Chapter 106: Battle of Xiaoguan
Geng Bingwen looked at Xiao Guancheng with a gloomy face. I thought to myself: "Hurry up and hurry up, it's still a step too slow."
Geng Bingwen naturally did not do it for Xiao Guan.
It was impossible for him to know that Mei Yin was rebelling, nor that Mei Yin was focusing on Xiao Guan.
However, there may be many small roads to the outside of Guanzhong, but there are only a few places that are convenient for the army to attack. Xiaoguan is one of them, and it is also the place where great battles have always taken place.
Geng Bingwen naturally knew that Xiao Guan was important.
If something happens in the northwest, it is easiest to get out of Guanzhong from Xiaoguan.
Geng Bingwen came out this time originally for the war in Ningxia.
The war has been going on for so long now. Geng Bingwen just led the army here, and it was already too late.
In fact, if he followed Geng Bingwen's ideas, he would have to find ways to support him as soon as he knew the war started in Ningxia.
Without him, without Ningxia and Gansu, Guanzhong would be a battlefield.
Countless history has proven this.
Geng Bingwen was ordered to guard Guanzhong, so he naturally had to think about the overall situation. Do your best for the sake of Ming Dynasty. It's just that many things are not what he wants to do.
Changing generals before battle is a taboo for military strategists.
Yes. Geng Bingwen's seniority, status and even influence on the Guanzhong army were superior to Song Sheng. Song Sheng Yulin was defeated and was unable to resist. It can even be said that Song Sheng was Geng Bingwen's subordinate before.
Geng Bingwen replaced Song Sheng, who absolutely could not resist.
But this moment is the same as that moment.
Even if Song Sheng is willing to follow Song Sheng's soldiers, Song Sheng's own team will be willing. There is no right or wrong in personnel struggles. When Geng Bingwen came over, he would not arrange to promote his own people. There are many things you want to do that you cannot do. If Song Sheng doesn't stand up for his own people, he won't follow him if he wants to hire people in the future.
Therefore, whether Song Sheng wants it or not, Geng Bingwen wants it or not. There will be some friction between them.
Even if the relationship between Song Sheng and Geng Bingwen is good enough, they can communicate appropriately and reduce friction. But that's just a reduction. Needless to say, guarding such an important official position as Shaanxi is a handover between county magistrates, which also requires time and adjustment.
It is natural that Geng Bingwen delayed time for this.
It can even be said that Geng Bingwen is already fast enough.
But compared to the unpredictable battle situation, it is too slow.
It's so slow that you fail at one step and fail at every step.
Geng Bingwen is not worried about Xiao Guan. When he understood the composition of Mei Yin's department, Geng Bingwen no longer worried.
In Geng Bingwen's view, today's army is divided into several levels. The first level is the New Army, whether it is the New Army in Beijing or the New Army in Nanjing. All firearms troops and equipped with a considerable number of artillery. Beijing claims that such an army is 600,000, but in Geng Bingwen's opinion, it is only about 400,000 to 500,000. This is because although the Northern Army was organized and trained early, it does not mean that it will be completed. The establishment of twelve armies is too large. .
There are hundreds of thousands in Nanjing. It is still increasing rapidly, especially after the establishment of the Xuzhou Iron Works, a considerable number of firearms were replenished nearby.
Increased training speed.
The second level is the semi-firearms army.
It is an army that has added a considerable amount of firearms, cold weapons and hot weapons. Use firearms at a distance and melee combat. These troops are the majority of the Southern Army. There are also other Northern troops.
The third level is the pure cold weapon army. There may be some firearms as embellishments, but in essence, firearms are not the main force in combat.
It can even be said that the combat effectiveness of an army can be distinguished by the number of firearms used in combat.
Although not very accurate. But not bad.
And Mei Yin's department is basically the Xining Army. Xining Guards plus troops from several nearby Qianhu Stations. There were also some chieftain armies with a total strength of no more than 10,000. Mei Yin surrendered some troops along the way. But the number of firearms in the northwest itself is small.
The Meiyin army was essentially the Ming army in the Hongwu era.
Not at the heart of the conflict between North and South
The district has lagged behind in many aspects.
Geng Bingwen had no problem taking Xiao Guan. The problem was time. He did not send troops for Xiao Guan. It is to support the battle of Ningxia and to protect the northwest.
Even if it cannot be completely preserved, one or two key areas must be defended and the Northern Army cannot be allowed to run rampant.
At that time, the Northern Army will no longer exert pressure on Guanzhong from one direction.
This is what Geng Bingwen does not want to see.
Now that Xiaoguan is blocked, if too much time is wasted, then Geng Bingwen's idea will be ruined first.
Geng Bingwen waved his hand, and the army surged forward.
At the top of Xiaoguan City, there was even more artillery fire.
Although Xiaoguan is more defensive in the northwest, it is not defensive in the southeast. But in a place as important as Xiaoguan, there are naturally a lot of firearms. It is not that easy for Geng Bingwen to win.
The battle of Xiaoguan,
The fight lasted for three days.
Under the command of Geng Bingwen, the army was divided into twelve batches, working day and night.
Although the beating resulted in a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, it still hit Mei Yin within three inches. Geng Bingwen was too familiar with and understood the defense of the city. Because of this, Tai knows what is Mei Yin’s biggest problem?
Xiao Pass is a dangerous pass. Although it is better to defend against the northwest than the southeast, it does not mean that it has no defensive capabilities against the southeast. At least compared to ordinary levels, it would be better than many.
Coupled with a considerable number of firearms, there are still certain advantages in defending the city.
Geng Bingwen's numerical advantage cannot be used.
But day and night, Geng Bingwen had many men under his command. Separate batches are enough to attack the city, and Mei Yin's troops can be more than 10,000 at most. These more than 10,000 men and horses are certainly enough to defend the city. But in the face of Geng Bingwen, who attacked day and night, it was really difficult to support.
Only in this way can the numerical advantage be brought into play.
The numerical advantage is also Geng Bingwen's only reliance.
After all, he was out to support Ningxia, and he had no intention of fighting a siege.
Although they brought some artillery, they were all light. It was simply not enough to destroy the city wall. It takes time to temporarily build engineering equipment or transport heavy artillery from the rear.
What Geng Bingwen lacks is time.
As a result, there were layers of corpses under Xiaoguan City, and there was no time to collect them. After all, collecting corpses also takes time, which gives Xiaoguan City a chance to breathe.
After three days of bloody battle.
Mei Yin's eyes were bloodshot and she was extremely excited. He didn't sleep for almost three days and three nights. His spirit was extremely high, but in fact the body was extremely tired.
Even though Mei Yin had the advantageous location, after three days of bloody fighting, Mei Yin's troops were defeated by more than half. It has reached a point where it is unsustainable.
It’s not that I can’t fight anymore.
And Mei Yin's control ability has reached its limit.
If Mei Yin had been in Xining Guard for several years, everyone in Xining Guard would have been favored by Mei Yin, otherwise they would have collapsed long ago. After all, the ability of an army to withstand heavy casualties without collapsing is the best test of a general's ability.
Now it is Mei Yin's limit.
Mei Yin let out a long sigh and thought to himself: "Let's just let it go. I'm too greedy. I only hope that my capital will be reduced so much. I don't know how much status I can still have."
Mei Yin was worried that he was superfluous and that the original position of Duke of the country might be lost at this time.
This made Mei Yin extremely uneasy.
But no matter how he thought about it, he had no choice. If we don't retreat and continue to fight, let alone our status, we will not be able to save our lives.
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After Mei Yin withdrew his troops.
Geng Bingwen also breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the Xiaoguan City Gate opened.
Although Ci did not command troops, the number of casualties this time was too great.
Twelve batches attacked day and night. However, there was a lack of siege equipment, only simple long ladders and light artillery cover. That means fighting with your life. .
More than half of the Mei and Yin troops on the city were lost. Geng Bingwen's troops suffered more casualties than Mei Yin's troops.
Geng Bingwen's casualties were at least three times that of Mei Yin's. And it was too late to collect the bodies, which affected morale even more. At least several guard posts under Geng Bingwen's command lost their combat effectiveness.
Isn’t Geng Bingwen distressed? But the war cannot be delayed for a moment.
Not long after taking Xiaoguan, a piece of information was handed into Geng Bingwen's hands, and Geng Bingwen took it over to take a look. He was stunned for a moment, and then he let go of his hand, and the letter fell into a pool of blood.
There is only one piece of news in this letter, that is, Guyuan City surrendered to the Northern Army.
The northern army's frontline has arrived not far north of Xiaoguan. Xiaoguan has become the front line.
