stubborn thief

The war continues on the Xianyang plateau.

As Liu Chengzong arrived with his army, Gao Yingden defeated Zu Kuan and Zhao Zhirui defeated Lei Shisheng. Only Yang Zhengfang's army was still struggling to hold on on the battlefield.

At this time, it was obvious that the overall situation had been decided. All the Ming cavalry on the battlefield had been killed, routed, and driven off the battlefield. Only [-] infantry were left to fight in formation. With a single tree unable to support them, defeat was only a matter of time.

Following Liu Shizi's surrender order, Zhang Tianlin then ordered the troops to retreat.

But no one expected that it would be difficult to take Zhang Tianlin's troops because Yang Zhengfang wouldn't let him take them.

His dismounted infantry retreated ten steps back in formation, while Yang Zhengfang's suppressing soldiers pushed forward ten steps, insisting on sticking with him no matter what.

Yang Zhengfang was almost scared to death.

He is afraid.

Listening to the sound of Zhang Tianlin withdrawing his troops, Yang Zhengfang had a thought in his mind: Damn it, you finally found that I can't beat my heavy infantry, so you decided to use artillery?
To be honest, although Yang Zhengfang could do very little in this battle, he had actually used up all his brains.

He has a background as a thief, and he is a very good general under the Ming army's general training system.

This kind of general is best at tactical command. He can select and train troops. He can lead more than a thousand elite troops in the mountains and forests. He can withstand long distances and is good at encirclement and encirclement. When fighting against equal forces, he can attack the city and conquer the three armies bravely, even if he has to deal with twice as many enemies. Still able to fight back and forth.

But the battle on the Xianyang Plateau took less than two hours from the engagement to the present. There was too much military dispatch and information about the victory or defeat of the battle on the entire battlefield.

With every piece of information that came into his mind, Yang Zhengfang had to put himself in his own situation, think and make judgments, and then he couldn't come up with any changes that could be made.

The messy information on the battlefield flooded the mind of Yang Zhengfang, who was still persisting, and his judgment as a commander was drastically reduced.

Until Yang Zhengfang gave up judgment completely.

One moment the team lost, the other team disappeared, and the other team ran away again.

This can tell a chicken feather!
Now Yang Zhengfang's mind is full of fixed thinking: he is not afraid of infantry confrontation or cavalry attack, but he is afraid of artillery bombardment from a distance, so bite him!

You must not let go!
Zhang Tianlin was dumbfounded, thinking that my general marshal is here, can't you see these [-] new reinforcements?
All these people can fight better than me, and you still want to fight?
Why is this Huguang doll so stunned?

Taking advantage of this moment, the sergeants of Huben Battalion had piled up a mountain of observation earth with chariots and earth bags. Liu Chengzong on the mountain looked down at the Zhenyu Army Formation and saw Yang Zhengfang ordering the dismounted infantry to cling to Zhang Tianlin.

He had fun watching it.

He could easily sense Yang Zhengfang's thoughts, because the heavy infantry fought hand-to-hand, and although the fighting was lively, the casualty rate was actually very low.

Zhang Tianlin's battalion did not use heavy muskets or rifles. They used electric muskets that were good at rapid fire. They fired three-coin bird bullets. They had a relatively long range, but their lethality against heavy armor was very limited.

It is also difficult for them to be like Gao Yingdeng's Sanzi heavy gun. If the person who is being beaten has a little back, a person can be hit by five or six lead pellets, which can always cause internal injuries.

The lightning guns were fired, and any of the suppressing soldiers who were hit by the bullets were directly pulled down by friendly forces. When they got to the formation, they took off their armor and sat down on the ground to rest. They were replaced by heavy infantrymen who were in full condition again.

Only the Lion Cannon accompanying the army in front of the formation can pose a threat to them.

Yang Zhengfang's tactical mobilization of small teams and large teams is also very good.

The troops in front of the entire formation were always advancing and retreating in formation.

When retreating, make up for the rear first, then retreat from the front;

When entering, those behind should go first, and those in front should follow up.

The entire military formation was very controlled and organized in the jagged frontal battlefield. During the battle, no matter whether it was bombarded by lion cannons or concentrated fire by electric muskets, there was no panic.

The soldiers in the formation even took this opportunity to dig a small trench with their helmets and pile up two square earth ramparts inside and outside to prevent the marshal's cavalry from colliding, trampling and long-range artillery fire.

It can also be regarded as a precautionary measure for following fate and doing everything one can do.

There is no way around it.

According to this style of play, if Liu Chengzong did not come to support and Zhang Tianlin had no artillery and rockets, it would be impossible to defeat this army before they ran out of food.

Because Liu Chengzong could see clearly that although they had the advantage everywhere on the battlefield, only on the frontal battle line with Yang Zhengfang, Zhang Tianlin's dismounted infantry actually suffered a small loss in the fight.

This is also normal. The cavalry itself is dismounted. If it fights normal infantry, it can definitely suppress them, but when dealing with heavy infantry, neither their armor nor their weapons are suitable.

There are specialties in the arts, and Zhang Tianlin's advantage in the camp is the cavalry. Without rockets, he can only go around, surround, drag, and use time to win.

If we had climbed to that camp at a higher altitude, we might have defeated them with two volleys of heavy gunfire.

However, Liu Chengzong was unwilling to let Gao Ying ascend. He wanted to recruit Yang Zhengfang to serve as an important force in the next defense along the Yellow River in northern Shaanxi or to march into Huguang.

Following his orders on Tushan, Wei Qian'er and Gao Ying ascended the two camps and marched to Yang Zhengfang's east and west sides respectively, accompanied by mighty military drums.

Until the two battalions marched to the side and rear of the Zhenyu Army, forming a triangle with Zhang Tianlin's camp, surrounding Yang Zhengfang's Zhenyu Army.

At this moment, Zhang Tianlin retreated again, and Yang Zhengfang did not dare to pursue him. Otherwise, if the formation was slightly out of touch, he would be defeated by the two camps behind him.

While the two camps were moving, more than ten Mongolian cavalrymen under Xie Erhu came from the northeast and reported to the Khan the traces of the Ming army on the periphery of the battlefield.

Xie Erhu's troops were supposed to stay in Yaozhou, but when the main force of the Ming army in the northern and southern battlefields had been identified, there were too many horses gathered in Yaozhou, so the Mongolian cavalry was released to herd horses and graze.

The cavalry are bold and have a large range of activities. Xianyang Plain is currently very safe for them, so Xie Erhu sent out two thousand cavalry, and the Xianyang Plain was covered with his cavalry.

Three or five riders dared to wander hundreds of miles away. While working as pond riders, they ran around looking for grass to eat. If one stood out and ate it, they would make money.

And the key point is that there is indeed a lot of grass here. Although the mountains over Yaozhou are rich in pasture, the flat land is not good. The plateau is full of farmland and is subject to military discipline. Mongolian soldiers dare not step on the ground. Instead, the Xianyang plateau is full of graves.

Each of the imperial tombs was bigger than the last, and could hold their horses to death.

The military discipline of the Mongolian soldiers has always been poor, mainly because in the past north of the Great Wall, herdsmen became refugees due to a white disaster. The nature of most Mongolian plunders going south was actually similar to that of the peasant armies in the Han region.

But the Mongolian brigade soldiers in the Marshal's Mansion are different. Their production methods have changed. This difference is very obvious between the Mongolian battalion and the Tunmu camp in the Marshal's Mansion.

Although the soldiers of the Mongolian camp and the Tuenmu camp are the same, the Tuenmu camp, which still follows the old tradition of being half herders and half soldiers, has poor military discipline when sending troops out. However, the Mongolian camp soldiers who become professional soldiers soon lose their military discipline. Can be on par with other field battalion soldiers in the Marshal's Mansion.

Some of their brigades even had better military discipline than the Han soldiers in the field camp because they had family members managing production in the Tunmu camp.

The Mongolian cavalry came over from time to time and reported nothing to the Chinese army's Huben camp. There was no meaningful information.I just reported that there were a lot of people watching the excitement, and a market was opened. There were small vendors carrying burdens to sell things, but they were afraid of the soldiers, so they dropped their goods and ran away as soon as they approached, leaving the stuffed skin which is quite delicious. I suggest you go there. Khan joined the army rations.

Or it could be that Miyuan organized a regiment training for the landlords, and they wanted to go out of the city but were driven back by us, but the long-barreled artillery was very powerful; there were no Ming troops around, and the Khan's horses were well fed on the emperor's grave.

Anyway, it’s just to create a sense of presence: sweat, we are also working!

Liu Shizi on the Tushan Mountain is very comfortable.

It was really pleasant. Although he himself felt that this emotion should not appear on the battlefield, this battle was a bit too easy for him.

He even asked Zhao Zhirui, who was escorting the captives who surrendered to the Chinese Army, to climb Tushan Mountain and tell him the battle process.

I used charcoal to record my experience in this battle.

Speaking of which, this should be the fourth large-scale battle he has commanded.

In these four battles, the weakest opponent was the Oirat coalition army. Regardless of the quality of its soldiers, ordnance and equipment, generals' strength, or formation capabilities, the Ming army was much stronger than the Oirat army.

But the most difficult battle was the Battle of Heka Grassland against the Oirat Allied Forces.

Because although the Oirat army was half as powerful, there was room for movement and maneuvering in the Heka Grassland, and the Oirat coalition forces were under the central command of the national advisor Khan.

Of course, it's not that the command of the Oirat coalition forces is very good. After all, Oirat not only has the national teacher Khan, but also Batur Hutaiji, but after all, there is a command.

At that time, Liu Chengzong had very little experience in commanding large corps, and could only rely on the quality of grassroots officers and soldiers to achieve victory.

This situation was much better in the Battle of Gansu. Although Gansu's special status gave Yang Jiamo rare command power, the terrain of Gansu left no room for maneuver.

Liu Chengzong was still able to rely on his gradually enriched command experience to defeat the Gansu Ming Army.

These experiences, in today's Xianyang Plains Battle, gave Liu Chengzong a feeling of ease, as easy as breathing.

Because the Ming army had no command at all in this battle.

In other words, there is no commander in chief of the former enemy.

Only during the actual battle could he discover that although the Ming army came from Huguang in large numbers, there was no coordinated command at all.

To be precise, in Liu Shizi's eyes, the one fighting him was not an army.

Although his deployment of troops before arriving on the battlefield was all aimed at targeting a Ming army, once the battle was over and the overall situation was decided, it was easy to see that the Ming army was fighting independently when he walked onto the battlefield. , there is no command center.

The four Ming military camps can be divided into three armies with different affiliations.

On the surface, there are governors and governors, whether Chen Qiyu, Lian Guoshi in Xi'an Fucheng, or Lu Xiangsheng who is preparing luggage on Shangluo Road, they are the battle commanders of this huge army.

But when the war started, none of them were on the battlefield.

Just like the command and dispatch of the Ming court when it faced the Jin army's attack in Liaodong, in most cases, the Ming army only had a campaign commander, but no former enemy commander.

On the battlefield were only the commanders of the Liaodong Battalion, Zu Kuan, Zu Dale, and Zu Chengyong; the commanders of the Zhenyu and Maohu soldiers, Yang Zhengfang; and the commander of the Huguang Army, Lei Shisheng.

Liu Chengzong's description of Zhao Zhirui mentally estimated the normal combat effectiveness of these three armies. The army composed of Zhenjun soldiers and Mao Hulu soldiers was no worse than the three small battalions of Gansu; Zu Kuan's Liaodong cavalry was no weaker than before receiving rockets and reinforcements. Zhang Tianlin marked the camp.

Even in terms of courage, they are unique in the world.

As for Lei Shisheng's Huguang Camp, they were attacked completely in a state of sleepwalking. Liu Shizi couldn't evaluate their combat effectiveness.

But even with the combat effectiveness of the second-line troops of the Guards Flag Army, if these three armies were given to one person to command, they would never let him win so easily.

This battle was too classic for him.

Start by crossing the river.

Zu Kuan did not lead the cavalry to protect the infantry flanks, and the Liaodong battalion really needed to eat, so they went to do the most needed looting.

Yang Zhengfang did not accompany Zu Kuan. Instead, after crossing the river, he believed that his army lacked protection and dug trenches on the spot to preserve his combat effectiveness.

Lei Shisheng marched back, and when he arrived at the battlefield, Yang Zhengfang was already under attack. In order to avoid the possibility of being intercepted, he did not quickly support Yang Zhengfang, but crossed the river from the direction of Xingping to preserve his own strength.

Everyone is doing what they are best at and choosing the most conservative tactics.

When they were suddenly attacked, they realized later that the three generals had tried to cooperate in their actions.

But in such an attempt, communication relies entirely on telepathy. Everyone wants others to cooperate with them, but they will not cooperate with others.

Because there is no commander above your head, no one to direct, and no one to take the blame, any radical tactics will cause you to suffer losses and bring disaster.

Then, because they did not coordinate at the beginning and used their best and most conservative tactics, after the actual battle, they were forced to use the most costly and radical tactics in an attempt to reverse the decline of the war situation.

When Zu Kuan returned from plundering, he discovered that Yang Zhengfang was under attack, so he launched the most ferocious cavalry assault against enemy reinforcements that were ten times more than his own.

Yang Zhengfang, on the other hand, bit the enemy with heavy artillery and engaged in heavy combat, which he was best at. Lei Shisheng crossed the river and saw the retreating 'Zu Kuan', and immediately formed a formation to try to protect it.

The soldiers are good soldiers and the generals are good generals, but they will suffer from diarrhea as soon as they arrive at the battle.

Liu Chengzong felt that this was the objective environment faced by the Ming army.

The imperial court needs armies from all over the country to invest less and receive less pay in peacetime, and when war breaks out, they need to send less troops, eat less food, and win quickly.

As a result, elite troops with more than a thousand soldiers as the core have been formed in various places. Regardless of whether they are infantry or cavalry, they can achieve a command system that can quickly maneuver, deploy quickly, enter battle quickly, and win quickly.

But once the enemy is so powerful that a single elite unit cannot win, and the court needs to organize a battle, it will gather elite forces from various places together to form a stitched monster with three heads and six arms.

The Stitch Monster is very strong, but each of its three heads has its own ideas. Each head is only familiar with its own two hands. It uses the tactics that are most suitable for it to fight the enemy. When it comes to fighting, it will be difficult for two fists to defeat the four hands.

So typical!

Liu Chengzong slowly shook his head on the mountain, wrote the word "command" in his notes, and sighed: "This is the Ming Army, the Ming Army during the Chongzhen period." (End of this chapter)