The Guanshan Guard was repaired and reactivated, but it was not enough to station tens of thousands of soldiers and horses inside.
Zhang Hong directly arranged the army three miles away from Guanshan Guard, and Guanshan Guard left a detachment of soldiers.
"Report!"
A flying cavalry came over from a distance.
"Report to the commander-in-chief that the Qing army is less than fifty miles away from us."
"Report again!"
"yes."
Fei Qiu rode away again.
Fifty miles is nothing for cavalry, but for infantry walking on two legs, it will take a long time.
In particular, the army also needs to carry various weapons, among which artillery is one of the things that slows down the marching speed.
In order to rush to Qingcheng as quickly as possible, the Qing army did not carry such bulky guns, but only some small Franco machine guns.
This small Fran cannon is lightweight and relatively less powerful.
As for the Qing Dynasty's Hongyi cannon, none of them were brought this time. After all, the Hongyi cannon was not suitable for carrying on long marches. It was too bulky and too bulky.
For the Qing Dynasty, important towns such as Qingcheng and Taiyuan Datong were incomparable, and there was basically no need for powerful artillery such as the Hongyi Cannon. Ordinary small cannons were enough.
"Where is the Dragoon Division?" Zhang Hong asked the combat staff aside.
The staff officer said: "Two days ago I received news that they had arrived on the grassland from Ji Town. Two days have passed and they should have reached the back of this Qing army."
Communication on the battlefield relies more on manpower, which also leads to the fact that the combat plan can only be arranged in advance, and the rest depends on the performance of the leader.
"If you dare to come to Qingcheng, you must be prepared to come back." Zhang Hong's eyes were half-squinted as he looked into the distance.
The 20,000 troops in the third theater opened their mouths near Guanshan Guard, waiting for the arrival of the Qing army.
However, due to limited outpost reconnaissance, the Qing army had no idea about the troops and horses deployed in advance on the tiger-shaped flag dozens of miles away. They were still on their way, wanting to reach Qingcheng faster and complete their strategic goals this time.
Zhang Hong and his Third War Zone did not deliberately hide their whereabouts. It is easy to hide tens of thousands of troops on the grassland, but it is impossible to hide tens of thousands of troops under the eyes of the enemy.
When the Qing army approached Guanshan Guard, they immediately discovered the 20,000 troops stationed outside Guanshan Guard City.
Jierhalang's face turned pale when he discovered the news.
Originally, he thought that as long as the Qing army marched all the way, they would not encounter too many obstacles on the way to Qingcheng. At most, they would encounter some small groups of tiger-character flag soldiers and horses, and the number would not be too large.
Unexpectedly, before arriving in Qingcheng, they would encounter the main force of the Tiger Flag at Guanshanwei.
After discovering the main force of the Tiger Flag, Jierhalang never thought of rushing over. After all, he was not Mang Gurtai.
The Qing army began to station more than ten miles away from the Tiger Banner army.
It is impossible to retreat. For Jierhalang, the next thing to do is how to break through the obstruction of the tiger-shaped flag army that appeared in front and reach Qingcheng further ahead.
Jierhalang summoned all the main generals in the army.
All the generals above the rank of general from the Eight Banners came to the temporary camp in Jilhalang. In addition to Zu Dashou, all the generals from the Guanning Army below were also present.
The temporary tent was quickly filled with people.
Jierhalang sat in the middle, with Dorgon, Duoduo and other Eight Banners generals on his left, and Zu Dashou and Guan Ningjun generals on his right.
"Everyone should have received the news from the outpost. Just a dozen miles away, an army of tiger thieves is stationed, with a strength of twenty to thirty thousand, including a large number of cavalry." Jilharang faced the people in front of him. said.
As for the specific number of troops and the number of each branch of the army, because the time was too short, the Qing army's outposts could not figure out the number of personnel. They could only estimate the number of personnel based on the scale.
And cavalry is indispensable for grassland warfare, and cavalry will even account for a large part of the number.
Whether it is the Qing army or the Tiger Banner, there is no shortage of cavalry.
"How does the prince want to fight this battle?" Zu Dashou asked proactively.
He didn't even have any questions about retreating. The army had worked so hard to reach the vicinity of Qingcheng. It was impossible for them to go back in despair without fighting a battle.
Jierhalang's eyes fell on Zu Dashou and asked: "How does Uncle Ning Yuan think this battle should be fought?"
"The battle on the grassland mainly relies on cavalry. The general thought that it was better to let the cavalry take action first. As long as the cavalry agrees to the opponent's cavalry, this battle can basically be won." Zu Dashou said.
The largest number of cavalry in the Qing army was not the Eight Banners nor Zu Dashou's Guan Ning Army, but the large number of Mongolian cavalry that accompanied the army.
Jirharang was noncommittal and turned to Dorgon, saying: "Old Fourteen, tell me how to fight this battle?"
"I think what Uncle Ning Yuan said is very reasonable. Send out the cavalry to fight the tiger thieves and try to win them in one battle. In this way, the remaining infantry will be easier to deal with." Dorgon glanced at Zu Dashou as he said that , and continued, "In order to defeat the tiger-thief cavalry in one battle, it is not enough to rely solely on the Mongolian cavalry. It is best to send out an elite cavalry, so that you can be more sure of victory."
Although he did not name them, everyone knew that he was talking about the Guan Ning Cavalry of the Guan Ning Army.
The Eight Banners also had its own cavalry, but the number was not as large as that of the Guan Ning Army. Moreover, the Guan Ning Army's Guan Ning cavalry was raised by the Ming Dynasty at a cost of one million taels of silver every year. They were no less elite than the Eight Banners' cavalry and were more numerous.
"Does anyone else have any ideas?" Jierhalang asked everyone in the big tent.
Seeing that no one spoke, he added: "It seems that everyone supports Ning Yuanbo's proposal. Then I will let you, Ning Yuanbo, fight the first battle for the army and capture the tiger bandit's cavalry."
"Your Majesty, although there are some cavalry under the general's command, they may not be as numerous as the tiger thieves' cavalry. A direct confrontation may not be advantageous. The general is afraid of betraying the trust of the prince." Zu Dashou declined Guan Ning who asked him. The cavalry went to fight this first battle.
It was too late for him to preserve his strength in the Qing Dynasty, so how could he be willing to do such a thing for the Qing army that wasted his own strength.
Ji'erharang looked at Zu Dashou and said: "Don't worry, Uncle Ning Yuan, you will not fight this battle by yourself. The Mongols will send thousands of cavalry to assist you. I believe that no matter how many cavalry the tiger thieves have, Uncle Ning Yuan will have With the assistance of these thousands of Mongolian cavalry, we will definitely be able to defeat the tiger bandit's cavalry."
Zu Dashou secretly rolled his eyes.
How could those Mongolian cavalry compare with his Guan Ning cavalry.
In addition to being better in riding and shooting than his Guan Ning army, the Mongols are far inferior to his Guan Ning army in equipment. Even if the Mongols are more accurate in cavalry and archery, it is useless if their weapons are not powerful and have no lethality.
On the battlefield, his Guan Ning army only needed a hundred cavalry to chase thousands of Mongolian cavalry.
Even if there were thousands of such Mongolian cavalry, they would not be as threatening as his thousand Guan Ning cavalry.
