The 22nd day of June in the seventh year of Chongzhen was the beginning of autumn.
Within three days, more than 10,000 troops mobilized by Liu Chengzong from Wuwei Oasis arrived at Gulang Castle one after another. At one time, more than 20,000 troops gathered in Gulang. Camps were everywhere in the narrow Gulang Mountain Pass, with smoke blocking the clouds and the sun, and flags filling the mountains and valleys.
With the arrival of Zhang Tianlin and Wei Qian'er's two large battalions with independent combat capabilities, more Tang soldiers joined the oppressive advance to cover the battlefield.
The Chinese army camp outside Gulang Fort.
A map compiled by Huben battalion officers and compiled by officers of the Huben battalion was placed in front of Liu Chengzong.
The entire map depicts a battlefield area that is twenty miles long from north to south and fifty miles wide from east to west. This battlefield is densely covered with thirty-four mountain ridge and valley roads running from north to south, as well as an important transportation road from Gulangyi to Heisongyi. , and is completely covered by pine forests, fir forests, and birch forests.
Except for the banks of the Liutiao River in the northwest corner of the map and the Huangyang River in the southeast corner, there is almost no terrain for battalion-level units to form battle formations between the roads. Even the widest traffic arteries are only two to three hundred paces wide. .
Such finely divided terrain determines that Liu Chengzong must consider small team operations in battle, and in small team operations, Tangqi is the key to this battle.
"Ma Xiang, mobilized Tang troops from various departments to form twenty-four Tangqi camps, divided into east and west routes. The west route was spread out along the Liutiao River and headed south towards Wushaoling; the east route was spread out along the mountain road to suppress the enemy. Huangyang River."
After hearing this order, Ma Xiang, the commander-in-chief of Tangqi Qian of the Chinese Army, felt troubled and said: "Commander, we don't have so many Tang soldiers."
The establishment of Tang soldiers is five cavalry per pond, and twenty-four ponds form one group. Liu Chengzong opened his mouth and asked for twenty-four groups of Tang soldiers. This huge organization required 2,880 people.
Ma Xiangxin said that he originally had twelve Tang soldiers under his command, but after establishing three major battalions in Ganzhou, they were divided into six groups. Currently, there are only two large battalions in Zhuanglanghe, which means that the entire army plus one is ten Tang soldiers.
Even if you are the generalissimo, you can't just say that you are the twenty-fourth Tang soldiers. Now that Monkey King is here, Tang soldiers can't be transformed just by changing them.
"I know that based on the ten-route Tang soldiers, three divisions of regular soldiers will be drawn from the main camp and the carriage camp, and each Tang soldier will be equipped with archers and firearms as much as possible."
The establishment of a battalion is divided into battalions, departments, divisions, and bureaus. The corresponding officers are: generals, generals, generals, and generals. The three divisions are regular soldiers, which means that three generals are assigned to lead troops, basically giving each Tang soldier Both are worthy of two people.
In fact, this troop strength, fifteen men per pond, is similar to the basic establishment of pond soldiers in the Ming Dynasty in the south. The water network in the south is dense, which is not conducive to pond cavalry. The dismounting of pond soldiers requires more manpower.
At this time, Liu Chengzong was facing a similar situation. It was also inconvenient to ride horses in the mountainous woodlands. Only by assigning more troops to the Tang soldiers could the work be carried out more conveniently.
Small team combat itself can easily cause confusion in the army organization, so for Liu Chengzong, more Tang soldiers must be deployed on this battlefield, at least so that the repelled soldiers can easily find Tang soldiers, and then regroup the entire team.
Liu Chengzong raised his hand and pointed at the center of the battle line on the map, followed the curved route to the south, and said: "Xianglin Temple, Heisongyi, Anyuanbao, and Chakouyi. The main soldiers must advance layer by layer at these four strongholds. The soldiers must try their best to suppress the enemy's flanks and create conditions for our army to outflank on the battlefield - brothers."
"The general is here!"
Feng Yu and others were listening attentively, but suddenly saw Liu Chengzong looking at them, and they quickly stood up one by one.
Liu Chengzong pointed to the Gulang Mountain Pass and said: "Feng Yu's troops are stationed in Gulang. The cavalry is responsible for patrolling the fifty miles from east to west. The chariot camp is stationed at the mountain pass. Be sure to block the mountain passes to break out the enemy. If the main troops fail to attack the enemy, your troops will be the reserve team."
"yes!"
"There are two camps, one in the east and one in the west. You two can choose."
Liu Chengzong looked at Wei Qian'er and Zhang Tianlin, pointed at the map and said: "There are many mountain roads on the east road, which can be used by horses. The road leading out of the mountain is Huangyangchuan where troops can be deployed. If the Ming army retreats, they will withdraw from Huangyangchuan to the east of Shishi." Xiaguan, so East Road
The mission is to reach Huangyangchuan within two days, that is, on the night of the 24th, and cut off the retreat from the flank. "
Then he continued to move south from Xianglin Temple on the middle road: "The Chinese army is attacking Xianglin Temple. The east road needs to drive the enemy troops from Huangyangchuan to the west and force them to retreat to Heisongyi. At the same time, they continue to advance south from the east road. Threaten the enemy's flank."
"There are fewer mountain roads on the west route, and the distance is almost forty miles. It is difficult to ride horses here, so the west route must arrive at Chakou Station on the morning of the 26th to cut off the enemy's retreat."
After that, he looked at Zhang Tianlin and Wei Qian'er and said seriously: "No matter which way you go, when you see the Ming army, you will break them up and overwhelm them. You must arrive at the scheduled location on time."
The difficulty of both tasks is not small. The main reason is that it is difficult to cross the terrain and make an urgent advance in a limited time. Unexpected attrition of troops will inevitably occur in the process.
They want to encircle and annihilate the enemy, which means that no matter which direction they are in, they are likely to encounter twice or even three times the enemy's attack. If they fight well, it will be a plowing and clearing holes, but if they fight poorly, it will be a Salhu.
Wei Qian'er glanced at Zhang Tianlin, raised his hand slightly and said, "General Zhang chooses first."
"I'm going to the east road." Zhang Tianlin chuckled: "The enemy can spread out in Huangyangchuan, and it will be easy for the cavalry to rush and eliminate them."
Wei Qian'er nodded and accepted this arrangement and said, "I have a lot of gushing cannons in my hand, which can come in handy in melee battles in the mountains."
"The east and west routes will be left to you. As for the main army attacking the middle route, we will have to rely on the skills of Brother Ding and Brother Zhang."
As Liu Chengzong spoke, he handed over to Ding Guodong, the general of the Suzhou camp, and Zhang Zhen, the general of the Ganzhou camp, and said: "In two days, we will capture Xianglin Temple; in three days, we will reach Heisongyi. You just have to fight in the field. I will lead the artillery team to hold back and attack the stronghold." Leave everything to me when you pull out the stronghold."
Ding Guodong cupped his fists with Bee Tail Needle and said: "The last general takes orders!"
As the missions of each ministry were confirmed, three cannons were fired from Gulangbao, and the mighty Tangqi team led the infantry westward along the Liutiao River, spreading out along the valleys and mountain ridges.
Just half an hour later, with the flags of the Tang soldiers waving, along the Liutiao River Valley eastward to the East Road Mountain, the Tang soldiers lined up rushed towards the mountain road. In just a moment, the winding mountain road was full of people. Gunfire flashed, and the mountain forest was suddenly filled with smoke.
Liu Chengzong was holding a telescope on Gulang Fort. The thick dense forest made it difficult for him to see the fighting situation in the nearby mountains, but he knew very well that the two armies were at war.
However, Ding Shaoyin and Bai Guangen, who were stationed in the mountain road, after receiving reports from the Tang soldiers on the front line about the outbreak of the conflict, did not think that they were fighting against Tang soldiers - because the Ming army's Tang soldiers believed that the Marshal's army was launching a scattered formation. General attack.
The Tangqi of the Marshal's Army is not serious!
From the outside, it looked like there was only a lone Tangqi in the middle of the road, holding a pennant spear in one hand and a three-eyed gun in the other, but in fact there were two more people hiding in the woods on the roadside.
Before Tangqi of the Ming Army could reach the distance to fire the three-eyed musket, he was startled by a cold shot from a heavy musket in the woods on the left. Just as he was paying attention to the left, another shot of cold arrows was fired from the woods on the right.
No one could be seen at all, and all one could hear was the commotion in the woods, as if they were following wild boars.
With such a haunted posture, is it still oppressing the battlefield? Tangqi of the Ming Army simply hit his horse, turned his head, waved his flag and spear and left, calling for reinforcements.
Finally, the Tang Cavalry gathered together, and now there are five of us here. We are no longer afraid of the cold arrows they fired in the woods. The Tang Cavalry from the opposite side also pressed forward, and more intensive cold shots were fired in the forest.
This must be an attack by the main army. Who is going out carrying a large-caliber eagle gun?
All the mountain roads and valley roads conveyed this information to Ding Shaoyin and Bai Guangen of Heisongyi. The soldiers on each road said that they encountered a squad of the Marshal's Army.
In the garrison of Black Pine Inn, Ding Shaoyin ordered his servants to fetch several maps and asked them to write on the maps to mark the enemy troops appearing on each mountain road. After a while, he found that the seven surrounding mountain roads were all attacked and suppressed. It took three or four miles to get the information back.
Some said they encountered dozens of enemy troops, while others said they encountered hundreds of enemy troops, but no one could tell exactly how many enemies there were. Even if they were halved, the number of enemy troops leading up to the seven mountain roads would be more than 300.
Ding Shaoyin's troops were limited, so in Zhou Dynasty
Tang troops were sent out around seventeen small roads, of which only twelve were controlled by troops.
These roads are either in good condition and can accommodate cavalry and vehicles; or they are on mountain ridges with a good view; or they are in dangerous terrain, so the management team or the commander-in-chief will be sent to lead troops to set up camps, dig trenches and cut off the roads.
The original intention of this deployment is to prevent Tangqi from infiltrating and covering the battlefield.
As soon as he received the information, Ding Shaoyin pointed at the map and said to Bai Guangen, "This is the Sheep Attack."
Ding Shaoyin analyzed Liu Chengzong's combat habits since he broke through Jiayuguan. Liu Chengzong always tried to break through from weak defenses. He was especially tired of attacking fortresses, even if he made ultra-long-distance maneuvers.
The fact that Liu Chengzong led his army through the Gobi Desert and appeared at Jiayuguan was a sign that he was tired of attacking fortresses and did not want to storm the Gulang Gorge.
If the harassment by Tangqi in the past few days gave the Ming army the feeling that something terrible was coming up the mountain, then to Ding Shaoyin, Liu Chengzong was the most terrifying thing among the things going up the mountain.
Because it was difficult for him to predict how far this guy who had traveled three thousand miles to avoid attacking the enemy would take a detour this time to avoid attacking the enemy.
This kind of record made Ding Shaoyin conclude that even if Liu Chengzong wanted to attack Gulang Gorge, he would most likely try to attack their retreat.
So he was chatting with Bai Guangen last night, and while they were chatting, he ordered Bai Guangen's deputy general Lu Yunchang to lead a thousand headquarters to defend Zhuang Langwei, because he was afraid that Liu Chengzong would go around Yongtai City and take Songshan South Road and suddenly appear under Zhuang Langwei City.
But this time, Liu Chengzong was really attacking. The entire 20,000-strong army was spread out over a fifty-mile radius in the mountains. He had no intention of going around to the rear area that Ding Shaoyin imagined. The rear area he wanted to attack was only Ding Shaoyin's central army.
Soon, less than two hours after the first confrontation, intelligence on the Tang soldiers from several other mountain roads came back - including the three small villages on the mountain ridge, which were all under attack.
On Yingpan Ridge, fifteen miles northeast of Xianglin Temple, the frontline stronghold, the General Biaoying who was stationed there risked his life to break through and brought back the organization of the Marshal's Army's frontline troops.
"General, he is indeed a Tang soldier."
President Bai first ran to Xianglin Temple. President Qian, who was stationed at Xianglin Temple, did not dare to press the information and immediately asked him to run to Heisong Station at the rear. It was already evening when he arrived at Heisong Station.
Ding Shaoyin felt distressed when he saw the appearance of Mr. Bai. The bowl on his head had gone somewhere, his hair scarf had fallen off, and his hair was disheveled. There were two broken arrows with the arrows bent on the cloth-covered iron armor, and the cloth was burned several times. There were holes in it, and the red cloth was stained black.
"What did you see? Tell it truthfully."
Mr. Bai said: "In the morning, the sound of firearms and gunshots came from the east and west valleys of Yingpan Ridge, but the woods obscured the view of the battle. At noon, I saw Tangqi on the north side of the mountain road on the mountain. They were riding two steps at a time, riding side by side on the mountain road. They have blunderbuss in their hands."
"How are you sure it's an eagle gun?"
"They stood a hundred paces apart and fired a few muskets at the gate twenty steps in front of the stockade. Our soldiers fired gushing cannons on the archery tower to force them away. I looked at the lead bullets embedded in the wooden fence and dug out It weighs eight coins when it comes out."
"and after?"
"Later, more and more of their Tang soldiers gathered on the mountain road. The mountain road outside the gate only allowed five or six people to walk abreast. However, seven or eight eagle muskets killed the gunner. Then they occupied the archery tower and turned in the opposite direction. They fired gunshots in the humble village, but they still had fire oil."
"The archery tower is too close to the small village. We wouldn't be afraid if it wasn't there. They climbed up to the archery tower and threw kerosene cans at the small village. The strong wind on the mountain ridge helped the fire and burned the tents completely."
Mr. Bai said, as if he was remembering what happened to the smoke and fire, and said with an unlucky look: "The stronghold was set up on the mountain. When we were building the stronghold, we never expected that we would stand on the humble archery tower and throw kerosene into the stronghold. The humble official led his troops to charge and kill several people. This time, even after being shot by an eagle, even the last few people could not recapture the archery tower. The fire became more and more fierce, and all the soldiers behind us ran away, so we had to retreat from the mountain ridge."
Ding Shaoyin captured a very crucial piece of information: "They didn't bring cannons?"
President Bai's eyes widened, and he seemed to want to ask whose Tangqi carried the cannon, but he suppressed his desire to express himself and shook his head: "No, they are all lightly armed."
After hearing this answer, Ding Shaoyin finally believed that attacking all the small roads was indeed a success.
In fact, he is not Liu Chengzong's main force, he is really Tang Qi.
"Counterattack back."
After arranging for the escaped Commander-in-Chief to go down to rest, Ding Shaoyin summoned his Qian Commanders to report the military situation and said to everyone: "The enemy's main force should be outflanking our army at this time. The situation is extremely unfavorable for us under the squeeze of the Tang troops. We must counterattack and let the Tang soldiers reoccupy the mountain ridge."
He had to know the movements of Liu Chengzong's main force. The mountain ridges captured by the marshal's army became particularly important. Although small groups of enemy troops could not see a breakthrough in those places, they could detect the march of the large group through the dust raised by birds in the forest. Momentum.
Only by knowing the march route of the enemy's main force can we know how to defeat them one by one.
Since the Tang soldiers cannot defeat the Marshal's Tang soldiers who are equipped with superior troops, then use the regular soldiers to fight.
That night, Ding Shaoyin ordered the two Qian generals who originally belonged to Chai Shihua's subordinates to send troops from four generals to recapture the four surrounding mountain ridges.
It happened to be on this night that Liu Chengzong's main force came to him.
The messenger cavalry with torches held high ran along the Gurang River to Heisongyi. They dismounted and prostrated themselves outside the city. They clasped their fists toward the city and shouted loudly: "General, Xianglin Temple is under attack. Thousands of enemy troops are dragging the artillery up. Got to the mountain road!"
