The front line is the trench area twelve miles north of Tashan Fort.
This place is indeed very lively as Chang Yu said.
To be precise, it was not only lively, but also very chaotic.
How messy is it?
A mess.
The Qing army sent out heavy troops early in the morning to drive away the Ming army's Tanma in the Xingshan area, and then swept southward, hoping to force the Ming army's Tanma back to the Tashanbao area.
However, the Ming army's detective horses received orders to monitor the movements of the Qing army's large forces, so they were unwilling to retreat. Instead of circling in the south of Xingshan, the Qing army kept sending more troops to chase, forcing several Ming army detective horses to have to Fall back to the trench area.
However, the Qing army stepped on the nose and faced it, and was bound to drive the Ming army back to Tashan Fort. Hundreds of cavalry clashed back and forth to intercept the Ming army's Tanma, but they did not expect to encounter strong resistance from the Ming army's Tanma.
This enraged the Qing army, and sent more troops to push frantically southward. Seeing the Ming army beat their probing horses, they fled in embarrassment. Hundreds of Qing soldiers chased towards them in pursuit of the victory, but they did not expect that they would be killed in the blink of an eye. Big somersault.
A trench unexpectedly appeared in the snowy wilderness. The Qing soldiers who were chasing after them were unable to rein in their horses and fell directly into the pit. The men turned on their backs and screamed repeatedly. Before they could react, a Ming army jumped out from behind the mound on the south side of the trench. In the pit and on the north side of the trench, the Qing troops who were lucky enough to rein in their horses but were a little confused fired randomly.
The Qing army retreated urgently.
The news that a trench that was dozens of miles long sprouted overnight passed through Xingshan and quickly reached Songshan City.
The trenches naturally did not appear for no reason, they were dug by the Ming army.
When did they dig it?
It had been snowing heavily in the past few days and they were busy preparing for war. The Qing army's reconnaissance cavalry only went as far as Xingshan for a walk. They did not know when the Ming army dug a trench.
But why did they dig this trench?
Want to stop tens of thousands of cavalry from heading south with just one trench?
Let’s dream, even a big river can’t stop the cavalry heading south, how can we expect a ditch?
So what do they want to do, imitate the bad tricks they used in the Song Jin battle a few years ago?
That's not right. If that's the case, they should dig between Songshan and Jinzhou City. What's the point of digging between Songshan and Xingshan for no reason at the moment.
Ao Bai and others in Songshan were confused because of the emerging trench. The news was quickly sent to Jinzhou City. At the same time, more troops were sent to investigate the trench area to find out what the Ming army was doing. .
As a result, the trench position became very lively. The Ming army wanted to go over to Xingshan to see what the main force of the Qing army was doing, while the Qing army wanted to come over to see what the Ming army was doing on the Tashan side.
The soldiers and horses of the two parties were fighting on this side of the trench.
The Qing army has hundreds of troops here. They scout along the trench from west to east. They want to cross the border when they see the gaps, but it is not that easy. The Ming army has fewer troops here, and they are mainly patrols. And Tan Ma Ye did not accept it.
However, the terrain occupied by the Ming army was particularly good, and indeed the fortifications were done very well. When digging the trench, the excavated soil was piled directly on the south side. This made it difficult for the opponent's horse to jump over the original width of the trench. However, don't even think about crossing over at this time. It can be said that whoever disobeys will fall into the pit. Moreover, this earth break can also be used as a fortification, which can be used to suppress firepower from a high position. It can also be used as a cover. At the same time, many people were built under the slope. Earthen nests are used to protect people on duty. There is one such kind of earthen nest every 100 meters. The small ones can accommodate two or three people, and the large ones can accommodate more than a dozen. Some even have three rooms and a living room and even war horses. Can come in.
Therefore, several groups of Qing troops wandered from the west to the east, trying to find a place to rush through, but they all returned in vain. The horses could not jump through such a wide pit, and there were always a few people on the opposite side popping up from nowhere to shoot cold arrows. It was just like this. For most of an hour, not one person passed by, but dozens of people were shot and injured.
This completely angered the Qing army, and they decided not to engage in scattered conflicts, but to gather their forces for a frontal attack.
Hundreds of troops concentrated in one place to attack, which put a lot of pressure on the Ming army. After all, they did not have an organized force here, they were just patrols scattered everywhere. Even if they could be gathered together quickly, their combat strength would be different from that of the opposite side. Presumably less so.
The gap between combat power and military strength made the Ming army feel a little frightened.
I saw the Qing army on the opposite side dragging some branches and debris, and I knew that they were going to make wooden bridge treads, and I felt even more panicked.
After all, the fortification in front of us is not a big river, but a trench. As long as the opponent can rush over as soon as the wooden bridge is built, our own advantage will be gone in an instant.
This made the Ming army on the front line panic and even complain.
Why have hundreds of soldiers and horses been struggling here for more than an hour, but no reinforcements have come from the fort? Do you really expect us patrols to resist, or do you want us all to die here? Only people can come out, or we are just cannon fodder. Even if we die in battle, they will not come out...
Seeing the Qing army on the opposite side gathering men and horses ready to attack, the patrols were frightened. Just when they were thinking of calling for reinforcements, they saw rolling horseshoes flying from the south, snow flying, and hundreds of horsemen galloping towards them with murderous intent. The patrols couldn't help but cheered, "Hey, reinforcements are coming," and then yelled at the opposite side, "Come here."
"Hey, you're from the East Factory Guards, I think it's the Black Tiger Camp." A person with eyesight exclaimed, and cheers suddenly broke through the sky, and the shouts and curses became even louder. This made the attackers on the opposite side who were preparing to attack couldn't help but frown. Reinforcements from the other side were coming and they were very powerful. At this time, they would not be able to gain much advantage by rushing in, and they might even suffer heavy losses, so they decided to suspend the operation and report to their superiors.
"Tell me, how many people are coming out over there?" Tu Yuan was holding a Qing prisoner by the trench and yelled. The Qing soldier grinned in pain and was frightened by Tu Yuan's aura. He almost fainted. He babbled a lot, but Tu Yuan couldn't understand, so he slapped him: "Speak in human language!"
But he saw that the prisoner was knocked unconscious by his slap. He threw it aside and asked the patrolman beside him: "What kind of bird language is he talking about?"
"General, he said there are three thousand soldiers and horses on the Xingshan side." A spy who knew Manchu came over and whispered.
"Where is the reality?" Tu Yuan raised his eyebrows and looked towards the north. There were more than a hundred people wandering around and scurrying back and forth in the ditch dozens of meters away.
"General, I was scouting the enemy situation in the Xingshan area, and I did see a large army of soldiers and horses. I dare not say there are three thousand, but there are definitely thousands of them," Tan Ma said quickly.
"Thousands of people." Tu Yuan squinted his eyes and looked into the distance: "It's a sunny day today and you can vaguely see the small black spot on Xingshan Mountain. Since they came out, they didn't come here. What the hell is going on? Do you know where they are at this time?" ?」
"The police are intercepting them like crazy on the opposite side. Our people can't get through directly, but there are brothers who are going around to the west to investigate nearby..." Tu Yuan heard the sound and turned his head to look to the west. The vast mountains in the distance were already covered with snow, and it was a vast expanse of white. , you can vaguely see some small black spots beating, and you can't tell whether they are your own or local scouts.
"We want to come over, and they want to come over. We can think of a roundabout way, and they can think of it too." Tu Yuan looked into the distance and narrowed his eyes: "Give the order, guard the middle and watch both ends. If they charge head-on, , let's attack them head-on. If they sneak in from both ends, catch them one by one, and surround them one by one. Also, find out where the main force of the *** is as soon as possible."
The men went along the trench to deliver orders to various outposts, and the patrols dispersed in groups to stroll at both ends. Tu Yuan climbed onto the breakthrough and sneered at the swaying policemen on the other side.
"General, will *** come to attack Tashan today?"
"I don't know." Tu Yuan shook his head: "But I hope that they will take action so that I can enjoy the killing."
"Then why wait for them to make the first move? We have nothing to do now. Why don't we clean up the hundreds of idiots on the opposite side?" His subordinates encouraged him. Tu Yuan looked at the opposite side and couldn't help but lick his lips and risk his eyes. Guang finally shook his head: "It's not that I don't want to, it's not that I can't, it's that I can't disobey the order."
