In the autumn of 1673, Wan Li and others finally received the long-awaited gift package, which was a backup force transporting baggage.
Emperor Haojing sent four groups of people, each with 5,000 troops, to escort the supplies needed for the Western Expedition.
The former batch set out from the southeast of Balkhash Lake three months earlier than the latter batch.
Because the railway had not yet been built at that time, it meant that we had to travel thousands of miles.
The important thing is that this group of people caught up with strong convective weather when they set out in spring, resulting in a blizzard.
The entire team was almost buried. The low temperature caused many livestock to freeze to death and frostbite, and the truck was too frozen to start.
In the end, I had to return to the starting point and was forced to repair for half a month before hitting the road again.
When we headed north into the middle reaches of the Irtysh River, we encountered sandstorms.
After losing the sextant, the leader of the team was knocked unconscious by a flying stone, and another disagreement occurred among his subordinates.
In the end, the team got lost in a short period of time and took a detour. It took half a year to reach the Omsk stronghold.
The westward route of this group of people is not the two routes taken by the previous Western Expedition team, and they need to explore by themselves.
Going west from Omsk to Kazan took another year, which was more than a year just on the road.
Including the time spent wintering at the stronghold, it was exactly two years.
The second team's westward march was significantly faster than the first team's, and the distance between the two sides had been shortened a lot when they were about to reach their destination.
This meant that the time between when Wanli and others obtained the first batch of supplies and the second batch of supplies was less than a month.
The bad news is that 80% of the food in the car has been eaten.
There is good news. Since there was not much fighting, the journey was relatively smooth and the ammunition was not consumed much.
There is no shortage of food in Manli. In fact, they are just waiting for the supply of weapons and ammunition. This is a timely help.
It is nothing more than a delay in continuing to attack the west for a year. Without large-scale attrition, there is nothing unacceptable about this.
As for the remaining two teams of horses and men to be raised, Wanli and others decided after discussion that if they hadn't arrived yet in the spring, they wouldn't wait.
The army moved north along the Volga River first, planning to cross the river near Nizhny Novgorod.
If there is a garrison in the stronghold of Nizhny Novgorod, then we can take advantage of the situation and capture it.
Otherwise, continue westward to Vladimir and decide whether to attack Moscow depending on the specific situation.
In the dry season when water is scarce, especially when the amount of water does not break through the upper reaches of the Volga River, it is relatively easy to find a shoal to cross.
The army arrived near the opposite bank of Nizhny Novgorod at the end of April. After testing by the scouts and the information provided by the local residents, there were indeed two shoals that could be crossed directly.
After repeated tests, it was found that the water depth was only two or three meters, and it was possible to raise the river bed by throwing stones into the river and adding soil sacks.
But after reading the astrology, Zhang Huangyan felt that the water depth might be able to decrease in another half to a month.
So the army waited for more than half a month, and the situation was exactly as Zhang Huangyan expected, and now even the construction work was saved.
The whole army crossed the river and camped less than ten miles upstream of Nizhny Novgorod, frightening the defenders in the city.
There were 5,000 garrison troops in Nizhny Novgorod, but only 1,000 soldiers from the Shooting Corps, and the rest were serfs who were temporary.
Since the city is located by the river and he is upstream of it, Zhang Huangyan directly suggested flooding it with water.
There is no need for a large army to attack the city, and ammunition can be saved. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.
The specific method is also very simple, that is, to use the dry season to change the course of the Volga River.
Load the steam tank with a bulldozer, build a dam on the west bank, and then start plowing a ditch with the bulldozer.
After it is completed, the dam will be blown up so that the water from the Volga River can be sent to the city for free...
As soon as the flood season arrives, Nizhny Novgorod is directly soaked by the river water!
Yang Zhan led 10,000 people to clean up this stronghold, and also shouldered the task of handling the transportation of the two subsequent teams to raise people and horses.
Wan Li, Zhang Huangyan, and Zeng Ying led the main force westward to Vladimir, approaching Moscow.
Since Vladimir is the last gateway to Moscow, it is naturally not an easy place to fight.
And since autumn is approaching, flooding with water is no longer feasible because it will soon freeze.
Mandai decided to adopt the old method, which was to besiege the city and fight for reinforcements!
The importance of this city is very important. I don’t believe that King Rakshasa will not send troops to rescue him.
At the end of autumn, when the freezing weather was approaching, Yang Zhan sent people to report that the garrison of Nizhny Novgorod, which had been soaked in the river water for a long time, finally could no longer hold on and was completely wiped out when they broke through.
This is equivalent to eliminating the worries of the main force of the King's Division and having a support point behind them. In case of retreat, there will be a place to stay.
But now the morale of the entire army is strong, there are sufficient weapons and ammunition, and there is no shortage of food. The Rakshasa capital is not far away. Unless it encounters a major setback, there is no reason to retreat.
Previously, Wanli and others received another piece of unexpected good news, that is, the Donglu who had fled to the west had arrived in the lower reaches of the Volga River and reached the Black Sea area.
And they also defeated a Rakshasa team that went south to crusade, and now they are almost mixed with the Don River Cossacks, which means there is another team in the south that can involve the Rakshasa soldiers.
Although Rakshasa and Donglu are both enemies, Wanli and others would rather see these two groups of enemies fight to the death.
If Donglu surrenders to Rakshasa and dares to come to seek death, then the Ming Dynasty King will not mind killing him!
Having fought for so many years before, both sides knew the basics.
As long as Shunji and Dorgon haven't become unconscious, they probably won't go north to provoke the Ming Dynasty.
The Western Expedition mission given by Emperor Haojing to the four generals was to weaken the Rakshasa forces as much as possible and help the court regain the Xianbelia region.
The bottom line is to occupy the east of the Ural Mountains. If we can reach the west of the Ural Mountains and even the Rakshasa capital, it will be an unexpected gain.
The current situation is already the most ideal. Although it took seven years, nearly 300,000 Rakshasa soldiers have been eliminated. The determination is worth it.
Wan Li and Zeng Ying both wanted to see how many troops the Rakshasa Tutu King could raise, but Zhang Huangyan thought he could raise an army of 300,000.
Even if the fighting ability is not very good, the strength alone is enough to scare people.
If the Rakshasa Kingdom really had a population of 10 million or more, it would be reasonable to recruit a total of 600,000 soldiers.
By early December 1673, Alexei I really led an army to relieve Vladimir.
Including 60,000 cavalry, the total strength reached 410,000, with 500,000 announced to the outside world!
The last defeat in Kazan was entirely due to insufficient understanding of yellow-skinned monkeys.
This time, not only did they carry out more complete mobilization and recruit more soldiers, but they also used the banner of defending the homeland and the country, which boosted morale.
Defend the Tsar!
Defend the empire!
Defend Moscow!
Kill all the yellow-skinned monkeys!
In order to encourage the nobles to fight bravely, Alexei I once again created seven dukes, 32 marquises, 55 counts, 78 viscounts, and nearly 300 barons.
More than 5,000 knighthoods were also issued, and it was promised that after the war, the status of all serfs participating in the war would be converted into soldiers, and their spouses and children would also benefit.
The captured light and heavy weapons, including airships, heavy artillery and tanks, were distributed according to the proportion of troops sent by the nobles.
The land east of the Ural Mountains will also be rewarded according to five levels of titles.
Starting from 10,000 hectares, you can get up to 50,000 hectares, privately owned, completely tax-free, and unlimited.
All resources on the land, including forests, minerals, and animals, are owned by everyone. This move makes all nobles very excited.
In this way, everyone from nobles to soldiers were inspired, and the gloom of Kazan's defeat was swept away.
The morale of the whole army is high again, and they are ready to destroy the invading yellow-skinned monkeys!
"From whom did the Rakshasa people learn this virtue of remembering food but not beating?"
Wanli couldn't help but be elated when he saw the "death army" coming.
"Maybe he was led astray by Donglu! There seem to be more people than before!"
Zeng Ying admired the third senior brother's estimation very much. The other party really brought a lot of bad guys.
"Like Donglu, Rakshasa likes to fight in winter!"
Wanli didn't think this was a good time to fight. It would be terrible if his men couldn't keep warm in time.
"There is frozen ground under our feet. It is extremely difficult to dig a hole. The loser will really die without a burial place!"
It's almost the coldest time of the year, and Zeng Ying admires the Rakshasa soldiers' brainless courage.
Since he was born a serf, wouldn't it be better to directly recommend the Rakshasa bumpkin king to serve the Ming Emperor?
If you fail again, you really won’t even be able to become serfs!
It depends on the situation. It seems that you are not afraid of death, so let's make it happen!
In this battle, Alexey I learned the lessons from the last time and no longer ordered the troops to attack the opponent's position.
They just met up with the defenders in the city, and then more than 400,000 troops were stationed around the city, temporarily giving up the idea of taking the initiative to attack.
Alexei I believed that even if the yellow-skinned monkey obtained the food in Kazan City and ate it for a year, there would not be much left.
As long as you can stay calm and spend time with the opponent, the yellow-skinned monkey will definitely withdraw its troops after eating up all the food.
At that time, his army can come out in full force and hunt down the damn yellow-skinned monkeys.
Although this tactic is conservative, the probability of success is relatively high.
What's more, Alexey I can no longer bear a second disastrous defeat. If he loses again, Moscow will lose it, and he may not even be able to become a tsar.
Of course, it does not mean that there is no attack at all. The cavalry still has to be sent to carry out roundabout guerrilla operations, especially to disturb the opponent's supply line.
If you can't hit me, I can still keep hitting your supply lines. Alexei I thought that this tactic was very suitable for the current Tsarist Russian army.
"I'm afraid the Rakshasa King is wise this time!"
After waiting for half a month, there was no movement. Zeng Ying estimated that the other party would not take action in a short time.
"Third Junior Brother, what's the best plan?"
Wanli would not be so reckless as to lead his troops to attack them. There were too many people on the other side, and the ammunition consumption alone made him very worried, not to mention that his own side would lose more soldiers if he launched an attack.
"There are three strategies!"
"oh?"
"Please come!"
"First, confront the Rakshasa army. If the enemy does not move, neither will I. Second, our army takes the initiative to attack, but consumption and casualties will increase sharply, and the results may not be ideal. Third, divide the troops and use one Attack Moscow with a partial division to disperse the opponent's forces."
"this……"
Wanli couldn't help but hesitate when he heard this. His own troops were not many. If he divided his troops, it would mean that the troops facing the Rakshasa army would be even thinner.
"Third senior brother, what do you think we should do now?"
Zeng Ying didn't have any good ideas. If his master was here to supervise the battle, he wouldn't have to worry about it.
"It is naturally more dangerous to divide the troops and advance. The king's division is fighting a decisive battle with Rakshasa thousands of miles away. You must not be careless, otherwise you will regret it. Since King Rakshasa intends to stick to this place and deliberately consume our army's energy and food, then we might as well come A general will follow his plan."
The three of them all shouldered heavy responsibilities. Zhang Huangyan had just mentioned casually before that he actually did not agree with dividing the troops.
"Oh? How can we take advantage of the situation?"
"Aren't there raging Donglu in the south of the Volga River? I don't believe that the Rakshasa King will not send troops to suppress it. Presumably, after the Donglu arrives in the Rakshasa hinterland, there will still be hundreds of thousands of troops. This is what happened in the Rakshasa's belly. The longer the king's division can confront the main force of Rakshasa here, the easier it will be for Donglu to attack the city in the south. Although this move is advantageous to Donglu, it can also weaken the national power of Rakshasa. If you can contact me, Daming We have good relations with the Ottomans and Sweden and invite them to send troops. If the north and the south advance against each other, I am afraid that the Rakshasa will be destroyed soon!"
Regarding the western region of Rakshasa, the respected master did not reveal much interest to Zhang Huangyan.
The Ming Dynasty can swallow up the area east of the Volga River, and the respected master should be satisfied.
Zhang Huangyan felt that if the three disciples worked hard, they might be able to move the boundary westward to Moscow.
It is in the interests of the Master and the Ming Dynasty to eat up more than 95% of the Rakshasa Kingdom.
"It's a very good idea, but unfortunately even if we contact the two countries, their monarchs have agreed to send troops. If we go back and forth, I'm afraid it won't be until this time next year. Besides, it will be difficult to directly help us defeat the enemy in front of us."
Wanli hasn't come up with a strategy to defeat the enemy yet, so Zhang Huangyan can only provide a reference idea.
They currently have nearly 90,000 people in their hands, and the opponent's strength is at least 350,000.
This means that the Rakshasa King has four times the military advantage, which is almost the same as the Battle of Kazan.
The difference is that the opponent is afraid of being beaten, so he doesn't take the initiative to seek death, and instead turns to a retreat tactic.
Wan Li and others don't want to kill more of their men. After all, they have been on the Western Expedition for so many years, and they cannot let the soldiers pay the price of blood because of their own impulses.
However, although our own troops are small, we also consume less food, which is one of the few advantages.
Since there are no fewer cavalry than the opponent, there is no need to worry about being cut off by the opponent.
In the battle to protect the supply line, the Ming army cavalry killed more than 3,000 of their colleagues.
Even so, the opponent still did not intend to stop, and continued to send small groups of cavalry troops to harass.
Obviously, although this trick is disgusting, it will not be effective at all, and it will not be able to fundamentally cut off the Ming army's supplies.
The Wanli troops came with a large amount of food and did not need much supplies from Yang Zhan in the rear.
The next two teams of people transporting supplies had already arrived before autumn. Even if there were still teams behind them, it would only be after the beginning of spring.
Yang Zhan in Nizhny Novgorod just sent people to fish on the ice, and sent some frozen river fresh food every week to give teeth to the main force of the King's Division outside Vladimir.
As for the rest...
Those teams transporting baggage were actually fishing on the road, and their targets were the Rakshasa cavalry who came to rob!
Do you dare to rob the Tao?
As everyone knows, I think so too!
The Ming army was too lazy to go over, they just disguised themselves as prey and lured the opponent to the bait!
Who says you can’t fish where there’s no water?
Isn't this a ready-made big fish?
A fish weighs as much as a horse. Do you want to behave?
The Ming army cavalry used battalions and companies as units to hunt the Rakshasa cavalry who came to die on the vast snowy plains.
At the most, more than five hundred Rakshasa cavalry were wiped out, and fresh horse meat could be eaten after the war.
By the time the ice and snow melted in the spring, Alexei I had lost no less than 10,000 cavalry.
Fortunately, we still have 350,000 infantry and 50,000 cavalry, plus some artillery.
As for how to deal with the yellow-skinned monkey next, Alexey I has not yet figured out a strategy.
If you fight hard, you are afraid that the opponent's firepower will still be fierce and abnormal, and your own side will suffer heavy losses.
If the confrontation continues, we will have too many troops and consume too much food.
Even without military pay, the amount of food required every day is quite staggering.
Those soldiers who are like rice can't do anything else. They only have so-called abilities.
Alexei I did not expect that the other party would be so patient and did not take the initiative to attack his side throughout the winter.
It's better now, but I don't have enough food. I can probably only hold on for another month.
Although people have been sent to transport food from the rear, if the confrontation continues, the food eaten by the losers will be enough to make Alexei I feel distressed for a while...
"Eldest brother, our opportunity has come!"
"Oh? What's the explanation for this?"
"The Rakshasa King will send people to transport a batch of grain and grass from Moscow in the near future!"
"Could there be some fraud in it?"
"We can make two preparations. If it is true, we will snatch it for ourselves. If we can't snatch it, we will burn it. Otherwise, we can let the Rakshasa soldiers play it by themselves!"
"Well! You still have to be more careful!"
Since nothing happened in the formation, Wanli asked Zhang Huangyan and Zeng Ying to go together so that they could take care of each other and prevent them from being unable to retreat if they were really tricked by King Rakshasa.
In the early morning of March 22, Zhang Huangyan and Zeng Ying each set off with 20,000 cavalry.
As long as you invest enough troops, you can turn defeat into victory even if you hit the opponent's full set.
However, the situation was somewhat special, because the other party dispatched a fleet to transport food, which put the Ming Army's cavalry out of reach.
The other party's intention was obvious. Fortunately, Zhang Huangyan felt that there was a remedy.
He hurriedly asked Zeng Ying to lead his troops back and deploy heavy artillery near the city of Vladimir.
Didn’t you use your fleet to deliver food to the city?
As long as you get close to the city, we will bombard your fleet!
Since the river is not large, the tonnage of the ships traveling on it is naturally not very large.
Unlike a large ocean-going ship, a small Rakshasa ship cannot withstand two or three heavy artillery blasts.
More than a hundred small boats arrived near the city of Vladimir smoothly, making Alexei I very satisfied.
"boom……"
However, the Ming army's artillery did not intend to let the Rakshasa soldiers move the food on the ship into the city. They aimed at the targets on the river and started shooting rapidly.
Since you can't eat it, the other party can't eat it either. If you can't hit the boat, you can still attack the Rakshasa soldiers on the shore.
If the other party is not satisfied, you can call us!
We men are waiting here to see if the Rakshasa soldiers dare to come and die!
Since Yellow-skinned Monkey's heavy artillery was fired from a distance of about a mile, Alexey I was annoyed and helpless when he saw this.
It's obvious that your own heavy artillery can't hit the opponent's. If you hit it once here, the opponent can hit it ten times.
He couldn't afford to have all his artillery units silenced by yellow-skinned monkeys in just a quarter of an hour.
If the artillery team is not used to counterattack, it can only be passively beaten, or send cavalry to destroy the opponent's artillery positions.
Yellow-skinned Monkey's artillery positions are protected by a large number of cavalry, and there are many infantry and tanks nearby.
Unless more than 100,000 troops are sent for a strong attack, it will be difficult for our side to win.
After enduring it for so long, Alexei I still cannot make up his mind to fight another decisive battle.
But seeing the grain transport ships being destroyed one after another, and the soldiers on the shore suffering many casualties, it was really impossible to calm down as quickly as possible.
At this time, the nobles requested orders one after another, hoping to go to war and eliminate the yellow-skinned monkeys that provoked the powerful Tsarist Russian army.
After some thought, Alexei I agreed to this request.
Send out 20,000 cavalry and cover 100,000 infantry. After destroying the opponent's artillery positions, you can quickly retreat into the city.
"The Rakshasa soldiers finally came out!"
"Hurry up and aim! The bastard is out of the hole!"
"I've been waiting for the turtles all winter!"
Surrounding the artillery position were Zeng Ying's 20,000 cavalry, as well as 5,000 infantry and 300 tanks brought by Wanli.
The fact that the other party was able to rush out was indeed beyond Wanli's expectations, so today was regarded as Master Wang's auspicious day.
As long as there are a large number of tanks, infantry can deal with the impact of enemy cavalry on the plains without building fortifications.
The tactics of the battle are still the old rules. Tanks, artillery, and infantry are used to block the Rakshasa soldiers first, and the cavalry is waiting to counterattack.
Siege is a waste of ammunition, but hitting a live target means that the ammunition is used in the right place.
I guess the Rakshasa soldiers didn't suffer enough before, and it just so happened that the soldiers could feed them!
The serfs who became His Majesty the Tsar's recruits had no idea what was going on. They were all very funny, thinking that they could achieve military exploits.
But when they were still about a thousand feet away from the opponent, the fierce gunfire pulled everyone back from their beautiful fantasy to the cruel reality.
This is much scarier than a thunderstorm. It can be seen with the naked eye that the artillery on the opposite side is firing frequently, and the shells are flying towards our position at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Sometimes one cannonball could penetrate seven or eight people, even killing an officer's horse.
It's even scarier to rush forward, because the number of flying bullets is much greater than the number of cannonballs.
If you are hit by a shell, you will die immediately. If you are bitten by a bullet, you will fall to the ground, excruciating pain.
"For His Majesty the Tsar, charge!"
"Ula!"
The soldiers shouted slogans and were constantly worried in their hearts.
No one knows if they can survive until they shout "Ula" for the second time...
