Since Ayuqi Khan had led his troops to surrender to him, the lower reaches of the Volga River had always been the pasture of the khanate, but now they were occupied by the Rakshasa people.
In order to establish prestige and at the same time severely inflict heavy damage on the invading enemies to avoid being taken back when advancing westward to the Don River Basin, the Qing Dynasty could not stand idly by.
"Uncle Fourteenth, I have to help you with how to defeat the enemy!"
As for fighting, Shunji still doesn't have much experience. He just knows a little and just reuses Dorgon.
Prince Rui has no children, so there is no need to worry about usurping power, because even if he succeeds, there will be no heirs.
"Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will fulfill my sacred mandate and repel the evil Rakshasa soldiers!"
Dorgon didn't know much about Rakshasa, but he could find out clearly from Ayuqi Khan who had been hanging around in this area all year round.
This time, Rashin, who is familiar with Rakshasa, leads the way, and it is basically possible to achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Although Tsaritsyn is located on the Volga River, the river is frozen in winter. No matter whether the Rakshasa army is camping on the east bank or the west bank, the Qing army can come and go freely.
In view of the terrain characteristics of the battlefield, Dorgon decided to launch a pincer offensive.
He personally led his own Zhengbai Banner, the Alatan Khan Dynasty Khan Elinqin Luobuzangsuo tribe, the Ayuqi Khan tribe, and four Han military banners, totaling about 45,000 people.
On the left wing are the Zhenghui Banners of the four Jia La commanded by Abatai's third son Bolo and fourth son Yuele, as well as the four Menggu Banners, totaling about 25,000.
On the right wing are the four blue-inlaid banners commanded by Huilan, the fifth son of Ji'erhalang, plus the Eight Banners after Menggu and the Tianzhu Army, the total number is 25,000.
The total strength of the three groups is close to 100,000, but they are also cooperating with the two red flags and other troops led by Mandahai.
Mandahai inherited the two red flags of his father Daishan, but because he did not have rich actual combat experience, Angbang Zhangjing Obai was responsible for the specific leading of troops in the war.
Later, Chu Ying's third son Nikan got the red flag, but he was more contented and no longer thought about the red flag in Mandahai.
The Han army had about 40,000 cavalrymen from the first eight banners and 10,000 cavalrymen from King Sanshun, totaling 50,000 troops and horses to cooperate with Mandahai's actions.
The main force in this battle is undoubtedly Dorgon's left wing, but the right wing with more than 60,000 people is not a vegetarian.
The total strength is nearly 150,000, which does not even reach one-third of the strength of the King's Division.
Dorgon also considered this, because the more troops and horses were dispatched, the more food and grass would be consumed.
Regarding the current situation, we must not only ensure that we can form a strength advantage over the Rakshasa Army, but also minimize the consumption of food and grass.
If it were summer, the King's Army could have dispatched an army of 300,000 to 400,000 people and pushed them directly over, and the 50,000 Rakshasa rebels would have been trampled to death...
Man Dahai was very happy that Uncle Fourteen could take him to play, because the king's rule was that the first to go into battle could enjoy the privilege of challenging the loot first.
Dai Shan had eight sons, of which only two are still alive. One of them rebelled and joined Man Ming.
And Mandahai's second brother Shuotuo actually thrived there. At least when the Qing Dynasty launched the Western Expedition, he was already living happily on an island in Luzon...
Before Daishan died, he always regarded this matter as a family scandal, but it was beyond his reach.
I could only watch helplessly as Man Ming, the devil boy, left a way for the traitor to survive. What could I do?
The intervention of Obai and Nikan allowed Shunji to easily control the two red flags and prevent them from being co-opted by Hauge or cannibalized by Dorgon.
As long as he complies with the rules of the sea, Shunji can guarantee that he will always be the flag owner of Zhenghong Banner until his death, and Aobai will not dare to violate it.
Aobai was born as a slave with a yellow flag, not a royal family. He had the title of the first warrior of the Qing Dynasty and the position of Aung Bang Zhangjing. No matter how outstanding his military exploits were, he was just a general.
Therefore, it cannot threaten Mandahai's status. Even if Nikan comes, since he is not Daishan's son, he can only serve as the flag owner with a red flag.
Elinqin Luobuzang and Ayuqi, the former was the first to defect to the Qing Dynasty in the Western Regions, and the latter was a local local gangster. It was necessary for the two to understand the true strength of the Qing Dynasty King's Master.
And some sweetness should be given to the two appropriately. After annihilating 50,000 enemy troops, Dorgon planned to give the two men weapons and equipment of 3,000 prisoners each.
We must let those who are distracted understand that despite the thousands of miles of expedition, the Qing Dynasty King still maintains extremely high combat effectiveness, and can even defeat Rakshasa and become the master of this land.
Prior to this, more than five million military personnel camped and rested in the area north of the Rennes Desert on the east bank of the Volga River.
After the river is frozen, we can then cross the river and move to the plain formed by the flanking attack from the Don River to the Dnieper River.
It was not that the ships were not found, but the number was too small. They were busy from morning to night and could only transport 100,000 people.
Especially the large amount of baggage and livestock carried. Without a big ship, they would have to wait for the arrival of winter.
Fortunately, we were located in the north, and the snow fell very early, so everyone in the Qing Dynasty saw hope of reaching their destination.
In the winter of the thirteenth year of Shunji (1671), the Qing army began to cross the river on a large scale.
After Dorgon thought about it, he did not choose to take the initiative, but planned to wait and see.
We used our large-scale crossing of the river as bait to lure the enemy troops out of Tsaritsyn's lair.
If he leads his own troops there, not only will he have to consume a lot of food and grass, but if the other party holds on, the king's division will have to storm the city.
Rather than that, it would be better to lure the snake out of its hole and severely damage or even annihilate the enemy in the wild.
As for Racine's tribe, it's easy to deal with them, just let them hide.
As long as you don't take the initiative to fight the Rakshasa army, you won't be eaten by wild beasts, right?
The Governor of Astrakhan, Prozorovsky, could no longer bear it. If it weren’t for the fact that there were rebellious Cossacks everywhere from Astrakhan to Simbirsk (Ulyanovsk), and the enemy situation Unknown, he had already planned to go south directly.
These damn Cossacks are really destructive to the rear defense. If they are allowed to plunder everywhere and spread to the ears of His Majesty the Tsar, his official position may not be preserved.
On the one hand, Prozorovsky sent people to inquire about the situation of the rebels and the Qing army in the south, and on the other hand, he sent troops into multiple groups to attack the Cossacks under Racine.
It is very difficult to deal with the latter, because the opponent is a group of bandits. After suffering the losses of siege, they have learned to be smart. Now the basic tactic is to grab and run.
If hundreds of rebel Cossacks concentrate their forces to attack a stronghold, they can basically succeed as long as it is not a big city or a fortress.
In this way, mobile warfare was carried out with the Russian army in the area between the Don River and the Volga River, which greatly mobilized the Russian army's forces, and it did not achieve many results.
After being disappointed with the results of repeated campaigns, Prozorovsky finally decided to concentrate his forces and attack southward, in order to severely damage or annihilate the Qing troops supporting Racine's gang.
After excluding Tsaritsyn's defenders and the troops that went out to suppress the Cossacks in the north, Prozorovsky still had 40,000 troops in his hands. He believed that this size of troops was enough to deal a fatal blow to the enemy.
It's best to win before Christmas so that the soldiers under your command can have a good holiday.
Prozorovsky himself and the generals around him were relatively optimistic about this move south to regain the lost territory.
On December 17, the Russian army heading south discovered the Qing cavalry troops about 150 miles upstream of Astrakhan.
The opponent's strength was only a few hundred, and when they saw the main force of the Russian army appearing, they immediately fled south.
Upon seeing this, Prozorovsky ordered about two thousand cavalry to immediately pursue the enemy force and strive for victory.
He followed with about 18,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry as well as heavy artillery and baggage. At the same time, he told the pursuing troops to be careful to avoid falling into the opponent's trap that lured the enemy deeper.
But two hours later, several cavalrymen reported that they had been ambushed by the enemy and suffered heavy losses.
This result made Prozorovsky very angry. The damn yellow-skinned monkey would only use despicable means to win.
But that's the end of it. After I lead the main force to eliminate it, this situation will never happen again in the lower reaches of the Volga River.
When he arrived at the ambush site and saw the corpses of Russian cavalry everywhere, Prozorovsky became even more angry.
Just when he was about to order the search for the culprit, about five thousand Qing cavalry appeared from behind the opposite hill.
This is a cavalryman with the Han army flag, just three miles away, waiting for the enemy's arrival.
The furious Prozorovsky immediately ordered 15,000 cavalry to be divided into three lines and implement the tactics of direct attack in the center and outflanking on both wings.
Since I have a decisive military advantage, I must wipe out this enemy force and make it a bloodbath.
But as the Russian cavalry on both wings detoured, they found that more enemy cavalry appeared on their outer flanks.
Dorgon's tactic was to use one of Niulu's cavalry to fish first. If the fish took the bait, he would eat it in one bite.
Then anger the opponent's general, have the army ambush around the ambush circle, and use the same location to ambush twice.
Since it was the first time for both parties to confront each other and they were not familiar with each other, this risky and bold approach was still very promising to succeed.
In order to wipe out the enemy troops heading south, Dorgon decided to expand the ambush circle, so that it would be easier to ambush more soldiers and horses.
It doesn't matter even if the Han army in the center of the ambush circle is discovered by the opponent, they are just there to attract the attention of the Rakshasa people.
The real killing move is two groups of people flanking the prey!
The left wing is led by Bolo, Yue Le, and Huilan, and the right wing is led by Obai and Nikan. They are not afraid of making a large circle. As long as they can capture the rear of the enemy's team, it is equivalent to cutting off their retreat.
Deployment before war is one thing, but it is another thing during the confrontation.
When the two wings of the Russian army responsible for outflanking found that they were being outflanked, they immediately decided to change their tactics and first repel the outer enemies to prevent themselves from being surrounded by the opponent.
Now, for the Russian army, if it reacts a step slower, the plan to encircle the enemy will become its own breakout operation.
"Damn it, order the infantry to line up on the spot, and the artillery to deploy forward immediately. Kill those yellow-skinned monkeys for me!"
When Prozorovsky saw the fireworks rising in the sky in the distance, he immediately realized that he had miscalculated and that this might be a trick of the enemy.
Infantry cannot retreat faster than cavalry. It is impossible for our own infantry to withdraw from the battlefield calmly before the enemy's cavalry is severely damaged.
The infantry and artillery can only be ordered to defend in place, and the enemy's cavalry units cannot be given the opportunity to quickly attack their own side.
Although Prozorovsky's military exploits were not as outstanding as Schein's, he was still capable of fighting and would not run away when the situation turned bad.
The problem is that he underestimated the enemy strategically, which led to negligence in intelligence and did not calculate the comparison of the strength of the two sides and the actual combat effectiveness.
Two of the three lines of Russian cavalry that went to outflank were outflanked by the Qing army.
The five thousand Russian cavalry troops on the left and right wings were fiercely attacked by about 25,000 Qing cavalry troops.
The Russian army in the middle, which was responsible for attacking the opponent's cavalry, did not succeed quickly and was covered by artillery fire from the Qing army during the charge.
The Qing artillery team hiding behind the hillsides and mounds used mortars and Franco machine guns to kill the approaching Russian cavalry.
They learned this trick from Man Ming, and now they have finally learned some of it from the Rakshasa soldiers.
First use part of the troops as bait, and then use artillery fire to stop the enemy troops from rushing over.
After more than half of its vigor has been wiped out, and then you can send your own cavalry for a counterattack, you will have miraculous results.
The icy and snowy battlefield, under the flying artillery fire, was soon stained red by the blood spurting from the bodies of men and horses.
Even so, both sides were still fighting desperately.
The Qing army was determined to annihilate its prey, while the Russian army was desperately resisting.
The difference is that the only combat troops Prozorovsky put into the front line were the fifteen thousand cavalry.
As long as Dorgon does not send troops to attack his infantry phalanx, then the nearly 20,000 infantrymen will actually become spectators.
The Russian heavy artillery can shoot at long distances, but when the two sides are fighting together, the accuracy is extremely low, and it is easy to accidentally injure one's own cavalry.
The Qing army has nearly 150,000 troops, and they are mainly cavalry. This means that the number of troops that can be invested in the early stage can be more than six or seven times that of the opponent.
The Russian opponents were not in a hurry to charge, but first fired volleys of bows, arrows and muskets, and then rushed over like a roaring mountain and tsunami.
This tactic caused the Russian army, which was already at a disadvantage in terms of strength, to suffer a massive attrition and become more passive on the battlefield.
The 10,000 Russian cavalry on the left and right wings only held out for less than half an hour before the Qing army wiped out seven or eight of them, and the rest could only run away in panic.
The situation of the Russian army in the middle was not much better. They left about three thousand corpses and wounded soldiers and instinctively turned their horses and fled.
Prozorovsky saw the corresponding situation with his binoculars and could do nothing but curse.
After seeing that our side had severely damaged three lines of Russian cavalry, causing the prey to lose its ability to attack our side.
Dorgon ordered all the troops to advance slowly to avoid rushing into the formation and let the heavy artillery consume the opponent's artillery and infantry first.
At that time, the Qing Dynasty King's Division used this technique to destroy the Ming army rushing to aid Daling River City. As time went by, it was actually used in the Western world.
Prozorovsky saw that the yellow-skinned monkey's artillery fire was extremely fierce, and his soldiers fell one after another, and they were about to lose their support.
In the end, we could only order a breakout to the north, and then, under the protection of the remaining cavalry and guards, we could run away on our own...
