Cao Wenzhao has no special skills.
Just to highlight a person with high killing efficiency, four years after entering the Pass, there were a total of 4 million people in Shaanxi Province. Cao Wenzhao led his troops to chop off more than 36,000 heads.
He is a professional at massacring rabbles. Even if he leads a rabble to massacre rabbles, there are few people in the world who are more experienced than him.
Xie Erhu's Mongolian soldiers appeared in Zhuanglangwei Hexi. Cao Wenzhao's men fired cannons as a warning. The soldiers stood up in a field in a short time. The army formation was basically set up. Xie Erhu's Mongolian cavalry still He didn't rush in front of him.
In fact, the army was in a panic. Even Cao Wenzhao himself was a little panicked. No one was building forts or wearing armor.
In his entire camp of 3,000 people, less than one-third of the soldiers were fully dressed. If they didn't form a formation at this time, they would definitely be taken away in a wave.
In a very short period of time, Cao Wenzhao measured the distance of the enemy's cavalry, the time it took for the soldiers to wear armor and stomach, and even judged the enemy's military types, and directly asked his subordinates to form the simplest and fastest low-level battalion that could be listed. Array.
He chose a simple camp formation commonly used by generals below the commander-in-chief. It was very simple, with four-post infantry and ten-post cavalry.
This military formation is the fastest to form and is often used when the enemy's cavalry has the advantage in strength, using a small number to attack a large number.
Forming a formation is the fastest. The frontier army often said that there is a small drill every three days and a big drill every five days. This is the camp formation for Xiaoxiao. There is no need for a joint camp to practice. A team leader can lead the team to practice by themselves, and fight against horse thieves. Very useful for quelling a rebellion.
The reason why it is not Da Cao's camp is because there is no place reserved to protect the baggage in the camp. Generally, the joint camp formations of the Ming army are hollow, and supplies and livestock are stored on the innermost side.
The moment he saw the enemy, Cao Wenzhao had already considered the artillery and baggage outside the camp, and judged that there was no time to pull them into the formation, so he directly ordered the assembly and threw everything outside to distract the enemy.
This plan was very successful, and Xie Erhu's department focused their attention from top to bottom on those materials.
The herdsmen naturally paid attention to their rations and supplies, while the Mongolian generals who led the troops focused on their artillery.
Cannon is the lifelong enemy of the Mongolian cavalry, but precisely because of this, it is more attractive to Mongolian generals than anything else in the world.
Fortunately, they had good military discipline in the two or three years since they joined the Marshal's Mansion. Even if they looked at the artillery with desire, they still did not simply mess up, but separated into several small teams to seize the artillery and supplies.
The large army did not stop there, and soon spread out dozens of units to cover the entire battlefield from three sides.
When the chaotic sound of horse hooves on the battlefield gradually quieted down, dozens of Mongolian horse teams preparing to attack were rushing in three directions. Each horse team was composed of loose teams in groups of three or five, pressing their saddles and waiting for the general's order.
At this last moment, Ahai Daiqing actually made efforts to dissuade Xie Erhu from rushing into the battle. He said: "Let's surround ourselves. The Ming army likes to stand still and wait for reinforcements, as if everyone doesn't know that reinforcements will never arrive. .”
But Xie Erhu only thought for a moment before rejecting the proposal. The Ming army's reinforcements would indeed never arrive, but this camp was most vulnerable to being breached right now.
If all the brave men in the phalanx were to put on their armor and prepare to attack, how embarrassing would it be to be shot through from the front?
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【Stubborn Thief】【】
His own family knows his own affairs, and Xie Erhu knows very well that the Ming army is really ready to risk his life, and the Mongolian soldiers under his command cannot stop him. The only chance of victory is not to hope that the Ming army's reinforcements will never arrive, but to take advantage of them before they do anything. If you're ready, just surround him and kill him.
After almost pausing for just a moment, Xie Erhu, surrounded by military flags, waved forward, and the guards standing beside him fired their dynasties into the sky. Amidst the sharp sound of arrows, horse teams jumped up and charged towards Cao Wenzhao's military formation. Collision from three sides.
For a moment, arrows were flying, and the Mongolian horse teams on the west, south, and east sides each performed their duties and tried their best.
In each direction, there are three cavalry teams forming a galloping formation and a light cavalry team that attacks the formation, in a cycle; six cavalry teams dismount to form two three batches of infantry to rush into the formation, prepare, and prepare; and three cavalry teams carry fines. Riding, wearing heavy armor, and carrying long poles, they are ready to impact the cavalry to finally break the formation.
The Ming army did not respond quickly, or Cao Wenzhao planned to have his soldiers counterattack quickly. He just asked the cavalry inside Tianzige to prepare and put half-equipped vests on their mounts.
The purpose of the phalanx is not to stand still and be beaten. After all, there are very few opportunities for the two armies to discuss and agree on the time and place of the battle. Most encounters cannot start with the battle line unfolding. During the encounter, try to avoid encounters when the battle line is unfolding. The way of loss is the square formation.
It's just that the battlefield is unfair most of the time. Many armies simply cannot persist to the point of opening the battle line and are defeated before forming a square formation.
This thing is similar to the holding frame in fighting. The purpose of the holding frame is the same as the formation. Before knowing what kind of attack method the opponent will use, try to use an offensive and defensive form to prevent yourself from being knocked over by a punch or defeated by a single blow. .
Receive the move first, then make the move.
The incoming waves of Mongolian cavalry approached, fired, and circled one after another. Cao Wenzhao's army formation was slightly turbulent on three sides, but the formation was not disordered.
For the large number of soldiers from Ningxia and Gansu in the army, the galloping shooting of Mongolian cavalry is nothing new. Their cloth-covered iron armor and stomach bowls can prevent most flying arrows from missing.
As for the commotion, it was not because of the new recruits in the army, but rather because of the veterans who were curious about the Mongolian soldiers affiliated with the Marshal's Mansion... who could actually afford to use steel to forge arrowheads!
They are trying hard to urge the Mongolian soldiers in the army to stop hiding and quickly upgrade to the Iron Age.
In fact, many of Cao Wenzhao's Mongolian soldiers still use stone arrowheads or cast iron arrowheads to shoot.
For the Yiding cavalry, wouldn’t it be good to keep the forged arrowheads issued by the Liangzhou Guards for hunting? Why use it to shoot people? If you shoot a person without killing him, he will take all your arrows away; hunting is different. Without armor, the prey will definitely die.
The Ming army deployed their bows and arrows on three sides, and the line formed by three-eyed blunderbuss, spears, and shield-bearers was unbreakable. Seeing that the harassment of the nomadic herdsmen was ineffective, rows of dismounted nomadic infantry drove their horses to cover the lead, and marched forward in formation. Prepare for close combat.
Cao Wenzhao was also preparing for a close fight.
It's just that the direction of his dispatch was not the front, but the fourth side after the three sides, the side due north that was not involved in the battle.
That was originally the direction left by the Mongolian cavalry for them to flee, that is, one of the three palaces and one mile. However, when Cao Wenzhao's flag was waved, the northern column broke through the middle, and the armored cavalry came out, and the military formation was formed. shape.
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【Stubborn Thief】【】
Then the cavalry troops filed out and divided into two groups, leading the troops to spread out to the east and west sides, forming a huge width with the cavalry.
This would be fatal. No one could withstand a flank attack, not to mention the fact that this was a group of semi-equipped cavalry wearing iron armor and half armor on their horses, which was extremely intimidating.
A crazy scene appeared in front of Xie Erhu. When the Mongolian cavalry surrounded on three sides failed to make several tentative attacks, the dismounted herdsmen who were engaged in hand-to-hand combat tried to charge into the formation. The armored cavalry behind them were also gearing up and preparing to charge forward with hooks and sickles.
With several rounds of attacks, the physical strength of the soldiers in the Ming army's formation was declining rapidly, and the formation was loosening in many places due to the lack of replacement soldiers.
For Xie Erhu, breaking the formation is just around the corner.
At this time, one after another, Ming Army cavalry squads formed a large and loose formation in the north of the battlefield, rushing towards the flanks of the Mongolian infantry who were fighting hand-to-hand on the east and west wings.
Everyone knew very well that the flanks of the dismounted herdsmen formed a line, let alone withstand the impact of these cavalry, they would probably collapse after only a hundred or two hundred steps before the battle started.
Therefore, the Mongolian cavalry with hooks and spears in the rear immediately attacked, trying to intercept the Ming cavalry that appeared on the flanks.
However, in the face of the Ming Army cavalry attacking in small groups, most Mongolian cavalry would actively choose to turn their horses' heads to retreat when the opportunity for collision appeared. Even if it was not suitable to retreat sometimes and had been forced into the hedging stage, they would still use it at the last moment. At the cost of being pursued, he turned his horse and retreated.
However, the Ming Army cavalry could always move forward indomitably.
Xie Erhu's worldview collapsed in an instant. This is fucking unscientific!
In fact, the performance of the Mongolian cavalry was the normal performance of elite cavalry. Among the dozen or so cavalry teams that briefly fought, four cavalry teams dared to collide head-on with the enemy. This was already a very high rate.
In the Battle of Hehuang, the Marshal's Mansion cavalry led by Yang Yao clashed with the Ming Army's cavalry. The proportion of real collisions was not as high as this battle. However, the academy generals specially stamped their ideological stamp on the education of the cavalry officers, telling them a hundred There were only three brave men among the cavalry who dared to charge.
Why did Cao Wenzhao's Ming army cavalry dare to collide like this?
Equipment determines play style.
This kind of half-equipped vest brings great psychological advantages to the cavalry. First of all, it is much lighter than the full-equipped vest. It uses cotton armor and iron armor to protect the forehead, neck, and chest of the war horse, while protecting the horse's belly, back, and buttocks. These places where large armor is hung have no protection, so their mobility is not bad.
Secondly, its protective power is very strong. During the collision, its frontal protection ability is equal to that of a fully equipped cavalry.
The advantage of riding this kind of horse in a cavalry duel is much greater than it seems.
Under normal circumstances, cavalry rarely collide with each other. From the generals down to the cavalry, when two cavalry meet, they have too many tactics to choose from. Rather than staring at each other's cavalry and fighting, it is better to run and find them. Opportunity to get rid of enemy cavalry and provide advantages for your own infantry and artillery.
Even if they are driven away from the battlefield, certain tactical effects can be achieved. After all, to drive them away, the enemy cavalry also has to stay away from the battlefield, not to mention that they can find opportunities to come back and hit other armies later.
But when faced with the opportunity for a cavalry duel, most of these semi-equipped cavalry will directly hit them.
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【Stubborn Thief】【】
Because their equipment determines that they are very fast in collision, but slightly less efficient in chasing and driving away.
They could either use the protection equivalent to that of a fully equipped cavalry to charge forward in formation, or they could use the protection equivalent to riding a naked horse to turn around and run away. All fools knew how to choose - to move forward without hesitation.
Xie Erhu watched helplessly as more than a dozen Mongolian horse teams escaped the impact one by one. Only four horse teams collided with the enemy's spears. The cavalry soldiers from both sides passed through the gap, and the results were also appallingly low.
The proportion of dismounted cavalry on both sides during the collision was almost the same. In both cases, only a few cavalry were dismounted during the collision. However, the difference was that the Ming cavalry had better protection. Many of them were still able to struggle to get up after being dismounted, while the Mongolian cavalry The horse soldiers' leather armor and goggles were relatively crude, and they couldn't get up if they were stabbed.
What's more, most of the cavalry on both sides were aiming at the enemy's mounts during the collision. The horses' vitality was tenacious, and even if they suffered a fatal blow, they would still be difficult to die.
The horses of the Ming army may or may not be injured. Even if they are injured, it is not a big problem to continue running. However, the horses of the Mongolian soldiers lack protection and are much more likely to be fatally injured. Even if they do not die on the spot, there is still a lot of blood. More than that, he lost the ability to continue maneuvering.
Just a simple set of vests brought disaster to Xie Erhu's Mongolian brigade. At this time, even if it penetrated the Ming army's infantry line, it was meaningless.
The large Ming army cavalry swept directly from north to south like the top of Mount Tai. The Mongolian cavalry encountered on the way fled and even the dismounted infantry fighting were dispersed.
Several loose and broken lines in the entire Ming army's formation were unable to continue to expand their advantage due to the lack of successor soldiers, and were defeated by the Ming army. Then the square formation further opened in the opposite direction, and Cao Wenzhao's cavalry expanded into A large horizontal line followed the formation to the south to cover up the enemy.
Teams of semi-equipped cavalry led by Cao Wenzhao were like stone rollers sweeping across the Zhuanglang River, driving the Mongolian cavalry southward.
In an instant, the offensive and defensive situation on the battlefield changed. Cao Wenzhao commanded the attack formations one by one to stabilize their pace, and sent messengers to urge the advancing army to the friendly forces behind them.
He was a sensible person and knew that Hong Chengchou sent him into Zhuanglang River not to kill the enemy, but to get involved, and those involved were Ding Shaoyin and Chai Shihua.
The so-called catastrophic defeat means that the collapse of an army will cause the collapse of friendly forces that were not originally determined, and conversely, the same will be true for the victor.
The victory of the friendly forces strengthened the determination of Chai Shihua and Ding Shaoyin. Two legions stationed near Zhuang Langwei immediately joined the pursuit and were persuaded to go back.
Cao Wenzhao did not need them to join the ranks of beating up drowned dogs. In the entire Zhuanglang River Basin, which was more than a hundred miles deep, the Marshal's army was no longer in danger. What he needed was to pursue and fight hard to ensure that these Mongolian cavalry had no chance to regroup. .
Chai Shihua and Ding Shaoyin's mission was to besiege Zhuanglang Wei City. Hong Chengchou not only sent Cao Wenzhao and Bai Guangen.
Cao Wenzhao pursued southward for two days and advanced for a full hundred miles until he reached the mouth of the Yellow River.
In the Zhuanglang Acropolis in the north, Bai Guangen, who had had a good meal in the rear, attacked again. He joined Chai Shihua and Ding Shaoyin to surround the Zhuanglang Acropolis, and immediately began to build ordnance, followed by a two-day attack.
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【Stubborn Thief】【】
With no reinforcements from outside and a new defeat at home, the morale of Basang's army was low. Fortunately, they had good food in the past two years, and the soldiers' night blindness symptoms had been alleviated. Taking advantage of the deep ditch outside the city that had not been repaired, they took advantage of it until the next night. Following Liu Chengyun, he broke through to the west, crossed the Zhuanglang River and entered the Liancheng Mountain area of Datonghebao.
After being occupied by the Marshal's Mansion for nearly four months, Zhuang Langwei declared its fall.
Now the dilemma on the battlefield was thrown back to Wang Wenxiu, the brigade commander stationed in Lanzhou.
The Yellow River crossing between Hehuang and Lanzhou was no longer safe. The connection between the two places was cut off by the Ming army. If troops were deployed to station in Hehuang, the Lintao surrender army would be unattended; if Lanzhou was defended, Hehuang would have no strong troops available.
At this time, Liu Chengyun sent someone from Liancheng Tusi Yamen to deliver a letter to Lanzhou. He told Wang Wenxiu: "I will hand over Hehuang to me, and I also ask Commander Wang to defend Lanzhou. Lanzhou will not be lost, and the Ming army will not dare to enter." Hehuang!"
