As the Minister of Household Affairs, it is not uncommon to be summoned by the emperor. Sometimes the emperor just thinks of something and may summon him temporarily for consultation. However, today's summons is obviously not like this, because the news about Horqin and Daning has just been sent back to the capital this morning, and it is still noon. Gao pragmatically is not at the Hubu Yamen, but eating at his own house, which is a break. .
The summons during the break was obviously urgent, and today's urgent matter could only be war. Although there were Dukes Gungun in the Ming Dynasty, for the current emperor, the "chief military adviser" in his mind must be highly pragmatic.
The problem is that Gao Pragmatic is confused now and is still struggling with Jinghua's most serious loss in many years. Fortunately, although the direct distance between his residence and the palace was very close, since he could only enter the palace through Donghua Gate at this time, which took a long detour, he still had time to think about how to face the emperor's questions.
However, people are always selfish. Gao Pragmatic was still a little distracted along the way. He always felt that something was wrong with the Cavalry-Ding battle. Later, he suddenly discovered the problem: this battle was cavalry vs. cavalry, and he was originally vs. Cavalry-Ding. "Task Setting" does not match!
Only then did Gao Pragmatic realize that when he established the Cavalry, he had never planned "cavalry versus cavalry". In his setting, he wanted to use the French army during the Napoleonic period or the Prussian Army during the Frederick II period as a model to establish a modern firearms force for the Ming Dynasty.
Why these two armies? The reason is very simple. The two armies have brilliant records, the time difference (technological level) is not big, and the leaders are very famous. I have read many related books back then, so it is naturally easier to learn from them.
However, Napoleon's French army was most famous for its professional artillery, and Frederick II's Prussian army was most famous for its diagonal tactical infantry. Although the cavalry under both of them have had many excellent achievements, their reputations are always outweighed by their stronger ones, so their pragmatic understanding is not enough.
But in the conversation with Liu Xin just now, Gao Pragmatic himself mentioned Napoleon, which suddenly reminded him of an important reason for Napoleon's defeat in the Battle of Waterloo, which had a lot to do with the errors in the use of cavalry.
At that time, 5,000 French cavalry advanced towards a section of the Anglo-Allied defense line between the Chateau Hougoumont and the farm of La-E-Sante. The hoofs of the horses trampled each other now and then, for even in the highest parts of the lowlands the ground was wet.
Milhoud's cuirassiers held their heads high, their helmets, breastplates and sabers gleaming in the sun, while Desnot's division of Guards lancers followed closely behind. Marshal Ney led an excess of cavalry in his attack, crowding the space between the Château de Hougoumont and the farmstead of La-E-Sante. Another important point is that he did not use any infantry or artillery.
On the other hand, the British Allied forces (the target of Marshal Ney's attack) were ready to face the French army. In fact, the French long-range artillery bombardment before that had not had much impact on them. At the top of the high ground, the British artillery attacked the invading French cavalry. On the back of the high ground, 20 infantry squadrons were divided into two rows, front and rear, to strengthen the fire control range. Behind the infantry, several brigades of cavalry units were ready to attack.
At that time, experienced officers in Wellington's army were puzzled: Why did the French army use cavalry to conduct a frontal attack?
Facing such a huge formation, the inexperienced British soldiers were worried about whether they could make it back alive. Wellington was shocked that Napoleon was not using flexible flanking tactics but instead was pursuing a frontal attack. He exclaimed: "Damn it, this guy is just a fool."
But the fact is that Napoleon had temporarily delegated his command due to physical discomfort before this. This attack was Marshal Ney's own initiative.
As the French cavalry approached, the Allied artillery temporarily abandoned its artillery and retreated to the nearest infantry square. Each phalanx formed a solid barrier composed of bayonets and rifle bullets, enough to destroy any cavalry charge - yes, they used hollow phalanxes.
Heavy bullets were fired from the square, and the French cavalry fell off their horses in pain. The horseshoes in the rear row kept tripping on the fallen soldiers in the front row, and they could only wait to die. The once invincible cavalry was torn apart under the obstruction and rushed around the British infantry formation, like waves rushing against the rocks with splashing waves.
In addition, as soon as a British soldier in the front row falls, he will be immediately dragged into the formation, and the soldiers in the back row will fill his vacancy as quickly as possible. Therefore, although the British army suffered some casualties, in comparison, they were much less than Ney's cavalry.
Soon, Napoleon, who was recovering slightly, learned that Ney had led the cavalry to charge against the British central line. Napoleon sighed and said: "This (attack) is an hour early, but since it has happened, we must persist."
Around five o'clock in the afternoon, the Kliman Cavalry Corps and Guy's Guards Heavy Cavalry Division were ordered to reinforce Ney. More than 10,000 French cavalry charged again and again, but not a single British phalanx was breached.
Once the French cavalry retreated to the high ground and began to regroup, the British artillery rushed back to their positions (using those cannons that had not been damaged by the French cavalry) to launch another round of bombardment against the French.
In addition, the cavalry led by Earl Ebbridge also made counterattacks against the scattered French cavalry from time to time, but with little effect. Of course, not all the Anglo-Allied cavalry units took action. In fact, the Duke of Cumberland did not obey any orders and left the battlefield with his cavalry regiment.
According to the vast majority of military history experts in later generations, if Marshal Ney initially mobilized multiple arms for coordinated operations, Wellington's infantry formation would have become extremely vulnerable to intensive artillery fire and bullet attacks. But it was not until after half past five that three brigades from Rayleigh's Second Corps arrived.
But they arrived too late, and the situation of the war could not be reversed. Wellington ambushed Adam's Brigade north of the castle of Hougoumont, ambushing the flank of the reinforcements. The French cavalry attack had been completely disrupted, and Rayleigh's reinforcements had lost 1,500 men and had to retreat. Wellington's troops succeeded in neutralizing the final French attack.
What's worse is that the reinforcements of Prussian Marshal Blücher have also arrived, and they are fighting fiercely with Lobo's army on the right wing of the French army. For Napoleon, the battle was irreversible at this point, and there was no other way but to retreat.
When Gao Pragmatic thought about this famous battle, he realized that he might have been too demanding. In the past, Jinghua Cavalry usually trained in the suppression of bandits, and Jinghua's suppression of bandits was like the American army fighting in Iraq. In terms of equipment, they had a crushing advantage, so their results were naturally easy and comfortable.
Precisely because of the ease of fighting and in order to save time, the Jinghua Cavalry often fought the entire battle without bringing infantry with them. This actually violated the concept of the highly pragmatic "army-building" period - coordinated combat with infantry, cavalry and artillery.
Just as some military history experts discussed the wars during the Napoleon and Frederick II periods, it was not appropriate for the cavalry to attack the entire battlefield. With the military technology at that time, the cavalry troops were very particular about the timing of their use. If they were used too early, bad things would happen, and if they were used too late, bad things would happen. They had to seize the originally short "window period" to use them - this is exactly what happened. Napoleon said the key "an hour early".
But this time the "Battle of Qingcheng" was completely different from the combat scene originally set by Gao Pragmatic. It was a cavalry showdown that took place at night and did not involve any arms other than the cavalry. Jinghua's most powerful line infantry in the past did not participate in the battle, and the artillery that "attacked the weak with force" did not participate in the battle. It was completely a battle to exploit weaknesses and avoid strengths.
Gao Pragmatic even suspected at this moment that if it were not for the grenade, a "new weapon" that the Chahar Mongolian army might not have expected, this battle might have been lost directly.
He couldn't help but feel a little vigilant, and thought to himself: Am I starting to focus only on weapons, and even become careless in tactics?
But then I thought about it, the opponents faced by the French and Prussian troops also fought with multiple arms. Unlike the Chahar Mongolian army I faced, they were not fighting a nomadic army, so there was no need to worry about the opponent always going around in circles and being at odds with each other. I have to fight on my own, and I can't ignore this!
The Chahar-Mongolian army does not have an advantage when infantry, cavalry and artillery cooperate in combat. This has been proven in the Battle of Southern Liaoning and the Battle of Northern Liaoning. With Burihatu by Tumen's side, such a situation will never happen again. They definitely won't take the bait, so shouldn't I still use the cavalry to chase them down?
When the troubled Gao Qingshi arrived at Dongnuang Pavilion, he heard Zhu Yijun's voice saying as soon as he entered the door: "Looking at your appearance, I'm afraid you didn't expect the fight in the north to be like this this time, right?"
Gao Pingshi knew from his tone that all the eunuchs had been sent away, but he still bowed and saluted first. Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said: "No need to be too polite, let's talk about business first... With this battle going like this, what should we do next?"
Gao pragmatically said: "It depends on what the emperor hopes to achieve."
Zhu Yijun tilted his head slightly and asked, "What do you mean by this?"
"Previously, the most direct purpose of the imperial court sending troops was to prevent Horqin from being completely conquered by Tumen, and the secondary purpose was to ensure Ye He's safety. Judging from these two purposes, it has actually been achieved."
"Does this mean the goal has been achieved?" Zhu Yijun widened his eyes and said with some displeasure: "Tumote was dispatched by the imperial court and sent troops to help in the war. Now he has lost more than 10,000 people and he is a direct descendant of King Shunyi. Xiao Ruxun originally sent troops to repel the Tumen. And used this to win over Horqin. Now Tumen didn't go to Horqin at all, only Aba Dai Saiyin's people. As a result, Horqin also suffered heavy losses.
Pragmatically, if this battle ends with the current record, the prestige established by the imperial court over the years will, if not collapse, at least be greatly damaged. This is not in line with the previous expectations of our monarchs and ministers! "
Gao Pragmatic nodded and said: "Yes, but what I just said has a premise. If we look at it according to the minimum requirements, the two basic goals have indeed been achieved. As for what the emperor said, it is a matter of prestige."
Zhu Yijun waved his hand decisively: "We can't let it go like this. Tumut is the one the imperial court needs to rely on for its Northern Expedition. If the battle only reaches this level and then ends, we will think about mobilizing them so easily in the future, even if Erde Mutu They are your disciples, and I don’t think they are so easy to talk to. Tumut is like this, and Horqin is like this."
"Then we can only increase our target expectations." Gao Pragmatic said: "But raising target expectations also depends on how high the emperor's expectations are, whether it is to regain the number of enemy kills, or just to repel the Tumen, or... "
"Or? What if I feel that these two points are still not enough?" Zhu Yijun said: "Although the imperial court has not completed all preparations for the Northern Expedition, I think Tumen is not yet ready to deal with the imperial court's full-scale attack. Let me ask you , if the imperial court launches the decisive battle of Chahar, taking advantage of the fact that Tumut and Horqin have a grudge against Tumen... can they win?"
This question surprised Gao Pragmatic. He didn't know why the emperor suddenly became so radical. After thinking about it, he had to think that he was also affected by the court's "victory in every battle" in previous years and began to subconsciously look down on Chahar. , so that we cannot tolerate any mistakes on our side when facing Chahar.
However, Gao Pragmatic couldn't help but object to taking the opportunity to launch the decisive battle of Chahar, saying: "This matter is not easy to handle. Now Xiao Ruxun is still in Horqin. Although Aba Dai Saiyin is not as strong as Tumen, Xiao Ruxun and his allies They and Horqin never caught him.
This means that after the imperial court launches the all-out Northern Expedition, the eastern and western battlefields will be separated. Even if ministers are sent to take charge of the war, it may be difficult to coordinate in the end. "
Zhu Yijun frowned and said, "Why do you say they are separated?"
"Judging from the opponents chosen by Tumen this time, he may not have planned to use this as an actual plan." Gao pragmatic shook his head and said: "I think the reason why Tumen and Burihatu followed Tumut and Horqin The fundamental purpose of fighting is to use this to undermine the prestige of our court and make Tumote and Horqin rethink whether they want to follow our Ming Dynasty to the end.
But in the subsequent battles, Chahar unexpectedly gained an advantage. On the western front, Tumote was successfully ambushed, and on the eastern front, Abadai Saiyin faced us with a disadvantaged force, and actually achieved some results. In this regard, even if the imperial court sends troops immediately, Tumen can respond slowly and calmly.
For example, the imperial court can send a large army north to Daning to relieve Tumote, but Tumen and Burihatu can also surround the area to provide reinforcements. Even once the imperial court sends troops, they can also take the initiative to go south to find the enemy and try to defeat the official army one by one. To prove that his soldiers are elite and he can lead the army well. "
Zhu Yijun snorted: "What if I don't attack in separate attacks like this? First gather all the armies that can be mobilized in one place. Then, whether it's the western front or the eastern front, won't our army have an absolute advantage? As long as we solve it. One line, can the other line be far away?”
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