Looking out from the monocular telescope in the hand of Jin Wang Li Dingguo, the gently undulating Liangmao ravines are all in sight. The fortresses of the Ming army were built one after another along both sides of the Jian'an River. These fortresses are not bastions, but bunkers built with sandbags and wood. They were built with the help of undulating terrain, so their shapes are irregular. But they all look pretty solid and shouldn't be easy to capture.
Located at the southernmost end of these two "fort lines", small groups of troops from both sides were fighting around the two forts that had just been half built. On the Ming army's side were about a battalion of infantry, in a shooting formation with muskets in front and lances in the back. The Dashun Army sent five centurions to fight, each of which was a combination of swords, muskets, and spears. Both sides also pulled out several cannons, which were set up on the hillside. They bombarded each other one after another - not the other side's infantry, because the infantry on both sides were placed in positions where they were not easily hit by enemy artillery. Therefore, the artillery of the Dashun Army was hitting the fortress of the Ming Army, while the artillery of the Ming Army was shooting at the artillery position of the Dashun Army. Li Dingguo's location was not far from his own artillery array, and was also within the firepower coverage of the 12-pound cannon (not a 12-pound cannon, but an old 12-pound bronze cannon) mounted on a high place by the Ming army.
Among the staff gathered around were Li Dingguo’s generals, Tai’an Hou’s Dading Battalion Chief Dou Mingwang, Guangchang Hou Tianwei Battalion Chief Military Officer Gao Wengui, and Wenshui Hou Yongchang’s Military Envoy Chen Yongfu. They all looked happy, as if a scene was going on. Victory is at hand. But in the battle ahead, it was clear that the Ming army had the upper hand!
Although the organization and tactics of the Ming Army's infantry battalion were not designed for mountain warfare, their Hongxing Sixth Year Matchlocks (only part of the Ming Army now has flintlock guns) are still more powerful than the muskets used by the Dashun Army. The effective range is longer and the performance is more stable. Therefore, in long-distance shooting, the Ming army always has the upper hand.
What? Let the Dashun army rush to within twenty steps to fire a volley against the firepower of the Ming army?
That requirement is too high... The Dashun Army cannot be compared with the English Lobster Soldiers. They are just a stronger version of the feudal army.
The battle had already been decided, and Dashun's army, which suffered heavy casualties, dragged its wounded soldiers back toward a fortress on its side. There were Ming army musketeers and pikemen chasing behind. A wounded soldier was abandoned and screamed in despair, but Li Dingguo had no expression on his face.
He turned around: "What do you think?"
Wenshuihou Yongchang Jiedushi Chen Yongfu had been stationed in the Qiuchi Mountain area for the longest time. He often fought against the Ming army and knew the strength of the Ming army best. He immediately replied: "It is the new army of the Ming army... Wu Sangui's command The vassal army should not be that strong."
Wu Sangui's vassal army's cavalry is not weak, with both black cavalry and lancers. Although there are no ocean horses, the Western Regions also produce good horses, so the quality of his cavalry is very good. But Wu Sangui's infantry was not good. It was no match for Dashun's infantry, and it was far inferior to the infantry of the new Ming army.
Dou Mingwang said: "His Royal Highness the King of Jin, we have fought with them for twelve battles these days, and all we have encountered are new troops... It seems that he has gathered all the new troops in Shaanxi to the front line of Qishan."
Gao Wengui also smiled and said: "His Royal Highness the King of Jin has a clever plan, and Wu Sangui has been fooled again!"
Wu Sangui was fooled again... How pitiful!
Li Dingguo smiled and said: "Since he has been fooled, we should set off. Marquis Wenshui, I will leave the Qiu Chishan camp to you!"
Chen Yongfu cupped his hands and said: "King Jin, don't worry, the general is here, Wu Sangui will not notice that His Highness has led his elite troops away."
It turns out that Li Dingguo's "out of Qishan" was just a false shot. He did not really intend to fight Wu Sangui in Qishan, but made a plan to leave Qishan clearly and cross Qinling secretly.
His action of planting fields in front of the Xihe formation was actually to confuse Wu Sangui - How many terraces can be planted in Xihe, a remote and remote place? How much millet can be collected? After working hard for a year, receiving 100,000 shi would be enough... Li Dingguo's 100,000 shi army would have to consume 50,000 shi of food in one month, and 100,000 shi of millet would last for up to two months - the Dashun dynasty would be short of two Xiaomi of the month? The Dashun Dynasty was short of food for those ten months!
What Li Dingguo is now consuming on the front line of Qiuchi Mountain is the grain he has accumulated over the years, not the grain temporarily shipped from Hanzhong and Chengdu. When the stored grain was exhausted, the difficulty of the Shu Road and the limited national power of Dashun simply could not afford to support a hundred thousand troops to consume between Qiuchi Mountain and Qishan Mountain.
If it really costs several million dan a year, Dashun will be poor!
Therefore, Li Dingguo's plan was to cross the Qinling Mountains and go directly to Guanzhong.
Nowadays, there are farms of wealthy households everywhere in Guanzhong. As long as they can get in, hundreds of thousands of stones of flour can still be obtained. With these hundreds of thousands of stones, the 50,000 Dashun troops can hold out for one to two years in the Wuzhangyuan and Heshangyuan areas north of Baoxie Road... This is called feeding the enemy with food and supporting the war with war!
...
The morning light in the east has not yet emerged, and the north and south of the Qinling Mountains are still dark. April and May are the rainy seasons. The dark clouds in the sky are low these days, covering the moon. However, people who are used to walking at night can still see the figures in front of them clearly and follow closely without falling behind.
In the darkness, a team of up to 1,500 people was walking quietly on the mountain paths in the Qinling Mountains.
The Qinling Mountains are a large mountain running east-west. There are only a few very steep valleys for north-south travel. The Baoxie Road, the Ziwu Road, the Chencang Road, and the Dangluo Road all have such terrain. In the most difficult and dangerous places, there is not even a good road to walk on, but an extremely steep plank road. Even this kind of road is now blocked by Wu Sangui, making it impossible to pass through from the front.
So these 1,500 Dashun elite soldiers have no choice but to climb mountains... They are now taking the road that private salt dealers use to travel between Guanzhong and Liuba County. It is no longer dangerous, it is simply a dead end that is difficult for the army to pass.
At least in the eyes of Wu Sangui, who didn't have much experience in mountain warfare, this kind of desperate situation was not one that could be walked by humans at all.
However, according to Sima Yu, who lives in Liuba County and has been fighting against private salt dealers for many years, such mountain roads are still passable, and they can only be taken on such mountain roads. If you have to take a road like Chencang Road, how can you smuggle?
Sima Yu and his fellow Liuba fellows were walking together with their heads lowered in the darkness before dawn. He felt that the road under his feet was not difficult to walk because it was now the way down the mountain. They have crossed the Qinling Mountains and are heading towards Monk Yuan.
Because they are people who often walk on mountain roads, this kind of road is not difficult at all in their opinion.
After walking for who knows how long with his head lowered, Sima Yu raised his head and looked at the sky. It was still dark, but there was already a flash of red light on the eastern horizon.
We need to hurry up now. We must reach the Monk Plains and capture this loess platform before the sky is completely bright.
Then wait there for the arrival of the main force led by the commander-in-chief Wang Xi, less than 1,400 elite soldiers, and then assault the Dashan Pass near Monk Yuan... This plan seems risky, but it is not without certainty.
If the sky gets brighter now, we can see their certainty.
Including the hundred men under Sima Yu, the 1,500 elite soldiers led by Wang Xi all wore the red military uniforms, black breastplates, and black iron helmets of the Ming army. The weapons and equipment used are exactly the same as those of the Ming army.
This is a Dashun elite carefully disguised as the Ming army.
Moreover, they also figured out the Ming army's defense at Dashan Pass through careful operations lurking near Dashan Pass. The new Ming army that was stationed at Dashan Pass has been transferred. Now there are 3 battalions of Shaanxi troops with a total of 1,500 people stationed at Dashan Pass, which are the governors of Shaanxi. (The governor of the Ming Dynasty is not a permanent one now, so there is no Supervisor, the title of Supervisor was given to the provincial admiral), and he was not considered an elite soldier.
And as long as Dashan Pass is captured, Chencang Road, which is the best among the Shu roads, will be captured by the Dashun Army!
In this way, the 50,000 troops led by Li Dingguo will come out of Chencang and attack Baoji, the capital of Fengxiang Prefecture... If Baoji is captured, Dashun's situation in Guanzhong will be widened!
