It was an accident that the Oirat coalition army collided with Liu Chengzong's Chinese army.
Guoshi Khan is just cautious. Caution and recklessness are just choices based on judgment of the situation. Sometimes being cautious can avoid risks, and sometimes being reckless can achieve wonderful results.
When he first discovered Liu Chengzong's military formation, the national counselor Khan did not think it was an unexpected army. He thought it was the retreat of the Han army that besieged Dalai Taiji.
From the old wooden telescope, the Imperial Guard Khan saw Tangqi walking around the formation. The Heshuote Lancers who followed him divided into two groups, pursuing Tangqi one way and attacking the Han army's formation with the other. .
However, the car formation filled with sandbags was impregnable, and there was a circle of trenches of different depths around the perimeter. The cavalry rushed forward and reined in their horses, unable to rush in even though the horses' hooves kicked up the dust in front of the trench.
After the car formation, a volley of guns was fired. More than ten cavalrymen fell off their horses in the smoke and dust, and the remaining cavalrymen turned around and galloped back.
Even the lancers who were chasing Tang Qi didn't dare to circle the formation anymore. They pulled their spears and reined in their horses and retreated to the two wings.
The strategy of encircling the defeated Tang cavalry and attacking the enemy's formation failed. The national counselor Khan immediately ordered a retreat and ordered all cavalry units to withdraw within a stone's throw. The Han army's chariot formation slowly formed an encirclement on three sides: east, north and south.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to mobilize troops and horses, the national advisor Khan moved behind the formation with the cavalry to observe the enemy.
Although the national counselor Khan had never fought against the Ming army's chariot camp, he was no stranger to the chariot camp formation during his long military career.
Kazakhs, Cossacks, Khalkhas, and Oirat all used car camps.
The defensive capabilities of the car camp are very tenacious, but its victory or defeat in battle often has nothing to do with itself, but with the situation on the battlefield.
National Preceptor Khan looked towards Che Ying.
The entire camp was in a square shape, with thousands of chariots connected end to end. The pockets beside the vehicles were piled high. The Han army was waiting at the rear with muskets, and there were countless spears and military flags hunting. Only one was left to set up a horse rifle. The gap is particularly spectacular.
National Preceptor Khan secretly thought that it was a pity. If they could be faster, they might be able to take advantage of the enemy's unstable position and overwhelm them.
But at this time, the chariot formation had already been deployed, and few of the troops who had deployed the chariot formation were overwhelmed by the enemy, just like not many famous cities fell because the city walls were breached.
The vast majority of sieges are sieges, and the final result of most sieges is the collapse of the defenders' psychological defenses.
When people's hearts are broken, even the strong walls will collapse.
The same principle applies to car camps.
The chariot camp is not a very clever tactic, it is just a method to quickly build simple fortifications on the battlefield. In fact, except for changes in productivity, it is essentially not much different ideologically from the Wugang chariot camp in the Han Dynasty.
Forcibly charging into a vehicle formation is like attacking a city with ants when the defenders are prepared. It is a mindless act.
After a brief observation, the national counselor Khan roughly estimated that the enemy army was less than 10,000, so he ordered his prince, Zaisang, to divide the 30,000 troops and leave 24,000 to trap the Han army.
The remaining 6,000 troops were divided into two groups, one heading west for reinforcements and one heading south for reinforcements.
To the west, the cavalry who had collided with Wei Qian'er's tribe were rushing to the rescue; to the south, they were to join Dalai Taiji who was trapped in the highlands as soon as possible and rescue him.
The 24,000 troops remaining on the Gobi Desert were also divided into four mixed infantry and cavalry armies of 6,000 men, and were surrounded in three directions in the north, east, and south. Another unit was stationed in the south as a reserve force. .
The order of the National Advisor Khan was issued, and the entire army was deployed and moved accordingly, but his mind was still racing, thinking about the situation between the enemy and ourselves on the entire battlefield.
As one of the few literate people in Oirat, the national preceptor Khan used his riding whip to sketch on the sand dunes, calculating the number of Han troops that had been discovered before.
In Guide, there were at least six thousand Han troops; here, there were seven to eight thousand; plus the more than three thousand cavalry that encountered a sudden encounter farther west.
If it was this army that besieged Dalai Taiji, then the Han army had mobilized 16,000 troops to go to sea.
If there is another one on the Taiji side, the Marshal's Mansion will send 20,000 troops to the sea, and the sea will be extremely empty.
This means that by annihilating any exposed Han army, Oirat can march straight into the sea; on the other hand, it also means that in fighting here, he can devote all his strength without worrying about enemy reinforcements.
These armies most likely had no reinforcements.
However, to be on the safe side, the Imperial Guard Khan still sent two thousand-man troops to spread out to the north to detect nearby enemy forces in order to prevent a sneak attack by the enemy.
As for this car camp, as long as the outer battlefield is cleared, there are no reinforcements, the road for help is blocked and harassed, and it does not even need to be surrounded until water and food are cut off, the car camp can easily destroy itself without attack.
The vehicle camp itself is a tool that gives up part of its mobility and uses passive defense. It cannot attack enemies outside the range. Regardless of whether you want to attack or retreat, you must break up the camp.
And breaking out of camp and changing formations was an opportunity for the national commander Khan to attack.
at the same time.
Liu Chengzong in the camp was also scheming.
They were suddenly attacked. Fortunately, the two battalions of 7,000 soldiers around them were not new recruits. Facing the menacing Oirat army, they were panicked and confused. They knew that it was good for them to follow the command and stabilize their position.
Liu Chengzong was calculating a very simple question: how many Mongolians surrounded him.
He tried to ride his horse on the front line, but standing behind the chariot, even climbing on the chariot and stepping on sandbags, he could only see clouds of dust a stone's throw away, and a blur further away. Neither the naked eye nor the telescope could clearly see the enemy formation. edge.
There were people shouting and horses neighing, and smoke and dust billowing from all directions.
Liu Chengzong was unable to distinguish the size of the enemy's army, its purpose, and whether it was planning to besiege or prepare to attack in advance. Until Yang Qi, who was sent to the west by him, ran back and reported: "Commander, the enemy is here." We did not set up a siege in the west, but sent a horse team of two to three thousand riders to run westward."
Is there no fence on the west side?
Liu Chengzong squinted his eyes. Regardless of whether this was true or not, the cavalry sent to the west was undoubtedly sent to support the enemy troops who collided with Wei Qian'er.
"Who asked them to go!" Liu Chengzong stared at Yang Qi and asked, "General Yang, can you let them go to the west to surround my subordinates?"
Yang Qi was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said: "No."
Liu Chengzong praised: "Yes, think of a way to get them to come back and surround me."
Relatively speaking, Liu Chengzong was not familiar with the chariot camp. He had only fought against the chariot camp set up by the army a few times, and he had not used it much. However, according to his idea, the chariot camp was the same as the battle, so it was a perfect fit. Use wonder to overcome the righteousness within.
The last thing the enemy wants to do is to forcefully storm the vehicle camp, so the vehicle camp must attract enemy troops to surround and attack it.
Although his troops were smaller than the enemy's, Liu Chengzong was really not afraid of being surrounded. The vehicle formation he prepared with sandbags was no less solid than a fortification built in advance.
The enemy's muskets cannot break the formation, the bows and arrows are not powerful enough, and the war horses are blocked by the chariot camp. The only chance to break the formation is hand-to-hand combat.
The true meaning of hand-to-hand combat does not depend on who is superior in martial arts, but whoever can make the enemy fall first on the way to attack will win.
Liu Shizi believed in the power of guns and artillery in close combat.
But the outcome of this battle is not with him, but with the Qi soldiers roaming around the outside, the more enemy troops he can hold back, the greater their chances of winning will be.
But Liu Chengzong had troubled Yang Qi. How could he call the enemy back?
Yang Qi thought about it, and finally thought: "Commander, we still have to use the cannon. The last general is willing to lead more than 500 elite cavalry to assemble in the southern formation. Please ask the commander to gather more than ten artifacts to blast southward. The last general is about to lead the troops to charge into the formation." .”
After that, he thought for a while and said as if to encourage himself: "It is best to take advantage of the wind and sand to kill the general and capture the flag."
"South?"
Liu Chengzong thought for a moment and nodded slowly: "Charge southward. If the enemy forces block the retreat, go straight to Qingshan to find General Feng and annihilate the pursuing enemies."
Yang Qi nodded in agreement and swallowed slowly. He did think so, but this job was simple to say, but different to do.
Not to mention anything else, they had no idea how many enemy troops there were surrounding them, and he believed them even if they said there were ten thousand.
At this time, there was a strong wind and smoke, and it was not impossible to charge with five hundred cavalry and pass through the formation without moving forward.
But it's really not much easier than returning to the formation.
Liu Chengzong thought about it for a while, wrote two letters, and ordered: "Summon General Huang Shengxiao, Chief Qian Zuo Guangxian, and Chief Ma Ke."
Yang Qi had a puzzled look on his face and was ecstatic in his heart. Does the commander-in-chief plan to transfer all the old military and military units to me?
Not long after, the three of them rushed to the central army. Huang Shengxiao came over holding his helmet and said: "Commander, the Wala Tatars are planning to trap us. I saw cavalry soldiers gathering in the south, and I guess they are going to attack General Feng. "
"They don't want to go anywhere."
Liu Chengzong snorted and asked Ma Ke and Zuo Guang first: "Do you, the two generals Zuo and Ma, dare to rush into the formation to help the friendly forces?"
Ma Ke has always been doing this kind of dare-to-die work. He dared to assassinate Liu Chengzong, so why didn't he dare? He immediately clasped his fists and said: "Why don't you dare!"
Zuo Guangxian hesitated a little and asked: "Where does the commander-in-chief want the humble position to attack?"
Zuo Guangxian was very familiar with the Mongols. In his early years in Xuanfu, he was the front line against the Mongols. When Yue Hesheng transferred him from Xuanfu Town to Yulin Town, he taught the army how to use firearms as a guerrilla general.
In the past few years when Liu Shizi was campaigning in the northwest, southwest, east, and west, Zuo Guangxian was still teaching the army how to use muskets.
However, with the popularity of large objects such as guns and heavy artillery in the commander's mansion, his past firearms theory was a bit outdated, and he himself was learning.
Liu Chengzong first said to Huang Shengxiao: "The artillery troops will move twelve heavy artillery pieces to the south, supplemented by rockets, to create a path southward; General Ma Ba will lead an assault of 600 cavalry to the south."
"It would be best if you can retreat to the formation after the attack. The muskets will give you cover. If you cannot retreat, then go south through the enemy's formation and go straight to Qingshan to find General Feng and convey my order to him."
As he spoke, Liu Chengzong handed a letter addressed to Feng Yu to Ma Ke, and handed another letter to Zuo Guangxian, saying: "General Zuo led an army of 1,200 people, riding horses and carriages from the west. Take two mules and follow the enemy army to find General Wei and support him in defeating the enemy army. Let General Wei give this letter to Brigadier Yang."
After hearing this order, Zuo Guang felt relieved and accepted the order with his fists clasped.
Yang Qi, on the other hand, was dumbfounded. He looked at Liu Chengzong but didn't dare to ask. He thought to himself, "You don't need me to go?"
Liu Chengzong naturally knew Yang Qi's doubts, and said with a smile: "General Yang, don't be impatient. Sooner or later, you will lead the army, but for now, I still need you to make suggestions."
Huang Shengxiao, Zuo Guangxian, and Ma Ke quickly went down to prepare.
Ever since he saw Oirat's army charging at them with force, Liu Chengzong had been mentally preparing for a counterattack.
It doesn't matter whether it's Zhenghe Qisheng, the kidnapping horse, the anvil-hammer tactic, or the troops are divided into five posts. In short, Liu Chengzong only knows this tactic.
If the car camp wants to win the battle, it must have two advantages. One is to have the power to counterattack; the other is to have reinforcements from the periphery.
Now that Liu Chengzong has a certain counterattack force, the key to victory in the battle lies in reinforcements.
That's why he wrote those two letters and gave them to Feng Zhen and Yang Yao respectively, who were leading the troops outside. He used the car camp to hold back the enemy's main force, and used reinforcements to launch an assault from the enemy's periphery.
The two attacking cavalry teams quickly completed their preparations in the camp. For a moment, the mules kicked up dust in the sky. Even the national counselor Khan stationed in the east of the camp noticed something strange in the Han army's formation.
However, dust is the magic weapon used by the main force of Oirat to conceal its troops, and it can also be used by Huang Shengxiao's artillery. Six Hundred Tigers Chariots, 12 heavy cannons, and 24 lion cannons were concentrated in the south of the camp, in front of the formation. Arrange in neat rows.
The Oirat Lancers, who were just a stone's throw south of the chariot formation, quickly noticed the Han army's movements. Seeing huge and heavy artillery pieces being pushed out from the chariot formation, they quickly shouted loudly to alert the military formation behind them.
The leader of the Oiratnan Battalion reacted quickly and immediately ordered two lines of cavalry to get on their horses and attack the artillery position that was more than ten steps ahead of the vehicle formation.
However, in front of the Chinese army commander's tent, Liu Chengzong was already standing under the banner with his hands behind his hands, nodding slowly to his side.
The high-pitched sound of the suona played an exciting melody in the formation, and the strong drummers beat the drumsticks heavily on the war drums. Flags swayed rapidly in the formation, and flags and spears were raised high by the soldiers.
The Heshuote cavalry galloped on horseback, and the spears slowly fell. The cavalrymen wearing mail and red hats were lying low on the horse, reining in the left hand and holding the shield. Only the shield and the A pair of eyes appeared between the rims of the helmet, sweeping the earth dragon towards the position.
Huang Shengxiao, who was wearing a helmet and carrying armor, carried a rolled-up battle flag on his shoulders. He moved forward from the center of the artillery position with his knife pressed, and walked straight for more than ten steps. He made sure that every artilleryman behind him could see him before he stopped.
Looking at the horse team galloping not far away, he took out a handful of fried noodles from his waist bag and poured it into his mouth. He shook his shoulders and held the flag and spear horizontally in his palm. As the flag and spear shook, the rolled up red flag with Liu characters on the background fell downwards.
Then he lunged forward suddenly, and the flag flew out, hunting in the wind.
Almost at the same time, from right to left behind him, large and small artillery pieces and rocket vehicles were ignited, and solid iron bullets plowed the thorny and bloody roads. The war horses neighed and fell to death, and the cavalrymen fell in fear.
What frightened people even more was that when they raised their heads, they saw six hundred Liu Guoneng with smoking butts vying for the first place in the air, spraying towards them with random screams.
Amidst the roar of iron hoofs on the ground, a passage appeared in the southwest corner of the chariot formation. Zuo Guangxian led the cavalry on horseback and mules to run out from the flank. Amidst the creaking of wheels, hundreds of chariots carrying guns came out of a circle. He threw a huge lead bullet from his butt to meet the enemy and galloped westward without looking back.
Behind the artillery, the chariots filled with sandbags were removed. Ma Ke led the elite cavalry to step out, with the Chuangwang Guan Dao in his palm pointed forward, taking the lead, galloping towards the Oirat cavalry who was delayed by the artillery rockets.
------Digression-----
Good evening!
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