While Gao Silian was thinking about when Huang Zhiting's main force would retaliate, Mang Yingli was also not idle.
Although Mang Yingli is headstrong and arrogant, it does not mean that he has no military knowledge. After all, he was someone who had fought with his father Mang Yinglong for 20 to 30 years. Even if he was a pig, he was still an experienced pig, so he also considered the possibility that Huang Zhiting's tribe might come to steal the camp.
After arranging the sentries and rangers of each department in an orderly manner, the Burmese army's detection range has been expanded to at least ten miles outside Bago City, and Mang Yingli thinks it is enough.
Fighting in a place like Myanmar is not like fighting in the Mongolian grasslands. It is purely a dream to expect that the detection range of the detective horses can be as high as tens or even hundreds of miles. First, the terrain does not allow it, and secondly, there is a lack of horses suitable for long-distance running. In addition, he also knows that the main force of Huang Zhiting's troops is mostly infantry, so there is no need to send the exploration horse so far - can the main force of your infantry fly over for a sneak attack?
Ten miles is enough warning.
But what Mang Yingli didn't expect was that although Huang Zhiting's cavalry ratio was also very low, her cavalry did not lack good horses. One of Jinghua's starting businesses was reselling Mongolian war horses. Now Gao Pragmatic is not only the King of Shunyi In addition to Han Naji's An Da, there is even the Mongolian King Jiang III, so how could he be short of horses?
Although Huang Zhiting's cavalry has less than five hundred, each of them is equipped with a characteristic war horse of right-wing Mongolia - a hundred-cha iron-hoofed horse.
Different from the more versatile but overall style of Uzhumqin horses that were given to Gao Pragmatically by Han Naji, the Baicha iron-hoofed horses are native to Baichagou, which is located in Langyin, a branch of the southern foothills of the Daxingan Mountains. In mountainous areas, with altitudes as high as 1,600-1,800 meters, it is a kind of war horse that is good at running in complex terrain.
This Baicha Valley is made up of countless crisscrossing ravines of varying depths. It is more than 300 miles long. The valley is surrounded by hills and covered with rocks. The rocks are hard and the roads are rugged. It is very close to the main battlefield of the last Monan War. . After countless years of evolution here, the Baicha horse group has become good at walking on mountain roads, with agile steps and hard hooves. Even without horseshoes, it can still walk on mountain stone roads, so it is known as the "Baicha iron-hoofed horses".
At the same time, the overall habits of Mongolian horses are there: they can withstand severe heat in summer and severe cold in winter. From more than 40 degrees above zero to minus 40 degrees, Mongolian horses don't take it seriously. So there is no doubt that this batch of horses was specially prepared for the complex terrain and hot climate of Indochina.
By the way, Jinghua finally bought a batch of Arabian horses that were smuggled thousands of miles away in Malacca not long ago. According to the high and pragmatic requirements of "regardless of price, as long as they are ungelled", it ended up spending hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to buy them. There are about two hundred horses, both male and female.
Since both the Ottoman Turks and the Arabs banned the flow of Arab war horses, the average price of these horses was as high as nearly 500 taels each, which was absolutely a sky-high price. This was a decision made by an Arab family leader who was angered by the Ottomans. Otherwise, there will be no market at all.
In addition, the Mongolian right-wing Qinghai Tumut Department obtained a batch of Kazakh horses under Gao Pragmatic's care. Gao Pragmatic has now begun to ask Jinghua to breed new horse breeds to see if they can produce a Ming Dynasty version of the Don Horse. Come on - otherwise the Ili horses will do. Anyway, the cavalry will still last two to three hundred years in the future. We cannot fight the Russian Cossacks without good horses.
Although the Mongolian horse is also a good horse, it is short in stature after all. If its user is a Mongolian with superb riding skills, there will be no problem. If it is used by Han cavalry, it will be difficult to reach that level in general, so if it is needed in the future To engage in wall cavalry, you still need to have a good horse of moderate size that also takes into account the "durability" attribute of the Mongolian horse.
Huang Zhiting's sentinel cavalry relied on the advantage of their horses and had a good understanding of the exploratory offensive and defensive battle that had just broken out. After Mang Yingli decided to set up camp and sent out sentinels, they quietly withdrew and headed towards the main army.
That night, Huang Zhiting received the news, confirming that Gao Silian was not bragging and that he indeed had the ability to defend Bago City.
Then she called the generals for a meeting again, and this time, she gave the order directly without asking for advice.
"The whole army will set off immediately after the meeting, go north along the Xidang River, and go straight to Dongyu City!"
Huang Zhiting looked at the dull-looking generals of the Army Division and said sternly: "Commander Gao has sent many batches of fleets to investigate the water conditions of the Xidang River in the past period. Although the lower reaches of the Xidang River cannot go as far as the Lang Son Large-scale ships, even our armed transport ships cannot do it, but some civilian ships that come with us can still navigate a section of the river.
Everyone, this waterway cannot reach Taungoo City directly, but we can sail to the vicinity of Biaoguan. In this way, we can save about 60% of the road, and it will not be easily discovered by the Burmese army patrols - assuming they have them. "
After she finished speaking, everyone couldn't recover for a while. Ruan Song couldn't help but asked: "Du Tong, don't we want to defeat the thief's headquarters first and help Gao Silian rescue him?"
Huang Zhiting said calmly: "By defeating Taungu City, the siege of Bago will naturally be solved. I don't believe that Mangyingli can sit back and watch Taungu City fall into my hands for a long time."
Ruan Song wanted to ask another question, but unexpectedly Gao Sijin beat him to it this time: "Is it true that they all took over Toungoo City, but forced Mang Yingli to return to the army?"
Huang Zhiting said: "If you have any more guesses, you might as well continue."
Gao Sijin didn't expect to be seen through right away. He couldn't help but smile awkwardly, but he continued: "...Yes, I thought that the commander-in-chief's move might be a plan with multiple uses, or multiple plans combined into one."
He only paused for a moment this time, and then continued: "The attack on Dongyu can be false or true. If it is true, it will be a sound from the east and a strike from the west - a strong sound is a solid one to the east, and an attack to Donggyu is a west.
If it is false, it means besieging Wei to save Zhao and moving the tiger away from the mountain - all of them will pretend to attack Dongxu. If the thieves hear this, they will abandon Bogu and return north to save Dongxu. This is to besiege Wei and save Zhao. Now that the thief has withdrawn from the siege, he can be regarded as a good man. As long as he is eager to return to Dongxu, he will definitely run quickly on the way back. In this way, the commander-in-chief can find opportunities to ambush on the way and catch him off guard. At this time, he lost his stronghold and was attacked by a sneak attack. His defeat was obvious, and the commander-in-chief had the opportunity to annihilate him in one fell swoop! "
Huang Zhiting finally showed a smile, nodded and said: "Yes, yes, it seems that your boss's years of teaching have finally been in vain." But she paused, and then said: "However, you may have missed one thing: as long as you are reckless If Ying Li dares to withdraw, Gao Silian may dare to follow quietly."
Gao Sijin's expression became serious and he frowned: "But according to the previous plan, Gao Silian should have made sure that our troops were nearby before leaving the city, and Dutong's plan just now was already an unplanned temporary change. , when the battlefield is at least a hundred miles north of Bago City, it is impossible for him to know the exact location of our unit..."
Huang Zhiting said calmly: "No matter how perfect the plan is, there is no guarantee that there will be no changes. Since Gao Silian dares to defend Bago with 30,000 new soldiers, I think he must be brave enough. As long as the situation allows, he will dare to follow... If he If it really comes, this battle will be a great achievement."
Gao Sijin figured it out after a moment's thought. If Gao Silian followed under such circumstances, then once the main force of his headquarters succeeded in the sneak attack, Gao Silian could take the opportunity to cast a net and capture and annihilate all the remaining defeated soldiers. Because although the headquarters is elite, it does not have enough troops. Even if it defeats the enemy with the bonus of strategy, it will be difficult to expand the results. At that time, as long as Gao Silian comes, he will be the last one to close the net.
Thinking of this, Gao Sijin couldn't help but feel jealous. He secretly thought that Gao Silian was really lucky this time. First he jumped from a colonial envoy to the commander of an army, and then he led the battle to defend the city of Bago. If there was another battle to close the net, , I'm afraid that his employer will change his name and add the character "王" next to it.
Gao Silian is about to have the word "王" next to him. If I don't do this well, wouldn't I have gotten up early and rushed to the late market? When he was developing Huaying, he was just a first-class staff officer. I was already a division commander, how could I fall behind him?
As soon as he thought of this, Gao Sijin immediately stood up and clasped his fists: "Du Tong, our troops are asking to be the vanguard! Whether it's an attack on Taungyu or an ambush against the bandits, our troops are sure to win the first battle. Si Jin dares to issue a military order!"
When Gao Sijin said this, the Huang Bao next to him became anxious and quickly stood up and said: "Du Tong, when it comes to formations and shooting, I am willing to be inferior, but when it comes to this kind of charging into battle, I don't dare to be humble - - When it comes to overcoming difficulties, our Guangxi wolf soldiers have never been afraid of anyone!"
Since they both asked for a fight, Ruan Song could not remain silent, so he had to stand up and prepare to speak.
Who would have thought that Huang Zhiting waved her hand and said, "There's no need to argue, this city has its own conclusion."
She paused for a moment and said: "If we really take Taungoo, the Jinggang Second Division has the most artillery and should be the main force. If we ambush the rogues, the wolf soldiers will charge the most fiercely and should be the backbone. At this time, the second division can be deployed in advance. Block the entrance in the direction where the thieves are most likely to escape, and take advantage of your strongest defensive line to stop the thieves. As for the Ruan command post, be the central army of Pontus - Commander Ruan. The safety of Pontus will be at stake. give it to you."
After these words were spoken, everyone had to accept them. Neither Gao Sijin nor Huang Bao had anything to say about the arrangement of the wolf soldiers and the garrison.
In the end, she clearly used Ruan Song's troops as a second-line force and as a reserve force, but she chose to use a very nice way of saying it, "Chinese Army" and "the safety of our army is left to you." ——This sounds like direct lineage treatment.
What's more, Ruan Songbu was originally from Annan's surrender army. In other words, he was a defeated general under the Wolf Soldiers and Gao Jiajun. Even he himself did not have the confidence to compete with these two armies. Now that Huang Dutong can take care of his face like this, he still has What's there to say? I can't thank you enough.
So now the three main generals were convinced and expressed their firm obedience to the commander-in-chief's orders.
At this time, it was finally Gao Jing's turn to speak, but no one could take his job anyway. The main purpose of standing up was to explain the boating arrangements.
Although the water surface of the lower reaches of the Sitang River heading north to Taungoo is wide enough, the water depth is not very deep. Therefore, large ships cannot go there, only smaller ships can go there. But the trouble is that this expedition has many large ships and few small ships, so now the resources are "strained" and must be "squeezed in".
However, everyone calculated that although it was a bit slow to sail against the inland river (the wind direction was not right at this time), it only took two days to reach the vicinity of Biaoguan. It was not a big deal if there was a squeeze, so they all agreed.
After everything was arranged, Huang Zhiting decisively announced the departure. A group of more than 20 small sea-going ships temporarily turned into inland water transport ships, carrying the main force of the expedition northward.
The journey was peaceful at first, but after arriving at a place called "Liang Li Bin", a Burmese army scout finally discovered the fleet on the shore. Not long after, smoke rose from Biao Pass not far away.
Gao Sijin originally thought that Huang Dutong might simply ignore Biao Pass this time, get off the boat on the other side of the Xidang River, and then go straight to Taungu City in the north. Who knew that Huang Zhiting decided to attack Biao Pass, but she asked Gao Sijin to "don't fight too fast."
Gao Sijin arranged the battle in confusion. None of the No. 3 heavy artillery of the second division was used, and only fifty No. 2 cannons were deployed to fight.
Who would have known that this Piao Pass is just a small pass inside Myanmar, far less solid than the passes built by the Ming Dynasty in western and southern Yunnan. The fifty No. 2 cannons only fired two rounds of salvos. On the walls of the pass, except for dozens of In addition to the holes made by solid cannonballs, there were also large cracks visible to the naked eye in the Guanti city wall itself.
Huang Zhiting was so anxious that she stopped temporarily and called Gao Sijin over to scold him: "I told you to play slower! If we continue like this for one or two more rounds, the wall will collapse!"
Gao Sijin explained awkwardly: "Capital Commander, in order to reduce the logistical pressure on this expedition, we only brought the No. 2 and No. 3 guns..."
Huang Zhiting interrupted: "Then reduce the number and the speed of the salvo! In short, I don't care how you act, you must let the other party have time to send people to warn, and let them know that although we have artillery, the firepower is not strong, do you understand? "
Of course Gao Sijin could only explain clearly, and then hurried over and hurriedly pulled out thirty cannons. The remaining twenty cannons also received strict instructions - no more than one shot could be fired within one stick of incense. One shot, one more shot, fined five taels of silver!
Then, the studious Gao Sijin ran back to Huang Dutong and asked in a roundabout way why he wanted to fight like this.
Huang Zhiting said angrily: "I think you are eager to fight too eagerly. Can't you tell? If you had deployed the No. 3 cannon as soon as you got up, it would be such a small breakthrough. If you fire a salvo, the city wall will collapse." The people inside might be dead, so who is going to tell Mang Yingli that we are coming to attack Taungyu City?"
Gao Sijin hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help but ask: "Then we can also simply capture Toungu City? Anyway, if we capture Toungu City, Mang Yingli will get the news sooner or later, and won't we fight in the same way? ?”
Huang Zhiting shook his head and said: "Biaoguan is close to Dongyu City and far away from the main force of the Mang thieves. If we fight too hard, the Mang thieves may be late in getting the news, but Dongyu City will still know it soon. What will happen? ? Toungoo City will immediately make full arrangements to strengthen the city's defenses, which may make the subsequent siege more difficult.
But if the firepower we show is relatively limited, Taungyu City may relax its vigilance. While sending messengers to contact the thieves, they may not pay too much attention to the reinforcement of the city defense. In this way, even if we want to take Toungu City, we will not be able to It will be easier. "
"Oh...I see, I understand, I understand." Gao Sijin understood now and accepted the order with sincerity.
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