stubborn thief

Chapter 482 Dilemma
Cao Wenzhao has no special skills.

It is to highlight the high efficiency of murder. Four years after entering the customs, there were a total of 400 million registered people in Shaanxi. Cao Wenzhao led troops to chop off more than 6000 heads.

He is a professional at massacring mobs, and even if he leads them to massacre mobs, few people in the world are more experienced than him.

Xie Erhu's Mongolian soldiers appeared in Zhuanglangwei Hexi, and Cao Wenzhao's subordinates fired trumpet guns to warn them. The soldiers stood up in a matt in a short time. Did not rush in front of it.

In fact, the army was in a panic, even Cao Wenzhao himself was a little panicked, no one was building camps and wearing armor.

In his entire 3000-man camp, less than one-third of the soldiers were dressed in full armor.

In a very short period of time, Cao Wenzhao measured the distance of the enemy cavalry, the time for the soldiers to wear armor, and even judged the type of the enemy army, and directly asked his subordinates to stand in the simplest and fastest low-level camp that can be listed .

He chose a simple camp commonly used by generals below the commander-in-chief. It was very simple, with four sentry infantry and ten sentry cavalry.

This army formation is the fastest in formation, and is often used when the enemy cavalry has the upper hand in attacking the crowd with fewer troops.

Forming the formation is the fastest. Frontier soldiers often say that there is a small exercise every three days, and a big exercise every five days. This is the camp of the small exercise. There is no need for a joint camp to practice. A management team can lead the team to practice by themselves, and beat a horse thief Ping a rebellion is very useful.

The reason why it is not a big camp is because there is no place reserved for the protection of luggage in the camp. Generally, the joint camps of the Ming army are hollow, and the innermost part has to store supplies and animals.

The moment he saw the enemy army, Cao Wenzhao had already considered the artillery and luggage outside the camp, and judged that there was no time to pull them into the formation, so he directly ordered the assembly and threw everything outside to distract the enemy army.

This plan was very successful, and Xie Erhu's attention from top to bottom was focused on those supplies.

Naturally, the shepherds paid attention to rations and supplies, while the Mongolian generals who led the team to gallop focused on the artillery.

Cannons are the lifelong enemy of the Mongolian cavalry, but because of this, they are more attractive to Mongolian generals than anything else in the world.

Fortunately, their military discipline has been good in the past two or three years since they joined the Marshal's Mansion. Even though they looked eagerly at the artillery, they still did not simply mess up. They just separated a few teams to seize the artillery and supplies.

The brigade didn't stop there, and quickly spread out dozens of groups to encircle and occupy the entire battlefield from three sides.

When the chaotic horseshoes on the battlefield gradually quieted down, dozens of Mongolian horse teams preparing to charge were raging in three directions. Each horse team was composed of loose teams in groups of three or four, leaning on their saddles and waiting for the general's order.

At the last moment of this threatening situation, A Haidaiqing actually tried hard to dissuade Xie Erhu from rushing forward. He said: "Let's surround ourselves, the Ming army likes to stand by and wait for reinforcements, as if everyone didn't know that the reinforcements would never arrive. .”

But Xie Erhu only thought for a moment before rejecting this proposal. It is true that the Ming army's reinforcements will never arrive, but this camp is now the most vulnerable time to be breached.

It's really embarrassing to be pierced head-on when all the reckless men in the phalanx put on their armor and prepare to attack?

My family knows their own affairs, and Xie Erhu knows very well that the Ming army is really ready to risk their lives. His Mongolian soldiers can't stop him. Get ready, just surround and crash to death.

Almost only paused for a short moment, Xie Erhu, who was surrounded by military flags, waved forward, and the guards standing beside him shot Ming Dy into the sky. Amidst the sharp sound of arrows, horse teams stomped up to Cao Wenzhao's army formation. All three sides collided.

All of a sudden, the feather arrows flew, and the Mongolian horse teams on the west, south, and east sides performed their duties and tried their best.

In each direction, there are three cavalry formations to form light cavalry teams galloping and plundering formations and attacking the formations, repeating the cycle; six cavalry formations dismount and form two or three batches of infantry to charge, prepare, and prepare; Riding, wearing heavy armor, holding a long pole, ready for the final ramming cavalry.

The Ming army's response was not quick, or Cao Wenzhao also planned to let the soldiers counterattack quickly. He just asked the cavalry inside the matt to get ready and put half vests on the mounts.

The purpose of the phalanx is not to stand still and be beaten. After all, there are very few opportunities for the two armies to discuss and agree on the time and place of the battle. More encounters cannot start with the front line unfolded. The way of loss is the square matrix.

It's just that the battlefield is unfair most of the time, and many armies simply can't hold on to the step of opening the front line, and are defeated before forming a phalanx.

This thing is similar to a frame in fighting. The purpose of the frame is the same as that of the formation. Before knowing what kind of attack method the opponent uses, try to use a form of both offense and defense to prevent yourself from being overwhelmed by a punch or collapsed by a single blow. .

Take the move first, then make the move.

The Mongolian cavalry coming in like a tide approached, shot, and circled one after another. Cao Wenzhao's army formation was slightly disturbed on three sides, but the formation was not in chaos.

For a large number of soldiers from Ningxia and Gansu in the army, the galloping of Mongolian cavalry is not new. Their cloth armor and bowls can defend against most flying arrows.

As for the commotion, it wasn't because of the new recruits in the army, it was precisely because the veterans in the army were surprised by the group of Mongolian soldiers belonging to the Marshal's Mansion... they could afford to forge arrows with steel!

They are trying to urge the Mongolian soldiers in the army to stop hiding and upgrade to the Iron Age.

In fact, many of Cao Wenzhao's Mongolian soldiers are still shooting with stone arrows or cast iron arrows.

For the Yiding cavalry, wouldn't it be nice to keep the forged arrowheads sent by the Liangzhou guards for hunting?Why do you use it to shoot people? If you don’t kill a person with one arrow, he will take all your arrows away. Hunting is different, without armor, the prey will definitely die.

The Ming army stretched their bows and arrows on three sides, and the line formed by the three-eyed blunderbuss, spears, and sword shields was unbreakable. Seeing that the harassment of the nomadic herdsmen was not effective, a row of dismounted nomadic infantry drove the poor horses to cover the lead. Get ready for hand to hand combat.

Cao Wenzhao is also ready to fight hand to hand.

It's just that the direction of his dispatch is not the front, but the fourth side after the encirclement on three sides, the side that is not involved in the battle in the north direction.

That was originally the direction the Mongolian cavalry left for them to flee, that is, the area surrounded by three square miles, but when Cao Wenzhao's command flag was unfurled, the northern horizontal line broke through from the middle, and the cloaked cavalry came out, and the army formed a solid formation. shape.

Then the cavalry marched out in two groups, leading the troops to spread out to the east and west sides, forming a huge width with the cavalry.

This is going to be fatal, no one can stand the flank attack, not to mention that this is a group of half-suited cavalry with iron armor and half armor on their horses, and their deterrent power is full.

A crazy scene appeared in front of Xie Erhu's eyes. After the Mongolian cavalry encircled on three sides failed several times in their tentative assaults, the dismounted herdsmen engaged in close combat and tried to charge.

Following several rounds of shocks, the physical strength of the soldiers in the Ming army's phalanx was rapidly declining, and the fronts that lacked replacement soldiers loosened in many places.

For Xie Erhu, breaking the formation is just around the corner.

Just at this time, a cavalry squad of the Ming Army formed a loose horizontal line in the north of the battlefield, and rushed towards the flanks of the Mongolian infantry on the east and west wings.

Everyone knows very well that the flanks formed by the dismounted shepherds, let alone withstand the impact of these cavalry, will collapse within a hundred or two hundred steps before they fight.

Therefore, the Mongolian cavalry with hooks and sickles in the rear immediately attacked, trying to intercept the cavalry of the Ming army who appeared on the flank.

However, in front of the cavalry of the Ming army in small groups, most of the Mongolian cavalry will actively choose to turn their horses to retreat when a collision opportunity arises. At the cost of being chased, he turned his horse's head and retreated.

However, the cavalry of the Ming army can always move forward.

Xie Erhu's worldview collapsed in an instant, it's fucking unscientific!

In fact, the performance of the Mongolian cavalry is the normal performance of the elite cavalry. Among the dozen or so cavalry that fought briefly, four cavalry dared to face the enemy head-on. This is already a very high proportion.

In the Battle of Hehuang, the cavalry of the Marshal’s Mansion led by Yang Yao confronted the cavalry of the Ming Army. The ratio of real collisions was not as high as this battle. It was because the generals of the academy specially stamped their thoughts when educating the cavalry officers, telling them a hundred Only three of the cavalry were brave men who dared to charge.

Why would Cao Wenzhao's cavalry of the Ming army dare to hit like this?
Equipment determines the style of play.

This kind of half armor gives the cavalry a great psychological advantage. First of all, its weight is much lighter than that of the full armor. There is no protection in these places where the big armor is hung, so the mobility is not bad.

Secondly, its protection is very strong. During the collision, its frontal protection is equal to that of a fully equipped cavalry.

The advantages of riding this kind of war horse in a cavalry duel are far greater than it seems.

Under normal circumstances, cavalry rarely collide with each other, from the general to the cavalry. When two cavalry meet, they can choose too many tactics. Opportunity to get rid of enemy cavalry and provide advantages for your own infantry and artillery.

Even if they were driven away from the battlefield, certain tactical effects could be achieved. After all, to drive them away, the enemy cavalry also had to stay away from the battlefield, not to mention that they could find a chance to come back and hit other troops later.

However, when this kind of half-mounted cavalry encounters an opportunity for a cavalry duel, most of them will directly hit it.

Because of their equipment, they are very fast in collisions, but less efficient in chasing and driving away.

They either use the protection equivalent to a fully equipped cavalry to charge in frontal formation, or use the protection ability equivalent to riding a naked horse to turn around and run away. A fool knows which choice to choose-go forward without hesitation.

Xie Erhu watched helplessly as more than a dozen Mongolian cavalry evaded the impact one by one. Only four cavalry collided with the enemy's spears.

In the collision, the proportion of cavalrymen who fell from their horses was almost the same. They were both a hedge and only a few cavalry fell from their horses. However, the difference was that the cavalry of the Ming army had better protection. The horse soldiers' leather armor and breast shields were relatively simple, and they couldn't get up if they were stabbed.

What's more, most of the cavalry on both sides aimed at the enemy's mount when they collided. The vitality of the horse is tenacious, and even if it suffers a fatal blow, it is still difficult to die.

The war horses of the Ming army may or may not have been injured. Even if they were injured, it would not be a big problem to continue running. However, the horses of the Mongolian soldiers lacked protection, and the chances of being fatally injured were much higher. Even if they did not die on the spot, there was still a lot of blood flow More than that, he lost the ability to continue maneuvering.

It's just a simple set of vests, which brought disaster to Xie Erhu's Mongolian brigade. At this time, it is meaningless to penetrate the infantry line of the Ming army.

The large-width Ming army cavalry swept directly from north to south like a mountain top, and the Mongolian cavalry encountered on the way fled, and even the dismounted infantry who were fighting were dispersed.

Several loose and broken fronts on the entire Ming army phalanx were also defeated by the Ming army because of the lack of successor soldiers and could not continue to expand their advantages. A large horizontal team followed the team to cover up and kill them in the south.

Teams of semi-armored cavalry led by Cao Wenzhao, like stone rollers sweeping across the Zhuanglang River, drove the Mongolian cavalry southward.

In an instant, the offensive and defensive situation on the battlefield changed, and Cao Wenzhao commanded each of the shock formations to stabilize his footsteps, and sent messengers to urge the friendly troops behind him to advance.

He is a sensible person, knowing that Hong Chengchou sent him to Zhuanglanghe not to kill the enemy, but to infiltrate Ding Shaoyin and Chai Shihua.

The so-called defeat is like a mountain, which means that the collapse of an army will lead to the collapse of allies who were not determined, and vice versa for the victor.

The victory of the friendly army strengthened the determination of Chai Shihua and Ding Shaoyin. The two legions stationed near Zhuang Langwei immediately joined in the pursuit and were persuaded to go back.

Cao Wenzhao does not need them to join the ranks of beating dogs in the water. In the entire Zhuanglang River Basin, which is more than [-] miles deep, the Marshal's army is no longer in danger. What he needs is to chase and fight fiercely to ensure that these Mongolian cavalry have no chance to regroup. .

The mission of Chai Shihua and Ding Shaoyin was to besiege Zhuanglang Weicheng. Hong Chengchou didn't just send Cao Wenzhao, a Juanwang, and Bai Guangen.

Cao Wenzhao chased southward for two days at a leisurely pace, advancing for a full hundred miles, until he reached the mouth of the Yellow River.

In Zhuanglang Acropolis in the north, Bai Guangen, who had had a full meal in the rear, attacked again. He joined Chai Shihua and Ding Shaoyin to surround the Acropolis of Zhuanglang, and immediately began to build ordnance, followed by a two-day onslaught.

With no reinforcements outside and new defeats inside, the morale of Basang's army is low. Fortunately, they have had good food in the past two years, and the symptoms of night blindness of the soldiers have eased. Leading Liu Chengyun to break through to the west, cross the Zhuanglang River and enter the Liancheng mountain area of ​​Datonghebao.

After being occupied by the Marshal's Mansion for nearly four months, Zhuang Langwei declared the fall.

Now the dilemma on the battlefield was thrown back to Wang Wenxiu, the brigade commander stationed in Lanzhou.

The Yellow River ferry between Hehuang and Lanzhou was no longer safe, and the connection between the two places was cut off by the Ming army. If troops were deployed to garrison Hehuang, the Lintao troops would be left unattended;

At this time, Liu Chengyun sent a letter from Liancheng chieftain's yamen to Lanzhou. He told Wang Wenxiu: "Hehuang is handed over to me, and Wang Lushuai is asked to guard Lanzhou to the death. Lanzhou is not lost. The Ming army dare not enter." Hehuang!"

　Happy New Year everyone, Happy New Year's Day!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)