With more than 10,000 soldiers, there is no limit. This may be a slight exaggeration, but when both sides of the war are cavalry and are in formation on the grassland, the momentum revealed in this sentence really feels like a dream coming true.
The main force of the Chahar Mongolian army's formation was 18,000, and the remaining 3,000 were sent to the right wing to patrol the Ming army to monitor the crater. These 18,000 elite cavalry do not have uniform clothing, and the equipment of armor is mainly divided according to different statuses.
The leaders and bosses all wear armor, and probably half of them are in the Ming army's standard, but it is also a bit confusing. There are old and new styles, such as hood armor, fish scale armor, Mingguang armor, and Shanwen armor.
From the perspective of clothing alone, the military appearance of the Chahar Mongolian Army is really not very impressive, but if you can clearly scan everyone on the horse, you can see the fearlessness and even some dignity in their eyes. With their fierce eyes, they can be sure: this is an elite army, they are eager to win and yearn for the catharsis after victory.
The main position of the Ming army appeared more stable, and the central army and the left and right wings were clearly distinguishable. No matter which part of the team wears uniform clothing and uniforms, everyone wears uniforms. Although officers of different ranks still have relatively clear distinctions in armor shapes, even the most ordinary cavalry soldiers are fully armored, not to mention that the horses are also uniformly half-armored.
Looking from a distance, the uniform black armor, silver, horse and red shirts of the Ming army can give people a silent deterrent. What was slightly beyond Gao Pragmatic's expectation was that there was no fear on the faces of the Ming cavalry soldiers. Half of them looked resolute and half were eager to try.
Excellent equipment can bring people confidence, which seems to be the same in ancient and modern times. Facing the Mongolian cavalry, which was still able to overwhelm the Ming army ten years ago, but gradually showed lack of stamina after the battles in Monan and Liaonan, the confidence of the Ming cavalry has also been quietly formed.
However, previous victories were either achieved by the Tumut cavalry under the command of the late Totok Chatterjee, or by relying on the firearms of the Ming army's infantry to fortify the formation. Facing the Mongolian cavalry, the Ming cavalry still achieved too few victories. Looking back for twenty years, the victory of the cavalry against the cavalry in the Ming Dynasty was always inseparable from two old commanders: Ma Fang and Li Chengliang.
If the Ming cavalry wanted to prove that the waves behind them could push the waves ahead, they needed a new victory, a head-on victory over the Mongolian cavalry. Only in this way can we comfort our predecessors and live up to the current world.
The main force of 23,000 people led by Gao pragmatism is still composed of Ye Bangrong's troops as the middle army, Changping guerrilla generals Zhao Menglin and Xuanfu camp Pogui troops are on the right wing, and the left camp guerrilla generals Xu Long and Dingzhou are under the general banner of Ji Town. The leading guerrilla general Wu Sixun was on the left wing, and the Tianjin coastal defense guerrilla general Chen Can was on the rear army.
In this main formation composed of left, center and right, the Chinese army is not strong in strength. In addition to Ye Bangrong's more than 5,000 cavalry, there are 500 Jinghua cavalry brought by Gao Pragmatic himself, and the entire army does not exceed 6,000.
On the left, Xu Long and Wu Sixun had more than 4,000 soldiers, while the latter had nearly 4,000 soldiers. The total number of troops on both sides was about 8,000. On the right, Zhao Menglin and Pogui had similar numbers, but they had more troops. On average, both of them led four thousand soldiers and horses, and the total was eight thousand.
There were two thousand Chen Can in the rear route, about five thousand in the flanking crater, and the Ming army totaled about twenty-nine thousand - the error was due to the fact that the cavalry brought by Gao Pragmatic himself was not originally counted.
This is a lineup with stronger wings than the Chinese army, and Chahar can tell the clues at a glance. Perhaps because of this, the Chahar Army's formation seems to be more light on the two wings and more emphasis on the center army. The formations of both sides seem to be reversed.
Roughly speaking, what Gao Pragmatic laid out for the Ming army was a typical wild goose formation. The so-called wild goose formation is a battle formation in which the left and right wings are spread out horizontally and arranged in steps forward or backward. For example, the pattern Gao Jingshi put up at this moment, that is, the two wings are heavier and forward, which is a "V" shape, just like the two arms of an ape stretching forward. It is usually a formation used to outflank and roundabout, but the rear The defenses are usually weak.
There is another style of the wild goose formation, which is an arrangement in which the two wings are backward and the center is forward, which is an inverted "V" shape. This is usually to protect the safety of the two wings and rear and prevent the enemy from detouring.
However, generally speaking, due to the diversity of arms, if the two wings are equipped with relatively mobile cavalry, they can receive protection and support from the infantry in the center when stationary, and they can also exert the power of the attacking cavalry to increase surprise. It is said that Alexander the Great's battle in India was similar to such a formation.
Of course, the latter formation has nothing to do with this moment. Gao Pragmatic's intention in setting up this formation is very obvious, which is to use both wings to carry out an outflanking attack.
In Burihatu's view, the wild goose formation put up by the Ming army was a perfect representation of Gao's pragmatic psychology at the moment, and it was also in line with his previous judgment. Gao Pragmatic wants to win a big victory and defeat Mongolia once and for all. Whether it is the previous encirclement strategy of pulling a net or the current flying goose-shaped outflanking tactic, it is a direct manifestation of this mentality.
But Burihatu's reaction is also worth pondering. He did not put up a reverse wild goose formation that was more defensive, that is, the inverted V-shaped wild goose formation just mentioned, nor did he use it because of the strong strength of the two wings. Strengthen your wings. On the contrary, Burihatu's troop deployment concentrated the main force on the central army, but the two wings were somewhat weak.
When both sides are well positioned during a war, it is usually not difficult to judge the other party's intentions, and war is not a game. It is generally unrealistic to make major adjustments to the formation at short notice. Therefore, it can be said that both sides have made tactical decisions at this moment. The next step depends on the on-the-battle command of each army general and the courage and technical and tactical level of all soldiers.
However, after all, Burihatu was different from Gao Pragmatic. Gao knew hundreds of years of history, so he also knew that a seemingly wild goose-shaped formation that appeared in the middle and late Qing Dynasty actually had a different formation. Although this formation was only used when the troops were relatively small at first, Gao pragmatically found that it could also be used in full-cavalry battles on the grasslands.
This is originally a battle formation with three teams arranged in parallel. The middle team has a small number of people and the two wings have a large number of people. They are shaped like crabs, so they are called crab formations. A more elegant way of saying it is called crab claw formations. This formation is extremely flexible and can vary greatly depending on the enemy's situation.
If the enemy is only divided into two groups, use the center of the formation to divide the left and right flanks, forming two groups.
If the enemy has one team at the front and one at the front, then combine the forwards of the left and right wings into one team, and combine the rear half of the left and right wings with the middle team to form a line to support the front team;
If the enemy's left group has more soldiers, it will shift to the left formation; if the right group has more soldiers, it will shift to the right formation; if the enemy has four or five teams, it will also be divided into four or five teams to attack in sequence.
The formation of a big crab wrapped in a small crab is particularly famous. The method may be to engage the enemy in a small formation first, and then surround the enemy in a large formation, or to fake defeat to lure the enemy into pursuit, or to set up ambushes to surround the enemy.
Although the changes in the Crab Formation are complicated, they harm the left and benefit the right, moving from the rear to the front. The beauty of its use lies in the general's temporary command based on the enemy's situation. The rapidity of its advance, retreat, opening and closing only requires a few flag bearers to master it, and the whole army will rush to wherever the flag is heading. Therefore, if an army uses a few flag bearers, it can command the masses with little unevenness and clear outlines, thus realizing the wonderful effect of simplicity over complexity.
This formation did not come from the Tatar side, but from the Taiping Army. Gao pragmatic saw it when he was looking up information about the Taiping Rebellion for writing a paper. He was quite surprised at the time and thought that Yang Xiuqing was really a talent.
This crab claw formation is exquisite and not troublesome. It avoids too much difficulty in understanding the command for specific soldiers, and the success of the formation lies on the shoulders of the commander and the flag bearer. In this way, as long as the commander reacts quickly and accurately enough, and the flag bearer's instructions are in place, there will be few difficulties in changing the formation, which is extremely helpful for temporary changes.
Why the emphasis on temporary changes? Because what high pragmatism wants is temporary changes.
Burihatu concentrated his forces on the Chinese army, and his intention was very obvious. It can be said that it was a tit-for-tat confrontation with his seemingly wild goose formation. As for the intention, it is naturally not difficult to guess. He just wanted to bet that the highly pragmatic central army was too weak, and he wanted to concentrate his forces to defeat it in one fell swoop - to defeat the central army of the Ming army before the powerful two wings of the Ming army could defeat him.
In Burihatu's view, no matter how strong the two wings of the Ming army are, it cannot change a strategic fact, that is, the irreplaceable importance of Gao pragmatism in the Ming army. As long as the central army is defeated, regardless of whether Gao Jingjing is killed, captured, or even escapes, the Ming army will be defeated immediately in this battle, and there is no possibility of turning defeat into victory.
The title of the first literary commander in the Ming Dynasty was not only the source of the Ming army's confidence, but also the trigger of the Ming army's collapse. As long as the highly pragmatic Mongolian and Yuan economic strategy standard is established in the Chinese army, the Ming army will feel that it will not be defeated; once the Mongolian and Yuan economic strategy standard falls, the morale of the entire Ming army on all fronts will inevitably plummet.
By then, the Ming army that did not dare to confront the Mongolian army more than ten years ago will surely reappear.
Therefore, Burihatu's current purpose is very clear, which is to imitate Emperor Taizong Li Shimin's classic "rolling the flag to pass the camp" - to directly kill the enemy's center at all costs, then cut down the enemy's banner, and suddenly raise his own battle flag. Raise high. As soon as the enemy army saw that their commander-in-chief had died in battle, and they still had no fighting spirit, they immediately turned into eggplants beaten by frost, listless and ready to be slaughtered.
This move is like the so-called "decapitation tactic" in later generations. By directly seizing the center of the enemy's army, it not only cuts off the effective command of the entire army, but also destroys the opponent's morale. It can be called Li Shimin's most powerful tactic in the Qin Dynasty.
In the Battle of Hulao Pass, Li Shimin defeated Xia King Dou Jiande's 100,000-strong army with 3,500 troops. Although Li Shimin used many strategies throughout the war to gradually accumulate the possibility of victory, in the final analysis, his victory on the battlefield still relied on this One hand "rolls the flag and passes the camp". [Note: Of course, Li Shimin often fell into tight siege in his early years. In fact, most of them were caused by this. ]
However, what Burihatu didn't know was that while he studied Gao Pragmatic deeply, Gao Pragmatic also studied him equally deeply, and repeatedly raised the importance of him, even more closely than Tumen Khan himself.
Burihatu's judgment was based on a pragmatic and profound analysis of the current situation he was facing and based on Burihatu's personality. Burihatu's military characteristics are actually very good from an ordinary perspective. He is always cautious, but at critical moments he is willing to go out of his way. This is the style of a true general.
But the problem is that the troubles Burihatu faces are far bigger and more complicated than Gao pragmatism. Many of Gao Pragmatic's troubles stem from the Ming Dynasty's official system, which mainly requires political means; Burihatu's troubles are mainly caused by Mongolia's insufficient productivity and insufficient population. Even if there is a way to solve this thing, it will definitely not be solved by one or two generations. Yes, it not only requires means, but also takes a long time.
Therefore, the difference in the troubles between the two of them was caused by the huge difference in basic strength between the Ming and Mongolian sides. As a military advisor with a shallow foundation in Chahar, Burihatu had little room for change, and the effect was naturally limited.
The base of population and productivity is there, so what can Burihatu do even if he has only three heads and six arms? Even if he were replaced by a highly pragmatic person to help the Mongols develop productivity, his performance might not be that strong.
Therefore, unless Gao Pragmatic puts up a full defensive formation at this moment, Burihatu will put up an aggressive attack formation. Without him, I can't afford it.
"Woo - Wu - Wu..." the Mongolian army's horn sounded. The Mongolian army, which was originally concentrated, strangely separated about 500 horses to the left and right sides and slowly drove out of the main position. The horses under their crotches were not fast. Xu slowly accelerated, but there was no sign of rushing into the formation yet.
Of course, each of the five hundred light cavalry is not suitable to face the eight and a half thousand Ming army cavalry in front of them. It would almost be death.
But since the enemy's cavalry is coming towards us, our own cavalry cannot sit still on their horses. This is not in line with the basic principles of cavalry combat. Therefore, Xu Long and Wu Sixun's troops on the left, and Zhao Menglin and Pogui's troops on the right, all started moving without hesitation, and moved head on without any haste.
Since the two sides were nearly four or five miles apart before the war (here refers to the distance between the Mongolian army and the advancing Ming army's wings, and they were further away from the Gao Pragmatic Chinese Army), so at this moment the speed of both sides was very restrained, and to a certain extent In other words, this is also a warm-up for the war horse.
However, the battlefield is not isolated. When the two wings move, Gao Pragmatic and Burihatu cannot move. The Chinese armies on both sides also begin to slowly advance forward. Originally, the distance between the Gao Pragmatic Central Army and the Mongolian Central Army was about six miles, but soon it was shortened to four miles.
At this time, the weak Mongolian army's five hundred cavalry on each wing had already fired the first wave of ultra-long-range arrows. Such ultra-long-range shooting has little practical significance, and its accuracy and lethality are almost non-existent.
The two wings of the Ming army, which had not entered the effective range of the Wanli II lance, reacted calmly. Not only did they not panic, but no one even fired in vain because of panic.
However, this round of ultra-long-range shooting from the two wings of the Mongolian army was not originally intended to cause any damage. Their purpose was to test whether the Ming army was calm; second, to stretch their muscles and find a feel; and third, to conceal their true tactical goals.
Soon, the two Ming armies found that their current weak Mongolian cavalry seemed to be starting to cut at an angle.
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