Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1371 Kicks off
When it was dark, Meng Qiaofang's [-] elite troops had all crossed the Wei River and set up camp on the south bank.

The villages and towns near the south bank fell into the hands of the Ming army, and the nearest one was only five miles away from the camp of the Jin army, almost under the nose, just beside the couch.

This not only severely limited the scope of activities of the Jin Army on the South Bank, but also made the Jin Army feel insecure.In order to facilitate the display, these three villages and towns must have the Golden Army in their hands.

The battle for one of the three main villages and towns lasted until midnight. Because of the superiority of the Jin army's cavalry, the Ming army did not dare to make large-scale reinforcements during the day, so Meng Qiaofang had an advantage in strength during the daytime battle.

This advantage became more obvious as the [-] troops of the Northern Wing Group of the Golden Army crossed the Wei River.

When the battle lasted until midnight, Dufugou to the west of Xinfeng Town fell into the hands of the Jin army, almost all the Ming troops of the three divisions were wiped out, and Lingkou Town to the east of Xinfeng Town had been rushed into the town by the Jin army. In the middle of the battle, the Ming army huddled in a fort of a large family in the town, and the exchange of fire continued.

Wubao is a private fortress that rich people and big families liked to build in ancient times. It was especially popular during times of war. It can prevent bandits and bandits, and protect clansmen and property.

The competition for the three villages and towns developed in a direction that was unfavorable to the Ming army as the Jin army increased its strength. In the middle of the night, the reinforcements of the Ming army took advantage of the darkness and rushed to the vicinity of the three villages and towns, and the situation changed.

Among the three Ming armies, the reinforcements who went to Dufugou saw that the village had fallen and did not return to the camp. Instead, they marched eastward to Xinfeng Town, so that Ruan Mei got two support troops, and the strength increased to 4000.

After the other part entered Lingkou Town, the Jin army saw that the Ming army was supported, and immediately stopped attacking, and turned to defend half of the town already occupied, digesting the fruits, and confronting the Ming army from north to south in the town.

So far, the first battle between the two armies for the town has come to an end for the time being.

Except for the three big towns, nearly ten small villages nearby, as well as three or four highlands that could be used as defense lines, all fell into the hands of the Jin army, which provided a lot of space for Meng Qiaofang to display.

These small villages and highlands are not like big towns, they can't accommodate many troops.

Although the Ming army occupied them, each of them sent about a round of guards. The Jin army, with its superiority in cavalry and infantry strength, drove the Ming army teams at these locations out of the village before dark.

In this way, from an overall point of view, the Ming army was already at a slight disadvantage in the first round of competition, but Xinfeng Town, the most important town in the middle, was still in the hands of the Ming army. The offensive strategy was not a total failure.

It was night, in order to gain an advantage in the battle after dawn, the Jin army sent a large number of scouts to harass the Ming army camp, trying to tire the Ming army.

The Jin army thought that the artillery of the Ming army was difficult to strike accurately at night, and the cavalry could gallop close to the camp, and then fired blunderbusses to harass them. The flying horses and the corpses of the Jin army made the Jin army scouts terrified and terrified, so they returned to camp early.

The "Fire Dragon Classic" written by Jiao Yu in 1434 in the early Ming Dynasty recorded a kind of "exploded cannon". The long line passes through the fire trough, choosing the only way for the bandits, and dozens of them are buried in the pit, the medicine trough is connected to the steel wheel, covered with soil, so that the thief does not know, step on the engine, it shakes up, iron blocks fly like flying, and the flames soar into the sky."

It can be seen from the records that the "exploding gun" was the earliest press-fired landmine, and it is similar to today's "serial mines".

Qi Jiguang used this kind of thing before and improved it. The Ming army has been on the offensive in recent years. This kind of defensive "explosion cannon" is rarely used, and now it's time to show its skills.

Seeing that the attack and disturbance were unsuccessful, the Jin army could only return to their camps to recharge their energy and store up their energy to prepare for the big battle.

The next day, at three o'clock in the morning, before dawn, the Ming army began to bury pots and cook rice. A large number of sheep were slaughtered by the head army, and the camp was filled with smoke, and the white steam mixed with the smell of rice and meat filled the camp.

In the past, there was not enough meat in the Ming Dynasty. However, as the imperial court managed the grasslands and Liaodong, the Mongolian herdsmen in Guiyi formed a complement, so the meat was enriched to a certain extent. Lending those cattle and sheep to Guiyi Mongolia for grazing, they provide the Ministry of War with [-] head of cattle and sheep every year, which greatly improves the army's food.

In this march, in order to reduce the pressure of transferring rice from Nanyang, Wang Yan drove a lot of cattle and sheep with him.

At the hour of Chen, the sky was bright, and almost at the time when the head army was preparing the food, the Ming army camp blew the endless horns, and the whole sleeping camp suddenly came to life. Drilled out of the tent, densely packed figures in the camp moved.

The soldiers received their meals and ate and drank in the camp. After a while, the Ming army scouts who had eaten first rushed out of the camp.

The cavalry of each battalion of the Ming army, plus the troops of Qin Feng and Tan Tai who escaped from Lintong, only about [-] cavalry remained.

At this time, the cavalry of each battalion rushed out of the battalion almost at the same time, gathered into three groups, and galloped away in three directions: south, west, and north.

They have to scout the battlefield first, push the cavalry of the Jin army away, and occupy a favorable space for the infantry to line up.

The cavalry of the Ming army galloping westward stopped outside the battle line created by Hauge, and then divided into several groups, spreading out from north to south, waiting for the arrival of the infantry.

The Jin soldiers inside the line of defense were eating potatoes and sweet potatoes. They glanced at the cavalry of the Ming army outside the line of defense, but no one rushed out to drive them away.

Hauge was expecting the Ming army to attack him, so he didn't send anyone to interfere with the Ming army's formation. He hoped that Wang Yan would rush head-on.

Doesn't that guy like to build a stronghold and fight silently, like to stay behind solid fortifications and watch others get bumped and bloody?Today he repays him in the same way, to make Wang Yan look good, and let him know how wretched and annoying he is.

The cavalry of the Ming army stood two miles away from the front of the Jin army, and the Jin army stepped up to eat, and the two sides lived in peace.

At the second quarter of the hour, the soldiers of the various battalions of the Ming army began to come out of the camp. The soldiers formed a large formation under the command of countless banners according to their numbers.

At five o'clock, Zhang Mingzhen led the Zhenwu Left Army, plus a part of the Fenwei Right Army, a total of 3 people in two horizontal battle formations, and pushed towards Beiping.

At the same time, Li Guo led nearly 12 people to the south, and Wang Yan left 2 people to guard the camp as the rear army, and then led nearly 10 people to advance westward.

The battlefield of the decisive battle between Ming and Jin was very vast, with a radius of nearly a hundred miles, the battlefields of the decisive battle between the two armies were to the east of Lintong, to the west of Weinan, to the south of the Weishui River, and to the north of Lishan Mountain.

In this battle, there were 50 troops participating in the battle alone. If the troops and civilians were added, the number would exceed one million, enough to be recorded in the annals of history.

At this time, the eagle flew across the sky, its eyes overlooking the earth, and the ground was densely packed with shrunken figures. The Ming army covered the yellow earth with three huge red carpets, and the earth was full of eye-catching red, like flowing water. flame.

The sound of horns and military drums came slowly from the east, and the soldiers of the Jin army behind the low wall straightened up one after another, and began to look east, seeing the square formation of the Ming army.

They followed the trumpets and stepped on neat steps, causing the ground to vibrate slightly.

Seeing the incalculable troops approaching the front line like rolling magma, the soldiers of the Golden Army felt the vibration of the ground, which was transmitted from the soles of their feet to their hearts, and each of them couldn't help but clenched their weapons tightly.

Soon the soldiers of the Ming army entered their respective positions under the watchful eyes of the Jin army.

The entire Ming army phalanx was divided into two parts. In front was the Wuwei Qianjun and the Fenwei Army led by Sun Shoufa, with a total of 4 battalions and nearly [-] people.

They lined up in two lines, seven in the front and six in the back, arranged in a horizontal formation, and the six battalions in the back were just behind the gap between the first seven and could move forward at any time.

Wang Yan's 5 men served as the central army, and the [-] battalions surrounded him in a dense formation.

After the Ming army came out of the camp, they set up their formation, then kept the formation, and entered the preset battlefield all the way, so the formation was completed very quickly.

In the ninth year of the Ming Dynasty, in May, the main force of the Ming army and the main force of the Jin army fought in the field. With Wang Yan's flag erected, it was announced that the war was just the beginning.

Behind the Jin army's position, a tall observation car was erected. Hauge boarded the observation car, took out the binoculars to watch, and saw a figure in golden armor appeared in the Ming army formation under a banner with a golden dragon pattern. In his field of vision, he suddenly sneered...

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(End of this chapter)