One attack destroyed more than 150 cavalry troops, which made Danba fearful.
Looking back at Chu Manzi who still maintains the appearance of a hollow vehicle formation in front of him, and the artillery in Chu Manzi's formation still firing at his own troops.
Danba gritted his teeth, then waved his hand and said: "Retreat first!"
There is no point in continuing the fight. The car formation of these Chu barbarians on the opposite side is too weird.
Its firepower far exceeded Danba's expectation. If he didn't give up and wanted to attack again, the losses would be huge.
The most important thing is that one's own losses are not small, but the losses on the other side are extremely limited.
From the visual perspective, because the opponent had a carriage as a support, the bows and arrows and a small number of pistol bullets fired during the attack had no results. The opponent was only killed and wounded dozens of people.
Such a comparison of losses is wrong, and it is too much of a loss for Danba.
You must know that they are cavalry, and they are elite cavalry. The opposite side is just a group of second-rate troops transporting baggage. Not to mention that there are only dozens of casualties on the opposite side, even if there are three or four hundred casualties on the opposite side, it is nothing to Danba. Losing money.
Regardless of whether they are elite or not, just say that the cavalry dispatched by Zhungeer to attack the logistics line is actually only a cavalry like Danba. The total strength is no more than a thousand people. If the loss is too great, then the follow-up may be It would be impossible to continue to organize troops to carry out attacks.
As for sending more troops to attack the Chu army's logistics line, you really think it's Chu barbarian cavalry, but you're lying!
The cavalry of a thousand cavalry can still sneak around and avoid the Chu army's attention from the Gobi desert. But if the scale is large and there are thousands or even tens of thousands of people, the main force of the Chu barbarian cavalry will be killed in minutes. coming.
There are quite a lot of Chu cavalry heading towards Hami. The three cavalry divisions add up to nearly 20,000 cavalry. Once they are intercepted by the main force of the Chu cavalry, the Jungar cavalry that goes out of the city to attack will be finished.
What's more, Zhungeer has no intention of giving up Hami. They are also preparing to gather the main force to fight against the Chu army. Therefore, it is unlikely that they will divide their forces on a large scale to attack from behind.
If the troops are really divided, if Hami doesn't hold on, the large-scale battles in the field will be over, and the partial divisions that attack the logistics will end no better.
Therefore, Zhungeer was relatively cautious when it came to dividing his troops, and only sent a thousand cavalry.
But what about the Chu Manzi opposite?
Even though Danba doesn't know the specific force composition of the Chu barbarians now, he also knows that by transporting troops like this, the Chu barbarians on the opposite side can easily mobilize tens of thousands of people from Jiayuguan in the rear.
If the two sides were to compare consumption, the Zhungeers would not be able to consume the Great Chu Empire.
Not to mention...the current casualty ratio is not due to consumption, but to our own side suffering a huge loss.
If the battle continues, before the Chu barbarian's baggage troops are exhausted, his cavalry will have to be exhausted first.
As a last resort, he could only choose to withdraw his troops.
However, although Danba chose to withdraw his troops, he did not move too far away. Instead, he led his troops to wander a thousand meters away. At the same time, he also sent a small group of reconnaissance cavalry to continue approaching and wander three to four hundred meters away.
Not for offense, but for close proximity for continued reconnaissance.
Danba wanted to find out why the Chu Manzi on the opposite side had such powerful firepower!
But he didn't dare to stay where he was for too long. After staying for about two hours, he saw that the other party had already begun to cook food in the car formation. It seemed that they were preparing to camp for the night, so he knew to continue to stay. Not only is it meaningless, but it is also very likely to be attacked by the main cavalry of the Chu army.
Danba's prediction was not wrong. When the transportation camp of the Second Baggage Regiment was attacked, the Chu army immediately sent out fireworks signals and lit special smoke.
Because this is the Gobi Desert with a relatively flat terrain, the weather is relatively cool, and the visibility is very high. Therefore, the sentry at a small observation post of the Chu army five or six kilometers away to the south immediately saw the signal of the baggage troops and lit it. Specially made smoke was used to notify nearby garrison fortresses.
A garrison fortress of the Chu army, about 20 kilometers away from the transport troops, learned the news only half an hour after the front line was attacked, and began to send a cavalry post to reinforce.
The large garrison city further behind was notified. If nothing unexpected happened, a cavalry regiment would set out on the same day to rescue the transport team, also to destroy the Zhungeer cavalry that had come around behind the Chu army.
The entire reaction was extremely fast. If Danba had left a little later, he might even have been caught directly by the Chu army's cavalry.
In fact, Danba had already led his troops to withdraw before the Chu cavalry arrived, seemingly disappearing into the vast Gobi Desert.
But Yan Guo left traces. The actions of thousands of cavalry had been hiding from the Chu army before. It was fine that they were not discovered by the Chu army. Now that they have jumped out to attack the Chu army's baggage troops and exposed their traces, they want to cover up their traces again. , then it won’t be easy.
As soon as Danba led his troops to evacuate, more than a dozen reconnaissance cavalry came out from the Chu army's baggage troops and followed them. Moreover, each cavalryman was a single horse with three riders, and their mobility exploded...
These Chu army scouts didn't follow too closely. They were actually quite far away from Danba's headquarters. However, with so many people and horses in Danba's headquarters, the Chu army's scouts could easily monitor them even though they were so far away. to the other party's traces and continue to report the information.
As for Danba's desire to send cavalry to kill a carbine and kill these Chu army scouts... that would be too underestimated for the Chu army's cavalry.
In a small-scale melee, it’s hard to say who will hit whom...
Furthermore, the Chu army's reconnaissance cavalry was not there to fight. They were just to monitor the Zhungeer cavalry. If they saw the enemy turn around and pursue them, they could just retreat and avoid it. Basically, there was no need to worry too much about their safety.
After all, these Chu cavalry who can be selected as reconnaissance cavalry have hard to say their ability in charge combat, but they are good at single combat and equestrian skills. And it is worth noting that these people are often nomadic children who have been on horseback since childhood. I grew up in the mountains and am familiar with the Gobi Desert and grasslands.
The Great Chu Empire was not one of those traditional dynasties in Chinese history that could only huddle within the Great Wall.
Today's Great Chu Empire directly controls the entire Monan and indirectly controls Mobei. In addition, it also controls the Liaohetao in the northeast, the Hexi Corridor in Gansu, Qinghai and other regions. These places are all grazing lands.
In addition, Shaanxi in the Central Plains is also a traditional horse breeding place, and then the empire also established a large government-run military horse farm in Yidu, Shandong.
In addition, there are a large number of small and medium-sized horse farms run by the government or enterprises in various places, and these horse farms can provide the military with a large number of horses.
Relying on these grazing lands and various horse farms in the Central Plains, the Chu Empire had no shortage of horses or excellent cavalry who were proficient in equestrian skills.
Even if there were no guns and artillery, and the two sides were simply competing in traditional cavalry and shooting, the cavalry of the Chu Empire Army could defeat the Jungar cavalry on the opposite side... There was no other reason, it was just that they had more cavalry.
Comparing the number of cavalry with the Great Chu Empire, Zhun Geer is really not enough...
After all, Zhungeer is actually just one of the tribes of the Mongolian Mongols. Although Zhungeer has annexed the power of other tribes in recent years, it has not been able to fully integrate the power of the Mongolian Mongols.
In today's desert Mongolia, its power is scattered.
In Mongolia, the desert, the Torgut tribe first broke out into conflict with the Jungar tribe, and later failed in the competition. However, although it was defeated by the Jungar tribe, the tribe did not completely submit to the Jungar tribe, but chose to When he fled westward, he not only escaped by himself, but also took part of the Heshuote and Dulbert tribes with him.
In fact, the Zhungeer tribe only accepted part of the tribe.
The main force of the Heshuo Special Division entered the Qingkang area many years ago, and later fought a war of attrition with the Chu army until it collapsed. In the end, it had to submit and accepted the canonization of the Great Chu Empire. After the Great Chu Empire promised, the Seven After choosing the He River area as their future pasture, they decisively chose to join forces with the Dachu Empire.
In this Western Expedition, a large number of cavalry from the Heshuote tribe participated. Of course, although these Heshuote cavalry came from their tribe, they had already accepted the reorganization of the Chu army.
After these cavalrymen receive a few years of reeducation, almost no one will be stupid enough to work for the so-called princes of the original tribe...
However, the branch of Heshuote left in the Qihe area was annexed by the Zhungeer tribe.
The Huite tribe entered the Qihe area after the Torgut tribe moved westward. Part of the tribe entered Qinghai and has now become part of the Dachu Empire. The remaining part remains in the Qihe area and is now He was held hostage by the Zhungeer tribe.
The Duerbot tribe used to support the Dongji people and sent troops to fight with the Ming army many times together with the Dongji people. Later, they fought against the Chu army under the banner of the Dongji people and were beaten to death by the Chu army. But the foundation was not damaged.
In recent years, as the Chu Empire became more and more powerful in Monan and northwest regions, they allied with Zhungeer in order to protect themselves.
A series of conquests and alliances between the various tribes of the Desert Mongolia, coupled with the eyeing gaze of foreign enemies. This foreign enemy was Tsarist Russia before and is now the Great Chu Empire. Eventually, the tribes of the Desert Mongolia who stayed in the Qihe area formed the Yizhungar The Moxi regime with the Ministry as the core was called Zhungeer in the Chu Empire.
Zhungeer and Zhungeer Department, these are two concepts!
The newly born Jungar, based in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, continued to invade and annex other tribes, national territories and people, plundering craftsmen and wealth.
And with the rapid rise of the Dachu Empire, their actions have become more and more urgent and faster. In the past few years, they have successively annexed large areas of tribes in surrounding areas, defeated Kazakhstan, and gained a large number of territories. As well as population and wealth, they also won victories in several wars against the Yarkand Khanate.
Finally, this year they could not help but launch a war against the remnants of the Yarkand Khanate, the only remaining eastern territory of the Yarkand Khanate, and launched a war to destroy the country.
The Yerqiang Khanate was wiped out by Zhungeer's powerful attack, but this also attracted a strong counterattack from the Great Chu Empire!
With the slogan of avenging the vassal state, expelling foreign enemies, and protecting the country, tens of thousands of Chu troops brazenly rushed all the way from Jiayuguan to Hami.
This was also the first large-scale westward march of the Central Plains Dynasty's army in more than a hundred years since the Ming Dynasty withdrew from Yumen Pass.
It was the first time since the Tang Dynasty, around 760 AD, that an army from the Central Plains Dynasty attacked Hami for the first time in more than 800 years, and truly tried to expand its territory in the Western Regions!
Of course, this is talking about direct control. If it were a vassal state, this place would have been a vassal area of China for a long time. Not only Hami, but also places farther west were vassal areas of the Chinese Dynasty.
Let’s not talk about the dynasties in ancient times. Let’s talk about the Great Chu Empire. Many years ago, the Yarkand Khanate became a vassal state of the Great Chu Empire. The territory of the Yarkand Khanate was quite large. After all, this Khanate Its predecessor was the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.
The Eastern Chagatai Khanate was also the Chagatai Khanate.
Put this way, the legal territory of the Yarkand Khanate is very large.
The Yarkand Khanate is a vassal state of the Great Chu Empire, which means that the territory of the Great Chu Empire occupies the entire Western Region, and also extends to the Aral Sea.
Therefore, sometimes it is beneficial to acquire vassal states. At least when expanding, you don't have to make any territorial claims... because they are already part of the empire!
If you want to be shameless, the Yarkand Khanate is a vassal state of the empire, and the predecessor of the Yarkand Khanate is the Chagatai Khanate, and the Chagatai Khanate is part of the Mongol Empire... Rounding it off, Mongolia The empire was also a vassal state of the Great Chu Empire, even though it had already perished.
But it doesn’t matter... the Yarkand Khanate can be regarded as the orthodox successor state of the Mongol Empire, and then the legal territory of the Yarkand Khanate can extend all the way to the Danube River...
In other words, the Da Chu Empire had legal claims to the areas east of the Danube River. These places were the empire's undisputed imperial territory.
Of course, these statements are just meaningless self-pleasure. There is no point in opening the map, and the empire's senior officials don't like this statement very much.
Because if there are legal claims to these places, wouldn’t it be unreasonable to attack places without legal claims in the future?
Only the weak will find various reasons to prove their legitimacy.
A strong person does not need to justify his actions.
The Chu Empire never made excuses for its expansion in the Nanyang region... I have set my sights on the Nanyang Peninsula and the Strait of Malacca, and I just want to rob it.
Not convinced?
You bite me?
Nowadays, it is similar in the Western Regions. Although they shouted a sentence to avenge the Yarkand Khanate at the beginning, they only shouted one or two words at the beginning. Who will remember the Yarkand Khanate after the fight started.
Go straight all the way, and the newly occupied place is the territory directly under the empire!
Luo Zhixue has no intention of reestablishing the Yarkand Khanate in the Western Regions. Since this Khanate has perished, it should be allowed to disappear in the long river of history.
As for how to deal with these new territories acquired, and how else to deal with them, it is natural to establish administrative governance agencies and directly fall under the jurisdiction of the empire.
The Gansu Governor's Yamen has established two prefectures, Guazhou Prefecture and Hami Prefecture, with several counties and towns under them to govern the surrounding areas.
As for the area further west, that is, the area west of Hami, it depends on how the war with Jungar goes. If there is not much resistance, logistics supplies can also come up.
Then it is possible to continue attacking to the west, even to Yin Ning.
On the other hand, if the difficulty is too great, for example, if logistics and transportation are too troublesome, and if Zhungeer's resistance is relatively determined, then the empire will not choose to fight to the death in the Western Region.
The Great Chu Empire's war in the Western Region and Jungar was relatively flexible. Anyway, there were only so many troops dispatched and only so much money and food provided. The military could fight wherever they could.
Within the military, their goals are actually not high. The main strategic goal is to capture Hami and seize Hami and the surrounding large oasis areas.
As long as we can capture the Hami region, we can rely on the local oases for cultivation and grazing to support the army.
As long as they settle in the local area for two or three years, the Chu Empire will be able to use the grain and grass supplied by Hami and Guazhou in the rear to maintain the local garrison and launch wars.
By that time, it will be time for the Chu Empire to continue to expand westward.
When playing expansion in the Western Region, it is unrealistic to directly play rush all the way, kill the opponent quickly and occupy large areas.
This is not a question of whether you can survive, but a question of whether you will starve to death after going deep into the hinterland of the Gobi Desert...
It is easy to send out hundreds of thousands of troops, but if the logistics cannot keep up and there is a lack of food in the local area, it will be difficult not to starve to death after these hundreds of thousands of troops are sent out!
Therefore, the empire's expansion in the Western Region advocates a step-by-step approach and advancement layer by layer!
Capture an oasis, colonize an oasis, and then march to the next oasis. Repeat this cycle until you reach the Qihe area, directly wiping out all the Jungar people's nests.
And Hami is the most important goal of the Chu Empire now, and for this purpose, it has not hesitated to dispatch the absolute main force of the Fourth Cavalry Army.
In addition to the Fourth Cavalry Corps fighting at the front, several troops from behind began to go out and garrison Guazhou and other towns along the way to maintain the logistics line.
The 86th Cavalry Regiment was one of the troops transferred from the rear.
Their predecessor was a temporary cavalry battalion that was hastily established in the later stages of the Eastern Capture War. At the beginning, their strength was only about two hundred surrendered Mongolian cavalry.
Later, they were reorganized with other cavalry units, and were finally reorganized into the 86th Cavalry Regiment, which was under the jurisdiction of the 22nd Cavalry Division. The resources under their jurisdiction were also adjusted. Like other friendly forces of the 22nd Cavalry Division, All the troops are from Liaodong Province.
Liaodong Province has the Liaohetao area with rich water and grass. This place is currently the most important grazing land in the hinterland of the empire. The empire has made adjustments to the area many times and moved a large number of people to graze locally. It also adopts a fixed grazing system.
In this way, because of the existence of the Liaohetao area, Liaodong Province not only became an important supplier of military horses to the empire, but also an important supplier of cavalry to the empire.
At present, the empire has a total of eight independent cavalry divisions whose cavalry all come from the Liaohetao area. This also leads to the fact that although Liaodong Province has a small population, it provides the empire with the largest number of cavalry.
By the way, due to local dialects, living habits, service in other places, etc., in order to facilitate command and management, each army in the Da Chu Empire has a fixed recruitment area for troops.
This is true for both infantry and cavalry, and even the navy is similar.
For example, the Second Infantry Division that is fighting on the front line is replenishing its soldiers in Chubei Province. In other words, the Second Infantry Division only recruits new soldiers and replenishes them in Chubei Province. Unless there are extreme special circumstances, it will not replenish its troops. of recruits from other provinces.
In the Second Infantry Division, the subordinate battalions and regiments will also be divided, and the recruitment of troops will basically be carried out on a prefectural basis.
There is no way, Mandarin is not fully popularized these days, and many people cannot speak Mandarin at all. If soldiers who do not understand the language are grouped together, then communication will be like a chicken talking to a duck...
Although this will lead to localism within the army, overall it is not a big problem... because these measures are limited to soldiers and non-commissioned officers.
Officers are not included, and officers are now even more restricted in their employment. In addition to not being able to serve in their hometown, they cannot serve in an army that is mainly composed of soldiers from their hometown.
For example, among the officers of the Second Infantry Division, from second lieutenant to major general, there is not a single one from Chubei.
In an army, officers are the core. Without the orders of officers, the army cannot actually be in chaos.
In addition, the military has been firmly implementing the literacy class policy. All recruits need to attend literacy classes to study after entering the military. Loyalty education is naturally indispensable in this process.
In the army of the Great Chu Empire, there were military and political officers. These military and political officers did nothing every day, so they just hung out in the army to educate and brainwash the emperor...
In the long run, localism has not been a big problem for the time being.
Of course, the risk is still very high, and the top military leaders of the empire have plans to carry out reforms.
In the future, when grassroots education becomes more popular and Mandarin becomes more common, and all new recruits can speak Mandarin, and there are no obstacles for soldiers from other places, then it will be time to break through local limitations.
As for now, there is still a long way to go, whichever of the two evils is better. After all, the Chu Empire is now in a stage of rapid rise, and in this case, the possibility of military villains is relatively low, so the so-called harm can be controlled and accepted.
What is more important is to ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops. This can also be seen from the 86th Cavalry Regiment. Although this cavalry regiment is not the main cavalry unit in the Chu army, but one of many second-line cavalry units.
However, after receiving the report that the forward transport team was attacked, they were immediately promoted to assembly and dispatched.
Then they marched quickly and arrived at the temporary camp of the First Battalion of the Second Baggage Regiment in the evening of the same day.
After the First Battalion was attacked by Jungar cavalry, in order to avoid accidents, they actively chose to garrison on the spot and did not take the risk of moving forward.
However, although their transport team did not move, they continued to send out reconnaissance cavalry to closely follow the traces of Jungerdanba's troops.
After the 86th Cavalry Regiment arrived here and learned the information about Danba's headquarters, especially when they learned that the enemy's army only numbered a thousand cavalry, the regiment decided to continue the pursuit.
The safety of the first baggage battalion was protected by a cavalry sentry sent from a nearby fort.
The 86th Cavalry Regiment came and left in a hurry, and soon disappeared into the wilderness.
Peng Sanyu looked at the 86th Cavalry Regiment disappearing on the horizon and breathed a sigh of relief. With this cavalry regiment here, there would not be much danger for his transport team to continue moving forward.
Even if the 86th Cavalry Regiment was unable to catch up and defeat the enemy cavalry, it could still contain them to some extent, so that their First Baggage Battalion could continue to advance with confidence.
But when Peng Sanyu felt relieved, Danba in front felt very bad!
