag, leading the way. The army rushed west.
"Commander of Three Towns, you are surrounded!"
