The crusade launched by Su Yonglin is in full swing, and the counterattacks of the Kelie and Qiyan tribes are also in full swing.
They have no intention of hiding their strength or avoiding the sharp edge of the Ming Army. They have full confidence in themselves.
Wherever the Ming army came from, they had to go there. The two sides lined up and fought with real swords and guns to let these Central Plains people know whose home field the grassland was!
On October 11, the second year of Hongwu, at the southern edge of the Kelie tribe's territory, on a prairie with rich water and grass, 500 people from the Ming army's vanguard cavalry and 500 people from the Kelie tribe's vanguard cavalry met.
The two sides tested each other very cautiously for a while, testing each other with cavalry arrays, and shooting at each other with bows and crossbows. Then they both exited the battlefield and reported to their respective main forces.
As for the Ming army, Han Jinggui, Xin Qiji, Zhang Qiaonian and Wu Ge immediately made corresponding arrangements after learning the news.
Xin Qiji, as the top staff officer, consulted Wu Ge, and after learning about the combat habits of the prairie cavalry, especially the Klie tribe, he formulated some combat strategies that he thought were very effective.
Most of the cavalrymen of the Kelie tribe are light cavalry. They are good at riding and shooting. They are very proficient in the tactics of the Central Plains infantry and the tactics of the Ming army's cavalry against the Song army's infantry.
Their archery skills are good, and they also have strong close combat capabilities. Their main weapons are steel knives. Some of them are purchased or made by themselves. The overall quality is acceptable.
They are relatively lacking in long weapons, focusing on steel swords and crossbows, with few lancers and heavy cavalry.
In terms of armor, they mainly use leather armor, iron armor is rare, and there are almost no armored cavalry. The so-called heavy cavalry are only equipped with leather armor.
The weapon performance of the Ming army far exceeded the cavalry of the Kelie tribe.
The advantages of the Klei cavalry lie in their skillful riding and archery skills, as well as their adaptability to the grassland ecological environment.
In addition, Wuge also pointed out that large grassland tribes often raised a large number of war horses.
Ordinary Kled cavalry generally have two or three horses, while elite cavalry who need to go on expeditions often have four or even five horses. Mature riders can even complete long-distance raids relying only on raw mare's milk, and their maneuvering speed is quite terrifying.
Of course, the number of such cavalry is relatively small, which requires not only training of people, but also rigorous training of war horses, so the cost is very high.
When they first heard about the mobility capabilities of the elite prairie cavalry, senior Ming army commanders such as Xin Qiji and Han Jinggui looked bad. It wasn't until they heard that such cavalry needed sophisticated training that they relaxed a little and felt that things were not too bad.
Despite this, Xin Qiji also developed a strong sense of wariness and hostility towards the major tribes in the grassland.
Being able to train such a powerful and highly mobile elite cavalry shows that the grasslands are full of barbarians with a strong desire for expansion and plunder. They have no political wisdom and pursuits. What they pursue is plunder, destruction and aggression.
For such a group of people, the Ming Dynasty, which focuses on development, must find ways to restrict them or simply eliminate them completely, otherwise there will never be peace.
With strong vigilance, Xin Qiji decided to collect information on the grassland cavalry from now on, especially their tactics. After this battle was over, he would immediately report to Su Yonglin and intervene in the management of the grassland. He could not allow them to grow independently.
It is necessary to use the methods of the Jin State or even methods beyond the Jin State to effectively rule and suppress the grassland tribes so that they cannot develop and grow.
Especially they must not be allowed to unify!
At present, they have a deep hatred for each other, and a lot of their power is used for internal friction. They do not have enough power to threaten the Central Plains. If one day they are unified and have a unified command, they will inevitably explode with huge destructive power.
That would be terrible.
So on October 12, after Han Jinggui and Xin Qiji confirmed it, they jointly issued an order to march further.
Han Jinggui personally led the main force of 30,000 cavalry to advance, with his Shenjie Army general Zhong Xuemin commanding 10,000 cavalry as the left wing, and his Weilie Army general Yuan Han commanding 10,000 cavalry as the right wing, forming a formation.
As for the Wanggu cavalry, at Xin Qiji’s suggestion, Han Jinggui used Wu Ge and 5,000 Wanggu cavalry as a reserve team to use at critical moments——
In fact, Xin Qiji didn't trust the Wanggu cavalry, whose morale was not very high, and felt that they could not cooperate well with the Ming army's tactics, so it was better to stay behind to avoid getting in the way.
Of course Wuge was satisfied with this, and he didn't want to fight at the front. Who knows what the Ming army would do to him?
Now that the Ming army was in front, they regarded him as a strategic reserve, which actually made him have a great impression of the Ming army.
What's the matter with the inexplicable feeling of being covered and protected by a boss?
After all, the two sides still lack the most basic strategic mutual trust, but it is no wonder, who made them cooperate for the first time.
Near noon on October 12th, the Kelie cavalry also formed a formation and attacked the Ming army. They faced each other head-on and did not retreat. They were obviously very confident in their own strength.
Khan Tuoli of the Keli tribe believed that he had a certain understanding of the Ming army. Through previous outpost battles, he learned that the Ming army cavalry also had certain riding and archery abilities, and their riding skills were also pretty good. They also had a configuration of one man and two horses. Obviously Not simple mounted infantry.
But so what?
Riding is the special skill of the prairie herdsmen. No matter how good you are at fighting, can you still surpass the prairie herdsmen in riding skills?
What Tuoli was thinking was not meaningless, but the enemy he faced was no longer an ordinary enemy.
October 12th was a cloudy day. Even at noon, there was no sun in the sky. There was no comparison between the light from the sun and the sun behind each other. Both sides were on a vast land, looking at each other's darkness from a distance. The military formation slowly approached.
Xin Qiji went to the front line in person and observed the Klei cavalry formation with his clairvoyance. He found that they indeed lacked iron armor and necessary armor as Wuge said. Most of them were light cavalry, equipped with steel knives and bows. Perhaps he thought they could rely on their own strength. Speed and archery skills make up for the lack of defense.
In contrast, although the armor of the Ming army's cavalry is not as heavy as that of heavy armor, it still has considerable defensive capabilities. Moreover, the Ming army's cavalry generally wear armor, and their defensive capabilities are not on the same level as the Klei cavalry.
Seeing such a scene, Xin Qiji felt somewhat confident. He began to understand what it meant during the Han and Tang Dynasties that one Han could serve as the five or ten barbarians - the Han army surpassed them by far in terms of weapon performance and armor performance. As long as If you can fight hand to hand, you can recreate such a scene.
Xin Qiji read the history books and saw that the Tang army at its peak could achieve a casualty ratio of one to twenty or even thirty with the nomadic cavalry. There were even records that it could achieve a casualty ratio of one to fifty.
At that time, Xin Qiji was shocked and incomprehensible, wondering if the Tang army had any special tactics. But now that he looked at it again, he found that it was not incomprehensible.
If it was possible before, why couldn't it be done later?
Well, the answer is obvious.
The imperial court was decayed, the finances collapsed, the army was no longer trained, and the weapons and equipment were no longer superior enough. As a result, the glory that once belonged to the cavalry of the Central Plains Dynasty was gone forever.
It will take three to four hundred years to go there.
"Commander Han, I think it's time to start the war. Since the Klie people desperately want to confront us head-on, the victory or defeat between the Ming army and them depends on this moment."
Xin Qiji suggested that Han Jinggui formally start the war.
The specific tactics are to find ways to fight hand-to-hand, use the superior performance of weapons and armor to fight face-to-face with the Kled Cavalry, and defeat them with head-on hand-to-hand combat.
As long as they can enter a state of head-on melee combat, the Klei cavalry will definitely not be a match for the Ming army.
Han Jinggui followed Su Yonglin in the bloody battle of Zhending, experienced life and death several times, and was already familiar with the chill of the battlefield. At this moment, what he felt in his heart was not fear and worry, but nervousness and excitement.
He was thinking that if he could win this battle, he would be the first Han general to achieve feats of defeating the enemy on the grassland after hundreds of years.
He will inherit the achievements of the Tang people, restore the glory of the Tang Dynasty, and let the order of the Central Plains dominate the order of the grasslands.
With such awareness, Han Jinggui issued the order to attack.
