Timur's army formed a camp step by step, relying on the momentum of the shield formation to advance slowly. After reaching the trench, they did not enter the trench, but directly began to push snow to fill the trench. They would not continue to advance until the trench was completely filled and tightly filled. In this process, apart from a few casualties caused by grenades, there were no other major casualties.
In fact, such a stupid shield formation is not invulnerable. Zhu Suda could send troops and horses and use his mobility to defeat him from the side, but the size of the Ming army was too different from Timur's, so the casualties in a close encounter would be huge. Secondly, Timur did not rely entirely on the shield formation. After the shield formation, the horse and infantry troops were also ready to move behind. If Zhu Su commanded the army to leave the trench and flank it, Timur's horse and infantry armies would definitely come up to kill him.
This kind of tactics has a bit of the flavor of "butank synergy" in later generations.
Discovering that the Ming army did not choose the strategy of outflanking, Timur was even more certain that the number of the Ming army was indeed not large. Seeing that the phalanx of shield soldiers had crossed the second trench, he waved his hand while riding on his horse, and two more phalanxes of shield soldiers lined up in the heavy snow.
Facing the three phalanxes coming for the first time, Zhu Su began to order the army to shrink. Obstacles and delays are the key; do not be greedy for success and rush forward, only to suffer casualties.
One day passed, and Timur's army crossed four trenches. Seeing that the night was getting darker, the two sides reached a tacit truce.
The snow is falling harder and harder.
"Your Highness, since you said you would shrink your troops and break out of the encirclement, you should act as soon as possible." Di Meng looked at the falling snow in the sky in the dark night, and there was worry in his tone. The snow in the ditch under their feet was already full of feet. The soldiers were suffering from the cold, but they still had to work hard to shovel the snow in the ditch.
"If we act too late, the thicker the snow will become, the more unfavorable the situation will be for us."
"It doesn't matter. Although the thick snow can bury the trench, it also makes it difficult for Timur to carry out his army." Zhu Su said. How easy is it to climb over the snow while forming a formation and raising a shield? Presumably Timur's speed in breaking through the trenches will be much slower tomorrow.
But no matter how slow the speed is, there will eventually be a complete breakthrough. Rather than continue the stalemate with Timur here, it is better to find other ways out.
"Have the scouts who inspected the Ma Heima camp returned?" Zhu Su asked.
"Back." The dog next to Zhu Su replied. He led Zhu Su to the map, pointed at the map and said to Zhu Su:
"Ma Heima still has 20,000 people left, divided into five camps and stationed here." Gou'er said. Zhu Su looked at the place he was pointing at and saw that Ma Heima was setting up camp on a rocky mountain east of Keshi City. He couldn't help but smile. It seemed that Ma Heima was really afraid of trenches.
The rocky mountain is high and can overlook the trench situation, which is indeed a way to deal with trench tactics. Moreover, there is only one road to go up and down Yanshan, which can be regarded as easy to defend but difficult to attack.
But although it is easy to defend, it is also easy to put yourself in a desperate situation. As long as one unit of the Ming army defends the road, it will be difficult for Ma Heima's troops to break through. It can be seen from this that Ma Heima must have been seriously ill and sought medical treatment indiscriminately at that time.
"Ma Heima was trapped in the mountains and suffered heavy snowfall. The army was starving and freezing, so morale must have been low."
"Di Meng, gather the soldiers. While Ma Heima's morale is low, capture Ma Heima's camp first." Zhu Su ordered.
"Attack Maheima first?" Di Meng was stunned, and then immediately admonished Zhu Su: "Your Highness, no. Maheima is stationed on the mountain. If we attack from the rear, we will suffer huge losses."
"And Timur is watching with eager eyes. If he hears any movement, he will definitely attack in a big way."
"What can we do?" Zhu Su raised his eyebrows.
"If we don't break out from Ma Heimai, how can we attack Timur's army? If we continue to break through, we will suffer chaos. Now that we have decided to break out, if we still look forward and backward, how can we succeed?"
Di Meng was stunned by what he was saying. He opened his mouth, but finally closed it.
Zhu Su continued: "Although it is difficult to attack from behind, it is snowing heavily tonight, and the force of the wind and snow can cover up our traces."
"Teach Cao Tai to send more than a hundred men to conduct a feint attack on Timur's camp from a distance with firearms. Timur was trying to break the trench, and he was cautious. If he encountered us attacking and harassing him, he would not dare to act rashly."
"We will seize this opportunity... Tonight and all night, we must attack the Ma Heima camp!"
"Yes." Di Meng accepted the order and left. His Highness's words were true, but he should continue to do so and be disturbed by them. After fighting at a distance with firearms in the trench for a long time, he subconsciously avoided the head-on approach.
The Ming army should be bloody. Whether it is the new firearms tactics of fighting while retreating, or the close combat with swords and spears, they should be comfortable and unafraid. Moreover, if Timur's headquarters can be contained and the enemy is not attacked from both sides, there will be no risk in attacking Maheima's headquarters.
In order to wash away the gaffe just now, Di Meng has decided that he must get rid of Heimabu in one fell swoop...
Due to the wind and snow that blocked their vision, Timur's army moved its camp several miles forward and came to the vicinity of the first trench. As the distinguished sultan of the Timur Empire, Timur's royal tent when he went on an expedition was a camel city. Huge tents were set up on the backs of countless camels. It was windy and snowy outside, but inside the camel city, it was hot and warm as spring.
Timur sank into a pure gold royal couch in the middle. The couch was covered with the fur of a white bear, making the gold couch extremely soft. Since he became lame, Timur's legs have been extremely afraid of the cold. Once the rain and snow are approaching, he can feel a biting coldness. Therefore, at Timur's feet, there are two naked girls. Kneeling under him, he warmed Timur's lame foot with his own breast.
"Sultan." Timur's grandson Ulugh Beg opened the curtain and entered the tent. He caught a glimpse of such a fragrant and beautiful scene. He turned his head quickly and did not dare to look at it. His cheeks were red. Timur nodded to him and asked him to He sat in a seat at the bottom.
He was specially announced by Timur. He originally thought that his grandfather had something to ask him to do, but his grandfather, who didn't want to be on the golden couch, had a pensive look on his face, and he didn't even have time to pay attention to the beautiful scene at his feet.
After a long time, Timur finally spoke: "Ulugh Bo, you are the grandson I value most. What do you think the King of Zhou in front of me is planning?"
During the day, Timur sent out phalanx infantry, but he was actually worried. Although the phalanx infantry can slightly suppress the Ming army's firearms in the trenches, to be fair, it actually has many weaknesses.
If the Ming army dared to charge, this stupid phalanx would surely suffer great damage.
However, the Ming army made no other moves, but still used firecrackers and explosive weapons to slow down the progress of the phalanx, which made Timur have to be suspicious.
It was obvious that the King of Zhou was conserving his strength.
(End of chapter)
