When Shang Kexi and Kong Tingxun started to attack from Wu Sangui's direct army, their hearts were lifted. Fearing that Liu Sheng and Wu Guogui, two military admirals close to Wu Sangui, would take advantage of the victory and attack fiercely, they directly turned to pursuit. Stealing the opportunity for their two miscellaneous brands to receive awards for their meritorious service...
The life of a miscellaneous person is hard, and there is no miscellaneous person in the background who has a harder life. Moreover, the two of them have voted for the Tatars and been traitors!
Moreover, they seek glory from the seller!
Emperor Zhu spared them back then because they sold out...to their Tatar master Shunzhi!
Although it is the Tatars who are being betrayed, they are still the sellers after all! How can anyone in the world like this kind of thing that first betrays the country and then the owner? Emperor Zhu is still using them, because he is true to his word, keeping his word, and does not want to damage his own brand.
And they themselves must have self-awareness and know how to accept things when they are good. Otherwise, even if Emperor Zhu didn't find fault, he still wouldn't give them a good life!
In fact, they don't have a good life now. How many years have these two warlords taken refuge in Emperor Zhu? So far, there is no territory, just the empty name of Chuanbian Town.
Although the imperial court would pay military salaries at a rate of 10,000 to several thousand people (later raised to 20,000 at Wu Sangui's request), there would be no arrears and no ministry fees - the military salaries would be transferred from the bank and no cash would be withdrawn from the Treasury of the Ministry of Accounts. , of course there is no department fee.
But they had no territory and no subjects, so they couldn't recruit troops. According to the "Fan Zhen Law" promulgated by Emperor Zhu in the early years of Hongxing, the fan town can recruit troops on its own if there is a shortage in the army establishment. However, a vassal town cannot recruit troops on the territory of other vassal towns without authorization, let alone recruit troops on a territory directly under the imperial government without asking for an order.
In addition to recruiting soldiers, feudal towns can also raise military households and soldiers. Now the Ming Dynasty's directly-administered army has no military households or soldiers. However, the feudal town still retains the system of military households and soldiers, but raising military households and soldiers also requires territory!
Shang and Kong had no territory, so they could not maintain their own military households, and it was impossible to create father-son brother soldiers within their own system.
So the two unlucky guys couldn't replenish their army.
And the officers and soldiers under their command are not strong men who can't fight, and they have never eaten Tang Monk's meat, so they cannot live forever. After surrendering to Emperor Zhu, it was a loss without any help. If Wu Sangui hadn't helped, the two of them would have lost all their strength long ago, and now there would be no warlord left.
But how could Wu Sangui be so kind? Wasn't he helping Chuanbian Town replenish its army so that one day he could squeeze out Shang Kexi and Kong Tingxun, and then completely annex Chuanbian Town?
However, it is unlikely that Wu Sangui wanted to take over Sichuanbian Town on his own initiative. He already had enough troops in his territory. Wouldn't adding another Sichuanbian Town be inviting suspicion? The Emperor Zhu who promised a lot of money was probably the one causing trouble in this matter! He didn't want to be a villain, let Wu Sangui come forward, and then take back Sichuan Bian Town from Wu Sangui after the matter was over...
Shang Kexi and Kong Tingxun, who knew full well, did not dare and could not resist Wu Sangui's encroachment and annexation, so they had to give in step by step and only wanted to step down with dignity - to be granted a title and a certain empty official position. If they could still get it, A little money would be better...
And if you want to step down with dignity, you must have meritorious service!
Shang Kexi, who received Wu Sangui's military order, breathed a sigh of relief and said to Kong Tingxun: "My dear nephew, it seems that Duke Liang is still thinking about the hard work and hard work of the two of us over the past few years!"
Kong Tingxun said with a smile: "Your Majesty must still have some intentions!"
Shang Ke smiled happily and nodded, saying: "My dear nephew, opportunities are given by others, but we have to take the credit ourselves. This battle..."
"Leave the lead to my nephew!" Kong Tingxun smiled and cupped his hand, "My nephew is good at using cavalry to chase the enemy! Why not let my nephew lead the cavalry first, and you can lead the infantry to hold back!"
"Okay, okay, then I will lead the infantry back and watch my nephew perform meritorious service!" Shang Kexi said politely, but in his heart he was like a mirror, knowing that Kong Tingxun wanted to compete with him for the credit... But Shang Kexi had no choice. Fight with him because Kong Tingxun also had a sister, Kong Sizhen, who was serving Zhu Cixiang in the palace. Although she had no status, she was still considered someone in the court!
Kong Tingxun handed over his hands, shouted "Get the order", and then ordered three cavalry battalions to follow him towards Dashan Pass, which had been captured by Wu Sangui's army.
The basic tactical unit of the Ming Dynasty vassal army is the battalion (the basic tactical unit of the imperial army is the regiment). The number of soldiers in a battalion is usually between 300 and 500. Among them, the cavalry battalion has fewer soldiers (but more auxiliary soldiers), and the infantry battalion has more soldiers.
Because they have been fighting in the mountains for a long time, Shang Kexi and Kong Tingxun don't have many cavalrymen in the Sichuan border army. There are only three battalions in total. What they can now use is more than a thousand cavalry. These more than a thousand cavalry are not black cavalry with black spears, nor are they cuirassiers responsible for the attack, but traditional feudal cavalry - the knights have manors on the territory of Xining Guard (all given by Wu Sangui), relying on the manor Support training and service, but also receive military pay from Shang Kexi and Kong Tingxun.
The tactics used by these cavalry are also different from the new black cavalry and lancers. They do not pay as much attention to group impact as the cuirassiers, nor do they adopt flexible tactics like the black cavalry. But these cavalry are all proficient in mounted archery and hand-to-hand combat. There are two types of mounted archery skills, one is horseback archery, and the other is horseback shooting - each cavalryman is equipped with at least one flintlock pistol!
In addition, this cavalry is also equipped with half plate armor, so it has a great advantage in hand-to-hand combat and facing enemy arrowheads!
The only unsatisfactory thing is that the horses of this cavalry are a bit inferior. There are no folded horses and Arabian horses, only Hequ horses from Qinghai. However, it is still possible to achieve one person and two horses, and it still gives people a powerful and invincible feeling when opening the big break.
Kong Tingxun also felt very good. Under the protection of dozens of horsemen and soldiers of the Kong family, he rode a taller Hequ horse and walked behind his own cavalry. Watching the gleaming cavalry in front of them marching in formation, wading through the large water, it was hard not to feel a little proud.
This is a thousand genuine iron cavalry! When the Qing Dynasty was still around, these people could at least stand up to the Red Armored Soldiers!
With such an elite in hand, this is the time to make achievements! Kong Tingxun thought to himself: I don’t ask too much, I will be satisfied if I can get the hereditary and irreplaceable Marquis of Kenan...
...
"Ada, Wu Sangui's armored cavalry are coming after them... Thousands of them are equipped with flintlock pistols, and they can dismount and fight hand-to-hand. I can't resist it!"
Li Dingguo, who was retreating south along the Sanguan Road, received news of the approaching pursuers from his son Li Puxing on the day after he evacuated Dasanguan, that is, in the early morning of the 24th of the first month of the first year of Daxing in Dongping. After withdrawing from Dashan Pass, Li Puxing received the order from the rear, led thousands of elite soldiers (horse infantry) to the rear, fought and retreated. Although the number of the palace troops he led was comparable to that of the pursuers, their combat effectiveness was inferior, and their morale was low, so they could not resist.
"How many people were lost?" Li Dingguo frowned, looking at his son who looked tired, with a few broken arrows stuck in his armor, and his face was still blackened by gunpowder smoke, "Where did they chase them?"
"After fighting for several battles, one or two hundred brothers were killed, and a lot of Sichuan horses were lost... When the boy escaped, they had just passed the Guangpai Mountain." Li Puxing said, "The boy left two teams behind. The troops are ambushed at Huangniupu and Changtanba, so they should be able to resist."
The Sanguan Road is to go through the ravines along the Dashui River. There are mountains on both sides of the road, and there are many places where you can set up ambush. However, these mountains are not inaccessible, but are mature lands that have been developed for 2000 years, so many trails have been opened to pass through. It is troublesome to establish defenses for a long time, but it is not difficult to delay the enemy in the short term.
"Ada, I estimate that these thousand armored cavalry will catch up one day," Li Puxing asked again, "Where are we going to set up an ambush this time?"
Li Dingguo glanced at him and smiled: "Why are you so anxious? It's just a thousand riders! With such a good opportunity, why should we exchange them for a thousand riders?"
"Ada, how many rides do you want to change?"
Li Dingguo smiled: "I want Wu Sangui's head!"
"This... this is impossible, isn't it? He is the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi!"
Li Dingguo smiled: "So I plan to give up the county seat of Feng County and the dangerous fortress of Maling Pass to these pursuers!"
