From ancient times to the present, from the East to the West, encirclement or siege warfare has generally followed the principle of "encircling three and attacking one". This is also one of the eight principles of using troops in Sun Tzu's Art of War. The so-called "encircling an enemy must be guarded" means that when encircling the enemy, one must get out of the way. Leaving a gap does not mean leaving it alone, but keeping it under one's own control. An ambush is preset at the place where the enemy must pass to escape, so that the enemy will fall into an ambush circle during the hasty escape.
In fact, "encircling the enemy must be que" is not only a tactics, but also a way of thinking of the Chinese people from ancient times to the present. Its core is to leave room for one's behavior. Don't say too much and don't do things too much. If it exceeds a certain limit, it will often be counterproductive.
For Agui and Fukangan, they both thought the same way. In their plan, the core strategy of this battle is to "overwhelm the minority with the crowd." In addition to encircling Fuldan City from the north, west and south, they are also trying to find and cut off the grain road to Beihai Town.
At dusk, Fukang'an's tent was packed with people. Fukang'an stood at the top, flanked by two senior generals; the other generals, Ben Junzuo, were arranged on the left and right sides of the sand table according to their rank.
Behind Fukang'an, a person is responsible for holding the seal and the arrow box. Four military academies stood on both sides of a table. On the table was a wooden shelf similar to a shrine. Inside was a bright yellow sapphire blue flag, with a large red "Manchu and Chinese" written in the middle. The word "order"; this is the king's command flag.
Although there were many people in the big tent at this time, there was no noise at all, and you could hear a pin drop. Everyone just listened to Fukang'an's words: "Everyone, please don't underestimate this group of people. This battle is not easy to fight. Although the opponent has fewer people, their firearms are more powerful than our cannons, even those Western guns." No one has ever heard of it. This is why the commander-in-chief and I petitioned the emperor to mobilize fifteen firearms battalions and many artillery pieces to go north.
We had the upper hand in numbers, and hundreds of artillery pieces suppressed the formation. Follow a safe approach and be sure to proceed step by step. The area east of Fuldan City is too large. Once the enemy retreats south and east and enters the mountains, the battle will be impossible to fight. Therefore, one unit must cross the Suifen River and penetrate from the east side of Fuldan City to cut off their retreat and food routes. "
At this time, a general standing at the bottom said: "Commander, let the last general go this way. Give me a few more cannons. If you can't stop them, I will come to see you."
When everyone took a look, it turned out to be Ushhada, the auxiliary wing commander of the forward battalion and the first-class bodyguard. This person is from Jilin. Because of his bravery in the battles of Burma and the Great and Little Jinchuan battles, he was named the deputy commander of the Mongolia of Zhengbai Banner. He was once painted in Ziguang Pavilion and ranked among the fifty heroes of the Great and Little Jinchuan battles. Later, he was awarded the title of Aksu leader. The position of minister. As a result, because he criticized De Feng, the minister of affairs at the time, for accepting bribes and found out to be false, he was deprived of his position, leaving only a first-class bodyguard.
Fukang'an knew that Ushhada was fighting hard, so he transferred him over and promoted him to the aileron commander of the forward battalion (from the third grade). Seeing someone asking for orders, Fukang'an nodded approvingly, and then called the generals by name: "Ushihada, Dai Sanbao, Guanbao, Yarjiang'a, Fuke Jing'e, and Tasha, listen to the order!"
The six generals raised their hands and chests in a military salute, their armors rustled, and they said in unison: "Here you go!"
"I will give you five thousand men and forty artillery pieces. You cross the river from the confluence of Kutafu River and Suifen River, go north along Ma'anzi Mountain, cut off the road east of Fuldan City, and guard against the enemy's attack on Fuljiha The river fled.”
Fukang'an then said to the Chengdu general E Hui beside him: "Order Tang Ma to send a message to Duerjia on the northern front, asking him to give way to the northern front and attack from the west front of Fuldan City."
E Hui was stunned and immediately responded: "Commander, do you mean to let the enemy flee north?"
Fukang'an nodded and said: "Yes! From Fuldan City to the north all the way to Xingkai Lake, there are tens of thousands of miles in radius, with countless wastelands and swamps in between. I just want to force them into the 'Red Rust Water'!"
E Hui said: "But in this case, our team will have to spread out at least hundreds of miles to surround them. If the enemy relies on the power of firearms..."
"I don't think it's a problem. As long as the enemy's supply line is cut off at Ushhada, their muskets will probably be worse than fire sticks in the end!" Shu Liang, the commander of the Blue Banner Guards, was the one who spoke.
As soon as these words came out, all the generals present laughed, and Fukangan also showed a smile on his face.
Poor Marshal Fu didn't know that the supply line in Beihai Town did not exist on the map, and that Zhao Xin himself was the "supply brigade".
On August 1, a patrol speedboat west of Fuldan City exchanged fire with a small group of cavalry from the Qing army's northern front troops. Because Qitai had suffered a loss in this before, the Qing army, which had been warned in advance, already knew the ferocious firepower of the "repeated iron cannon" on the speedboat in Beihai Town. After losing more than a dozen cavalry, the Qing army scouts also roughly figured out the range of the continuous iron cannon. So the large group behind them stayed away from the river, followed Tangma's sign, and continued to move five miles north of the river.
The Qing army saw it very clearly. Even if your ship is strong and powerful, can you still drive the strange ship ashore?
In order to prevent the Qing army from bypassing from the north, Chen Qingsong led a migrant worker brigade of thousands of people to dig a large number of horse traps in the wasteland north of Jurgen City.
According to data, horse traps in ancient times were generally located on important roads outside cities or military camps. When digging, the pit is required to be five feet long, one foot wide and three feet deep. Antler guns and bamboo sticks should be buried in the pit. The appearance of the entire trap system is like the word "Ya", with horizontal and vertical sides, covered with grass and sand.
Zhao Xin felt that it was too troublesome to do this. Since it was to trip the horse, it would be enough if the horse's legs could not be broken; the depth of 60 centimeters was enough, and there was no need to insert any bamboo stick traps. It was considered to be subsoiling the black soil in advance. .
Starting from August 5, more and more Qing cavalry appeared from the west and south. Ding Guofeng and others had discovered the Eight Banners Mongolian flag in the west. In order to avoid killing too many people and scaring away the enemy, Ding Guofeng and the others usually fired from a distance of thirty to fifty meters. Each raiding force can only have one platoon at most.
At the same time, Zhao Xin ordered all personnel on duty at each checkpoint to retreat, and all the watchtowers and barracks built with logs were burned down.
The Suifen River originates from Daling (Laoye Ridge in later generations) in the Changbai Mountains. Because of its twists and turns, it travels through mountains and dense forests, so it is called "Suifen", which means "Awl" in Manchu. After the entire river passed through the Hunda Mountains and entered the vast plain area, it turned a big bend southward and poured into the South China Sea (later known as the Sea of Japan, called the South China Sea in the Qing Dynasty) east of Vladivostok.
On August 10, Ushhada led five thousand people and crossed the Suifen River from west to east. They would follow the western foot of Ma'anzi Mountain to the north, cross the hilly area, and cut off the access from Fuldan City to the mouth of the Sila River.
On August 15, after a hearty meal and a "meaningful" Mid-Autumn Festival, the vanguard of Fukang'an's army finally arrived at the south bank of the Suifen River.
At this time, from the footage of the drone released, it can be seen that the entire south bank of the Suifen River is densely packed with Qing army tents, and countless flags are scattered throughout the camp. There are clear distances between the camps and strict regulations. In addition to digging trenches and building antlers to defend the enemy in each camp, the cavalry also shuttled between the camps to patrol.
When the drone flew over a camp, a man who looked like a Qing army official was seen walking around in the camp holding a black flag. Immediately afterwards, many Qing soldiers walked out of the tent, carrying buckets and water bags, and went to fetch water from the creek on the west side. When the Qing soldiers who were fetching water returned to the camp, the official raised another blue flag. At this time, a group of Qing soldiers came out of the camp with axes and other tools to cut down trees.
"How interesting! It turns out that the ancient military camp looked like this." Liu Sheng stood aside and carefully stared at the picture returned by the drone.
"The black flag collects water, and the blue flag chops wood. Nothing strange. Have you found the cannon?"
"I'm looking for it right now, don't worry."
On August 16, the Qing troops who arrived earlier began to build pontoons on the river bank. Liu Sheng sent a company of troops to attack the Qing army building a pontoon bridge in the southeast of Fuldan City to prevent their intention to build a pontoon bridge. As for the southwest direction, they ignored it, forcing the Qing army to enter the preset battlefield from the southwest. Until this time, Zhao Xin had not ordered the artillery positions to fire.
On August 17, Fukang'an led the Chinese army and artillery troops to arrive and stationed at the Qing army camp on the south bank of the Suifen River.
On August 19, Durga led the Qing army on the northern front and camped ten miles west of the old city of Jurgen.
At this point, the Qing army's encirclement of Fuldan City on three sides has been completed. In the end, Zhao Xin kept his distance. He did not expect that Fukang'an's purpose was to force him into the swamp, so he still ignored the defense on the east line of Fuldan City.
"Commander!" Fukang'an's soldiers quickly entered the tent and handed over a document wrapped in yellow silk with both hands. Fukang'an, who was eating, wiped his hands with a towel, took it and opened it. It was Agui who had forwarded Qianlong's secret edict on Fukang'an's greeting note:
"After reading Agui, I quickly transferred to Fukang'an's camp: If you look carefully at what you have said, it is always a false statement. Fukang'an is an old minister of honor, and we share the same righteousness. As a minister of Manchuria, I will serve as a soldier. On this occasion, whoever has the same hatred and common anger, cut off this imperial meal! Military affairs will be handled by you. All rights and interests will be unified. You have said that the Zhao bandits have sharp firearms, and I have dispatched more than half of the Eight Banners Firearms Battalion under your tent to listen to you. Since I have received many special favors in the past, I will send them to you again and again! You are generously rewarded by the nobles, so why should I be stingy? But when you two leave the capital, I hope that you will perform your merits in the summer. This summer has passed away, but you still have it. Patrolling in Hunchun and refusing to make any progress!
The soldiers denounced it, and it took half the world's effort to raise the flag. Moreover, the disasters in Henan, Shandong, and Jiangsu are getting worse day by day, and Shueyuan, Wuwei, and Bailian are thinking about it day by day. Not only are you unable to relieve your father's worries, but the expense of spending money on your teachers will have a lot to do with internal affairs, which only increases my worries. Check your heart at midnight, can you feel at ease? Jilin sees snow in August, and the soldiers are bitterly cold. Taking autumn and August as the limit, we can't go to Fort Fuldan. I am not guilty. Can you look at my face and not feel guilty? Such gestures of greeting people in false terms are rude but not polite. They don’t know that the essentials of etiquette are only based on the imperial court’s regulations and the people’s livelihood. Why use scraps of paper to desecrate the case every day? "
It is already the crisp autumn season, and after the reading in Fukangan, I am sweating like rain. Qianlong's harsh words for him in his secret edict were unprecedented. The word "Qin this" written in blood-red cinnabar looks bright and dazzling.
Underneath the memorial was a letter from Agui, explaining the emperor's eagerness to march. News came from the capital that Sun Shiyi, the acting governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, found out after some searches that Zhu Youyi seemed to have an infant son who stayed in Xingning, Guangdong and did not follow him to Guangzhou. Some people rumored that this bastard was taken abroad and never heard from again. It was this matter that made Qianlong very angry.
Agui finally said in the letter: "Your father's worry is our generation's disgrace. However, the emperor has already approved the previously planned strategy. The army is pressing forward step by step. The only way to win is to be slow and slow, and to be greedy for progress." It is not the way to be loyal to the emperor. A slight mistake will bring humiliation to the emperor, so I would rather not be afraid! Yaolin is well aware of the difficulties and dangers of using the army. My brother has transferred three thousand more horses from Ninggu Pagoda. If it can be done, we will be well prepared."
It is said that during the sixty years of Qianlong's reign, he never personally led troops to fight in a war. But compared with his grandfather Kangxi, this man was in the ninth level and had to give orders to the front line every time. However, the emperor was an extremely smart man. He only commented on tactics and gave instructions. This means that the frontline generals must fight according to his strategy, and it does not matter how they fight.
Fukangan slumped back into his chair and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel. It's not that he doesn't want to fight as soon as possible, but that the road outside the pass is really difficult. For more than half a year, in addition to building cannons, he and Agui were busy building roads, mobilizing military rations, and constructing army supply lines. Now all the grain must be sent to Ningguta first, and then transported south to Hunchun to the north. Not to mention the time delay, the cost on the road is also huge.
At present, Fukang'an felt that he had enough artillery, and he could fight Zhao Xin in a confrontation no matter what. When Ushhada cut off the opponent's food route, Zhao Xin, who was trapped in Fuldan City, had no choice but to flee north. By then, bad weather will become their biggest enemy.
But what Agui said in the letter shocked Fukangan. If Zhao Xin was really a remnant of the previous Ming Dynasty, nothing could be done to let him run away. If he were allowed to get on a speedboat and go out to sea, and then meet up with the big blue and white ship, it was unknown which day he would be happy and make a comeback. The outer northeastern coastline is so long, the imperial court will be overwhelmed if this happens again.
So on August 20, Fukang'an spent a day inspecting the battalions along the Suifen River and the construction of pontoon bridges, and decided to launch an attack three days later. One day later, Durga, who was far away on the northern front, received the order to attack.
His eyes turned to Zhao Xin. Seeing that the Qing army's pontoon bridge was about to be built, Liu Sheng ordered all three battalions of troops to enter the position. Heavy machine gun and artillery positions were not allowed to fire without clear instructions from the headquarters. Ding Guofeng and Sheng Haizhou had retreated from the south bank and entered the defensive position south of Jurgen.
In order to prevent a sneak attack by a small group of Qing troops in Fuldan City, a thousand people were selected from thousands of migrant workers and issued weapons. These people had undergone preliminary militia training before May, and there was no problem in shooting from the city.
In the early morning of August 22, the battle began.
First, Durga sent 3,008 Banner Mongolian cavalry. They divided into two columns and began to approach the two wings of Jurgen City. Its purpose was to attract opponents and cover the Qing army on the south bank of the Suifen River to cross the river. In order to test the firepower, the Mongolian cavalry on the northern flank sent a battalion of 500 troops.
These Eight Banners Mongolians gradually moved forward to test. When they were close to a distance of fifty meters from the first trench, with a whistle, just one company of fire knocked these cavalrymen off their backs. The Mongolian cavalry quickly retreated to a position of 80 meters and gathered at a position of 80 meters. When preparing to launch an attack in the center, they looked for a breakthrough on the flanks.
Wukanbei rode a horse and followed Benniulu's men and horses on the middle road. Behind them was a battalion of Han Eight Banners musketeers and twenty artillery pieces. These people did not go to die, but when they approached the enemy's position, they stood on the sides and behind the musketry battalion, and used bows and arrows to provide continuous firepower output during the shooting gap.
"Platoon commander, the enemy is coming." In the trench, a soldier saw the opponent's cavalry approaching and whispered to Yachiro.
"No one is allowed to shoot without my order." Yaichiro felt aggrieved. The order their company received was to put the Qing troops fifty meters before shooting. At this distance, the Qing army's muskets and cannons can cause damage. However, the company said during the war briefing that the purpose of this was to create the illusion of a stalemate on the western front and attract all the Qing troops on the southern front to cross the river and enter the preset battlefield.
In Zhao Xin's opinion, didn't the Qing army like to form formations? I have prepared a plain battlefield for you with a radius of nearly forty square kilometers. You can put it in any position you like.
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