The topography of Laoniu Mountain is not very special, it is just an ordinary hill. However, there is a river five miles north of the hill, which is a tributary of the Kuohezi River in the Liuhe River Basin of the Liaohe River system. This river has a characteristic. It is winding as a whole, with quite a few "nine twists and turns." The river surface is not wide, except for a small section five miles north of Laoniushan Mountain that is very wide. It is even more like a spur in the middle of the east-west river. A lake came out, which was connected to the river.
From a geographical point of view, this kind of terrain is often suitable for human settlements. The later Kulun Banner is also located two or three kilometers northwest of this horizontally long lake. However, in the 20th year of Wanli, this place is not yet It's not a settlement at all. It was only used as a market occasionally by the Horqin people in the past when they were grazing.
Of course, no matter what, this is considered a "familiar place" and not an inaccessible place. The reason why the Ming-Manchu-Mongolian coalition came here was actually because they had lost track of the specific location of Abadai Saiyin Khan, and only had a general direction that they still knew.
At this time, Horqin Erbeile Ming'an proposed to Xiao Ruxun that they could come here to rest their horses and have a meal or something. In short, the army could have a rest, and sent out scouting horses to find the exact location of Abadai Saiyin Khan's headquarters, and then make plans. .
After listening to Ming'an's description of the local terrain, Xiao Ruxun also felt that the location of this place was not bad, especially since the distance between Laoniushan Mountain and the unnamed lake was only five miles wide. It was a place where it was difficult for the cavalry to deploy, and it was unlikely that Ah Badai Saiyin Khan made a sneak attack, so he agreed.
Some people may have doubts, saying that although Abadai Saiyin Khan's troops are cavalry, don't you know that the Manchu-Mongolian coalition forces are also cavalry now? It is difficult for others to expand, so you can expand it?
Of course, it would be difficult for the Ming-Manchurian and Mongolian coalition forces to launch the formation required for a cavalry battle in such a wide place, but the problem is that Xiao Ruxun does not need a wide formation! Although the Ming Army cavalry is indeed cavalry now, the Ming Army cavalry is not as "professional" as the Mongolian cavalry. Weren't most of them infantry before they became cavalry?
Therefore, Xiao Ruxun's idea is that even if Abadai Saiyin Khan comes to attack, the Ming army can quickly form a dense formation to resist. Gao Situ's several battles have fully demonstrated that the denser the infantry formation, the greater the firepower. The stronger it is, the more advantage it can have over the cavalry.
For this reason, Xiao Ruxun's deployment of the garrison this time seemed rather abnormal. He did not place the Ming army camp in the middle according to his usual habit, and arranged all the Horqin cavalry around it. However, he did not do the opposite and put all the cavalry in the middle.
Xiao Ruxun divided the Ming army into two parts. The Ming army with the ability to dismount and fight on foot was deployed to the east, west and south (with the river to the north). Ma Chengxun's most elite professional cavalry served as the central army, and between the inner and outer layers. It is the three parts of Horqin and Manchuria, forming a sandwich biscuit as a whole.
After the arrangements were made, the exploration horses were sent out, the army was repaired, some people went to drink and feed the horses, some started to bury pots to make rice, some were preparing to set up camp, some were installing deer and firewood to keep the horses away, everything was in order.
Xiao Ruxun was quite satisfied with this, especially since Horqin and the Jurchens could now cooperate according to the Ming army's system, which made him feel more comfortable. You must know that at the beginning, especially after the Horqin people joined the coalition, the situation in the army was really chaotic.
At that time, the habits of the three parties were different. The Jurchens were slightly stronger. After all, they had experience in cooperating with the Ming army in sending troops, and they were more accustomed to accepting the command of the Ming army, and they could suppress their own habits; the Horqin people But for the first time, they obeyed the orders of the Ming army. Their habits on the grassland...can't be said to be loose, but loose on the outside and tight on the inside.
However, the Ming army has undergone relatively rigorous training over the years and has become accustomed to acting in accordance with the wartime regulations formulated by Gao Pragmatic and perfected and finalized by Qi Jiguang. When should be done and to what extent should be done, there are almost clear regulations. Not only The order cannot be messed up, and there is not much flexibility in time.
This kind of regulation has a strong pragmatic style, and the high pragmatic style is a simplified and weakened version of the military discipline of the later generations of the Red Dynasty. For example, the Red Dynasty military camp was very famous for its "Quilt Tofu Blocks", which had high pragmatic requirements. However, in fact, because the material of the quilt was incomparable with that of later generations, no matter how hard it was made, it could not achieve the horizontal and vertical quilts used by the soldiers during housekeeping. Almost enough to measure with a ruler.
Although the details cannot be as detailed as that, at least the Ming army has begun to get used to the strict military discipline that Gao Situ imposed on them, even if they don't understand why Gao Situ pays attention to these "insignificant" details. Many tricks were used, but at this moment the Ming army was accustomed to at least one other thing: fearing their superiors more than fearing the enemy.
Gao Pragmatic was unable to build a people's army in the feudal era. Even now, there is no clear concept of a nation-state. It is difficult to build a modern army. Therefore, he and Qi Jiguang actually built a people's army based on the conditions of the feudal system. An army as close to a modern army as possible.
What makes such an army possible? Rely on two "clear": clear rewards and punishments and strict discipline.
Like companies and other human groups, if the military wants to maximize its combat effectiveness, the key is to bring out the human element. If the same sword is given to a farmer who wields a hoe all day long, or a military aristocrat who has been dancing with guns and clubs since he was a child, the combat effectiveness that he can exert is different.
Therefore, for a long historical period, military aristocrats whose profession was war became the main body of the army's combat effectiveness. This was especially obvious in sparsely populated medieval Europe. Therefore, wars at that time were often full of personal heroism and became a stage for knights to perform.
With the gradual development of human society, mankind has made step by step progress in economic strength and organizational capabilities, and the rules of war have also undergone earth-shaking changes. With the promotion of hot weapons, the requirements for personal skills are getting lower and lower. Ordinary people can become qualified soldiers after short-term training. The importance of military aristocrats gradually decreases. A large number of civilians join the army, and the size of the army becomes larger and larger. The bigger.
Along with this change, the role that individuals can play is getting smaller and smaller. The role of generals is to strategize from behind, rather than charge into battle. With the popularization of knowledge, the ingenious schemes of famous generals are becoming less and less common. As a famous general among famous generals, one of the biggest differences between Qi Jiguang and China's past famous generals is that he had different goals in building an army. He hoped that the army he formed and trained would be an army that could win battles no matter who was given command.
Although it is good for famous generals to command, it is not bad for ordinary generals to command. This is the central idea and core goal of his military training. With such a goal in mind, and with similar equipment, the overall will and execution of the soldiers actually become the key to determining the outcome of the war.
Military laymen usually believe that when muskets appeared, cold weapons immediately became vulnerable. But in fact, for a long period of time, due to the poor shooting accuracy and repeated shooting speed of the muskets, the combat effectiveness of the musketeers was very worrying. Only dense formations acting in concert and causing intensive firing can cause considerable damage.
This requires the musketeers to clearly see the eyelashes of the opponent's frontline soldiers, bullets whizzing past their ears, and teammates around them being shot and falling. They must also be able to overcome all psychological fears and line up to shoot in an orderly manner.
At this stage, military discipline overrides all other factors and has become a top priority repeatedly emphasized by the armies of various countries. It is implemented through rigorous training and is imprinted in every word, deed, and action of every soldier.
This is also one of the main factors why the Ming Dynasty firearms troops who mastered advanced thermal weapons were unable to resist the attacks of the Eight Banners cavalry who used cold weapons, because although the Ming army had a large number of firearms, its military discipline simply could not meet the above requirements. The actual combat experience of the Qing army also caused the Tatar rulers to have a great misunderstanding about the power of firearms. Of course, in the early Tatar days, they actually paid great attention to artillery.
During the Opium War, the vast majority of the Qing army collapsed in front of the invading British army. In the early years, many people believed that the gap in weapons and equipment between the two sides determined the outcome of the war. But in fact, even if the Qing army had the same weapons as the British army, the victor would still be the British army without a doubt.
The secret of fighting in this era is to compare whose nerves are tough. Whoever can endure until the end and launch a shocking volley at the most appropriate time can win the battle. Whichever side's survival instinct overwhelms discipline will lose.
The firearms unit combat drills formulated by Gao Jingshi for the Ming Army were based on the drills of the modern British army. He divided the combat part into eight steps and promoted them in the Imperial Guard and the Nine Sides - of course, he could not influence Some troops are not sure whether they have complied with the instructions.
These eight steps are: 1. Form a line; 2. Soldiers obey orders to load their guns; 3. Maintain a linear formation and march close to the enemy's position; 4. Slow down the marching speed at a distance of about 35 feet (105 meters) from the enemy's position. ; 5. Stop at a distance of about 20 feet (60 meters) from the enemy formation; 6. Follow the order and aim your musket at the enemy formation; 7. Each column fires at the enemy formation together, returns to the rear column, reloads, and waits until the subsequent two columns have finished firing. Shoot together, and so on; 8. When the enemy loses and falls into chaos, and the formation is in chaos, obey the order and charge with bayonets.
This combat maneuver performed well when Gao Pragmatic personally led the troops. The previous battle in Liaobei was the first time that Gao Pragmatic did not personally command and achieved great results - although Chahar also declared them the winner. However, the Ming Dynasty had a head to testify, so the court recognized the highly pragmatic infantry drill.
Most of the cavalry of the Ming Army are similar to the Eight Banners of Manchuria in history. They are both infantry and cavalry and are even more inclined to "mounted infantry". The complete cavalry is only a small part of them, such as the cavalry of the Ma Jiajun and the cavalry under Ma Chengxun. one type. The cavalry in Xiao Ruxun's hands is for both infantry and cavalry, so in his heart he actually hopes to fight an anti-sneak attack battle here - in the form of infantry.
It has been about a month since we left the country, and Xiao Ruxun has also gained some experience. One very clear point is that the Ming army, which is equipped with all cavalry, can indeed bite the Mongols' tail, but it is still difficult to catch up or even encircle and annihilate them.
More often than not, they have obviously tried every means to get close to the Mongols, and then they kill them but can only drive the Mongols away. After the war, if there is an inventory, if there are 20 or 30 heads, it is considered a good harvest.
According to the secret order Gao Jingg gave him before the war, he had honestly reported the battle situation, hoping that Gao Situ, who was invincible and invincible, could come up with a solution.
Hmm... He must not know that Gao Wushi is also struggling with this matter now, and has even begun to think about finding ways to develop weapons, thinking about making a revolver.
I don’t know whether it was God’s wish or God’s failure. The reports that Xiao Ruxun received in the evening of that day were “everything is as usual”, “no Mongolian troops found”, “no trace of people for dozens of miles in such and such direction” and so on.
There was inevitably some discussion among the top brass in the military, and many people suspected that they might have really lost track of him this time. Ma Chengxun, the highest general in the Ming army except Xiao Ruxun himself, believed that if the enemy cannot be found tomorrow morning, it means that it is meaningless to continue wandering around on the grassland. He suggested that tomorrow noon should be used as the boundary, and if there is no trace of the enemy again, then there will be no trace of the enemy. The entire army retreated to Kaiyuan.
Different from the previous situation, this time Ma Chengxun did not only represent his opinions. The three Manchurian ministries subordinate to him all expressed their support for Ma Chengxun's views. After all, it was getting late, and the Manchurians had to go back to prepare supplies for the winter. Today is not the Northeast four hundred years in the future. If we are not prepared for the winter, people will really freeze to death, and not just one or two people will die.
The three Baylors of Horqin had a hard time saying that they knew that a big reason why the army could not catch up with Abadai Saiyin Khan was that Horqin was dragging his family with him. Even though this was the territory of the Horqin tribe, they had a geographical advantage and it was easier to predict the direction of Abadai Saiyin Khan in advance, but under the collision of the two... they still couldn't catch up.
And although they are all nobles, their riding skills and observation of riding skills are absolutely fine. It can be seen that both the Ming Army and the Manchu Army have tried their best, at least they will not march slower than the Horqin tribe with their families. , I couldn’t even find an excuse, I could only blame the situation for being so bad. I thought I couldn’t beat Abadai Saiyin Khan to vent his anger, let alone give Tumen a good look.
Another problem is that after receiving a great favor from the Ming army this time, and the threat of Tumen has not been eliminated, I am afraid that in the future, I will really have no choice but to surrender to the Ming army.
Actually, Horqin Sanbeile was not that disgusted with the matter of joining the Ming army. As mentioned before, they are not a nation-state. As long as the conditions are reliable, it is not a problem at all who to surrender to. In history, so many Mongolians joined the Ming army or were ordered by the Ming army to oppose Hou Jin. How does it show that there is no sworn relationship? Revenge?
Neither a nation-state nor an ideological dispute, the vast majority of Mongolians in this era do not care about any hatred at all - no matter how great the hatred is, as long as money is provided, it is nothing.
There was a Mr. Macron in later generations. One day he was talking about the threat of the Red Dynasty. The next day, when an order for 300 Airbus aircraft was placed in front of him, he immediately raised his thumbs with both hands and praised: "This is excellent!"
In ancient and modern times, at home and abroad, it is better to be right.
Horqin Sanbeile had nothing to say, so he had to express his agreement with Ma Chengxun's view, and promised that once he retreated outside the original border, he would station himself in the area instructed by the Ming army, but he would ask the Ming Dynasty to support some winter supplies. Xiao Ruxun agreed in principle to this request.
However, they did not expect that something might happen during the night.
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