Wang Shouren led his troops deep into the grassland alone, without any support, let alone humans, animals and property. Even the Ming Dynasty soldiers recorded their merits, that is, they could not bring back the enemy's head.
Most of those who came with him were elite soldiers who accompanied him in Nuergandusi to fight the Jurchens. This group of cavalry can be said to be the most experienced in actual combat in the Ming Dynasty, especially the group of cavalry with the most experience in fortified battles and encounters. When Wang Shouren's military order By issuing orders, this group of people can also be guaranteed the greatest degree of execution in terms of execution.
"call……"
Three thousand cavalry were in the vanguard. When the sound of horse hooves was accompanied by the sound of wind, and the cavalry rushed down from the high slope, the Chahar tribesmen in front of them, like lambs waiting to be slaughtered, were still in a daze.
No one would have thought that the Ming Dynasty's cavalry would appear in the hinterland of the grassland more than two thousand miles away from the Ming Dynasty's territory.
Even Weininghai is only about four hundred miles away from Guancheng in Datong Town.
So when the Ming cavalry launched a charge and were discovered by the Tatars, they could not even form an effective organization and resistance... A small market transaction was going on within the tribe, which was almost an exchange of goods, along with the remaining members of the tribe. The men were all in a hurry to find their weapons, and many of them couldn't even get to their stables in the first place.
They initially thought it might be an attack from another tribe.
Anyone who dares to attack when the main force of the Chahar tribe is out on an expedition will inevitably encounter the revenge of Batu Monk later. They don't even think that any tribe has such courage.
"Bang bang bang..."
But when the distance between the two sides was already two to three hundred steps, as the sound of fire cannons sounded, and the men, women, old and children in the tribe were hit by the fire cannons and fell to the ground, they realized that these were not the Duoyan Sanwei or those from the smaller tribes at all. Cavalry, but the army of Ming Dynasty.
…
…
Three thousand cavalry rushed into the tribal territory without encountering any decent resistance.
Not even a few arrows were fired from the opposite side.
Because this was the first battle after Wang Shouren led his troops into the grassland, the soldiers were all ready to fight hard. There was no such thing as surrendering their weapons without killing. Anyone who could run and move, even an animal, would have to fight. They were slaughtered together, and if they were dead, they were directly set on fire.
It was a completely one-sided massacre. After some tribesmen mounted their horses and saw that they could not resist, they wanted to flee eastward. However, several other groups of troops sent by Wang Shouren also completed the encirclement of the tribe's territory. With the blessing of long-range weapons such as flint guns, it was almost No tribal people can escape the encirclement.
"boom!"
As the second-line artillery was in place and the artillery fired, about a hundred Tatars had formed on the edge of the tribal territory and were preparing to counterattack. Under the suppression of artillery fire, they collapsed almost instantly.
The Tatars' well-trained training was limited to their ability to charge on horseback. When encountering the Ming's almost unreasonable long-range firearms, all they could do was to spread out as much as possible to avoid being wiped out by the group... And the Ming's The cavalry immediately launched a crazy pursuit and massacre...
The blood dyed the grassland red, and the sunlight reflected on the grass covered with blood. It was unclear whether it was human blood or animal blood. The color was quite coquettish.
And in this battle, it didn't take even half an hour, and the Hundred Years' Flame was completely extinguished.
The only living animals that could still move in front of Ming Dynasty were some animals that had not had time to be slaughtered. The people of the tribe had been eaten in one pot, and the remaining animals would be selected. Those that could be slaughtered alive would also use part of their meat as food for the army. The use of grain and grass to complete the necessary reserves to support war.
"Major General!"
Generals Han Zheng and Guan Jing appeared in front of Wang Shouren's horse.
Guan Jing is a general who followed Wang Shouren and made contributions in the battle at Weininghai. Now he follows Wang Shouren as the deputy commander-in-chief of Liaobei and Nuergandu Division. As for Han Zheng, he is a general brought out by Guan Jing. The two are responsible for the grassland. A critical battle within a battle.
"After counting, 352 bandits were killed. No one of our soldiers was injured! Only one horse was hit by an arrow!"
Guan Jing mentioned this as if he was mentioning a very trivial achievement.
In the past, this was a huge achievement. During the Chenghua and Hongzhi periods, only Wang Yue in his heyday had achieved such a feat.
Not all those killed were elite Tatar soldiers. In the Ming Dynasty, even the heads of Tatar tribe babies could be used as military merits, but they needed to be specially marked.
Just like when the Tatars plundered the frontier, they would not show any mercy because of the old, weak, women and children in front of them.
But Wang Shouren was not proud of this. He said: "Many of the war achievements were won by old, weak, women and children. Cut off the left and right ears at the same time, one side for young and middle-aged men, and the rest on the other side. Seal them with lime and leave them to be detailed after returning to the pass. Check!"
Wang Shouren's tactic was not to keep any prisoners. "As for the knives, armor, tents, wooden objects, etc. in the enemy camp, they should be destroyed on the spot. The valuables can be taken away, and the rest should be left in the wilderness and do not need to be cleaned up!"
Guan Jing asked: "The bodies won't be buried anymore?"
"No time to care!" Wang Shouren wiped his cherished Wang Weining's sword before returning it to its scabbard. "Leave a few horses to carry things and continue heading northwest!"
Not only should we go west, we should also go northwest, which is the direction away from the Ming Dynasty.
Han Zheng said: "It seems that some Tatar scouts have escaped and have not been recovered yet."
"You don't have to force it." Wang Shouren didn't seem to care much, "Now that you have come, you are not afraid of others knowing, and you don't need to be demanding that you can take advantage of others' unpreparedness in every battle. Instead, you want to let the entire grassland know that we, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, It can also shock the grassland and use it as a hunting paddock for Ming soldiers!"
"Got the order!"
Guan Jing and Han Zheng were very encouraged after hearing this.
As a general of the Ming Dynasty's frontier army, in the past, I could only stay in the pass and watch the Tatars wreak havoc outside the city. It was still a very frustrating feeling.
Now not only can they compete head-on with them, but they also take the initiative to break out of the grassland and even go two thousand miles deep into the grassland. This kind of heroic spirit can make them feel proud.
"Stand and rest, and continue westward in an hour!"
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…
Wang Shouren's troops had just completed the first battle, and then encountered the second battle that night.
Before nightfall, scouts discovered the location of the Tatar camp. When the Tatars began to withdraw their tribes to the north, Wang Shouren ordered the vanguard of three thousand soldiers and horses to pursue them quickly, and they were bound to catch up before dawn.
A battle during the day is just an appetizer for the Ming soldiers.
Six thousand men could not cope with three to four hundred Tatars, many of whom were old, weak, women and children, and a victory would not bring much glory.
What we are chasing this time is a relatively large branch of the Chahar tribe. The number of the other tribe's tribesmen is over a thousand. This does not include the herdsmen who may be wandering around and not gathered together, as well as the herdsmen they sent out to patrol. cavalry.
Wang Shouren originally planned to catch up with the Tatars before dawn.
But the Tatars were dragging their families with them, and they also had to bring all their livestock and belongings with them. Their marching speed was obviously not comparable to that of the Ming Dynasty light cavalry who were chasing lightly. It was not yet midnight that day, and the vanguard of the three thousand cavalry had already arrived. It is less than three miles away from the Tatar tribe camp.
"We'll be there in one charge."
Wang Shouren did not sit in the middle of the army. His character was to be at the forefront in tough battles.
At this time, some light could be vaguely seen in the distance. It was not fire, but it seemed that someone was setting fire to grass along the way to disrupt the sight and hearing. However, due to the scout's exploration, the direction of the main force of the Tatar tribe could be determined.
"Report! Hu Lu gathered troops, hundreds of them!"
"rush ahead!"
Wang Shouren was not polite either.
At this time, you must take the initiative to attack. If hundreds of people from the other side rush to your side and disrupt your own formation, even if you do not cooperate with the Tatar reinforcements, the damage to the Ming side will be greater than expected. a lot of.
Wang Shouren now not only wants to win, but also to achieve a complete victory, and to use his power to achieve as zero casualties as possible, because he knows that it is absolutely impossible for his side to have reinforcements, and all the active forces will lose one of their combat effectiveness if they are injured. Even if you die, you may not be able to bring back the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
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…
"Boom boom boom!"
The sound of artillery broke the silence of the long night.
On the main battlefield, the Tatars assembled four to five hundred cavalry to engage in a head-to-head contest with the Ming Dynasty. On the other side, the Tatar tribesmen were still struggling to escape to the northwest. They wanted to fight with the larger Ming Dynasty as much as possible. The tribesmen approached so that they could escape before reinforcements arrived.
The Ming Dynasty's vanguard troops were also divided into three groups.
Wang Shouren launched a charge with 2,200 cavalry from the center, while another 400 cavalry each flanked the flanks.
The number of artillery used in this battle was less than 100.
In Wang Shouren's view, before actually encountering the main Tatar force, artillery shells can still be saved as much as possible. Artillery shells are also strategic resources that cannot be replenished on the grassland. Wang Shouren is not only good at fighting such head-to-head encounters, but also knows how to "calculate carefully." He can be considered complacent, or rather ambitious.
In his view, the next battle will always be more important than the current one and require the deployment of more strategic resources.
Our own side cannot show all its strength as soon as it comes up. It will always give the Tatar remnants the illusion that "the Ming army is nothing more than this".
The war begins.
Because the Tatar side has long known the power of Ming artillery and firecrackers, even when their cavalry charged, they no longer launched a long snake formation to attack, but achieved maximum dispersion, and prepared iron shields and armor. With the blessing, it is necessary to resist the artillery and fire projectiles fired from the front.
But the artillery on the Ming side basically fell from overhead.
Even if the two sides are in an offensive posture, the Ming Dynasty side is still light cavalry. It seems that as long as the Tatar cavalry can charge close and the two sides engage in hand-to-hand combat, the Tatar side will regain the advantage.
But this so-called "opportunity" is nothing more than an illusion.
Wang Shouren also knew the disadvantages of his side. If it really went to the point of hand-to-hand combat, what would be the use of artillery and flint guns?
"Boom boom boom... bang bang bang..."
The artillery fire became more intensive. After the Tatar cavalry had rushed to the range of 200 steps, but before it was within the range of the Tatar bows and arrows, the Ming's fire cannons had already been fired.
Even if the impact of the fire projectiles cannot directly penetrate the Tatar shields, their horses do not have enough shield protection, and the powerful impact will cause many Tatar cavalry to flip over. Not to mention the huge impact caused by the artillery shells falling in mid-air, which made them unable to parry.
Because the Ming Dynasty had an absolute advantage in the number of men and horses, and the vanguard men and horses were all equipped with flint muskets.
So much so that the Tatar side also knew that there was no chance of winning this battle.
Their purpose may just be to delay the pursuit of the Ming army, but it is obvious that they also misjudged the strength of the Ming side.
Firearms played a huge role in this kind of frontal battle. As the Tatars fell to the ground in large numbers, Wang Shouren also ordered the messengers to fire signal flares. When the red signal flares pierced the night sky, the three thousand Ming soldiers who followed them caught up. , can already bypass the battlefield directly and rush towards the Tatar troops who are less than three or four miles ahead.
Wang Shouren rode in the formation.
The vanguard of the Tatar cavalry was less than fifty steps away when they were closest to him, and they were completely within the Tatar shooting range, but Wang Shouren was not afraid at all.
Because this kind of Tatar can rush over alone, when he reaches a distance of fifty steps, the projectiles of the fire gun no longer just shoot towards him from one direction, but form a double team...
When Wang Shouren rode forward and beheaded a Tatar who was still crawling on the ground, this war, which had a huge difference in strength and could be said to have no comparison, was almost over.
The rest were just massacred.
…
…
Another massacre.
At dawn.
The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty had cut off the ears of more than 400 Tatar cavalry corpses, and slaughtered more than 600 tribesmen... and chopped the last remaining animals with the Tatars' own knives. , Even so, having to kill so many animals at once made the Ming soldiers feel tired.
Simply build a circle at the back, light a fire around it, drive all the animals in, and then gradually shrink the fire circle to burn all the animals to death.
“The meat is quite delicious!”
The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty did not lose their appetite because of the bloody killing last night.
This is also the difference between veterans and recruits.
The soldiers on the side of the Ming Dynasty had followed Wang Shouren in the north and south. They had experienced many fierce battles. Even if they had never killed Tatars with their own hands before, they had seen piles of dead people.
In order to quickly replenish their physical strength and face the main Tatar force that may attack at any time, so that they will not become one of the dead people, even some new recruits are not used to the bloody scenes and the smell of burning corpses, and they know how to hurry up Eat more food and drink more water.
"Ten miles to the west, there is a river. Station on the river bank and be ready for war at any time!"
Wang Shouren is different from ordinary generals.
He did not engage in any last-ditch battles or desperate measures, because he led his troops into the grasslands and had no retreat, so there was no need to worry that the Ming soldiers would become deserters.
Dying on the grassland is much more glorious than escaping back. Not everyone is qualified to follow Wang Shouren deep into the hinterland of the grassland.
What he wants to pursue now is to ensure the survival resources of the soldiers. On the grassland, water resources are the most important thing to protect. They also need to be replenished at any time, which is prone to major strategic problems... Because in order to move quickly, the team does not need to You may need to bring more than two days' worth of water. Compared with food and grass, water reserves are a weakness.
…
…
The battlefield had just been cleared, and the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty had to set off again early in the morning.
When they set off and had not reached the river bank, a battle report came from the front line scouts. Guan Jing personally reported to Wang Shouren: "Major General, yesterday's two battles have alarmed all the Tatar troops. Before dawn, at least three people were killed." The Tatar reinforcements were on their way here, but after our victory, they all retreated. The number of the main Tatar force is unclear at the moment, but it is expected to be less than five thousand troops!"
Wang Shouren stood on horseback high on the hill, took out his binoculars, and looked at the direction in which the Tatars were retreating. The distance seemed to be at least ten to twenty miles.
Wang Shouren said: "This is close to the Chahar tribe's Khan Court. If they haven't been able to assemble their troops until now, it only means that their defenses are too empty. If we can kill here, it will be enough to scare the Tatars." People! Station the troops on the river bank, with a company camp two miles away, and the artillery is ready to deal with the invading enemy at any time."
Guan Jing asked for instructions: "There are at least two thousand Tatars in the west. Do we need to gather troops to pursue them?"
The pursuit battle last night made Guan Jing's blood boil even now.
More than three hundred people were killed during the day, and a thousand were killed at night... This way of obtaining military merit was so enjoyable.
More importantly, this was a feat accomplished in the hinterland of Tatar. If he could return to the Ming Dynasty alive, he would be able to brag about his awesomeness. From now on, no one in the army would be dissatisfied.
"There is no need to pursue them forcefully." Wang Shouren said, "They have nothing to worry about. But if we pursue lightly, we will lose sight of both ends. The lengthening of the battle line will give them a chance to divide themselves. From this moment on, From the beginning, all parties must be no more than five miles apart from each other, and they must respond to emergencies at any time and provide reinforcements and cooperation everywhere.”
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…
When Wang Shouren discovered that the Tatar tribes began to gather on his side, it could be said that he had no fear.
Because he knows.
No matter how many Tatars there are, there are only 40,000 to 50,000 troops left behind, and they are scattered over several thousand miles. Most of them are still wandering around the Daming Pass in the south. It is impossible for them to gather more than 10,000 troops in a short period of time. Back to the hinterland.
If the Ming Dynasty had six thousand against ten thousand...
With Wang Shouren's confidence, the Ming side's winning rate in this battle was almost over 90%.
The right time, place, and people are not important at all. The most important thing is... we have enough artillery and artillery shells, from volleys of cannons to volleys of guns, they can be fired in succession.
As long as the formation is maintained, you Tatars can invade at will.
There is more than 90% chance of winning a battle, so why worry?
I will send my army to your hinterland and fight whoever dares to attack. I will ask you Tatars who dares to fight head-on?
Just as Wang Shouren expected.
When the Ming army lined up on the river bank and set up camp casually, the Tatar reinforcements from all walks of life also wisely withdrew thirty miles away.
Moreover, they retreated five miles along the way, and retreated ten miles along the other way... Who could retreat further and faster?
It has nothing to do with the fact that the Tatars are greedy for life and fear of death, but because they also noticed that the Ming Dynasty did not just have one or two thousand troops who could be manipulated at will, but six thousand regular troops came, and there were so many artillery and muskets. What they didn't expect...the leader of the army was Shouren, the new prince of the Ming Dynasty who was famous for his ruthlessness...
In the battle at Weininghai, Wang Shouren had only 2,000 men.
Now give him six thousand soldiers and horses...the number of artillery and muskets has been increased several times...
Who will be responsible for this damn loss of troops? Cheap Dayan Khan Batumengke who has ambitions to unify the grasslands?
Probably unless the little Tatar prince Batu Meng brought his troops back in person, no one would dare to fight Wang Shouren head-on.
(End of chapter)
