stubborn thief

Chapter 384 Chase

The battlefield is the darkest place in the human heart, and every knife and gun is aimed at a living person.

Every general who has experienced many battles is not only an excellent commander, but also a master who has insight into people's hearts.

Tang Qi is a special force that has made great contributions to Liu Chengzong. They cover the battlefield, block sight, and artificially create a fog, which brings fear to the enemy trapped in it.

Especially at this time when dusk is approaching. Enemies shrouded in this fear usually dig trenches and set up camps on the spot and dare not move around. After a whole night of scaring themselves, they are finally completely defeated at dawn.

Liu Chengzong has fought many battles like this, but this time there was a little accident.

Tang Qi's chief Ma Xiang hurriedly found Liu Chengzong who was leading the army to move, and reported: "Commander, Tang Qi can't stop, the enemy is breaking out to the south!"

Ma Xiang was also a surrendered general, and he was born outside the mouth in his early years. He was the commander of the Tangqi Baizong of He Huchen's second batch of Ningxia Army. He surrendered to Dai Daozi during the battle of Hehuang.

Because most of the Tangqi who surrendered in the same group were his subordinates, and they had no relatives in Ningxia, they were awarded the post of general manager of Tangqi by Liu Chengzong.

"He still dares to move, dare to move south?"

It was a very brave move for Liu Chengzong to be surrounded by Tang Qi, blinded from all sides, and dared to run elsewhere. The enemy general was very courageous and saw through the illusion of Tang Qi's encirclement.

But running to the south... It's a wrong attack, Liu Shizi really has no intention of sending troops to the south to encircle him.

On the one hand, because the army had traveled 140 miles, the mules were exhausted. Even if it was just encircling from two directions nearby, they still needed to ride horses, and they had no energy left to encircle them on all sides.

On the other hand, it is because the south is the escape direction left by the enemy army in his plan, because there is Ela Qingshan, as long as the direction leading to the Yangqu Ferry is blocked, the enemy will not be able to escape. .

Because there are mountains in the south.

Mount Ela is the northern branch of the Kunlun Mountains, and the locals call that mountain Qingshan.

Liu Shizi is very familiar with that place. Last year, he marched all the way from Nangqian to the north. In the valley where he could not escape, he defeated Ahai Daiqing's catapult, and the battlefield where Chuoketu general Guyang Batuer was killed was in Qingshan. Wudao River in the south.

Even if the enemy general manages to climb over the green hill, there is no way to come back. There is only one road to the south. The higher the altitude, the higher the altitude. After a long journey to the highest altitude, he will meet the general of the Marshal's Mansion Cao Yao.

In the Gobi desert at dusk, the [-]-step cavalry of Oirat Durbert moved southward, and the Tang cavalry of the Marshal's Mansion surrounded them like a pack of wolves, and Liu Chengzong's main force followed them all the way.

This is an encounter that has never happened before for the coaches of both sides.

Da Lai Taiji had never seen Tang Qi's method of covering the battlefield with musketeers, and it was the first time Liu Chengzong encountered such an astute opponent.

During the pursuit, Liu Chengzong gritted his teeth while leaning on his horse, and ordered to the guards: "Remember to remind me after the war, let the Military Weapons Bureau equip the pond soldiers with barbed wire!"

Iron caltrops and carbine-rejecting guns were the standing equipment of the army as early as the Qin and Han Dynasties. However, due to the weak foundation of the war industry and the lack of raw materials, the Marshal's Mansion could only concentrate on making guns, so that these things were very scarce in the Marshal's Mansion.

But now this form can be reversed. With the occupation of the Hehuang Valley, a large population and mines, the problem of raw materials has been solved, and these short boards can be filled in the future.

If every Tangqi had a small basket of that thing, it would play a big role in restricting the enemy's movement, at least there would be no situation where they were helpless against the enemy's large-scale movement.

Liu Chengzong's horsepower was insufficient, and Oirat's infantry and cavalry were mixed, and the distance between the two sides was limited. After chasing for half an hour, it was almost dark, and they were still separated by seven or eight miles.

Until near the foot of the green hill, Oirat's [-]-step rider was finally rushed for a while.

From a long distance, Liu Chengzong saw through the binoculars that a cavalry team was approaching the enemy army from the outside, galloping towards the Oirat army formation surrounded by Tangqi.

The cavalry was only about [-] riders, and they were divided into four cone formations. The young general at the head was holding a long-handled Guan knife. Liu Chengzong recognized Ma Ke at a glance.

His Guan Dao was snatched from Gao Yingxiang.

The cavalry cone formation broke through the elastic defense line of the Tangqi, and plunged into the thousands of cavalry troops moving south, like hot oil pouring cold water, causing the enemy to explode instantly.

After only a moment of fighting, the three cone formations pierced through the enemy army from south to north, and stabbed out from the torn apart formation.

Liu Chengzong could see clearly that the other cone formation was led by Ma Ke himself. They were not buried in the formation by the enemy, but when they were about to break through the enemy formation, they followed Ma Ke and turned around and bit the enemy fiercely.

The reason why the enemy army dispersed was not because they were killed by Ma Ke's cavalry. To a large extent, the enemy army knew that the army was behind, and they did not dare to fight.

At this time, Liu Chengzong gradually guessed the strategy of the fleeing enemy general, sent troops to meet Ma Ke, and at the same time found the general Ma Xiang of the Tang cavalry. , and send another person to contact Marshal Yang of the West Road, and order him to come to help as soon as possible."

Ma Xiang didn't understand the meaning of the order, but he had recently changed his family, so he didn't dare to ask, so he could only accept the order with the obedience he had cultivated in his military career for a long time.

On his side, he held his fists to accept the order, pulled his horse back and conveyed the order to his subordinates, and selected a few Tang soldiers from the Ningxia Tang soldiers under his command who had the experience of not accepting overnight stays, and told them to find the location of Yang Yao's troops.

He Huchen from Zhengzheng heard Liu Chengzong's order, stepped forward in doubt, and asked, "The commander-in-chief thinks that there are reinforcements for the more than 2000 Oirat Tartars?"

At sunset, they could already see the huge shadow of the green hills to the south.

Liu Chengzong looked back at the tired He Huchen, didn't directly express his guess, but just smiled: "General He is tired?"

He Huchen shook his head, cupped his fists and said: "The last general dare not."

In the past few years, He Huchen often led his army to travel hundreds of miles a day in order to chase the bandits, but those marching experiences were different from those with Liu Chengzong.

In the Ming army, he was the commander-in-chief. Even if the imperial court was weak, before Liu Chengzong snatched all the horses from the Guyuan Prison Office, he always chased the enemy on horseback.

Even if Liu Chengzong robbed the pastoral office, for He Huchen and other generals, it was nothing more than limiting the scale of their pursuit of troops, and they were still riding on horseback.

The soldiers, war horses, weapons and equipment, food and supplies provided by the imperial court are all consumables for the generals. Even if it is said that they love soldiers like sons, it does not mean that soldiers are really sons. Loving soldiers like sons is just one of the means of victory.

After all, soldiers belong to the imperial court, even if they are called servants, they are only special arms that the imperial court allows generals to recruit, and they do not belong to generals.

As far as war horses are concerned, He Huchen may have killed [-] or [-] horses in his lifetime.

But this is different in the Marshal's Mansion. The regular army of the Marshal's Mansion is not allowed to ride horses, and even donkeys and mules are usually only used to carry armor and supplies, and no one is allowed to ride.

More than half of the 140-mile trek was made by people walking out with their legs. Later, they put on mail armor and let people ride on the back of mules.

Since He Huchen became an officer, since when did he suffer this crime... But he can't say that he has any grievances, because the whole army is the same, except for the Tang soldiers who must ride horses, even Liu Chengzong followed the team, and did not ride on the horses until the Tang soldiers sent a warning .

In fact, he is already the best performer. Wang Chengen and Yang Qi are also in the conscription team, and they have fallen behind to carry luggage with the material officer Zuoying.

Liu Chengzong smiled and comforted him: "When you capture Yangqu City, burn hot water and soak your feet well."

After finishing speaking, he raised his whip and pointed south: "Earlier, I thought that these Wala people were in a panic, but after Ma Ke's rush, they still went south firmly, and I am afraid they had a purpose."

"It's not like fleeing south to Kangning Mansion. They are not so familiar with this place, so there is only one possibility. They want to stand firm at the foot of Qingshan and wait for help."

He Huchen reined in the reins, looked at Liu Chengzong, then looked at the green hills to the south, and said: "That mountain is not easy to climb."

"That's why I think the Oirats have other reinforcements."

As Liu Chengzong spoke, he led He Huchen to the side of the sand dunes, leaving aside the path made by the soldiers with their mule hoofs, and a row of soldiers walked forward beside the two of them. Mules, they can't escape, but Qingshan is not easy to walk."

He Huchen is a veteran, even though he is not familiar with the terrain, he quickly figured it out. Right now they are chasing, the enemy is fleeing, and a green hill is in front of them. Said there was hope of escape.

Thinking of this, he was pleasantly surprised and said: "Commander, since you have already guessed the enemy's purpose, why don't you send a partial division, with only [-] cavalry, to detour to the left of the mountain, and the ambush will surely win a big victory if it is early, and it will be able to plan if it is too late." Chase."

Liu Chengzong was not as high as He Huchen imagined. He shook his head and said, "General He doesn't know the terrain of Qingshan. There is only one road in the mountain to pass the cavalry, but the detour is extremely long, and the loss outweighs the gain. My idea is to expel them to the mountain. When the artillery team comes over, attack directly sheep song."

Qingshan is difficult for infantry to cross. On the north and south sides of the only mountain road that can pass carriages and horses, the Marshal's Mansion has established post stations, which happen to be at the foot of the mountain.

The straight-line distance between the two post stations is 22 miles, but the road distance is 110 miles.

If they abandon their luggage and take the risk, the Oirat army only needs to travel twenty miles to reach Shannan in no time, and even the cavalry cannot catch up.

"Attack Yangqu directly?"

He Huchen first thought that if the enemy army came to aid from the east of the river and turned the banks of Yangqu into the main battlefield, the enemy army in the mountainous area on the west flank of the river would become a threat to the main force.

But immediately afterwards, he nodded to indicate that he had understood, and said, "That's why the Commander-in-Chief wants to send Marshal Yang to send troops to help, right?"

Liu Chengzong nodded in satisfaction, making sure that He Huchen had understood his strategic intentions, and then asked, "What do you think of this arrangement, General He?"

He Huchen tentatively looked at Liu Chengzong's expression, and made sure that the Generalissimo was not angry, so he clasped his fists and said, "General, the general thinks that capturing Yangqu is worse than not capturing it."

"Unless Brigade Commander Yang arrives as soon as possible, the two main forces of our army will be blocked by the Yellow River, and the Oirat Tartars will know that the commander is carrying heavy artillery. It is better to besiege Qingshan, deliberately open a gap for him to ask for help, and wait for the enemy's reinforcements to cross the river, in order to speed up win."

Hearing the word quick victory, a smile appeared on Liu Chengzong's face.

For a military commander like He Huchen, even if he changes his family, he won't be able to get rid of his habit of wanting to win quickly.

Because I am used to lack of food.

In terms of various military supplies, compared with the imperial court, the Marshal's Mansion is extremely poor; but in terms of military supplies, Liu Chengzong's Marshal's Mansion is much richer than the imperial court's army.

Liu Chengzong didn't need a quick victory, what he needed was to give the Oirat coalition forces a strong blow so that they would not dare to violate the border in the future.

However, He Huchen's suggestion is very meaningful, because at this moment, He Huchen's thinking probably coincides with that of the Oirat leaders who are short of soldiers and food.

Oirat must have wanted a battle.

Liu Chengzong looked at the green hills in the distance and nodded slowly. He could indeed create an opportunity to give Oirat a battle, a battle he will never forget.

Soon, night fell.

Dalai Taiji, who had fled for dozens of miles in embarrassment, finally arrived at the northern foot of Qingshan Mountain, but his mood was not relieved for a moment because of his escape.

Escaping from Tangqi's encirclement is a big gamble, the bet is that the encirclement of the Marshal's Mansion has not yet been closed, so far it seems that he has won the bet.

If he hesitated for half an hour, a bonfire glowing in the darkness in the distance would fall on his army like a pack of wolves and tear them to pieces.

Just as He Huchen didn't know much about the terrain here, Dalai Taiji didn't know much about Qingshan. He always knew that there were mountains here, so he wanted to use the mountains to stop the Tangqi of the Han army.

But when he abandoned his livestock and fled to the mountains, he got pleasant and annoying news from the spies.

The top of the mountain is starting to melt snow due to the hot weather, making it difficult to climb, and people cannot climb this mountain to the other side.

This is both good news and bad news.

On the hill at night, Dalaitaiji comforted himself: at least they don't have to worry about the water source they are guarding.

Gritting his teeth, Dalaitaiji ordered people to dig fortifications, build trenches, and prepare earth and rocks on the mountain road. At the same time, they sent people to touch the direction of Yangqu City under the cover of night, trying to ask for help from Guoshi Khan in the east.

Soon, exciting news came from Yangqu City.

Thousands of Han troops camped five miles away from the foot of the mountain. Although they sent cavalry to take away their camels, cattle, sheep and horses, the people seemed very tired after the long journey and had no intention of forcibly attacking the mountain tonight. They had already set fire to the camp. The bonfire roasted the lamb and ate it.

In the direction of the ferry of the Yellow River, a Han army of nearly a thousand people lit torches and was besieging the stronghold of Yangqu City. They had no artillery and used wooden chariots as cover to shoot at the defenders of the city with muskets, bows and arrows.

The two sides are coming and going, and the defenders of the east city are building a pontoon bridge to support the west city. It seems that there is no sign of falling across the city in a short time.

The most important thing is that the five messengers of Duerbert's department desperately passed the enemy's garrison area. One of the soldiers crossed the enemy's siege camp and jumped into the Yellow River with a width of [-] to [-] steps. The army picked it up and sent the news of Dalai Taiji's besieged help to the other side.

While the bonfire was flickering, Dalaitaiji clenched his fists and encouraged the princes of Duerbert's tribe sitting around him: "We will definitely be able to return to Tianshan Mountain after two days of watching!"

　good evening!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)