In the spring of the eighth year of Chengshun, the Chu Empire spent its time in peace. There were no medium-to-large-scale external wars and no major internal turmoil.
As for small-scale border conflicts and occasional rebellions by gentry chieftains, that doesn't matter...
As a feudal dynasty, it is normal to have dozens of small-scale riots, especially in remote areas far away from the Central Plains. Many people are not aware that the dynasty has changed. In this kind of social environment, there will always be some people who behave inappropriately. They do common sense things, and then instigate some villagers who have never even left the village to engage in armed rebellion.
According to statistics, in the seven years of Chengshun, the Chu Empire wiped out three empires and five kingdoms... and killed or arrested three emperors and five princes in front of the battle, some of which even targeted members of the former Ming clan. What's the flag?
These matters are normal in such a large empire, and have basically been dealt with locally. Most of the turmoil does not even require dispatching the first-class divisions, and the local second-class division garrison can basically clean them up.
Even some so-called rebellions that are ridiculous can be solved by the local patrol police...
And external wars and the like are also normal. In the Chu Empire, there are no clear boundaries in the southwest and western front areas. Then there are also a pair of messy chieftains on the opposite side. The local Chu army will deal with a few chieftains according to the situation. , it is also normal to add some actual control areas to the empire.
As long as it is not a large-scale war, it will basically not affect the general direction of the empire.
He is not even qualified to be discussed at the Imperial Council.
Overall, the Great Chu Empire was peaceful in the eight years of Chengshun, and it did not encounter any large-scale natural disasters internally.
But this kind of calm cannot last forever, especially the calm situation on the northern border, which is more affected by winter.
Winter in the north does not only last for two or three months. In some places, winter may last until the following spring.
As summer gradually arrives, even the Liaodong region has already thawed and ushered in summer.
At this time, the Third Army, which had been dormant for half a year, and the neighboring Second Army also began a new round of military operations.
The military operations of the two armies in the north were still aimed at the Eastern captives.
In last year's Liaodong and Monan battles, the Chu army dispatched hundreds of thousands of troops to break the bones of the Eastern captives, annihilated hundreds of thousands of Eastern captives, and captured the entire Liaodong region.
At the same time, in Monan Mongolia, they also used methods such as wooing and coercion to make dozens of tribes in Monan Mongolia be used by the empire. Other tribes either remained neutral, but also drew a clear line with the Eastern captives. At least they must be loyal to the Eastern captives in life and death. There are not many people left in the Monan tribe.
The Dongjiu people can now be said to have completely lost their foreign aid, leaving only their own strength to huddle in the area north of the Liaodong Great Wall and resist.
Under such circumstances, the Great Chu Empire would naturally not give them time to recuperate and regenerate their strength. It was difficult to fight when the mountains were blocked by heavy snow in the cold winter, but after summer, the weather could no longer hinder the imperial army from continuing to march north.
Therefore, when the weather improved, and when the weather improved, land transportation resumed, and the northern rivers thawed and shipping resumed, the Chu army quickly transported large quantities of food, ammunition and other combat materials to various front lines.
At the same time, various units also mobilized certain forces to prepare for subsequent battles.
After one or two months of rushing supplies and mobilizing troops, the Second Army and the Third Army had completed the basic strategic deployment. They did not stop after completing the strategic deployment, but directly launched a large-scale offensive.
Unlike last year's Liaodong Campaign, the main combat force of the Third Army this time was not infantry or heavy artillery, but cavalry and field artillery.
Last year, when the Third Army attacked Liaodong, it had to face a lot of city fortresses. Without a large number of heavy artillery, it was impossible to hit these turtle shells.
In addition, and more importantly, the Chu army at that time was at a disadvantage in terms of cavalry. At that time, the Third Army and the cooperating Guards troops were equipped with a total of more than 15,000 independent cavalry units.
Therefore, in the early and middle stages of the Liaodong Campaign, the Chu army used step-by-step tactics and basically did not engage in mobile warfare.
"Demon Town Museum"
But things are different now. There are three cavalry corps under the Third Army alone, and the total number of field cavalry has reached more than 50,000.
These extra cavalry are naturally the result of a series of battles in Liaodong and Monan last year!
In last year's war, while the Chu Empire annihilated a large number of captive troops, it also captured a large number of mules and horses. At the same time, a large number of Monan Mongolian tribes who surrendered also brought a large number of war horses.
In just one year, the size of the Chu Empire's independent cavalry surged to 100,000!
Of these 100,000 cavalry, about 80,000 are composed of cavalry recruited from the surrendered Mongolian tribes with their own war horses. These are also traditional cavalry.
There are also 20,000 captured war horses and cavalry trained by ourselves. These cavalry are the new cavalry that shone brightly on the battlefield in Liaodong in the past. They are mainly hussars. As for the cuirassiers, there are relatively few. It’s just two groups.
These 100,000 new independent cavalry units, together with the original approximately 30,000 independent cavalry units, were reorganized in the spring. A total of more than 130,000 independent cavalry units were organized into thirty cavalry divisions, which were assigned to Under the jurisdiction of ten cavalry corps.
Among them, the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Cavalry Corps belong to the Third Army, while the 2nd, 5th, and 6th Cavalry Corps belong to the Second Army.
The Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Cavalry Corps are under the jurisdiction of the First Group Army of Shaanxi-Gansu.
The Tenth Cavalry Corps is a bit special, because the corps is a newly formed cavalry unit that is temporarily stationed in Luoyang, Henan, serving as a strategic reserve while conducting continuous training.
These ten cavalry armies will be the core force of the Chu Empire to completely conquer Monan Mongolia and the area south of Heilongjiang.
However, most of these cavalry units are still traditional mounted archers, not the new hussars vigorously promoted by the army.
The new cavalry needs to be trained and adapted, and it cannot be done in a short time. However, the war in the north cannot wait, so we can only adapt while fighting.
In addition to the cavalry, there are also a large number of field artillery units, or cavalry artillery units. These field artillery units are composed of two-and-a-half-pound and five-pound artillery and are towed by a large number of mules and horses. Their maneuvering speed is not bad on good terrain on the plains. It is fully capable of keeping up with the cavalry troops for long-distance maneuvers.
As for the infantry and heavy artillery, they were just following behind slowly. After all, the maneuvering speed was just that, not to mention that the Dongji people would not be stupid enough to run out and fight in infantry formation with them.
As for the heavy artillery... there is no use for it. After withdrawing from the Liaodong Great Wall, the Dongji people now don't even have a reliable city...
Some small towns do not need a large number of 48-pound howitzers and 24-pound howitzers. The 18-pound light howitzers accompanying the army are enough.
These infantrymen followed more to maintain the logistics line and establish supply lines along the way. As for the task of attacking the enemy, it was most likely not their turn.
The same is true for the progress of the actual war situation.
Since the Chu army launched a large-scale attack in May, the Donglu people on the opposite side did not stick to a certain place and resist to the death. Instead, they adopted a mobile combat method to resist, and they were still relatively scattered.
Because the Dongluo people no longer have any established cities and no necessary places to defend. In addition, they have also discovered large-scale battles, which have no benefit except giving heads to the Chu army.
Therefore, they relied on the barren mountains and forests of the northeastern region and conducted cavalry attacks.
Not to mention, the effect of this tactic is better than what they had done in Liaodong, especially on the battlefield in western Liaoning.
What the Chu army is best at is large-scale group operations. The larger the size of the army, the better it can take advantage of its firepower.
In small-scale combat, especially scattered, with only a few dozen or hundreds of people, the Chu army's combat effectiveness is not so exaggerated.
This model has actually been demonstrated to a certain extent in the small-scale raids conducted by both sides in winter and spring. The Chu army used the cavalry regiment as a combat unit to search and attack the Eastern captives.
The Dongji people, on the other hand, play infiltration and counterattack, focusing on ambushes.
And most of the battles are sporadic and rapid. When the two sides encounter each other, no matter who ambushes whom, they usually fight very fast. Most of the time, the Dongjiu people come over sneakily, and then release a wave of arrows, regardless of the direction of the killing. No matter how effective it is, just get on your horse and run away.
The Chu army also followed a similar combat pattern. After finding the camp of the Dongjiu people, they pulled out a two-and-a-half kilogram cavalry cannon and directly bombarded it. Then the hussars rushed up in formation with sabers, or the cavalry mounted archers went up to shoot arrows.
As for pushing forward step by step... Alas, the Northeast is too big, let alone tens of thousands of troops, even hundreds of thousands of troops are not enough.
When the Chu army talked about making every move, it was more about logistics and strategy.
As for the specific tactical details, it is impossible to achieve the so-called step-by-step strategy.
This mode of war is actually far more cruel than the two sides engaging in a formal battle, with greater casualties.
The troops of the Chu army that went deep into the northern region were frequently attacked by the Dongji people. They seemed to suffer sporadic casualties, but the statistics were very large when aggregated.
And the Eastern captives were even worse... The Chu army's combat targets were one after another the residential camps of the Eastern captives, maybe small cities, maybe small villages. In short, find them and destroy them...
As for attacking the enemy's troops, that's all incidental.
The Chu army's military operations outside the Great Wall of Liaodong were mainly aimed at killing and injuring the active forces of the Eastern captives and driving away their remaining forces. It was not simply to defeat the main force of the enemy army, because the Eastern captives simply would not concentrate their forces to fight the Chu army to the death. War... I am not stupid to kidnap people, and I will not seek death.
The Dongji people tried to resist through various attacks, while the Chu army directly attacked the city and captured the territory, directly destroying their ability to sustain the war from the source.
With no population, no food, and no mules and horses, what would the Eastern captives do to fight against the Chu Empire?
Under the Chu army's strategy of destroying camps, the eastern captives gathering places in the area north of the Great Wall of Liaodong were destroyed one after another, resulting in a large number of casualties, and the remaining people were forced to flee further north.
This summer and autumn, the Chu army wants to completely eliminate the threat of Dongji!
