The Chu army came with great force, and they acted together like hedgehogs, which made Zhuot Babatur, who was in charge of the overall situation in the direction of Hami, quite helpless.
The expectation of an ambush and a wave of attacks came to nothing, and it was not reliable to stick to Hami.
The only option was to send someone to ask Yin Ning for help.
However, just as the Chu army was unable to deploy too many troops on the front line of Jiayuguan, or even in the entire Hexi region, the Jungar people were also unable to deploy too many troops in the Hami area.
Again, if people want to eat, mules and horses also need fodder!
The oasis in Hamina is only that big, and it is already very difficult to supply tens of thousands of people. If there are more, then food and grass need to be mobilized from other directions.
For Zhungeer, mobilizing grain and grass was equally troublesome. They did not have a complete logistics supply system like the Chu Empire.
For them, the logistics of marching and fighting means marching with cattle and sheep. Logistics supply lines... they don't have that kind of thing.
This is also a major advantage of nomads in war, that is, there is no place to defend and no logistics lines to maintain. They drive cattle and sheep, dragging their families with them to herd and fight at the same time.
Even though the Jungar tribe actually controlled most of the area through conquests in the north and south, and could be regarded as establishing a relatively preliminary feudal governance system, at its core, it was still the same as the nomadic people.
Under such circumstances, it would be unrealistic for you to ask the Jungar people to deploy a large army in Hami...
Zhuote Babatur did not expect many reinforcements from the rear, but he had to ask for help and report the situation back, and he also had to give the old man behind him a vaccination in advance: The Chu barbarians are coming with a fierce force, and I might not be able to stop them. Run away...
Stay in Hami and fight with the Chu barbarians?
What kind of international joke is this? He, Drote Babatur, has never had such an idea.
If you can do it, just do it. If you can't do it, just run away. There's nothing to be ashamed of. This is what they have always done as nomads. As long as the people under their control are there, they can't mess around in all the world.
After all, Zhuote Babatur is not a simple military general, but the leader of a branch tribe within the Jungar tribe.
The tribal leader's starting point for thinking about things is different from that of ordinary generals. It is even more incompatible with the thinking mode of Army Lieutenant General Liao Hongpo of the Chu army on the opposite side.
In order to avoid being ambushed and to avoid accidents in the division of troops, Lieutenant General Liao Hongpo concentrated his troops and advanced from Guazhou.
However, despite the concentration of troops, the marching speed of the Fourth Cavalry Corps was not slow, maintaining a forward speed of more than 30 kilometers per day.
After all, there were a large number of mules and horses in the Chu army that went to Hami. Even the Second Infantry Division, which was an infantry division, was equipped with a large number of mules and horses. When the soldiers were marching, they could put their weapons and other personal belongings on the carriages. Soldiers can walk lightly without any weight.
In this case, the infantry's marching speed, especially the marching speed over medium and long distances, will be faster than the cavalry riding a single horse...
Because these cavalrymen have to carry their own weapons and baggage and march on foot... As for the horses, that's the boss. When marching, the cavalry generals can't wait to let their cavalry march on their backs!
Of course, those cavalrymen riding two horses alone or even three horses alone are not included in this list. Their attack speed is much faster.
Especially for an elite cavalry unit like the 23rd Cavalry Regiment, which rides three horses alone, the cavalry's load is carried by draft horses, and there is also an ordinary riding horse that can carry the cavalry when they are tired. , and occasionally ride away. In this case, the main war horse can always remain unweighted to maintain the physical fitness of the war horse.
However, the cost of this kind of cavalry unit with three horses is much higher than that of a cavalry unit with one horse.
Because riding three horses alone is expensive, even if it is a combat-ready first-class division like the Sixth Cavalry Division, it does not mean that all cavalry units can ride three horses alone. Only the 23rd Hussars and the 21st Cuirassiers The regiment rode alone with three horses, while the other two light cavalry regiments rode alone with two horses.
In the Thirteenth Cavalry Division and the Fourteenth Cavalry Division, only their respective cuirassier regiments rode three horses alone, while the remaining light cavalry regiments rode two horses alone.
Therefore, despite the fact that there were only four divisions of the Chu army in the Western Expedition, with a total number of just over 30,000, the entire Fourth Cavalry Army had more than 40,000 mules and horses.
There are more mules and horses than people!
With so many mules and horses, the cost is naturally very huge!
If the cost were placed on an ordinary infantry unit, it could support an army of hundreds of thousands.
But you can't do it without bringing so many mules and horses. After all, the Chu army is not facing ordinary farming people, but nomadic people. People have mules and horses in groups. They have been on horseback since they were young, and their mobility is incredible.
If you can't keep up with your mobility and foolishly go outside the wall to fight with them, you're basically asking for death.
Since ancient times, when the Central Plains dynasties made northern expeditions against nomadic peoples and were able to win, it was basically when the Central Plains dynasties were strong, had a huge source of war horses, and were able to form powerful cavalry.
When the cavalry is weak, not to mention going deep into the grasslands to fight the nomads, even the northern provinces cannot be saved.
The two hundred years of war between the Ming Dynasty and the nomads are the best proof. In the early Ming Dynasty, the Ming army's cavalry was very powerful, with a large number of horses and guns, and they beat the Northern Yuan Dynasty to death.
Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, the main force of the Ming army under their command is not infantry, but cavalry!
The Ming cavalry during this period was very good, and their cavalry skills were even better than those of the Mongolian cavalry.
However, as time went by, due to various internal problems, the Ming army's internal horse politics gradually fell apart, and the cavalry became exhausted. As a result, they were beaten by the nomads and could only rely on the Great Wall to protect themselves.
At one point, Qi Jiguang's tactics of light artillery and car arrays saved some face, but the cavalry was doomed to passive defense, and it was impossible to go deep into the grasslands to attack the Tatar hinterland.
By the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was even more hopeless. They could not even defend the Great Wall. The Dongjiu used the Monan Mongolian cavalry to attack Northern Zhili and even Shandong many times to plunder. The Ming army could only watch and even try to catch up. Don't have the guts!
Nowadays, when the Chu Empire and nomadic peoples like Jungar are fighting, the cavalry is naturally the core force. Even the infantry is equipped with a large number of mules and horses to enhance its mobility.
As for the artillery unit, they are escorted according to the standards of mounted artillery. They have more draft horses to pull artillery and ammunition than ordinary artillery units. These extra horses are spare horses.
This type of cavalry artillery, in order to ensure that the marching speed can keep up with the cavalry and fast-moving infantry, draft horses will be over-allocated, such as the 12-year-old 115 mm field gun in the artillery regiment of the Second Infantry Division.
Although this thing weighs more than a ton, in an ordinary infantry unit, there are only six horses that can pull the cannon. In special circumstances, such as without ammunition boxes and the road is straight, four horses can actually be used. He reluctantly pulled him away.
However, the 115mm field artillery of the Second Infantry Division uses eight horses. In addition, the draft horses will be replaced during the march to ensure speed.
As a result, a four-gun 115mm field gun artillery post needs hundreds of horses in order to maintain mobility.
For comparison, in some units with good terrain and low mobility requirements, the same four-door 115mm artillery sentry may be equipped with only fifty or sixty mules and horses.
Because the combat areas and mission attributes are different, even for the same artillery, the number of mules and horses attached to it will vary greatly.
In order to ensure mobility, the Fourth Cavalry Army was equipped with a large number of mules and horses, which also led to extremely large consumption of food and grass.
Therefore, when Lieutenant General Liao Hongpo led his army to march westward, the more important task was actually to establish and maintain the logistics line.
He has no interest in bringing his troops to fight alone and then starving because the logistics cannot keep up.
Lieutenant General Liao Hongpo concentrated his troops and fought steadily without making any rash advances. This made Zhungeer of Hami speechless... Should he be so careful and not give him the slightest chance?
There is no chance to ambush the main force of the Chu army, but Zhungeer is not willing to let the Chu army run all the way to Hami. No matter whether he can beat him or not, he must do it first and then say no. If he really wants the Chu barbarians to come to Hami , Zhungeer really has no confidence in defending the city!
As a result, a group of Zhungeer cavalry with a strength of about a thousand people began to travel through the Gobi Desert!
They bypassed the main force of the Chu army that continued to march on the trade road. Instead, they slept in the open air and walked directly through the Gobi Desert. They reached the rear of the main force of the Chu army in one breath!
They want to ambush the Chu army's logistics supply line!
When the Chu army attacked Hami, they had to cover a distance of five to six hundred kilometers all the way from Jiayuguan. This refers to the straight-line distance on the map. If you actually walk, it will be even longer with twists and turns.
In such a long distance, if you search casually, you can find countless places suitable for ambushing the baggage transport troops.
In this war, distance... is the biggest enemy of the Chu army, and distance is also the best ally of the Jungar people.
Zhuote Babatur also knew this, so he sent Danba to lead his army to attack the Chu army's logistics line.
Danba is also a veteran general under him. He has fought in the north and south for many years, and has extremely rich war experience. The year before last, he created a hundred cavalry in the Kazakh Khanate to penetrate into the enemy's hinterland and successfully attacked and killed an entire army of the Kazakh Khanate. A huge transport team escorted by more than 2,000 people.
Subsequently, he led many attacks on the rear areas of the Kazakhstan Army. He has rich experience in running attacks, penetrating into the enemy's hinterland, and attacking the logistics line.
And Danba himself is full of confidence and even expectations for this trip!
If a number of Chu army's logistics transport teams can be intercepted and killed, then the main Chu barbarians in front will have to chew the sand, and correspondingly, Danba's contribution will be maximized.
Danba also wants to climb to the top of Zhungeer and become one of those big shots.
Even if he is just an ordinary herdsman's son!
But now, victory was beckoning to him from the front, and a bright future was already open to him... Just an hour ago, the reconnaissance cavalry sent by Danba made an urgent report that a huge convoy of Chu Manzi was coming from the east.
The scout did not dare to get too close, but only used the height of a hill to observe Chu Manzi's transport team from a distance. It was visually estimated that there were at least 300 carriages, and these carriages were all large carriages.
There were about a thousand people in the convoy.
However, because the distance is too long, it is unknown how many people are in this convoy, how many of them are escorting soldiers, how many of them are ordinary young drivers, and the armament status is unknown.
As soon as Danba heard this, he knew that what was coming must be a main transport team from the Chu Manzi. According to the information they had collected on the Chu Manzi's military organization, what was coming here should be a supply camp.
A Chu barbarian's baggage camp has about a thousand people including the driver and the escorting soldiers.
To deal with such heavy troops, Danba felt that he could eat it, and even if he couldn't, he could hold them back.
Danba knew his mission very well, cutting off Chu Manzi's logistics line.
To achieve this, it doesn't actually mean that we have to kill all the Chu army's transport convoys we encounter... as long as we hold them back so that they can't move forward, the same effect can be achieved.
Even if you can't eat it... you can't hold it off, so in the worst case, just retreat.
Blocking the logistics line is not something that happens in a day or two. If you miss it this time, just look for another opportunity.
So, as soon as Danba said hello, he led his thousands of cavalry to kill them. There was no need for an ambush, and the nearby terrain made it impossible to ambush them. They just killed them openly and openly.
easy and convenient!
————
Peng Sanyu was sitting on the edge of the baggage truck, with a grass root from nowhere in his mouth!
"This ghost place is much more desolate than Guazhou. There is nothing but rocks and sand!"
Looking at the desolate Gobi Desert around him, Peng Sanyu felt homesick again.
His home is in the north of Chu, where there are green trees and flowers, and a small river flows at the entrance of the village. There are four distinct seasons throughout the year, especially spring, the season when all things grow. He likes it best.
However, since he joined the army and was assigned to serve in the Second Division in the northwest frontier, he has never seen spring in the true sense... Even in spring in the northwest frontier, he can't feel much of the breath of spring.
The northwest frontier may be okay for nomadic people in the contemporary era, but for typical peasant people like China, it is not very friendly, and may even feel uncomfortable.
Peng Sanyu is one of the people who is not used to it. Even though he has served in the northwest frontier for six years, he is still not used to the desolation here, and he is becoming more and more homesick.
Especially in the past six months, he often dreamed about home, dreaming about his parents and little sister... Sometimes he even dreamed about returning to his hometown, getting married and having children, and forming a happy family.
This is actually not a simple dream, but something he has recently considered and wanted to do.
I have been serving in the frontier for six years, and I have changed from a strong boy of 18 to a 24-year-old single!
Moreover, he has also reached the rank of corporal, and also obtained a high school diploma in the military. If he changes his career, he should be able to find a job as a patrol officer.
But he also hesitated. Although serving in the frontier was quite hard, no matter how hard it was, it was still better than those who worked hard all year round and didn't have enough to eat.
He was able to eat and drink well in the army, and now that he has become a corporal, his allowance has increased a lot. Now, after deducting expenses, he can still save at least thirty yuan a year.
In the Chu army, strictly speaking, ordinary soldiers have no salary and only receive a monthly subsidy of a little over one yuan. However, the army provides food, accommodation, clothing and all other daily necessities. This one yuan is pure pocket money, and of course it is Can be saved.
Peng Sanyu is a corporal, and the income of non-commissioned officers is much higher than that of soldiers.
Peng Sanyu can get a monthly subsidy of more than four yuan. This number seems to be very low, but again, the army covers food, accommodation and clothing... He basically spends no money and saves all the subsidies he receives.
This is also a feature of Chujun, which is the all-inclusive low-subsidy model.
Many armies seem to pay their soldiers a lot of salary, but these are all nominal money and the soldiers cannot get them at all.
This is because money will be deducted for meals, military uniforms, and even weapons. For example, the armies of modern warlords in history have such a word as departure fees.
Why is there a departure fee? Because in order to save military expenses, these armies have to deduct the money for soldiers' meals from their salaries when they are not fighting in the camp.
But when marching and fighting, the food expenses are paid by the army.
This also led to the fact that if modern warlords wanted to mobilize their armies, they had to pay departure fees, otherwise they would not be able to move.
Not only the armies of modern warlords are like this, but the armies of many feudal dynasties are actually similar.
But the Chu army is different. All the expenses of the Chu army's officers and soldiers, including food, clothing, and supplies, regardless of whether they are marching, fighting or stationed, are provided by the army for free.
Although the total amount of money distributed to the soldiers is not large, it is distributed in real terms. You can use it for pocket money, saving money, and supporting your family as you wish.
Therefore, don't think that the soldiers of the Chu Army were paid less than a yuan as a subsidy... This treatment is much better than that of farmers, factory workers, or other ordinary workers in contemporary times.
Except for the military, no one gives you a full package and leaves it open for you to eat as you please.
After Chu Junli becomes a sergeant, the subsidy will increase a lot, and as the military rank continues to rise, it will continue to increase. If he reaches the level of sergeant major, his monthly salary subsidy will be more than ten yuan.
Moreover, employment can be arranged after retirement, usually directly into various official agencies, mainly patrol police, tax police, etc. If the academic level is relatively high, some civilian positions will also be arranged.
In this life, it is basically stable.
Life is worry-free and decent.
Peng Sanyu also wants to work for a few more years, save more money, and then strive to reach the rank of staff sergeant. This way, when he retires, the treatment arrangements for his career change will be better.
As for career transition arrangements, they are all stipulated based on military rank. There is still a pay gap between corporals and staff sergeants, and it is not small.
But... the northwest frontier is really hard, and I am already in my twenties. I am not married yet. My father has sent letters written by someone to tell him several times, asking him to hurry up and get married, whether it is to find someone locally. It doesn't matter whether you marry your mother-in-law or go back to your hometown to get married. In short, you have to marry someone...
Based on his conditions, many people in his hometown are willing to marry their daughters over.
But Peng Sanyu is far away in the northwest, and it often takes several months to go home. If he gets married in his hometown, it is estimated that the first time he meets his wife will be the wedding, and the second time he meets his wife, the baby will probably be in junior high school...
As for taking leave to go home, it's okay to apply for it once or twice, but it's definitely not okay to apply for it too many times. This army is not run by your family. You can take a few months of leave every year. You want nothing more!
As for getting married in the northwest station... there aren't even many sows in this wretched place, let alone women.
On the front line of Jiayuguan, in addition to the garrison troops, there are a large number of settlement camps and regiments managed by the military.
Whether it is the soldiers in the army or the young people working in the field, they are all men, not a single woman.
There are some girls among local locals and people who come here to do business, but the number is very small... they simply cannot meet the needs of the local garrison and the young people who are stationed there.
The difficulty of getting married in the frontier has become a major problem for frontier soldiers, especially non-commissioned officers who have served in garrison for a long time and middle and low-level officers. It is said that His Majesty has personally taken care of it.
It is said that the superiors are also studying and trying to solve this problem, but before they hear any news, their Second Infantry Division has set off!
Peng Sanyu could only pray that after this battle, the superiors would come up with a solution, whether it was giving people like him more family leave or arranging rotational garrisoning.
But we can't let ourselves, older singles, stay on the front line of Jiayuguan all the time. What kind of marriage would that be?
Ordinary soldiers have nothing to do, they are young, they serve for four years and then leave.
But these non-commissioned officers must serve for at least seven years. The conscripts have a four-year first-term non-commissioned officer contract of three years, which means seven years!
If you continue to do it, then every three years will take ten, even thirteen or even seventeen years...
How can I start a family if I stay on the border all this time?
Not only the non-commissioned officers, but many junior officers also have strong opinions on this. They have served longer than the non-commissioned officers, often more than ten or twenty years.
It is often difficult for low-level officers to mobilize across divisions and armies. The troops are always stationed at the border. It is also difficult for them to solve personal and family problems.
Under such circumstances, how to resolve the marriage? What about families?
These are problems that urgently need to be solved, and now Peng Sanyu can only hope that the superiors will come up with practical and effective measures.
Otherwise, no matter how good the salary in the military is, he will still be prepared to complete the three-year non-commissioned officer contract and retire next year. Even if the salary as a corporal officer is lower, he will retire.
You can't keep treating the five-fingered girl as your wife...
Moreover, there are three types of unfilial piety, the greatest of which is not having an offspring. Although his parents have more than one son, he also has a younger brother.
But he is already in his twenties, so he is considered an older leftover man. In his hometown, many people his age have already given birth to several children.
Not to mention others, his younger brother already has three children...
But Peng Sanyu, the eldest son, was not married yet, which made his parents very anxious.
Just when Peng Sanyu was thinking about retirement, career change and the future, he suddenly heard several gunshots coming from the front!
Then I vaguely heard one of our own scouts galloping back from the periphery, shouting at the same time: "Enemy attack!"
